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I get hooked easily

I am taking 5 minutes out of my hectic stay at home mommy schedule to come and tell you about my latest addiction, no, I am not smoking anything just yet, because just as I was about to hit the bottle hard last night and give Luka a shot of Jack Daniels, a friend suggested using some peppermint oil in Luka's bath water.  It has a calming effect on the stomach and guess what, it seemingly worked.  So no alcohol (sadly) for either one of us...

Gerhard was a bit sceptical at first, getting advice from an aromatherapist, mixing essential oils with milk and then adding this to Luka's bath, but hey, it worked.  Luka slept from 19h00 to 12h30 and then again until 03h30, and then it was time to get up, so all in all a very good night.

But I am digressing again.  Being a sahm leaves the biggest part of the day wide open, so I am watching back to back episodes of Brothers and Sisters.  How did I miss this series?  It is brilliant.  The Walker family also makes my own family appear strangely normal, good grief, I am only at the start of season 3 now, and I simply cannot get enough.  I watch an average of 4 episodes per day, no use sleeping if I can watch Kitty and her siblings rival...love it.

Now today I have to interrupt my hours of television watching to go and do something really silly.  See after being married for 5 happy years, the Department of Home Affairs decided to change my surname, I was Niki van Wyk when I got married, when I applied for my own unabridged birth certificate and when I applied for Liam's birth certificate 2 years ago.  So when Luka's birth certificate was finally issued last week, imagine my surprise when I am now Niki van Rooyen.  I knew that there would be an error on her certificate, although Gerhard and I had bets going as to whether or not they would make her Lukas van Rooyen...

Kudos to them, her name and surname is 100% correct, but as a home affairs official explained to me over the phone last week, someone this year looked at my records, saw I was married and did me a favour - they changed my surname for me.

I have lost my identity and my marbles, finally.  At a stage I was even contemplating just becoming a van Rooyen and giving in but Gerhard then pointed out the obvious, I have so much more going as a van Wyk, I have permanent residence in Australia as Niki van Wyk, ID document, passport, bank account, e-mail addresses, payslips, gym membership, frequent flyer miles, the list goes on.  As a van Rooyen I merely have two kids. Difficult decision.

Lucky me, every one I know battles to get surnames changed, not me, I was lucky enough to have the only official at home affairs with some initiative work on my file, I am the (un) luckiest girl in the world...

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