I can't believe we managed to get it right, but for only the second time since we met, Danie and I went out on a proper, official, romantic date last night. Jake stayed over with his granny and we had some quality time out on our own. It was AMAZING!
It was my turn to pick out the restaurant and, since we both love a good steak, we went to The City Grill in the Waterfront. I had a delicious sirloin steak and Danie had beef fillet. I had two glasses of wine (the glasses were huge and I'm suffering a little today) and we were both too stuffed for dessert. Everything was delicious, just perfect.
I can't get over what a nice evening I had - I wish I was doing it all over again tonight, but I'm too tired. I really think it did us the world of good to get out on our own for a change. To be able to hold a proper conversation, without interruptions, was nice. It made me feel young and in love even though I feel old and haggard this morning ;o) . I enjoyed talking. We joked and laughed and just enjoyed being us. It was a near perfect evening. Like I said, it was amazing!
For those of you who set up regular date nights with your other half, keep at it. The time together is precious and it's always good to remember why you fell in love with one another to start off with. I really want to try make this more of a regular happening in our lives too. I have a wonderful boyfriend and it's great being able to share special moments and to make memories together. If you haven't been on a date with your partner in a while - do it! You won't regret it!!
Sue X
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Finally!!
It's been terrible keeping this a secret from you, but finally, I'm allowed to blog about it... I'm going to be an auntie again!!
And Connor's getting a baby brother or sister! Jo and Paul went for their first scan yesterday and were able to listen to their baby's heartbeat and to see him/her bouncing around. Jo's just 8 1/2 weeks pregnant, so it's still too early to know whether we need to buy blue or pink. The baby is just 20.2mm long and looks like a little bean (or teddy bear) for now. I think it's just too beautiful already!
Jo and Paul go for their next scan on 18 November. By then, the baby will have all it's fingers and toes and they'll be able to see the baby's sex. Jo's due on 21 May 2011, which makes May a very expensive month with 3 family birthdays!! Anyway, I can't wait to meet him/her and get a tiny cuddle!! Babies are just the best. We're all super excited to be sharing in this precious journey with them again. Babies are such a blessing and they bring so much joy to those who love them. Thanks guys, especially Paul for all his hard work ;o)
Sue X
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Bandanas...
Today is National Bandana Day, a day where we wear bandanas in support of the Sunflower Fund.
In 1997, my dad was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and needed to have a bone marrow transplant done. Early in 1998, he underwent severe treatments, including high doses of chemotherapy and 2 hours of full body radiation a day! His transplant was done in the March. He was treated by Professor Jacobs and Dr du Toit in the Sunflower Ward at Constantiaberg Medi-clinic, the same hospital where Jake was later born. Due to the harsh treatments that the patients are receiving, their immune systems are totallly compromised - they are literally taken as close to death as is possible and then brought back to life again with a transplant. The sunflower ward is totally isolated. Visitors may not enter with any hint of a cold or infection, no matter how small the symptoms. If you think you're going to sneeze, you can't visit. If your eye's itchy, you can't visit. The rules cannot be broken and if you take a cold in to visit a patient who has no immune system, it could very easily kill them.
It's probably one of the most frightening places I've ever been to. I can remember visiting and having to change into sterile hospital gear, taking off shoes and washing myself before going in to visit my dad. I can remember how sick he was and how sore his body was from the treatment. He was so weak, I didn't think it was possible that he had a chance of survival. I can remember being heartbroken at seeing a father walking his bare-headed toddler up and down the corridors and the death of a fellow patient who had befriended my father during their morning run for chemo/radiation. At the same time that this is a frightening place - one I hope never to need to visit again in my lifetime - it's also amazing what's being done there. The doctors and nurses are brilliant, to say the least. They're performing miracles on a daily basis. And the positive spirits that both the patients and nurses keep up at all times is unbelievable.
Fortunately for my dad, my uncle was an exact bone marrow match, so we had one less thing to worry about in his being so ill. The odds, though, of finding a compatible donor are 1 in 100,000. At the moment, the bone marrow registry is on roughly 64,000 (that includes me), meaning that you only have 2/3rds of a chance of finding a compatible donor locally. While there are international registries that can be checked for compatible donors, South Africa has so many different ethnic groups, which means our registry needs to have many more potential donors on it's books. Testing to become a donor is a simple blood test, but costs roughly R1,000.00 (about $150.00), which is money that many of us don't have to throw around these days. Buying a bandana today for just R20.00 contributes towards these test costs.
So, today, in honor of all those that have suffered from this disease, to those who have fought the battle and lost, to those who still fight and to those who have come out victorious, I wear my bandana with pride (even though I look like a twit).
Sue X
In 1997, my dad was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and needed to have a bone marrow transplant done. Early in 1998, he underwent severe treatments, including high doses of chemotherapy and 2 hours of full body radiation a day! His transplant was done in the March. He was treated by Professor Jacobs and Dr du Toit in the Sunflower Ward at Constantiaberg Medi-clinic, the same hospital where Jake was later born. Due to the harsh treatments that the patients are receiving, their immune systems are totallly compromised - they are literally taken as close to death as is possible and then brought back to life again with a transplant. The sunflower ward is totally isolated. Visitors may not enter with any hint of a cold or infection, no matter how small the symptoms. If you think you're going to sneeze, you can't visit. If your eye's itchy, you can't visit. The rules cannot be broken and if you take a cold in to visit a patient who has no immune system, it could very easily kill them.
It's probably one of the most frightening places I've ever been to. I can remember visiting and having to change into sterile hospital gear, taking off shoes and washing myself before going in to visit my dad. I can remember how sick he was and how sore his body was from the treatment. He was so weak, I didn't think it was possible that he had a chance of survival. I can remember being heartbroken at seeing a father walking his bare-headed toddler up and down the corridors and the death of a fellow patient who had befriended my father during their morning run for chemo/radiation. At the same time that this is a frightening place - one I hope never to need to visit again in my lifetime - it's also amazing what's being done there. The doctors and nurses are brilliant, to say the least. They're performing miracles on a daily basis. And the positive spirits that both the patients and nurses keep up at all times is unbelievable.
Fortunately for my dad, my uncle was an exact bone marrow match, so we had one less thing to worry about in his being so ill. The odds, though, of finding a compatible donor are 1 in 100,000. At the moment, the bone marrow registry is on roughly 64,000 (that includes me), meaning that you only have 2/3rds of a chance of finding a compatible donor locally. While there are international registries that can be checked for compatible donors, South Africa has so many different ethnic groups, which means our registry needs to have many more potential donors on it's books. Testing to become a donor is a simple blood test, but costs roughly R1,000.00 (about $150.00), which is money that many of us don't have to throw around these days. Buying a bandana today for just R20.00 contributes towards these test costs.
So, today, in honor of all those that have suffered from this disease, to those who have fought the battle and lost, to those who still fight and to those who have come out victorious, I wear my bandana with pride (even though I look like a twit).
Sue X
Friday, October 8, 2010
Mr Jakell...
Things with Jake are going really well and I'm very proud of how he's doing. He finished up with Occupational Therapy on Wednesday (yay!!). His therapist is very happy with his fine motor development and she's confident that he's ready for Grade 1 now. She was very emotional to say goodbye to Jake, while he was less than impressed to hear that he wouldn't be going there play again.
It has been a very expensive exercise and one that I didn't really believe in until now. Jake was assessed as having slightly delayed fine motor skills and slight problems with his mid-line crossing. I assumed that these things would rectify themselves, since he had reached all his early milestones well within the set times. Jake was crawling at 5 1/2 months and walking by 9 months. By his first birthday, he was running around like a lunatic. At the time, I presumed that my perfect little boy would never have a problem in his life. Let alone a mid-line crossing problem, which in turn causes delays in fine motor skills (apparently). I was wrong, it makes absolutely no difference when kids crawl or walk. The OT couldn't possibly do him any harm, so I paid up and sent him. Even when he started the classes, I still believed that as he matured, he'd iron out these little niggles on his own. Needless to say that I've been proved totally wrong - his progress in the last 6 months has been phenomenal and I'm really impressed by his achievements.
Added to that, he had an excellent report at the end of term 3 and I'm very excited to see him moving onto big school in January (and a little sad that my baby's growing up so fast!).
Speaking of big school, we have been invited to a school orientation evening on the 9th of November, where the kids will meet their teachers and be shown their new classrooms. There's a meeting for the parents explaining the ins and outs of the new year - quite daunting for a first timer. Jake's very excited about moving up, although I can't imagine he'll be too impressed about having to wear a uniform. I'm looking forward to the new challenges that it'll present him and he's super excited about learning how to read and write.
Other than that I've had various people commenting positively on the recent changes in Jake's behaviour. While his listening skills are up to maggots, he seems to have calmed down a lot recently. I think he feels settled in himself, knowing that there's a man around who is "his". Previously, it seemed as though he was scrambling for attention, especially from men. Now, he's content to go off and play with the other kids, ignoring the grown ups almost entirely. It might just be an age thing, but I do think that he's just generally feeling happier. Along with the good, does come some bad. Like I've already mentioned, his listening skills are not so great at the moment and I'm hating having to ask him 15 times to get dressed/brush his teeth, etc. He's also a little rude in his attitude at times, but I suppose he still has a lot to learn socially. It's a constant battle to remind him to use his manners and get his little jobs done. Parenting is hard work! He'd be a total couch potato/wii junkie if I didn't restrict him. The wii has become a very useful discipline tool though, so it has it's benefits. But that aside, I'm really enjoying my little boy at the moment, I think he's very sweet, sometimes very naughty too, but I'm very proud of him and of the little boy he's turning out to be. He's had a lot to deal with for such a little kid and I think he's on the right track. I know it won't be too much longer before he'll be too embarrassed to be seen out in public with me, let alone hold my hand, so I'm treasuring each and every special moment.
Enjoy your weekend - we're off to the Marina this afternoon, I can't wait!!
Sue XXX
It has been a very expensive exercise and one that I didn't really believe in until now. Jake was assessed as having slightly delayed fine motor skills and slight problems with his mid-line crossing. I assumed that these things would rectify themselves, since he had reached all his early milestones well within the set times. Jake was crawling at 5 1/2 months and walking by 9 months. By his first birthday, he was running around like a lunatic. At the time, I presumed that my perfect little boy would never have a problem in his life. Let alone a mid-line crossing problem, which in turn causes delays in fine motor skills (apparently). I was wrong, it makes absolutely no difference when kids crawl or walk. The OT couldn't possibly do him any harm, so I paid up and sent him. Even when he started the classes, I still believed that as he matured, he'd iron out these little niggles on his own. Needless to say that I've been proved totally wrong - his progress in the last 6 months has been phenomenal and I'm really impressed by his achievements.
Added to that, he had an excellent report at the end of term 3 and I'm very excited to see him moving onto big school in January (and a little sad that my baby's growing up so fast!).
Speaking of big school, we have been invited to a school orientation evening on the 9th of November, where the kids will meet their teachers and be shown their new classrooms. There's a meeting for the parents explaining the ins and outs of the new year - quite daunting for a first timer. Jake's very excited about moving up, although I can't imagine he'll be too impressed about having to wear a uniform. I'm looking forward to the new challenges that it'll present him and he's super excited about learning how to read and write.
Other than that I've had various people commenting positively on the recent changes in Jake's behaviour. While his listening skills are up to maggots, he seems to have calmed down a lot recently. I think he feels settled in himself, knowing that there's a man around who is "his". Previously, it seemed as though he was scrambling for attention, especially from men. Now, he's content to go off and play with the other kids, ignoring the grown ups almost entirely. It might just be an age thing, but I do think that he's just generally feeling happier. Along with the good, does come some bad. Like I've already mentioned, his listening skills are not so great at the moment and I'm hating having to ask him 15 times to get dressed/brush his teeth, etc. He's also a little rude in his attitude at times, but I suppose he still has a lot to learn socially. It's a constant battle to remind him to use his manners and get his little jobs done. Parenting is hard work! He'd be a total couch potato/wii junkie if I didn't restrict him. The wii has become a very useful discipline tool though, so it has it's benefits. But that aside, I'm really enjoying my little boy at the moment, I think he's very sweet, sometimes very naughty too, but I'm very proud of him and of the little boy he's turning out to be. He's had a lot to deal with for such a little kid and I think he's on the right track. I know it won't be too much longer before he'll be too embarrassed to be seen out in public with me, let alone hold my hand, so I'm treasuring each and every special moment.
Enjoy your weekend - we're off to the Marina this afternoon, I can't wait!!
Sue XXX
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
The office bitch...
And it's not me! Every morning when I come into work, I walk around the building and greet the people I work with. While we don't really socialise outside of the office, we all get on really well when we do. I've been here for 10 1/2 years and I think I'm generally pretty friendly and always polite. I'd rather bite my tongue than make anyone unhappy.
Most of you will know that I work in an office with only men and I have always thought we all had a pretty good working relationship with one another. I have always enjoyed not having to deal with the bitchiness that goes along with working with other women, men are so much easier to understand and always direct. But it turns out that men can be pretty petty too and that we do have an office bitch lurking around here anyway. And he's ignoring me.
Since I've met my dream guy, I've been given the total cold shoulder by our office bitch. In the beginning I thought it was quite funny when he used to blank my greetings, but it's really getting to me now. Regardless of how he feels about me, common courtesy dictates that a greeting should be answered. This office freak sits right next to the front door and when I walk in and say good morning, he does not greet me. He can be in his office on his own, nobody else in sight and he will not say hello. He even leaves notes on my desk for me when he needs to ask me to do something for him. He doesn't tell me where he's going or when he'll be back (which is an issue for the rest of the staff). He doesn't even ask me to buzz the gate for him any more. It's all so, so childish, I can't believe I'm even writing about it, but I am irritated by his rudeness, which I guess is his point and I'm not taking the bait.
My only faults in my acquaintance with this colleague is that I once went to his birthday party and I also went with him and his friends to the Met earlier this year. I've never touched him or hugged him and I definitely have never kissed him (yuck, gross, disgusting).
The predicament I'm now in is whether to play up to his childish game. Do I start ignoring him too? Play his stupid game? He obviously doesn't want to talk to me in any way, so why make the effort? Should I stop greeting him on my way in and out of the office? Do I continue to greet the wall and get no response? Or, should I confront him and tell him he's behaving like a total jackass? Personally, I like to know exactly where I stand with someone, guessing games don't do it for me. If he's mad, he should be man enough to tell me why. For now, I think I'm just going to carry on being polite; being the grown up, even though I hate knowing someone is cross with me.
Somewhere along the line, I obviously gave him the wrong impression and now I'm the bitch for falling in love with someone yummy. I guess it proves that you can't just be friends with a guy, unless you're related...
Sue X
Most of you will know that I work in an office with only men and I have always thought we all had a pretty good working relationship with one another. I have always enjoyed not having to deal with the bitchiness that goes along with working with other women, men are so much easier to understand and always direct. But it turns out that men can be pretty petty too and that we do have an office bitch lurking around here anyway. And he's ignoring me.
Since I've met my dream guy, I've been given the total cold shoulder by our office bitch. In the beginning I thought it was quite funny when he used to blank my greetings, but it's really getting to me now. Regardless of how he feels about me, common courtesy dictates that a greeting should be answered. This office freak sits right next to the front door and when I walk in and say good morning, he does not greet me. He can be in his office on his own, nobody else in sight and he will not say hello. He even leaves notes on my desk for me when he needs to ask me to do something for him. He doesn't tell me where he's going or when he'll be back (which is an issue for the rest of the staff). He doesn't even ask me to buzz the gate for him any more. It's all so, so childish, I can't believe I'm even writing about it, but I am irritated by his rudeness, which I guess is his point and I'm not taking the bait.
My only faults in my acquaintance with this colleague is that I once went to his birthday party and I also went with him and his friends to the Met earlier this year. I've never touched him or hugged him and I definitely have never kissed him (yuck, gross, disgusting).
The predicament I'm now in is whether to play up to his childish game. Do I start ignoring him too? Play his stupid game? He obviously doesn't want to talk to me in any way, so why make the effort? Should I stop greeting him on my way in and out of the office? Do I continue to greet the wall and get no response? Or, should I confront him and tell him he's behaving like a total jackass? Personally, I like to know exactly where I stand with someone, guessing games don't do it for me. If he's mad, he should be man enough to tell me why. For now, I think I'm just going to carry on being polite; being the grown up, even though I hate knowing someone is cross with me.
Somewhere along the line, I obviously gave him the wrong impression and now I'm the bitch for falling in love with someone yummy. I guess it proves that you can't just be friends with a guy, unless you're related...
Sue X
Freaked...
This post was written on Friday, but I took it down and have decided to re-post...
I know he won't want me to write about it, but I can't not. It's on my mind. I like to know that my people are safe, but yesterday, that was out of my hands. We all know that we live in a scary world, especially in this country, but the thought that I could have lost someone I love so much has left me feeling literally sick.
I haven't seen Danie, so my facts are a little fuzzy, but the general story is that some guys from Danie's work went to the bank and drew a biggish amount of cash. They came back to the office and were approached by 3 guys as they were getting out of their car. The 'baddies' had followed Danie's colleague from the bank. Danie saw a commotion, ran outside only to have a gun turned on him. I don't know how long it went on for, but the 'baddies' eventually stole the car and took off with the cash. Danie and his boss chased after them, but some how (thank goodness!!) lost them. The guys dumped the car but managed to escape with the cash on foot.
Anyway, I hate to even think of what could have been. Of how things could have turned out. The mind is a funny thing and I slept really badly last night and I have woken up with a headache that I can't get rid of this morning.
I'm trying very hard to look at it on the sunny side today. It's a reminder that we need to live each day like it's our last; to live life to the full (Vitam Abundantius Habere - Live life abundantly). A reminder to us to tell those we love, just how much we love them. Danie is fine. He's alive and we get to share another day together. He is special and I love him. I don't get spiritual here very often, but today I have to give thanks that he's OK. Now where's the chocolate??
Susie XXX
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