Givers & Takers ...

Gotta make this a quick post cos I'm supposed to be editing photos for someone LOL

But just have to get this off my chest !!!

You know in life there are givers and there are takers !!! How come there can't be those that do both???

I'm feeling a little like I've just been USED !!! AGAIN (... so does that make me a giver or a taker ???)

Not gonna mention any names ... but there are certain people that I just can't stand ... the liars, the cheats, the two faced but the worst are:

The ones in life that are false, all over you, making friends with you because they can get something out of you ... for their benefit and for nothing ... and then they USE you ... and don't get it when you're pissed of with them ... and you say NO the next time they ask you ???

I mean hello !!! do I have to be blatantly RUDE to you ???

But actually I think I'm more mad at myself for falling for it all the time !!! I obviously have a huge neon sign over my head (that I can't see) flashing "hey I'm here ... I'm a giver and I need to be USED !!!"

OK ... VENTING OVER !!!

What a crap end ....

Well today has been a crap end to my week ... not that the week was a brilliant week either way but today's episode just put the cherry on the top ...

CAR TROUBLE !!! some of you will know that this is THE WORST EVER thing that can happen to me EVER !!!

On the school run this morning ... said to Kelsey ... sounds like I'm driving on the wheel rims !!! there's this grating noise coming from the engine .. he says it sounds pretty much the same as always ... like someones dropped a spanner in the engine !!! well I kinda had to agree a bit ... but I knew there was something not quite right !!! As we get to school I say to him "can you smell that? it smells like burning rubber or something??? Oh well maybe it's coming from outside !!!"

I get to our complex and the smell is a bit stronger, the noise is a bit louder and there's a 'bit' of smoke coming from under the bonnet ... Open the 'hood' and notice the smoke is coming from the side of my car ..."Paul !!! I phoned him at 7am here ... 5am there !!! he tells me sounds like the 'belt' that he changed at Christmas has slipped !!! Just POP up to the garage ... you'll be fine ...

AND SO : off I set .. merrily to the garage ... a 5 min drive !!!

By the time I pulled into the garage there's smoke BILLOWING out of my engine ... the mechanic and his helper come running out with fire extinguishers ... under my wheel rim is GLOWING orange and as they open the bonnet... the engine bursts into flames .... W.T.F !!!!

5 minutes more and the car probably would have gone up in smoke ... my saving grace (hahahaha...hysterical laughter) is that "it is a diesel" !!!

Needless to say the blood pressure is way over acceptable limits !!! I am spitting the fire that should be in the car ... Nigel (my now new mechanic buddy) and his trusty assistant get the fire out, cool the engine down and then proceed to remove the melted side panel from my car ...

Mmm ! Looks like 1 of the flywheels was on fire ... oh look there the air con unit is totally 'fooked' ... oh and the compressor is also stuffed ...

SOOOO now what ... considering this 'belt' that Paul changed is a solid unit that runs the air con, the engine and the power steering ... the joys of technology !!!

What Nigel had to do ... well he had to 'smash/disentangle/remove' the wheel for the air con ... get a smaller belt and hook it up to the other 2 wheels ... sounds fine right, well the car does run ... but as Nigel warned it is not perfect ... it's a very short term ... quick fix so I have a car for the weekend ...

Long term solution ... I am going to have to replace the whole air con unit as the compressor has seized as well as the wheel!!!

And so endeth my shitty day !!!

I am so grateful to both Steven & Juno for coming to my rescue, I don't know what I would have done without their help ... I am so lucky to have friends like them ;-)

BUT on a POSITIVE note ... it didn't rain today LOL !!!

Tired ... very tired !!!

Feeling incredibly old today !!! Can't say why really ...

Very tired (as in sleepy tired) and feeling full of aches and pains ... but I'm sure it's brought on by all the WET, DAMP and Shitty miserable weather we're having !!! What is happening to this poor world of ours ??? I wonder just how much rain can fall before we sink ???

Actually I know the answer to that question courtesy of Kelsey's Gr7 Social Science ... last year he did work on the Water Cycle and according to their school books there is no more water today than there was yesterday ... the water on the earths surface is all the water we have ... so if I read that right it means the earth cannot produce any more water than what is already here !!! SO WHY THE HELL does it all have to fall here in HILLCREST LOL !!!

But mum was chatting to Kevin up in JHB and he says it's been chucking it down there too for the last couple of days !!!

So scientists ... how many polar ice caps have now dissolved ???

Yawn !!! oh I'm really struggling to keep the eyes open and it's only 8.45AM !!! And I think I slept all night ... I mean I don't remember waking up or anything last night !!!

OK snap out of it !!!

So Kelsey and school ... they've now started the education part !! {;-D ... fun settling in days are over ... except all the Grade 8's have to wear a party hat (which they had to make) a sign board around their necks ... complete with baby photo (LOL) AND every one of them was given a dummy !!! Cos they are THE BABIES of the school ... and they have to wear these for the next month !!! It actually looks quite funny at drop off with these kids and their fancy dress !!! (although HE is not amused !!! :-)

But on a positive note he likes the teachers he's had so far ... and the homework he's brought home doesn't look too different from what he did last year (T.G. don't know if I could cope with too much new yet LOL) ... in fact at the moment he says maths is boring cos they are 'going over' what they covered last year.

Oh Monday he comes in from school ... we're sitting doing homework (around about 4pm) and he says "mum there's notices for you" (Oooh I like those cos then I get to write stuff in my diary ... that I now have !!!) So I make me a cuppa and settle down to read what's going on ... 1 of the notices is the 'PRE-SEASON' sports programme (bearing in mind we all know all he wants to do is RUGBY!!! and we have no idea when, where etc ... and he's also signed up for Chess Club as his 2nd after school activity for this term) There I am casually reading the timetable and it's like "SHIT !!! you supposed to be a training TODAY !!!" Luckily practise only started at 5pm !!! and this was about 4.30ish ... and T.G. it only takes us 10mins to school ...

And so the chaos begins :
For January & February ... Pre- Season Training - Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 5pm - 6pm !!!
(hey did you notice NOT ON TUESDAY !!! Finally something that DOES NOT happen on a Tuesday PMSL !!!)

Well I went and watched them in training ... picture this ... it's pissing down with rain ... the boys are in WHITE ... YES you read right WHITE - P.E. shirts ... they start of with running and end with leopard crawls !!! NO MORE WHITE SHIRTS!!! ... I mean who the hell chooses WHITE for boys rugby training ??? Has to be a man!!!! His shirt, socks and undies have been sitting in pre-soak for 2 days now !!! They have been scrubbed, soaked, washed and even bleached and they still look like MUD !!!! Needless to say TODAY's practise he will be in a BLACK t-shirt cos Mrs B. TOLD the coach "he will be wearing black !!!LOL !!!

Oh well sets me up with yet another challenge !!!

WELL...

1st week of High School is done and dusted and !!! Kelsey wants to know what all the fuss was about ???

I think the fact that the first 3 days (Wed-Fri) was orientation and not much 'school' I would've thought he would've enjoyed it more ... but he says it was starting to get a bit boring ... playing TEAM games and 'getting to know you' stuff !!! And on Friday the Grade 8's had a swimming gala ... I think it was also to get them into their 'Houses' and learn all the team songs and start the whole TEAM building process ... as I've said before sports is a HUGE part of SA school life so the 'TEAM Spirit' is also a huge part of it !!!

So he's in Talbot House ... house colour YELLOW !!! I mean really I so don't look good in yellow ... and there's no way I'm going with the yellow hair ... It would just look like a bad bleach job LOL !!!

Anne my hairdresser is pleased I'm not pushing the yellow thing, and staying with the Miss Pink (well we've got it mastered now LOL !!!) And so I just have to share these 2 photos with you ... very kindly taken and edited by Jarryd Sunkel the photographer who did Jess's photo shoot.


But I did ask him why he did'nt chop off a couple of pounds and a couple of years off my face too !!! after all is'nt that what photo editing is all about ???

And onto the balance of my week now that we're back into a routine and I have 'nothing' to do ...

School runs are great ... High School is closer to home for us ... I don't have to go through main town centre ... so although he has to be in school 10mins earlier, by 7.20, we still leave at the same time as last year ... and now I'm home before 7.30am !!! And then I don't have to leave home till at least 2pm !!! that makes my days of nothingness even longer ... (6.5 hours !!!... I really HAVE to find me something to do !!!)

Of course started my Back to School week with breakfast at Oscars with Juno ... I mean traditions are traditons no matter which school your child is at !!! PMSL

THEN I started on my TO DO list straight after that ... tidied out Kelsey's wardrobe, packed his old school uniform in a bag to take back to the uniform shop a HPS ... sorted out his small clothes for Lydia's boys, and put all of Paul's clothes back in his cupboard ... hey! Kelsey now has space in his wardrobe LOL !!! and Paul won't be needing to bring ANY clothes with him on next trip = more shopping for me to fill his case ... see there is some logic in my insanity !!!

The other incredibly exciting things on my TO DO list ... sort out my 2011 diary & calendar (the one I haven't got !!!) ... mmm maybe I best go buy me one, a calendar that is, the diary I got free in a magazine ... but actually (and Ann you will love this one) I'm using the calendar/diary on my cell phone more and more ... well it gives me a reminder LOL !!! (well c'mon it's not like I have a hell of a lot to put in it ... don't exactly have any deadlines to meet !!! ... feeling sorry for me yet ???)

Ok so other things to do ... sort out my wardrobe ... that's gonna take more than a day ... and I really need to build up some strength for that LOL (P.of P. again) ... another HUGE work still in progress ... been on the TO DO list for the last year ... garage & stock (hahahahahaha!!!! maybe some of that has gone mouldy by now !!!).

A project I want to do this year is make a collage for Kelsey of his last year at HPS ... they did a lot at school last year and I have loads of photos ... and as I'm not getting anywhere with the scrapbooking of it ... maybe if I make a wall collage it may just mean I'll do something creative ??? mmm!!! and Paul did build me a desk/work space in the dining room so I don't have that as an excuse now ...

In fact Paul, you'll be pleased to know I have moved the laptop to the desk and I am now working from there right now !!!

Other things to do .... MUST get those rugby CD's finished (no Paul still not done them !!! ) my bathroom curtains !!! Xmas photos to sort !!! etc.etc.etc. As you can see all very important dealines required kinda stuff ... aag if I don't do it today I'll have time tomorrow !!! PMSL

NOW onto how was the weekend ... we dropped Jessica's Photo CD off with her on Saturday ... she was so thrilled with it, me too ... it was DAMNED HOT on Saturday ... so Lawrence took the kids to the beach for an hour or so while mum & I visited with Penny ... Then Sunday morning we were woken by torrential rain ... gale force winds etc !!! the price you pay for 3 hot days in a row ... and it has'nt stopped raining since !!!

Then Warren from GlamourModels asked me if I'd like to go to a photoshoot with them on Sunday ... so got me some more practice ... shooting gorgeous models !!! It's not everyday you get to SHOOT 4 gorgeous people and get away with it !!! LOL

So Today I'm gonna be sifting through my photos ... Warren asked for some copies for his models portfolios ... hey gives me something else to do (especially considering I'm supposed to be doing those damned rugby CD's !!! )

I will I will I promise .... :-)

A point to prove ...

If I was ever in any doubt as to WHY we returned to South Africa, I now have these to set me straight:

Now - January 2011- 1st day of Hillcrest High School ...

Then - September 2008 - 1st day of Hillcrest Primary School ...

It has all been worth it in the end !!!

The weekend ..

I don't know about you ... but I actually had a damned good weekend ...

We (the Bells) bought Jessica (my neice) a Photoshoot Voucher for her Christmas box and part of the gift included me taking her to the photo shoot ... so Lawrence booked the shoot for Jessica, then phoned me on Friday and said we had to meet Warren from GlamourModels at Ushaka Marine World at 10am Saturday morning ...

I'll be totally honest with you ... when I woke on Saturday morning the last thing I really wanted to do was trapse all the way down to the beach front !!! so I dragged Kelsey out of bed ... cos Lawrence had said bring him and the boys (Lawrence, Kelsey & Dayne) could go surf some waves while the girls (Jessica, Penny & ME) did the shoot ...

I'd charged my camera up Friday night .. so took it along with me just in case (the old one ... still not yet got round to taking the new one out of it's box!!! sorry Paul but really wanna learn to use it properly) we met up with Warren (who by the way is a mate of mine ... hence the reason I bought the voucher through him) Jarryd Sunkel (the photographer) Michelle Olivier (the make-up artist, although Jessica's shoot did not include make-up etc...there were other models having their photos done too)

And so off we went ... what an AWESOME morning ... the weather was a bit overcast, but it was still warm ... Jarryd is such a great photographer and he happily let me tag along while he was shooting Jessica ... and he & Warren passed along a few of their tips and so here are some of MY photos of Jessica ... as well as a few other models that I had ... THE FAMILY :

Still my favourite model :

Luvin Cuzins LOL ...

You can just see the mischief in these two :

These two are still my favourite s!!!

A moment of youthful innocence ...

These are just a few of the 1000+ photos I took ... and I even came home and played around with the editing bit ... well just changed a few to B&W and Sepia ... I have to say I was very,very impressed with my efforts !!! even if I do say so myself ...

And even though ... as previously mentioned... the weather was overcast we all got nice and sunburnt ... enjoyed time on the beach ... yes you are reading it right ... me actually on the beach ... in the SAND !!!

What a fantasticly awesome day, I thoroughly enjoyed myself !!! (not bad for someone who actually really did'nt want to go !!! )

The shoot took us the best part of the day ... started around 10.30ish and we finished up at 3.30ish ... I know I'm rabbitting on a bit about it ... we then popped over to Lawrence & Penny's place so the kids could swim and get rid of all the sand !!! and needless to say Kelsey asked to sleep over ... so off home I went SON-less ...

I then spent most of Saturday night (late into the night early wee hours of the morning )admiring my work !!! (a.k.a down loading the photos !!! )

Yesterday (Sunday) we woke to the bluest of blue skies ... not a cloud to be seen anywhere ... and it was HOT !!! Lurverly stuff ...

Did a couple of loads of washing (no surprise there then) and read, uploaded photos and received praise for my hard work LOL and generally had a lazy, lazy day ... Lawrence eventually brought Kelsey back around 5ish ... sunburnt (they had gone to the beach again in the morning) and discovered a sunblock that actually did'nt work ... I am soooo jealous of my sons golden brown tan !!!!

So all in all a really fantastically brilliant and enjoyable weekend :-)

Just had to share ....

I received this via e-mail from Gussy Tucker, I think it's perfect so thought I just had to share it with you ...

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark:

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six: Build your future on high ground.

Seven: For safety sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine: When you're stressed, float a while..

Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

BUT ... the Woodpeckers gotta GO !!!

A new day ...

What a lovely morning we're having ...

It was weird ... Kleo the puppy had me up at 4.30am this morning and when we went outside it was thick, thick fog ... the whole world was just grey in front of me !!!

Then woke again at 6am and the sky was a beautiful blue with not a cloud to be seen !!! Strange ... very strange !!!

So it was up and washing on !!! Getting very washing obsessive at the moment ... mainly cos there are never enough drying hours in our day !!! Yes I live in S.Africa and here I am complaining about not enough drying hours in the day ... just my luck that we decided to live on The Mist Belt as the locals call it !!!

AND as I have nothing else to moan about at the moment the weather is getting my undivided attention !!!

BUT the sun is shining today, the birds are singing and life is good ... made a batch of Banana Bread too this morning .... wow see just what happens when the sun shines ...

Although as I'm sitting here writing this I have to tell you I can see big clouds moving in from the ocean side ... that's not a good sign !!! If the clouds come from the Berg (mountain) side we don't get rain but from the ocean = more rain !!!

Gonna drag Kelsey from his pit screaming and fighting so he can go visit his mate !!! and they can swim ... I know that so doesn't sound right does it ??? He's been 'holed' up in his pit for 3 days playing games so I think it's time he saw some sunshine !!! Although on the other side once I get him to his mates he doesn't want to come home ... so I'm not too sure which is worse ???
(but I'm told this is standard teenager behaviour???)

Mum's hand is slowly healing !!! Found this fantastic stuff called Nano Silver Spray and you just spray it onto the open wound and it heals it !!! very unusual stuff ... apparently it does contain SILVER !!! So would be no good for the vampires out there LOL or the werewolves either !!!

Changed the hair colour again this week ... struggling to get photos to upload ... will probably post one later !!! Actually back to the pink & purple concoction !! !well gotta keep myself motivated and funky looking eh!!!

Funny I was reading an article the other day about folks who were discriminated against cos they have tattoos !!! You know "people stare at them, they don't get offers of good jobs" etc... all cos of their tattoos !!! Wonder how will it work with a person who has pink/purple hair AND Tattoos??? LOL

I mean I get stares all the time ... in fact people walk into each other at shopping malls when they see me !!! I have to say ... Keeps me smiling ;-)

75 days to go ...

Yup there we were yesterday putting Paul on a plane again, back to the UK he goes, but pleased to say only 75 days till he comes back here again !!!

The farewells are getting easier, and the drive home was not as silent a it used to be ... strange really but I think it's the true sign that Kelsey is growing up ... we could laugh about dad leaving and although Kelsey moped around the house a bit when we got home ... he says it's because his movie buddy was not with him ... Mum & I watch our TV in the lounge and Paul & Kelsey would watch what they wanted to watch in Kelsey's bedroom ... so now he's back to watching 'alone' again ...

I think today is Monday is'nt it ??? with all these holidays and not having to get up so early I'm not sure what day is what really ... thought I would share some of the weekends photos with you (Paul's last day here this time):

Hunkaliscious !!!

And even Kleo went for a swim ... but she was not happy ...

I'm all wet ...

Even Shadow had to show off in the pool...

Paul acting the clown again ... and in those pants he's doing a grand job LOL

Aunty June and her invalid Bella ...(Bella had her 1 hip replaced at the end of November so she's not allowed to run around and jump for the next 3 months !!!)

I really don't know how June manages to keep her pool SOOOO Blue :

My January 2011 Calendar Boy ...

Paul declared that he was going to get fall down drunk on Saturday ... he honestly had very little alcohol but still managed to look 'goofy' ...

Woke up this morning and thought maybe I should start the TO DO list, but then was told by a FB friend NO the to do list should only be started once the kids go back to school ... Kelsey is still off until 19th January ... so hey NO I'm not procrastinating .... I'm following the rules !!! LOL

BUT I did get in touch with Nikon SA to find out about the course included with my camera !!! Oh! got to e-mail them my details etc. and then they'll forward me the details about the course !!! so although I'm not actually crossing off something as done I can actually say I have started it !!!

AND I put a load of washing in today (it wasn't raining when I started the load !!! and we've only had 2 showers since the washing was finished so I've been practising my Karate Kid exercises "washing out, washing in " ROFLMAO)... and started to tidy 1 of the tables in my bedroom ... actually I'm looking for the receipt for my camera ... it's in this pit somewhere ... I know I put it somewhere safe !!! (have you heard that one before???)

So does moving your crap from the table to the bed constitute tidying up ??? Problem is I have to sleep on this bed tonight so I guess I better find a home for this crap or just fill the table up again !!! (mmm me thinks that will just be easier !!!)

Oh and I've played Nurse Bell today ... Kleo the puppy jumped up on mum ... no wait ... mum got hold of Kleo to stop her from running outside and the dog scratched the top of mums hand (that was a couple of days ago)... now that she's getting on (mum I mean) her skin is like paper and tears so easily ... she put a plaster on it but this morning when she took the plaster off she "ripped" (LIKE W.T.F. ouch) a bigger layer of her skin off !!! now she has a 'hole' in the top of her hand about 15cm across !!! with no skin on top to cover it ... OUCH !!! so there we've been today trying to find some way to cover it without putting anything sticky on her hand !!! and she says it's throbbing like toothache !!! But on the positive side she said now she can't feel all her other aches and pains LOL!!!

And then I've also blogged and FB'ked ... so what more do you want from me ???

So onto 2011

My New Years resolution this year ... Less procrastinating and more DOING!!!

I'm moving on from my title The Princess of Procrastination to my new title of The Diva of Doing !!! LOL!!!!

(the crown courtesy of June !!! she saw it and thought of me ... I mean 'Really'!!! some friend she is !!! ... you can go off people you know ! )
How long do you think it will last???

After all I still have not taken my new camera out of its box... Much to Paul's disgust !!!

Well my excuse for that is ... a) part of the gift included a training course on how to use your camera ... and I haven't phoned and booked that yet,
b) I/we have been so busy since Christmas I haven't had the time to play and
c) cos it's always raining these days and I don't want to get my new camera wet ???

Does any of that sound at all like procrastinating ?? I think NOT !

But on a serious note ... we have been busy since Christmas, with D.I.Y and stuff !!! ... and honestly it hasn't stopped raining in the last 2 weeks... well actually I lie there New Years Day was hot and so was the 2nd ... since then !!! you'd swear there's never been rain here before !!! Paul was just working out that in the 5 weeks that he has been here we have only had 5 sunny/hot days without rain ... that is bad !!! Wettest December we've had in years !!!

So ... New Year was a quiet one for us really ... abandoned by friends and family !!! meant there was just the good old faithfuls ... June & Irena, Me, Paul, Kelsey and Granny so we booked a table at a restaurant in Hillcrest ... ate big fat juicy steaks... drank lots of alcohol and then made our way up to June's to see the new year in ... thankfully there were not too many fireworks ... due to the damp weather !!!(so the animals were fine) and in fact everywhere was reasonably quiet ... with very few parties and I think that had something to do with the weather too...

The Bells and Granny stayed at June's and we all woke to a beautiful hot & sunny New Years Day ... which needless to say was spent lazying by the pool and eating tons of yummy food, washed down by glasses of alcohol ... wine & Amarula for me please !!!

By evening we were all looking a bit like lobsters and made our way home to crash into bed exhausted ... and believe it or not but woke to glorious sunshine on Sunday too ... but it was short lived ... we thought maybe seeing the new year in on sunshine would mean so much more for 2011 !!! NOT ...

The 3rd Jan. saw normal folk going back to work !!! *(wishful thinking there... maybe soon)* so it was back to business ... which meant making appointments for school uniforms and stationary shopping ... (Oh and after June heard about Paul's D.I.Y adventures she has put in her request for a fitted bedroom .. honestly ... hence Paul's pre-occupation of wood and design LOL)

And ME what I've been up to since then Uniforms & Stationary ... Tuesday was spent literally going from 1 shop to another trying to bargain hunt and get a huge long list of stuff my 'sun'shine needs to start back at school ... and today his uniform ... T.G Paul earns £'s ... felt a little bit easier to say in sterling LOL ...

Next on my list ... labelling clothes & covering books !!! oooh T.G. I'm a bit of an addict there !!!

Did I mention I have a huge long list of things to do this year ??? and none of the above was on it ... But never fear The Doing Diva is here (ROFLMAO ooops my crowns just slipped again)

Kelsey ... he's broken hearted ... Jessi dumped him after her trip to Mauritius ... but he's working off his pain in his home gym (getting a gorgeous body)... and ooogling the young lady next door ... Libby, who just happens to have eyes for him too ... she invited him over for a swim on NY Day !!! (Oh young Love!!! ;-) and he tells me she too is going to the same High School as him this year !!!

Imagine having such small worries again ???