WHAT !!! Another week over !!!

STOP !!! Who keeps stealing my weeks ???

I really honestly don't know what happened to last week ... well I do really ...

We had an exchange student staying with us from Wednesday ... a 16year old called Jonathan ... all the way from ... Cheshire, England... of all places. HHS is part of a program called AfriBrit and they asked for some parents to be host families to these kids, and needless to say when Kelsey found out that as a host you have to go with these kids on the trips etc ... well of course he volunteered for that LOL ...

There were 16 kids in the group from Leftwich County High School ... they had been in SA since 11th Feb, done the JHB trip and the Kruger Park ... and ended their tour here in Hillcrest with us ...

Jonathan and Kelsey got along really nicely and in fact all the kids seemed to gel really well with their host families ... Thursday they all went on a Raft Building Afternoon at Shongweni Dam of course followed by the traditional SA Braai. Friday I was volunteered to assist with transport !!! (it was a tough one !!!) we did a tour of Moses Mabida Stadium ... with the rest of the afternoon at uShaka Marine World (really tough eh???) I managed to top up my tan beautifully and the kids all loved it ... mind you all they really wanted to do was spend time in the sea !!! We take so much for granted but you forget that you can't just POP down to he beach in England and you sure as hell can't go swimming all the time ...

The group ready for the tour of Moses Mabida Stadium...The Sky Lift going up to the top of the structure...

Inside the stadium ...Apparently the seats are coloured this way to show the blue of the Ocean and the oranges of the beautiful African sun ...

On the top of this structure their is a Sky Car ... you can catch it and take a ride to see a view of the whole of Durban...

The group inside the stadium ...

Doing the whole jumping thing...

Inside the Moses Mabida Stadium... Time was tight so the 'paddle' in the Indian Ocean was all it was supposed to be ... of course Kelsey & Jonathon ... being the individuals that they are ... and unable to follow instructions too well ... ended up swimming in the sea ... I mean really ... the English teachers were stressing about them being in wet clothes ... 15mins and they were dry !!!! Iona one of the English girls desperately wanted to swim in the sea and even though I told her it was OK it took her a while to 'break the rule' ... but she managed to get a dip !!! fully clothed of course LOL and Kelsey being the young gentleman he is gave her his t-shirt to wear for the day ... (ouch he then got sun burnt!!! but he impressed the girls ... so much so he ended up with a bit of a Harem !!!)LOL

Kelsey & Jonathan taking a dip ...

It was a beautiful day ...

Then Iona joined them ...

We did a tour of the Aquarium and then some of the kids went snorkeling and even did a Shark Dive ... I think it was the best day for them ... well here in KZN, cos apparently they had stroked Lion cubs up in Kruger.

Looks a bit like a big Crush waving to us ...

And the rays are waving too ...

Jaws ... da dum da dum da dum ...

Friday night Kelsey & Heini took Jonathon on an educational tour to our local Cinema ... and they stuffed him with all our local chocolates ... they were BUZZING by the time they came home !!!

Saturday they were up early and out to Phezulu Village & Crocodile Park ... most of the kids tried a Croc Burger !!! and of course Kelsey being the socialite that he is also had a birthday party on that day ... so they ended up (both of them of course) at Jennas place after the trip ...

My job for the most part ... Taxi Driver and Cook !!! Oh and Bank of MUM !!!

And then Sunday we wished them a sad farewell ... it was a very short trip and all the parents agreed we would have loved to have had the kids for longer.

No sooner were the kids on the bus and Kelsey was asking to spend the day at Heini's place ... well the sun was shinning and he hadn't spent much time with his best friend !!! so yippeee I thought I had the afternoon to myself .. well I did till Warren sent a message saying he needed a photographer to do a MALE MODEL SHOOT .... now c'mon girls ... who'd really miss out on that ???

Camera in hand and well ... sorry girls I'll show you the goodies in the next post ... sheeeeweee!!! Nice 24 year old with a few rippling muscles !!! :-)

The weekend in review...

With all the hype of Valentines Day yesterday I forgot to tell all about the weekend ...

Had gorgeous weather ... hot, hot & hot .... but not that hot that I have to moan about it, hot that I have to say yipeee !!!

It was Heini's Paintball Party on Saturday ... so off we went, Kelsey all geared up to get hurt and me with camera ...of course !!!

What a brilliant morning ... they started out having organised war games ... and ended in a free for all of seek and destroy... to see who could hit who the most and hardest !!! Even the girls where in on this !!!

Ready for action:

The Gang ready to get going:

Ready to rumble ...

Girls are you ready for this ???

Ready for action...

Kelsey's first hit ...

Birthday Boy ... Heini...

A gal has to still look good in Camo:

Kaela:

Stevie:

I had a great morning taking action shots ... then when we were finished earlier than expected, and the fact that the area was stunning, just begging to be photographed !!!... a perfect place to do a quick "Models after War" photo shoot ... and trust me the girls were in their element ... they all just love the posing in front of the camera !!! Mind you the boys are just as bad !!!

Check out these stunning girls and this was after 2 hours of HOT & SWEATY paint ball games ...

Kaela & Hunkaliscious !!!

Stevie, Jenna & Kaela

Hunkaliscious and his mate ...

Brittany
Stevie, Kaela & Jenna

Just imagine what they would look like with the right make-up and outfits ??? And now as I said earlier I have found a perfect venue for a photo shoot, all the old houses, and the colours on the walls from the splattered paint balls ... all that was missing was the water shots, but I'm told there's a river at the bottom of the property ... mmm! maybe I need to do another scout of the area LOL

Sunday was a nice quiet lazy day ... did a bit of baking ... fruit scones & banana almond muffins !!! then finally popped over to Lawrence's new place ... did I mention they are neighbours ... well in the sense that they now live in Hillcrest !!! They have this beautiful little town house ... feels like your in a holiday cottage with thatch roof and all ... and they have a jacuzzi too !!! Spent a pleasant afternoon visiting ...

Penny gave me this 'diet' pill to try ... Lawrence said it made Penny look 'goofed' ... well me I'll try anything once ... especially this miracle weight loss pill .. you're supposed to loose weight without having to diet or exercise .... my kinda pill !!! well I took one... didn't feel anything till I went to bed on Sunday night ... suddenly I had this like over stimulated brain freeze thing going on in my head ... now I know what it must feel like to be hyper ... I was bouncing off the walls !!! (metaphorically speaking ... I was up after midnight cutting out felt hearts !!!) was on FB at 1am ... and was sooo glad to see the sun rise at 4.30am !!!

Gave me that much needed boost to get my A into G ... made me do my Valentines Day Project LOL ... maybe I'll take 1 once a week .... just to get the motor moving PMSL !!!

But I have to say I slept like the dead last night !!!

Happy Valentines Day ...

Well could'nt let an opportunity like Valentine's pass without doing some sort of crafting .... not bad considering I only started these at 9pm last night ...

And why??? Because I could !!! ;-)

Felt Heart Brooches ...

Desperately need your help...

I seem to have LOST this last week ??? Have any of you seen it ???

Considering I had yet again nothing to do ... the time seems to have flown by ...

Monday I popped over to see June ... she's had an op on her shoulder .. apparently she had torn the ligaments so needed to have them re-attached !!! so it was an ideal opportunity for us to do a BFF catch-up ... that went quick !!! and it was pick up ... homework and back out to rugby practise ... food, a bit of TV and sleeeeep ...

Tuesday ... even that was uneventful although the usual long drawn out day of bank, bill paying, food shopping, granny dodging (Tuesday is pensioners day here !!!) and Hey presto that was over ...pick-up, homework, dinner, TV, bed ...sleeeep!!!

Wednesday ... a bit more exciting today ... coffee with Rolene my accountant ... our annual catch-up ... giving her the go-ahead to do my tax forms etc... we really need to get together more often !!!

But after my meeting with her I had to go find me some red felt ... had an epiphany ... thought of something to make for Valentines Day ??? why ... hell don't ask ... just cos I suppose !!!

Then popped into another shop I'd been promising myself I'd visit ... hello!!! now there's a brilliant idea for Christmas (yes you read it right... Christmas presents already starting to accumulate in the cupboard) ... then found myself 'dashing' to school for pick-up heaven forbid if I'm late LOL ...

Pick-up, homework, change of clothes, son off to practise ... me to Club Rugby fund raising committee meeting !!! Time to put the 'big girl' head on now ... think, think, think !!! Hey quite a productive meeting ... home ... bed ... Ooops forgot to eat dinner tonight ... oh well not like I'm gonna starve ... got plenty of fat in storage LOL

Thursday ... OOOH Happy Birthday Mum/Granny !!! ... drop HIMself off at school ... take car to garage ... should be getting a new aircon today ... this should then solve my 'gotta go slow' problem !!! Juno very kindly played chauffeur for me ... popped into HPS ... had coffee with Army of 2 ... (Juno was doing mum's committee stuff LOL) ... Mmmm!!! girls lets go for coffee before we go home (hell yes!) ... Oh Juno let me show you this shop I spent-up in yesterday ... oooh more shopping ... home , some work !!! YES WORKED and had a very productive 3 hours too ... did all I was asked to for HVJR FFD !!! (felt very proud of oneself) HIMself arrived home from school... thanks to Lynette who played chauffeur for him ... homework, HELLO June & Irena ... popping in to see mum ... me finish making dinner ... HELLO Lawrence, Penny & the kids ... to see mum for her birthday ... eat while they're here ... ooooh!!! 9pm bye guys you gotta go now ... 9.30pm Fringe aaaah ! Time for BED .... sleeep...

This morning ... Up, HIMself off to school thanks to Lynette (just in case I forgot to mention ... NO CAR day 2) ... wanna hear the surprise ??? there doesn't seem to be the type of compressor that my car needs available in SA !!! (I mean really am I at all surprised HELL NO!!!)
NEVER MIND ... this too shall pass ... breathe deeply, take a pill, "Stress not Great One" !!!

Sit down ... an ideal time to work on those damned rugby CD's ... no distractions, no going out ... BANG !!! no power ... OK I managed to work for about half an hour till the laptop died too ...

NOW WHAT ... I know get out the beads ... fix those broken necklaces ... tidy up that work bench ...

Hurray power ... procrastinate some more and BLOG !!! :-)

An ode to the English Plural ...

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don’t groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends andget rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And in closing, if Father is Pop, then how come Mother's not Mop?

How to stay young:

1. Throw out non essential numbers, this includes age, weight, height, let the doctors worry about them, that's why we pay them.


2. Keep only cheerful friends, the grouches pull you down.


3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever and never let the brain idle. An idle mind is the devil's workshop & the devils name is Alzheimer's.


4. Enjoy the simple things.


5. Laugh often & laugh loud. Laugh till you gasp for breath


6. The tears happen. Endure grief and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves. Be alive when you're alive.


7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether its family, pets, keep sakes, music, plants or hobbies. Your home is your refuge.


8. Cherish your health. If it's good preserve it, if its unstable improve it and if its beyond what you can improve get help.


9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even the next county or a foreign country but not where the guilt is.


10. Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity.

And remember ...

Life is not measured by the breaths we take

but by the moments that take our breaths away.

Forgot to mention:

I'm having a serious bad run with Techno-Gremlins ... for some unknown reason I can't send E-mails ??? Can receive them but not send ... so people if you're waiting for replies from me ... sorry, take it up with the Gremlins !!!

And then tried to send Paul a MMS ... and now that doesn't want to work on my phone ... I mean really W.T.F !!!

AND this morning ... there I am Princess of Procrastination sleeping peacefully in my bed ... dreaming of this lovely head massage ... I put my hands up into my 'flowing locks' (PMSL) and low and behold there's a FROG !!! on my head ... and that part was TRUE ... not in my dreams !!!! an honest to goodness Bull Frog...

I dived out of bed screaming ... Kleo started barking, but she didn't know what she was barking at ... and she'd been lying on the bed next to me ... it was a candid camera scene !!!

NO I'm not afraid of frogs or anything but you just don't expect a Bull Frog to be sitting on your head when you wake up ... ROFLMAO ...

I mean I've heard of the Princess kissing the frog and it becomes a Prince, the Prince kissing the Princess to wake her ... but the damned frog giving the Princess a head massage !!! Disney beat that one !!!

(does that make if an Afro-Frog Head Massage ??? instead of an Indian Head Massage??? PMSL)

And then I chucked him out the window !!! so does that mean I threw my Prince away ??? Damn didn't think about that at 5am this morning !!! :-)

Why is it ???

that the 2 days that make up a weekend go by so much faster than the week days ??? Does time really move faster on a Saturday & Sunday ??? well if this last weekend is anything to go by then the answer to that is definitely YES!!!

AND the frightening thing of all is that in those 2 days I did NOTHING ... well nothing constructive or really of any interest ...

However that is not going to stop me from boring the pants of you, telling you ... LOL

But have to start with the fact that we've had a whole, entire, 7 days of gorgeous weather !!! FINALLY getting to wear some of the summer outfits !!! Hey maybe I should get mum to take some photos so we can have a fashion watch !!! (Nah ... maybe not ... she's terrible at taking photos LOL and the model (ME) is frightening !!!)

Friday night Kelsey & I went out to Jenny's place ... she was having a few friends over to relax at the end of a hectic week for her (explain later) ... well Kelsey was not a happy camper cos he would rather have gone to the pics with his mates ... but I dragged him a long anyway ... sorry Jen but we were not in the 'Party Animal' mood ... but we did laugh ... the boys played a card /drinking game and they were hysterical ... laughter really helps lift the spirits ... But we were home and in bed by 10pm !!! (getting too old to keep up with the youngsters LOL)

Saturday ... and Kelsey was of to Heini's place ... the weather was too gorgeous for him not to be there ... Lynette said the boys spent most of the day in the pool ...

Oh and Lynette & Gerhard were going out to a 'posh' Round Table function (black tie & full regalia etc.) on Saturday night so she asked if I'd take my camera over when I went to fetch my 'son'shine !!! And Lynette & Gerhard got a taste of the modelling life ...

Needless to say I came home without 'Son'shine ... gave H & him the opportunity to stay home alone (but together LOL) ... as long as they answered the phone when I called, well mum's still gotta have some control eh? (not yet ready to let go)

Oh, we had Jessica at our place for a sleepover on Saturday night, so it was all the girls together, meself, Jessica & Mum ... Lawrence & Penny were going to a party and as they have just moved into their new place ... here in Hillcrest, Jess didn't fancy staying alone in the new house ... so yup now my bru & family are neighbours ... not quite neighbours (as in next door) but they now live in the same town as us !!!

SUNDAY ... another beautiful day ... and I was off to Jenny's, who was launching her new company ... B&M Sports Academy ... an after school sports 'school' where kids can get additional training, learn the ropes etc ... and some how I just managed to get myself roped into helping ... (wonder just how that happened???) Well their presentation went well, (of course it did I was involved LOL) but I think Jenny was a bit disappointed that there were not as many people there as she had hoped ... Oh well baby steps darling, baby steps ... wishing her and the boys (the coaches) well in their new venture :-)

And then it was collect 'Son'shine and home ... dinner and he was passed out by 9pm !!!

And so endeth the weekend !!! ;-)

The week in review....

Ok so I've calmed down a bit since my rant !!! Still pissed off with 'said' person !!! and no Jane they probably too THICK! to realise I'm actually talking about them LOL

But this week in review !!!

Had an AWESOME Sunday ... we were up at 6am and on the beach by 8am ... doing a photo shoot for my mate Sally's daughter ... Brittani ... what a really great morning we had ... we had 'picture perfect' weather and Brit & her mate were ideal models for me ... had the perfect poses and had a lot of fun ...

Check out the Hunkaliscious with TWO Babes !!!
And of course the gorgeous Brittani ...

I actually enjoyed being on the beach and in the sand !!! (OK where is Janet & what have you done to her ???) and I also got my feet,knees and even my legs wet ... shooting in the waves ... it was 'wicked'!!!I could actually get to like this as a job(PMSL)

Needless to say the rest of Sunday was spent admiring all the photos and doing the whole critique thing ... should have done that, gonna try that next time etc. etc. etc. The girls were itching for shots on Facebook ... but shame I made them wait ... but even if I say so myself ... the wait was worth it !!!

And now look here we are on Thursday again and I haven't done much this week except sit at the computer and 'tweak' photos ... went and got another quote for my car aircon. ... this ones a bit better !!! Now just gotta find that friend that will fetch and carry for me for the 3 days its gonna take to get my car fixed !!!

Managed to pay a visit to the Primary School ... say hello to the old faithfuls (the teachers haha) and squeeze in breakfast with Juno today LOL !!! Tough life I know !!!

Been asked to help some friends put together a presentation for their new company ... oh well keeping my 'public speaker' skills honed !!!

And then spent a pleasant hour at rugby training tonight ... the boys working out, us mum gossiping ...

Phew! I am just soooooo busy :-)