E - Vida

Out of sheer curiosity (Google, the schedule and) I did a tally today. I counted just over fifteen weeks that I've been based at home. That's about two thousand five hundred and twenty hours. Or one hundred and five days. See where I'm going with this? And in all this time I haven't blogged. Not once. I find this very frustrating! I've spent a lot of time thinking, spent time waiting for the washing cycle to finish, watching movies, the rain fall and the news reports, there's been time spent boiling the kettle for copious cups of tea, writing and re-writing to do lists, filling the calendar with celebrations, errands and countdowns ...and also getting (some) sleep. It would be rude of me to not mention - on a new line - that we *have* been getting *some* sleep, giving credit to the days when things run brady-bunch smoothly. And in all this time I have tried to be productive, tried to be progressive, tried to get organised, tried to be and look orderly bu...

Just over one week ago, our daughter Adrienne Naomi entered this world and promised to change our lives forever. I have composed many pieces based on when we first learnt that we were expecting another baby, the suprise pregnancy experience, the ways we started preparing for our newest family member, the growing anticipation as my belly grew and the weeks counted down and then her arrival on 14 April 2016. But instead of posting them, I have just put some of the writings down in her journal. It took us three kids to realise that some things - even some of our proudest, 'brag-able' moments - can and should be protected fiercely and privately. Of course, this is the complete opposite to the way we announced our previous pregnancies, blogging regularly about everything from prenatal vitamins to post natal swelling, uploading the birth story within days of our homecoming and sharing more family photos than an advert for discounted deals for group holidays to Mauritius. ...

Well here we are again - at the back end of another phenomenal Cycle Tour silly season and wondering how it all passed by so quickly AND with us relatively unscathed! Full days, long hours and sacrificing most of everything else for the sake of your peak period at the office is a decision I have made once a year for eight years...and every year I 'move back' home and count my blessings! Arriving home yesterday afternoon, the kids wasted no time in getting me reaquainted with their favourite post-school hobbies - swimming, running amok while Dad braai's dinner, early evening showers, puzzle making, colouring and reading. Yes...we did them all between home time and bedtime! And I was so glad to be home to share in this with them. I am grateful...for the opportunity to have been apart of this event for another year. For the people that I work with, for the chance to be a team player in a worthwhile cause and for the enjoyment that I get out of this work. ...

I'm pretty sure that I was still fast asleep at this time, 9 years ago... Sure, it was an early wedding, but hell, I was just a fresh 20 and still took as much sleeping allowance as a teenager! Tonight - I guess being on the back end of meds, all slept out thanks to the previous day of bedrest and of course, being woken up by our 3-year-old who has wet the bed (again) is more than enough to get you up and at'em at 2am. So while I may not have previously set this time aside for reflection, here we are... Our wedding anniversary can stir up all sorts of memories and feelings; The ooh-la-la of the day - that's me remembering how silky smooth my hair was! The dress - the one that I have in my possession for the first anniversary ever but I can't a damn fit into! The prep - excluding the cover up for the bad tan lines from our outing to Bordtjiesdrif The nerves - especially when I stood at the front door of the house and yelled back inside to my family, "I...

Before my last post, I played around with the layout template. It bothered me that I could still see a post from June that spoke about me saying goodbye to my old job. Every time I scrolled down the page, there was a sneering voice in my head telling me that I hadn't made any progress since then - especially since here I was, back at this job! A tough mind game for a task-orientated girl like me. These days I'd like to think of it as full circle " t hrough a series of developments that lead back to the original source, position, or situation or to a  complete  reversal of the original position " (Merriam Webster)   for a good reason... A season of big lessons. A serving (or 3) of humble pie. A wake up call. I could not say these things out loud at first. I was riddled with disappointment, exhaustion and many, many questions; How come I was accepted into the programme but didn't feel at peace about it? Were my desires misplaced or misunderstood? Why wa...

I logged on the other day and found numerous half-baked posts; The one about college. The one about the hospital. The one about Christmas looming. The one about outings the kids enjoyed. The one about Pa and Ma coming back...and even one about painting the house! Many others didn't even make it that far though. I don't know why I was so hesitant to post these as they came to mind. After all, we're about ' life as we see it '. Honestly, I think it was a combination of time constraints brown-paper-packaged in exhaustion and tied up with strings of fear. One of unpublished posts was aptly titled, "More than words can explain" and it pretty much sums up the last 3 - 4 months, the lapse since my last post. Right now, the weekend is looming and I'm looking forward to down time with the kids even if the weather blows. I don't need the rugby, the sunshine or a braai to help me...although it wouldn't be made to feel unwelcome! Happy ...

Saying goodbye to the Cycle Tour office During event times, the crew live off breakfast packs. It's the 4am stale muffin/soggy cheese sandwich/cold apple combo that it sometimes a little hard to swallow given that our digestive systems are still asleep...among other reasons! And of late, one of the race admin staff had taken it upon herself (to nominate her husband to) put together something a little more user friendly. It was very well received! To this end, we spoke fondly about breakfast packs even outside of event weekends. And on my last day in the office, I was presented with a breakfast pack of the super fantastic variety - it was a fitting send off. I probably should've secured a service like this for my college days ahead! Despite my efforts to depart quietly, our Team put together a special brunch (to celebrate???) my going away and I was touched by the kind words and well wishes. I hadn't realised how almost 7 years of contracts there had made me as much...