Look what I let the boys do...

We had a little spur of the moment burger braai last night and the boys decided to swim while we were out there. I told them that whoever jumped into the pool, in the most entertaining way would win a prize.

Quinn ran onto his boogie board while holding the pool leaf-net pole and kind of Gondola'ed across the pool non-nonchalantly while he slowly sank to the bottom. His balance is incredible! Anyway, he won by far.

His prize..? Was a 'Once-in-a-life-time. Limited-Offer. Never-to-be-repeated. Once-only. Chance to jump off the roof into the pool.' He could NOT believe I was letting him do it. Once he'd confirmed that I was seriously going to let him do it, he asked if Griffin could share his prize and also have a turn. (Earning him bonus points in my eyes).

So this is what they did...

I am actually keen to try it now!

Max the Kitten - Update

I used to be a total 'cat lady' but went off them after the offish ones we had last got even more offish after Quinn was born. I just gave up on cats after that... But I must say Max is awesome and so much like my favourite ever cat Rocky was. So chilled and relaxed and mellow. He is even happily playing and sleeping through the sound of the vacuum cleaner right now! (Most cats I have ever known run like they have an axe-murderer pursuing them if someone turns on a vacuum in the house)

Both boys are THRILLED that we have a kitten. Griffin keeps thanking me and saying it the best birthday present he has ever got. Quinn keeps thanking me too. He had a great week-end with 2x sleep overs and lots of fun, but he listed getting in the car and seeing the kitten as the best part of his week-end by far.

Anyway so here's Quinn meeting Max... can you see how happy he is?? This child just LOVES animals, all animals. He just lights up around them.

Then, I was a tad worried about how Roxy would react to Max. I had a fear that she might not be able to help herself from being aggressive, since Jack Russells are hunting/ratting dogs and are pretty much genetically programed to go after little things that scamper around. Roxy however is not usually aggressive at all and never so much as nips us, even in play so I was hoping it wouldn't be TOO much of an issue.

Anyway although she is still a bit too excitable around Max - so I am only letting them interact when supervised - she is actually being very gentle and nurturing. She also listens nicely and stops or sits if I tell her to. If anything she just wants to lick and play with the kitten to death... And amazingly Max is not fearful of Roxy at all. Neither is she defensive/aggressive to Roxy. She is just so chilled that she lets Roxy lick and nudge her and is completely unperturbed. This morning she was biting Roxy's legs and playing with her... I think they are going to be good friends!

And we've not had a peep out of Max both nights. She's slept through in her bed in the kitchen.So far so good! :)

Meet Max the Cat

I deliberated for quite a few weeks about whether it was mad to be considering getting another pet for our household. I went back and forward about whether to get a puppy or kitten for Griffin for his birthday (which is in 2 week's time). I kept wanting one and then not wanting one. First I wanted a kitten, then I wanted a puppy. Finally I thought it was mad to get either....

But honestly Griffin has been so good and is so mature and caring and helpful in general. I decided it really is time that he has a pet of his own, and he really wanted one too. He is so easy going he'd have been happy with anything.

Quinn had been trying to program me subliminally too. Every morning he'd sing out 'I'm just going to feed the kitten/puppy' before we left for school. Thinking that would plant the seed deep enough in my mind and sway me - and convince me that a new pet would be looked after etc.

After much thought I decided not to make it a puppy, because honestly I think we got really lucky with Roxy. She is really well behaved and easy to handle and hardly causes any mess or fuss, we might not be so lucky next time... .Also although we happily take Rox everywhere with us, it's not like we can go around with 2x dogs in tow.... we do take Roxy a lot of places she is strictly not meant to be, but get away with it because she is cute and looks and cat like a puppy.

Anyway after all my deliberation and indecision, I finally relented today while having a 'Griffin and Me' day.

So this afternoon off we went just to LOOK at some kittens... and well Griffin was way more mature than me and I kept saying to HIM, 'Awww please can I have one!?' LOL. So yes we had to take one.

We chose this gorgeous one (we are still not 100% sure if it's male or female yet, it's not quite clear!) and named him/her Max. Because of the 'M' on his forehead and because it is a unisex name. So it's either Maxine or Maximilian. Depending on what it turns out to be.

Max's mom (top left in the collage) was so mellow and chilled and Max too is a really relaxed little thing too. Really cute. Griff as you can see is rather besotted.

-----
So far Roxy was WAY over excited when they met and she could hardly contain herself. I have no idea what she wanted to do, but didn't want to find out. So I am keeping them apart for the first night again and once Max has settled in a bit more and had a nap we'll try to introduce them again. Roxy in general is never aggressive but being a Jack Russell and Max still being the size of a rat I do not want to temp fate here!

Photos from the OM Running Race

These are the photos from the race on Wednesday.

 Quinn took these ones of himself while he was waiting fr me... you can see how chuffed with himself he is. It's too cute!

Proud of Quinn - He ran a race!

The boys have been coming to running races with me for a while now. This year they have started participating in the 5km events. Griff takes it fairly seriously and walks with determination and says he is trying to 'get fit' and 'improve his time' etc. he finishes in around 60-70 mins each time. He has done 4-5 events this year now.

Quinn on the other hand only wants to enter if there is a goodie-bag, and dicks around and jumps on water sachets and annoys people around him. His main goal is to drink as many cups of coke as possible at the water points and generally just hams it up, as is his style. He has only bothered to do about 2 events so far. At the Junior Argus he also only focuses on the water points and what refreshments they had and how many cups of each he drank... NO competitive edge or drive there AT ALL so far....

But last night at the Old Mutual Pinelands 10km night race, both boys entered the 5km - despite there being no goodie bag. Their race was to start 15 mins behind mine and I told Quinn we could make it a challenge and see who won. Me running 10km and them doing 5km... We agreed that if I won I'd get a foot rub and if they won they could get a coke & packet of chips and sour sweet. Yay - easy free foot rub!
In end they apparently started only 5 mins after us. I finished in a pretty good time of 51:30. In the bag... or so I thought, until I saw Quinn at the finish. At first I was convinced he hadn't even done the race... until I spoke to him. That endorphin rush is pretty unmistakable.
He was SO amped and psyched. He'd run pretty much the whole way and reckons he was right up front of the 5km race. There was a lady in front of him and he wanted to pass her and so went as fast as he could trying not to let her get away. He says he ran most of the time and 'power-walked' when he needed to catch his breath. He was so chuffed and really enjoyed it and kept going on about how nice the coke tastes at the end after you have really worked for it. He loved it!

I am so glad he has finally realised that it is fun to focus and compete and try. And to push past feeling a bit tired and to do it anayway. Because it feels so good afterwards!

Well done Quinn! I conceed defeat. No foot rub for me after all.

p.s. Griffin finished about 10 minutes after me, I think he came in at just under an hour. With his usual slow and steady serious attitude and approach.

Another awesome run

So knowing full well that this time next week I would be wishing I could be out and about in the sunshine and fresh air, and after wasting most of yesterday in a day of general meh-ness. This morning I dragged myself up and put on my tackies and decided to do a run... I had NO IDEA what I had in store for myself though!

I just headed out and decided to follow my nose and go with what felt right. This was the result...

I parked my car next to Keurboom Park in Rondebosch and ran up past Newlands Stadium, Westerford High, Forries and over the M3 an up into Newlands Forest.

I headed up to the jeep track and then descended into Kirstenbosch. I ran around Kirstenbosch for a bit and found a section I haven't seen before called 'The Enchanted Forest'. It is above the concert area towards the Rycroft Gate. It is lovely!

From there I decided to head uphill. Briefly considering climbing Nursery Ravine but then deciding not to since I was alone, had no water, food or mountain gear with me and no one knew where I was. Instead I ran up to the Irrigation Reservoir and then since I was on the contour path I decided to keep heading along it. Eventually going all the way to Constantia Nek!

 I still felt good once there so I ran down the road towards Constantia, stopping only to climb and ravage a mulberry bush on the side of the road. YUM!

I went all the way to Constantia gym where I lured Tim away from work to come have coffee with me while I recovered. After coffee he drove me to the top of the hill by Wynberg/Chelsea village and I carried on past Wynberg/Kenilworth and to Claremont and then back to my car.

That was quite a journey and my longest distance on foot to date I think! This is where I went...

Any idea how far that is? I am too tired to work it out now. ;)

(PS note that although none of those photos are mine they are all of the exact places I was running. Aren't I lucky to live with all that literally right on my door step!? I do love it here!)

Griffin - Love/Hate/Wish

Griffin came to me while I was bathing.

He said at school today they had to write about something they love, something they hate and what they'd wish if they had one wish.

He said his choices were:
What he loves - his mom.
What he hates - his dad.
His wish - That Angelique was still alive.

He doesn't often open up to me emotionally. He feels things deeply but he mostly keeps it to himself. Occasionally he'll come and share something and I can see in his eyes how deeply he has felt it.

It mad me feel so sad and helpless for him.... I really wish my poor child (children actually) didn't have so much hurt, sadness and disappointment inside. It is heart-breaking.

My *BLISS*

I have had a wonderful week. Really I could get used to this! Or maybe it's just because it is such a delicious rare luxury for me to have so much free time to just do what I want to, and I know it's going to be short lived so I have savoured it and maxed out my exercise time because THAT is what I have wanted to focus on, getting fit and healthy again and resetting myself. Either way, I have loved it.

On Monday I was a bit stiff after the week-end's half marathon but I did a 4km walk/run and then a Pilates class.

One Tuesday I did a nice reasonably tough 10-12km long run before follow it with a kata-box class which was AWESOME!

Wednesday I did 2x Kata-box classes, one i

Thursday I did a 52km cycle and then my yoga class in the evening.

This morning I dropped the boys at school at 07:30 and went for a run... I wasn't feeling super energetic at first so had no real plan. I started out walking from Rondebosch up towards Newlands.

I found myself heading into Newlands Forest and it was just SO beautiful there. The weather is perfect; cool and over cast and the air is crisp and clear. It looked and smelled great. Next thing I was running and literally grinning. I ran up through Newlands Forest and ended up going right into Kirstenbosch gardens from the back. WOW. I was running through the actual gardens. Just me the birds and a few gardeners whistling away and doing their thing. Fresh clean air and the most gorgeous garden. It was PERFECT.

That has got to be about as close as it gets to a perfect moment for me it was simply blissful. :)

I am loving getting ME back!

I have also found myself becoming more social again too and have been bumping into and making contact with neglected friends all week and am enjoying catching up with them.

Update on the work situation. Contract is signed and sealed and I start on 1 Nov. I hope and pray this will work out well. But it really can;t be any worse so I am cautiously optimistic.

I feel good. I am good! <3

Meiringspoort Half-Marathon - New PB!

So for the third year in a row I decided to go run the Meiringspoort Half Marathon in De Rust.

The first year I went with C, and thought it was so beautiful I took the boys last year and we had a lot of fun. Tim decided to join us this year. He enetered but then injured his foot so the run was out, but he decided to come along anyway.

So we set off on Friday morning on the 6-hour drive. Our first leg saw us push through to the beautiful Tradouw Pass, which I just love, and on to Barrydale beyond, where we stopped for a yummy lunch packed with delicious fresh produce. We then went on along Route 62 past the infamous Ronnies Sex Shop and on to Ladysmith, Calizdorp and then Oudshoorn. We stayed at Oasis Shanti which is a great backpackers lodge. Very friendly and reasonable. There was a free pool table so boys wasted no time in getting the challenge going. They are both almost better than me already!

The trip there:


We all had pasta at La Dolce Vita, a cute little bustling Italian place on the main road, and then hit the sack for the EARLY wake up the next morning. I was horrified to realise I had left my iPOD at home. Even though this race specifies that no iPods are allowed I was still planning on sneaking mine in and using one ear phone and wearing a buff over it if I had to. I ALWAYS run with music and am pretty dependent on it to keep me going. I was a bit worried I wouldn't/ couldn't cope without it...

Next morning saw us up at the inhumane hour of 04:40. Luckily I had slept well and managed to wake up quite easily. We had to drive the 35kms to De Rust and register and get onto the Ostrich trucks by 05:45. So we set of as quickly as we could. We made it to De Rust in good time and soon we were on the truck and heading on the fun/ cold/ nerve wracking/ seemingly endless/ cramped/ jovial 20km truck journey up the Meiringspoort Pass. The trucks drive slowly so it feels like a 50km journey and eventually you get quite worried about just how far you have to run back!! Tim & boys joined me on the trucks, and Tim was going to arrange lifts back to the end point for them.

Once we arrived at the start point we gladly accepted the 'koffie & beskuit' offered by the De Rust tannies. Then it was time for me to get myself prepared. I said my goodbyes to the guys thinking they were heading back on the trucks again.

Next thing I was standing at the start line and there they were! So the race started and I had my own fan-club yelling from the side lines which was quite nice. At 2km they passed me on the back of one of the Official bakkies and I got to high five them on the way past, that was pretty cool too. They passed one more time at about 5kms in on the way back to the Finish point in a BMX X5 - lucky buggers - and then I was on my own.

I managed fine without the iPOD, and the first half of the race felt quite easy. I was wearing a HR Monitor for the first time in a race and it was interesting to see that my heart is now behaving as it should and stayed between 160-170 right throughout the race. By the last 6kms I was getting very tired though and some music really would have helped. My left thigh was getting stiff and sore and eventually I walked for a minute or 2 to catch my breath.

The last 2kms changes from a nice gentle down hill to a pretty mean uphill and I just wanted to die. As I entered the town the group of snot-nosed farm kids chanting 'Hou bene hou!' really helped. The last 2 steep blocks uphill were so tough as I rounded to corner I said 'Just kill me now' to the old man standing there. But then there's a nice 2 block downhill dash to the finish line and I decided to just GO. I finished the race and looked at the time and saw it was a personal best: 1:52:20. I was amazed I really didn't expect that. It's a full minute faster than my last PB. YAY! (If I hadn't got so tired and sore and walked that bit I might even have been able to crack 1:50..?)

The Race:


The official results are HERE
I came:
360th out of 1321 finishers = 27.25%
88th out of 641 females = 13.73%
24th out of 130 females in my age category = 18.46%

I was so tired at the end I had to go sit down and catch my breath for a few minutes. But then I chirped up and had some fun and enjoyed the Kerk Bisaar complete with Pannekoek, Kerrie & Rys and Poeding.

After going back to Oudshoorn to swim and clean-up and rest a bit we headed out to the Wildlife Ranch. Which at first looked expensive and a little crappy, but was actually wonderful and not that pricey really for what they have on offer. There are loads of amazing exotic animals all in excellent condition and kept in very nice enclosures but you can still see them pretty up close and personal. We had a great time there.

At the Wildlife Ranch:


Saturday night the boys opted to stay in and watch TV and we went and had a fabulous meal at Bell Ciba. I had Fresh Asparagus in Parma Ham, and a Beef, Beetroot, Feta, Orange and Walnut Salad which was divine!

Sunday morning we headed off again. Stopping in Swellendam for brunch and then doing a detour via Kleinmond and Betty's Bay and finally topping in Gordon's Bay for huge ice-creams.

Journey home:


It was a fabulous week-end away. Awesome road trip, good food, good company. Lots of fun. Great race. Magnificent scenery. Perfect!

Yipee!!

So this is turning out to be a great week!

It looks like I have found myself a job - and a pretty good one too.

To be confirmed on Monday....

*Dance of Joy* Quinn's ears

Guess what!?

Yesterday was 3 months since Quinn has his prosthetic titanium osciccles (tiny ear hearing bones) inserted to try to correct the hearing in his right ear after he lost all the osciccles to Cholesteatoma last year.

After his 2x c-toma ops his right ear was hearing 5-60% and his left ear about 90%.

Anyway, I took him to the audiologist for his post-op follow up hearing test now that it has had a chance to settle and heal and...

His right ear is now his better ear!!! (It's not brilliant across the entire auditory spectrum for for the speech frequencies it is working great)

So he has proper functional hearing now!!*


Our fabulous ENT Dr Raynham was so thrilled with the news when we went to see him afterwards. Gosh I could never repay him for all he has done for us. He is our hero for sure!

I am beyond thrilled with this news. I honestly had very little in terms of expectations for this op, and my main and major concern was just that the dreaded Cholesteatoma had not returned For me any improved hearing was a bonus prize. So I had NO expectations that it would not only help but make this ear BETTER than his 'good' ear. I am blown away!

*Guess what this child of mine said on hearing this though!? 'Oh, darn, I wanted to get a hearing aid' I told him he really doesn't and just like crutches the idea is cool but in reality the novelty would wear of really fast!

Rocking the Daisies - 6th time - EPIC!

So this past week-end was Rocking the Daisies - we have been every year since the very first one in 2006, so this was our 6th time. It was fan-freaking-tastic! More so possibly because of the shitty crap past few months I have had, so I can't remember when last I had so much fun and felt so happy and relaxed. I LOVED IT!

It was amazing... in fact it was almost too good, the line up was so packed with amazing things it was impossible to get to see everyone, with 4 main music dance floors, beach bar, cinema, performance theatre, food zone, shopping area, gaming area, bloggin area, 'Man Zone', 'Daisy Den' for chicks who wanted hot showers, manicures and GHD treatments and crap. LOL.

Just some of what I managed to see/do: The Arrows, Jon Savage from Cassette, Jeremy De Tolly from Dirty Skirts, Louise Carver, 'Disco Dave', Martin Cito Otto from Wonderboom, Tasha Baxter, Paul Snodgras, Rob Van Vuuren, JR, Kwesta, Jack Parow, aKING, Prime Circle, Just Jinger, Gazelle, Graeme Watkins Project, Iiscreamstix, Yoav, Civil Twilight, Deep Fried Man, Jeremy Loops etc etc.

Then there was sipping Mojitos at the beach bar, swimming in the dam. Butlers Pizzas, Sweet & Sour Pork, Soft Serve Ice- Cream, spending time with the boys. Seeing them happy and excited. Playing pool (and being beaten hands down twice! ) with Quinn. Getting pushed and shoved while leaping around like a 16-year-old and singing along right in front stage centre. Annoying students making a bloody racket outside our tent for 2 nights in a row so I got almost no sleep at all. Trance music all night long. Dust and gross port-a-loos. Fun & too much sun and more! ♥ Best week-end of the year! I honestly love it all.




Oh and then I know some of you thought (think) taking my kids to a festival like this is questionable and even irresponsible parenting... well I have to agree... I left Quinn alone for just an hour or so, and when I came back, he was...well just look!