Between tortures

It’s been such a good week for me. I’m much better after the operation and not in constant pain at the moment, and I haven’t started with the Chemo and Radiation yet, so actually feeling pretty healthy for the most part…just occasionally a little bit tired or nauseous.

Add to that my friend Denise came to visit for a week, and I got to play tourist with her. You get to fall in love with your home through someone else’s eyes all over again.

It actually makes me feel sort of guilty that I am feeling good at the moment. Isn’t that crazy?! I have a smidge of survivor’s guilt for not feeling like death warmed over for the first time in ages. I’m going to just shush that little voice and squeeze whatever joy I can out of my small break between tortures.

Oh, another kettle fish I still have to unpack in my head…I am now considered “behindert” I guess you can loosely translate that as disabled. I have to send some piece of paper into the relevant amp, but after that I am entitled to 5 extra sick days a year and protected from losing my job for the next 5 years. 🤔 That’s kind of cool, right? Why don’t I feel like I deserve it?

And exhale

So, I don’t think I’ve harped on too much about it (if I have, sorry). Anyhoo, I was retrenched last year September, and although I’ve picked up the odd bit of contract work here and there, for the better part of a year I’ve been up the creek without a paddle unemployed.

Now with the apocalypse and what came with it, and also the fact that we still plan to fly the coop as soon as possible the only things you could even attempt to apply for have been in hospitals and mines. I live with three high risk people in the house, I’ll starve before I put them at risk like that intentionally.

It’s been tense. We were just barely breaking even before retrechment, and after letting go of everything that could be let go, we went into apocalypse with just about enough to buy plane tickets for all three of us. Mid apocalypse we have had to live on that sadly, so yeah…tense, tense, tense.

I applied for a work from home gig about a month ago. I didn’t really hold out hope for it to come through, but I had some time to kill between baking banana bread and trying to coax life into a veggie garden in the worst season imaginable for such things.

Suprisingly I aced the assessment, but the next steps by HR took up the rest of the last month. Actually, they’ve been so slow in this that I’d actually completely given up on it yesterday and moved the last correspondence from the “Needs Action” part of my Inbox to the abyss that is my archive folders.

And just like that “a watched pot never boils” proved true. I got the job this afternoon. Starting mid July! Hopefully this will get us to break even again, and I’ll McGuyver a Plan B for move money somehow once I can breathe again.

I can’t tell you what a relief this is. I’m going to have a little sob later when I have some quiet time and spend some time on my knees saying thank you.

For those people who’ve recently lost their jobs due to Covid, and who might only be starting their own spin cycles of stress now (who very likely don’t even have such an amazing support structure as I do). You really do have all my sympathy. Hang in there!

Family vacation

We came back from the most amazing family vacation in Ballito yesterday, and I haven’t stopped bawling my eyes out since then.

My baby brother and his family have their medical examinations today. If they pass they’ll be on their way to NZ within a week.

I don’t want them to stay. This is definitely the right move for them. Still…he’s my baby brother and it SUCKS! I’m going to miss them like crazy.

Send lots of tissues…I need them all.

Happy Birthday my Spiggy!

To the very best husband I could have ever asked for, happy birthday!

You know, you never ask for anything, never expect anything, accept people for exactly who they are no ifs or butts or maybes. You know when I need a bit of extra love and support, even if I don’t say a the anything and I have my game-faces on, and you are the best most loving dad to Noodle, especially for someone fairly new to the gig. You are always ready to roll up sleeves and get whatever needs getting done, all the way done! You are the perfect mix of tough and tender, and if home is where the heart is you are our home.

We love you to the moon and back Spiggy and we are so happy to be able to celebrate your birthday with you. xxx

All things Hogwarts and small update

Is it my imagination or are all parties themed Harry Potter at the moment, might be my imagination but we had two just this past weekend! I’m not complaining mind you, it turns out I can whip up a fairly decent shoestring budget Harry Potter themed gift if given a bit of notice.

Nicola has mentioned that she also wants a Harry Potter birthday, although we did have to sadly tell her no party this year, but my mom will still bake a cake, and since she has her birthday two days before my brother and four days before Andy, the three of them will do something together…and when I mean something I mean share a cake and a family braai. Nicola has asked if she can invite 4 friends to come swim and eat cake…we can swing that. Riaan said one of them should pick the flavour of the cake, one the shape and one the decoration. Nicola said she wants to pick decor, so Riaan said he’ll do flavour and he wants cheescake…which she’s not a fan of…Andy will have to pick shape. After a bit of negotiation it seems it’s going chocholate, round and Harry Potter. Nicola is a good negotiator, hahaha…

Anyhoo, before I get to the photos and my general rambling, we have had some news with regards to relocating, if not on our own, my SIL has received a job offer (actually two) from NZ and if she accepts, they will be there by end of January next year! We are extremely excited for them, although we will miss them terribly.

Hopefully once they’ve flown the coop and if our plans pan out for September, my folks can also look at going. They have been clear on it that they won’t go anywhere until we’re all gone. They might actually prefer just selling and getting a small lock up and go property instead, and do looooong visits between the two countries once we’ve all settled in and my mom’s retired. We’re going from a weekly family night family to a three continent situation in the next 9 months. Surreal. Some aspects of this makes me very excited, and some makes me cry softly in the shower.

It is what it is, I guess.

Now, onto photos:

Cuzzie wuzzy, clowning around…THIS ONE is quite a character! Riaan had us in stitches with tales of his recent antics. I think he has a really bright future in drama, haha…

Us, at a recent fancy pants luncheon held by clients. You can tell when a lunch becomes a luncheon that it’s going to be like that. We actually had a brilliant time! Especially if you consider this was a week after my operation and I was sore as hell and could hardly eat anything lunchoen-y.

I was fifty shades of green after this, but it was totally worth it and luckily short lived.

I have always sucked at making pom-poms, I think because I rush it. This time round I really took my time with it and went extra fluffy.

Whenever I try my hand at pom-poms I always think of my niece Thea, who used to make the most adorable little pom-pom-chickens when we were kids. She was killed in a car accident, just after her brother was paralysed from the neck down defending her against an armed ex boyfriend. It’s a super tragic story, which is I guess why pom-poms make me a little sad…

Behold my super fluffy owls I made. actually Nicola and Andy helped me so much, we all made it together. These went on the gift bags for the Harry Potter parties.

And I hand-painted this mug (mostly with a toothpick) for my friend Bfly, along with a set of leg warmers because her one foot is always cold after she picked up nerve damage from an accident at work.

Happy to report she LOVED it!

And it has given me a great idea for small family gifts for Christmas, which I’ve already kicked off.

Hydrangeas at Nicola’s school – so pretty!

Also at Nicola’s school. I like to think of this guy as Sheldon, he is almost always sitting in the same spot when we arrive in the mornings.

Nicola trying out some every flavour beans and accidentally encountering a vomit flavoured one, hahaha!

Not often I get snuggles like this anymore, she’s growing up so fast!