Skip to main content

Happy birthday me

Another year has come and gone, it is my thirty fifth birthday today and I vividly recall my last birthday.  I was pregnant with Luka, heavily so, Gerhard and I went out to diner with my sister and her then fiancee.  I knew in my heart of hearts that it would be my last birthday in South Africa for a bit and somehow was sad already, if that even makes sense. 

Today was a sad day, I missed friends, family and all, and then I remembered that this is not my first birthday spent away from home.  After matric I lived in Belgium for a year, that was a sad birthday, and remember, this was before the internet, skype, emails, bbm and texts, yes, I know I am giving my age away, but hey, that also proves that this birthday, even though spent in the outbackis not as bad as that...

Move on a couple of years and we relocated to Middelburg, Mpumalanga, even more rural than Sydney, and once again, just me and Gerhard, and worst of all, I wanted a couch as a gift, but sadly, Middelburg did not live up to my standards.  So no gift, no party...boooo hoooo hooo

I just woke up and felt so alone today, like the world was so far removed from me, I could not speak to a number of people that I wanted to, I could not get any hugs and kisses from friends and family, no lovely dinner out and someone looking after my kids, because we are still finding our feet remember. 

So, what do I have to be thankful for this year, well a lot, I got a daughter, and I finally got to spend some quality time with her, I am getting to know her and she is actually too precious for words.  Yes, she is feisty, but hey, she has to get that somewhere...

I have a loving clever little boy who really thinks that I do have super powers, and that I will make him fly.  Liam, mommy will try!

I have a doting husband who thinks that I am just the best thing that ever happened to him. 

I am on the adventure of a lifetime, living in Sydney, not working and with time and money enough to enjoy the sabbatical. 

So really, this morning I gave myself a pep-talk, toughen up princess, this is not Africa.  

Till next year, when I will be even more tough.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I had a stunning Louis Vuiton Bag

I love handbags, I am crazy about them, I would forgo food for a good handbag.  Everybody has a 'thing' and mine simply happens to be handbags.  Big ones, small ones, madly expensive ones and el cheapos that you get at the flea market, grey ones hand crafted by old ladies at the old age home, shiny metally ones.  I love handbags. Well guess what?  No, not that Guess, not as in the handbag...I now have a diaper bag.  A red one, and it needs to double as my handbag.  There is just no way in hell that I can manage a two (almost three!) year old, a two week old, a diaper bag and a handbag, something had to give and in this case, it was my poor almost new chunky Louis Vuiton bag.  I miss it already... The thing is, when you have a baby, some things are just not meant to be. At least this time around, I have managed to paint my nails (all of them, fingers and toes) twice, and I have worn make up on at least four separate occasions.  With Liam a...

On the eve of my first protest

It is the eve of my first ever protest about anything really.  I am a little scared, a little excited, a little apprehensive but extremely motivated.  For those not following South African politics, our President last week fired our honest Minister of Finance and the South African economy took a tumble and we were downgraded to junk status by ratings agencies. Economic and political uncertainty ensued all because of one man’s greed and corruption.  Junk status has dire implications for our country and as always the people who will be most affected are the poorest of the poor.  Interest rates will rise, so will inflation and food prices, jobs will be lost, the list of horrible things goes on. Ordinary South Africans have now had enough and for the first time ever people from all walks of life are united behind a common cause, to save South Africa.  I have never in my 40 years on this earth been moved by any cause, not enough to actually take...

The state of the world we live in

Before having kids, I used to read newspapers and watch the news on TV all the time.   My current affairs were really very up to date and I knew the names of most heads of state and had insights into the economies of several states.   After having kids I know the names of all the teletubbies, I know the words to most nursery rhymes and I can recite the content of a couple of kid’s books when woken at 3am.   I also know that you need more than twenty coins to buy a house.   My knowledge of current affairs these days comes from the bits of news I can gather on the radio in the morning in between getting my brood dressed for school and most of their teeth brushed.   I also need to get myself dressed and hair blow dried, lunches packed and the like in a very limited amount of time.   Getting kids dressed really is an ungrateful job and if I do not check underneath all the winter’s clothes, I fetch Liam at school in the afternoons and see the oddest thing...