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Monday, January 21, 2013

Mondays.


Despite being two thirds through the month I decided that today, Monday, is going to be MY real start of the New Year. The last three weeks are a bit of a blur spending much time thinking about health issues, both Oscar's and mine. Oscar is doing much better and even received a prize at Nursery School on Friday. His teacher Mel carried out a little quiz by describing various characters from the Fairy Tales and our little fellow called out the answers before anyone else had a chance!! I guess all that reading we all do to him is paying off!! Well done our little treasure!

I am rather relieved as Oscar absolutely LOVES watching Ben 10 and other modern DVDs which are out of my range of experience and which I am not altogether in favor of. At the age of 3+ he knows all about monsters, villains, baddies etc. all the things we tended to protect our children from. I am willing to go with the flow and accept that times have changed and that the modern child can cope with Angry Birds, Batman and other Super Heroes. In fact are they any worse off than listening to stories about the wolf swallowing Grandma in the story of Red Riding Hood or the Three Pigs preparing a pot of Boiling water to catch the wolf?

Then it was my turn to go to hospital and I confess I was a little upset that I had to have a second session of being in hospital! In a way the first experience in November was easier, as it was an emergency and I had little time to think about things but this time I had ten days to worry about the operation. all appears to have gone well and each day I feel better. Nurse Warren has been amazing with his cooking and cleaning skills being tested. Let's hope that I am in for a smooth ride for the rest of 2013. I am very grateful to all my family and friends for their love and concern. It's at times like this when we all need each other.

Back to being Monday and the start of my year. I read that Monday has been voted the most unpopular day of the week for the past 176 years!! Most of the quotable quotes I read are negative so all I am going to say is that this is the REAL beginning of 2013 for me and it is jam packed with all sorts of creative ideas, dreams, plans, books to read, blogs to read and write, travel and most of all family, friends, fun and laughter.

 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Mid January.

It's scary how time flies. Maybe i we are so busy that we do not notice how fast the days slip by. Right now we are in Johannesburg, which is an eight hour drive from where we live on the South Coast. I dozed on and off during most of the journey, however South African roads are characterized by the many potholes that have ""developed". Every time we got close to hitting a pothole my hubby would curse and complain which would waken me from my slumbers! At one stage we had to drive on the wrong side of the road in order to make progress in our journey. I hasten to add that we also take side roads and by-ways to avoid paying the tolls, which adds to the pothole dilemma.

In addition to being a slower route it is also a more scenic route and taking the time to look about I continue to marvel at our beautiful country. I also noted lots of Cosmos growing along the sides of the roads...this is supposed to indicate that Winter is approaching. Something's wrong. Maybe the universe's thermometer is changing because cooler weather is a long way off according to the Geography lessons I had many years ago.





The reason for coming to Johannesburg is because our grandson is to have his tonsils and adenoids out and grommets put in his ears. The day before the op we took Oscar off to the pool at Zoo Lake for a last swim before his op.

 

I have not been to a public pool for many, many years! This really was a blast from the past! Officially the pool opens for the public at 10 a.m. But the swimming pool keeper let us in the side entrance through his "digs"!! We were surprised to see loads of people already enjoying their time in the sun. As the morning wore on many more grandparents arrived with their grandchildren. The pool is a great place to bring your picnic blanket, a good book, lots of liquid, sunscreen and spend a fun day!!

 

The Op.

Sarah and Adrien went off at the crack of dawn to the Donald Gordon Hospital with Oscar. The hospital is so conveniently situated near to their apartment it takes a few minutes to get there. Warren and I went over mid morning and waited around until he had slept off his anaesthetic. It was heart breaking seeing and chatting to Mothers of little children who have cancer. A seven year old boy in our ward has just been diagnosed with early stage of lymphatic cancer! The little girl next to Oscar was from Kenya and she has had a tracheotomy...and so the stories continue. It is time to hold our children and grandchildren really tight and to count our blessings.

 

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

2013.


Wow it is 2013! What has this year in store for us all? Reflecting back over the past twelve months, it has been a time of joy and of great sadness. The highlights were our travels to Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Korea. Visiting the family in San Francisco and going onto to Hawaii for a week. These travels fill us with beautiful memories and experiences. The two months in the bush were wonderful and connecting with family and friends wherever we go, is the best part of it all. Spending quality time with all five grandchildren has been the cherry on the top for us. For this we feel very blessed.

We said good bye to 2012 by spending the evening with my sister Robyn and her family. Dillion, her ten year old grandson had a wonderful time letting off fireworks in the garden, which Grandpa had provided. We arrived back at our flat at about 10:30 as the car park, at the main beach started filling up. An hour later the place was pumping. Hundreds of people had arrived and crackers were being let off. Just before midnight the pace increased and the night sky was exploding. What a magnificent display! It went on and on. I confess after admiring the display I did think about the Rands that were burning up! But I guess there is no pleasure without the pain. I am glad I do not own any pets as it would have been hell for them If you lived anywhere near the beachfront.

What about 2013? What does it hold in store for us? Some things are out of our control and we have to just wait and see. Personally, I want to read more, write more, quilt more, do some good works, spend more time with family and friends. I would love to learn new things e.g. Painting, be more daring in my quilting, spend more time in my home, declutter, enjoy my music collection, play the piano, cook more creatively and so the list goes on and on. My health is not great at the moment and hopefully this will soon be sorted and I will be able to get back to the gym, which I love. This makes 2013, a year of great possibilities. May I wish you all a year of fun, fulfillment and great HEALTH.