Tuesday: this and that

1. I want to say that I am so over winter but then I think of the heat that is coming and I am scared. I definitely prefer cooler weather. So I am not quite enjoying winter (it is the coldest one if forever) but I’m not disliking it that much either. Lots of comfort food, layered clothing, series watching, hot water bottles, reading and lying under blankets happening in these parts. How are the icy winters treating you?

2. Child1 had a birthday yesterday and he had a FABULOUS time. I had to send cake and milo to school, my parents came to fetch him for lunch and birthday present shopping, we did a little braai for dinner and I obviously gave him the day off from all chores. I even had to run him a bubble bath! Honestly, he helps me a lot in the evenings. I was exhausted last night from having to do EVERYTHING! And on Saturday he goes to a movie and lunch and b-day present shopping with my sister. Oh, and I had to go to the bakery last night. Because he wanted cake for the kids at aftercare today. Eish. I think that this may be the longest birthday ever!

3. I have never had a party for Child2 and seeing that his birthday has always happened during the week, it was easy to just send cake to school. This year his birthday falls on a Sunday and I’m wondering if I should have something small for him. This is the kid who doesn’t like too many people in his space for too long. This is the kid who (when we are visiting people) will tell me (loudly) that it’s time to go home NOW! This is the kid who will go and lie down (or run himself a bath)  when we have visitors and they are in his space for too long. I am not quite sure what to do for him. But I do want to celebrate his birthday properly for a change.

4. I am off for a spa date with some ladies this coming weekend. I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much I need it. Really people, I am counting the sleeps already even though I am a bit nervous!

Anyways. How are you? How was your Tuesday?

Distraction, Procrastination. Pathetic. BLEH!

Do you ever feel like you are so busy and doing so much and yet you don’t seem to be crossing stuff off your to-do list?

Well. That’s me at the moment.

I have so much stuff to tie up before close of business (i.e. 31/12/2011) and I am just distracted into oblivion.

This weekend, I was very busy. I had lots to do and I had a plan. But I became distracted.

On Saturday I went to buy candles at the factory. Then I drove a bit further to turn around and I saw a plastics factory. Of course I couldn’t not go in there so I went inside and spent a lot of money (unbudgeted of course). Then I went to my knitting shop and en-route I saw another craft shop which was right next door to another fabric/knitting shop. So of course I had to go in there as well. My kids were with me. It was HOT! They were both miserable.

After going into my knitting shop and then to my regular craft shop I eventually left and went to my SIL to try something. Then I went home to sort out something to eat and to try to clean up. Of course I had no energy. I ended up organising my craft stuff into the containers that I bought – this was not on the to-do list either.

I was also meant to go to Sally’s pudding party. My DH came home from work too late and Child2 started to run a temperature.  So I gave it a miss. I watched movies instead of doing something practical. Like clean up my house.

On Sunday we went to Church as Child1 had to do something. Afterwards we went grocery shopping. Then to run a few more errands. Then for lunch. Then to my Mom to pick up something.  We eventually got home just after 14:30pm. I had plans to make cards, knit, practice some stuff, file away some paper, get some stuff together for SARS so I can get my money.

Well. I got into bed to read. And I fell asleep at around 3pm. I remember putting my book down and telling myself that it would only be a short nap. Thirty minutes tops! When I woke up it was dark. I checked my phone and it was 21:21. Yoh! I had slept the entire afternoon away.

I got up to find my kids on the couch. Also sleeping. Not even bathed or anything.  Am not even sure what they had for dinner. I had to get them up even earlier this morning so they could bath. Do you have any idea how much fun that was for child2? NOT!

I am generally a procrastinator so am trying to be very mindful of my behaviour. I usually have to give myself pep talks and I always reward myself when I complete a task. Only now I seem to be rewarding myself regardless of whether I’ve completed something or not!

How do you deal with being a lazy bones and being a procrastinator and being easily distracted?

This is what I managed to do this week – as per my November week 3 tasks:

Go back to SARS with whatever they need so I can get my money. HELL NO!

Find out about camping sites and where to hire a tent. Make booking if possible. YES and YES.

Find a Behavioural Optometrist to assess Child1’s eyes. And no, I didn’t know that there was such a thing either. When I manage to wrap my head around that I will blog. Promise. YES. Assessment scheduled for January 2012.

Find someone to take a few casual family pictures ASAP. YES. I booked this last week and ended up cancelling it today because I need my money for camping. I am trying to move it to February/March next year though.

Make final list of materials required for Christmas gifts and buy whatever is still needed – I already have most of it and just need one or two small things.Yes

Visit my SIL to see if she can help me with this thing (it’s jewellery-related) that I want to make a few people for Christmas. Yes.

Start making Christmas gifts. No.

Finish reading current book. No

So this is where I am at the moment. My house looks like it was hit by a bomb, Child 1 seems to be in his own world, Child 2 had a weekend of talking in leaps and bounds and being exceptionally challenging, my DH is distracted by stuff in his life, and I am not winning with ANYTHING Christmas related. Except for buying craft materials and booking a holiday.

This week I am cleaning my house. I am going to SARS, I am BUYING Christmas cards and I’m going to finish all 5 pieces of knitting that I am busy with. I am also going to clean my computer and all the stuff that distracts me. That means unsubscribing, unfollowing drainers (I don’t know if that is a proper word but I picked it up from Child 1 this weekend. Doesn’t it just sound so cool?) and cleaning up my inbox and google reader.

Seriously. Everything else will just have to wait

How was your weekend?

A bit of this, a bit of that…

Well, hello there.

I had a busy day today. SARS, OT, dentist and one or two other errands. Our Cape Town weather is confusing and we are literally experiencing four seasons in one day. I’m not exactly envious of the JHB weather at the moment so it’s fine. Anyway. Some random updates.

• My life at SARS is mostly sorted. I spent nearly two hours there this morning and it turns out that they actually owe ME money, not the other way around. I have to take some more documents to them to finalise but I am rather chuffed that I will be able to buy a washing machine soon. Isn’t that just fabulous?
• After SARS, I went for breakfast at the Food Lovers Market which was OK. Rather noisy but I did enjoy eating by myself and reading my paper. When last did you eat out alone?
• I had planned to go and browse in a bookshop but decided to do some errands instead. After this I went for a lunch time appointment with the OT to talk about her findings of the assessment that she had with Child2 last week. She served up a main meal of SID/SPD along with a side salad of other developmental issues related to Vestibular and Proprioception or something like that. Am waiting for a report so I can explain it better to my DH who can never seem to get off work to for these things. I felt OK but typing that up but seeing now makes me feel a bit flat. OR something. I will blog about it once I feel ready to share some more.
• I also ran into the dentists rooms for a prescription for AB’s because I can feel my abscess flaring up. I really need to get those wisdom teeth removed. Was going to postpone it to next year but I suspect I may have to do it a lot sooner. How much time would I realistically need to take off work to recover from this?
• I had planned to have a solo movie experience but then I no longer felt like it. So I came home and wrote in my journal. I’m doing a journaling challenge from this blog. Instead of journaling in the comments section like I am supposed to be doing,I am doing it the old fashion way where you actually write in a blank book. I’m finding it to be quite therapeutic. When last did you write manual entries in a journal? (and I’m not talking about a blog post)
• I am LOVING the “SICK SICK SICK song from local artist Chiano Sky at the moment.  I just think that it has the sexiest sound to it. If you click that link you can play the song – am too lazy to figure out how to upload a YouTube clip. What is your current favourite song? 
• Anyway, am off to bed now to get in some reading. How was your Thursday?

Ten on Tuesday

1. I took Child 2 for an OT assessment yesterday. He had so much fun! Apparently I now need to buy him a trampoline. Have to go back to her on Friday to talk about what happened and to discuss the way forward.
2. With all the crafting that I’ve been doing I have completely neglected to keep up with my admin. I am very behind and need to sort out a few things this week. Have made a list and started doing some stuff today.
3. I finally went out and bought myself a laminating machine on Saturday and have done practice laminating for everything A4 in sight! Have many, many plans with this. Will blog some projects soon!
4. The tech finally came around to fix my washing machine. He told me to rather buy a new one because there are two things wrong and it is going to cost me at least R1500 to fix. You cannot possibly believe how much this annoys me. I did get a new microwave though. My sister gave me her 3month old LG because she has an alternative solution in place for herself. That makes me happy. Btw…did I mention that my washing machine, microwave and TV all conked in within the space of 2 weeks? Honestly, they just don’t manufacture things the way they used to.
5. Marcia wrote a post a few days ago about perspective and it has been on my mind quite a bit. Co-incidentally I have made many observations this past week about the people I follow on Twitter. Many of them live in a bubble and have no idea what it’s like to be poor. Or hungry. Or heaven forbid, to live without a Domestic Worker. Or to not have money to pay basic for basic things like bread. They don’t know that R20 is not enough for bread AND milk. They don’t know that many poor people no longer eat meat and have to put soup bones in their curry. Also, they laugh at and trivialize things which make them uncomfortable. Sometimes I want to respond to them but I don’t because I really don’t need that kind of online drama in my life. So I ignore, seethe a bit and eventually (maybe/possibly/if necessary) click on the unfollow button. I am a rather pathetic wallflower when I really shouldn’t be. And on this note, I stumbled on a blog the other day (don’t you just love when that happens?) where the author took up a challenge to live on R12 per day for a couple of days. She wrote a few posts about her experience, bearing in mind that the R12 was only for food and excluded things like electricity and transport. Seriously people. Be grateful for what you have because let me tell you this much: If you are connected into the internet and can click on my blog to read this post then you are SUPER WEALTHY compared to some people in SA.
6. One of my colleagues quit her job the other day. She has nothing lined up and has no idea what she will be doing. She says that she is not paid enough to be our employers b*itch – her words, not mine. I am envious of her and the fact that she has the courage which I obviously lack. I wish  that I had the faith in myself that she has. I once did the same thing and just quit without having something lined up so I know that I have it in me. I am just not so sure I can do it now. How does one even begin to get courage? Where do you even start?
7. I’m busy rereading The Happiness Project. There is so much that I could say about this book (have gained MUCH insight)but I just can’t formulate anything coherent about it.  Has that ever happened to you?
8. I got the book that I was referring to in this post. Have blocked off some time this weekend so I can get into it. Will DEFINITELY blog about it once I’m done reading it.
9. My job is making me VERY unhappy. Do you have any idea how horrible it is to be unhappy for at least 7 hours of your day? I battle to focus and the little things just seem so hard! I know what needs to be done. I need to get my A into G and knuckle down with the job hunting but I just feel so stuck. And the thought of going for interviews is filling me with panic and utter dread. Seriously. Where to start?
10. I went for a session of yoga on Friday. It was BEAUTIFUL. I even cried! Will blog about yoga tomorrow.

So….how was your Tuesday?

Thursday things

1. Thank you for your beautiful comments on my previous post. I wrote that piece at the end of last week immediately after I read this one from Cat. I cried when I wrote it. I cried even more when I read your comments. Thank You.xx
2. Boot camp is happening three times a week and is killing me slowly. Next week I will add an afternoon run as well. I have finally  discovered my stomach muscles which I completely forgot I had! At the moment they are VERY SORE. I can’t cough, sneeze, laugh, stretch or yawn.
3. Looks like my DH is off this weekend. You cannot possibly believe how much this thrills me. We are taking the kids out in the morning and will hopefully have some alone time in the afternoon to talk talk talk and talk some more. And of course we will eat like pigs!
4. My Tween is going to be paying half of his holiday Judo club fee and I’ll pay the other half. He is VERY excited about it and actually so am I.
5. I need to find my MIL something to do. Any ideas? My FIL was her whole life and now that he’s not here anymore she is kind of at a loss. What do old people do for fun besides babysitting their grandchildren?

Anyway, I hope that your Thursday was fabulous. It is raining outside and the wind is howling! Hopefully Spring will arrive in Cape Town by the end of October. Am about to get into bed to read. And pin.

x

Stuff on Saturday

Yesterday morning my mouth started to feel sore. It wasn’t bad enough for painkillers yet but it felt like the pain was coming from the same area as the last time I had toothache. I called the dentist and asked him to fax me a script for antibiotics and I explained to him that I had the same thing like the last time. He insisted that I come and see him so he could take a look. He told me that he would be at his rooms until 16:00 (he is Muslim and had to go and break the fast) or I could come first thing this morning. I told him that I would see what I could do because I am just so busy you know! I couldn’t get away from the office in time yesterday and very nearly didn’t go and see him this morning because I had a breakfast date at 9:30. I decided that it wouldn’t be the end of the world to arrive a few minutes late for breakfast so I popped in at 9am this morning as he was opening. Well. I have an abscess and apparently it’s not the same thing like the last time. He took x-rays (I saw it and it’s BAD) and it advised me to have my wisdom teeth cut out.  I am on antibiotics for this week until I go back next week to have it cleaned out. Then I need to go to a Maxo-Facial Dr. for surgery. My nerves are shot!

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I went to a Women’s Breakfast this morning. Was Lovely and beautiful and spiritual and moving and so, so profound. Was absolutely nothing like I expected. I cried. A lot.  And I took lots of notes. Maybe I will blog about it next week.

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I then went to my SIL and made my first piece of jewellery. I LOVED it! Am very happy with the result. Took a few pictures with my cell phone and will blog it tomorrow. I had lots of fun designing the piece and putting it together but I obviously need more practice. My SIL is a fantastic teacher and had so much patience with me.

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I also had a guitar lesson scheduled for 3pm this afternoon. There is a guy at the Church who is taking a group and not charging a cent! How lucky am I? Anyway. I lost track of time at my SIL and so I missed my lesson but I am definitely going next week.

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Someone on Twitter faked a terminal illness for a couple of months and came clean yesterday. This person got support in various forms from her followers who were obviously livid! I didn’t follow her (thank goodness)  but was thinking of her today. A lot. Please could you pray for her if you do pray? She obviously needs help and I’m thinking it’s going to take a lot more than a shrink to help her. Eish. She is tweeting now as if nothing happened.

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Right now I am about to get into bed (with my knitting) and watch some Greys on my computer. I have nothing scheduled for tomorrow (except for a morning run and Church) because I have to finish a gift that I am knitting for someone.

I do hope that you are having a fantastic evening. How was your Saturday?

Some overdue updates

decided towards the end of last week to take a computer break. It was awesome and I got so much done. Think I must try to do this at least once a month. Thank you to all of you who checked up on me. Meant a lot. xoxo

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My Tween had a birthday on Saturday. After much back and forth he eventually decided on Spur with his cousins. I sent cake and juice to school and aftercare on Friday. While planning this party (we were originally going to go 10pin bowling with the school kids) I saw a side of the school kids that I really didn’t like and I refused to entertain it. I had to put my foot down and teach my son to exercise his boundary muscle. Was very painful but I know he learnt from it and I will continue to insist that he flex this muscle. If money and time wasn’t an issue then I would totally home school my son. Must blog about this.  He did have a great time on Saturday so it did all end well.

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Yesterday I went to the opening of the CT Tranquil Body Treats shop. Was lovely and I met Sally, Tania, Leigh-Anne, Nicola, Richard and Alice. The only person I knew when I went was Cazpi and actually this wasn’t difficult at all. Where does this bloody shyness come from? We are having a knitting tweet up soon. I missed the last one because my FIL passed away the evening before so I am VERY excited about that one.

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I did a 4.2km run on Women’s day in good time. I won’t do another Women’s Day or any other public holiday race as I found it to be VERY crowded. Will stick to local races on weekend mornings. My next one is another 5km on 21/08. I have two lined up for September as well and so far one for October. I am getting to the point where I simply must run no matter what. If I don’t, then it feels like I forgot to brush my teeth or something.

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I am just about ready to give up on a particular relationship. The relationship in question should be simple but it is not. There is much complexity and complication. I feel like I am clinging onto something that realistically speaking, is simply not working for me. I wish it did work as well for me as it seems to be working for everyone else. I wish it was that simple to just walk away from it but it isn’t. There is so much Catholic guilt involved in this one and so much wondering where to from here. For now I am finding it easiest to ignore the whole thing. So mature of me…

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Since I have been using my preventative asthma meds I have not needed to use my backup pump AT ALL. Even when I run. Something has to be said for those preventatives. I still take the backup pump along just in case. Can’t be dropping dead with a sweaty body and dishevelled hair because THAT would be most embarrassing.

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I have a question:

Do you watch the news? I am a news junkie and I generally LOVE online media. Lately it’s been too much for me to handle and it makes me feel extremely anxious. It’s the same old, same old stories of ugliness and poverty and crime and 10-year-old children having s*e*x with one another. In fact, it makes me want to run away with my kids and live on an island where we swim and laze on the beach all day and just eat and eat and eat without a care in the world. I am officially done with the news. Are you still watching/reading it?

A bit of this, a bit of that…

• My Tween is having a birthday next Saturday. To date, I have made zero party arrangements. He wants to go tenpin bowling/ice skating/ to a games arcade/to the movies followed by a Spur outing. See what I have to deal with? A Tween who can’t make up his mind. I guess I should be happy that he at least has his guest list sorted?
• I am in the market for running shoes. Looks like it’s going to set me back by at least R1000. Eish. I am fainting already. I understand that running is high impact and that if my shoes are not proper then I can injure my hips/shins/ankles/knees. Honestly. What would someone in the townships have done to get a pair of running shoes? I have checked factories and it looks like it will set me back by about R750. Maybe I should do barefoot running?
• After the drama/trauma of the past two weeks our routines are finally starting to normalise. My DH is not sleeping too well. And I’m out of Rescue Remedy. Best I go get some ASAP.
• I just love Sally’s Gifting Challenge and am having loads of fun with Christmas Gift planning. There will be knitted gifts, home-made candle gifts, hand-made jewellery, home-made cookies in some funky, recycled packaging and maybe even some home-made lotions and fizz balls. Martha Stewart is my new BFF and I am also enjoying this crafting website at the moment. Am getting so excited as the possibilities are endless! Please share your favourite craft blogs? Going to start playing on Pinterest just now as well.
• I received a gift from a fabulous blogger and went to fetch it yesterday. It’s a book that I’ve wanted to get for a while and was planning as a Christmas gift to myself –  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Can’t wait to get stuck in and have cleared my schedule for the weekend so I can read!

How has your Tuesday been?

Five Random Updates

I had a birthday this past Sunday. It was OK. Not my best one ever but quite good. The weather was sublime. I had lunch with my family which was fantastic. I went to the beach for a bit which was just divine. And then I had to leave to come home and self-medicate and sleep because I was as sick as a dog. High expectations and anti-climaxes and all that. Must blog about it.

Last night at 21:35 I drove myself to a Dr. I was battling to breathe, I was wheezing and hearing my very tight chest make all these whistling sounds. Dr nebulised me, prescribed steroids, antibiotics, practiced with me how to use my asthma pump properly and we spoke about exercise and asthma. I have actually been in denial about the asthma but this is another blog post. Dr gave me the OK wrt exercise but I did freak out when he told me that I can’t exercise when I am sick.  I don’t know how to explain this but I am feeling antsy about missing sessions.

My Tween has asked me for a few days for a Gmail because he would like to send emails to his school friends during the holidays. Last night I helped him set it up. He was SOOOOO excited. He then sent an email to each grandparent. I sent them both a text to ask them to please check their mails and respond, which they did. When their response mail came through and he opened it and read it, it was like Christmas! I LOVED seeing him get all excited about getting a response to his email.

I am going to the parenting conference of ADHASA at the end of July. I had been hoping to go this year but it didn’t look like it was going to work out. Last week I saw someone on Twitter ask if anyone was willing to donate some funds towards her conference fee because she really wanted to go. Her ticket was paid for in minutes. Now I don’t like asking for money but THAT TWEET INSPIRED ME. I admired that the person in question was so ballsy. And so brave.  I know that it couldn’t have been easy for her to ask for help. And so, the next day I emailed ADHASA and told them that I need help and would appreciate it if they could at least sponsor my conference fee because I can’t pay for a flight plus accommodation plus a car plus their fee. I got a mail yesterday to say that it was sorted. It made my DAY! I’m having fun making lists and stuff. It’s my first ever solo trip.

I am not a forum person at all (too much of playground and judgement and all that) but I have found a cool new hangout:

Check out www.fitbloggers.ning.com

These are all women who are working towards living a healthy lifestyle. They are serious and mean business. They share their challenges wrt food, exercising, living healthily etc and they are so, so encouraging and supportive.  I have seen zero judgement and I have spent quite a bit of time there over the past few days. Seriously. Go visit.

What’s been happening in your world? What was your Tuesday like?

 

 

Ten little updates on a Tuesday

1. I won a phone over here. This excites me tremendously! Am I not the luckiest girl ever?
2. Certain things that I’ve been planning are falling into place. Slowly, but surely. Unfortunately I can’t share it just yet but will do so in the coming weeks.
3. It’s my fabulous Mother’s birthday today. Have just come from the best dinner EVER! Gosh, I looked at her this evening and realised (not that I didn’t know or anything) how absolutely beautiful she is. I look exactly like her and I love that I am also going to look hot when I’m in my 50s, providing that I take as good care of my skin as she does.
4. It’s going to be my happy birthday on Sunday. I have no idea what I will be doing. I wanted to go for a ride on the cable car because it’s free on your birthday but that would mean forking out for my DH. It will be free for the kids if my DH pays R180 (this is the  current special) but it feels like so much money! Honestly? I would rather go to a nice restaurant and using that money to pay for a rare fillet. Very bad, I know.
5. My DH is having a birthday on 20/07. He’ll be 40.  He is not interested in any form of party which makes my life a bit difficult. Sorry for him though. There is so going to be a celebration, albeit a smallish one.
6. I only lost 0.2kg this past week. I was bummed because I had been really good with my diet and I even added 3 days of hard exercise so was expecting to lose some more. I think I need to measure myself seeing that I’m now losing flab in addition to kilograms. Anyway, at least it was a loss and not a gain.
7. Exercise is damn hard.  WJ is almost sadistic and at the same time she is so, so encouraging. But. I can do it, and even though I am sore a lot, I am mentally alert and even more conscious of what I am eating. I feel fitter and stronger, though I know I still have a long way to go. I have done more running these past 4 sessions than I’ve done in my entire life. The endorphins have not pitched up as yet but I have decided not to wait around for them. The show will just have to go on already!
8. I have decided to set myself a little fitness goal. I discussed it with WJ today and we are going to work out tomorrow how to achieve this. I am going to do this 5km run on Woman’s Day. I wasn’t sure whether I would be ready but my friend mentioned today that I have so far shown that I can run 2km without stopping (after 4 training sessions) and that I still have 14 sessions with WJ before that date.  Don’t you just love friends who are so brilliant at putting things into perspective and who continue to encourage you? Anyway, I can also add in an extra session on the weekends. I am going to do this, even if it means walking for 2km. The intention though, is to run without stopping and I WILL do this. Am registering tomorrow as soon as WJ and I have our meeting.
9. Did you read my previous post? I got the most awesome comments and the lovely, very clever Sharon forwarded me this site where you can check if the products that you are using have been tested on animals.  Did you know that some brands of toothpaste are tested on animals? That is just sick. Please have a look, it’s actually very helpful. Thank You Shaz!
10. My SIL makes costume jewellery – stunning stuff that she sells, and has invited me to come around to have a bash at it. Of course I said yes! I just love that I have so many outlets now. I am knitting and running and pretty soon I am going to try to make some jewellery. Am very excited!

Right now I am feeling a bit flu-ish. I have just taken something and will be getting straight into bed. Can’t be sick now that I’m an athlete and all! I wish you all a pleasant evening.xx