Beware Here Be Dragons...

Well as some of you know I had a job interview on Friday afternoon. I started job hunting in Dec when I wasn't sure if my contract was getting renewed, and when it was, (just a week before expiring!) I stopped looking.

I was phoned 2 weeks ago by one of the agencies saying that there was a prospect at one of Mark Shuttleworth's companies - was I interested? I thought it was certainly worth checking out, and so the interview was set up. I was told to ask for Karen Lamb. I checked out who she was, what she does etc, so I could be suitably knowledgeable when I arrived.

I rushed there and made it JUST in time on Friday. I dashed into reception, to find Karen standing there waiting. I tried to act casual and greeted her by name, saying I recognised her from the photo on the website... she seemed impressed - so far so good.Then she paused for a while and said, 'he's still busy, would you mind waiting...?'. I said no problem, and then asked, ' Who am I meeting with'. She said, 'Mark'.

MARK!? OMG. My interview was with MARK SHUTTLEWORTH.
I am not usually nervous for interviews, but this news did rattle me. I was thankful that I did have to wait, and it turned out to be quite a long wait, close to 45 minutes! I could hear the receptionist phoning the PA every few minutes saying how they must hurry him up and not keep *me* waiting. *LOL* It turned out he was luncheoning with a lady who had won lunch with him when he was auctioned off at a charity event. I had no other plans for the afternoon and the office park he has in Durbanville is stunning and I was enjoying being there and seeing the people coming and going. All very relaxed but very productive at the same time. The place has a lovely vibe. I also took the time to SMS friends and family asking for good luck. I got some good advice and encouragement and so by the time Mark himself arrived to greet me, and apologise for keeping me waiting I was feeling quite calm.

As I walked into the meeting room with him I said, ' I had NO idea I was meeting with you, I thought I was being interviewed by Karen, so I read up all about her - but luckily I know who you are too!" *LOL*

He is a very warm, and 'soft' man. He is gentle and soft spoken, and seems very unflappable. You can see he is intense and passionate about what he does, but that doesn't make him hyper in any way. I think the interview went well, although I am not sure if I sounded suitably excited about his job, as it's very unspecific right now. They need someone to make sure their 6-months Linux release happen successfully, but they are not sure how to achieve that, or what it means or entails. So it's quite intangible and fairly risky. But I do think it would be a good challenge.

Unfortunately it is quite a commute. About 35km from home, on the other side of Durbanville. Also, when he is around he likes the guys to work till about 10pm. Also to the job entails some international travel, 3-4 times per year at least. Which does sound great, but I am not sure if I can commit to all that right now. So I may not have been gushingly enthusiastic enough...

Well I guess it's up to fate (and Mark) now... When I left the receptionist said that I had been in for a long time. Longer than anyone else so far. So we'll see... ;)

J&B met 2005

We went to the J&B Met this year again. We have gone most years since 1998, including when Quinn was 3 weeks old and also when Griffin was 3 months old.

Shown here...
<-Quinn at the J&B Met at 3 weeks old in 2000 (the year of the big fire!)

Last year we even used to event to celebrate our combined milestone birthdays of 30 and 40 - it worked out well because the Met was postponed to April after an Equine Flu scare in January/February.

This year we weren't actually planning to go, but the day before the big day Richard was offered 2 tickets to attend in the HP VIP tent and with reserved parking, and well we couldn't say no to that... ;)

The 4 of us at the J&B met in 2002, Griffin at 3 months old, Quinn was 2 years old ->


So I rustled up an outfit - a dress I wore to a wedding a few years ago... and off we went. It was great fun, and having access to a VIP tent is definately the way to go. even though we normal book private picnic sites and are not part of the real student pleb crowd, being put up in an airconditioned marque with free drink on tap and being able to swan around with the rich and famous is something I could get used to.

We saw Gareth Cliff and Claudia Schenkle (or whatever Miss South Africa's name is), Kurt Schoenraad, Stuart Taylor, Colin Moss, Joanne Strauss and some other models and Miss SA's etc.

Also it turned out that some of the CSC directors were being wined and dined by HP, and so showed up in the tent too. It was a small victory to have cracked an invite as well and to be able to fraternise with the high and mighties...

We were also given some betting vouchers, and I made an effort this year to try to understand some of the betting intricasies. I have been ridiculously clueless up to now. So I played some horses and races, on my own and WON - and so did Richard. *grin* Now we are not big gamblers, but we walked a away from a day that didn't cost us a cent with a few hundred rand in our pockets - that's a good feeling. it was fun.

The lunch was delicious, the weather was perfect, and we had a stunning day.

We were slightly inebriated by this point - late afternoon...

Quinn can eat with chopsticks

I was taken out for a Chinese meal when I was 6, and have enjoyed it since. I think I learned to eat with chopsticks at my second visit, and still have that set of chopsticks - the waiter let me keep them.

Quinn became keen to try when I started using them to eat noodles and Chinese take aways before our Thailand trip, and I explained that that is how people in Thailand eat. I let him try, and he picked it up pretty quickly... considering most westerners in Thailand were amazed that I could
eat with chopsticks, I am impressed with him :)

We have moved....

The boys are LOVING their new school, especially Griffin. He shouts 'YAY! My NEW school' every time I mention it, or especially if I tell him we are about to go there. I am so pleased that it seems to have been a very good decision.

We visited their old school on Friday afternoon, to say hi to the children and teachers. It was nice and sweet, and teachers were so warm and loving with my boys. When we left Quinn said, ' This school is yucky, my new school is MUCH better'. I was partly pleased, because it shows he really does like the new school. But I explained that it's not yucky. It was a lovely school and they teachers really loved him, and he had loads of friends, but he was ready for a new school.

Anyway the move is done and we are already about 80% unpacked, all the main stuff (kitchen, clothes, linen, kid's room & bathrooms) is done. Now we need to do decorating and connect up the hi-fi etc, and unpack books etc.

I'm exhausted, and it still feel very strange, and I only got 4.5hours of restless sleep, but the house is great.

Pending Move and New School

Things are a bit hectic here with work, the kids starting their new school today, and packing for the move on Monday and sorting out the pool to be covered at the new house etc. Plus Richard had to fly up to JHB this morning. He'll be back for Sat, Sun & Monday but then has to go up again for at least 2 days next week, and then may have to go to France/Switzerland in the first week of Feb....

Also my project is in chaos. The solution does not work properly and we have had to uninstall it all and start again, so our contractual deadlines with our client are going to be missed. I was told by our senior management to send an official company letter to our vendor expressing dissatisfaction with their service etc.. So we are in the middle of a dispute with them now,
which I am mediating... It's a character building time for me ;)

Quinn was a bit nervous about starting the new school today, and although each time we visited he liked the look of the place, I think he is most nervous about the new children and not really knowing anyone. I am sure he will be fine though. Yesterday I said to them that something exciting is happening today - they are starting their new school, Quinn said, ' I don't think that's so exciting...'. Griffin was very excited, and kept shaking a fist and saying 'Yay, I'm going to a NEW school!' this morning. After I dropped them off I asked them both if they wanted me to stay with them for a bit, or if I could leave and go to work. Griffin immediately said I should leave, Quinn asked me to stay a little longer, which I did...

As school only starts officially next week, they will be together for the next few days, and will only separate into their classes next Wednesday, so they will have full access to each other for now, which is good....

I am glad they have managed to start there a few days before the move, because it would have been harder to take them for their first day on the day of the move, when I'm sure I'll be more stressed and hurried etc....

Richard's parents will be coming down from Durban and staying with us for 2 weeks from the middle of Feb, so I estimate I will be able to relax again sometime in March ;)

Christmas is over, another year starts and Quinn is 5...

It's hard to believe that Quinn is 5 now! He has really grown up so much, and is so observant. He is especially amazing at being able to recognise things and realise how things are the same or different and how they fit together. He spots people in magazines from movies and can tell that someone in one movie is the same as someone in another movie, even with different hair colour... He is especially good at spotting Jackie Chan... and while that might sound easy because he is distinctly oriental looking - he can spot Jet Li too now.

He also knows Parkinson!? He saw him in the Sunday Times Magazine and said ' That's Parkinson' when I asked how he knew he sassily replied, 'I've seen the adverts on TV!'...

One funny anecdote, on Christmas Day he said to me ' Mom I know why Father Christmas comes down the chimney...', when asked why, he replied ' Because if he opened any of the doors the alarms would go off...' I though that was quite a good reason actually ;)

Shame, the poor guy didn't have a wonderfully exciting birthday, except for 2 families popping by during the day, the rest of the day was spent packing some of his toys (for the move), counting out his money box money, and taking it to the bank, going to the doctor - to get his sore ear checked out , and shopping at Pick'n Pay... He did get a nice cake though, and R85 from his money boxes, which he is going to spend on pool accessories after we have moved .

He got a big metal digger truck and a hulk figurine for his birthday , and another 2 bionicles. So he now has 1 big one and 2 smaller ones. .

Our Christmas was also pretty hectic, with us hosting & catering Christmas Day for the first time - whew hard work! I'm not sure I'll volunteer again soon. I was actually quite glad when it was all over.We also did a lot of visiting, having people staying over and going out for meals etc.


We went to a friend's place in Imhoff (near Kometjie) for new year. They made mussel soup, and crayfish and water melon salad for dinner , which together with champagne made quite a feast! Yum. We also stayed over, which was a good thing because we only went to bed at 4am! It's taken days to recover, but sadly work is back in full swing. I never had much leave just the days around each week-end since the 16th, so I had 3 4-day week-ends in a row, and had to work the middle of each week.

It's now just under 2 weeks to our big move, I have started packing and already have quite a lot done, so the task doesn't seem quite so monumental anymore - yay...

Thankfully I was kept on here at work. I nearly lost my job due to retrenchments... as a contractor I would have just been told to go (and not even have got a package!). It boiled down to my manager's decision. His job became redundant. So they offered him a PM job - basically my job. If he took it I would have been gone, but he opted for the package, so I am still here. So my contract has been renewed for another year *sigh of relief* . I only got the final news on 24 Dec, and my contract was due to expire on Dec 31st, so they kept me on my nerves for a good few weeks! . I also got a nominal increase, but it's hardly worth mentioning. I was so happy to be kept that I didn't even think of negotiating! There's no guarantee that there won't be more cuts down the line, so I am staying on my toes...

I also finally managed to get my tax return submitted just before Christmas. I did have an extension to the end of the year, but after being audited this year I was quite nervous of doing another return. But I think it's going to be ok.

Kruger Park trip

We went to the Kruger Park for a week, returning last week Tuesday. It turned out better than I expected it to be. I was actually not looking forward to it much at all.

A whole crowd went up to celebrate a friend's 40th over the week-end. Most flew. Others took and extended holiday and spent a whole week in the park. We didn't have the luxury of lots of time or money, so we drove up with friends and their 2 boys in their mini bus.

4 adults and 4 boys - under 5, in a mini-bus for a week and doing over 4000km! It didn't seem like a brilliant plan to me, but I thought it could be an adventure...

Everyone was amazing in the car and the kids played quietly together most of the time. We swapped them around a lot, so they had a different partner after each stop, and a different supervising adult too, and I think that was the secret to keeping them entertained and out of each other's hair.

We had activities for them to do. A box of small toys, a box of books, and a work book each with pictures of animals to cut and paste and crayons and colouring in pages. That kept them busy for AGES. They worked in their books everyday. I was actually amazed at how much attention they gave their books, and how well they looked after them - even the little guys both just about 3 years old now. We also had lots of interesting snacks (nuts, raisins, oaties cereal, fruit, caramel pop-corn, lolli-pops, crisps, dried fruit, biscuits etc).

Even though we were in the car for more than 7 hours each day they handled it fine, and in a whole week we only got 2 requests to stop to wee other than at our designated stopping points. We managed to get most of our mileage done early in the day, so that they had the afternoons and evening to run and play at our stop over spots, so that worked well.

We took 2 nights to drive up and 2 nights back and only had 2 nights in the park. The children also enjoyed the park and game spotting more than I expected, and Griffin (luckily) really enjoyed Impala spotting, and was excited every time we saw one, he'd yell "IMPALA!", and then tell him self "Well spotted". Luckily there are literally 100s of thousands of Impala, so he was continually amused. The park is VERY dry at the moment, and there actually wasn't a lot of game to be seen. Nearly all the rivers are dry, and apparently most of the Impala are losing their pregnancies :(. We were lucky to see Lion twice and Cheetah twice, both times quite close, all the boys loved that.

When we were looking at 2 ground-hornbills on one side of the vehicle, I caught Griffin dangling his arm out the other side to another ground-hornbill he'd found singing 'come bite me, come bit me!'. I had to explain that that was not a good idea! I think he was trying to make things more interesting.

Quinn started drawing really sweet pictures of the animals he'd seen in his book on the way home, and his ground-hornbill is excellent Everyone has recognised it.

So I think it was a wonderful worthwhile trip in the end which we all enjoyed. It was nice to spend so much time right with the children , and not have to do anything other than interact with them for most of the time.

T's and A's gone.

Well Griffin had his surgery on Friday.
We arrived at 7am as requested, in the aftermath of the Cape Town flood.He was calm and cheerful, and didn't seem to notice that he'd been given nothing to eat or drink. I took him straight from bed and left him in his pyjamas, so I think he was still quite sleepy. He was quite excited about being at the hospital, and would happily tell anybody he saw that he was at the hospital because the doctor was going to make him better.

We went into the children's ward observation room and the anaesthetist came through to check his breathing and lungs, and pronounced him to have the healthiest sounding chest all week. He was weighed at 15.3kgs. We went into the ward, where we were to be 3rd of 4 ops by our ENT.

The 2 girl before us were getting grommets, and the little girl after was also having tonsils & adenoids removed and ears drained. Griffin was second youngest, but they were all under 4. He was very chuffed and happily settled into the Jail-like cot hospital bed. He lay down and got under the covers and everything.

After a while he was given 'Stopayne', and I was told to keep him still. Of course he then no longer wanted to be still so I took him to the play corner where he started playing. He suddenly got very clumsy, and started falling over and stumbling etc. I realised the 'stopayne' had been spiked with something stronger, and put him back in his jail. By this time he was really drunk, and was giggling madly. This got me laughing, and we both found each other very funny for a while. A nurse came past and said, ' I also want some of that', to which Griffin giggled and said, ' I ALSO want some of that!'. It was all quite silly.

We were eventually called to go up to Theatre at about 9am. I was allowed to carry him up while a porter brought his bed along. While waiting for our turn the nurses gave him a balloon, each child gets a balloon with their name and an adjective on it. His was 'Cute Griffin'. After nearly dozing off from the pre-med he perked right up and started playing with the balloon. Eventually he was out the bed and running around like a lunatic...


We were called in just before 9:30,and I carried him into the theatre and sat on a stool with him in my lap. I was told to put the mask over my face to show Griffin, and the anaesthetist then did the same - I had visions of both of us passing out on the floor like in that bed advert! I then placed the mask over Griffy's face, he sat still and smiling, and 'smelling the mask' while the gas was cranked up slowly until he quietly closed his eyes and drifted off. The doctor said, 'if there was a textbook way of doing that, that was it!'.

I was asked to lift him and place him on the operating table. The ENT told me to kiss his cheek, and then he took me out telling me exactly what he'd be doing and what was going to happen. He told me to go have some coffee and come back at 9:55, which I did. I must say the whole process was made very calm and friendly.

Pretty much on the dot of 9:55 the ENT arrived back saying he was done, and everything was fine. He said the tonsils and adenoids looked pretty bad, and were very fibrous. He said Griffin had had more infections than I realised. He also said his ears were filled with thick, gooey, fluid and took some time to clean out. He told me they were waking him up and making sure everything was fine and then they'd bring him to me.

Sure enough 2 minutes later a nurse appeared holding him in her arms, he was crying and sounded very miserable. I gathered him in my arms and sat on a chair and rocked him. He was clearly not happy and his first words were, ' Mommy I want to go home'. It was heart-breaking. I carried him down to the ward and sat in a lazy boy chair. After 10 minutes he fell asleep and had a good sleep. He woke up once or twice and cried a bit more and then asked to sleep in the bed. He had a long sleep. At 2pm he was offered some ice-cream and jelly. He was not interested in either at all. The nurse wanted him to eat or at least drink something before we went home, and preferably wee too. We offered him juice, yoghurt, and custard, but he still wasn't interested...

Then he suddenly said, ' I want some bread', and he was adamant. So the nurse brought him some buttered bread, which he wolfed down and then demanded tea! They were very surprised...

The doctor declared him fine and sent us home. That night he ate 2 more slices of bread and half a roll of rolos. He does get sore if he goes too long without Myprodol, but once he's taken it he can eat pretty much anything. He is already breathing better and sleeping more soundly at night, and after hearing how 'vrot' his tonsils were I am very glad we went ahead with the op.

I must say spending the whole day just being with him was lovely too. I literally just sat and held him for hours, and that night Quinn was away sleeping over at a friend so I just sat and held Griffy on the couch, with no bedtime or any routine, just being. It was lovely.