Stocked up and organised

I have always believed in having the basic medical supplies at home.  Since we had Kai though those "basics" have grown to a significant amount of medicine.  Also with all the colds, flu, chest issues, and other little bugs that have attacked the poor kid since his been going to creche we have tons of little left overs all over.

I had medicine in my kitchen cabinet, just stashed in there from when he or us healed or gotten better, he had a medicine chest filled with "stuff" and in my room we had our medicine chest which has overflown in the last couple of months with bits from Kai and from us (winter colds and flu)...

Honestly it was a mess and we needed a system that worked.  I found myself buying extra nasal spray / cold and flu stuff and fever meds always thinking we had run out, but then later would find myself with 2 or even 3 open packets or bottles. It was not only a mess but costing us money, and causing waste.

So on Saturday I rounded up all the medicine in the house, cleaned out all the cupboards, the medicine chests and packed it all out.  I first sorted it into different categories.

Colds Flu Chest
Fever Pain Muscle relaxants
Emergencies
Vitamins for Kai
Vitamins for Mom and Dad

I then sorted out all the expired stuff.  Looked at expiry dates of doubles we had and added them together in the same box or bottle. The meds where we had more than one bottle I clearly marked the open one with a "use me first" label. Also makes it easier to just grab and go.

Then started packing my medicine chests.  I chose to add our meds together with Kai's as it made more sense to me.

I printed out some nice labels stuck them on and TaDa, the results:

Our Daily vitamins are still stored in the kitchen so its is conveniently at hand in the morning rush.

The rest of the medicine is in the spare room cupboard .  (Yep the insides of the cupboards are on the list of things to fix in the house!) 

The big one holds all our cold and flu and chest meds. This includes a spot for the thermometer.   The little blue bag is the nebulizer, which I use often. (:( )

On the shelf above is the two smaller containers, the bigger of the two hold our pain and fever meds as well as goodies to settle upset tummies. (The purple one holds some of my shewing supplies - nope I do not sew much, but a needle and some thread comes in handy to fix a fallen off button here and there - This will be moved to my study once I have sorted that out better).

The smallest one is the emergency kit, which contains gloves, plasters, Anti septic cream and liquid, burn shield etc. 

There are two metal boxes with plasters too 

So glad I de-cluttered this mess. I feel better, and I am sure this system will not only save us money but also ensure that I do not end up with expired medicine or scrambling around at night to find the goodies needed to heal an eina. 

The detailed labelling will ensure that if I send hubby on a medicine hunt, he knows which one to grab and not have to sort through a whole lot of "stuff" before getting what we need. 

And the medicine chest itself is really nice as it has little dividers on top to keep the smaller items together.  It is really easy to carry too :)

Come dine with me .... Serious stuff

So in this post I told you guys about my girls night out drinks.
This same night we started talking about come dine with me, and how fun it would be to do it amongst ourselves..... little did I know I am agreeing to actually doing it right there and then.

I am not the worlds greatest cook, so this is bloody terrifying!

We are 5 girls

• MZ - August 
• JM - September 
• CC - October 
• NM - November 
• Me, myself and I in December

Initially I did not know it was going to be girls only, but hey, I guess we can all do with a girl date once a month. 

MZ has organised this entire thing, (she is the tiniest girl I know, but she is serious and she can organise the crap outa anything).  We had to have our menus in on 26 August to one of girls hubby's. 

I decided to do a Christmas themed party, and bring a little Christmas cheer in just as the season kicks off. 

My Menu:

I have decided to stick to the basics.  Not to get complicated. The desserts can be made the night before, the leg of lamb gets popped in the over the night before as well the rice can be cooked the night before, so really its only the haloumi, beans and potatoes on the day, and even then I can boil the potatoes the day before too. 

I am thinking of printing the above picture out on a A3 size paper, and using it as a place mat ? 

Corny? Yes or No?

The judging will be based on:

"The points below are a guideline that needs to be considered when scoring the overall evening.

·         Presentation

·         Taste of food (all 3 courses)

·         Hosting skills

·         Atmosphere in general"

      MZ has put a lot of time and effort into researching the rules and putting it all together. I think it's going to be fun, which is something that MZ tries to really promote.

      I am hope I don't disappoint.   I can't wait to start working on table decor and so on. I love that part so much. I will gladly skip the cooking and just be hired to set up stuff for everyone else.
   
      I will try to remember to keep posting as I progress with the Dinner and plans

Some little DIY's and a family binder

I have a little love affair with buckets. Yep. I think they are too cute and you can use them for a ton of things. 

This little red one keeps all my "chalk" for the chalk board together. (That tap is there because this use to be outside, and the previous owners did not remove it when they closed off that section, and now we are keeping it too, as it actually is rather nice to fill a bucket when cleaning etc).

The next bucket is a plain black one, which I used a couple of years ago for my Mom's 60th to cool the wine. Now it holds pegs!  I did not like the plain black,  I got out some bling stickers and some polka dots, and went to town.  I am not  totally convinced that it works with my container for the washing powder, SO I might still get out some white spray paint and change it up.  For now I am happy with this       though.

 

My next project was to get a family binder going.  I have always had all our docs sorted, but never a binder like this one to keep all the day to day stuff together.

I was super excited to find some free printables off some great websites one of them being:  Organizing home life.  This kind and smart lady shares her stuff for FREE!  And they are great.

So I got to work on the inside.  Since Martha S has not graced us with her amazing home office range (or any of her other stuff) I had to improvise.  These file dividers are really gross and I seriously don't like the colours, but they are plastic and I could not find the white plastic ones.
I had to improvise, and since I have more Washi tape than what is technically needed, I hauled out the tape and taped off the divider tabs.

  

Next I got out the brother labeller and made the tabs with the clear label tape.  The tabs are:

CALENDER - To note down important dates 

FINANCE - Our Monthly budget sheet including our expenses and project budgets

GROCERIES AND MEAL PLANS - Grocery lists, meal plans, fridge and freezer inventory, and some recipes I would like to try out. 

GIFTS - Birthday calender, to plan gifts, a gift list to show what I have given who, I would hate to give someone a similar gift in the next year. Also holds the Christmas gift wish list, and planner

HOUSE DIY PROJECTS - Obviously this is a big section as the "new" house is filled with a ton of these. It holds the paint swabs I chose, the ideas, some pinterest printout and other idea boards. Also holds lists on maintenance things, as well as the car maintenance sheets. 

CONTACT INFO - Contact info for doctors, security company, neighbours, neighbourhood watch, emergency numbers etc

HEALTH INFO - Our health info, more specifically for Kai, noting down what bugs he picked up this year and how it was treated, also how he reacted to the meds etc. 

PARTY AND ENTERTAINING - This is for when we entertain, the big ones. Like my come dine with me challenge coming up soon with girls.  Christmas lunches etc. 

KLAUS - Copy of Klaus's ID and other important bits of info specific to him. 

KAMMI - Holds a copy of my ID and other projects and things I have on the go. 

KAI - All about his creche the teacher info, and it will hold other school related things as we go along. 

OTHER  - Currently this section is filled with Holiday ideas and weekend away we are planning.  

The end result is a family binder which I am really proud of and look forward to sitting down with to work in. 

Have a good day folks, 

This site: People watching

I found this site via a blog I read, and now I am so hooked... 

I love people watching, and this site is awesome! 

Be warned:  You will get sucked in:

HONY

What do u pack for lunch?

The husband has not taken lunch to work for about 5 years now.  His boss use to sponsor their lunches so they got lunch vouchers which entitled them to a free cafeteria lunch and water / soda can daily. 

Kai's day Mom makes them lunch (cooked stew or other hot meals) and so I only have to pack a little snack and something to drink for him.  (It use to be formula for during the day but that is long gone). 

That left me, and there was no way I was disciplined enough to actually pack a meal for me and only me. I would daily buy something to eat at work, and it costs a pretty penny in town.  A simple chicken mayo toasted sarmi can easily cost you up to R30.00. Of course then when you are in the shop you go for a coffee / latte / soda / water etc.  My total lunch cost for the day often exceeded R50.00.  It is outrages and a huge waste.  

Klaus's company was recently bought over by a much bigger corporate and the free daily lunch vouchers are a thing of the past. 

I now needed to pack lunch for my man again. I naturally started packing lunch for myself as well. 

Problem:  What the heck do you pack 5 days a week and NOT get bored, and NOT get the urge to pop down to the Supervenient for a little snack? 

Klaus is so easy he will literally eat Peanut butter every day all day. I cant do the same thing day in and day out.  I have no self control and will literally just take my purse, and waltz to the shop. I want snacks and stuff to nibble on when I get the urge. 

I do not want to go downstairs to the spaza and buy sweeties to nibble on, so instead I have been packing this:

I need some variations though, I need some fun ideas and some good easy things to pack. This will be getting boring SOON.  I just know it.

Here in SA, schools have become so strict in terms of what is packed in the kids lunch boxes. (And I am super happy about it too).  If they find that you are not packing healthy food and sending chips and sweets everyday you will be phoned, and you will be asked to up your game.  The kids need food to keep their brains engaged, not to get them high on sugar and causing interruptions to an already overworked teacher, trying to keep 40 kids actively engaged and learning. I WILL NOT be one of the parents who gets called about a badly stocked lunch box, once Kai is off to school. I am using this as a learning curve for myself, getting the ideas down and learning what works in a lunch box and what does not.

Soooo, what do you pack?  What works for your family.
How do you keep them coming home with an empty lunch cooler?

SBFL 26.08.13

SONG:

                                                             Any P!NK song ... ever
P!nk is the best, I totally love all her work, I just can not get over what an amazing voice she has, she is totally kick a$$. I think she might be my celeb crush, and I am totally straight!

BOOK:

I am busy on the 4th book of the KGI series and really enjoying it.

It has a bit of a super natural / sci fi twist to it, which is making me want to know what is going to happen next!

FILM:

Always a hard one, so instead I am going to chat a little bit this week. And rather put my two favourite TV shows up:

The_Big_Bang_Theory

How can you NOT love Dr Sheldon Cooper? 

LOVE:

The awesome Sunday spent at Kirstenbosch Gardens this past weekend. 

The weekend that was ...

We had a great weekend! It was full and fun, and we got to do so much.  I love that.  I love when we have not wasted a weekend on doing nothing and sitting around!

On Friday night we had a quiet night at home.  Lit a fire, and Klaus and I got to relax for a while before we headed off to bed very late.  We got to watch some TV catch up on "stuff" and it was so good.

Saturday morning started early.  Phumlanie (our great helper) came over, and he started to paint Klaus's study! Yeah! It looks really good.  We went with the same grey colour that we have in the passage, and will add some funky trim to it later. But overall it looks good and clean and fresh.
My Mom came over at around 10 and then got a bee in her bonnet over new curtains for Klaus's study!
So off to the material shop she went. She loves making things, and she is pretty good at it too.

Klaus got busy fixing the scirting boards in the passage and filling in the big gaps left after removal of many carpets along the years so between painting, dodging furniture standing all over the house, which was moved from Klaus's study, me trying to make a cake and try my first pavlova, keeping Kai entertained and Mom sewing curtains, it was busy busy afternoon.
My sister popped in and kept Kai busy for a good hour.  She is amazing at doing that and I love seeing her swoon over her God son.  She would have been an amazing mom.  I am super lucky though that she is now just doing her thing with Kai. So funny since she was to scared to hold him when he was born, now she carts him around, swings him upside down and does all the things a happy aunty does.

At the end of Saturday there was a very messy kitchen, my study was full of cotton pieces, and red fabric scraps, Klaus's curtains were hung, and we were pretty exhausted, but super happy.

Sunday morning we decided to go off to Kirstenbosch a huge garden in Cape town with tons of place for Kai to run and play and enjoy himself.  It is a beautiful place in the most amazing setting, and kids and adults all love going there.  It was such a hot and stunning day, we could not spend it in doors.

After Kirstenbosch we dropped Mom and Kai at the house, and Klaus and I went to get the weeks supplies and also scored the shop for some cooked lunch to feed the family. (My Sister who lives in Citrusdal is visiting for a week) My Sisters came round for lunch.  It was great.  Mom was busy cooking some food for Kai I was making lunch.  My sisters were around, someone was watching Kai, Klaus was finishing in his study (still needed to drill some holes for his pictures and clock I bought him for fathers day in JUNE). It was a total loud mess.  The way family Sunday's should be. Everyone was in the kitchen.  The best. 

Everyone left around 5 and eventually we sorted ourselves out with Showers baths and getting little man to bed. Klaus and I got to unwind the weekend back on the couch were we started on Friday.  A nice cozy end to the weekend.  

LOVE. 

? Quick Side Note Martha

WHEN WILL MARTHA STEWARD BRING HER STUFF TO RSA?
Geez! Man!

If I could be anything in the world ... 52 weeks of Blogging with a purpose

Why I would be a super hero, naturally.  Not the kind that come out at night with a cape and leotard.  (Umm my thighs and ass will not WORK IN A LEOTARD people!)

I will be the stay at home mom who cares for my family kind of super hero!

One of my Pinterest boards is called "Dream Box" and one of the pins in there is this one:

I really think that it was a simpler time when wives and mommies stayed at home, looked after their husbands and children.  Spent time making their homes pretty and making life good for her family. 

I don't think that women should not have a say / not be able to vote / not be able to work / be looked down on etc.  I just think life is better when you have a women to take of the family.  In my opinion! I would love to run my family budget, make things, DIY, cook, bake, clean, wash, fold (no ironing - seriously I draw the line at ironing).... 

I really want this so much, but at the same time I love the fact that we have a good income.  We can go on holiday, have a nice house, have nice things and Kai can have many opportunities which he won't have if I end up staying at home.  But then again does he need it.  Do I need the toys? Do I need all the tons of things I buy ... Does Kai need all the expensive stuff he has and never plays with.....Can we do with less? 

I don't know. It's a post for another day anyway. 

How my Mommy brain remembers

I have never been someone who remembers things from way back.  I remember so little from my childhood it is like I was not even there.  I know certain things happened, because I have been told about them, but I have very little reference points, I just don't remember.

That is another reason why I so badly want to keep this blog going and up to date.  I want to be able to tell Kai stuff that happened, and since my memory is so bad, this is a good way of getting it down, and making sure it stays etched forever.

I have had to set up ways for me to remember things.  People generally think I have an excellent memory and that is why I never forget anything! WRONG.  I have just learnt to work with what I have.

Since I fell pregnant, my memory got even worse, and the mushy mommy brain has still not left. So add that to my already bad memory and I am a walking disaster.

I don't however forget things, and make extra sure that my "tools" work for me.  I never forget birthdays, I do not forget to bring something to you, if I have promised to do so.  I do not forget items of clothing / cables etc when we go out or away.  I do not forget my car license or drivers license has expired, I don't forget that my Passport is due for renewal etc. I did not forget any of Kai's shots, and knew when he was suppose to start using what kind of formula.  I know when his first dentist appointment is due, and when my next check up should be scheduled.  I know the date my Marena expires so nasty surprises there .....

I have lists, and pin boards, and most importantly my phone!

I use my camera to take pictures of the most strange things.  When reading a magazine, if I spot a website I want to look up, I simply snap a picture of it.
When I park my car at a mall or the airport, I snap a picture of the parking spot I use.
If anyone had to look through my pictures on my phone they would think it the strangest thing! haa haa

I use my google calender and I have appointments set for years! in the future.  My passport is due for renewal in 2019 and I have a reminder set up safe and sound.

I thought about what might happen if those calenders suddenly bomb out and I lose everything!! I would be totally totally lost. Then I remembered my phone syncs with the calender and so it is backed up on my phone as well. I think. So I think I am covered!

What do you use to remember all of life's many things?

Organised and a new blog crush

My friends all laugh at me.  They all call me crazy!

Why?

Because of my OCD organizing tendencies.
I like things to be perfect.  I have so many organising projects going in this house, so much to do.

We have concentrated mainly on the costly things, and got that out the way.  With each alteration or thing we do, more things pop up, and I make my list "to organise" list ... it grows daily.

Its a slow process to get myself and my life in perfect order. Also having a two year old, does not help much when trying to get organised.

I don't have mad label making skills, or the skill to make pretty pages for home binders on coral draw etc ... I just have not had time to sit and figure it out, or found a program that works for me.

I am always on the look out for ideas on organising and specifically currently looking for a easy home management binder.

To my utter delight a blog that I read regularly Be Simply Organized is featuring getting herself organised after a recent move and this week she is doing her home binder. She in turn mentioned this lady Organizing home life and I am IN LOVE. I have downloaded all her printables. I love the colours, even though they are not pink.  They are pretty bright and she has thought of everything!

The rest of her blog is super awesome too.  Go check her out if you wanna be a bit more organized!

My biggest weakness - 52 weeks of blogging with a purpose

Oh I have many, many weaknesses.

My temper, bad use of the English language, and how I just get too involved with things! My super impulsiveness, my major shopping addiction (guys this is not a joke)....But I think my biggest weakness is simply that I give to much and then in return expect to much of people.

It makes me sad and mad and it annoys me when I am dissapointed time and time again. .

I read a blog the other day and the lady mentions her love language is "giving / buying presents".  I suddenly realized I am the same.  I give.  If I heard you say "oh I need a new travel mug" and I happen to go to the shop and see one, I will buy it.  The end.  If I go to a shop and see something that a friend will like / love, I will buy it. The end.  If I know someone needs something, or really wants it, but money is tight I will buy it.

I don't look at the price.  I will take stuff out of my own basket to make sure I can buy it for you, but you will have it.  I don't expect people to give me stuff back.  I don't expect you to now go out and go buy me something in return / to the same value or anything... I just want people to appreciate it.  Simple, and they don't. Or very few do.  In fact I have been told once (by my very mean sister in law, so not sure if this counts), I try to buy people's affection, which is totally NOT TRUE.  I simply just like making people happy. It is simple for me.  I don't really think about it.  I just do it.

I have to stop myself / curb myself a lot these days.  I am tired of being used.  I am tired of people using my good nature, and I am over giving to those who clearly does not care back for me enough to just appreciate it and appreciate me.

I am not a selfish person, never have been.  I give anything to everyone even to my own determent.

Now I have three choices.  Stop giving so much or stop expecting to much from those I give too, or hang out with nicer people.  People who appreciate me for me.  People who will love me for who I am, and know I do what I do out of love....

Something to think about.

What I do for a living

I use to do finance, and loved it.  Loved it so much! Numbers make sense to me.  It speaks to me.  I see how it is suppose to work.  But finance is a full time and very consuming job.  In the company I work for now, finance is so busy and I use to work all hours and put 13-15 hours in a day.  Even over weekends.

When I got back from Maternity leave, I had to take over from the HR lady who went on maternity leave at the time. I use to work very closely with HR anyway in my finance role, and already had privy to most of the super confidential stuff so me taking over while she was on leave made perfect sense, specially since my finance role was already being covered by a super competent lady, whom I adore.

When she came back I was offered a position in the HR department.  The perk was that I got to work till 4.  And that meant I got to spend so much more time with Kai.

Working till 5 meant I only got home at 6:20 most days, if i was lucky and did not get stuck in traffic. At the time it meant 30 minutes with Kai before bed time.  I hated it.  I needed more time with him.  In finance it was never going to happen.  So I took the HR job.  I don't love it.  People don't make sense to me  The things they do freak me out most of the time.  It really is like running an adult creche.  But I get to be with my boys.  I get to go home at 4, and be home. Be present.  I don't need to switch my laptop on every night and check on work / do work, make sure things are balancing etc.


So there you have it.  I work in HR.  I work in the adult creche department. I don't hate it.  But I don't love it either. I have no passion for sorting out people's crap. Just not me. But hey I get to be with my boys from 4:35 every day! Whoop Whoop!! Bonus

I specifically concentrate on the following aspects of staff development:

1.  Training - 170 Staff members ranging from illiterate to MBA candidates
2.  BB BEE - Making sure the company complies to BB BEE standards, and continuously working on improving our score
3.  Induction of all new staff (Their entire induction program)
4.  Probationary reviews of all staff members and advise on extensions where needed.
5.  Bi annual performance reviews, and analysing the data
6.  Personal development plans - Each individual (170) has to have a PDP and I am in charge of setting it up (current major project) and following up on making sure that goals are achieved.
7.  Succession planning for all key staff members
8.  I oversee the entire payroll function, though I have an administrator who does the physical work
9.  I oversee all garnishee's and staff loans as well as training agreements and paybacks.
10. I also, on a side line, somehow (not sure how) handle all the personal and business related work for our Chairman of 73 including his personal and business finances.
11.  I somehow get roped into ALL events planning and other corporate events and gifts etc too.  (This part I love)
12.  I get am the kind of person who also gets involved in stuff, and it leaves very little time for me to sit at work an do nothing.  I have so many ad-hoc little things always going on at work too.
I get to work at 06:45 to miss traffic and give myself 30 minutes to post my blog and read over some of my favs, before really getting into work.

Unfortunately my work also involves some travel as we have branches all over:

Cape Town Head Office (Where I am based)

Cape Town Port (15 minutes away from HO)

Germiston - Which is in Johannesburg - 2 hour flight.

Rustenburg - Which is in the North West province. This is a horrible trip as you have to fly to Johanesburg and then drive 2 hours to Rustenburg. This is normally an over night trip as we try to go to JHB on day one, drive to Rustenburg the same day, crash in Rustenburg then go to site the next day and work there, till we head home on a flight that night.  This is a super exausting trip.  We normally take the early flight out (6 am) which means I am up at 3:30, to get to the airport on time. Then we get to the office in Germiston at about 9 / 10 am.  Work till say 4.  Then hit the road for a 3 hour drive to get to Rustenburg at 6.  Snack on a quick dinner. Sleep.  Up at 5, to get to site at 7.  Work till 3 then drive 1.5 hours to the airport, for the evening flight out at 5 to Cape Town.

Durban - 2 hour flight

West coast - Lutzville - 4 hour drive from Cape Town

Springbok - 8 hour drive from Cape Town. This one is normally linked to a Lutzville trip.  This one is up at 2 leave the house at 3.  Get to Springbok at 11 ish.  Work till say 5.  Then drive 4 hours back to Lutzville to sleep. Then up early to do work in Lutzville. Then home (4 hour drive home).

I don't love the traveling FOR WORK (I LOVE traveling with my family!).  In fact I despise it.  I hate being away from Kai and Klaus.  Specially the overnight trips. It puts so much more pressure on Klaus, though he handles it like a pro.

We are soon going to be expanding the company and will be employing roughly 80 new staff members.  They will be situated an hour from Lutzville which will mean a 5 hour drive to visit them. :(

I am getting concerned that I might not be able to switch off at 4 anymore.  But I will see how it goes.  I just want to be around and present for Kai, and then when he is done and settled, I want to spend time with Klaus.  That too much to ask for?

I must say, and this is very important to me.  I work for a good, solid socially responsible company.  I feel at home here.  I know the company and the people.  I have been here for 7.5 years.  I earn a damn good salary. And in all I like it here.  So it's not all bad.

SBFL - 19.08.13

SONG:

Oldie but still one of my favs:

Dolphins Cry by Live:

The way you're bathed in light
reminds me of that night
god laid me down into your rose garden of trust
and I was swept away
with nothin' left to say
some helpless fool
yeah I was lost in a swoon of peace
you're all I need to find
so when the time is right
come to me sweetly, come to me
come to me

love will lead us, alright
love will lead us, she will lead us
can you hear the dolphin's cry?
see the road rise up to meet us
it's in the air we breathe tonight
love will lead us, she will lead us

oh yeah, we meet again
it's like we never left
time in between was just a dream
did we leave this place?
this crazy fog surrounds me
you wrap your legs around me
all I can do to try and breathe
let me breathe so that I
so we can go together!

love will lead us, alright
love will lead us, she will lead us
can you hear the dolphin's cry?
see the road rise up to meet us
it's in the air we breathe tonight
love will lead us, she will lead us

life is like a shooting star
it don't matter who you are
if you only run for cover, it's just a waste of time
we are lost 'til we are found
this phoenix rises up from the ground
and all these wars are over

over
over
singin' la da da, da da da
over
come to me
singin' la da da da, da da da
come to me

BOOK:

Back to a book in the KGI series this week,  Really going between the KGI series and the Womens murder club at the moment:

I am actually really enjoying this one.  

FILM:

Oh I know, I need to get to watch a movie or two here or there, but honestly with a two year old, I just have the time.  I need to dig deep to think of movies which I loved.  This is one of them. 

LOVE:

New Washi Tape Website I found, It seems the craze has eventually hit our shores too, and I am so happy and excited! 

http://washitape.co.za/shop/  aaaaaaah in love with all of this! 

 

Strategy Days

After a short weekend, I am back at my desk, and it feels like I never left.

Friday and Saturday I was away for work, with the rest of the management team.  It is always a bit of a party, but there is also so much hard work and seriousness involved. It went well though.  Everyone was super impressed with the venue and activities, and how smooth it all went.

I am not only part of the management team but also get roped into arranging this thing every year.  I don't complain cause if you remember correctly events co-ordination etc is what i absolutely love doing anyway. So this way I get to do the job which brings me money AND have a bit of fun here and there when I get to plan these events. All that said it is always a super stressful month before the event as I have so much normal work, then the additional work on the actual strategy for our department and then the planning that I do in addition.  I do tend to perform much better under pressure and with a large amount of stress, so though I am dead tired by the end of the away days I also feel good and like I accomplished a lot.

Everyone was very impressed, and I got a gold star :) I guess it is really good experience for when I do eventually grow a pair and do this for a living!

As I said these away days always turn into a bit of a party, and Friday night was ruff, to say the least.  I never party anymore.  I did that when I was much younger.  Worked in a bar, and I think I may have been drunk for the entire 2 years.  But now I am a responsible mommy, and I just don't see the point of trying to mommy with a hangover!  So I just don't party like a rock star anymore.  A glass of wine, or cider here or there of course, but nothing crazy.  On Friday night though, I made sure via phone all was well at home. I made sure my baby boy was tucked in and loved, and fed and bathed, and snuggling up to his Daddy, and then the wheels came off.  I totally let my hair down, and had some fun, with some of the fun crowd at work.  It was great.  I felt like hell on Saturday during presentations, after 3 hours of sleep and I was probably still a bit drunk, but it felt good. And I am glad I did it.  This was the first real party I had since the last away days a year ago.

So excited that the solar geyser is being installed today! Yah!!!

Cant wait to get home to proper pressured water in the shower! It has been a long long and annoying wait since we moved in on the 28 of Feb, to get this sorted!

Anyhoo, gotta run and catch up, sort out and figure out where to start today.

My life 5 years from now - 52 weeks of blogging with a purpose

My dream would be:

Me being a SAHM.

Being able to pick Kai up from Pre-School. While he is in pre-school I would like to organise, DIY, decorate and make our house pretty.  I would like to do some social work, and maybe do some organising of other people's houses here and there, possibly plan an event.

maybe?

In reality I will likely still have to earn my keep and work my ass off!

On a rainy wet day like today that is not such a fun thing to think about.  I have a terrible fear of driving in the rain.  It is very bad, and it takes everything out of me not to just STOP and pull off the road.  This morning it is storming in CPT and it was hell. They don't call it the CAPE OF STORMS for no reason :(

I got here on a prayer and a ton of pep talks, to myself! Ha Crazy chick on the N1, yep that's me!


Busy day ahead,  Gotta run!

xxx

10 Survival Tips To the Expecting Mom - 52 weeks of blogging with purpose

Hey, I did this one ages ago, before this blogging business became a real hobby of mine, when I thought blogging might be fun, while I was at home with Kai on maternity leave, I did this.

Its way more than 10, it was fresh in my mind.

You can read it here:

my advise for new mommies

If I were to win the lottery - 5 Things I would buy - 52 weeks of bloggin with a purpose

Oh yeah, this is my kind of dream!

I don't believe I have the personality type to ever be rich, I spend to easily, I am too impulsive and I give to much. I am the person who feel sorry for the newspaper guy selling at the traffic light, I am then the person who goes out and buys him bags full of food.... So rich, me .... not so much.

BUT IF I DID WIN!

1.  I would write my mom's resignation letter myself.  I would make sure she stops working immediately.  This is not as selfish as it sounds.  She wants to quit, she is so ready, but she is also so scared of losing her Independence, and not having money.  See I get my Independence, and money spending habits from my mama.

2.  I would pay off my house.  Do all the little renovations which we are dreaming of.

3.  I would put away a huge chunk of money for Kai's education.  He would be able to study ANYTHING for as long as he likes.

4.  I would buy 3 or more apartments, and rent them out.  I would also probably quit my job at this point, and manage the properties. This would be a nice little future investment for us.

5.  I would then since I quit my job in 4 be able to spend a lot of my time with the Red Cross Children hospital.  I would put money aside for them.  But I think I would like to manage it, not just hand if over to them.  I would do renovations, paint, make pretty, spoil the incredible nurses.  I would set up a taxi service for parents to be fetched and dropped back at home, so they can visit their children.  I would hire a teacher to teach the kids in hospital and do the early ground work education.  I would start a library for the kids at the hospital.  Oh the possibilities are endless.

Oh come on, can I please win? I have so many dreams.  My list is longer than 5 but those are my priorities. The most important things to me.

HOUSE TO DO LIST .... Its a doozy

No pics on here for now, I will update that soon though, but I need to get this long list out of my head and on to paper! I am sure this list will grow and shrink as we get stuff out of the way ... but for now, this is what we have

PAINT:

Kai's bedroom - Smarty and Neon
Passage - Grey
Pantry - Soft Stone
Laundry - Soft Stone
Kitchen - Soft Stone
Dining Room - Soft Stone
Lounge - Soft Stone
Spare Room  - Soft Stone
Main Bed - Soft Stone (Changed to a grey-ish blue colour - Turned out to be baby blue and had to remix colours but righted this wrong now)
My Study - Mint
Klaus Study - Grey
Blackboard in Kitchen

Inside the cupboards - Main Bed
Inside the cupboards - Kai's Room
Inside the cupboards - Spare Room

Shelves in Pantry
Shelves in Laundry

Wooden Spoon handles

New inside doors for house

Varnish Back door
Varnish Front door

Spray the cane furniture received from mom

Window frames outside - after window install

RENOVATE:

Kitchen:
Take out "pantry cupboard for fridge"
Move oven to eye level
Drawers under oven
Add a cupboard for Coffee and tea on empty wall 
Add drawers under hob where oven was removed

Kai's bedroom cupboard -
Bedroom Cupboards for Main bedroom
Bedroom Cupboards for Spare Room
En Suite in Main Bedroom

Frame Mirrors in passage
Frame Mirrors in Bathroom - Main
Frame Mirrors in Bathroom - En suite

Floors in the entrance hall
Floors on the steps to my study
Floors up to the lounge from entrance hall and the dining room

WOOD:

Put shelf up in my study
Shelf for Kai's room 
Put Shelves up in Pantry
Put Shelves up in Laundry
Add a shelf over the Washer and Dryer 
Architrave around all door frames inside
Hang newly painted doors
Sand front door
Skirting boards in passage
Sand and re paint the bench from Omi
Sand and re-do wooden floors
Fill the floor in the Spare room under the window facing the back yard - Small piece of wood out there
Doors for the space above my "dressing" table section
Sand and update the food fence around the house - special care to the rotten pieces here and there


MASONRY:

Fill cracks in Spare room
Fill cracks in passage 
Fill cracks in kitchen

Add laundry
Built Pantry / remove guest toilet 

Floor in Pantry
Floor in Inter leading section to pantry
Floor in Laundry

Air brick under Klaus' study

FIX / UPDATE

New Taps for the kitchen
All light switches
Door handles in kitchen
Door handles on spare room cupboards
Door handles in Main bedroom
Upstairs balcony
Downstairs stoop area
Decor in kitchen
New light fittings all round the house
Sort out the cords next to the TV in the lounge
Outside Toilet
Attach plugs under my dressing table to side of the cupboard 

CONTRACT OUT:

New windows - Aluminium frames 
New Solar Geyser
Pre-paid electricity box
Heating panels for pool

OUTSIDE:

Take down IVY
Take out the stralitzia tree by pool 
Take out strilitzia tree by front gate
Cut back all the trees in back section 
Take out "veggie patch" and clean up
New Washing lines
Plant grass
Organise store room
Organise store room / garage
Cover pool pump
Pool Cover
Fix the pipe for the irrigation to the wall at the back of the house

GENERAL:

New drying rack
Get equipment for the fire place
Dining room chairs - New ones 
Bookshelf for Kai's bedroom 
New rods for the curtains in the spare room 
Blind for our little window in our bedroom 
New rods for our bedroom 
New rods for Kai's bedroom
Blind for the kitchen
Art for the wall against my study in the dining room 
Art for above the couch in the lounge 
Art / pics for our bedroom
Something for the spare room walls
Mirror for wall at my dressing table
Add my pin board in study
Frame the art that Nicolette bought from France for the dining room

FIL and MIL and how we got her cooking

My father in law passed away in December 2012.  He was diagnosed with Parkinson's 6 years earlier.  In the six years before he passed away, he deteriorated so much.  There were so many falls and spills.  Aggression form the tablets.  It was a hard time.  Toward the end, about 3 months before he died he was diagnosed with PSP disease. It is common for PSP to be incorrectly diagnosed as Parkinson's in the early stages.

The last 2 months of FIL's life was hard, and it was sad and insane to see such a strong man with such a HUGE presence wilt away like he did. He spent the last little bit of his time in a home that caters for people who needs frail care.  Those kind of places scare me and makes me insanely sad, and makes me think of my gran! I hated every time we went to visit, but I did it for Klaus and for Kai. Though FIL hardly recognised his kids, he always knew who Kai was and always wanted to hold him, and have him close. He would sit and stare at him for ages.  He wrote him a letter too.  I hope my mother in law kept it.

The last time I saw FIL was on my Birthday 2 December 2012, I am so glad we went there and Klaus got to spend time with him and got to say good bye. He was admitted to hospital on Monday 3 December, on Tuesday morning he died, he went so quick no one made it to the hospital in time.

After  he passed away, I was concerned about my MIL and her eating habits, and if she will take care of herself, she is diabetic and needs to keep eating healthily.  I suggested to Klaus we ask her to cook for us 2 / 3 times a week! That would encourage her to cook a meal at least twice a week, and because she cares about Kai so much, she will make an effort to make it hearty and healthy!  Its great! A total win win. She chooses the days, sometimes it only happens once a week, mostly it is 3 times.  Klaus goes after work and pics up a nice healthy home cooked meal.

We pay her for it, which also helps her out financially a little bit.  Most of the meals she cooks is covered in total by what we pay her.

She eats healthy, is forced to cook and look after herself, she gets paid to do something she would be doing anyway.  We get 2/3 nights a week off from cooking.  (Working parents with a 2 year old! Every bit helps).

It works.
Think about it.

SBFL - 5.08.13

SONG:

Here's to never growing up - Avril Lavigne - 

Makes me feel happy !!! Love when it comes on

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever but it's getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up

Call up all of our friends
Go hard this weekend
For no damn reason
I don't think we'll ever change
Meet you at the spot
Half past 10 o'clock
We don't ever stop
And we're never gonna change

Say
Won't you say forever
Stay
If you stay forever
Hey
We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever but it's getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
We'll be running down the street yellin' "kiss my ass"
I'm like "yeah whatever", we're still living like that
When the sun's going down we'll be raising our cups
Singing here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up

We live like rockstars
Dance on every bar
This is who we are
I don't think we'll ever change (hell no)
They say "just grow up"
But they don't know us
We don't give a fuck
and we're never gonna change

Say
Won't you say forever
Stay
If you stay forever
Hey
We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever but it's getting us drunk
Singing here's to never growing up
We'll be running down the street yelling "kiss my ass"
I'm like "yeah whatever", we're still living like that
When the sun's going down we'll be raising our cups
Singing here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up

Say
Won't you say forever
Stay
If you stay forever
Hey
We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs (Ooooooh)
With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love
I got a bottle of whatever but it's getting us drunk (wow)
Singing here's to never growing up (here's to never growing up)
We'll be running down the street yelling "kiss my ass" (kiss my ass!)
I'm like "yeah whatever", we're still living like that (just like that)
When the sun's going down we'll be raising our cups
Singing here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up (Oh, raise your glass and say)
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up (Ladidadida)
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up (And no, we're never growing up)
Oh whoa, oh whoa here's to never growing up

BOOK

On to book seven!   Almost done, and I seriously cant wait for the ending! It is so intense! 

FILM:

Since I have not seen a good film in a while I am going to have to revert to some old ones I have liked! 

I know! Corny right?  But I loved the movie, and when ever I catch it on the telly I will always watch it again. 

LOVE:

Loving the new paint at home right now .... see earlier post for today!

Kai's birthday loot bags for School!

Even though we did not do a party for Kai, I still wanted to send some "Party Packs" to school for him and his friends.

Here are some pics ...

The finished product:

Empty loot bag with a little sticker from Kai 

I just took brown paper bags and added some fun stickers to them and got out some Happy birthday stamps 

Got my favourite Alphabet punch out for the little "From" Tag

In the bag was some sweeties and a juice

 

A little book for each kid, either with the animals or alphabet 

Boys got a little ben 10 pack with a puzzle some stickers and a dry erase board

The girls got a magnet doll with all different magnet thingy's to dress her up in. 

The kids loved it, that is all that counts

What a Weekend

What a weekend it has been!

We had a paint explosion on this end, and we got some serious business done.  I walked down my freshly painted passage earlier and felt like I was truly in my own house for the first time since March 1st, when we moved in.

In between painting and DIY'ing some stuff we also saw friends and family and celebrated Kai's second birthday.

Friday, thank goodness for a public holiday, we got off to a slow start.  We dropped Kai off with the momma, and went to do some paint shopping! Choosing paint is HARD!

We ended up choosing three colours, grey for the passage, soft stone for the main and spare bedroom, and a something taupe for the kitchen.

We had to put a undercoat on the passage as it was previously RED! and we now chose to go for the grey.

 We took all the pictures off the gallery wall in the passage.  We never positioned them when we moved in, I just hooked it all up to the existing nails which were in the passage from the previous owners, as I knew we would be painting soon.

Then we got down to the painting, soon as we started some friends arrived, and bless them, SK, got straight into helping Klaus, and they got the passage done with a good layer of undercoat in 3.5  hours. SK did the cutting in while Klaus went all over with the paint roller.

We left after that to go spend the night at Mom's as I did not want Kai gagging on paint fumes.  It was around this time, that my chest started to hurt, my throat started to burn and my nose got totally blocked up. Yah for being a super allergic sinus sufferer. I feel so horrible.  Totally blocked and sore.

On Saturday, we rushed home at about 9, with Phumlani in tow (Phumlani is our little hero, he works for a friend of ours installing cupboards during the week, but on weekends, he often helps us and my sister in the garden, and around the house with all sorts of tasks).  Phumlani got started on painting the passage in the Steel grey colour we chose.  We barely got our first cup of coffee down, when friends arrived with their twins to drop off a pressie for Kai.  They were disappointed that they did not get to see Kai, but I sure am glad he was not around.  The Twins are hectic!  (They are 10 days older than Kai, and I feel so blessed to have my kid).  It will be a while before I sigh at a "tantrum", or feel like running for the hills again.

We kept an eye on the weather report and saw that Sunday was going to be a miserable day, so decided to take Kai out for a birthday brunch and a little visit back to Stodels to feed the animals on Saturday. CP and VP and the twins left, and so did we.  We had a great time at Stodels with the kid, and had a yummy lunch too boot.  We totally lost track of time, and only got home at around 2 again!  I roped my sister into helping us paint (and can I just say that I have the MOST AWESOME SISTER IN THE WORLD!)  We painted our spare room,

while Klaus got started on the raw cement in the laundry ( a small addition we did a little while ago).

I decided to start on the mid section between the pantry and Laundry

and got the Taupe colour out.   As I did the first little patch in the kitchen I realized that it has a purple shine to it, and it just wont work for me.  I am a first time "wrong paint buyer" offender, so Hubster was not too mad, and when he saw the purple shine, he totally agreed this will not work for us.

I did a test patch on the rest of the kitchen as we have a crete stone bottom section and the top section needed to fit in with it. We ended up going with the soft stone for the kitchen too.  The colour will go on to the dining room, and lounge as well.

I am always so scared that my house ends up looking like a rubix cube, so for now, we have only the soft stone and grey going.  Kai's room is bright, but he is a kid, and it is therefore excusable.

It was too late to go buy more paint, so we finished up in the spare room, and my sis and I left to get back to Mom, while Klaus finished up the raw cement patch and locked up the house.

So by the end of Saturday the passage was done.  The spare room was done and the undercoat / primer was sorted in the laundry!

I was so hoping to be done on Saturday but it was just too much that had to be done.

Phumlani agreed to come back on Sunday to help us finish up.  We headed back to the house early Sunday Morning and Klaus had to make a run to the paint shop to go buy more Soft Stone for the kitchen and pantry and laundry section.  Phumlani got started on the kitchen, while Klaus and I set up the gallery wall again

At 2 we head to Mom's for Sunday lunch and as we were about to leave the house, my Aunt phoned to come say hi to Kai.  She decided to come over to Mom's as Kai was still there, and she wanted to see Mom too.  We had a nice visit and lunch.  We came home at about 4.

At the end of Sunday the kitchen, laundry and mid section between pantry and kitchen was done!
Klaus went to drop Phumlani off at the station, and I tried to get some clean up going of the kitchen and to put the laundry back together but just ran out of time, as Klaus's mom and sister came round to wish Kai.

We ended up tag teaming Kai and cleaning and visiting with SIL and MIL, till my Mom came to our place.  Things went a bit quicker then.  Mom is staying over this week, for the whole week.  Kai gets a little holiday from the day mom and Mom gets quality time with him.

Its now 21:28 and it feels like the first time I am really sitting down for the weekend! Poor Klaus is still putting on the new light switches we bought ....

I am going to "save" this post, and publish it tomorrow, after adding some pics .... :) for now though, Its good night!

Pics added and post is ready to go .... Have a good week all