Happy 2012

I was just chatting to a friend and she didn't realise I had a blog. Well, I said, it's not much of a blog anymore as I never seem to have time or need to write and express my feelings anymore. When I was a teenager, I would never let a week go by without writing in my diary. I still have them all, dating back to 1985 and it's such fun to read them every now and then to see how much a person changes as they get older and "wiser"

2011 ended with shocking news hence the start of 2012 has not been the greatest.
Christy (my bestest friend since 1984) was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia). She went to the doctor with unexplained bruises on her arms. The doc sent her for blood tests and 24 hours later the doc called her in to tell her the bad news. She had to get to Constantiaberg within an hour if possible.
Phil, Christy and Aidan moved to Franschhoek in June 2011. They ran the restaurant and wedding venue, De Huguenot in Johannesdal for about 6 months or so, but that did not work out and Christy even reckons that her illness could have been triggered by the stress of that place. They started their own little pavement champagne bar in Franschhoek central. I think it's in Huguenot square ironically they live in Huguenot road as well. Funny how that Huguenot monuement has always given me bad memories of boarding school in Franschhoek and now my best friend lives there.

So she spent the night of the 23rd Dec in hospital, had a platelette transfusion as her own plateletes were only down to about 3 (normal person has 150 - 480)
She was allowed home for Christmas but straight back in on the 27th DEC where they had to do a small operation to put in her J line for the chemo. She started chemo the next day for 7 days, 24 hours. She was quite well on the chemo, being able to get out of bed and go for little walks. She is well loved so has thankfully been getting many visitors. Visiting hours are 08h00 to 20h00 so it is good that we can go visit whenever.
After the chemo finished she was still in good spirits. She first had to hair extensions taken out and hair cut shoulder lenght, then one of Reto's hairdressers came in and cut it short, pixie look. It really suits her.

She spent New years eve in hospital. Phil was with her till about 22h00 and then went to Mike and Liz. We just had a quiet evening with Jill and Hilton (neighbours on other side of wall) and we were home by 01h00ish. I had such a migraine and eye ache between Christmas and New year so was not up for much. Think it was due to the shocking news of Christy.
Christy was allowed home round about the 05th Jan or so but her temp got up to 38 during the night and the doctor ordered her to come straight back. So Phil and Arne drove her back at 02h30 in the morning. She was very depressed about being back and put her on sedatives. She also had some chest pain which she has had many times before so could all be related to the leukemia but was misdiagnosed as costran... something or other, I can never say or spell the name of it.
This past week end she had had enough and was ready to pull the tubes out and walk out of the hosptital. I can only imagine what it must do to your emotions. But on Sunday she heard that the man in the ward next to her had passed away unexpectantly. He had a bowel infection that the doctors detected too late. That also can't do much for your confidence! Monday she didn't want to talk to anyone as the doc had told her that she had zero platelettes and zero white cells so at very high risk to infection. I spent the day at boulders beach with mor and kids feeling so guilty for being able to enjoy such a beautiful day and constantly worrying about Christy. She was very tearful and lucky Phil had managed to come thru already at 15h00. 15h30 she received some slighly better news, the bone marrow biopsy had come back clear. This was her first biopsy done after the chemo, so this means the chemo had done it's job for the bone marrow but the blood results were still a bit baffling.
Tuesday morning her platelette count and white count had increased ever so slightly and Wed up again. This morning I spoke to her she said she heard the path care nurse saying up 10 platelettes so let's hope that means her body is now producing platelettes and white cells again. I did read this can only happen 2 weeks after chemo, so maybe her body was just a bit slower than "text book".
The other patients don't know where she gets the energy from. She only sleeps a few hours every night. Most of the patients sleep most of the day and all night.
So, the doc said if her results were good today she can go home till Monday, which is great news and even on Monday she only has to come in for a hour or so for observation and tests. Here's holding thumbs.
I think our motto at the moment is "One day at a time"

OMG, Can I even remember how to blog?

Ja, so as you can see, it's been over a year since I logged on to my blog. I have been reading other people's blogs and realised how badly I write and how boring my blog must be to read, but hey, just looking through the old pics now and seeing how much the kids have grown since I started this blog, is, well mindblogging!

Obviously I cannot recap what we have been up to the past year, but the events that come to mind are:

My 40th held in January

Alexanders 4th birthday in February

Annual Waldorf fair in March

Easter in April

Denmark trip June, July

and up to date, Thomas's 9th party 06 August, lego themed.

But yes, it's nearly the end of August and then Spring comes and before we know it, it will be Christmas again. We have had quite a mild winter with little rain so still expecting the rain to come! Will probably rain the whole of September. Not complaining as we really need the rain.

Yowzer, long time no blog

Wow, I knew it had been a long time, but 2009!! Not a single entry for 2010. And what a significant year it's been.

Thomas started grade 1 in January

Alexander turned 3 in February

Then summer ended and we enjoyed Easter.

April I had my boob reduction and mor ended up in hospital for over a week with pancreatitis and being diagnosed with diabetes.

May, winter set in.

June/July Fifa world cup! and what an event it was.

And now we are coming to the end of July and heading towards August when Thomas turns 8. A crown birthday of note, turning 08 on the 08th of the 08th month.

It almost feels too long since I have last blogged, where do I start, where do I finish?

It's so hard to believe we are already 1/2 way through 2010.

I wanted to make a post at the start of the world cup, though it must have been the most documented event on the web, in the papers etc at that point. We couldn't switch on the tv or open a news paper without seeing something about the world cup.

We started off the event on the 11th June, most offices and business closed early so all could get to their respective venues to watch the opening ceremony and first match. I missed the opening ceremony because I went straight over to Craig and we, including Steven caught the train to Cape town station and walked to the waterfront to Ferrymans where we met up with Sakkie, Elouise, Jason and Allie and watched the opening game there. So much "gees" in the waterfront. We were lucky that Craig had booked a table way in advance as there were people fighting for our table, never mind a glimpse at the tv screens. Simpiwe Shabalala scored the first goal of the world cup and we ended up tying 1-1 with Mexico which everyone celebrated as a win. I think most people deep down thought we were going to lose horribly to Mexico.

The boys went to the Greenpoint stadium for the firstC Cape town match (Uruguay/France 0-0) and us girls stayed behind and had dinner and more wine. (I had been offered 2 tickets to the box at the stadium but it was too late to get there and it would have been a bit rude to have to choose who to take over Allie and Eloise and leave one behind)

The boys came back after the match. They were starving and cold as they had not had a chance to eat anything. We met them at Quay 4, and we were all home by about 01h00.

The next game in Cape town, Craig was going with Jason, Mark and Dirk. Craig had bought alot of tickets nearly a year before. He was going to sell alot of them buy hey, the world cup only comes to your own country once in a lifetime if you are lucky, so he decided to go and enjoy as many games as possible with friends and family. This game Italy/Paraguay Ronnie called me at last minute again and asked if I could make it to the Riverclub in 1/2 an hour. One quick call to ask Mor if she could babysit and I was there!! Bus ride to the stadium was fun. Our driver took the "middle" lane following the police and we got there quicker than anyone. It was lovely to watch the game from a warm hospitality suite with free flowing wine and good food. I did phone Craig and waved to him accross the other side of the stadium where it was less dry and warm. (snigger)
We got home about the same time just before midnight. The score, 1-1

Craig went to another 3 games. The Algeria/England game Sakkie took him and Jason. England did not play well in this tournement! I watched this game in the fan zone in the waterfront with Phil, Christy, Liz, Mike, Amanda, her dad, Alisa, Andre, Andrew and Leslie anne. Was fun but a bit too much loud music at 1/2 time and after the match.

Craig took Phil, Thomas and Aidan to watch a day game, Portugal/North Korea. It was a great game for the kids to watch because Portugal scored 7-0, and they had seats just behind the goal posts.

The game I watched was Cameroon/Holland. Craig took me, his mom and his dad. It was Dawn's birthday that day. It was a good game, and Holland won, but Denmark was playing Japan at the same time and sadly Denmark lost 3-1 to Japan and just like that both Denmark and South africa departed without making it to the next round.

France and Italy also did badly and didn't make it to the next round. And they were the 2 teams that played in the final of the last world cup where France won! Amazing how things can change in 4 years.

We hosted one "soccer evening" at home when Denmark played Cameroon. Denmark thankfully won that one and only game. It was a bit chaotic at home with 8 kids and adults, but it was fun anyway, and I made butternut soup and Danish hotdogs.

We also did the fan walk with the kids, Met Michelle and Stef and a few others on the way but lost them as there were thousands and thousands of people. It was the day of the Argentina/Germany game. Germany won. We went home to watch the game, we were very happy to be out of town by 14h00 as the fans were pouring in and getting stuck in serious traffic.

The night that England lost to Germany, we braaid at Christy and Phil. Christy had not been so well. She had been fine the night before where we all went out for a girls night to a club in Noordhoek. But Sunday she was not so well. By the evening she was struggling to breathe. Lucky we were all there, so that Hugh could drive her and Phil to Constantiaberg. He had to do mouth to mouth all the way and ended up on resusitation at Constantiaberg. Lydia, Craig and I stayed at the house with the kids who at that point were also quite hysterical as Aidan had watched the whole thing. Christy stayed over night in hospital and was diagnosed with pleurecy. Thank goodness she was fine the next day, but it was one of the scariest moments as I thought I was losing my best friend. I'd hate to think what was going through Aidan and Phil's minds, but Phil handled it very well and remained calm, which was good. And shame, England lost horribly to Germany and also got booted out of the world cup.

End of the year is near

I can't believe another year is nearly nearing it's end. It's become quite a cliche to say "Where does the time go" But seriously, Where DOES it go? It's true what they say, "The older we get , the faster the time goes".
I can't believe in less than a months time I will be celebrating the last year in my 30's. To think how depressed I was about turning 30. Oh to be 30 again!! What fun I'd have.
Now, I'm not saying I haven't been having fun this year, in fact it's been a good year. I wanted 2009 to be a good year, and it may be too early to say it's been a good one, as it's not over yet, but compared to what a lot of my friends, collegues and family have been through this year, ours' has been good.
Craig has done well in buying soccer tickets for the world cup 2010. Now he just needs to sell them so that I can have my breast reduction, and so on and so on. Speaking of that, my appointment with Dr Barker, is on the 18th Jan. It will be interesting to see what he says.

Well, I can't really say much has happened since my last blog, which would have been just before Thomas's birthday.
He had a good birthday with his friends from school. We did sandart, played a few other games and the kids had a great time.
Speaking of sandart, it's been going well with selling. Some months are quiet and other months I get loads of calls. I'm not going to become a millionaire selling it, but I have my grandmothers Jewish blood and love to feel the notes between my grubby paws. I have also done 2 markets, one in Retreat and one in Muizenberg. I did better at the Retreat one, but I did sell 2 home kits, which is the one that makes the best profit.

The kids are growing up fast. Thomas has been going to a few castings, through Kids inc. He got a print shoot for Flora overseas in August. Not sure if they used it but he got paid nearly R600 after tax and then he did a tv commercial for Ernstings family (clothing company) That was hard work. Hot day, shooting the whole day at a guest house in Rosebank. Thomas seemed to have fun. We were there at 08h45 and finished off at 17h30. They even cut lunch down to 1/2 an hour. Delicious lunch and breakfast, and snacks, coffee, water etc provided the whole day. Was quite exciting to on set of a real live commercial, even though we may never get to see it and even though it's only about 20 seconds long! I spend the day chatting to the other moms, trying to sneak a peek every now and then and reading a good book.

12:34:56 07/08/09

The only time in history the numbers are going to be aligned like this.
Ok, so I'm a few minutes late coz Christy popped in to drop something off and chat chat chatted.

I haven't blogged for a while coz for some reason I can get in fine from work but not from home and well, at work I've either been working or playing farmtown on facebook.
My bad, I know!
But right now I do actually have a load of work on my desk which I have to get through, so I will update with photos some time soon.

Thomas today is 6 years old on the 07th day of the 08th month of the 09th year. Tommmorow he will be 7 on the 08th month of the 09th year.

I should have studidied numerology!!

Till next time!!

Easter's here and so is summer (still)

Well, well, it's been a while since I wrote here, in fact looks like I've skipped out the whole of March.
It has been a busy time at work, even working late which I don't think I've done since Thomas was born.
I can't say much has been happening in my life since my last entry.
Tine is here for a short 2 week visit. She arrived on the 27th March and leaves already tommorow. She has been lucky with the weather. It's been between 25 - 30 degrees every day, apart from one or 2 days. It poured with rain the night she arrived and was actually cold. We were worried that the winter had started but it seems we have been blessed with a few more weeks of summer.
Tine arrived Friday night. Saturday we had the waldorf fare. I had baked a cake and bought a cake out of guilt of not being on cake selling duty. The weather had cleared up and there was no rain. Mor and Tine were going to come but I called them to say we were leaving. They came over for dinner and we braaid a fillet, and I made a potato bake and bearnaise sauce and salad. Was a nice evening.
Sunday the weather was great, so we went to boulders in 2 cars. Craig took Thomas to navy day and Mor, Tine, Alexander and I went to boulders. It was windy but down at the beach totally sheltered. Christy, Phil and Aidan were also there and as usual we were joined by a few penguins. At least the beach is not as smelly (from penguin poo) as I remember it. Craig dropped Thomas off and went off to do the shopping. So Thomas only had a little time as we had to get going to try avoid all the navy day traffic.
For most of the week, Tine just relaxed by the pool at Mor's house. I think Peppi popped in for a few visits. Mor had the Friday off, but I couldn't take off unfortunately. It was a scorcher wind free day and they went to Fish hoek beach. There are not many days in the year where one can sit on Fish hoek beach and not get blasted away. Saturday, Craig dropped me and the kids off at Nate's party in Noordhoek and he went to visit Mark (they haven't seen each other for a while)

Crown birthday 2-2-2

Phew, I can't believe that I gave birth to Alexander 2 years ago. It's his crown birthday today, turning 2 on the 02nd day of the 02nd month, so it's actually a triple crown birthday. Felt a bit sad leaving him this morning with Caroline to go to work, but that's life, and luckily he is too young to understand. We did all sing "Happy birthday" to him, and we will go to the spur tonight to open pressies. And then I'm having a little party for him on Saturday at the house.

So, we went to the spur, which he loved. Just us, Papa Joe, Gogo Dawn, Linda and Jonathan. He opened his pressies. I had bought him a little boy doll called Edwin that he loved and kissed all night. He got some more duplo from us and a cd and book (which was actually for Thomas) and some beach toys. We came home and he had no problem going to bed. Still can't get over he is 2 years old already!

For his party on the Saturday the 07th Feb, we had about 10 kids and 10 adults more or less over for his "bug" party. I got some fishing nets from proto trading and put sweeties and goodies in them and those were the party packs that they got at the beginning of the party. They could then fish sealed bug sweets out the small pool. It was so hot, 35 degrees, so all the kids ended up in the pool. Surprised there was even any water left in the pool with so many people in it at once, but at least the kids were cool and had a great time which was the most important thing. The party was from 14h00 till 16h00. Adrian, Katja, Lexi and Kayla stayed a bit longer for a glass of wine or 2. Christy, Phil and Aidan stayed on for a braai. Was such a lovely hot evening, sat outside all night. Alexander got spoilt again. He got the cutest little tricycle from mormor.

I'm still 37 years old....

well, at least until Friday! sniff sniff. Don't know why, but even though I'm looking forward to the day, I am not looking forward to turning 38. It just seems so much closer to 40!

It has been really good having leave this week, though it's gone super fast. Over New years days we took it easy. I had a mild flu on the 02nd and 03rd Jan. Craig went out for lunch to Panama Jacks with Marc and Anthony and he dropped Thomas off at Gogo's, so I could sleep when Alexander slept, and he slept for his usual 3 hours so it was a good time to nurse myself and recover, so luckily it only lasted 2 days. I couldn't move my arms at all, but not sure if that was flu or the after effects of wii boxing. I think it was a combo of both coz I really felt snotty, sneezy and sore and tired and had a sore throat. But with loads of Efferflu and Coldcaps and sleep it went away fast.

On Monday we got up super early and fetched Mor. We had a few stops on the way and got to boulders at 09h30 to be told that the beach was already full and that the tide was high (which we knew) so we went to Windmill beach and had a stunning 1/2 day there. Left the beach at lunchtime and the moron tourists were fighting for parking even up on the main road, would love to know how they all fitted on the beach. It's good to be a local and know about the hidden secrets.

Yesterday, Tuesday we went to the aquarium and the waterfront. Had a lovely lunch at Ferrymans (one of the first pubs/restaurants to open in the waterfront back in round about 1990. Got home at 15h00ish and had a swim. So nice to come back to the pool after a day out or on the beach. We really do appreciate it.

Today we have just slumped around the house and done not much, except for tidy up a bit and lie by the pool.

2009 is here already!

So, 2009 is upon us already and the last entry I made was the sad entry of 01 Dec. Christmas has passed, New years has passed, friends have come and gone from Denmark, and well, as I always say ,time just flies by in a blur.

The advent went down well. The kids got a little surprise in their stockings every morning, which mean't each day started at the crack of dawn with the stomping of Thomas's footsteps down the passage to check what the stocking had in store for him. Thankfully he would cme to our bed and fall asleep again so we could at least sleep until 07h00ish. Thankfully there was only one day that required a piece of coal in Thomas' stocking as a reminder that good behaviour is required for good rewards. It's heartbreaking to see his sad face but sometimes it's tough to do good.

Joan and Jan arrived on the 05th December and stayed with us. Both Mor and I were stil at work the first week so they hired a car and did their own thing during the day. In the evenings we had a few dinners/braai's here and the other nights they would go to Mor or out for dinner. The Friday they arrived, we had a braai here. The Saturday night they invited us out to dinner, we went to harbour house, which was stunning. Sunday night Craig looked after the kids and I drove the 4 of us to Moyo. I had booked a table in the treetops but when we got there they couldn't find our booking. Luckily they still had tables available in the treetops, but it wasn't what I had expected. It was also quite high up which meant Mor and Jan would struggle with the steps, so luckily there had been a cancellation at a lower treetop table and we basically had the whole "landing"

to ourselves.So it was very cosy and entertaining and the food was good. Jan and Joan paid again, which was not the meaning. Naughty! The next night Moyo called me to check if we were still coming! Duh! they had obviously booked the wrong night. One of the nights we went to the spur so we could bring the kids. Mor was off the following week and they had booked a week in Hermanus so they went there for the week and Joan and Jan came back the Saturday afternoon and left that same evening back to Denmark. It was a short 2 weeks but it was lovely to have them and see them again. We also got some lovely Christmas candle deco from them and they spoilt the kids with lego and duplo.


We also did Uncle Paul's Christmas party on the evening of the 13th Dec. Mel and Darren had tickets but she didn't want to go so she gave me 4 tickets, Christy didn't feel like going and nor did Craig, so Reina and Kyra came with Thomas and I. They had such fun and the weather turned out great. We had been worried about the wind as the Cape doctor had been howling the whole week. It was just as magical as the last one we went to. We met Marc, Bev and the kids so it was good to know someone else. My car had overheated sitting in the queue when we arrived so Marc followed us all the way home to make sure I didn't get stuck.

We also went to Kirstenbosch for our annual babynet Christmas get together on the 07th Dec, where one of the dads volunteered to be FC and hand out gifts to the kids. It was a hot day and was good to come home for a swim in our pool before heading out to Moyo.






On the 15th Dec we went to Karen and Frans' annual Christmas get together. Frans does such a great job of being FC. None of the kids ever suspect a thing and Karen buys gifts for all the kids. They are such kind-hearted people.

I worked all the way until the 24th Dec, where I left work at 12h30, came home and started preparing for Christmas eve which we were hosting. I layed the table and wrapped the rest of the pressies. Mor came round at 16h00 and started the roast. I made the red cabbage. The family arrived from 18h00 onwards. We were 13 adults and 5 kids, and fitted quite comfortably round the table. We had a lovely evening. The kids got spoilt. For the first time I tried not to stress about the traditions. The kids ripped apart their presents while we were eating, but it was fine, coz that's what Christmas is all about, the kids! and getting together for a nice meal. The last people left just before 01h00 which I think was a sign of a good evening.

I woke up with a bit of a hangover on the 25th, but soon cured it with some headache tablets and a good breakfast. We had the whole day to clean up and recover and wrap more pressies for the present game at Linda's. We went to Linda's at 19h00. Had drinks with the friends and family and had our usual Christmas feast made by Linda and Dawn and Karen who made the trifle but unfortunately wasn't there as she was sick in bed with flu. We played the game and Craig and I did quite well.

New years was fairly quiet but fun. We bought Thomas with us for the first time. We went to Christy and Phil and set up our tents for the kids. The kids were all in the jacuzzi just before midnight with Alex (Phils sister in law) We were about 20 people all together, and had a good time. We played wii games, we sang karioke and chatted till early hours of the morning. I went to bed at about 03h30, Craig sat up chatting to Lyn, Arne and Christy (Phil passed out in the chair sitting up) They must have come to bed at about 04h30, just as the sun was about to rise.

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! Here's hopin for a great 2009!!!