Catching up again...

Well, Christmas has been and gone and it's 2008 alredy! Fingers crossed that this year will go a little slower then the last. I keep thinking that by this time next year, Jake will be 4 1/2 and on his way to pre-school! Scary...

So much has been happening since my last post weeks and weeks ago and I have only just finished catching up on reading everyone else's news. Our offices were closed from 21 December - 3 Jan and it was a wonderful break, a bit busy, but much better then work would've been! We literally ran from beginning to end and really only had one day at home to just relax beside the pool. Still, all good and it was great catching up with friends and family. As per usual, we all ate and drank way too much and are suffering the consequences. I have to be a bridesmaid at Joanne & Paul's wedding in 6 1/2 weeks time and have some serious bulges to get rid of before then (yes - between Greece and Christmas, I've put on 5kgs - horrific!!).

So, holiday festivities and lots of photos...

Christmas Eve was spent with the in-laws. Since Jacques died and Jake and I live with my folks, I always give them the choice over when they'd like to have us at Christmas. Josette (my sister-in-law) and her family were to be with the other side of their family on Christmas day, so my mom-in-law decided to have us on Christmas Eve, so we could all be together. There were no less then 37 people for dinner!!! It was chaos, but with the help of a little (OK, a lot) of champagne, it all went off OK. Jake got to bed way too late, but enjoyed it all so much this year. After our dinner, we went home to put out goodies for Father Christmas and his reindeers - Jake's face was just priceless. He was so excited, his eyes were literally shining. Kids really do make it all so special.

Christmas Eve - putting out food and drinks for Father Christmas and his reindeers... Jake hiding in his sack on Christmas Eve... Showing off his sack... Christmas morning, Jake slept until 7:30 (YES!!). It took him a few moments to register that it was Christmas morning, but when he realised what day it was, he literally flew out of bed and ran around the house waking the rest of the family and making sure that Father Christmas had actually been. He was very concerned the night before, about the fact that we don't have a chimney, but our neighbours do. Anyway, he was thrilled with all his presents and even got a new grape vine for his garden! He spent the morning playing with his water pistols and bow & arrows and aeroplanes, it was such a high.

Presents! It's a watch! Finding his grapevine on Christmas morning... So proud of his new vine - don't you think he looks like Jacques here? Lunch was HUGE to say the least. My mom put on a serious spread for us (I helped a little!) and always tries out new things. This year we did a combination of both hot and cold foods. Somehow, even when you're just having teeny bits of everything, by the time you sit down to eat, your plate is piled sky high. Still, I managed seconds and dessert (see how I managed to pick up all this weight). After popping in at my Aunt's house and spending the early evening with his second cousins, Jake was just so exhausted, but he had a happy Christmas and that's what counted!

Our Christmas lunch spread... Christmas Day lunch with my mom, Joanne, Jake & Me on one side; my dad, Joanne's fiance - Paul, Paul's mom, Rosanne and Gareth hiding behind the flowers... Jake (on your right) with my two cousin's kids... The next day was my mom's birthday, so it's always a re-run of Christmas food. We stuff ourselves again and, again, drink far too much wine...

Skipping on to New Year - Jake and I decided that we were going to have a quiet one this year. To be honest, I find the festive season very difficult to deal with. While everyone expects you to be happy and merry, it's damned difficult pretending all the time. And it's exhausting to say the least. I find I'm really ratty and difficult to be around (and I know I am, I can feel it), but I still try to smile and get on with it. Jake does take some of the edge off things and he definitely makes things fun, but that doesn't detract from the fact that Jacques' not here to share it with us and I find it really tough. Every second of it's a challenge to me. Anyway, New Year's Eve's always been really difficult for me. My mom's family's Scottish (well her dad's side anyway. Difficult old man that he was) and their tradition's generally to make a bigger fuss out of the New Year then over Christmas. I don't enjoy it and it makes me want to cry. So, this year, I pretended it didn't happen. I made a nice dinner for Jake - a platter of all the foods he enjoys (little sausages, smoked salmon(!), olives, cherry tomatoes, feta, blueberries, strawberries, chicken pieces, pumpkin fritters - it was delish!). We bought some non-alcoholic champagne, set the table and had the most wonderful candle-lit dinner with each other. Everyone else was out, so it was just us. After dinner, we watched Toy Story and ate dessert, which was the MOST delicious chocolate pudding from Woolies. It's a cake thing that you bake in the oven, filled with Belgian chocolate - too yummy for words. Again, see how I managed to get fat? We were in bed at 10:30, read stories till 11:00 and I passed out at 11:20 only to be woken with "happy new year!" phone calls just after mid-night. Success ;)

In between we spent a day/night visiting my in-laws at their camp site in Kommetjie where they took up residence for most of December. I was spoilt by them with fresh crayfish for dinner that my child stole from me. He's just amazing with what he's prepared to eat or just try. He stole all the legs, which I love and then had everyone in fits of laughter when he told me to "hurry up mommy, my mouth's just watering for that" when I was getting the tail ready to eat. Nice. So I basically ended up having salad for supper.

Other then that, besides general run-of-the-mill stuff, there's not much happening in my life. Been doing quite a bit of work for Jo's wedding and we're busy planning a kitchen tea, but I can't tell you anything about it, because she reads my blog from time to time. mmm... Jake's due to start school again on Wednesday next week. He's going to be starting at a new school and he seems quite excited about it. He'll be there from 8:00 - 12:00, which works out quite nicely - I'll at least be able to drop him off before I start work now. YAY!

Shame, he's such a sweet little thing now days. Cheeky and naughty, but he's just too cute for words. I could just about eat him up!! He's been a little naughty with regards to sneaking into my bed during the night. I really don't mind, it's not like there's anyone else in my bed and it's nice to have the company. I do think that he needs to stay in his own bed though, so have been trying to teach him that it's only OK to come to my bed when the sun comes up. Seems to be working well so far. Still, when he's in my bed with me and wakes up before me, he literally kisses me awake - it's too precious. He sends flutters of kisses up and down my arms and on my cheeks, sometimes I pretend I'm still asleep just to enjoy it for a few more moments. He got a new helmet for his bike for Christmas, so we've been spending quite a bit of time riding bike in the street. We're trying to teach him the basic rules of the road - keep left, put your hand up when you stop (he shouts "stopping" at the same time) and to signal when he's turning. He's still on fairy wheels but every now-and-then mentions that they need to come off. So, my latest sport is jogging and he makes me run quite far next to his speedy little bike. Actually, I can't believe how much energy he's got in those tiny little legs. We do about 3 or 4km at a time. One way of losing weight.

Riding his bike with his new helmet on Christmas morning... And, of course, he's still spending lots of time working in his little veggie garden and we actually had his carrots for our Christmas lunch (he picked them on Christmas Eve!).

Picking Carrots for our Christmas lunch... Full harvest... He's also got flowers on his watermelon and butternut plants and his bean plants are getting new little beans too. He's got a greenpepper that seems to be growing by the minute.

So, without boring you to death, that's all our news. Glad to hear from all your blogs that everyone had a good Christmas and I hope that 2008 will be a very happy, exciting year for all!!

Heaps of love, Sue xxx Some other general holiday photos: Joanne, Paul, Jake & I at Uncle Paul's Party... Jake & Michael waiting for thier names to be read out by Father Christmas at Uncle Paul's party... Decorating the tree... Our Christmas candles again... Rosanne and Gareth at Hartenberg (celebrating Rosie passing her diploma in Food Technology)... Jake getting stuck into MY chicken drumstick and loving it... At Hartenberg's Dam... Cheeky boy... Jake & Rosanne's boyfriend, Gareth... Time for a haircut... After... Camping in the garden... Jake feeding the dogs - Amber (ridgeback), Sasha (staffie) and Duracell (Jack Russell-something-or-other)... Picnic at Oude Libertas Open Air Theater with friends and family...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Well, we had a really busy weekend and while I've negelected my blog (again) for the last couple of days (or weeks), I now have tons to say and lots of photos to post - Oh, forgive me!!

So, a few weeks ago (sorry Wendy), to get into the festive spirit, we took a drive through to the centre of Cape Town to go and see the Christmas lights that they put up every year down Adderly Street. They're pretty similar from year to year, but it's a family tradition that we see them at least once a year. It's become a relatively new tradition to pick up coffees at MacDonalds on our way, which we sip as we drive through town under the lights. There were quite a few new lights this year and my dad attempted to take some photos, while I drove. The wind was blustery and its a wonder that the lights didn't blow down. Of course our recent electricity problems did cause a bit of havoc and the city has only been allowed to turn the lights on from 1 December. And, even then, many of the lights were not functioning properly. Still, they're always beautiful and we spent a good 45 minutes driving up and down Adderly admiring them.

Here are some of photos my dad took...

Adderly Street...

Christmas Tree at the top of Adderly Street...

The Nativity...

Proteas...

The Flower Sellers...

National pride and a "San" dancer...

As I already mentioned, this weekend was a really festive one for little Jake and he is now beside himself with excitement and anticipation over Christmas. On Saturday morning, we (my folks & I) took him to see The Elves and the Shoemaker, which is on at the Baxter. It's only 40 minutes long, but it's in the concert hall, which must seem huge to a kid his size. All the songs sung during the show were to Christmas tunes and Father Christmas made an appearance at the end, handing sweets out to all the kids. Jake didn't want to go up on his own, so I had to carry him up onto the stage to collect his loot. I must be honest, by the end of the show, I just wanted to get up on stage and join in the fun!! The actors all seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and hung around after the show to say hi to the kids too.

Sunday morning was the 16th and so we put our Christmas tree up. Joanne came through to share the excitement with us. Every year, my mom buys us each a new decoration. This year we got two though, one beautiful blue ball with glitter and pictures of snowy countrysides on and the second a snowman with a long tinsely body - they're really great. Anyway, now that the tree's up, all Jake wants to do is sit and look at the lights. Oh, and to have us light all the candles he can find so he can blow them all out again after looking at them for 2 seconds. I'm really glad that he's past (touching wood) pulling the tree down this year. He knows the dangers of electricity and he knows that the tree really is bigger then he is. He's still very fascinated by it though and keeps checking to make sure it's still there. He was disappointed for about a minute on Monday morning though, when he realised that he didn't have any presents under it yet...

Getting ready to decorate the tree. Yes, he did dress himself and yes, he does have two t-shirts on...

Mom and I preparing the tree...

Jake and my mom decorating mirrors...

Jake & I infront of our tree...

Sunday afternoon... Jake ready to go to a braai. This is Jake's favourite shirt and I have to hide it away from him to get him to wear other clothes. It's full of stains, but he loves it. He's very proudly South African - he tells me that he was one of the big men that won the cup for the bokke...

Sunday night...

Our beautiful Christmas Tree!! The finished product (fairy got cut off)...

Our alcoholic fairy - my mom bought her at Pick 'n Pay for R4.99 when Jo & I were little...

Christmas candles...

Definitely a highlight of our weekend, was Uncle Paul's Party, which we went to last night, along with Joanne, Paul, my folks and Jacques' parents. If I hadn't any family, I would still have made an effort to take Jake on my own - it's amazing! I used to go as a kid and I have been dying to share it with Jake, but you've got to wait till your kids are 3 and then they stop going when they're 8, which really stinks. It's just the most magical experience ever and really makes things feel like Christmas time. We always used to go to the party at Silverhurst in Constantia and they've moved it to Groot Constantia in more recent years, although I have been to some there through the years too. The routine of the night is - you head up to the farm, catch a tractor up to Uncle Paul's Party and then get involved in the biggest straw fight ever. I had straw absolutely EVERYWHERE when I got home last night and my hair's still full of it, but I was too tired last night to care and ran out of time to worry about it this morning. After the straw fights, the Salvation Army's matching band comes, we have a quick march with them and the kids are allowed to play on the instruments (I still pity the trumpeteer!!).

Next, Noddy arrives with ice-creams (the same wafer kind we had as kids) for everyone; then it's dinner time and the pooled sandwiches are offered around in big crates. I must admit though, that the food has improved over the years - where we used to get peanut butter and syrup or cheese or egg mayo, you now get quiches and pies and sausgage rolls and delicious sandwhiches - I'm quite fussy about where food's prepared and the food was really OK. After dinner, is Christmas Carols and singing for Father Christmas (Silent Night's his favourite). The kids blow out all the lights, Father Christmas arrives, then you call for the fairy to come. She arrives with magic sweets that don't make your teeth rot. The kids get the presents and everyone packs up, catches the tractor back down to their cars and we all go home exhausted!

Absolutely nothing's changed since we were kids. The party area's much smaller, or so it seems now that I'm bigger; Uncle Paul's hotter and much younger then he used to be and Big Ears is thinner; Noddy looks like a kid of about 10, as does Father Christmas beneath that beard. The only significant change was that Noddy arrived in a golf cart, instead of his little red & yellow car like he used to. To be honest, I'm not sure who had the most fun last night, the adults definitely had a ball!! I highly recommend taking any kids within the age group and making sure that they have enough adults with them to enjoy it all as well. Anybody looking to go next year, let me know, I'm sure we'll get invited again...

Jake loved the whole experience and has apparently been playing with his presents all day (he got a whole box of junk and loves it, incl water bombs, sparklers, pencils, felt tip pens, pencil box, scissors, sweets, fire engine, etc). He's normally quite a cautious kid and will often hang back until he's settled in. Last night, he literally jumped off the tractor and ran without even looking back to see where I was. He loved the straw fighting!! He was a bit nervous about Father Christmas coming and kept his eyes tightly shut when the moment came for the big man in red to arrive. But as soon as he saw Father Christmas, he got up and ran towards him with all the other kids. He didn't stop once to see where I was. I can't wait to get my own photos printed - will be more put up here once I've done them, but it'll probably only be after the holidays now.

Here are some photos from Uncle Paul's Party...

Waiting in the tractor queue at Uncle Paul's Party...

Jo and Paul on the tractor ride up to the party...

STRAW FIGHT...

Having tons of fun in the straw...

Rolling in the straw...

Seating arrangments...

The castle...

Chatting to Big Ears...

Waiting for Father Christmas...

Opening his present...

And that's that. A week today and Christmas will be over. I've got to make my last trip to Canal Walk tonight and then my shopping's finished. Believe it or not, I did start in October, but have left the last few gifts till the last minute as usual. I'll catch up again during the week, but hope everyone's well and wish you all a happy, safe week in the build up to Christmas.

Tons of love, Sue xxx

A night to remember...

I didn't write about this last week for 2 reasons. Firstly, I was too tired to even think and secondly, I guess i was in a state of shock...

On Thursday night, Rosanne was arrested. Yes, my innocent 22-year old baby sister was thrown into the back of a police van and carted off to jail. There are no words to explain the feeling of getting the call to say that someone you love has done something so wrong. To put matters straight from the start, she ended up being proved innocent, but still - what an ordeal! She'd been down at a party at the Edgemead Cricket club with some friends and the cops had been sitting in the parking area, waiting for people to leave. They obviously saw 3 young girls leaving and getting into a car and assumed that they'd been consuming copious amounts of alcohol. Rosanne was driving and they drove along the back roads to another friend's house, about 4 streets away. As she was about to pull up, she saw blue lights and was told to get out of her car. She did as she was instructed. The policeman asked her if she'd been drinking, she said no; he asked if she was sure, she told him she'd had one cider. He then told her that he could see that she was drunk and that she needed to go with him to the Bothasig police station. She told him she wasn't going with him and he asked her again to get in the van. She repeated that she wasn't going with him, at which he twisted her arm and told her not to resist arrest. She got in the back of his van on her own (wasn't allowed to take a friend with) and off they went. At this point, her friends phoned her boyfriend (he'd gone home, because he'd worked late) and then me. I was at Canal Walk with my mom, raced home to pick up my dad and my parents went off to the police station to see what was going on. Rosie was sitting behind the counter and wasn't allowed any contact with her "visitors". The police had given her forms to fill in and sign (she delayed things, wanting my parents to get there, saying she wasn't signing anything until she'd read through it) and a proper docket was opened. Then they told her they needed to take her off for testing - to some place down the N2. They cuffed her (she could choose between going in the back of the van again or being cuffed) and took her away...

Her trip in a police car was hair raising to say the least. They made her sit in the middle of the back seat, between the two seats and she wasn't allowed a seat belt, he drove like a maniac, going through red robots and talking on his cell phone, swearing non-stop - all the while throwing Rosanne around on the back seat. With her hands cuffed, she couldn't catch herself. When they got to wherever they went down the N2, she was asked by another policeman if she knew why she was there and she said yes; he asked why and she told him she was there for drinking 2 ciders in 2 hours. This policeman was NOT impressed with the officers from the Bothasig police station and was even less impressed with them when Rosanne's breath test came out at 0.00% on two seperate tests completed on two different machines. She was stone cold sober.

Back to Bothasig and papers were completed for her release. We're waiting to hear from the public prosecutor now to see whether it will go to court. I'm sure it won't since her tests showed no trace of alcohol...

There are so many reasons in this story to be angry over - firstly, in today's world of modern technology, why don't police carry portable breathalizers? Aren't there on site tests they can do before dragging someone off to jail? Secondly, in South African, you hear stories of how criminals pretend to be police men and take you off to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what to you. Surely they could've let a friend go with Rosanne for safety? Thirdly, don't our policemen have better things to do with their time? One policeman actually told my mother that they had a target to reach by the end of the month. Surely, going after taxi drivers or burglars or murderers would make our country a safer place. I know two elderly people from Switzerland who are here on holiday and were mugged last week on the beach in Hout Bay - wouldn't it be a better idea to protect the public? I realise that drunken driving is a very serious offence and one that most of the South African public don't take very seriously. I realise that it is imporatnt to keep our roads safe, but surely someone who does this as a profession, knows what a drunk person looks like! What right do they have to arrest you under suspicion like this? It was a total waste of everyone's time...

Either way, Rosanne is extremely embarrassed about it and we have all learnt a huge lesson from her experience. I won't drink any amount of alcohol if I am driving anywhere. The thought of spending a night in one of our prisons is just too scary.

Besides that, we had a nice weekend, it was just very busy. Jake's much better, but sprained his ankle at school on Thursday so he's hobbling everywhere. He's slept really badly because of it. Yesterday afternoon, he took himself to my room and just passed out on my bed. I found him fast aslep. I ended up accidentally falling asleep on the couch waiting for him to wake up. We missed Rowan's birthday party because of it (sorry, Suzaan!). Jake very rarely sleeps during the day and I know when he does pass out, if I wake him up, I'm goign to pay for it for the rest of the day. Normally, if he does have a nap, it's for an hour, yesterday he slept for 2 hours 15 mins!!!! Which was just as well, because his grandparents came for a braai last night and he only got to bed at 10:45.

Hope everyone else had great weekends!

XXX

PS. Forgive me for any mistakes here - I'm just too tired to re-read it all.