So I’ve been putting this off for a bit. I thought that catching up might bore everyone a bit. But I’m doing it partly for myself as well, for when I look back. Again, these entries are from my Yahoo! site and the one entry had a poll attached, asking where people were from, that were reading my blog. Only one person voted and I think that was my brother.

29 July 2006

Wow,

It’s been so long since I’ve updated this blog. October last year. It’s been almost a year. What makes it more astounding is that there are visitors to this page, even though I’ve not had the time to update it. Who’s clicking? Where are you from? Say hi!

Well, let’s see. What has been happening? In November last year, my fiance, Marc proposed. We went for a banquet at a place called Greensleeves. It was so awesome. We weren’t able to dress up in medieval costumes and stuff, but it was a real experience all the same.

It was all supposed to be a surprise – the proposal. Marc had bought the ring – white gold, with tanzanite and diamonds – a couple weeks before. He’d gone into the shopping centre on the pretext of buying a cable for his computer and I was none the wiser. It sat above the TV until the day of the banquet and we’d even joked about where he would hide the ring, if he had it, which he did.

So I phoned Greensleeves to see whether I could bring Fayth with, (My service dog because I’m in a wheelchair), and the lady who answered the phone said something about you’re the couple who’s getting engaged … which surprised me. And then she apologised because I wasn’t supposed to know.

December was spent at home. Johannesburg was lovely and quiet and getting to and from work to Midrand was a breeze. We didn’t exchange gifts, but had a wonderful Christmas lunch, which Marc made with food from Woolworths – including a ready cooked chicken and baby carrots. I think we had chocolate mousse for dessert.

Also during December, we had a new addition to the family – a baby. Of the four-legged variety (You think I’d have a kid? Please reconsider!!) . There was a family renting another house on the same property as us who had a small white dog named TJ. When they moved back to Durban, they asked if we wanted him because they could see how much we liked him and he liked us. That’s him as a baby in the picture.

TJ was about 4 months old when we first got him and had several bad habits. One was peeing on the carpet. The other was stealing socks. We’ve managed to cure him of the former – to the point that he even wakes us up if he needs to go out. But he still thinks it’s the best game ever to go running round the garden with a stolen sock.

More in the next journal entry. I don’t want to make them too long, or you’ll be sitting here feeling like you’ve been reading a novel. Trust me, if I had the time, you would be sitting here much longer!

1 August 2006

Eish Wena!

I feel even more tired today than I did yesterday. Yesterday, we woke up at 5am, and were at work at 6am, since Marc had to be in early. His latest project was entering the integration phase. Today, I got up at normal time, got rushed out the house by 6:30 to be at work by 7am … and just feel tired. It’s strange.

Yesterday was not too busy. I got my work done and half of my checklist, which was needed for today. Even though I wanted to leave half an hour early, I only left my desk 10 minutes early, but I wasn’t complaining. It was very nice being in the car by 16:37 rather than 17:00 like usual.

The dogs were very happy to see us when we got home. Marc let Fayth out the gate and we went round the back of the house where there is some bush, where Fayth could run around and sniff while I spoke to our neighbour, Caroline. She told me that the area was supposed to have been used for Phase 3 of the complex, but it never got built.

As we were chatting about various things, I happened to look up and saw TJ watching us out of my office window. Unfortunately, I can’t let him loose like I can Fayth, because he won’t come back. Caroline said that her eldest boy was now at an age (almost 6) where he wanted a puppy. I told her that they were welcome to take TJ for walks any time and have them pick up the poop, which would teach them about the responsibility of having a dog.

As I was doing the ironing and laundry last night, I was watching VH1, since Mar was playing on his PC. They played “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees. First thing that struck me was the tight pants and permed hair. I actually thought it was an early 80’s video, but then saw that it was from 1978. A great year, if I do say so myself. Not only did that song (and movie) come out, but that hit by McCully’s Workshop – “Buccaneer” … and Def Leppard were formed around the same time too.

The other thing I noticed was that TJ was in a really strange mood. Not quite sappy and cuddly, but quiet enough that we could do a little obedience. We ran through “sit”, “shake” and “down” twice and he did it perfectly each time.

As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, TJ belonged to an Indian family, who asked us if we wanted him. I leapt at the chance, not realising at the time what a handful he’d be. He is an incredibly sensitive dog and also very intelligent. He is very wary of strangers and as I have said, came with some bad habits. He absolutely adores Marc and listens to him better than me. But when he’s been naughty he automatically becomes my dog.

Another picture of TJ at the top … more news to follow soon.

11 August 2006

Ho hum …

I’ve been meaning to post a new blog entry all week and just haven’t had a chance. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I wrote a long e-mail to a friend on Monday, which I wanted to tweak and then post as a blog entry, but I never got round to it. I was going to take it home and tweak it at home, but I enjoyed my new game too much that I never did that either.

There’s one more picture of TJ that I’m going to post with these blogs, namely the one above. I’ve hopefully posted them in sequence and you can see him getting a bit older. I’ve found some stunning pictures on the network at home, so hopefully I’ll add some more to the site soon.

On Tuesday night, we took the dogs for a walk around the complex. Everything went fine, until we came across a bunch of kids with a cat. It was a small 4-year-old grey tabby. It was one fearless feline! This cat took one look at the dogs and attacked them! The first time it tried to attack TJ, Marc hauled him into his arms by his leash and harness. The cat turned around and went after Fayth instead. I told her to back off and not hurt the cat. By this time, Marc had put TJ back on the ground. The cat went after TJ again and slapped him with a paw. TJ yelped in fright and then wanted to attack the cat. After that, we beat a hasty retreat, the kids making a circle around the cat, preventing it from following us.

We had a good laugh about the whole thing, because that was the first time TJ had a negative experience with another animal. I don’t think he learnt anything, though.

My favourite series – Supernatural – ended on Thursday night. The finale was the best ending ever – better than any I’ve seen for any other TV series. It freaked me out so much that I had to find out what happened next. Unfortunately, the information I got from my brother was inconclusive … so now I have to sit and pray that the series continues … Dean, Sam and John … it can’t end like that!!!

Last weekend, we saw the first Highlander movie. Last night, was the second. It was one of my favourites (since it was actually the first one I saw) but Marc was extremely disappointed, saying that if he were a Highlander fan when that movie first came out, he would be upset because the movie made no sense and there was no proper continuation between the movies.

It didn’t phase me. I still enjoyed every moment. And I’m looking forward to the 3rd movie, which will be screened next week Sunday. The only thing that would make the whole Highlander fest even better is if they brought back the series.

Ok, so that is more or less what I’ve done for the past week or so. What I’m still finding interesting is that I’m receiving quite a few hits to this site and I don’t know why. So I’ve put a little poll up, just for personal interest, to get some idea of what’s potting…

16 August 2006

Aah, another day in the life…

It’s been a relatively quiet week. On Monday, Marc went home to let a plumber in, to tighten some taps in our bathroom.

On Tuesday, he was back home again, this time to let a guy in to install the new bath lift. I had done a small search on the internet and came up with the Nightingale … After having a demo of the unit, we found that it was ideal for our needs and arranged to have one installed. It was rather pricy, but I feel it’s worth it.

So, Tuesday night, I had my first bath, unassisted by Marc and thought it would be a brilliant idea to try and scare my mother. I wanted to phone her up and tell her I’d gotten in and out of the bath all by myself. The plan backfired when she said, “Oh you got the bath lift installed.” I had already told her in an e-mail that we were looking at getting a Nightingale unit.

So instead, I sat on the phone for half an hour with my stepfather, having a great time, catching up on news and finding out what was happening back in Port Elizabeth. He also told me what was news with my sister, Sandra, whose 21st birthday it was on Monday. She’s still in the UK, but with half a mind to return home early next year. This would blow her chance of getting a British passport (she’s been there almost 2 years, and needs to stay for 4) and I think everyone is trying to talk her out of it. However, things are looking up for her there recently, so hopefully she will change her mind and stay. More about that when I’m certain of facts myself. I’ll e-mail her later.

As you already know, Fayth is only coming to work with me on a Tuesday and Thursday, since I’m trying to get her used to staying at home. Usually, when she hears us getting home and unloading the chair, she starts barking. Yesterday, we made the usual amount of noise, but there was not a sound. Even when Marc got to the gate, she was still quiet. It might be too early to say, but I think she’s finally getting used to staying at home.

The picture I’ve included in this blog is of the dogs, just after they had a bath, some time near the beginning of the year. This was still when we were at the old house in Midrand. TJ is probably about 5-6 months old there. You can see how he just loves to be with Fayth and adores her.

25 August 2006

Howdy

I have been putting off writing a blog entry for most of this week, in the hopes that something newsworthy would happen that I could write about. But nothing’s happened really. This week has been extremely quiet.

The only thing that I could really shout about is that I’ll be going to my first rock concert at the end of November. Nickelback are coming to South Africa and I will be there, singing along to all their hits! I found out about it on Tuesday morning and by the time I went home that afternoon, my tickets were booked. I can’t wait!

The only other thing I can mention is that we’ve finally got a maid. Marc had some time off today, so he was at home for a while. One of our neighbours brought round a lady who was looking for extra work and now she’s coming to us on a Monday and Friday. I’m not sure of all the details, but I will post more in my next entry.

I have been so tired all week. I’m not sure why. To top it off, my guts have disagreed with me for the last 2 days. Hopefully things will sort themselves out this weekend and next week will be better.

5 September 2006

I’m still stunned.

Marc e-mailed me a link to a news article early yesterday morning. The article had said that Steve Irwin had died after a stingray had hit him in the chest. He had been filming a documentary off the coast of Port Douglas. It just seemed so unreal.

As the day progressed and more news articles were posted on News24.com, the realisation hit. It was for real. I just wanted to cry. A day later, I still do.

The guy was a legend. To me, he could not act that well, but his enthusiasm and passion for animals was unbelievable. For that alone (and the fact that Australian animals are amazing), I really enjoyed watching him on TV.

To some, he may have looked like a crazy idiot. But if you took a closer look at him, while he was handling a wild creature, you could see the intense concentration on his face. He was not stupid. He knew what he was doing.

To be killed by a peaceful fish must be the most ironic way to die, considering he had handled some really dangerous creatures. The only consolation is that he died doing something he loved.

My heart goes out to Terry, Bindi and little Bob. I know that I don’t understand how you’re feeling now. But your loss will be felt by millions across the world. Rest in peace, Steve

6 September 2006

*Yawn*

I have been so tired lately. I don’t think I’m sleeping as well as I should be. My back has been sore for a while now and has been worse than usual lately. Marc gave me a great massage on Monday night. Problem was, I woke up with a pain between my shoulder blades yesterday morning. I had a good soak last night in a Radox Herbal bubble bath and feel a bit better today.

But I still feel that I need to get it sorted out. At the same time, I’m a bit worried about going to a physiotherapist. I’ve got brittle bones. And for some reason, I’m concerned that something might happen – like I break a bone or something. They’re professionals and know what they’re doing, but I’ve broken too many bones to not be worried about trying something new, if you know what I mean.

Marc and I listen to Highveld in the car, on the way to and from work. This last week, they’ve been in London, UK, as part of a competition (or promotion or whatever) to bring expats back to Johannesburg for Joburg Day (an (almost) all-day concert with about a dozen artists performing live). It is coinciding with Virgin Atlantic’s 10 year anniversary.

Anyhow, this morning, just before the 7am news, they mention that Bon Jovi had a small concert there, with guest artist Nickelback. I was like, No WAYS! Small concert? Nickelback AND Bon Jovi?? Something like that would have made my year! Once again, I can’t wait for Nickelback to get to SA. I am really looking forward to seeing that concert.

Marc and I have booked a couple days off at the end of this month, for a nice long weekend. I want to use the time to check out places which I’ve been meaning to see, but just never get round to doing so. Like going on a couple game drives. Go to Gold Reef City, and various other places in the Hartebeespoort Dam and Magaliesburg areas. I’ve got a list of places that I want to see, but still need to figure out what we’re doing when.

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