E - Vida

My daughter talks a lot. She probably likes to talk as much as I like to write. And that's a lot. I suppose she learnt to talk this much from me. And I noticed, growing up, that my Mom talks a lot too. And she, well, she learnt that art from her Mother! Today, Jorja experienced this talk-a-thon first hand. Initially, she may have 'fought' back, but once she realised that there was no contest for my Grandmother's gift of the gab, she resigned herself to a nap. In fact: I'm told that Jorja asked if she may be excused so that she could go and nap. Her ears were tired. Often, there is so much noise in our physical space and also in our minds, that we have difficulty finding quietness - outside and within. It doesn't take much to get caught up in the busyness of life - work commitments, social gatherings, kid's invitationals, hobbies... Just a few ways to make a helluva noise and steer from the simple! A noisy frame of mind can lead to an untidy house...

Sometimes, just sometimes, I have time that no amount of filing, cleaning and web-surfing can fill. Or rather, I grow weary of doing the one and or the other and I need a new task. Today is one of those times. CUE: Cousin in Johannesburg with a recommendation - check out  http://oneword365.com/blog/ Once I had read up a little on the topic, I started thinking about what my ONE WORD would be. And there it was: Simple . This word could describe my goals and aims for the past 7 months pretty well. It is also my new underlying theme as far as my advice to others goes. It seems as though I've been trying to organise myself since...primary school! Turns out, I'm either not very good at it, or it's an ongoing process! But this year, I've had a renewed appreciation for keeping things simple in my own life. For instance, our Main Bedroom never looked better than when we had just a bed and an orchid in it. Suddenly, the pressure to decorate, revamp, extend and expend was ...

Considering that I have 553 photos stored on my phone (alone), it's not so much a case of nothing to say but rather - where do I start?! In no apparent order - Ma Viv presented Jorja with this miniature " B-tar "   and she took it to school on Tuesday to help them sing Happy Birthday to Madison! Jorja is trying out a new hobby  Aunty Dom has a nifty tool on her phone - useful for collaborating pictures and super nifty for not making one child seem more favoured than any other!!   The Bonny Babies crew enjoyed a school holiday trip to Muizenberg and they took advantage of the warm sunshine, and enjoyed sandy slap chips! Waiting at the Train Station  With the cold weather upon us, this is pretty much the order of the day. Ethan doesn't seem to mind a beanie and at the same time, is working on his self-feed technique.  Speaking of 'feed', Zac is always concerned that Rolo stays a well fed dog. He often takes it upon himself to open ...

I decided to start cycling to (get and then) keep fit. So I guess I'm off to a shaky start if at the time that this photo was taken, I hadn't been on a bike since almost exactly a month before...and ashamedly, I haven't been back on since. Sies! I've realised that I quite like the sport and I feel especially amped to keep it up when I'm somewhere between Lakeside and Muizenberg, watching the sunrise, with the fresh air kissing my cheeks...and when I get back home and can enjoy the good feeling of 'healthy'. Sharing in this new hobby with my Dad is quite special too. Of course, having such a natural athlete as your training partner can be quite a challenge. Watching him climb those Knysna hills with no trouble was a pain in my saddle. That race meant a lot - not only as a first event or for a decent time, but because I had my Dad right beside me for the first time in years and he was patient, encouraging, fun and just such a Dad as we crossed the Finish...

Finally! I found something that Jorja would gladly accompany me to - after numerous failed attempts when she would simply reply, "Why don't you rather just go out by yourself?" . Sadness. Seems my four-year-old has a (premature) idea of what's socially acceptable as far as Mommy-daughter time goes! Or maybe she just figured that we spent such an intense time together in the last couple of weeks, that we don't need any more right now. Whatever her reason, it was hard to hear that I wasn't her first choice on some occasions and I couldn't help but think about how soon we'll reach that reality. But today was the exception! Our church hosted a high tea in aid of kitchen appliances, utensils and stock for our Rescue Mission and Jorja was stoked to be my date. Yay! Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

In case you hadn't noticed - which is understandable since this is just another blog space and not the national enquirer - we're running a bit behind on updates. Just to put things into perspective, this is the SOS text message that I sent from the lounge to P-J in the kitchen on Sunday night: "Csn yoy ftxg himpls..." (Referring to busy Ethan not wanting to get to bed) Can you make out what I meant to say? I am tired! But I am ever mindful of all the photos and stories that I'd like to share here, so watch this space. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device