EJK

It's been such a long time since I've posted that I don't even know where to begin.

We are currently living in a granny flat, in Shiinelle's home in Pretoria. We relocated here on 1 March 2012. Graeme sold his Cortina with all the tools as a project for R10 000 and that paid for Stuttaford Van Lines (which charged us R11 000) to move all our stuff here. Everything happened so fast. We sat one night talking to Jacques and Shinelle on the phone after a couple of glasses of wine (end of January sometime) and we just decided then and there that "this was it". We were going to do it. So in faith we gave notice to our Landlords, gave notice at Graeme's job and cancelled all our subscriptions. As soon as we did that, everything started falling into place. Opportunities were popping up everywhere and before we knew it… we were here!

We have not spent a minute looking back yet. The first week was very hard on all of us. We had no money, no job, no furniture even for the first few days and everything was still new and surreal. Just as we started losing hope, our business started picking up. We made more money in the month of March than we would have in Cape Town with Graeme working a full time job. We managed to pay all our debts on time. April came and we're just over half way and we're doing just as great, in fact even better. Another month or two and we will be on our own feet completely. I can't wait!

Ethans new school is fantastic. I reluctantly enrolled him in Glenstantia Primary (literally 4min away) because there was no other public school within a 10km radius and the private schools were either fully booked, too far away or far too expensive. I had no choice, but in the end it turned out to be the best decision ever. All the children and teachers welcomed him with open arms and made him feel so welcome and comfortable. He made so many friends on his first day and he is so much happier now. Happier than I've ever seen him. He is in a small class (called OIP), only 14 kids, with a wonderful teacher who has taken him under her wings. The OIP class is for kids who are struggling and to help them get back on track. This is exactly what he needs. The school also offers free extra maths, english and afrikaans. Ethan is doing extra maths and afrikaans so far. They also have a school psychologist who is going to spend one day a week with Ethan since he has been through so much in the last year and best of all… its free! It feels like a ton has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel so content and happy knowing that my son is finally happy. Finally he has lots of friends and is being helped educationally. I couldn't have asked for anything better. If moving here accomplishes only that, it will still be worth it!

Ethan is currently on a school camp having great fun which the school sponsored half of the fees so that he could join because it was too short notice for us and money is not only tight but there was a huge capital outlay to enrol him into Glenstantia. He only started his new school on the first day of the second term (10 April). He missed more than a month of school because I was trying to find the right school, had a lot to organize (like get a new birth certificate at home affairs and organize old reports, buy uniforms, get proof of address, go through boxes etc.). Anyway, he is settled and happy now and doing very very well.

Joel at first kept asking to go home. He says this isn't his home and he wants to go back to Cape Town, but I will give him some time as it is a huge adjustment and he is very bored here. There isn't that much to do in a little granny flat. He does have friends to play with here at least and today I transferred my gym membership so will start going as soon as I can physically work out again. Yeah I can't go to gym because yesterday when dropping Ethan off for his camp, I fell. A very very bad fall. We were crossing the road and Ethan slipped in the middle of the road kicking my feet right out from underneath me. I ran across the road at a 45 degree angle trying not to fall but eventually on the pavement my body tipped and I fell breast first onto the concrete sidewalk. I was in agony for at least 5 min, lying on the ground with my bag contents spread across the floor. People ran to assist and packed my things back in my car because that is the nature of people here in Pretoria – very friendly! But I was too sore to speak. I still am, a day and a half later. My entire body is paining. I can't cough or breath too deep and even walking and turning hurts everything from my thigh to my neck. My toes are also sore. The only part that isn't sore is my hands and calves. Nothing makes you feel as old as after a little fall when you realize your body doesn't handle knocks and bumps the way it used to!

Keri is loving it here. She seems very happy. Very naughty, even naughtier than when she was in CT but I think she is also bored (coupled with the terrible twos). She touches EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING and she doesn't listen. I've stopped giving her hidings and started using time-outs. She is terrified of being put into time-out so at least I found a disciplining method that works for her!

So what else is there? hmmm…

Business is going very well. I designed a website for free (and maintaining it) for Canine Zone, which is South Africa's Cesar's Way Magazine. I found this project by the grace of God and now our first advert in a real printed magazine is in the shops as we speak. Go pick up an issue of Cesars Way and look out for SevenworthDS! That's us! I'm so proud of it! We've started doing flip publications for property agents and there is so much more to come that it looks like we are going to go into real estate full time. Not selling houses, but doing everything design related for various estate agents. There is just so much more potential in the pipeline. We are very excited about how our company is turning out. It's just working! Without much advertising. It's such an awesome gift from God and definitely meant to be. Everything that we've done is just meant to be. It's crazy. For once in my life I'm following the right path, choosing the right doors because they're not shutting in my face and it's not difficult. It's stressful… but not difficult.. A lot of work… but not difficult! I'm loving it. I'm loving having my husband at home with me all day, being my own boss, being successful, everything is just great right now! We also opened our first business account which is another exciting thing!

I think that's it for now… Love you all!

I am not having a good day at all, in fact the entire week so far is crap. Yesterday and today's heat has been extreme. Yesterday it was 36 degrees with NO wind except a very slight hot breeze. Today there is at least a bit of wind but it feels almost as hot. The gardener is here doing our lawns and I didn't think to close the windows so now the house that I spent 2 hours cleaning this morning is covered in tiny little bits of dusty grass off cuts. ARGGGHHH!~!!!!!111

Keri is fully potty trained at home in the day with her wee's, but she still doesn't want to sit on the toilet and make a poo so I usually catch her mid-poo and run to the toilet. Today (as well as Sunday) she decides to make a poo in the bath. This doesn't happen without a lot of crying and getting in and out the bath several times first. She gets out sopping wet by herself (which is good in a way I know) and goes to the toilet but does nothing then climbs back in the bath, all the while crying. She won't tell me what is wrong even though I know she can, she'll rather scream. Not cry, SCREAM! Until eventually there is a poo in the bath and even louder screams.

Bathing has become a complete nightmare. Yesterday I put Joel and Keri in the bath at about 3:30pm and think I can relax for the first time. When I say relax I mean get off my feet and actually sit down and have just a little silence. Yes, my day is so busy and active that I literally don't get to sit down until about that time… or do I? Within minutes there is screaming and crying coming from the bathroom. Both children are in and out the bath like a Jack in the Box – messing up my already clean floors. Clearly they are irritating each other. I put on an episode of Friends which is only 20min long. In the next hour and a half I finish the episode. That is how much I've been up and down disciplining the crying bratty kids. Yes bratty because when I walk in the bathroom there is absolutely NOTHING wrong, they just want me to NOT relax!

So today, for my own sanity, I decide to let them bath separate. As I sit my ass down, the screaming begins. I go and as usual NOTHING wrong. I take her to the toilet anyway because that is how she likes to tell me and guess what? NOTHING! She doesn't want to get back in the bath, but it hasn't even been 5 minutes yet so I force her to. I go sit my ass down (which is not really relaxing as I'm sitting next to Ethan trying to help him with his homework) and she has gone silent. I think "good some peace" but after a few minutes I worry so I go and check on her. She is nowhere to be seen. I search the house and eventually find her outside! She just happily climbed out the bath and joined Joel outside in the sand. She got disciplined and put back in the bath. I barely leave the bathroom and she is screaming non-stop. She climbs in and out by herself to go the toilet and I assume she wants to poo but she won't listen to me when I tell her to stay on the toilet – no instead she prefers to scream and get in and out the bath all the freaking time! Until… you guess it… she poo's in the bath! I let the water out, clean up the poo and toys and rerun the bath water. While I'm doing it she disappears outside AGAIN! She gets disciplined AGAIN and I put her back in the bath where she spends the next 30 minutes crying and I'm up and down trying to figure out what is wrong and find out each time that it's nothing. Although every time I find her she is either trying to climb out or is out at the time too. She just refuses to listen, no matter how much I discipline her! So I think "okay let's take her out the bath and put Joel in – then I'll have some peace and quiet in order to help Ethan with homework". Ja right! Joel is good, he is bathing and being normal. But Keri now wants to be in the bathroom with Joel, Joel is messing water out the bath and Keri is slipping and sliding in it and walking it all over my clean floors. She is now sopping wet and guess what? She made another poo in her panty which I only figured out because she came to me screaming blue murder!

As I'm sitting typing this I get this strong vinegar wiff. I don't click for quite some time what it is, so I've ignored it. Now it just came to me. She got hold of my vinegar spray bottle and guess what she just did? She just emptied it in Joel's bath and all over the bathroom floor. So now Joel is having a vinegar bath and my house is in shambles! Mixed with grass and vinegar and bath water and soap and poo and juice and dog hair! I don't expect my house to be in tip-top shape by the end of every day, but I spend every morning cleaning my house so surely it shouldn't look like herd of elephants stampeded through our property?

I am just so exhausted and tired. I had no energy today to go to gym but didn't realize that staying at home today would be more exhausting. The only peace and quiet I get is when she is asleep. I have come to the conclusion that she is going through the terrible two's. I remember having a difficult time with Joel at this age but gosh she is SOOOOO much worse! She needs to go to a creche or something, because if you think I feel like sitting down with her and doing puzzles right now, think again! I am finished!!!!

Don't even get me started on Ethan! Grade 4 is hectic! This is the first year of exams so I know this is an important year, but gosh nobody prepares you enough! He has been doing homework since 2:30pm which is immediately after getting home and getting dressed. That is over 2 hours already and he only about two thirds of the way. He hasn't had time to play or do his chores. This is excluding his reading time, he needs to find time to read as well. Which by the way, while on that subject I must say I am extremely proud of him. He has found a new love for reading and is reading often by himself, only problem is that he doesn't have time during the week because the school homework keeps him way too busy. With him not doing his chores I have double the amount of work at home too, not to mention that he is up and down all the time (because I'm around the house running after the kids) asking me this and that – things that I'd expect him to know, things that his teacher expects him to know because they taught it to him. Now either he doesn't listen properly, which is most likely, or the curriculum and teachers aren't doing their jobs. Why on earth does he go to school if I need to also be teaching him? Homework should be exactly that… home work and not teaching. It should be work that is left over from school that he needs to complete – so not a lot of work, just a little and maybe a little bit of studying for his test. Not freaking 3 hours worth of work! What are they doing to our children? They are now working FULL DAYS. It's crazy. Why his dad won't let me homeschool him is beyond me, he would do so much better if I had to teach him alone. Because right now his teacher and me are teaching him (probably two different styles) and he is spending from 8am to 5pm doing work work work! It's not right, it's not fair! How can I make him do some chores now after a day like this? So he is not allowed to learn about life and other important things because science and math takes up his entire day! GRRRR

And the only reason I'm sitting here typing this is because I've blocked the screaming out of my head and am ignoring everyone now. Yes I have to otherwise I'll land up in a mental assylum. Graeme will be home in 10min and then hopefully things will get better.

Keri is doing really well. Since I started she has done more wee's in the toilet than out and hardly any on the floor! Yesterday when she awoke from her sleep she took her own pants and nappy off and went to make a poo on the toilet. I didn't see any poo in the toilet but when I wiped it was dirty (sorry for too much information) and there was nothing in her nappy… so maybe. I'm just so impressed at how eager she is to get off nappies. There definitely is a right and a wrong time to potty train. I've discovered this a bit late, but it's true! Each child is different and there is a window period where they are eager to learn, if you do it too soon or too late, it only becomes harder.

So I am back into my routine. Ethan finishes school at 2pm now so I have that little bit of extra time each day. In the mornings after dropping him off I come back home, feed the kids and clean the house. Then off to gym for nice long hard workout. Back home where I give the kids lunch and then Keri goes to sleep while I sit and relax a bit. 2pm its off to fetch Ethan and then homework till evening again. My day is busy but well organized which is fulfilling for me.

I have been to gym every day this week so far and I can feel that I've been working out harder this time. Today I made a salad and a sandwich and took it to Graeme at work before I stopped at the gym. Except I forgot my gym bag at home and didn't feel like driving all the way back so went to gym without my water, sweat towel and lock for the locker.

Ethan likes his new teacher, it's a male and apparently he is into racing (probably at Killarney), so we sent a copy of Speed and Sound Magazine where Shawn and his beetle appeared in as the feature article last year – maybe he knows Shawn or has heard of him. At least it's something Ethan can relate to his new teacher with.

Yesterday was Jenny's birthday. We got her a R300 Health Spa voucher -  I hope it's enough for her to spoil herself as she deserves it! We went to Panarotti's at Bayside last night with the family and it was a lot of fun. Thanks Shawn!

I feel good about this year, I feel like this year is going to be a great year. I still need to go to a physician but they're expensive and I'm tired all the time but I still feel positive about 2012.

So today Graeme started work again and life is back to normal. Today is my first day (basically since the break-in) that I'm alone again and it is going well. I am a lot more alert than usual, but not frantic or frightened at all. On Wednesday school starts again too. As crap as 2011 started it ended off pretty good.

On Thursday, 29th of December, I again tried planning a birthday party with short notice. I know, I know, having a birthday on such a popular date requires me to plan way in advance, but I decided to try anyway. Since all our holiday plans were messed up we thought we'd give it a shot. So we contacted everyone we knew and invited them to a braai. Guess what? ….

Not ONE person could make it, but that's not even the worst – they all had plans and not ONE of them invited us. How nice is that? To realize that your friends were never really friends, is quite heartbreaking! So Thursday evening we sat moping around, broke and depressed about how our 2011 was ending. Then to cheer us up, I contacted Shinelle in Pretoria and within an hour and a half, Jacques had desposited money into our bank account for plane tickets, our kids were shipped to the in-laws, dogs were organized and we were packed and ready to leave for Pretoria! It really made our year! We arrived in Pretoria at 00:30 Friday morning and spent a week with our lovely friends! After arriving we chatted with them till 5am in the morning so that day we were all pretty knackered and spent most of the day sleeping or lazing around. The next day was my birthday and I was awoken at 4am with a horrible toothache! I spent the next 24 hours in agony! The following day I wasn't feeling too good either, the toothache was better but I was nauseas and my stomach was working and experiencing vertigo! A very weird experience actually… it only seemed to happen on their toilet (LOL), I would sort of float up high while everything else is angled towards the ground. A very weird feeling. No-one else experienced it, but they certainly had many jokes about it! Jacques suggested I get a tennis ball and see if it rolled upwards (long story).

Then the next day I was feeling better but Shinelle was ill, the next day Jacques was ill and it seemed like every day there was something else preventing us from having an enjoyable holiday. However sick or not, we still enjoyed our holiday and it was a well deserved break away from everything. I've come back feeling renewed and more energetic to tackle life and everything else!

So the first day after we arrived back home (we arrived just before midnight on the 5th of December), I went to see my doctor (the one that was on maternity leave) to sort out all my issues. My blood pressure is still high and she suggested I see a physician and go for further testing. She gave me some awesome calming tablets (which Shinelle gave me on holiday and helped with anxiety) and some pain killers for my toothe.

We also started potty training Keri. I am so amazed at how easily she took to it. From the word go, she got it! We left her pantyless and she kept coming to us before making a mess, moaning to go to the loo. Today is day three and things are going well! I'm so excited to have her fully potty trained!

Today I went back to gym. I was surprized to see that my weight didn't increase by much (only about half a kilogram) but even more surprized that my fitness levels were just about the same too. I'm glad to be back into routine again actually.

Oh and also, more good news… Since our first night back home we've been sleeping back in our bedroom. I didn't think the day would come so soon, but after having a holiday I really feel renewed and things are going so much better now!

And then lastly, but not least… Graeme and I have decided we are going to relocate to Pretoria. Graeme is busy trying to find work and as soon as he does we are moving! We are very excited! We haven't really told anyone yet because we don't want to upset anyone unnecessarily because it's in God's hands and our plans might not be His plans – so no use in counting our chickens before they hatch! Graeme has advertised his Cortina and tools for R12 000 and there is already a lot of interest. We will be selling some other items too in preparation for our move. I applied for a few jobs which were declined, but that's okay my job is not what's important right now. Opportunities are just so much greater in Pretoria, so if all works as planned then I know things will eventually start getting better with us! Plus our best best best friends are there and we need each other right now! I am going to miss my sister very much however, but other than her there isn't much keeping us here sadly… Who knows, it might not happen, it might happen, or it might happen for a while…. We are just going with the flow right now and leaving it all up to God.

Where do I begin? So after the break-in I spent the first two days inside the house, all locked up, watching out the window and being paranoid. It was horrible! Then I got to a point where staying at home was freaking me out too much so I spent the rest of that week by my mother-in-law. I would wake at 6:30am with Graeme and leave when he left for work then return at 5pm when he returned. My poor dogs spent a week alone and Graeme came home lunch times to let them out. I felt sorry for them but I couldn't take them with and I couldn't stay here any longer alone. It brought back memories of my last break-in when I was living in Milnerton in a Granny Flat and some hobo broke the window above my head in the middle of the night. He didn't know there was anyone home, but I was still frightened nonetheless and it chased me out of my comfortable home and destroyed my relationship with Jacques as I was constantly paranoid about everything. This time I was slightly better, but I was just as paranoid. Everyone was saying that the burglar was coming back for our TV and it freaked me out that he was inside our house, in my bedroom, among my personal things and he knew everything about us – what we own, where everything is, which side of the bed I sleep on and knowing that most burglaries are planned, he was probably watching me which freaked me out just as much.

One night (I think the third night – the Wednesday), my cat was on my window sill (above my head), looking outside. I hadn't slept at all that night and it was about 4am. I had just dozed off when the cat got a fright and hissed, jumped against the window and knocked my head. In my sleeplessness I was convinced someone was trying to break the window above my head again. Since that night we haven't slept in our bedroom. I spent the rest of the week not sleeping at night at all and I was so tired and exhausted and drained from worry and anxiety and tiredness. Then eventually the paranoia got so bad that we shipped the family to the in-laws at 11pm the next Wednesday night and slept there. It was the first proper nights sleep I had since the break-in a week and a half earlier. The next night I was still a bit paranoid, but not half as bad. It helped sleeping out for one night and getting a good nights sleep. I think the tiredness was contributing to the paranoia and making the anxiety worse. The Thursday night I slept on and off, but got some good sleep in at least. The Friday and Saturday night I took a sleeping tablet which helped a bit and then by the Sunday night (2 weeks later) I eventually started sleeping at night again.

On Friday, the 16th of December we get a call from my mother-in-law. My father-in-law is in hospital – he had a stroke! Thursday night he had a very bad headache and had an aura so he went to sleep to sleep it off. In the morning he woke half blind and knew it was an emergency. They rushed him to Milnerton Medi-clinic where an MRI and ECG confirmed he had a stroke. He spent the next few nights in ICU being monitored closely. Unfortunately they can't fix the damage that was done as they missed the window period after a stroke, but the doctors say it may or may not come right over the next few months. He is still tired, having headaches and half blind, but he is  home now and is recovering. He was discharged on the Sunday and Graeme and I went over there to cook them supper. It was so hot that we decided to braai. We bought all the food and charcoal, made a quick fire, fed everyone and cleaned up and left. We wanted to just give them a bit of a break and spoil them a bit after this horrible incident.

This is now the third year in a row that our December holiday is completely ruined by tragedy. This year was the break-in and dad-in-law's stroke, last year was my dad's suicide and the year before was when I nearly died after giving birth to Keri and then shortly after Graeme landed up in ICU with Pneumonia, German Measles and Mononucleosis. I can't remember further than the last three years' holidays but I honestly can't remember when last we've had a holiday or a streak of good things happening instead of bad. I truly hope (and I say this every year) that next year will be better for us.

So on top of that, we didn't get to go to PE like we had planned, our friends Jacques and Shinelle didn't come down for Christmas, we didn't get a large bonus so couldn't even splash out this year (we haven't even eaten out for supper once yet) and it's just been a crappy holiday overall.

For some good things… I don't want to sound ungrateful because even during the tough times God still blesses us. I am grateful for is that we are safe, God has really helped me overcome this ordeal of the break-in in record time and has been with our entire family, protecting us from harm. Things could have been worse. The burglar hasn't returned, we didn't lose all our possessions and our house is now more secure. We were blessed with a R10 000 wireless Paradox alarm system. The owners might redo all the burglar bars and they put a burglar bar in our bedroom's en suite already and changed the locks. We are also going to be blessed in the New Year with beams and passives for the outside of the house as well as motor for our front gate (so no more getting out the car and physically opening it). Also this event has caused us to be more alert, secure our property better, get household insurance and from Tuesday we will also have armed response! Things we never would have had or done if it weren't for this small break-in. We are also grateful that my father-in-law is okay, things could have been worse. And maybe traveling to PE over the festive season is a blessing in disguise too. I believe things happen for a reason so I'm not complaining.

Also, for the first time in about 4 years, Graeme and I bought each other a Birthday/Anniversary gift. We call it our birthday/anniversary/Christmas gift to each other for the last 4 years! We bought 2 new recliners and a sleeper couch for our lounge. We managed to sell our old lounge suite in about one hour after advertising it on Gumtree. We also went and bought some paint and repainted our lounge in a beautiful dusty brown colour (which we'll probably use for some other rooms too) and moved our lounge around a bit. It helps to have a renovated room, especially when this year we are stuck at home and we do spend most of our time in our lounge together. They say a change is as good as a holiday and I agree.

On the 17th we celebrated Keri's second birthday. I can't believe how time has flown. My youngest baby is already 2 years old and she is beginning to say a lot of words. She is trying to say 2 word sentences and repeats a lot of words now. I can't list them here as it's too many (all of a sudden). We took her to Spur at Sable Square for breakfast with the family. The in-laws couldn't be there as my father-in-law was still in hospital but my mother-in-law popped in for a short while. She got lots of nice gifts and I think overall she had a good day at least… considering.

I can't remember if I mentioned, but about a month ago I ran into Jacky. Jacky and Mark owns the house in Milnerton where Jacques and I stayed in their granny flat which was broken into. I saw her at Canal Walk and I was so happy I met her again. I thought she was still overseas. She was happy to see me and we exchanged numbers. I called her the other night and we'll be visiting her either tomorrow or Sunday for Christmas and I look forward to catching up. Claire must be about 18 now and I can't wait to see her either. She ended up falling pregnant right after me and has a boy the same age as Ethan. When I fell pregnant with Ethan, she also fell pregnant but she had a miscarriage and that along with the break-in is what ruined our friendship. We have a lot of catching up to do now…

We've also decided to cancel our music lessons with Louis. With our extra expenses like our car, household insurance and armed response, we really can't justify spending R400 a month on music lessons at this point.

Next up is Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve where we'll either start our day off at Jacky and Mark or be at home. Then for Supper we'll be going to Chris and Michelle to spend it with the family and then on Sunday for Christmas we'll go have lunch by the in-laws and if we didn't go to Jacky and Mark for eve we'll join them for Christmas supper at their place. Going to be a busy weekend, but fun. We haven't really been out the house much in the last few days, so it will be great. We bought the kids LOTS of gifts, small gifts but kids see quantity not quality or price so they'll be happy. Ethan got a pair of roller shoes (don't know what you call them) for his good report card this year and they all got a few other small toys in between. Keri got her first Barbie doll! Joel got matchbox cars with a mat with roads and tracks on and he absolutely loves it!

And that's all folks… for now! Pics to follow soon… (I don't have a camera anymore so can't take as many photos)