Thursday, November 29, 2012

Bryce Courtenay

As most of you probably know the great writer Bryce Courtenay died last Friday after a long battle with stomach Cancer. I have been a huge fan of his for years ever since I got hold of a copy of Power of One.

In the end Power of One wasn't my favourite book of his that title belongs to Four Fires. That book still haunts me six years after reading it. If you haven't read it I urge you to find it and read it right away. Consider it a final tribute to this incredible man.

He was a truly prolific writer. On average he penned a book every six months. He called his method of writing "bum glue" and would sometimes stay at his desk for thirteen hours or more.

I have just purchased his final book on Kindle. This is the last sentence from the book:

"It's been a privilege to write for you and to have you accept me as a storyteller in your lives. Now, as my story draws to an end, may I say only, 'Thank you. You have been simply wonderful'."

It brings tears to my eyes just reading it but what a wonderful end to what has been a truly incredible writing career.

The last book is called Jack of Diamonds and was published just two weeks before his death.

So if you were a fan, what was your favourite Bryce Courtenay book?

http://youtu.be/Bvq_XitF6nw

Goodbye Bryce and thank you for everything.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Photo heavy post

I have been writing all kinds of blog posts in my head recently but somehow they never end up here. Sigh.

So I decided to put up a few picks from our recent trip.


Ewan "teaching" Phil how to play mini-golf.



Tongue out and deep in concentration.


We had great fun playing numerous games with Ewan as there was no charge for playing. It took about ten games to convince him to start at the begining of the hole not five cm away. The standard game involved watching him putt for a few minutes then get frustated and drop the ball in the hole. Super cute and lots of laughs.



On the Tuesday we packed my car full of chairs, drinks and picnic goodies and headed to Cape Vidal.



It's a bit hard to read but that sign readsLevy R5


Adults R30


Children R20


Car R40.


Ahem. I would just like to point out that I do understand changes need to be made in South Africa as to how conservation is managed but iSimangaliso just pisses me off. That sign means that for a family of four you will pay R160 to get into the park for the day. The park is a mess with bad roads, areas full of alien plant species and facilities that don't work. At the beach only 1 of the 8 outdoor showers worked. The showers and nearby ablutions are very well designed and must have cost a fortune but no maintence has ever been done. It was just a bit depressing. Hopefully they put the high fees(much higher than Kruger) to good use and start fixing the place up.



We did have lots of fun at the beach. You can see the intent in the photo:)



Followed by a picnic with some friendly banded mongeese and some not so friendly samango monkeys.


The monkeys stole the remainder of our lunch. Sad as it means they so obviously associate humans with food and that shows that someone has fed them. They were very aggressive.



On the way back to the gate we had two great rhino sightings. This was the best pic of them all. Such magnificent creatures and so sad to hear that we have now passed 500 rhino deaths this year.



On a happier note it is now 65 days and 10 hours(thanks Virgin Atlantic for the countdown) till our flight takes off from O R Tambo. That isn't the countdown I am excited about though. I am working on 66 days and 12 hours till we land in Miami. I look forward to the holiday not being trapped in a tin can for twenty one hours.


So today I finally got Ewan's countdown up on his door. He and I have been working on it for an hour or so a day since Sunday. It's not much but I love that he enjoys things like this and I think its pretty good for a three year old.



The countdown worm.


We did this last time as well after a suggestion from a mom on one of the Disney Forums. It worked well then but now almost 18 months later I think it will be exactly what we need. He keeps asking how long until he can go on the rides. The kid is hugely excited not just about seeing his favourite characters but also because he is now 42 inches tall so he can go on most of the rides. I told him he still needs to grow a bit and it has been a great way to make him eat his veggies:)



Here are a few pics of Ewan's room. I have always loved how it all turned out. This is his cupboard with wooden animals bought over the net, elephant handles from Treetops and the giraffe painted by my Mom.



The wall next to Ewan's bed also painted by my Mom. We had lots of arguments about scale and what the blue and yellow dragonfly/butterfly was but now I adore it. Ewan pats the elephant good morning most days.



The lovely toddler bed my Dad made for Ewan. We put him in it just after his first birthday and he has slept through the night since. I think the poor kid was getting too tall for his cot. He loves his bed and the fact that he can climb in and out of it by himself. I keep trying to convince my Dad to make these to order but he reckons there will be no market in the modern world of plastic. What do you think?


So enough pics now.


Enjoy today.. its almost Friday.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Check this out SA people

I promise this isn't a sponsored post mainly because I have no sponsors.

Anyway today one of our local online delivery stores is hoping on the Black Friday sale idea. They have massive sales on pretty much everything just for today and no delivery charges today either. So go do all your Christmas shopping online today instead of trudging through the malls and you will probably save a huge amount of money. They have a great selection of toys so right now I am off to do my shopping.

Go check it out now.

Takealot

Friday Fun

Just a note to Margot I am trying to get a subscription up and running but self hosted WordPress is not friendly to those who don't understand code. I tried a number of options but nothing worked. I have asked the two computer boffins I know for help so hopefully it will be up and running next week. Thanks for suggesting it I know I get very lazy with additions to the site sometimes.

So some updates for you quickly.

* On the 10 Nov we went to see Linkin Park live in Joburg. Yes I am a huge fan or more accurately was in my early twenties. I still listen to them but not with the same level of passion. Anyway the concert was brilliant. Big Concerts may stuff up on tickets but they do put on a great concert. The only strange part was I saw a couple of kids Ewan's age there with their parents. Now I get the concert didn't have an age limit but really. We only got back to the hotel at 1:30 am, kids should not be up that late. The video below is an example of a song they played and the images on the giant screen disturbed me. Ewan would have been screaming. Am I the only one who thinks those parents insane for taking their kids?

http://youtu.be/43WBDpTUn5s

*The next morning we headed back to Vryheid. I picked up Ewan and drove through to St. Lucia to spend the week with Phil while Andrew was diving in Sodwana. We had such an incredible time. Ewan was so exhausted he started having afternoon naps again. We swam, jaccuzied, went for long walks, played mini golf, went to the beach, saw rhinos and buffalo at Cape Vidal and ate at some awesome child friendly restaurants. It was a magical few days.

*Thursday saw me driving to Sodwana to meet up with Andrew. We had fun at the beach in the mornings there but honestly I hate the bugs, heat and the lack of things to do there. Its a diving and fishing destination and that is it. The dive camp only has 3m pool which isn't kid friendly. I go there for Andrews sake but honestly I would rather be a million miles away.

So we spent 9 nights away from home. This week has been all about catch up.

On a side note that I may have forgotten to mention Ewan has been potty trained for almost two months now. We still have the occasional accident but wow nappy free life is much easier.

I will post pictures next week from our week away.

Enjoy your weekend and here is a funny video to end. By the way it really is a safety video from Sydney Metro. Only the Australians.

http://youtu.be/IJNR2EpS0jw

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

So today in honour of all my American friends and wow there are a lot of you if I sit and think about it, I am cooking the full Thanksgiving Dinner.

The giant turkey is in the oven, the whipped mashed potatoes are done, the pumpkin pie is done and its almost time to eat.

Today I am thankful to have a wonderful son who gave me a huge hug when I fetched him from school and told me he loves me to the moon and back.

I am grateful to my husband who is so supportive of me that he wants me to follow my dreams and write full time. In fact he told me he is happy that I have finally seen the light and decided to do what I have always wanted to do instead of moaning about my job.

I am grateful for the intense, light, giddy feeling I have had since making this choice about work. I feel like I can finally breathe again. Yes I know there will be bad days ahead but I will fight them because I know this is what I wanted from the time I was ten years old.

I am grateful to have an incredible brother that I am so proud to call my sibling. In fact I am counting the days till I get to see you again. We may not have seen eye to eye as kids but now to quote Ewan "I love you to the moon and back". You have made a brilliant choice in the Alena to be your wife and I know we will just get closer as the years go by. Let's work on that living in the same country thing:)

I am grateful to still have my parents and to be able to spend time with them everyday. I don't know what I would do without you and your help and love.

I am grateful to have wonderful friends like Philip. We have known each other for so long we have to make sure to keep each others secrets from newer friends. You are my best friend Phil and you always will be.

I am grateful to have wonderful friends/family in people like Bex and Si. Love ya and love spending time with ya. Watch out for the giant dinner coming your way tonight.

Finally I am grateful to you my readers. Your comments and emails brighten up my day.I love reading your blogs and spending time in our online community.

So take this day to think about what you are grateful for.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

I think it's time we called quits on this

I have worked for the same company since October 2006. Wow I can't believe it has been six years now. Let me just take a minute to digest that.

Until now my record was 18 months. This may have to do with the fact I work from home now and my bosses all live in different parts of the world. I never was very good at dealing with bosses. I will admit it I hate being corrected.

This job was great at first but lately and I am talking for about two years now things have been on a downward slope.

I can't tell you the exact details but an email I received on Sunday filled me with a slow cold rage that I just can't get rid of. I am tired of being angry and stressed about work but this email was the last straw. The last two nights I have spent a few hours awake every night consumed by angry feelings I can't shut down. I want to lash out at the world.

So enough is enough.

I will finish off what I owe them and since no more work will be coming my way until March anyway right now is as good a time as any to walk away.

When people ask me what I do now I will tell them I am a writer and come hell or high water I will find a way to make this work.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Friday Ramble

This week has just been too busy for me to post but its Friday and  time to calm down a little.

So Cat just one baby sorry. Yep I had a scan last Friday and there is just one little one. I have no idea why I suddenly looked three months pregnant for a few days but its gone now and my stomach is back to normal size.

The baby showed a little small actually at 6 weeks when it should be 8 weeks but I am trying not to worry too much.

The nausea and tiredness are killing me.

I wrote an Economics exam on Wednesday and An environmental impact paper today. Just one more to go on Tuesday but thats mostly maths and GIS.

So this week has just busted me. All I actually wanted to do was sleep. Life is just not fun sometimes:)

Tuesday afternoon I have to start working my butt off to get a number of data sets and an invoice to my main boss before he leaves for Antarctica on Saturday for three months. Lucky bugger!!!!

The weather this week has been freezing which has rather put a damper on Ewan's swimming and horse riding. I am hoping he got to ride this afternoon but I will only find out tonight. We are hoping to get him started with a new tiny tumbles class thats starting. He does have a full schedule but he really seems to enjoy all the activities.

This weekend we are having some quiet time at home with a braai on Saturday, family lunch on Sunday and lots of studying for me.

Hope you all have a great weekend