Wake-up to a heart attack

Yesterday I took the kids to a party on a farm near Paarl, it was a beautiful day out and they had a fabulous time on the slip and slide on the perfect dark green lawn around the farm house, I had a lovely time socialising with the owners of the farm who are the birthday boy's grand parents. Much local wine (made by a co-op which the farm supplies) was consumed and much sunshine was soaked up.

We got home tired and happy after another perfect Sunday. The boys went straight to bed, and I melted into the couch and watched a bad movie. I went to bed with the sleepiness that only a day in the sun can bring. With only 2 sleeps until Richard gets home...

This morning just as I was about to regain reluctant consciousness to start the week, I was vaguely aware of my bedroom door opening. My subconscious assumed it was one of the kids, so I stayed my sleepy prone self, but a large dark figure loomed rapidly closer over me and I had a mini heart attack!

It was Richard. He is home, more than a day early. :)

But I am at work now. :(

Funny but offensive

I just stumbled on THIS on YouTube.

Note that most people will find it really offensive, so please don't look if you are sensitive and/or very religious.

I laughed myself silly - once I recovered from shock.

GAH!

Why is it that after washing my car it looked worse than before I started!?

I am obviously very domesticationally (yes I made that word up) challenged. Not only did the whole car come out smeared with cloth marks and water marks, no matter how hard I tried to rub them off with various substances but the windows now look grubby inside and out and worst of all I was stupidly wearing one of my very favourite shirts while trying to salvaged the windows before going out and I managed to spray the window cleaner in my face (don't ask!) and now my shirt is all bleached in splodges. So no more tight and fitted glittery 'Lizzy' shirt for me then. *sob*

My kids told me 'Tiny (our nanny) is MUCH better at cleaning than you are!'

I think I will leave the next car wash to the professionals then.

100 - 0 in 3 weeks

So it seems three weeks is how long it takes for me to become a spinster...

I have gone from whiskey swigging, cigar smoking clubbing vixen (or as close as I'll ever get to one anyway), to knitting* at home on my own in front of the telly. YIKES!


Hopefully Richard's return from the great yonder on Tuesday will help to fix this shocking development!

*In my defense I was showing Quinn how to knit - but that doesn't account for why I carried on after he went to bed...

p.s. It should also probably be noted that the only other times I have knitted in the past 15 years have been when I was pregnant!!!

It's been a while

I haven't had the time or inclination recently to do the fun dinners for the boys which I used to do.

On Wednesday I decided not to go to gym at the last minute, and instead had a relaxed evening at home, starting with a long bath. The boys got this for dinner...

Gym - scary, but still fun

On Monday I was feeling energetic and arrived at Claremont gym wanting to sweat it out with some hard cardio treadmill work before hitting the kata-box class. The wind was taken right out of my sails when I walked into the change room only to find a young (no more than 25) girl half-dead and being resuscitated... She was semi-conscious but her eyes were rolling back in her head, and her brown skin was white/yellow and she did not look well at all.

Part of me wanted to intervene and assist (long mostly forgotten first aid training kicking in), but there were 5-10 gym staff and personal trainers milling around her and I reckoned that between them they MUST have some basic medical training - right? So I didn't want to second guess them...

BUT they were checking her pulse and she was still breathing and alive so chances are it was one of the following:
- Low blood sugar
- Low blood pressure
- Over heating
- Not eaten anything for too long
- etc
Pretty much all of which would have been helped by simply lying her down and elevating her legs a bit. So why I ask you were they propping her upright? Shrug.

Anyway the urge to stress myself to the point of a heart attack didn't seem very appealing after seeing that so I decided to sit outside the studio and wait for kata box to start like all the other normal people :)

Someone called Angie took the class. She didn't look particularly fit, but her class was good. It was hard and fast but fun at the same time. We all left feeling tired and sweaty but pumped.

Running and Swimming

Another week-end is over all too soon.

After feeling really tired and deflated last week, and doing nothing except mooch at home and go to bed early from Monday to Wednesday I finally felt better and got myself out to Yoga on Thursday and then went to see 'Children of Men', I can't decide what I thought of the movie, but the birth scene was very realistic (for a change) which I liked - I think that's just me though ;) I didn't really think a lot of the plot made a hell of a lot of sense, but I have decided not to invest too much time thinking about it.

I finally got myself into the gym for the first time in a while on Saturday while Griffin was at a party. I did 7km on the treadmill and some circuit work, where I decided to do some crunches. Oh My god I am still in agony 2 full days later. Lindy htf did you do 150 of those buggers???? I think I did 70 or so.

Sunday morning was the Landmark's Fun Run. Which was also the anniversary of my first ever entered running event last year. I had to take the boys along with me this time, and got them all ready the night before so that the 6am Sunday wake-up call would not be too harsh. I also learned that eating HALF a watermelon on your own the day before a run is not the best idea in the world, and had some unpleasant cramps as a result... Still watermelon season is my BEST time of the year and I go through far more of the stuff than can possibly be good for you.

We managed to arrive on time on Sunday morning and I set the kids up at the park by the jumping castle and made my way to the starting point. The race is at the Western Province Cricket Club which is so close to my home that I ran there last year. So the boys know it well and are quite at home and at ease there.

I was meant to be meeting Beryl, but she was nowhere to be seen so I made my way to the front third of the pack alone and waited for the start. The first km was very easy (and I am sure it wasn't a whole km) but the second was much longer and harder and so was the 3rd, hrm. I did the race in 35-36 minutes last year, and was expecting to beat that easily this time, but after rounding the 3km half-way and water point I was not feeling to strong, and felt like I was running really slowly. I had a brief walk at about 4km, and then decided just to get it over with. I think my inconsistent exercising has left me a bit less fit than I was a few months ago, when my legs would tire before my lungs did, and that was only because my legs had been very used.

I ran up the last hills back to WPCC and got to the finish line. It took me a while to remember to check my time and my stop watch said 31.30, so I finished at 31.20 I think. Wow, better than I had expected during the race. So I am happy with that.

I decided to stick around afterwards because there is quite a nice vibe at this race and I knew Lindy was doing the half-marathon, and I thought Beryl might be there somewhere. A kiddies race was announced and although the boys only had sandals with them they both decided to compete anyway, since it was only 750m - twice around the tennis courts. So off they went. Griffin missed the start and stayed back crying, but when the group came around the first time he jumped in and followed for the second lap. They were rewarded with a GOLD medal, Bibo juice, balloon and a little ballet teddy - which they love.

We then went to cheer Lindy on as she finished what really seems to be a really gruelling half-marathon, I have a lot of awe for people who can do that. We sat around and chatted for a bit and then Lindy had to go home (next time you are coming for tea!), so we went home, showered and went off to Melkbos to meet with friends. We all swam in the sea - including me, which is pretty unheard of in the fridgid Atlantic, but it was really hot outside so I survived. Then we went to a lovely little beach front restaurant called Cafe Orca where we had a late lunch. The portions were gigantic. I had Seared Tuna and the Boys had fish and chips all of which was really delicious, and we all took half of it home with us, so got 2 meals for the price of one. I can't wait to have the rest of mine tonight. The boys polished off their fish as soon as we got home.

I had the first swim of the season in our pool, which was chilly but far warmer than the sea. To end the week-end we watched the 40 Year Old Virgin I sent the boys to bed when it got a bit too adult...

Today I feel rested but pleasantly tired and sun kissed - the way you should after a good week-end.

Celebration Day

On Tuesday Quinn has his celebration day at school. It is a mini valedictory for the Foundation Phase (FP) which comprises of Grades 1-3.

At the celebration day the parents and children from grade 1-3 gather together in the school hall to remember and celebrate the achievements of the school year.

Each child receives a certificate recognising an area of achievement for the year. These achievements range from Excellence in a particular area (generally in one of the 'three R's' - you know reading, riting and rithmetic ;)) or art, to Good Progress throughout the year in one of those areas, or for the less academically inclined Perseverance, Helpfulness, Courtesy, or Kindness etc.

The head of the Foundation Phase, who happens to also be Quinn's teacher this year, spoke to them briefly, and then they were addressed by their Head Master Mr Ryan, who I still think is phenomenal. Then there was a guest speaker who is on of the Head of Wynberg Boys High - but his 4 (!!!) sons go to Rondebosch. He was a great speaker and spoke wonderfully to the boys, starting by asking 'whose bum is sore from sitting on the hard floor so long? Stand up and stretch'. He gave them some nice advice and motivation too and I love the bit about, 'It's ok to give mom an extra hug and kiss at home when no one else is looking, and you might even get your favourite pudding if you do' :)

Then it was time for the certificates themselves. I missed the actual hand over of Quinn's certificate because I was trying to get a photo (D'oh), but he did great after a slight hesitation over which hand to shake with. Shame some of the boys were very comical with this getting totally muddled. I remember finding this slightly nerve wracking too, and having the shaking hand slightly extended and ready before hand so I could remember to shake with this hand, and then reach and take the certificate. Quinn’s certificate was for Good Progress in Reading Throughout the Year. I think that is great, especially considering he is still the youngest child in the school, and will be until the new Grade 1’s start next year. He will even be younger then some of them!

After the formalities were over a wonderful and very generous tea and snacks were served with chocolate ice-creams for all the boys. It was a lovely way to end the year (still 2 weeks to go though).