UM .... a whole month ???

Oooops a whole month has passed me by and not one word on here .... ooops ... big OOps ...

All I can say is I have been busy ... busy ... busy .... hectically busy !!!

December started on the run and it has only calmed down now !!!!

Firstly ... A Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year !!!!

I'm kinda working backwards for December ... so thought I'd better wish everyone now before I get into all my doings and forget !!!

We had an absolutely wonderful, fantastic ... and brilliant Christmas... We spent it as usual at June's ... with her providing her usually wonderful Christmas Eve dinner, we all slept over at her house ... the Gembicki's, The Bells, The Barkers and The Archary's (14 of us) Christmas morning saw yet again an abusive pile of presents ... we must've all been good this year as Santa was kind to us all and the day was made only better by the fact that it didn't rain ... not 1 drop and the sun shone all day and it was a beautiful day ... Temperatures rose to mid 30's ... perfect Summer weather !!! We swam, we ate, we drank and we were Merry ... we slept some and then did it all over again !!!!

So onto a bit about what I've been up to in December ...

Well my Christmas Craft Day at the beginning of the month was a huge success ... made extra special by the fact that BFF Nan arrived for the weekend to visit ... but actually to help me out ... and I couldn't have done it without her !!! Boy that weekend (2nd-4th) was probably the busiest I've had in a loooong time ... Starting with Nan arriving .... rushed back from airport to change, down a cuppa and then off to Primary School to do Prom photos ... it was a bit of a culture shock for Nan LOL ... we crashed into bed dazed and confused by about 2 am ... we were up at 6am to pack the car for the workshop day ... worked our way through that, had so much fun and eventually had a chance for the 1st glass of grape juice by about 6pm ... crashed into bed by 10pm ... we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer !!! and it was up early to take Nan back to the airport cos unfortunately she could only get a flight at 8am !!! But she did have to drive back from JHB to Mokopane after her flight landed that side ... so it was probably better for her :-)

Then it was last week of school ... another weird week with short days and different hours ... and with me hectically organising the printing of the PROM photos, extra copies, more prints... more copies ....aaargh it was all a blur !!!!

SON-shine broke up 7th December and Paul finally arrived on 8th December, Primary School only broke up 9th December ... once Paul got here we then decided the plan of action for the rest of December ... 16th December in SA we have a public holiday and as it fell on a Friday it made it a long weekend ... so we decided what the heck ... Paul wanted to take his car for a nice long drive so we packed up the car and off we went up to Polokwane to visit Nan & the kids .... well I had seen Nan only the week before but we hadn't been up there since the September before (2010) and it was time for us to visit (oh and I needed to get away from the wet miserable weather in KZN) ... we had a fab weekend (4days) ... were rejuvenated with the peace and the heat of the bush ... was lovely to see Russell, Nicola, Andy & Lorraine... and of course Nan ... we all still missed Ben, it felt like he was all around us ... keeping an eye on us, perhaps that was why it felt so peaceful up there ...

We picked Granny up from JHB on our way back ... so mum is back with us in KZN ... sounds like she had a great time in JHB ... not so sure she is happy to be back here with us though ... but it was her choice ... she said she had to come back cos she wanted her things ??? Not going to go any further with that !!!

And now I think I'm up to date ... Christmas is done & dusted ... I'm really looking forward to the New Year ... I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a really great year for us ... already there is so much to look forward to ... my new job, SON-shine is excited about going back to school, back as a grade 9 !!! second year of High School !!!

OH! by the way he Passed his exams with flying colours ... 5 distinctions and 1st in his class for the term again that makes it all 4 terms for the year, so I guess that would make him 1st in his class for the year ??? we are all extremely proud of him ...

And by the look of his school calendar already !!! we have a really, really, really busy 2012 ahead of us !!! I know rugby is from 11th March till 3rd July ... so I've already cancelled Easter with everyone LOL

It's Official ...

As from 4th January I will be back in the land of the employed ... yup you read right ... I'm going back to working for some-one else !!! No longer gonna be 'self employed'... gonna have to learn to take orders again !!! (Oh shit didn't think of that LOL, but just think ... a pay cheque at the end of every month now, that'll be worth it !!!)

Finally all my volunteering, saying yes when they needed helpers etc.etc. and of course my own wonderful personal charm and personality (PMSL) has paid off ... on Thursday the head of the school contacted me and offered me the post of T/A (teaching assistant) at Hillcrest Primary School ... fancy title but actually I'm just going to be a 'gofer', means my days aren't going to be boring, that's for sure and the nicest part about it is I will get all the school holidays off too !!! (feels like the ideal job)

Quite frightening really considering I haven't been in the land of 'employed by an employee' since 2003 !!! And in a way quite sad that I'm all excited about it hahahaha ...

But fear not trusty followers .. this does not mean I will stop being creative ... I'm hoping this is going to mean I will become MORE creative ... I just know that I'm gonna end up having more time to do things !!! I know it doesn't make sense but it has something to do with when your busy you find time to do more things !!!

And talking of busy ... another hectic week has passed .. I will be sooo happy once Kelsey has finished his exams ... this week he has only written 3 exams and he has 2 more to go ... this finishing school at 10.30am is driving me mad ... it feels like I've just got started working then I have to go fetch him ... then it's home ... he wants food ... it's helping him with his studying ... testing him etc.and before I know it it's time to be making the dinner and the night is here ... and my work is taking a back seat ... which considering I have my workshop coming up on Saturday 3rd ... I really really need to get going now ...

I had another workshop with the Thursday Ladies (as I've called them) this week ... introduced them to the world of stamping ... I know seems strange that I should be demonstrating stamping etc. to them (one of the basic starting techniques one learns) but for some unknown reason it seemed to have skipped over this group of ladies ... they absolutely loved it ... now they now want stamps (not a problem as I have loads to sell them) and the disadvantage for me ... inks ... a big problem as I still have not come across that box yet !!! Also another disadvantage is that not too many of the shops in the area (and trust me there are few enough of those) have stamps and inks available ... another one of the joys of living in Africa !!! Makes it a lot harder for me to be teaching specific techniques as I think it's unfair to be teaching people things that they then can't go out and practise !!!

But they left all fired up and ready to go ... and they enjoyed another 'retail therapy' session too ... sadly I had to tell them I would not be able to come and 'teach' them once a month as I have been ... but I did say I would hold classes during the school holidays ... and they were happy with that... (see already planning my school holidays for next year LOL)

Then to add to the rest of the chaos in my life at the moment I still have not finished the Photos for the Wedding Photo shoot I did 3 weeks ago ... I'm doing HPS PROM photos on Friday 2nd... night before my workshop day ... BFF Nan is arriving on the same Friday afternoon ... you know nothing like everything happening on the same weekend !!!

There is just no rest for the wicked !!!

Wet, Wet, Wet ....

Now I know most of you will automatically think of the band with same said name ...

Well I'm not ... what I'm thinking about is the crappy shitty weather .... I bet you won't believe me when I tell you it has NOT stopped raining for over a week !!! Yes you heard right ... I'm thinking I be needing to find old Noah and be booking me & SONshine a space on his Ark ... cos if it carries on like this for much longer I think there's gonna be a flood ...

Mind you if I go back over the blog for last year, and the year before that and even the year before that, I think I'd find the exact same sentiments around about this time ... I'm sitting here wondering why on earth I thought I was ever coming to Africa for HEAT ??? I'm sure as a kid growing up here in SA there was heat ... at some stage ... I mean Hollywood's got it all wrong ... nah ... I think they must've invented the tale that Africa was hot ... no actually I am a bit wrong there ... cos although its rain, rain, rain .... its not exactly cold ... I can wonder around the un-insulated house with it's gaping windows and large gaps under the doors in jeans and a t-shirt ... with flip flops on (what a sight !!!)

What's getting to me is the moisture ... and the MUD !!!! with 2 dogs in the house ... who have no respect for my furniture at all .... especially the Kleo of the Bells ... who as a smaller 4 legged canine believes that to dry oneself one must rub ones muddy wet paws all over mums lavender & white duvets !!!! ... hence the reason I do not believe I will ever have a clean and pretty house ... who you trying to kid ... with 2 dogs and 2 men in your life .... never !!!(Ok Paul, I know you're not here all the time ... but when you are you just add to the masculine mess !!! LOL )

I mean SON-shine comes home covered in just as much mud ... he's out at rugby practise in this pouring rain ... and he loves it ... you wanna see the colour and state of those boys when they come off the practise field ... visualise those army movies of the soldiers knee deep in mud in the trenches ... now bring that thought forward to today and add teenage boys !!!! That's what it looks like ... and they LOVE it ... I'm sure they BEG coach to do leopard crawling in this weather !!!!

And let me tell you ... moisture and paper just DO NOT MIX ... here I am trying desperately hard this week to get my A into G and pack kits for the Christmas workshop ... and I'm frantically printing instructions and the printer keeps jamming cos the paper is DAMP... I take out papers for the kits ... cut to size and within an hour they are curling their corners up at me ...before I have time to get them sealed comfortably in their zip lock waterproof bags !!! I spent a day 'Cri-Cutting' 200 sets of Christmas words ... (I'm feeling a bit Noel, Love, Peace & Joy 'ed out right now... oh and let me tell you ... it took a whole day to do these !!!) then bagging them up was fun cos they felt all limp and damp !!! and the letters were sticking together ... me is thinking we don't need air conditioning ... we do need heating ... or maybe some sort of climate controlling device to keep the damp out !!!!

I'm not even gonna mention (oops I just did )the PILE of wet towels everywhere (for drying dogs in an attempt to keep some mud off and for walking on to try to save the cream ...stoopid choice carpets ) ... and the baskets full of washing ... Did I tell y'all ... I do have a tumble drier ... lived 8 years in England .... never needed one ... here it's on the go daily from September to December .... no wonder SA has power issues !!!!

And then this week ... SON-shine is writing 2011 final exams so it means he's only at school for the times that he is writing ... talk about feeling like a taxi service !!!! If he doesn't have an exam on a particular day he doesn't have to go into school ... and most days this week he has written papers for 2 hours !!! So as the P of P ... how much work do you think I'm actually able to do in 2 hours .... like um ... NONE !!!! ... especially when 3 hours later he's wanting a lift back to school for pre-pre-season practise !!! .... ;-( ........

I give up ....

even trying to keep up ...

So no more excuses I'll just do brief run down of the last 1o days:

** Took my old car ... the Sante Fe to have the air con replaced (AGAIN)... the one that was already replaced in February this year ... the same one that seized on me again 6 weeks ago !!! Anyway that's been done and although they replaced the compressor no-charge under warranty it still cost Paul a 'BUNDLE' for them to fix the other part that caused the first part to cause the compressor to seize in the 1st place .... are you seeing the picture yet ???

** Spent a morning with Juno at T-Zone ... her new venture ... she is doing fantastically well ... she had a mums pamper morning ... and well I just had to go ... we're talking about starting either a card making group or a scrapbooking group .. to hold regular classes at her place ... she's got the space and well .... I've got the time LOL

** Been doing my Christmas Shopping all year round, but had to spend a morning with a lady who is helping me with some of my pressies but of course I can't say too much as I don't want to spoil the surprise ...

**Last weekend was Manic ... did a Wedding Photo shoot ... People I've now decided it's not the taking of the photos that's the issue ... it's the hours needed to edit, sort, tweak etc... all week I've been at it and still nowhere near being ready to hand over the disk ... mind you the fact I did a Family Photo shoot on Sunday didn't help ... so for the past week I feel like all I've done is look at pics on the computer ... thankfully the bride & groom are away on their honeymoon so they not in a huge rush ... but the P'of P better get her ass in to gear cos I'm sure they are gonna want their pics soon ... like next week LOL

I know I hear some of you saying .. "well what else do you have to do all day?" ... but I also find that it is better to edit and tweak pics on an evening cos the sunlight (Hahahaha not that we've had much of that) can make the pics look different !!! Oh bull ... I'm just making excuses again !!!
Always have to leave everything to the last minute ... as usual ...

Let me give you an example ... Monday had every intention of working thru the photos ... it was a nice sunny day ... made me a cuppa, washed the pots, put some washing in, then decided to feed the birds, ended up pulling out a few weeds as I was already outside, hung the washing up, made another cuppa, then switched on the computer ... downloaded 166 e-mails... went thru them ... ended up on Facebook ... yada yada yada for half an hour ... had a customer e-mail me about an order she was waiting for ... went into the garage, got out some Christmas papers for her ... half packed her order... found a box with red & green card in ... started playing around with that and the 'IDEA' I had for a mini book ... next minute it's time to go pic up SON-shine ...WTF there goes 6 1/2 hours ... did any of you see anywhere in there 'edited wedding photos' ????

And let me tell you the rest of the week has been just as mad ... Tuesday our temperatures rose to an awesome 38'c ... so of course my excuse is then it's too damned hot to do anything (but I am NOT complaining cos it didn't last very long ... in fact it only lasted a day !!!rest of the week has p'eed with rain, mist, fog, cold ) ... but I also had a call from the Thursday Ladies asking me for some stock so I sorted that out for them and then cos they always have such awesome tea & cakes I volunteered to deliver their stock to them on Thursday ... then one can't go to a craft group and not get caught up in demonstrating something !!! (Aaaaah my creative fix for the week !!!)

** Kelsey is doing PRE-Pre-season fitness every Tuesday and Thursday so I'm running him around like a Taxi Service in the afternoons and then he starts year end exams next week ... so we have a massive study schedule !!! I feel like I'm going through school all over again aaaarrrgh ...

And so endeth my ramblings ... and do you think I have edited any photos yet .... NO ... what the heck ... what are weekends for ?

OH this : SON-shine is off playing Action Cricket tomorrow ... I have a shopping date with June and I have promised her we will be finished early-ish (NOT hahaha) so I guess I will just have to spend Sunday at my computer .... just in time for meeting the bride & groom next week hahahahaha !!!!! (an almost a panicked laugh there)

Only in Africa ... AGAIN

I'm sure that this can only happen in Africa !!! Yesterday at 8.32am our electricity went off ... now that is nothing unusual I hear you all saying ... after all, a week without a power cut is a miracle !!!

Well not only the power on our complex ... I went into Hillcrest yesterday ... well I couldn't exactly do much at home with no power ... (well I could of but being the P of P ... no electricity was a great excuse to be out on the streets !!!) and lo= and behold ... there was NO POWER in the whole of Hillcrest ... went to HPS for coffee ... they had no power ... and apparently the power shortage was all the way from Gillits to Botha's Hill ... for those not in the know ... that's a pretty BIG area ...

Seems there was a fire at our sub-station which caused the problem ... and 14hours later !!! yes 14 hours without power ... we eventually got power restored to our area at 10.35pm last night ... thankfully it wasn't too cold ... and Kelsey & I invited ourselves to Sally's for dinner ... who lives just 2km along the road ... to the left of us and they had power !!! AND Waterfall had power ... which is the funniest thing of all cos usually if any one's going to have a shortage it's them !!!

I was just grateful when I heard the power come on at 10.30pm cos I was stressing about not waking up without my alarm and having to have a cold shower ... and a big kudos to Samsung my washing machine ... when the power came back on it carried on on its original cycle LOL ... that's what woke me up !!!

So the fact that this morning we have both power and sunshine ... the washing machine went back on with its original load and I've done 2 loads since then ... gotta make up for the power I didn't get to use yesterday !!!

How could I forget !!!

Friday Night !!!

I was asked by a relatively new friend of mine Sandy Bigara ... to photograph the launch of her book Thorngate ... (now there's another new one for me !!!)

Yes ... now I'm hob nobbing with the rich and famous ... I'm sure I can hear Sandy saying "not so much of the rich just yet" LOL

What a beautiful venue - Upton Hall in Durban ... stunning setting for the launch ... met some really lovely people too and I received a signed copy of the book ... Sandy tempted us by reading some inserts from the book (now I want to get reading) ... and she's already working on the sequel !!!

... a thoroughly enjoyable evening ...

Monday ... again !!!

How is it possible that these Mondays come around so fast ???

And there I was thinking yet again ... and I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record ... that I had so little planned for the next couple of months ... that I would have all this time to blog... HA!

The last 2 weeks have seen :

*** Juno finally open her little business ... T-Zone ... a place for tots, tweens & teens ... suits her down to the ground as she has one of each LOL ... and wishing her all the success... I'm sure she will do well. (me feeling just a little jealous ...she's done it and I'm still procrastinating LOL)

*** The end of the 2011 RWC ... no more early rises to watch a bunch of gorgeous hunky men chasing odd shaped balls LOL ... roll on RWC 2015 in England !!!

*** The end of our Hillcrest Villagers Junior Rugby season with a prize giving this weekend ... and Kelsey decided he was rather going away for the weekend with Heini ... as he didn't think he was going to get any award ... and mum sitting there (as she's on the committee) feeling a little embarrassed and having to explain that he was not there to receive his 'Most Dedicated U14 Player' award !!! Teenagers !!! Grrrr ....

*** The Twins & Paul's 40th's ... Paul not being here AGAIN to celebrate his birthday ... but we went and celebrated Lawrence's with him ... a couple of delicate heads the next day I'm sure !!! Not me !!!

*** Me getting my first Christmas Fix for 2011... Christmas through the Home ... oooops blew the budget like x 3 !!! Oh well ... in Paul's favourite words ... it's only money and when its gone it gone !!!

Then last week holding my first SA Card Making Class ... had 9 fantastic ladies who were soooo enthusiastic and wonderful pupils ... it makes it soo much easier when you have pupils who are willing to learn and these ladies were like sponges just soaking up all the ideas !!! (it was like teaching craft virgins LOL ... I walked away on Thursday asking myself why have I left it so long !!! I really love teaching !!!)

AS well as in between all this planning my Christmas Workshop which is on Saturday 3rd December ... packing CHRISTMAS stock, packing kits ... sorting in the garage some more ... finding things that I had forgotten I had !!! ...

and so on, and so on,and so on !!!

The only other thing I just have to mention ... the BAD, CRAP, SHITE weather !!! It has rained for the past 2 weeks alomost non-stop ... I swear if I stand outside I can see the grass growing in inches before my eyes !!! everwhere is lush and green ... and my house looks like a mud run !!! With the damned dogs in and out ... who was so stoopid to choose cream rugs ????

Time, Time, Time ...

It just never seems to be on my side these days ... we're already into week 2 of the last term of our school year ... I mean seriously ... feels like only yesterday that we were stressing about 'going to High School' and here we are with the year almost over!!!

Last term means we have a year end exams ... so lots of studying ahead of us ... Grrrr ... but as Kelsey has done so well so far this year I'm going to try not to stress too much about that .... well not just yet anyway ...

Last week just seems to have flown over ... once it was back to school and the routine kicked in ... I had all these good intentions of doing soooo much ... I mean my to do list just seems to be getting longer not shorter ...

Monday morning I had to take Kleo back to the vets ... when we woke up she was 'bleeding' and not from her wound !!! in the human world we would have said 'ladies problems' !!! Vet put her on a course of anti-biotics, gave her a shot and re-dressed her paw ... oh did I mention we'd taken her to be spayed ... and have a growth removed from her front paw ... anyway she's all better now ... and today she had all her stitches removed ... she did look so cute with her little sock on ... only dog I know who does NOT object to being dressed up ... she's a strange one ... probably why she fits into this crazy family so well LOL !!!

"Check out my sexy sock !!! and I'm supporting the Bokke !!!"

Then ... the new car ... oh did I mention that one ??? The day Paul arrived he was informed "Come Hell or High water you're not getting back on a plane unless I have a 2nd car on my driveway ... you have no idea how difficult my life is without transport nag nag nag nag !!!!" *in moaning wife voice* and OMG he took me seriously ... mind you the fact that he was with us when we broke down at 9pm at night in the middle of Durban ... when had he not been with us it would have been just K & Me !!! and then have to get towed back to Hillcrest and spend 2 days without a car here ... as nasty as it sounds .... maybe Karma was on my side for a change ... so the last week Paul was here we were car hunting ... and way got me another car ... not new 2nd hand but a hell of a lot better(No not better just more reliable than mine) ... a Nissan Murano ... and I would take a photo and post it on here to brag about it ... but I don't have it AGAIN !!! ... well through Paul's power of persuasion had it for the last weekend he was here ... but there were 'things' that Nissan needed to put right on it !!! so I had to take it back on Monday ... and here I am a whole week later and I still don't have it back ..... welcome to Africa ... H U A W !!!

The rest of the week went really well ... and the fact that the sun has shone all week ... with temperatures in the higher 20's and odd 30 ... just made it a really nice week ...

Thursday I met up with a great bunch of ladies ... Adele ... one of the rugby mums told me about the group she met with on a regular basis ... they're all card makers and are all self taught... swapping ideas between them ... well Adele told me about them and them about me and they invited me to pop along and have a chat with them ... what a great and productive morning ... managed to share quite a few ideas just in our first session and now we're going to be meeting once a month for 'Card Making Classes' .... wahooo ... the teacher in me jumping up and down !!!

Then this weekend saw Kelsey playing his last match for the season ... another wahooo ... a couple of months of no rugby ... well no being a rugby mum as such ... although they have started pre - pre-season training ... please don't make me explain that one ... so he is still 'keeping fit' ...
unfortunately they lost their last match 17-5 but they were an U14 squad playing against a touring U15 squad ... and boy those U15 were HUGE !!! so I think they did really really well ... although there's no more rugby I've still got committee meetings ... like tomorrow night ... making plans for the end of season awards ... it never ends !!!

Sunday morning found me doing one of the craziest things I've done so far this year !!! I was up at 4am ... yes you read it right 4am ... to 'Man' a water station on behalf of the High School for the Amashova Cycle race ... people cycle from Pietermaritzburg to Durban ... 96km !!! I mean seriously who does that ... and seriously who gets up at 4am to man a water station ... well I guess I do !!! and then on Sunday afternoon I met up with one of my 'Brides to be' to discuss her wedding photos ...

Heck man ... and there I was looking forward to some quiet time before Christmas !!! Hahahaha ... oh and to end this episode ... just have to mention my next Workshop is booked for 3rd December ... so I really have no time to be dilly dallying !!!

My oh My oh My ...

Has it really been that long ??? I mean 4 weeks !!! since I last blogged !!!

Have I really been that busy ... too busy to even find time to write ... well let me tell you how crazy it has been and then you tell me if I could've maybe found half an hour or so to blog ... LOL

For the past 4 weeks ... most of my time has been taken up as a taxi driver ... either for school drop offs, helping out at school, driving (Miss Daisy) oops I mean mum LOL ... rugby practise, more rugby practise oh and did I mention the rugby practise runs ??? and of course in between all that ... packing kits for my workshop day (full details to follow) unpacking stock from the garage for the same said workshop (d.t.f) ... menu planning, shopping etc all for my workshop ...

Oh what the heck let me just tell you about it now ... otherwise I'll get all confused .... what a really great day was had by all ... I had 25 ladies for my first Hillcrest High School Workshop Day and true to Janet style we had a blast ... as usual the most important thing they all needed was a sense of humour ... and boy did we laugh ... and laugh and laugh ... but everyone of the ladies have signed up for the next one ... and of course they all want a Christmas Workshop ... yahooo gals I'm back !!!

Oh I forgot to mention .... in between all of this Paul arrived ... poor man definitely hit the ground running ... a marathon this time ... he arrived Friday 23rd Sept... workshop day was 24th ... Kelsey played rugby Sunday 25th .. then it was all go for the school Sports Dinner on Wed 28th ...he ended up scaffolding fixing the draping ... moving tables and even manning the bar on the night ... all in a days work ...

AND ... just to add to all of this my car decided to pack up on US again ... a late night recovery by Stephen (after a rugby practise) followed by a new diesel pump and the car's back on the road ... but not until it costs Paul a few swipes of his card ... oh and some new tyres !!!! ... then it's packing the car up for the weekend away ...

This past weekend the whole family finally got together in the Berg for our long awaited re-union we had an awesome time ... just a pity the weather didn't play nicely ... we had EVERY type of weather possible ...rain, hail, wind, storms, thunder, lightning ... you name it ... and on the very top of the mountains even SNOW !!! It was blerdy cold !!!! but we all had fun ... great time catching up ... reminiscing etc. etc. ... Plenty of alcohol consumed ... lots of old stories to tell and even some new ones made !!! LOL

And now back home ... enjoying some quiet family time ... sadly Paul only has a few more days till he's back off home to England ... wonder if we'll ever get back to living like a normal family again ???

OoooH and I almost forgot to mention ... Kelsey's school report ... yet again ... 1st in class ...with 3 subject distinctions ...and 90% in MATHS ... oh my genius child ... and yet another PMM...

To HELP you ...

For those of you who are watching and supporting the Boke in the Rugby World Cup 2011 and you want to join in the SA National anthem ... go check out ...

You Tube ... Idiots Guide to The SA Anthem by Deeply Fried ...

It is brilliant ...

Bad Moon Rising !!!

Oh Boy what a week ... and its only Wednesday !!! (well that was the day I started this blog !!! and here I am on Friday and I'm still writing the blog ... didn't manage to post this ... so don't go being confused when this page says posted on Wednesday ... it's something that blogger does !!! doesn't save/edit in real time !!!)

So where do I start ... YES ... Kelsey's fight ... I am so incredibly proud of my Son-shine ... I never thought in a million years that I would see my boy step over that 'threshold' .. and you know what ... he did ... and even though he came out 2nd in a 2 man fight (LOL) I was really, really proud of him ... he did so well ... he tapped-out as his opponent got him in a strangle hold ... and what an awesome young man ... he even came over to us to apologise for winning. We actually all had a great afternoon ... watching some of the other fighters ... Kelsey had a huge fan club with him ... I had a car full of Girls (Stevie, Kaela & Jenna) and Heini too, then Michelle, Adrian, Cody & Summer arrived to support him, Uncle Lawrence was there as well as Sally & Chris Byram with Brittani & a friend of hers ... so he had his own fan club going ... hehehe

And then onto the rest of the week ... well it just seems to be a continuous blur of driving and rugby and more driving and then even more rugby !!!

SON-shine has now started his additional rugby training in Durban North for DRSU on Tuesday and Thursday ... so our week in very FULL to say the least ... what has become the hardest to juggle are meals ... our usual routine would be to eat at 6.30pm ... but as his training is starting at 6pm going on till 8pm and it's an hour drive either way ... so meals have been on the run ... shovel food in before we go ... then have a snack for the journey home ... what a crap week to try and start a diet !!!

Oh and talking of a diet ... another stupid idea to start a diet in a week when I go into school to teach the kids how to make bread !!! and then of course I have to be a judge for all the bread these kids made ... and taste test 16 loaves !!! Carbo overload ...

And then I had to taste test the chocolates that I am making for the Sports Dinner ... mmm yup definitely a good week to start a diet !!!

Oh and talking of Sports Dinner ... seems I'm on that committee too ... so now I have to be booking tables, sorting linen, choosing colour schemes, flowers etc... for the High School Sports Dinner ... oh and Paul this function just happens to be on during the 1st week you're here ... so my darling you will definitely have to hit the ground running !!!

And I'm really excited about tomorrow ... I've booked myself on a workshop day !!! yes I'm going to be doing me some crafting ... thought it would be a good exercise ... a chance for me to do a bit of investigating ... see how they do workshops here ... I will keep you posted on that one too...

So as you can see a really busy crazy week ... and it doesn't look like it's going to get any quieter over the next couple of weeks either ... oh well I wanted to be doing something to keep me out of mischief !!!

So much for ...

blogging regularly ...

and here we are already at Thursday and so much to fill you in on ... (NEXT update from rugbymum.com !!! LOL)

Did he make it??? or did he not ??? But firstly I have to tell you I've been using the wrong letters ... Kelsey attended Durban Rugby Sub-Union trials = DRSU not DSRU ... just thought I better clear that one up !!!

YES YES & YES !!! Kelsey has been selected to represent KZN ... thankfully NOT for the touring team ... for the reserves and home team ... but we don't see that as second best ... we still see this as a HUGE milestone in his rugby career ... and honestly a job well done for someone who has only being playing rugby for 3 years ... I mean there are some kids that have been playing rugby since they were 5 years old ... and they didn't make it ... another proud mum moment !!!

So now what ??? well this means that although he's not on the touring side he is on the team that stays here in KZN and plays against the squads that come here to us .. so he still has to do all the extra training that's involved ... OMG ... do you realise just how crazy my weeks are going to be for the next 2 months !!!

This is how our weeks are going to play out ... Monday night it's 2 hours of MMA (Kickboxing & Mixed Martial Arts) Tuesday night 2 hours of DRSU training, Wednesday Night 2 hours Club Rugby Training, Thursday Night DRSU Training and Friday Night 2 hours of Club Rugby again ... Saturday thankfully a day of rest ... and Sunday is Club Rugby Matches !!! and all these training sessions are after school hours !!! and he'll still have homework to do ... and we have end of term assessments coming up .... Aaaaaaargh ... when exactly are we expected to eat ??? never mind sleep ???

Oh the joys of being a "dedicated sportsman" (and who said moving here to SA was gonna be bad for him, mad maybe but definitely not bad !!!)

Hey I'm just e-Taxi Driver !!!

Oh ... just have to mention ... this Saturday Kelsey is fighting ... yes you read it right FIGHTING in his first MMA fight !!! Yeah yeah ... I know I said he could do the training but NO fights ... but then I was 'persuaded' into believing that the fight was part of the training !!! DUH don't think so !!! Oh well now I have that to contend with ... watching some other dude beat up my child or my child beat up some other dude ... and all in a controlled environment !!!

Watch this space for the next episode ...

What else have I been up to ...mmm well lets move onto the crafting side ... went to PMB with Adele and spent 4 hours making yet more 'non-adhesive' bound books ... really enjoyed getting to do something creative again ... also helped get me a bit more motivated for my up-coming workshop ... although the thought of trying to find 'stuff' in that damned garage gives me the heebie jeebies !!! I've already advertised what we're going to be doing in the Workshop ... now I've just got to find the stock, make up some current samples and make up the kits ... well it gives me something to do between 10pm and 5am !!! LOL

And finally a quick note, just had to add my weather report ... today the 1st September ... Spring Day for us ... and what a pleasure ... the sun was shining beautifully... temperatures rose to upper 20's and there's a warm wind blowing tonight .... I just know that this means we're going to have a scorcher of a Summer ahead of us .... FINALLY I've found some African HEAT !!!!

Trial=ed out ...

So yesterday ... our first experience of DSRU rugby trials ...

Quite an experience I have to say ... Kelsey was very nervous when we set off yesterday morning and I have to say I was too !!! Neither of us had a clue of what to expect ... but I made sure we arrived there on time ... the U14 trials started at 12noon but we had to be there an hour before for warm up and registration ... also meant I got a good parking spot too LOL ...

The weather was not being nice for us spectators but was pretty good for the boys ... cold and overcast ... exactly like the last time we were at Old Boys Rugby Club .. seems winter has popped back for a quick visit ... yadda yadda yadda ... enough about the weather ... stay focused Janet !!!

All the boys were called to the registration area ... and my first surprise was how FEW boys were actually there (there were 40 boys from the u14 age group) ... the organisers then gave us and the boys the run down ... and I must say I was very impressed with their 'speech'... the 'headman' told the boys that they had all already 'been selected' for their talents and their abilities ... the fact that they were standing on that field meant that the selectors had already singled them out as players with the abilities needed to be part of the DSRU Squad ... and he said each boy should be very proud of himself and pat himself on the back for having been spotted on the field.... (So for me that was a huge achievement for Kelsey ... and I hope he sees that on it's own)

He then went on to explain what the DSRU were looking for ... there would be 2 squads chosen from today's trials... one squad would be the touring squad which would go on the inter-provincial tour (IPT) at the end of September to Bloemfontein, the 2nd squad would be classed as the reserves and unlike other years ... these boys would be the automatic choice if the boy in their position had to 'fall out' for any reason on the tour... this way there would be no worries for the organisers to be searching for a replacement at the last minute. The reserve squad would also be playing in games on the 15th October when a touring side from Pretoria came to our province to play ... so in a nutshell both squads would get game time !!!!

NOW me as a parent I was pretty impressed at the whole organisation of this ... I am very, very proud of Kelsey as this means he is classed as one of the top 40 in club rugby for the region ... so if he doesn't get into any of the squads I still think he has done extremely well ...

The boys were then given numbers, which was how they would be recognised for the rest of the day ... just as numbers. The boys were not allowed to wear their club colours as they were there to represent themselves NOT their clubs and they did not want the selectors to be seen to be favouring one club over another ... good practise I thought...

Then it was 'games begin' ... the boys were given a shirt with their position number on and there were 2 teams ... they then played 15min 'chukkas' and during this time the ref was told to change boys into different positions, swap sides etc. etc. so the selectors could watch how the boys a) played in the positions they were given, b) see how versatile the boys were to play against and with each other and c0 give those boys who were able to play in more than 1 position the opportunity for the selectors to see which position he was best suited to ...

Kelsey ended up playing the whole day in the same position ... NUMBER 3 which is Tight head Prop ... a position that he has NEVER played before ??? Now that was VERY confusing for both of us ... when I spoke to one of his coaches and asked why he was in that position... they said obviously at one of the games he had been seen by the selectors playing in the position and they had liked what they saw ??? OK fair doe's... also we noticed that there seemed to be more back line players and not so many front line players ... apparently it had been the opposite in previous years !!! So he played in all 6 'chukkas' ... by the time the day was over he was 'FINISHED' and very sore !!!

The head honcho ... did mention half way through the day that some of the parents had commented that their boys had not played as much as others ... his explanation was simply that there were some positions with MORE players than others ... so I'm thinking obviously there were not too many Tight head props cos Kelsey played every game ... is this a good sign or a bad sign ???

NOW we wait ... we started the day at 11am and finished trials at 5pm !!! and we've been told the selectors will be getting the figures, comments etc all together and we should be notified by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest who has been selected and for what !!!! and who has NOT been selected !!!

I asked Kelsey how he feels about the whole thing and he said yesterday "mum I really don't care I'm too sore to worry about it right now" ...bless his little cotton sox...

Today I've asked him and I'm proud of his response ... he said "mum I played my best and if it was good enough for them I'll get a position... if it wasn't I'll try again next year!!!" Excellent reply Kelsey ...

I think he's also in 2 minds because the week they go on tour, Paul is here in SA and we have planned a long weekend in the Berg with the family (the 1st time the whole family will be together in about 5 years !!!) And Kelsey has sooooooo been looking forward to that ... plus if he goes on tour he will only get to see his dad for 1 week, the last week of school, the tour is the week they are on school holidays ... I've told him to just wait & see what happens ... what is meant to be will be ....

PS: I think I should be changing this blog from The Craft Oracle to Rugby MUM.com (PMSL)

Ooops forgot ...

to mention one of the most important things of the whole week ...

Kelsey has been invited to attend DSRU (Durban & Districts) rugby trials on Saturday ... yes my boy ... my SON-shine ... I am soooo very proud of him ...

Not so sure what to expect from these trials but apparently if they get picked to play for DSRU then they go on an Inter-Provincial Tour to Bloemfontein for a week and play against all the teams from the other provinces ... quite an honour to represent your district ...

I've kinda told him to do his very best but to keep in mind that there will be lots of boys trying out for the same positions as him and this is a step in the right direction for him ... seeing as he's never been selected to even 'try-out' before now... and you know what ... if he doesn't get in this year there is always next year and no matter if he does or does not get into the squad I am extremely, extremely PROUD of my SON-shine ...

He has come so far in such a short time ... xxxx :-)

Eish ... maar dis a hectic life I'm leading !!!

another whole week has gone by !!!

I just have to get a handle on this 'time management' thing !!!

Oh I must apologise in advance if some of this post is mis-spelt ... seems my keyboard is playing up ... every now and again my keys get jammed !!! Always something ...

Hey people ... before I go any further I just have to mention ... the weather ... it has been blerdy awesome ... not too hot ... but warm enough for me to shed 2 layers !!! Right so weather covered let me tell you what I've been up to this last week ...

Hard to believe it but last week Thursday was Kleo of the Bells 1st birthday ... yes our little (NOT) puppy is now a year old ... so when do puppies actually grow up and no longer be puppies ??? With this one I guess it will be never !!!

The weekend was as usual a hectic one ... we went to the Shongweni Car Expo ... Juno asked me to go take some pics of her new toy ... her Pink & Black Toureg ... lucky cow !!! and there were some really pwetty cars ... some very desirable pieces too ... mmm wondering if maybe it's time for a new toy for me too ... and even more so after our escapade on Monday ... but wait I'm jumping ahead of myself again ...

Sunday was club rugby ... the weather was beautiful and the day was great ... both U15A and U15B won their matches which was a big boost for the boys cos they were thinking they were never going to get a point on the board ... well done HVJR Colts ... now we just have to keep moving forward...

SO onto Monday ... morning started out fab ... Juno & I went to Party Themes ... I have a few functions I've got to plan and 'do' in the next couple of weeks and Juno is planning Tamar's 16th .. so we kinda got a bit carried away ... then we 'popped' in to the new China Mall ... aaw ... all that cheap china bling ... managed to find myself a few bargains and so did Juno !!!

Then ... the day went down hill ... the weather was beautiful again and by the time we came out of China Mall it was very hot ... so we decided we just had to have the air con on ... 20mins later ... a strong burning smell and then the car started making the weirdest noise ever ... OMG here we go again ... thankfully it got us back to Juno's place and when Steven heard it he was like " turn it off !!! sounds like something had seized " ... it had ... the air con compressor AGAIN !!!

Grrrr so onto the roll back truck it went and off to the air con people ... you know all I have to say is: the drugs are definitely working .... cos even after a 10min stress peak ... I was just so OVER that damned car ... Thankfully I have friends like Juno & Steven ... Steven let me use one of his old bakkies to get me and Kelsey home ... and then the air con people have had to by-pass the air con unit AGAIN and take out the compressor .. which was only put in 6 months ago !!! So here we go again ... yet more car aggro !!!

But at least I have 4 new fuel injectors in my car ... they were finally put in on Wednesday ... while I was out Crafting ... yes you read right ... me CRAFTING !!! with my mechanics wife ... yes we women actually planned that perfectly LOL .. Adele has introduced me to a Craft Society up in PMB .. and so on Wednesday I met the other ladies and my first class with them was NON adhesive book binding ... AWESOME ... I'm now making my own books ... next week Wednesday we're doing a more advanced class .... yippeee...

STOP Thief ...

whoever stole the last 3 days of my week please bring it back !!!

It feels like I've been on the run all week ... not even had much time for FB either !!! So you must know that's bad ...

OK I didn't get the job that I applied for ... maybe a good thing cos don't know when I would've had time to do it LOL ... but Mrs M did ask if she could keep my CV on file ... maybe next year ???

Sunday rugby ... yes he played ... half a game, sadly they lost to Collegians now we really have to start winning some games otherwise !!! and it was BLOODY freezing, I mean BLERDY FREEZING cold and the club where we played was down near the beach ... it's supposed to be warmer there !!!

Monday & Tuesday involved getting ready ... beauty stuffs, new hair do etc ... for the Sharks Ladies Breakfast on Wednesday ... only either idiots or dedicated sports fans get up at 4.30am to have breakfast with 48 gorgeous well toned hunks who play with odd shaped balls ... well I don't mind being called both ... an idiot and a dedicated sports fan !!! ... the breakfast was at Sabiya Casino ... the room looked lovely .. the coffee at 6.30am was awesome .... and after that I have to say Sabiya SUCKED !!! the food was disgusting ... in all my career in either banqueting or the kitchen ... if I had DARED to serve that food in that condition like that I would have been FIRED !!! and when you consider there was 48o people in that room ... I dread to imagine just how much they charged for that function ...

The rest of the morning ... having access to the SHARKS was great, when you could get a word in ... they were all great fun, had to put up with 400 crazy women LOL ... we were on table 14 and we had Stefan Terblanche (and I still think of him as THE CAPTAIN) at our table ... such a nice gentleman ... the MC (none of us can remember her name) was very good, she's an Indian comedienne and an excellent hostess ... except for when she thought Adi Jacobs was Keegan Daniels (the current captain) now if you know these 2 players you will be pissing yourselves laughing ... it's like mixing up a cauliflower and a carrot (roflmao)... there were lots of spot prizes ... some nice sponsors and an awesome main prize (of course NON of which I won :-(... sour grapes nah !!!) ... although I have to say (and remember this is just my opinion) the ladies goody bags 'sucked' ....

It was really interesting to know that these guys have kinda normal lives ... do a hell of a lot for charity ... the profits from Wednesday's breakfast was going to Addington Children's ward ... so definitely a good cause ... and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room when they showed us a film of the boys taking gifts etc. to the kids on the ward ...

Took loads of photos (just trying to upload a few for you to see) ... managed to man (oops woman) handle a few gorgeous buns !!! And even with my 'moaning' and slight criticism HELL YES I wanna be on the list again next year please ....

Hello Saturday ...my old friend ...

yup so here we are at another Saturday ... and what a weird week we've just had ... with the public holiday (Women Day) on Tuesday ... it made this week and incredibly SHORT week ... well no I know there were still the same number of days in the week ...duh !!! I'm not that stooopid ... but because we had a 4 day weekend ... it meant 'the working week' was shorter!!!

And then because it was shorter ... mmm what did I get up to ??? Let me see...

Tuesday ... as it was Women's Day ... of course we had to spend it with other Women LOL .. so we popped over to June's for the afternoon ... first time we'd seen them since we got back from the UK ... it was a lovely day so we actually sat outside ... warming the old bones in the sun ...I do love the winter sun ... when it bothers to show its face....

Wednesday it was back to the 5.30am wake-up and the school run ... and overnight the weather turned funny ... so it was time to be with my BF blankie again ... I had lots of photos to edit, and a workshop to organise ... so the day was spent at my desk on the computer !!! and before I knew it, it was collecting time, homework then off out to rugby practise ... I took a bet with the girls that K probably wouldn't be playing this coming weekend cos the 'A' squad have a BYE ... and Craig had already put up on the Teamer site that some of the 'A' squad would be invited to play in the 'B' squad..... don't go there Janet ... stay away ... deep breaths ... no-comment please ... anyway himself came of the practise field telling me he IS playing on Sunday !!! (maybe good thing no-one took me up on that bet ... but Sunday is not here yet so lets wait and see... I'll keep you posted)

And then Thursday ... a very SPECIAL day ... Happy Birthday to my darling SON-shine ... 14 years ago my life was changed ... and I've never regretted a single moment of it ... so it was lovely fresh chocolate chip muffins for the kids in his class ... and I have to say this batch was particularly yummy ...

Thursday also saw me attending my interview ... not sure how it went but hey ho ... I shall wait and see ...

And then Friday is was Petunia's Pancake Palace performing again at the High School .. fund raising at the girls soccer tournament ...

Oh what a hectic and varied life I lead !!!

Son-shine has gone away for the weekend with Heini & his family to Scottburgh ... and they are driving back down to Durban tomorrow so the boys can play rugby ... Hopefully they will have had a good time ...

And well I guess my weekend has been sleeping ... hunting for stock in the garage that I can't find ... stock that I need for my workshop day ... grrrrr... that is so frustrating cos I know that I had it ... well I've taken stock of it ... it's on my computer as my opening stock !!! so IT has to be in there ... but I'm sure I have moved and unpacked at least 100 boxes and 'sod's law' I can't find what I'm looking for ... so !!! what do I do ??? change the projects or go hunting again ??? Mmmm decisions, decisions !!!

No, no, NO, no...

absolutely NO snow for us to chase this weekend !!! hahaha *evil laugh*

We're having a long weekend, our kids are off school today and tomorrow as it is a public holiday tomorrow 'Women's Day' ... and after all the 'doom & gloom' weather reports I was expecting to be getting up on Saturday morning to a scene from Narnia ... and although Saturday was Ass Freezing Cold ... there was definitely NO SNOW ... not even in the mountains .. and why??? Cos I promised the kids that if there was snow I would take them snow-chasing either today or tomorrow ... (hahahaha I know exactly how to keep the bad weather at bay now !!!!)

Oh have to mention ... the bug thing I thought I'd picked up ... well it's also known as a Kidney Infection !!! Yup ended up in so much pain I nearly crashed the car on Friday so I went to the doctors ... he said "you have a hectic kidney & bladder infection" so I'm on a course of anti-biotics ...

Do you know I have been to the doctors more times in the last 3 years here in SA than I ever was in the 8 years I was in England !!! Wonder why that is ??? Can't blame the heat !!! cos we hardly get any LOL .... I wonder if it's cos I'm NOT working hard and I have time to be sitting around lazily waiting for things to catch me PMSL !!! You know what I'm talking about ... when you're sooo busy rushing around, with deadlines, classes hectic lifestyle you're just running too fast for any nasty bugs to catch you ... then when you calm down, do nothing ... you catch them all .... well I know that works with me cos every year at Christmas when I used to come out here to SA ,before I'd have a hectically busy build up to Christmas ... crafting,shows, classes etc like a demon ... the first week of my hols I was always sick !!!

Well just gives me something else to be moaning about, and talking of moaning:

Kelsey played rugby yesterday and I think it was one of his personal best games ... but he only got to play half a game !!! He got taken off just after half time ... I'm not even sure if I wanna be going through this CLUB RUGBY scene again ... especially when you are led to believe one thing is going to happen ... then something else happens... the coaches have come up with a 'way out' for their decision making process ... they have decided on a new logo for this season "Team before Me" and apparently that is supposed to make any decision to play or not play someone all OK ... but at least Kelsey did get half a game ... some poor kids who were told to pitch for the match didn't even get game time !!!

As I was led to believe ... if we had enough players our 'coaches' were going to put forward 2 teams for this season (not bad considering last year HVJR had a hard time putting forward 1 team in this age group, every weekend Michelle was driving around collecting boys to make up a full squad, and on one rare occasion Kelsey was asked to sit on the bench as a sub cos they didn't have enough guys !!!) ... because U14/U15 are a combined age group a management decision was taken to put the U15 boys in the A league and the U14 boys in the B league ... fair game... it means that all the kids will then get game time and everyone should be happy ... well come game day match A takes place and that happens ... the U15 boys played their game with some of the better U14 boys on the SUB bench for them ... excellent idea ... gives the better boys an opportunity to prove themselves in the A league... (sadly they lost their match) then it comes to the B side ... our U14 boys ... they go on and play very well together in the 1st half ...we were on 5-5 by the half time whistle ...then the 'coaches' decide our motto which is great if it's actually really Team before Me ... but actually it should be Win at All Costs ... even to the detriment of the fun of the game... cos suddenly the U15 boys are being put on the field in the U14 boys places !!! Now yes they can do that cos it is a mixed division ... but they didn't really make that much of a difference cos we still ended the game on a draw 10-10 !!!

Sooo my questions are : how do the younger boys ever get to gel together as a team if they are not going to get the time to play together ??? and how do the boys with little or no experience get that experience if they are not even going to get game time ??? ... maybe my problem is I would like this world to be a FAIR place and in reality life is not fair and it is a dog eat dog world and we should not be teaching our kids to be kind to others and work well with others and respect others ... what we really should be teaching is it is all about every man for himself and get out their and win at all and any cost and bugger the people you have to step on to get there ???

It makes me soooo mad ... it's all about results .. about WINNING only ... and did we win ... hell NO !!!

Oh well old Cyni-cal strikes again !!!

But I am not going to let that put a dampener on my long weekend ... I have a lot of work to be getting on with ... oh and talking of work I have applied for another job ... a classroom assistant position at the Primary School ... well even if I only get interview experience it's better than nothing hahahaha...

Oh I went to the High School on Friday ... it was their Founders Day and took tons of photos .. so I have those to sort out and work on... Saturday we (the HHS Supporters Club) catered at the Soccer Tournament ... it was blerdy freezing ... but we die hards stuck out the cold and made some funds for our committee ... and ... oooh I almost forgot, how could I forget probably the most important piece of news ... I have a Workshop Day to prepare for !!!! YES you read it right ... I am going to be doing a Scrapbooking/Papercraft Workshop at the High School ...a) to keep me busy b) to build up my client base & c) to raise some funds for the school ... now how great does that sound ???

Actually I have a lot to be doing in the next couple of months, wedding photo shoots booked, jewellery orders to complete, school photos to sort, Workshop day to plan, Christmas to organise ... so why the hell am I worrying about getting a job ... I know what's going to happen now ... I have all this stuffs to be doing AND I'll get a job too ... you know me folks it's all or nothing !!!

Is it possible ???

that Spring has Sprung a month early ??? now wouldn't that be nice ???

Especially after the crap weather we had last week ???

So here I am sitting outside in the warm winter/spring sun warming my old and aching bones !!! Don't know if I've picked up some sort of a bug or something but came home from rugby practise last night and started with the shivers, the headache and pains in every joint and muscle !!! Had me a med-lemon and then crashed into bed ... woke through the night with the sweats !!! I mean really .. do I look like I can be bothered to be sick right now ... duh! NO

It is so nice to be here sitting outside ... our tree is bare of leaves but alive to the sounds of the chirping weavers ... they are all frantically building their upside down nests ... it is fascinating to watch them ... makes you realise that nature is a wonderful thing ... Mr W flies off strips leaves of another tree ... brings it back .. starts weaving a nest ... when he thinks its good enough he calls Mrs W over and she inspects it .. if she doesn't like it she tears it off and throws it on the floor ... no second chances for him ... our garden is littered every day with thrown away nests which look perfectly good to me ... but then again I'm not Mrs W !!!! We have to chuck them away asap otherwise Kleo thinks they are toys for her to bring in the house and shred !!!

But now as I said if we were in September right now I'd be thinking this is spring ... but we can only hope that because winter arrived earlier for us this year maybe, just maybe summer will arrive earlier and possibly stay longer ??? Normally August is a wet and very miserable month but so far ... 4 days into it and things are looking positive !!!

I think I need some intervention folks ... I do honestly and truly believe that I have become addicted ... to FB !!! I find myself spending hours and hours just trawling through the crap that people put on there ... and then wonder why it gets to the end of a day and I have done nothing !!! I really really have to force myself to not hit that beautiful blue F button on my computer ... and why am I telling you this ??? Well it's because of that beautiful blue button that I find myself doing less and less every day ... I mean this morning when I looked up it was 9.30am already, I sat down at my computer at 7.30am ... and then next time it was 12 noon ... and I'd done nothing !!! and hey I'm still doing nothing !!!

Which most of the time is ok really but now I'm starting to feel guilty ... cos I have some jewellery orders that I have to complete ... I have to clean up my photos on my HD, I have to print another CD for someone, I have to take my car back to the garage... and a whole load of other things ... and mmmmm I'm stuck on NOTHING !!!!

Aaaah that sun is so nice ... not too hot but warm enough to defrost to the bone ....aaaah ;-)

So... it's weekend again

and guess what ... we have NO RUGBY matches to attend !!! well we could be going to support The Sharks this afternoon... they are playing at home ... but Kelsey doesn't want to !!!

Thanks to the unpredictable and crazy weather we've had this past week club rugby training was cancelled on Wednesday night and again last night ... and the 1st match of The Colts season should have been taking place tomorrow ... but that too was cancelled ...

Then you look at the beautiful day we've had today and you have to ask WHY ??? (was the matches cancelled I mean ... it's gorgeous outside and I'm sure all the water-logged fields would have been fine by tomorrow) ... but hey I'm just a rugby supporter ... what do I know LOL ... But the powers to be cancelled and that's it ...

And when you're someone like me who needs to have my life planned well in advance, a last minute cancellation like this ... just throws me into a state of total confusion ...

I mean the balance of my week last week was just another blur of nothing-ness ... it has rained all week and been wet & cold & miserable so I've actually been very grateful for the nothing-ness ... it meant school run in the morning ... home to my new best friend ... (my blankie wrapped around my legs)... lots of hot tea/chocolate/coffee ... lots of comfort foods and then only needing to move from my slouch in time for pick up... and SON-shine choosing to do no sports at school this term means we're home by 3pm every day ... in fact I'm thinking maybe this is not so good .. I'm thinking this is only adding to the SADS ... the lack of physical activity !!! NOT a good thing really ...

And then here we are at the weekend and hey we're getting to be professionals at the nothing-ness ... I asked SON-shine if he wanted to go out somewhere today ... and when he said NO I jumped for joy ... another day at home ... on the slouch couch !!!

But I do have to mention ... on Thursday I was very proud of myself ... I actually had every reason to loose my temper ... throw a hissy fit ... and you know what ... I was in total control !!! I had a meeting with the Sally, Leanne & Carol, ladies from The Sports Committee on Thursday after school ... the meeting was about Sports Dinner... but that's another story ...

Let me get back to Thursday ... I had told SON-shine I was going to be in the meeting and he must just wait for me ... now we all come out of meeting and we're chatting (as you do) in the car park, SON-shine comes up to me with Britani (Sally's daughter, who is killing herself laughing... SON very sombre at this point) eventually we find out the joke ... Brit tells SON-shine he can leave his school bag in Sally's Bakkie if he wants ... so he goes over to a 'white bakkie' that he thinks is Sally's and he dumps his bags in there ...

Guess what ... yup it was NOT Sally's bakkie he'd dropped his bags into ... in fact he had NO IDEA whose car it was !!! and it has gone ... and so has his school bag with all his books, pens etc. as well as the new jumper I'd only bought him on Wednesday and his rugby skins too !!!

I just stood there ... I really had nothing to say ... (I'm telling you these pills I'm on are brilliant!!!) BUT I did tell him I was NOT going to replace anything ... at all ... he was going to have to explain to his teacher why he had no school books, no pens etc... why his homework was not done ... and I also told him I didn't care if he froze to death I was NOT buying him new skins or jumper !!! (but girls this was all done ...calmly)

LUCKILY for him ... Brit knew someone else who had a car similar to her mums ... who checked his vehicle ... no it wasn't in there.. then through a process of elimination and a couple of really helpful kids we eventually were able to track down the owner of the vehicle where he had dropped his bags ... and even though no-one knew his number ... someone knew someone etc... and finally I was able to chat to the owner of the 'Random White Bakkie' ... SON-shine was even luckier still cos he was still in the Hillcrest area and he agreed to meet up with me to give me back Kelsey's bags !!! I drove calmly through Hillcrest to retrieve the bags (and yes I have to keep harping on about how calm I was cos that is so NOT like me !!!)

Well SON-shine has been on his best behaviour for the rest of the week LOL ... but he did ask on Thursday night after collecting his bags "who are you and what have you done with my mother !!!"

And that was my weekly dose of drama for last week ... hey my life just would not be the same if I did'nt have some sort of a drama LOL

So now the rest of the weekend ... another beautiful day today (SUNDAY)... I know it's taken me 2 days to get this blog written & posted ... had sooo much of nothing-ness to do in between LOL... but we're off out now so thought I better get it posted before another day goes by ...

"OUT !" I hear you say ... yes popping over to Lawrence & Penny's new place (yes new place again ... I think this is the 5th house they've been in since we got here 3 years ago !!!) Its's Penny's birthday through the week so we're going for coffee & cake this afternoon ... well it is a beautiful day and seems such a shame to waste it ....

Hitting the ground running ...

that's exactly how it's been since we arrived back in SA 'A WEEK AGO' !!! what the ... a week already ???

Our return flight was uneventful ... I was very grateful for the help the check - in lady gave us when we were 4kg over weight "I can't be blamed for anything that goes into your hand luggage between check in and boarding" ... so we had to take 4 kg out of my suitcase ... just to put it into my hand luggage ... WTF !!!

But I got the 'goodies' I wanted here this time LOL ... Now Paul just has to remember to pack all the things on the bed upstairs and out of the box and my bedroom cupboard ... over the next 2 trips and Christmas will be sorted for me too LOL ... and he really thought us going to the UK was going to be 'cheaper' in the long run .... NOT !!! {sorry love :-) }

We were both blerdy knackered when we got back ... mum had made a pan full of homemade broth for our return and it was food, shower and bed ... slept like the dead ... but that 5.30am wake up call was a major shock to the system ... talk about back to reality with a BANG !!!

Kelsey struggled to get his head around getting up in the dark ... and we felt the chills as we got dressed ... and off to school ... thankfully he didn't miss out on too much work in the 2 days we were away ... we just had to catch up on some reading ... but "young man ... that better NOT be blonde streaks in your hair ... and they better not be there tomorrow for uniform inspection, otherwise you will get a detention" ... kak ... we didn't get away with it ... I'd already bought a 'brown' hair dye during Wednesday while he was at school ... Wednesday night poor kid was thrown into club rugby training with a vengeance ... and after a science experiment gone wrong to get the blonde streaks back to brown ... with a dash of Mahogany Ginger in between ... he crashed into bed exhausted again...

I had to unpack at least 1 of the cases on Thursday ... the one with Girlfriends Gift in ... MUM have to make sure I give it to her this week it's our 1 month anniversary (OMG !!!) and so she knows I missed her ... (young love LOL)

I don't know what the hell happened to Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday for that matter LOL

Oh wait I remember Friday night was Club Rugby training and then it was "mum can I stay over at Heine's place " ... Lynette told me H had really missed K over the holidays ... those 2 are inseparable ... 2 peas out the same pod ... and that is frightening LOL ...so in fact I didn't see my son again till Sunday afternoon!!!

And I have to say I was very very grateful for that ... after the chaos of our 1st week back and the VERY COLD Friday night at club rugby ... along with the bugs I'm sure I picked up on the plane ...(even though I took all the 'stuff' recommended to take for anti-viral etc. etc.) I was woman down by Friday night ... overdosed myself on FLU remedies ... crashed into bed ... slept till after 8am Saturday ... took another dose and crashed again till 1pm !!! and then after watching a bit of disaster rugby on Saturday (Wallabies beating the Boks 36-20) ... crashed back into bed again by 8pm ... what a pleasure ... couldn't have done that if K had been home ... so a huge thanks to Lynette & Gerard for letting their son no.2 stay for the weekend LOL

So this week hopefully our lives will start to take on some sort of organised 'chaos' ...

Monday we woke to dull overcast and cold winds ... and it started raining by 10am ... and here we are Wednesday 12noon and it's still raining !!! Even SNOW in some parts of KZN ... the MAIN ROAD to JHB is closed ... van Reenen Pass is totally closed and has been for the last 24hours ... see they do get snow in Africa !!! Just not at Christmas ....but I have to say this weathers by far the WORST we've had since we got here 3 years ago ... I'm sitting here writing this with : 4 layers on the upper body ... Jeans, boots and a blanket wrapped around my legs ... IT IS BLERDY BLERDY COLD ...

Kelsey asked me to take cash to school today when I pick him up so I can buy him a LONG sleeved school jersey !!!! He NEVER had one in the UK ... wouldn't wear one ... but honestly I know I moan a lot about the weather BUT this is absolutely ridiculous ... Paul I don't care HOW MUCH it's going to cost but I HAVE to have some sort of 'central heating' in my new house ... or underfloor or some way to keep warm ... cos my body is aching from the weight of the clothes I'm having to wear to keep warm ... (not going to go on and on and on about it BUT !!!!)

And here I am Wednesday ... and all I've managed to achieve so far this week ... suitcases unpacked ... empty cases in the garage ... some washing done ... (as long as you're happy to have the drier going all hours) caught up on my e-mails ... did some food shopping for the house and now I'm blogging ... what the hell !!!

Met up with the 'Blonde Army of 2' on Monday morning to give them back the books I'd covered for the school ... had NO coffee mornings yet ... had no breakfasts with the gals yet ... in fact we are all in DEEP hibernation ... Oh actually I had to go out today cos Indiana 4 Paws has same 'Doggy Gastro' Princess Kleo had before we went away ... so I've had her at the vets this morning ...

Oh and there's a huge pan of Pea & Ham Soup on the Hob .... and THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS !!!

Had to share this ... to all my MOTHER friends ...

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it..

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up...

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mummy to Mum to Mother......

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mummy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mum knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't know everything!

14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn't have a clue. .

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mum? She's so five minutes ago.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mum's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mum would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mum.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries,

or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows,

and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Hard to believe it ...

(started writing this on 16th july !!!)
But our 3 weeks holidays are almost OVER !!! Not good !!!

And ... how was this last week ???

Sunday we made an executive decision and stayed at home ... having a lazy day in ... slept late ... watched TV ... ate too much food ... the boys decided that we had to have a Braai ... yes a braai not a BBQ cos we ate steaks and there were no Beans LOL ...

Sort of sorted some of my stuff out ... managed to do some washing ... well actually all I think I managed to do was move a few bags around here and there ... haha!!!

Then Monday I started all over again ... had a trip to good old Mansfield ... even though I don't have much positive to say about the place still managed to come home with a few bags ...enough said LOL ..

Tuesday met up with Irana ... we had lunch at Dobbies ... of course just had to have a look around there too ... whoops a few more bags !!!

On Wednesday morning I had a doctors appointment ... no not that I'm sick or anything ... thought as I'm still paying my dues I may as well have a quick MOT ... doc gave me another 24 months road worthiness LOL !!!

Then I met up with Gussey for lunch followed by CRT (Craft Retail Therapy) at Once Upon a Stamp... great to see Gordon again... Rob wasn't in and I'm told by the ladies he's hardly ever there these days ... seems the man is kept busy with all the 'NEW' stuff he's designing ... you go Rob !!! And don't forget to keep us all updated !!!

Thursday morning it was coffee, followed by another coffee with Ann and a nice long catch up ... we went to the Castle Coffee shop ... do you know I've still never managed to get around that Castle !!! I promise ... it was on my list of things to do for sure this time !!! BUT !!! ran out of time AGAIN !!! ... then after coffee I made a quick dash up to Barnsley again to collect some stuff I'd ordered from The Craft Box ... and on my way back down the M1 I popped into Meadowhell ... well it was'nt an accidental pop in ... I had to collect some more 'stuff' from there that I'd ordered ... and I was meeting JJ for catch-up and dinner ... yet another great day spent with friends ...

Thursday the boys had decided to take the day off and go fishing ... spend some good quality father & son time ... and apparently they both caught something ... even a small catch is a catch !!!

And then it was onto Friday ... I did'nt have anything PLANNED but I needed to pop into Chesvegus ... and I had to finally see the large Tesco there too ... BUT I was home by 3pm to start packing ...

And So I've shopped up a storm ... have I got everything ... NO ... what I've got do I need ...NO but I so WANTED everything I've bought ...

Saturday (16th) we made another family descision and it was haircut for SON-shine ... and the family 'thang' of having our feet nibbled on by Garra Rufa Fish !!! What a really great relaxing afternoon we had ... the look on the boys faces when the fish first started 'nibbling' especially Kelsey as he hates having anyone or thing touch his feet ... and Saturday night ended with a fantastic meal out at one of our favourite places The Dynasty in Chesvegus with Jane & Nigel ...aaaahhh good food with good friends ...

BUT our holiday was still not over ... Sunday (17th) I attempted a bit of packing before we went of to Colleen & Robs for an afternoon with the Bawden Clan ... a lovely Roast Pork dinner ... some great company and a perfect end to our holidays ...

AND now today ... 3 suitcases packed & ready ... gonna push our luck and try to take the MAXIMUM weight we can ... if we don't get away with it Paul will bring the smaller suitcase home ... and he'll just have to bring it out with him in October LOL ... but I'm hoping we'll have a nice sympathetic person when we check in and they'll let us have all 3 cases ...

Then Kelsey & I have that long awful journey back to South Africa (again) !!!

What ... our 2nd week over already ...

Aaaaa this is so not fair !!! the time is going way too fast ... and my list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter ... in fact it seems to be getting longer !!!

Once I'd started the craft shopping I decided I just had to carry on with it ... so Wednesday saw me popping over to Trimcraft and seeing all the girls there ... picked up the odd bargain or 200 !!! hehehehe ... No actually I was very reserved ... could very easily have slipped back into the old habit of over spending ... but thinking 'mmm' less spending on crafts... more spending on clothes (hehehehe) ... and well really clothes are my thang at the moment (LOL) ... the crafts will be there later :-)

By the time I got home the boys had made a management decision and we were off to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4 !!! It was great ... now there just HAS to be a 5 !!!

Then when we got home the house was bloody freezing ... well actually I was blerdy freezing in the movies ... wind had picked up and then it rained !!! Grrrr and then there was something going on with the central heating ... typical ... the boys didn't care ... so I just had to have me a tired, cold hissy fit ... but on a positive note ... it meant Paul knew there was something wrong with the central heating !!! (oh and the boys apparently fixed it !!! we'll see)

Thursday morning I attempted to get up early ... well I set my alarm ... got up early ... started going through all the mail that had piled up for me... which also happened to be a few catalogues ...mmmmm more crafting stuff !!! and before I knew it, it was 12noon ... and I still hadn't decided what I was going to be getting up to ... so I took myself off to McArthur Glen ... or Midlands Designer Outlets as it's now known ... the boys joined me there for lunch ... not such a good idea ... those 2 are a nightmare to go shopping with ... and after lunch I sent the boys home to do some housework LOL ...Hey I never realised just how big that place was ... every other time I've been there I've managed to get to Cotton Traders and Claire's Accessories and no further ... this time after 2 hours in Cotton Traders (well I was rugby shirt shopping ... not necesarrily all for me folks !!!) I managed to have a good old rummage around all the shops ... walked away with just the ODD bargain (PMSL, don't think I've done this much 'shopping' in at least a year ROFLMAO)

So I've done a few things on the list ... even started my Christmas shopping !!! yes you read right CHRISTMAS !!! So that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ... basically I'm getting all the things on my list and doing the next 6 months shopping too ... (good plan ... do you think it's working ??? do you think I can continue to get away with it ???)

Friday I met up with Mrs Mc and after a catch up over a cuppa ... we set off up the M1 to Barnsley ... visited our usual haunts ... popped into the Button Mill for lunch ... yet another Faulty Towers sketch ... it had Sharon & I rolling with laughter ... you know it's bad when you walk into a pub ... with no customers in at lunch time ... you ask if they are doing food and the guy behind the bar says ... yes but let me tell you what we DON'T have on the menu .... it takes him longer to tell you what's NOT on the menu that what is !!! Hysterical ... but not too bad food as long as you don't worry about the 'clean' cutlery LOL ...

Sharon & I had a great afternoon of craft shopping at the CraftBox at Elsecar ... people ... in case you decide to pop over there in the near future ... they have moved ... not too far away ... they are still in Elsecar Heritage Centre ... just not in the corner shop anymore ... they are further along in the centre. A much bigger shop with a load of space for workshops etc... get in touch with Lynn there she'll be only too happy to help you out with anything you're looking for...

I'd decided that we were going to have Fish & Chips for dinner on Friday night and Sharon told me the best place for cod & chips in our area ... 'Fillets' in Mansfield ... opposite ASDA ... well let me tell you peeps ... on Friday night I had the bestest EVER fish & chips with mushy peas .... I felt like I was in gourmet heaven ... even better than any seaside fish & chips !!!

And then onto today ... Kelsey decided it was his turn to go shopping ... Oh well if we have to!!! LOL ... let me tell you ... tonight Paul is wearing a black arm band ... I think today was the MOST expensive day out shopping since we got here ... Kelsey sweet talked his dad into letting him have his Birthday present early ... a computer DJ mixing desk thingy !!! and then he ordered his next 6 months of PS3 games !!! and to top it all off I walked out of the shops with a new 2TB HD ... well I needed an upgrade to store all my photos !!! Oh and I also stocked up on all our DVD's that we've been missing !!! Poor Paul (*evil grin*)

Next Chapter ...

So Saturday I was very good ... managed to stay in my £ 20.00 budget ... in fact came home with 53p change !!! ... think I got some really good bargains ... lacy T-shirts for £ 2.00 and a lovely blingy bracelet that I could 're-string' if necessary for a whole £ 1.00 !!! and books ... 3 for a £ 1.00 ... so why did we not go to car boots before ??? hehehehe!!!

Saturday night spoilt Paul by cooking him one of his favourite dinners ... Spaghetti Bolognaise, that went down a treat ...

Sunday when we woke the weather was beautiful ... but it was a unanimous vote to have a lazy do-nothing day .... had brunch in the garden ... went through all my catalogues that had piled up here while I've been away ...ooh if only I had lots of money ... so much 'I want' ...

Finally finished reading the book I started about a month ago !!! Oh this is what holidays are all about !!!

Sunday night cooked another one of Paul's favourite dinners ... Bacon & Cheese Pasta Bake with a lovely fresh green salad that Kelsey made ... yes teaching my Son-shine to be a good husband...

Monday when I woke I thought it was going to be a cooler day ... it was a bit overcast to start off with but turned out to be a really beautiful day. As the boys had left early I was undecided what exactly to do with myself ... but I'd promised mum I would try and get her passport renewed while I was here ... so a trip to Chesterfield was necessary ... couldn't get the passport sorted ... long story !!! but did have some fun mooching around good old Chesvegus ... managed to cross a few more thangs on my 'shopping list' ... found a few bargains too !!! hehehe ... another *evil laugh* ... (Paul is really gonna have a few things in his suitcases for the next couple of trips LOL)

And as I'd had such a tough day 'shopping' {again} there was NO WAY I was gonna be cooking tea ... so a quick stop at Dominoes Pizza and food was sorted ...
:-}

And then ... onto today ... was up nice and early ... put on the glad rags and off to meet up with Gussey Tucker :-} .... what a great day catching up ... managed to get ourselves lost a few times on the way to Pontefract ... but did eventually find Craftzone again ... had a couple of hours 'therapy' ... picked up a new technique from the gals there ... (thanks gals) ... and then onto Lunch, which was hysterical ... we were almost in a Faulty Towers sketch ... Gussey was at the stage of almost asking ... "well what is on the menu and we'll have that" LOL .... and guess what ... we managed to get lost getting out of Pontefract too hehehehe !!!

It does a person good to spend time laughing ......

and the holiday continues ...

where did I end... oh yes Wednesday done & dusted ...

Thursday morning woke up and thought oooh a bit of sunshine ... so decided I'd be adventurous and wear crop jeans ... that lasted all of 15mins... it started raining and once I walked outside it was blerdy chilly so it was back inside and long jeans on LOL...

Gonna start a 'things you forget' list:
1. Fields filled with poppies .... what a beautiful sight... MUST get me a photo of that !!!
2. How cold summer is here in UK and how cold the rain is too!!!
3. Driving is MPH not KPH!!! ooops
4. How late the day starts & ends ... Paul only goes out to work about 8.30ish !!! by then SA side KB been at school over an hour, I've been up 3 hours !!! By 10pm I'm falling asleep and he's still watching TV !!!
5. Hayfever !!! aaaargh
6. £1.00 = R 11.00 ... so keep doing the maths before you go mad as say it's only a quid !!! But if you see a SALE buy from it LOL ... that's international PMSL !!!

So onto Thursday ... once I'd chosen the right clothes got in the car ... drove to the top road and said ... left Chesterfield, right Mansfield ... I'd decided we had to get some 'proper' food in the house so it was right towards Mansfield... called into JTF on the way ... BEEG mistake ... stocked up on the stationery for SA, the medical stuff for SA, and silly stuff only stocked at JTF !!! LOL
So the boys called me at lunch time and it was "where shall we meet for lunch" ... ASDA's just around the corner ... and that was me gone for the rest of the day ... no site of Mansfield town centre LOL

Did you know I can spend 4 hours in ASDA and not even reach the food section ... I do believe I have a problem ... Shoppers Anonymous here I come ... Never used to be like this ... gonna blame the girlfriends in SA ... they all wear funkyliscious clothes and look good ... so now I must compete with them (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it !!!) ... but even Paul commented on the fact that I clothes shop now .... before I was addicted to 'craft shopping' hehehe ... (haven't even started that yet Oooops ... Paul you did not just see that bit LOL)

So I finally reached the food section ... bought a 'bake @ home pizza' and made my way home ... the boys were out a gym so I unpacked my wares ... did the typical ooh & aaah again ... had to find a home for all the stuff I bought ... think my bags are already overweight ... and it's only day 3 !!! and so we had Pizza for dinner and I crashed into bed exhausted by 10pm ...

Friday ... the boys decided a trip to Meadow-hell was in order ... now I'm not a big fan of that place ... ooops the new me is apparently ... dragged the boys kicking and screaming into clothes shops, boutiques and all ... what has happened to me ??? Even I'm starting to get worried now !!! We arrived at MH at 12ish ... I only allowed them to break for lunch after 3pm ... luckily for them Paul got a call out to go to a job ... so they escaped about 5pm .... and they found me in a shopping frenzy in New Look ... the dirty 4 letter word (SALE) having drawn me in there from when they left me !!!!

Me thinks Paul is now regretting having said"love it will be cheaper in the long run for you & Kelsey to come here cos I can still work while you guys are here" .... ooops me thinks perhaps I am spending more than he is making per day ROFLMAO !!!

We ate dinner at Frankie & Benny's and left MH at 10.30pm last night ... W.T.F and I still had to come home and ooh & aah over my purchases ... crashed knackered into bed after midnight ... how sad is that ???

I have been banned from spending anything today !!! In fact I'm at home ... Paul is out on a job, but I have asked if we can do something today that we never did in the 8years we lived here ... go to a car boot sale LOL ... so we're off to the one up at Twin Oaks when he gets back ... cash only there so ...I don't have much cash hehehe !!!

So .. we're here ...

Landed safely on Tuesday 28th ... not such bad flights after all that ... in fact I was very good during the whole packing cases(no screaming, ranting, or raving), getting to the airport (we were ready & packed when Juno rocked up) getting on the flight, no hassles at the airport...would've liked an upgrade but way too much!!! (damn these pills are good!!!LOL)

The flight DBN to Dubai was full and initially I thought great... a couple of student groups were on the flight = no sleep at all ... they all settled down and we all got a couple of hours shut-eye... Dubai airport was pumping ... at 5am !!! it was 31'c ... I had way tooooo many clothes on .... and of course we landed at 1 side of the airport and had to walk to the other side ...mmmm now I know why I wanted hand luggage with wheels ... gotta get me some of that !!!

Then it was Dubai to Birmingham ... 61/2 hours and it felt like all the kept doing was shoving food in our faces LOL and before you knew it we were landing ... and guess what I was soooo grateful for all the clothes I had on (W.T.F ... here I am now wishing I had only brought my LONG jeans, my fluffy boots and LONG SLEEVED shirts ...oh oh guess I'll have to go out and buy me some new clothes .. oooh aaah !!! Mmm I really need some new jeans ... to go with the 3 prs of new jeans I bought in SA just before I left !!!!)

Paul was the ever romantic hubby waiting patiently with flowers for his wife and a W.T.F is that for his son LOL ... Kelsey with his new hair colour and he's much taller than his dad now LOL !!!

Oooops I fell asleep on the trip home ... 'no I didn't' I gave the boys some alone time LOL !!! Then of course Kelsey had to go out for a drive in dads '2nd' car a Toyota Celica !!! Little sporty jobby !!! so I just lay myself down for 40 winks hahaha!!! Age is catching up to me LOL

Paul woke me to go out to dinner ... carvery at DeRhodes ... saved me thinking about food ... mind you was in no shape to do any cooking LOL ... and for me it was home and straight to bed ...

Woke up yesterday a new woman !!!

Can't get over the fact that everything seems to start later here... I was awake at my usual 6am and there was no-one about, so I turned over and went back to sleep !!! the boys were crashed out ... only surfaced after 8am !!!

Kelsey & Paul were off out to work .. and I have the big Sante Fe' as my 'run around' ... now this is the style in which I am accustomed LOL ... 1st choice for the day ... clothes ... I am soooo glad I brought 1 pair of jeans and my denim jacket ... they are soo my best friends right now !!! Of course I have packed totally the wrong things !!! One forgets just how blerdy cold the summers are in UK LOL !!!

so what did I do on my first day here .....

SHOPPING .... at TESCOS of all places ... started at the books, worked my way round to the clothes and ended at the food ... after 3 hours Paul phoned and spoilt my fun !!! wanted me to join them for LUNCH !!! (oh and I have to mention that was at the small Tesco's in Clowne ... imagine what I'm gonna be like when I get to the big one in Chesvegus !!! PMSL )

After lunch it was home ... ooh and aah over my purchases ... the boys went off to gym ... I lazed on the bed and read a couple of chapters and when they got back it was "Lets go to the movies Transformers 3 is on" and so it was ....

Home after pics ... not eaten anything solid for 4 hours !!! boys had Tuna, I had a crappy pot noodle and crashed into bed !!! Was blerdy knackered LOL

And so onto day 2 ... 1st decision ... what to wear ... it's blerdy cold outside ... and starting to look a bit overcast !!! Oh shit it's raining !!! really wish I'd brought those damned fluffy boots !!!

We're leaving on a Jet Plane !!!

Yup finally no more sleeps ... the suitcases are packed, the hand luggage is packed, passports check, tickets check ... and we're ready for the OFF!!!

When I booked our tickets it seemed like we had sooo much time before our jollies ... and now... here we are ...

Up until last night I still hadn't packed a thing !!!

The last week of school was hectic ... with inter-house rugby tournaments, Old Boys Rugby matches ... sorting out what's on the sporting agenda for next term ... it was hectic...

Got the exam results ... 1 very very proud mum again... Kelsey came 1st in his class, 7A's ... 2 Merit Distinctions... oh yes very very proud. (phew the old study techniques still work)

The kids broke up on Friday ... then it was end of term U-Party on Friday night ... end of season Paintball Party on Saturday morning ... Club Rugby end of Junior Season Home Tournament on Sunday ... hectic hectic hectic...

Dropped dogs & granny off at June's last night ... had supper with the girls & family ... then finally it was back home and PACK !!!...

Phew ... it's done & dusted ... so today ... lazy morning ... shit!! couldn't sleep late even though the house is soo quiet with no doggies barking etc. to disturb me ... woke up at 6.20am ... and haven't been able to sleep since ... mind is a buzzing !!!

So checked in on line ... got a few bits and bobs to sort on computer (like update blog) ... gotta pop into town to sort out my International Roaming on mine and himselfs phone ... buy some Rooibos Teabags for some 'chic' friend of Paul's !!!! W.T.F !!! already done his other girlfriends shopping !!!

So off to have a long soak in the bath ... maybe take my SON-shine for Breakfast ??? that's if I can get him out of his PIT !!!

I'm back ...

Seems I forgot to blog for awhile !!!

Really gotta get my head around some time management !!!

So Kelsey's thigh muscle ... sorted ...

Lack of sleep doggy problem ... sorted ... she had Doggy Gastro !!! poor little shit !!! LOL ... then had a big dog with doggy gastro too ... so we've had a run of the shits LOL ... not the humans TG...

No transport ... car problem ... semi-sorted ... been driving around in my car ... needs a few spare parts but gonna worry about them in UK !!!

Kelsey went away up to the Berg for a couple of days ... froze his ass off ... but gave me some time to catch up on sleep ... and have some ME time ...

Head ... sorted .... found me a lovely pillitjie to take ... all the herbal crap that helps sort out the mind, body ... forget the soul ... I think mines already doomed !!!

Chest and flu like symptoms all sorted ...

So looks like I'm BACK !!!

Last week we had a really short work week and a long weekend ... 16th public holiday 'Youth Day' and then Friday was a school holiday ... so 4 day weekend yeeehaw ... best described by one of the teachers this morning ... it was great having 2 days off then waking on Saturday morning and knowing you still had the weekend ahead LOL

Saturday 18th was our final rugby matches for this school season ... and it was a local Derby ... HHS vs Kloof High School and I'm pleased to say that our U14's won their match ... a great way to end the season .... and the 1st Rugby Team also won ... so that means that HHS were victorious this year !!! Hooray ....

Now last week of school ... no rugby practises but plenty of fun things happening after school ... inter house touch rugby tournament ... Old Boys Rugby ... and then finally Friday .... break up day ... I am Soooooo looking forward to my holidays ....

Weather this side of the world ... odd ... very bloody cold or hot ... nothing in between ... but we're learning to deal with it ...

Suitcases sitting at the bottom of the bed ... not yet packed ... mmmm what to take ??? what to take ???