...And then life happened!

Some years ago I started this blog as a means to keep in touch with a few of my friends, friends that went through some of the things we went through, friends with kids around the same age as my daughter, friends with mutual interests.  Of course life intervened, and the blog died down.  Sadly, so did some of those friendships, but that's an entire post all on its own, should I feel so inclined one day, haha.

Reading the previous posts, I stand in awe at how fast time goes by.  When I wrote the last post, Girly was about a year and a half old, still in the baby house and an only child.  Now, she is 7 (going on 17...), in grade 2 of 'big school' and big sister to an almost 5 year old little monster (who, I might add, is the personification of 'too wise for his size'!).

This blog will most probably not be read by anyone but me, and that is just fine.  This will be my space to rant and rave and just let it all out.  In a previous post I mentioned that I suffer from verbal diarrhea, so to give my friends' and family's ears a break, I will come here from time to time.  If someone ends up reading this: I am truly sorry, hahahaha!

xx

T minus 2 weeks

Two weeks from now, I will be sitting on the beach, wiggling my toezies in the sand, drinking an ice cold...well, colddrink!! I honestly can not wait. We are only going away for a few days, but we intend to make the most of this precious time. I can't remember the last time hubby and I went on holiday alone...but it was a long time ago. We always ended up either going with family or visiting friends. This will be our first 'official' holiday as a family and girly's first visit to the coast. We've already said that we want to have the video camera handy for the first time she sees the huuuuuuuuuge swimming pool and sand pit. I predict it is going to be a face to remember!!

In other news, this is going to be a relatively busy week. Tomorrow evening we are doing a quick visit with the Cowleys, R will be taking a few pictures of our little family, with mom all dressed up in her graduation gear (as girly can't go to the ceremony with us). On Thursday it is the long awaited graduation ceremony, hooray! I'm a little in two minds about the whole thing, a little excited on the one hand, but also quite nervous about what chaos awaits us (we're dealing with Unisa, remember)...and VERY nervous that girly, not to mention her babysitters, will be okay.

Now usually, it would've been smooth sailing. 1) Phone grandma. 2) Give her the date and time of whatever function we might have. 3) Leave girly in ouma and oupa's capable care. But ouma and oupa are away on a photography course in Put-sonder-water or Gat-sonder-end or some other obscure small town. And the in-laws aren't able to come up from the lowveld to babysit. So I've asked one of my collegue's and her husband (that also work with us) if they'd be able to babysit. To which they said yes before I'd even completed the question, because they love girly as if she was family. Now, I know that she'll be in good hands (they are two amazing people!), but I'm still nervous. Normal, no? I predict though that she'll manipulate a chocolate or two out of them before dinner and that she'll probably still be awake and playing her little heart out by the time we get home.

On Saturday we are going to little N's first birthday party! I am very excited about this, the invites were gorgeous and I think it is going to be a blast.

And that, my dear friends, are the forthcoming events in a nutshell!

This and that

My girly said her first 'sentence' this morning (Afrikaans sentence, that is, she's been speaking in full Chinese sentences for weeks...might even be Arabic, DH is certain she phones Osama once in a while...)!!! Daddy was in the kitchen and next minute she asks him "Pappa, maak jy?". Now, I know exactly where she gets this from, whenever I can't see her and I'm certain she's up to some serious mischief, I always ask "Wat maak jy?".

Also this morning, we had our first true 'vloermoer' (not full fledged yet, but we had the crying and throwing ourselves on the floor bit). I just stepped over her and ignored her and it was over very quickly, but I'm sure this was the first of many to come. Oh the joys :-)!

Last night, I had to put in a hell of a lot of effort to keep a straight face. After her bath, madam went to stand at the coffee table and immediately made for the remote, which she knows is off limits. So I give her a quick, stern talking to and she leaves the remote, stands staring at the TV and I just see the little finger inching closer and closer to the remote again... When I cleared my throat, she bolted down the corridor, laughing! It was so funny, wish I could've caught it on camera!!

My gorgeous girl is 18 months old today, a year and a half...... I honestly don't know where time has gone. She is getting cuter and cuter by the day, a real little clown, and I love her more every second! We are enjoying her soooooo much and can never thank God enough for blessing us with an angel like her!!

My brag for the day

My girly has decided it's a good idea to start counting. Apparently 'een' is not very important, but 'twee' en 'drie' are tops!

It's official!!

I am a graduate!!! I received a letter from Unisa today confirming that I have, indeed, completed my degree. Now, it might sound odd that I wasn't sure about that, but let me tell you a quick story: At the end of 2008, my sister got her exam results, passing with flying colours and was convinced that she was finished with her degree, as per the requirements stated in the yearbook. However, upon further investigation, she found that Unisa did not agree with her on this. Eventually she was told that she still needed to do two specific subjects to complete her degree. When, disheartened but eager to finish, she tried to register for said subjects...she was told that they do not even exist anymore! After lots and lots (and lots and lots) of time on the phone and e-mail, Unisa finally decided that she ís, in fact, finished with her degree. See why I don't take anything at face value when it comes to them? But now I have proof, now I can relax!!

A celebration of life!

After a battle of 3 and a half years, my dear friend Ciska and her husband fell pregnant through IUI during May 2008. On 16 February 2009, Louie Auguste van Niekerk was born.


Unfortunately, his parents’ joy was short-lived, as the next day the paediatrician attending to him diagnosed a heart murmur and he was admitted to NICU. He was seen by a cardiologist who was confident that no intervention would be necessary and he was discharged from hospital on 20 February.

A tense few weeks followed in which the family undertook various trips to the paediatrician because of Louie throwing up, not drinking properly and overall just being a sick little boy. On 19 March, during yet another visit to the doctor, they were told that Louie had suffered heart failure. He was admitted to hospital immediately and later airlifted to Unitas Hospital where he would receive open heart surgery the next day. When the cardiologist informed Ciska and Frank about what the operation would entail, she told them that Louie is very weak and that there is a good chance their baby boy will not survive the surgery, words no parent should EVER have to hear! Family and friends started praying for this little guy immediately!

When I woke up on the 20th, I had an Afrikaans hymn in my head which, try as I might, I just couldn’t get out again: “Strome van seën”, which I suppose would directly translate to “Streams of blessings”. It was a cloudy day, ominous and scary, until a dear friend of ours sent through a prayer she had written for Louie, ending with “Let Your love, comfort and healing rain down today”. All of a sudden I started experiencing the rain as an incredibly tangible sign of God’s presence! (May I confess that I did absolutely NO work that day as I couldn’t concentrate at all and I spent the entire day silently praying for little Louie and his parents...)

Ciska smsed through updates as things went along: they’re waiting for the doctor, they’re preparing him for theatre etc. If memory serves, it was raining the whole time he was in theatre. At one stage, I had an incredibly foreboding feeling and all of a sudden it started really POURING down...which gave me an unbelievable sense of calm amidst the fear. Thinking back on this, I still get goosebumps. When I spoke to a mutual friend of me and Ciska later that day, I told her about my experience, also that I have a feeling that they came very close to loosing Louie at some point (hence the feeling of doom) but that God intervened in that operating theatre (hence the showering rain and the feeling of calm). She lives in Durban and went to her church during the time of the operation. It was raining in Durban... At some point during the operation she felt the same sense of foreboding, mixed with a feeling of total calm...

Words cannot describe the relief I felt when I received Ciska’s sms that Louie had made it through surgery, nor can I begin to imagine the feelings my friends experienced when they heard the doctor say those magical words! Of course the little man was by no means out of the woods, and the 48 hours following the operation was very critical. But in my heart I knew that this miracle boy was going to be just fine, that God still had BIG plans for his future.

On my way to work that morning I had been listening to a CD of Navi Redd and as I got into the car that afternoon, the last few words of a song was playing “Let it rain, rain on me”... The goosebumps where back! When I got to Shevaughn’s school, I told the headmistress how the operation went (I had the world and his wife praying for Louie!), I told her about the significance the rain held for me, the prayer Charné had written and she told me the following story: at some point, it had hailed a little bit, and after it stopped, some of the black assistants at the school took the kiddies outside to pick up some of the ice. They have a custom to eat the hail, they call it ‘healing rain’... I just cried!

On 29 November 2009, Ciska and Frank finally got to Christen their precious miracle boy. I have to admit that it was the most emotional Christening I had ever attended!


Next week Saturday, we will be having a very special party: we will be celebrating Louie’s first birthday!! I know that this past year has probably been the worst and hardest year Ciska and Frank has ever had to face, and hopefully ever will have to face. But God has blessed them with an amazing little boy, who in the first year of his life, has touched more lives that most of us will touch in an entire lifetime. Despite all the pain he has had to endure this past year, he is just the friendliest, happiest baby, forever smiling and laughing. Love you to bits, little guy!!
(Thanks to Ciska for allowing me to share their story and to show you what a gorgeous little boy she has!)

Just one last brag...

...with my beautiful girl! I love her to bits!!!

My husband is a star and other news

I have been so spoilt: my hubby bought me a laptop yesterday! Whoo-hoo, PC time just for me!! Have I ever mentioned I've got the best husband in the whole world? For Christmas he gave me perfume and the new Il Divo DVD which I hinted for long and hard, so I really feel like a queen.

Oh, where to start?! I've got so much news I'd like to share. First off, I have passed my last two subjects for my degree!!! Which means, unless Unisa has changed their mind again (which has been known to happen...), I am officially a graduate. I have decided to take a year or two off before continuing with my honours degree. I cannot wait to have some time for myself.

Even though we didn't go away, this has probably been one of the most amazing holidays of my life. Spending time with my hubby and girly has been so much fun! I do, however, think I am going to be more tired when I go back to work then I was when I went on leave, because that little lady of ours is BUSY!!!

The first two days I was on leave, we babysat friends of ours' 9 month old boy. Which was fun and hectic all at once. And of course Madam had to hit the poor guy over the head at least once... I promise it wasn't really that bad, though, it is just such a priceless picture, hehe!

Daddy bought a little blow-up pool and the two of them had spent hours in it already. She loves the water so much and has now taken to either ignoring you flat out when you say it's time to get out, or fiercely shaking her head at you with a very stern expression on that little face. She also does this when it's time to get out of the bath, when she needs to stop swinging long enough to have lunch or whenever you need her to do something that does not appeal to her.

We also had her ears pierced and it looks so cute!!! We had been uhm-ing and aah-ing about this for quite a while now, but we finally took the plunge and had it done. I have to admit that it was quite a traumatic experience...for mommy and daddy! She didn't like the idea of being held tightly so she doesn't move and risk having the piercings skew, but after that was over, she was fine. We weren't. We might seek psychological counselling in the near future!

Then of course there was Christmas and we had a great time, eating turkey and opening presents... We went to church on Christmas morning and my little angel was all dressed up in her white dress and wings, silver sandals and hair in ponytails. By the time we returned from church, the wings had been ripped off to be inspected, the feet were bare and my little angel had chocolate all around her mouth (at least the ponies were still in, which is a biggie as they usually don't last more than 5 minutes). She looked more gorgeous than ever!!!

New Years Eve was spent with our dear friends Jahni and Ruan and I can't remember the last time I laughed so much in one evening. We had an absolute blast, thanks guys (except when Ruan made us watch the stupid bloody horror – I'm still having nightmares!!!). (Oh, and of course I HAD to dress girly in her party outfit that she got from Granny – I know she bought it for that skirt, but hey, I love the shirt that says 'If you think I'm cute you should see my mum'.) The girlies spent the day chatting away in a language only they understand, and at one point Shevaughn walked away while Nicci was confined to her cot, which lead to some serious complaining by the latter.

Other events include daddy making her a swing from scratch (quite entertaining to watch, I can assure you!), visiting the zoo, a day at the airforce museum (as madam had apparently inherited daddy's fascination with airplanes), time spent with family and friends, discovering three brand new (back) teeth that we have no idea when they cut, and lots and lots of laughs, cuddles and our little family growing closer together. We also did a photoshoot with Ruan, but that is a post all on its own, because I really battle to choose which of the pics I'd like to share, they are all so stunning!

For now, I will leave you with this last pic of my gorgeous girl. We have gone from screaming blue bloody murder when there's bubbles in the bath, to absolutely loving the bubbles and blowing them up into the air (or trying to at least). Oh, and the dirty little face is from having to test out the new swing before it has been cleaned...

I have a friend...

...who's bugging me about deleting my blog as I haven't done a post in sooooooo long! So, to keep said friend quiet, I have decided to write a little something :-).

First off, I would like to congratulate my dear friends Jahni and Ruan not only on their fourth wedding anniversary, but also on little Nicole's TWO brand new teeth! Congrats to the girlies, Nicci for growing such beautiful teeth and Jahni for not giving in to the urge I am sure she often gets to clobber someone with a Bauer pan... We love you guys and are truly blessed to have you as friends.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate a very dear friend of mine on her pregnancy!! As they have not yet told many people, I won't give any names, but you know who you are... I am so over the moon for you and B and can't wait to meet that little alien!

Thirdly: I wish Unisa would get a-bloody-move-on with the exam results!!! The suspence is killing me!

I have to admit that I have got so many things that I would like to write about, but time is a bit of an issue at the moment. Things seem to pick up speed towards the end of the year with all the loose ends that need to be tied up before we can all go and relax... Not so nice, as all I want to do at this stage, is...well...NOTHING! As little as possible! Play with my girly, spend time with hubby, read, sleep... Rest! I am on leave from 15 December to 11 January and look forward to spending quality time with family and friends.

I can't promise anything, but I will try and sneak in a post or two before going on leave.

To C or not to C...

...section, that is. I’m sure most women come to a point in their pregnancy where they are faced with this decision. For some it’s an easy one: they want to be able to have control over the birth of their child, for example, maybe even a say in the child’s birthday, so they opt for a C-section. For others, the decision is made for them: they have low blood pressure, a history of stillbirths or their baby is breach.

For me, it was never even a question. I wanted a natural birth, and a water birth at that. Which would mean no epidural, which is just fine by me as I have a serious needle phobia (yes, still! Even after numerous blood tests and fertility treatments [read: lots and lots of needles].). Call me insane if you wish, but the mere thought of an epidural completely freaks me out! Why, oh why would I want someone poking needles into my back, risking the off chance of paralysis if something goes wrong?

So many woman fear normal birth, which I can totally understand, it’s a scary concept (even with an epidural). But get this: I gave birth to my (big!) girl, and half an hour later I got up, took a shower and walked to my room. From what I’ve heard of C-sections, you are in pain for days after the birth. I just don’t see the logic! Normal birth = a few hours of pain vs. C-section = days of pain.

I am so thankful though that we live in a modern world with advanced technologies. This meant that I could give birth to my baby the good old fashioned way, in a first class hospital, with a trained doctor and nursing staff at my side, sterilised equipment, only the best medical care at hand should anything go wrong... None of that ‘giving birth on the bed the cat was just lying on with a person calling himself a doctor digging a 9 pound baby out of me with something that bares a frightening resemblance to the braai tongs my husband made dinner with 2 hours ago’! Mmm, the good old days that weren’t quite as good...

As you can gather, I am not keen on scheduled C-sections, neither am I keen on inductions. I believe that God made us so that our bodies will know when baby is ready to be born and that tampering with the process is as good as tampering with God’s plan. Having said that, this is just my opinion and everyone has the right to make their own decisions.

Don’t ever let anyone bully you into doing something that you do not want to do. If you want a normal (even a medication-free, ‘natural’) birth, that is your choice (you wouldn’t let anyone else choose who you should marry, would you?). Remember that the mind is an incredibly powerful thing. My biggest fear was never about the pain of labour, I decided that I will handle that as it comes, my biggest fear was that I was going to feel nauseous during labour. However, I decided beforehand that I will be calm no matter what comes my way, I popped 2 or 3 rescue tablets during labour and I put my mind to just going with the flow.

Barring any complications, I will have a natural, medication-free birth with my next child as well. It was the most amazing experience ever, and I was so proud of myself to be able to say that I was an active part of ‘giving birth’ to my girly, as opposed to just lying there and the doctor literally taking my baby out. Oh, and the admiration I still see in my husband’s eyes is so worth it! I know that I gained a deeper level of respect from him and I know that he is also proud of me.

An interesting story: my sister had water birth with both her sons. With the second one, they had arranged that as soon as my sister’s labour starts, my dad would drive from Jo’burg to Bloem to help with the eldest brother. She phoned my parents to say she was on her way to the birthing clinic and when my dad got to Bloem approximately 4 hours later, she came out to the car to meet him, her and baby already back home from the clinic and on her feet!

Then and now

As always, I am waaaaay behind the time. But here is how my girly has grown and changed over the past 13 months. Unbelievable!!

Growing so fast!

I LOOOOOOOVE taking pics of my girly! And I love comparing pics of her and seeing how she's changed and how much she's grown (although it breaks my heart, as it seems she is growing with the speed of light!). I took a pic of her in her daddy's arms this weekend and as I was taking it, I saw a pic in my mind's eye that I had taken about a year ago. So I thought I'd compare the two...

That was then (2 months old)...

And this is now (13 months old)...

I have decided against giving any commentary on these, as it will just make me cry :-)!

I have to, however, just say that my gorgeous girl started walking all by herself this week... which also makes me want to cry for two reasons: 1) SHE'S GROWING UP TOO FAST (notice a theme here?) and 2) Oh man, we're going to need lots and lots of bioplus and red bull to keep up with her now! Not to mention nerves of steel, as she takes two or three steps and then lunges herself forward towards you, so you had better just be ready to catch her. Time to stock up on Arnica! It really is incredibly cute to see, can't wait to capture it on...film?...memory card?...

In other news, I am counting the days 'till i am finished with my exams. Two weeks to go. I.can.not.wait.to.be.finished!! (I almost wrote 'I can not wait to be fish'..... Sleep deprivation is taking its toll! In that case, though, can I choose to be sole? All backbone and none of those pesky little bones that gets stuck in your throat?) If all goes well and I pass both subjects, I am finished with my degree. Yeah!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

The day our lives changed

On 24 September 2008, you came into our lives and changed everything! Definitely for the better, but still... Tomorrow marks a year from that date, and how you have filled our lives in this year with so much joy and love!! I can not imagine my life without you anymore and somehow it feels as if you have always been a part of our lives. I love you with all my heart, my angel!!!

The month from hell!

Well, this month isn't even halfway and I already feel like calling it a day...month, whatever! This is going to be a looooooooong post, filled with lots and lots of venting and quite possibly some swearing, so bear with me!

It started out with a very unpleasant shocker from SARS. I'm not even going to go into it, you can figure it out for yourself.

On the 3rd, we came home to a flooded house (see my post). Were we stand with this little 'problem' at the moment, is that the carpets in all three bedrooms have been ripped out leaving us with these 'beautiful', 'rustic' cement floors, covered with bits of orange underfelt that stick to your shoes and in this way gets distributed throughout the entire house. Pretty..... Basically all the furniture from the bedrooms are crammed into the patio (thank goodness the previous owner had the vision to close up the patio, so we have an extra 'room'). I won't even begin to describe the frustration when you need something that was packed right next to the opposite wall, right at the back where you just can not get to (which, of course, as dictated by Murphy, WILL inevitibly happen).
But don't think the rooms are empty, ooooooh no! We are going to put in wooden floors and the Floor People (FP) were there on Thursday last week. Unfortunately, the Cupboard People (CP) decided to wait until Thursday to pitch for the first time, and promptly stopped the FP in their tracks, saying that the cupboards have to be replaced first. That leaves Bedroom 1 full of FP-stuff... Hubby decided that since we painted the two spare rooms last year before Shevaughn was born, he'll now paint our room while there are no carpets or furniture in the room. That leaves Bedroom 2 full of paint-stuff. And since hubby wanted to paint our room, our bed and Shevaughn's cot is currently in her room. (A big step up, as we were sleeping in the living room at one stage.....)
Then, of course I have to empty out all the cupboards so that the CP can replace the cupboards. Which, at the rate they are going, may or may not be before the turn of the century... The good thing that has come of this, is that I am in the perfect mood to throw away all the crap sentimental-little-me is always gathering!
I am happy to report, though, that at least the toilet has been replaced!

On the 7th, I was on my way home, when all of a sudden there were a number of lights shining on the dashboard of my car that really aren't supposed to be on (the airbag light, for example...). As I stopped at the traffic light (about 1km from home), I switched off the car (it's an Alfa, it sometimes helps to just 'clear its head' a bit when it does something stupid) and when I wanted to switch it back on again...NOTHING. Not even a stutter! So there I am, next to the road with a baby in the car (in Gauteng, aka Crime Capital), going nowhere. Luckily hubby was home already and got to us within 5 minutes. Diagnosis: dead battery. So beyond repair dead that hubby couldn't even jumpstart it!

But wait, there's more! Saturday morning, hubby noticed a wet mark on the ceiling and against the wall in the corridor.



Went into the roof to check, only to find that the geyser is leaking. As hubby didn't even know where to start to fix this, he phoned the plumber that fixed the loo, who told him that he'd suggest we contact the insurance and have it fixed ASAP as it sounds to him as if the bloody thing is about to pop! We are just soooooooo incredibly grateful that this happened when it did and that he noticed the mark against the wall. Imagine us two weeks from now, brand new cupboards, brand new wooden floors, furniture all back in its place...and the geyser bursts. I can guarantee you that would've sent me straight to the looney bin!!!

So, a recap on the past two weeks:
SARS - An unmentionable amount of money... Check
Cracked toilet - An unmentionable amount of money to the insurance (cleverly called 'Excess', as if we had it just lying around)... Check
Alfa - An unmentionable amount of money for a huge new battery... Check
Leaking geyser - An unmentionable amount of money to the insurance (oh yes, this counts as a whole new insident, so there's that 'excess' again)... Check

Budget? What budget?

I am hoping, praying, pleading that my house will be back to normal by the end of this week, but I am affraid with the standard of service we are receiving from the CP (or rather lack thereof), it looks to be high hopes.

Oooooeeee!

My gorgeous girly has started going 'Ooooooeeeee' for anything that tickles her fancy, and this is what it looks like....




(Pictured here with my brother)

Water, water everywhere

We had a bit of an unpleasant surprise when we got home last night. Sometime during the day, the cistern of the toilet in the main bathroom cracked... Which meant that we came home to a flooded house. We have carpets in all 3 bedrooms, which will probably have to be replaced as they were soaking wet (see the video) and we can’t get them dry!



Hubby went and hired a steam cleaner to try and vacuum out as much of the water as possible, but it is basically a lost case. He spent about 3 hours in our room... and half an hour later, the water just started seeping through again. Not exactly the best way to start the weekend, is it? But you know what, this just made me realise all over again why I love my husband so much: In the midst of this huge mess, we could still help each other to laugh about the whole situation!

I love you because...

Irene tagged us to give ten things we love about our little angels. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stick to ten, because there is just soooooo many things I love about her, but let's see...



1) Oh, those eyes!! Those big, beautiful eyes with the long, long lashes that can stare at you as if you are the most amazing person in the whole world, with so much love and trust!
2) The way your whole face lights up when you smile or laugh, those eyes (again!) squinting until you can hardly see the eyes between the lids, wrinkling your little nose and then laughing and squeeling with delight... Makes everyone around you want to laugh with you.
3) The way you call for me from your cot if I take too long to get up and greet you in the mornings. "Mamma?" Soft and questioning, almost as if you don't want to disturb me if I am maybe still asleep.
4) Those magical hugs and kisses! No matter how bad my day was, I immediately feel 100 times better when I pick you up in the afternoon and I get a big bear hug from you (while patting my arm as if to say "It's okay mommy, I'm here now").
5) Every little inch of your cuter than cute body. Your feet (which, by the way, looks like a size-reduced copy of daddy's) with those cute little jelly-tot toes. The marshmallow-bum that has got cellulite even though you are quite a skinny-kiddy (okay, I confess, that part you got from me...). Those busy little hands with their gorgeous dimples that are always pointing, waving, blowing kisses... Granny says you have got the most beautiful hands she has ever seen, and I completely agree!
6) The way you get so super excited when you see yourself in the mirror. I don't blame you, I'd also get so excited if I were that gorgeous!
7) Your total enthusiasm for everyone and everything. You laugh so easily, at the doggies, at your grannies, at your cousins, at something as silly as me playfully biting your fingers to try and coax you into allowing me to feel your gums (with which I am having no success!). You love life, and I love you for it!
8) The way you very firmly shake your head when you decide you have had enough to eat. Since before you were born, you knew what you wanted and NO-ONE will make you do something you don't want to do.
9) The fact that you do something new practically every day! One of your latest things is to go "Oooooooooeeeeee" for something that tickles your fancy, pouting those lips like a real pro! I just want to kiss you when you do that!
10) The way you 'share' your dummy with me and daddy. The way you crawl. The way you walk. The way you stand. The way you love books. The way you sleep... You see, I can go on and on and on, I love every single thing about you! My baby, I love you with all my heart!!!

(I imagine you reading this blog 15 years from now and going "Mooooooooom!!! You wrote about my bum!!! How could you?!!! This is sooooooo embarrasing!" all the way rolling those eyes as you already do when you've actually had enough to eat, but is indulging me with taking one more bite because I don't think you've had enough...)

Friday fun

My music

I am so far behind the time that I can’t even remember who started this, I think Jahni...

I really had a difficult time with this one, because I absolutely LOVE music, I will go totally nuts without it. I couldn’t choose just 10, and even these aren’t all of my favourite-favourites. But here goes, in no particular order:

1) Hysteria – Def Leppard
2) Poison – Alice Cooper
3) Walking on sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
4) Sit down – James
5) Loosing my religion – R E M
6) Tears in heaven – Eric Clapton
7) With or without you – U2
8) Thank you for loving me – Bon Jovi
9) Gebed – Mathys Roets
10) Runaway train – Soul Asylum
11) Somebody – Depeche Mode
12) River of dreams – Billy Joel
13) Thorn in my side – Eurythmics
14) Remember - Josh Groban

I have a quite diverse taste in music, I am a big fan of classical music (I absolutely love Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor) which I mainly listen to when I am studying, love the so-called popera (Il Divo, Josh Groban), golden oldies, 80’s and 90’s music, love almost anything Andrew Lloyd Webber, a little bit of doef-doef, some ‘light’ metal (think Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters), the ‘older’ Afrikaans artists (Laurika Rauch, Matthys Roets)... You name it, I (probably) love it! But if you really want to torture me, make me listen to jazz!

(Three posts on one day!? Aren't you proud of me???)

Psalm 23

I just read this in an e-mail and I think it is so precious (not to mention spot-on!):

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter. Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line. On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.'