Crossroads

Well, life has got me thinking. Time moves far too quickly and, it seems, that as you grow older (or more mature!), the days seems to pick up speed. When I think back to being a little girl, starting out in sub-A, matric seemed a lifetime away. School days were long and the end seemed to be so far out of sight. It's 12 years now since I finished school - I've been out of it for as long as I was in - and somehow, the last 12 years seem to have just flown by in a total blur. I cannot believe that in 12 years, I've studied, travelled, changed jobs, moved house, been married, widowed, become a mother and reached the fabulous age of 30 - it's all happened so fast. Yet, 12 years of school dragged on and on and on... Well, at the age of 30, I'm contemplating studying again. I've never been an academic and I'm actually really nervous at just the thought of becoming a student again. There is just so much to consider. Firstly, what to study. As many of you know, I love photography and it's the one thing I've always regretted not having studied after school. I've done a bit of research and have found that Cape Peninsula University (the old Cape Tech) offers a National Diploma in photography, but it's a 3-year full time course. Am I prepared to give up my job and become a full-time student for this? Can I afford to? Can I cope with the work load? I've also found out that Damelin does a correspondance photography course, which should take around a year to complete. This would fit better into my current lifestyle, but am I disciplined enough? The Damelin course is also a theory based course, wherein we are required to complete assignments and portfolios, etc. There are only 3 exams, which is a definite plus in my books. Another alternative would be to get a proper qualification for what I'm currently employed to do (accounts/bookkeeping), but I doubt that this would mean I'd be able to earn much more. Definitely not where I'm currently employed. Cost-wise, the CPU 3-year diploma course is about 5.5 X the price of the Damelin course, but it is longer and definitely more comprehensive. The CPU course has 4 subjects per year, which might take up quite a bit of my daily time. I wonder, though, if it would give me time enough to continue doing the books for the company I'm currently with in between? Would be nice to have some income if I'm studying full time.

The second crossroad I'm finding myself at is that I'm starting to feel like I'd possibly like to have my own home again. It's wonderful living with my parents and they've been so incredibly supportive, but I know that at some point I have to get out of my comfort zone and move out. It's great having their company in the evenings once Jake goes to bed and it's good to know there's someone there when I come in late at night. It's fabulous having my mom around to help with Jake on days when I'm just not coping. And it's really great for Jake to be with my dad. I doubt that, if I were to move out, we'd spend too much time in our house anyway, we'd probably still "live" with my folks. I'd be living in Edgemead, quite close to my folks (in my 3-bedroomed house, currently being rented out); my mom would still fetch Jake from school, so we'd be there every day. We'd probably end up eating there in the evenings too. So then, is there any point to our moving out? We'd only be at our house for bedtime and weekends. Is that a waste of money? Should I just ignore how I'm starting to feel and enjoy having the rental income for now? I wonder if I'd be able to afford living alone if I were to take up studying now... See what I mean????? So much going on in my little head!!

Anyway, less stressful things - Jake & I had a nice weekend. Friday night, I went out to supper with Joanne and a good friend of ours, Sam. Was good to catch up with them, without kids. Saturday, Jake had a friend's birthday party - I never manage to go, because I've got art from 11 - 2. This party was from 10 - 12:30, so I decided to be a little late for art and went to the party till 11:30, when my mom came to take over. I love seeing Jake with his little friends and watching him interact with them - it's so funny. They're growing up far too quickly. His teacher was chatting to me again, saying how well he speaks for his age and that she really thinks his sense of humour's well beyond his years. Gets that from his dad, for sure!! It's nice to hear that he's doing OK. So, had art after the party, then went through to family friends in Simons Town for dinner. Not much else happened. The weather was terrible and it's freezing here!!

Jake dressed for Saturday morning's pirate party: Jake in the bath - loves getting his hair wet, but screams the house down when I actually wash it: Being cute with a bagel:

I finally took some photos of Jake's "vegetable patch". He's absolutely LOVING it. He's had 3 strawberries off his little strawberry plants, his lemon tree has two tiny lemons on it, his tomato plants are covered in flowers, his seedlings are all sprouting and we've transplanted his beans and millie plants into proper pots now. It's all been very exciting for Jake and he's learnt so much from it. He really enjoys getting his hands dirty and I've honestly let him do as much of the work as possible. I've just guided him along, doing all the heavy manual labour - like filling pots with soil - while he's been able to do the actual planting/fertilising/watering/harvesting. Besides some non-toxic-to-kids-and-animals snail bait early on, we've opted to go as organic as we can. Takes a bit more thought, but we're both learning as we go. Maybe I should do horticulture... Anyway, here's a couple of shots of Jake's garden.

Bean/green pepper pot: Newly planted bean seedlings: A few of Jake's pots, containing tomatoes, millies, green peppers, spring onions, parsley, carrots & a lemon tree: The strawberry patch (Jake's favourite). The grid is to keep the birds out, eggshells keep the snails out and the plastic keeps the strawberries off the soil: Jake has to wait paitently to pick his ripe strawberries: Enjoying his first strawberry - rewards of his hard work! Our new garden gnome: