This and That...

Well, since I've had a few requests, here are some pictures of my "art" that I've done/am doing. The first is of my charcoal still life that was done during my first class...

The next two are my oil painting that I'm still a long, long way off finished...

And here's the photo (although not a good photo of a photo) I'm using for inspiration. It was taken in Mauritius last September...

As you can see, it's still a long way from done. They joy of working in oil is that you can paint over what you've done and, generally, the final product consists of layers and layers of paint. My teacher tells me I paint far too slowly, the above is after 3 x 3 hour classes. I'll have to hurry up a bit if I want to get it done before I go to Greece!

I also took some picture of Jake this morning, so thought I'd put them up while I was blogging. He's discovered that if he stands up on the lower panel of the back door, he can reach the handle and swing the door open. He can also turn the key and unlock it if need be. I seriously have to have eyes in the back of my head at the moment. He's also back at school this week, thankfully. They seem to drain him of some of his energy. He's eating really well at the moment, which makes a nice change. He had two helpings of dinner last night and I think he's building up for another little growth spurt. I noticed this morning that the pants he's been wearing for the last 3 months, that were initially rolled up, are suddenly too short for him... xxx

Monday morning...

I hate Mondays. I woke up this morning just wishing that I had the dates wrong and that today was actually only Saturday. Weekends are just far too short and we definitely need to start protesting for 4 day working weeks... If only. Besides that, work is SO quiet at the moment and I'm spending almost all day every day reading, which is great in theory, but there are only so many days you can stare at a book for. Anyway, I'm sure it'll get busier as I get closer to my holiday and it'll definitely be busy when I get back.

The weekend was really nice. Friday night my folks were out, so Jake & I ordered pizzas and watched a movie. Don't EVER let your young kids watch Chicken Little!! It's the scariest thing I've seen in ages, complete with aliens and space ships. And it's definitely not the kind of movie you want to watch just before bed time. Fortunately, I managed to convince Jake that that angry fire-shooting aliens were funny bugs...

Saturday morning I had my art class. I'm quite surprised at how my painting is coming along. Sure, I'm getting tons of help and it's taking me a while to master the art of mixing colours and blending and shading, etc, but I have a fabulous teacher and he's really taught me tons in just 3 lessons. He does keep telling me that I'm working too slowly though, which is annoying me. I guess it's because I don't really want to have to paint in layers and would rather get it all right first time around, where he's trying to show me that the first layer of paint is just a base. I'm definitely not going to make money out of my paintings, but I'm having fun with it! And you can actually see that my picture's of boats in the water, with a mountain in the background and a child (Jake) in the sea... Saturday afternoon, my folks took Jake out, so I did some shopping and had the rest of the afternoon to laze around. Saturday night, I was invited to Pigalle for dinner for a friend's birthday. For those of you who've never been - what an experience!! The restaurant's huge and must seat about 250 people. They've got a live band and a dance floor for those who like a bit of a cuddle during the evening. The food was spectacular (had beef cubes in spicey sauce for starters and had Salmon Teriyaki for mains) and the nicest part was that because of the restaurant size, there wasn't a set menu on a table of 20! I had a fabulous time, but only got home after 2 and then couldn't sleep. Jake was up at 7:45 (thank goodness he lay in a little!) and the day began. We spent the morning visiting Jacques' family and had an early evening braai with my folks. It was a fabulous weekend, which is why, I guess, I'm so miserable that it's finished.

XXX

Holiday Fever...

Time is ticking by so quickly, it's frightening! It's exactly 6 weeks today (42 sleeps!!) till we leave for our holiday to the gorgeous Greek Islands! And the more I think about it, the more excited I get. I can't imagine how I'm going to be in the few days leading up to our departure. I just can't wait for the break from routines and cell phones and computers and televisions and...

For those of you who don't know about my trip, we're leaving Cape Town on 22 August and get home on 9 September. Yes, that's 2 1/2 weeks away! We're flying into Athens via Jo'burg, spending a night in Athens and then going on to Skiathos the next day. In Skiathos, we'll be hopping onto our yachts for exactly 2 weeks, before heading straight back home. Who's the "we"? Well, my aunt & uncle have organised this trip. They've been to Greece about 10 times in the last 20 years, so know where to go and what needs to be seen & done while we're there. My uncle's a sailor, so hiring yachts is an easy way of getting around, as well as providing accommodation. In total, there are about 20 people going, including Jake & I, my folks, my aunt, uncle & cousins. My one cousin has a little girl 11 days younger then Jake, so he'll have company. We've also got family friends going and one of my good friends, Michelle's also joining us.

The plan is that we'll spend about 3 or 4 hours a day sailing, then stop and do sight-seeing. The islands that we'll be visiting, are the Sporades Islands. The website I came across yesterday describes the Sporades as follows: "The Sporades islands group lies off the eastern shore of mainland Greece and consists of 11 islands of which only 4 are inhabited: Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros. These Greek islands are characterized by dense vegetation and mountainous terrain and are world known as some of the bluest and cleanest seas one will ever come across and experience." When we stop at the habitated islands, we'll dock in a proper harbour and go ashore for dinner, sight-seeing, etc. When we stop at the unpopulated spots, we'll just drop anchor in the middle of nowhere. To be honest, the idea of being stuck out at sea in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night freaks me out more then a little. I'm also petrified of getting sea-sick. Anyway, here are some pictures, I thought I'd share - just to make you all a little jealous!

The Sporades Islands:

Veiw of the Acropolis:

The Acropolis:

Skiathos:

Skiathos:

Skopelos:

Skopelos:

Alonissos:

Besides the holiday, not a lot else is happening. I'm incredibly bored at work at the moment and I'm starting to feel like a change is necessary. I'm actually really tempted to ask my boss how much he'd pay me to carry on doing what I'm doing here, but half-day. It's killing me to sit here day in, day out doing nothing. Anyway, surfing life's waves at the moment and seeing what happens...

Jake's doing really well and comes out with such funny comments at the moment. I'm constantly laughing at him. He's also realised that if he's in trouble, all he has to do is say sorry to me, then laugh at me and I'll return the laugh and all's forgotten. Amazing how quickly they pick these things up. He doesn't like being in trouble though. Yesterday, I left him colouring in on the bathroom floor while I quickly jumped into the shower. The walls obviously looked boring, so he decided to decorate them with red crayon. When I got out the shower, he proudly announced that he'd drawn on the walls. I was mad and made him scrub his picture off the wall, with a serious telling off. When he was finished, he, again proudly, announced that it was all cleaned up and then said "you not cross any more, mommy". Well, how could I be?? It's school holidays at the moment and he's really missing the activity in his day. I find he's quite wound up in the evenings at the moment and I feel quite sorry for him. I guess he doesn't understand why he's suddenly not at school...

This last weekend was really good, nice and relaxing. On Friday night, Jake & I went out for dinner with a friend and her son (Spur - the joys of having kids!!). Saturday morning I had my art lessons (don't ask) and my mom took Jake to a Spiderman party. Had an engagement party in the evening. Sunday, all we did was go for a little walk at the beach, which was nice. The weather was reasonable, so it was nice to get out and get some sunshine. Today's looking like it's going to rain at any moment and my fingers are like ice blocks, so I'd better go make some coffee to warm them up on!

Spiderman:

Blaauwberg: So long, promise (as always) to write again soon!! xxx

Feeling better...

Well, this weekend has been great! Friday night I went through to the farm for a soup evening with some friends. It was quite stressful driving through on my own, but once I was there and had a glass of wine in hand, I felt much better. I really love being there and I still think of it as being my home. It was lovely to catch up with friends, who I haven't seen in quite a while. And the food and wine, as always, was excellent! I got home just after midnight.

Saturday morning, was my spa treatment and it was INCREDIBLE! I can't believe I've never done anything like it before and I'll definitely make a point of trying to do it more often. The treatment I had done (Rainmist Supreme package) was divine and comes highly recommended. I started off with an hour's full body deep tissue massage, which was to die for. After that, I spent 15 minutes in the rainmist room, where they steamed (misty part) me. It was hot and beautiful. Next was a full body exfoliation, with lemon skin and yoghurt and course salt. That was followed by the rain treatment, which is basically 6 shower heads attached to a pole, that is moved and twisted over your body. Again, nice and warm. After that, I had a quick shower in my room, after which I was moisturised from top to toe. At the end, I was served delicious hot ginger tea and winter melon. I could've stayed there forever - it was divine!!! By Saturday night, I had a headache though, which I guess is from all the toxins being released from my body. Fortunately, I spent the evening in, so just went to bed.

Yesterday, I braai'ed at my brother- and sister-in-law's house. They're both going overseas this week, to different destinations (Josette's off to Thailand for 10 days and Justin's going to New Zealand/Australia to watch rugby and visit his dad). Jake and I came home and made a birthday card for a friend together and watched a movie at the same time. It was a nice relaxing day. I woke up at about 3am though, with another horrific headache, that I'm still sitting with. Work is dead, dead quiet again today, so I'll see how I'm feeling a bit later. Haven't seen the mouse again yet, but I know he's hiding here somewhere. Nobody else seems particularly concerned that he/she might be breeding somewhere in my office. I'm going to die if I have a whole family of them living in here. Wonder if they'll eat my lunch while I'm not looking... Anyway, hope that everyone's had a good weekend and sending lots of wishes for a happy week to everyone xxx

Happy Birthday, Stinky!

Well, since Jason checks my blog, which I didn't know about, I thought I'd better put up a special message for a very special friend...

Happy 30th Birthday for the 29th, Stinky!! I've known you since I was just 5 and since Jacques and I started dating, you've grown to be like a brother to me. I love you both you and Sandi so much and wish you a wonderful year filled with lots of love and happiness. I hope that you had an awesome birthday weekend and I can't wait to see all the photos! Oh and as I promised you when I spoke to you on Friday, here's a picture of you and your gorgeous wife on my blog...

This stinks...

I have been sitting in my office all day on my own and I'm going to go out of my mind at any second! I have NOTHING to do. Haven't had for a few days. I'm seriously going to go out of my mind. This week, I've read 2 books, done about 6 crossword puzzles and today alone I've read two different magazines. I cannot cope with this for very much longer. I'm even considering asking my boss how much he'd pay me to work here half day. It's soul-destroying, such a waste of time. I have so many other things I'd rather be doing. The highlight of my day was a trip to deliver a package to the airport and I only did that because my one boss has disappeared up the Breede River somewhere and the other one's just disappeared. Saw him early this morning, but haven't seen or heard from him since. Bet he's sitting in the pub. The only other bit of excitement I had today was a mouse that ran out from under my chair when I bent down to pick up a magazine. It's just a field mouse, but it's not a small one! I'm not normally one to get freaked out by things like mice, but it gave me such a fright, I even screamed. Maybe it's a good thing there's no one else here - I'd never hear the end of it! Don't know how they're going to get rid of it, but I don't want it nesting in here and I'm not going to be the one to kill it...

Well, I hope that everyone has a good weekend, enjoy the rain that's on the way for everyone in Cape Town. It's hard to believe it's going to be so miserable tomorrow, when the weather's so gorgeous today!! I'm going to Buitenverwachting for a soup evening they're having there tonight. It's one just for friends of the winemaker, so should be nice catching up with old friends. Not looking forward to going there on my own though, it will be my first trip there entirely alone. Better watch how much alcohol I consume. My bookclub got me a voucher for a Rainmist Supreme package at the Vineyard Hotel, so I'm going for that tomorrow morning, I can't wait. Nothing else planned for the weekend, just hoping to relax with Jake!

XXX

Counting blessings...

Hopefully this break between my posts hasn't been too long for all of you. I have been trying all week to think of things to put up on my blog and had absolutely no idea what I could possibly bore you with. Anyway, today's Thursday and my office is so darned quiet, I have no idea what to do with the rest of my day. I don't think my office has ever been this clean! It's going to be a long day...

So, yesterday marked the 3-year anniversary of Jacques' death. I guess it's always one of those days that's going to be a tough one on our calander. I can't help myself but re-live every moment minute-by-minute. From the time I kiss Jacques goodbye at the gate as he was leaving to go on his dive, to playing with Jacques, to the voice mail message I left on Jacques phone. The one that said "Hi, it's me. Where are you? Have you drowned, have you been eaten by a shark? Please phone me. I love you." To the police knocking on the door (fortunately they went to the wrong house, so brought a friend with), to phoning my parents, to sitting down and wondering what to do next. I can remember so clearly how I felt when I went to bed that night, where Jacques had slept just hours earlier, and my feelings when I woke up the next morning. It's a hollow, empty feeling and it literally aches with every ounce of your being. The kind of feeling where your stomach just drops into nowhere. When you know that there's nothing you can say or do that can ever change what's happened. It's permanent. It's a hurt that over powers everything else and, looking back, I honestly don't know how I survived it. I always said that if anything ever happened to Jacques, they could just dig a hole and bury me in the ground next to him. Funny how life works. Jake was just 6 weeks old and he must just have instinctively known that he needed to be good. He was an angel. I was blessed not to suffer any hassles with my milk supply and continued to breast-feed Jake through the whole ordeal. In every single way, I think that having him be so young, so dependant on me, was the biggest blessing I could have been sent. I knew I had to eat and drink to take proper care of me for his sake, regardless of how little I actually felt like eating or drinking. And, in between, I enjoyed every moment of him. Every second I spent with him renewed something within me. As tiny as he was, as unaware as he was of what was going on around him, he carried me through it all. When you go through something like this, you learn to count your blessings - I had Jake, he needed me. I don't think this day will ever pass where I won't re-live what we went through that day. It will always, always hurt and I will always regret the way things turned out. I have learnt though, that I can't turn back the clock; I can't rewind; we just have to keep moving forward and enjoy every moment of what we have to share while we are on this earth and look forward to what we will share and enjoy in the life here-after...

Anyway, that wasn't supposed to be so heavy, I hope I haven't got you all in tears. On a more cheerful note, I decided that I needed to make yesterday a happy day for Jake. He's too little to understand what it means and, even if he did, I don't see why he should be forced to feel down with the world. Facing facts, he didn't know Jacques. As much as it kills me to know that he'll never know and love his dad, it's a reality. He'll miss having a father, but not specifically Jacques. Anyway, he spent the day with Jacques' folks yesterday and they took him through to Hout Bay for breakfast. Last night, we went out for pizzas with my family. We had a glass of wine and all actually had a very nice time together. Just goes to show, a lot of this is about how you chose to deal with things.

I've got about a gazillion photos I'm going to bore you with now. My dad popped in with his digital camera earlier, so I down-loaded everything he had on it.

Jake swimming...

After the Shrek preview - my mom and Jake...

LAST NIGHT'S DINNER

Rosanne & Gareth...

My dad, Jake & I...

My mom and Jake...

Only in Winter - Jake enjoying the left-over ice...

On a last sad note, I found the lyrics to a song that I found too true for my life and thought I'd share them...

Pink - Who Knew

You took my hand
You showed me how
You promised me you'd be around
Uh huh
That's right
I took your words
And I believed
In everything
You said to me
Yeah huh
That's right

If someone said three years from now
You'd be long gone
I'd stand up and punch them up
Cause they're all wrong
I know better
Cause you said forever
And ever
Who knew

Remember when we were such fools
And so convinced and just too cool
Oh no
No no
I wish I could touch you again
I wish I could still call you friend
I'd give anything

When someone said count your blessings now
For they're long gone
I guess I just didn't know how
I was all wrong
They knew better
Still you said forever
And ever
Who knew

Yeah yeah
I'll keep you locked in my head
Until we meet again
Until we
Until we meet again
And I won't forget you my friend
What happened
If someone said three years from now
You'd be long gone
I'd stand up and punch them out
Cause they're all wrong and
That last kiss
I'll cherish
Until we meet again
And time makes
It harder
I wish I could remember
But I keep
Your memory
You visit me in my sleep
My darling
Who knew
My darling
My darling
Who knew
My darling
I miss you
My darling
Who knew
Who knew

Lots & lots of love and thanks to everyone who thought about us yesterday, means the world xxx