Disjointed days!

I am feeling a bit out of sorts today and have not been able to apply myself to ANYTHING for very long for the last 2 days. I did start today on the right foot - yesterday was just a write off altogether - but then I had to go and fetch poppet from school as she has an eye infection and a very bad cold! So got nothing done again! Sean has had a VERY productive 2 days so maybe we are just balancing each other! Also, he is cooking me supper so I am feeling a bit more relaxed now. I am dying to show pics of Hubby's coffee shop as he has really made it look fabulous (not without a little help from moi on graphics) with new signs etc, but that means sending Sean down with his camera which I keep forgetting to do! He has also added a few more products and things are starting to pick up after the Jan/feb.../mar slump that businesses seem to suffer from! Well as I said I am not able to apply myself for very long so that is all I can manage!

Tomorrow is another day!

When life gives you lemon seeds...

... Grow a lemon tree!

This is a first so pay attention! I opened a lemon on our wedding aniversary (15 Feb) to squeeze over our skottled prawns in garlic butter (!) and the pips had sprouted! Just for a laugh I chucked one of them into a plastic cup with some water and left it on the windowsill where it grew a stem; I potted it with some stones in the bottom and some soil from a molehill (thanks for the advice Kyle) and left it on the same windowsill. Now my lemon tree (?) has 4 strong leaves and a smile for me every morning when I give it a few drops of water.

Nothing I have ever tried to grow has lasted very long so please check for updates as the life and times of my lemon tree will be continually posted. Oh yes... if anyone can come up with a suitable name for my against-all-odds tree please post it in 'comments'; it would be very grateful to be called something other than lemon tree (imagine you were called 'Human' all the time!)

Who emptied the bucket?

So, about that STORM! You lot overseas and many miles away must have heard the thunder and felt the breeze! I understate the situation when I say the countryside is strewn with foliage and WHOLE TREES! For those of you who would like to see what happened to our beautiful beaches check out the East Coast Radio site at http://www.ecr.co.za/


Brother in Law's house was under 5cm of water and is currently being aired and dried with all the carpets up and THANKFULLY everything replaceable through insurance. Not so 'lucky' those in the townships me thinks!

Some astute soul mentioned that the ferocity can ony have been caused by a certain 'Man Upstairs' berrating his fallen angel for still not having collected the autocratic leader (read tyranical bully) of a certain country starting with Z ending with e!



To all those who are still drying out and reassembling their lives: we are thinking of you!

One for the monster...

Well it has been a while, what can I say? Life's requirements get in the way of catching up on things! Not many developments in the house of Hendry: we are still working hard and playing hard. Shannon has been at her new school for 2 weeks now and she is very happy - I am not sure if it is coincidental but her speach and vocabulary have improved rapidly this month.

The little madam's latest amusing ditty is baa baa black sheep, it goes as follows:
Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir 3 bags full!
One for the monster, one for the dame ...

I have learned a shocking lesson for myself this week: I have taken on a new student who is unable to read even basic words such as go, on etc... he is 16 years old. While I knew there was a problem with education in this country I have not until now experienced it first hand in this manner. I am dumbfounded for all the obvious reasons and many more. All I can do is my best to open the world up for this boy (who is white for those of you who are wondering) who cannnot at the moment evern read road signs or the TV guide! While this is an interesting challenge for me I can't begin to express how sad I feel for the youth of this country as it is in its current state.

Nuff ranting - I am going to build towers with Shannon until bedtime and then back to the books for me.

tata for now...

Home at last...

They have finally arrived!!! Our computer, phone and ADSL line are all IN our OFFICE! No more wondering when it will be complete, not feeling quite at home because my link to the outside world is elsewhere. I can safely say "now we are home!" Sean was going stir crazy as I have asked him if we can wait at least a month til we consider buying a TV of our own in the hope that perhaps we will get used to not having one and learn to live without it and he couldn't even surf the net in the evenings. (It can only do good if for nothing else but our communication with eachother) Shannon seems to not really notice and I think is really enjoing the extra play time with Mommy and Daddy as there are no movies to watch!

On the subject of Shannon, she starts her new school tomorrow and has been proudly proclaiming that she is going to 'big' school. How she deals with it I have yet to find out but I will keep you posted. She has seen the swings and jungle jim and is really excited about those!

Poppet's latest can't-keep-a-straight-face moment was when I reprimanded her for hitting me on the head with her teddy she said meekly "I just loving you Mommy" whilst stroking my hair! I nearly dissolved!

Well that ends another broadcast from Moi... I am off to dream land...

Where's all my stuff?

So we have moved house from No 45 to No 41 (same complex, same street) has to be the easiest move ever! Not to mention the fact that my indispensible maid Yvonne did most of the hard work for me so we were moved in and unpacked within a day or two. Thanks to all the kind people and fortuitous timing in our lives we have a housefull of furniture and all at the cost of a few road trips! Shannon loves her new house and is especially proud of her new beds care of the Boston Clulows!

All of that aside I am awaiting telkom's swift response to our request for transferral of phone line and ADSL account which means that we keep the same phone number YAY! Will keep y'all posted for contact purposes! The computer remins at no 45 until such time as telkom call us so if I take a while to get back to you please have patience!

Exercise regime seems to have taken a bit of a knock but I am all geared up to start again asap!

I had a tub of Camphor cream....

I guess she has been watching Sean shaving - we couldn't even laugh because she was in trouble for playing with the cream... it was a challenge to say the least!

The other thing that had me crying with laughter was a lesson in colours that Shannon was surreptitiously recieving; while I was colouring with her one of the crayons - the red one -had broken. A little later I was showing her the colours: this colour is BLUE... this colour is GREEN... this colour is YELLOW... this colour is? to which she replied... BROKEN!

Raising Mom...

It's Feb ALREADY!!!

Oh my word is it possible that this year is passing even faster than previous ones??? Since my last update I have been out for my walk/run 5 more times (ie 4 this week) and I can live with that! Seems to make me want to eat MORE junk food though so I am not sure if it is having ANY effect whatsoever. I love the mornings though and it is a great way to get my head in the right place before the day begins.

I have a cold at the moment (grrrrr) sore throat and blocked nose - OK so the blocked nose is no different to normal with all the pollen at this time of year - I could really do without the throat thing though! Shannon seems to be in much the same condition although slightly less adept at blowing her nose!

Other than that all is good we are working hard and playing harder - no more 3am parties PLEASE! I am learning about neurons and messages and impulses (I know it is a bit more in depth but this is no place for sensibilty!) and OMG I need to preserve mine if I am to pass this degree - so NO MORE 3am PLEASE! (well maybe one or 2!)

With that thought in mind I am off to bed - he he nearly forgot to mention firstly my little angel's admonishment of her mother (moi) this morning at the flea market... 'Mommy don't pick it up, you can break it!) well I guess my rules apply to me too. And then when Sean was off to the Stables to work this morning Shannon took his face in her hands and said 'Daddy I'm so proud of you...' What a character!!!

ciao am off to blanket street (no wooden stairs here though)

Birthday boy...

Today is Hubby's birthday! He is 1 year older than he was last year and a better man for it I am sure. His pressie from me??? Men's Health magazine and a 2 litre tub of his favorite vanilla ice cream (almost finished!) He is very easy to please when it comes to birthday presents: he was over the moon and is savouring the mag (though not the ice cream obviously)!

Poppet went to see her cousins this afternoon and hubs is at work so I had a most unexpected afternoon to myself. Managed a quater of an assignment on why language is so important for the conservation of the human race (yes really); half an hour of random surfing in cyber space; a glass of wine.... OK next time (oh PLEASE let there be a next time) I will be more organised and spend the time pampering myself. I mean, how often are you completely hubby and child free with time to spare???

Exercise regime: (makes it sound like torture) going really well. The 6am thing works for me as there is no one else around (bar other runners/walkers) and it is over before the day really begins. This week I went on Monday and today (missed the alarm on Tuesday) and the intention is there (isn't the pathway to hell paved with good intentions?) for tomorrow and Friday! Will let you know how that goes!

This is very dull but since I have not spoken to anyone all afternoon I felt the need to download the old brain somewhere and this is as good a place as any! That's just about enough of that though! Toodle-oo, ttfn, ta-raa, totsiens...

Until next time...

The hardest step is the one out the door...

Well I seem to have managed a walk/run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week... today is Thursday and I am NOT going to go. It is wet and Yuk outside and it rained so hard last night I thought we would all be washed away!!! I need to fix my lack-of-sun MISERY - how can the weather control my motivation soooooo much and more importantly how do I stop it??? That notwithstanding I will be going tomorrow even if it is wet out - I am spending all day today psyching myself up to it!

Quick whinge - What is up with this need to dial the area code even if you are in the area??? Makes for longer numbers than I like to dial - s'posed to be cheaper though... I would prefer it if we just got some competition for Telkom so that the cost of phonecalls would be a bit more realistic without having to dial the areacode first.

On a completely different topic I am off to bury my nose in my Anthropology Module in the hope I get more cleverer :) so I can earn more money!!! (maybe I can afford to pay telkom then!)

Later gaters

Willpower???

Not sure if it is a Jinx to call this my New Year's Resolution, but nonetheless 'tis my ambition to be fitter and healthier in 2007! My darling husband's Christmas present to me was a brandnew pair of running shoes (my last pair gave up the ghost when I attempted a 10km in them and destroyed in the process my love of running!) and a super cool sports watch with stopclock so I can time my runs! It is now 14th January and I have been for 2 walks of roughly 20mins each! Not a roaring success story so far.

Nonetheless my inspiration is still there and my new tactic is to try to fit my run in at 6am while my exceptionally clingy 2 year old daughter stays at home with her doting Dad. (Should wake up the neighbourhood for the first few times til she gets used to it!) I will let you know how that goes!

My other great weakness is boredom eating - which as you can imagine is not a problem while I am working but - when my daughter gets home from school and we are doing 2 year old things all afternoon I go fooding! This is what HAS to stop! This is where my WILLPOWER is being employed this year. Once again I will let you know on that one!

Well I am off to epend some toddler energy in the pool... watch this space...

Red red wine

It seems to me that the world looks rosier after red wine because it is red. This fact notwithstanding my world is rosy tonight. I have just laughed and laughed and laughed and renamed Techno V Techno Vino!

I have also JUST introduced my computer to Firefox and it's world is also rosy; firefox is to my PC what red wine is to me! Another very recent occurence is the addition of dark chocolate to my life - mmm dark chocolate and red wine need I say more (at least I know Mom would approve). Speaking of whom, I have been berated this evening for not knowing my mothers web address - Mom please help me fix this failing.

After all this enlightenment I feel the need to read, so this is me, Tank Girl, signing off after another mindboggling episode. Night night.

Read it and cheer

Hah ha! So my global friend and family circle you can now check up on me! I cannot promise to maintain sanity; after all this is my Blog so as far as I know this is where I download my brain to!

Well happenings at the moment are that I am living in Waterfall, KZN, South Africa, working from home with an art and photography printing business (www.artincentive.com) and doing a bit of graphic design on the side. Spend most of my 'free time' with Techno V (Vanessa to everyone else) who is a web developer. Our 3 Kids Julianne (4yrs and Vanessa's elder) Shannon (2yrs and my angel/monster) and Jessica (1yr Vanessa's younger) keep up busy, fit and in need of the odd glass of red wine. Sean is selling investment property and managing the manufacturing side of our enterprise and we are pootling alon fabulously!

My fabulous friends Lesley Milligan and Ollie Hastings are getting Married on the 26th of this month in the UK and I am devastated that I cannot be there so for any of you who are going please give big huggs and kisses all round.

In my other 'spare' time I have the honour of excersising Janine's (fabulous preggie friend) horse, Steel legend, who is slightly psycho at the moment as he has just been moved to a new home and not been ridden for a couple of weeks. Nothing like a challenge to keep me out of mischief.

I am exceptionally tired after a long day of business presentation and demanding children so am signing off now. All gone, more tomorrow to quote many Coggies!