Whoosh........................

If  I  had  any  time  at  all to  blog  I  would  tell you  that the  last  few  months  have  flown  by  so  quickly,  that  I  feel  like  my  life  is  moving  like  a super  sonic  jet,  you  don't  see  it  just  hear  the  noise  as  it  breaks  the  sound  barrier. If  I  was  to  tell you  about  what  I  have  been  up to,  I  would  tell you  about  the  birthday  present  that  the  girls  bought  me  for  my birthday,  his  name  is  Dash  and  is a Jack  Russel  and the  naughtiest  thing you  have  ever  met  in your  life, and he  has  me  wrapped  around  his  paw  already.

 I would tell you  the  wedding  that  we  started  organising  in  October,  was a success and was on the  26th  February and was absolutely  beautiful  everything was  perfect,  the  bride  looked  beautiful,   the  best part  for  me  was  the brides  dance  with  her  father it   brought  tears  to everyone's  eyes  it  was to the  song  "Butterfly kisses", and  was  just  so  special. The  fact  there  was  a  really  sexy  guy sitting  next  to me,  and  we  laughed  all night  had  nothing  to do  with  it at  all.............mmmmmmmmmmmm.

If  I  had  time  to  blog  I will tell you  I  have  been  to  court  3  times  in the  past  month  to  get  garnishee  orders  so that  my  ex-husband (  still feels  really good  to say  that)  pays  the  court  ordered  maintenance, not exactly my favourite  place  in the  world,  but at  last  step  one is  done,  I have  a garnishee for the arrears  and  step two,  for the  monthly maintenance  is  well down  the  road......  I knew  I should  have  been  a  lawyer.

If  I had  any  time  left  at the  end  of the  day  to  blog,  I  would  tell you  about  my son-in-laws  surprise  birthday  party  on Saturday  the  theme  was  St  Patrick's  day,  he  just  loves  everything  Irish,  it  was  great  fun,  and  much  fun  was  had  by  all,  it  was  held  at our farm,  just  on the  outskirts  of  Heidelberg,  there  was  no entry  unless  you  were  dressed  in green.

I would  tell you  that  the  food  was  absolutely stunning..............  the  cake  was  made  by my "bestest"  friend  in the  whole  world..........

If  I  wasn't  so  busy  and  I  didn't  know  whether  I  was  coming  or  going,  whether  I  was  here  or  there, whether  I  was  upside  or  downside,  whether  I  was  Arthur  or  Martha,  in fact  I  would have  so much  to tell you  if  I  didn't  feel  like  this...............................

Smile..

Smile 

Smile though your heart is aching; Smile even though it's breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by. If you smile through your fear and sorrow, Smile and maybe tomorrow, You'll see the sun come shining through for you.

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.
Although a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.

That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile.

THE wedding..........

I think  that  it  might  be  safe  now  to blog about THE wedding  I went  to last  year  in November when we  flew  down  to  Cape Town  for the  weekend,  this  is  a  true  story  but  names and places  have been changed  to protect innocent  people involved.............. and no pictures........... to protect me  from a law  suit....
Lets  start  at the  very  beginning............... the wedding was  supposed  to take  place in March 2011,  and  we had  planned  to take a week and spend the time  in Cape  Town,  it  was  brought forward  because the brides parents  were  emigrating  to  Australia in December................  we are   now in  March,  and her  parents  are  still here.................
My eldest  daughter  was a bridesmaid so she  spent  all afternoon with the bride,  us lucky  ones  arrived at the venue  at  4pm  the  wedding was to start at 4.30pm.  The  place  The Cape  Pillars  is  a  four  star  bed and breakfast, and conference centre,   and  a very  pretty  place,   there  was a welcome table  set up in the lobby of the venue  with some  tea,  coffee,  and iced  water............  no glasses.........  only  coffee  mugs..............     although I must  admit  the  snacks  were  really good,   so I assumed   that  supper  was  going to be good because I was starving and  we  all know  what assume  means.
We  were  asked  to come  through  to the hall  in which the wedding would take  place,  the  colour scheme for the wedding  was maroon and  brown,  the  chairs  were  orange,  all different  shapes  and  sizes,  and on each chair  scribbled  in pencil  on a piece of paper torn  into  small pieces  from an  A4 sheet  was our names,  we  were  back  row,  now  I wonder  why that  was,  we  were  next  to the  nurse  who was  looking after  the brides  granny,  everyone  at last is  seated..........
The music  started  and the  bride appears at the top of the  stairway,   her  dress  was  really beautiful,  she  is a  slim  young  lady  with  beautiful hair,  but  attached  to her  headdress,   was  a dead  drooping  flower,   she walked  down  the  aisle,  the minister  smiled,   said the  vows, asked  if they took each  other  as  husband and wife,  read a poem about what  love  is,  you may  kiss the  bride........  7 minutes  later  the  wedding  is  over..........  no really the  wedding  is  over...........  no prayer,  no  bible  reading,  no message,  no inspiration,  nothing..........   we  travelled  1500km and spent  R 10 000 for  7 minutes,  that  is  R .. .........  a lot  per  minute.  Kira  told  me later  that  she  had  seen  the bride  paying the  minister  R 800 for these  7 minutes,  I would  have  done it  better  for  free...........
The  first photo's  are  being  taken  outside in the garden,     I tell Kira  about the  dead  flower  on the  brides head,  and her  looks  turn  me  into a tea  strainer,  I am let  into the  fact later  that the  mother,  insisted  that the  flowers  looked nice,  but that  was before  they  had  become thirsty  and started  heading  downwards  looking  for  water.  The  grooms mother,  who it was  quite  obvious  it  not too fond of the  bride   is  crying she   is refusing  to have  her  photo  taken  with the  couple, she  obviously  did  not get an invitation  to the wedding  which  said  formal,   she is dressed as thought  she has just come back from a picnic,  the  photographer  convinces  her  just  one  photo....... which because  two  and three,  until  she  stormed  off the  set..........  I mean  left the garden.
The second  photo  shoot  was taken inside  on the  stairs,  lovely  photo,  I warned  them that the  sign "mind the step"  was  visible , and  was  shot down,  they can  all be  photo shopped  out they  said ..........  well they  weren't.....  While this was  happening  the  owner wanted to put the  TV on  and can you imagine  an important  rugby game,  guys,  no one  would be taking part in the wedding,  so I put my foot  down ......
then , politely of course   that  my bed and breakfast  was much nicer that this,  and why would I change,  not sure  why but she didn't ask me again......................

We then  went  out to the back   garden  for the  reception,  where  we  took turns  in sitting  down,  as  someone  stood  up,  there  would be another  body  sitting  on the chair,  before  you  knew  what  was  happening.  As  are  most  wedding  here   it was a  cash  bar,    should  have  been  called  a day light robbery  bar,  a 2 litre  bottle  of  Coca Cola  is   R 12.99,  and  one  bottle  gives  you  8  glasses  of coke,  and they  were  charging  R 15.00  per  glass,  daylight  robbery,   we  just  refused to buy anything,  and  I stuck  with the  tea,  coffee and  water,  After the  toasts however  the champagne was  free  so with the help of the  brides  aunt  we "affirmative shopped" a couple of  bottles........... the wedding  did not seem  so bad  after  that.

Now  it is  time for the  toasts,  we are  all called  to assemble  for them,  and the  brides  step father  gives  the  first  toast..........................  no champagne  ................    he  rambled  on for  about  20 minutes,  then  her  mom  had 20  minutes, then the  best man had  20 minutes,  then the groom had  20 minutes,  that the  bride had 20 minutes ...............  is this  normal at a  wedding........................ and  his  mom cried,  and  cried  and cried...........
Now  it is  time  to get this  party going.........................  and the  DJ  for the evening  is..................... the bride................. forcing  everyone  onto the dance floor,  and  no one is in the mood,  oh  wait  a minute  there  is no mood..........

The wedding  starts  at  4pm and  now  it is  7pm  and everyone  is  starving,  and  out  comes,  finger  food,  how much  finger  food  can  one person  eat...........  lots  when  you are  all starving,  so  we  quickly ran  out of  food.  The  wedding  cake  was  chocolate  and really nice,  and came  with  a liquour  called  Amarela Cream  really nice.............. and  free..................
The brides  parents,  have a printing  company,  and the  thank you gifts  were  all left  overs  from  jobs  they had  done...........  I got a pen set for my desk,  Kayla got a mug, Kira  got a picture frame,  at  8.30  it was at  last  safe to leave..................      I pray with all my heart  that  God  was at their wedding and that  he will bless then and guide them, and protect them, I pray that the mother-in-law,  with whom they live,  will learn tolerence and acceptance, and I pray that  love  is enough  to see them  through ...........

High Tea - Victorian Style

Last  Saturday  I went  back 150 years  and  for  a  little  while  I  pretended  that  the  year  was  1868...............After  going  to    Her  Majestea's  Salon tea  garden  it  was  really  laid  on my  heart  to do  a  Victorian  tea  party  there,the  place  was  perfect,  the  ambiance  was  great  and  on their  menu  they  actually  serve  a  high  tea,  perfect.    To  "advertise"  the tea,  I had  a  few  minutes  to  talk in church  before  the  church  services,  and  to  make  it  interesting  I created, and  wore   a  hat  and  in  my  best poshest  English  accent  invited  all the  ladies  to  attend........  in fact  when  I had  finished  some  people  clapped, I think  they  forgot  where  they  were,  did  the  minister  laugh,  I think  I  missed  my calling  perhaps  I  should  have  been  on  stage.

It  was  an absolutely  perfect day  and  one of the  great  things   for  me  was   there  was  no preparation  and  when  it  was  over there  was  no  cleaning  up  and   NO DISHES.  We  sold  tickets  to    29  ladies  and  they  were  asked  to  dress  up  Victorian style  but  the  minimum  requirement  for  entrance   was a  hat ,  no  one  would  be  allowed  in  without  a  hat.

The  place looked  absolutely  beautiful,  the  tables  were  stunning  and  the  food  looked  and  tasted  fantastic.

I  was the  MC  and   was  a  cousin  to  "Vicky"  ( Queen  Victoria) I   had  done  some  googling  on  what  was  happening  during  that  time,  what  life  was  like, and  did  a  whole  comedy  skit  on the  current  happenings,  the  casting  of  Big  Ben,  the  first  steam  train  in  London,  the  Imperial  Penny  Post,  I  was  a  personal  friend  of  Frank  Turner  and  William  Wordsworth  was  a  secret  admirer  and  he  wrote  most  of his love poems  with  me in  mind.............. it  was  a  challenge  to  maintain  the  British  accent  and  remember  the  skit,  but  it  turned  out  great  and  everyone  had  a  good  laugh,  I  still haven't  decided  if  they  were  laughing  at me  or  with me.

With "Vicky'  being  a cousin  I  threatened  anyone  who  laughed  at  my "hat  hair" when  I  took  my  hat  off  with  a  beheading,  it  did  not  work,   I  love  hats  but  just  cannot  wear  them.
Noreen  Hart,  a member  of the  church  and  a  phsycolgist  gave  a  talk  on  love,  really   thought  provoking stuff,  during  the  whole  talk  she linked  song   titles such  as  ,  "I  think  I  love you"   "Love  changes  everything"   "Never ending love"  and  movie  lines  like Love  Stories  famous, "Love  means  never  having  to say  your  sorry"  in  to  the  real  world,in  to  real  relationships  and ended  with  the fact  that  love  is  a  verb,  it  is  a  doing  word,  it is  something  we  need  to  work  on,  all day  everyday  in  order  for  it  to  be  a success,   it  was  really very  apporpriate  since  it  was  just  a  few  days  before  Valentines  day.

I  had  everyone  write  a love  note  which  they  would  like  to receive  from  our  Heavenly Father  and  then  when  everyone  left  they  were  each  given someone  elses   note  as  inspiration,  it  was  amazing  how  many  people  received  the  message  that  they  needed.
As  we  were  leaving  I got  my  idea  for the  next  tea................  I  just  love the  way  God  works  never  a  dull  moment.................. we  truly  serve  an  awesome God

Lost and found

Today is a day of ones. Give one smile to one person, one hug to one other. Say an encouraging word to one. Perform one charitable act for one person. One-on-one. It’s a way of life, but it will multiply many times over in your lifetime. For now, one is a great way to start! (By Ron Cooper) 

 

I remember  reading  a  blog a few  months  ago,  it  was  Pennie's over  at Mom's Thoughts one  afternoon  she  could  not  find  her  son  after  school,  he  had  taken a short cut  home, and I remember  thinking  how  awful  that must have been,  well now I know  just  how  awful  that  was.................   Last  Friday  my  daughter  went  to a sports  evening  at the  school,  I dropped  her  off,  and  I didn't need  to fetch  her  as she  had  arranged  with her  friend  to  pick  her  up  with  the  evening  was  over,  simple......  at  about  9.30  I  phoned  to make  sure  that  all was  still organised  as  after  the  week  I  had, had  I was  exhausted  and  bed  was  calling my  name  loud  and  clear................  KAREN  COME TO  ME,  KAREN  WHERE  ARE  YOU,  I  NEED  YOU................... 

 

as  all  was  still on  track,  off  I  went to  bed,   just  as  the  sand  man  was  filling  my head  with  thoughts  of love........mmmmmmm........... my cell phone  singing  to  me  somewhere  in the  back  of my head  was  an  unwelcome rude  awakening,  as  I  dragged  myself  back  to  reality,   it  was  Kayla  asking  if  I could  fetch  her,  I asked  what  happened  to the  friend,  and she  tells me,  OH  she  forgot  her  friend  was  fetching  her...............    alarm  bells  began  ringing and  being  a  Mom  I  just  had  a weird  feeling  so phoned  her  back  and  I could  hear  she  was  a bit  panicked,  so  asked  must I  fetch her,  and  her hurried  YES  told  me  she  was  stressing  so I  jumped  in the  car,  pyjama's  and  all..........  not  a pretty  sight   and  off I  went  to the  place  I had  dropped  her  off...................  which  has  always  been  the  rule,  that  I  pick  up in the same  place  I  drop  off,   which  just  happened  to  be  a one way street, in the  rush  to  get there,  I made  mistake  number one  I forgot   my cell phone  at  home, and  after  driving  up and  down  the  street  for  10 minutes,  was  people  and  cars  everywhere  she  was  nowhere to be  found..................  okay  I am not  going  to panic  yet,  I  sped  home  as  fast  as  grease  lightning............

 

  I  flew   home  to  fetch  the  cell phone..............  and  on reaching  her on her  phone she asked  where  I was   she  was waiting ,    Luckily  we  live   minutes  away  and  as I  got  close  I was  surprised  at  how  everyone  had  left  so  quickly,  there  was  a few  people standing  around  a couple of policemen,  but  no  Kayla.............  panic  is  now  setting  in,  I have  to park the  car.............  picture  the  sceen  pyjama's............  no make up...........  bed  hair............... 

 

panic  attack.................  no one had  seen  her................. by now  hysteria  is setting  in............... so  I decided  to drive  around the  school to see if  i could  see her................  on the  other  side  of the  school  it was  in darkness  and there  was  no one  except  there  by a tree,    Kayla  all alone...........  crying  her  eyes  out................  as  usual  my first  hysteria  reaction  is  to  yell,  scream,  shout, explanations  come  later.....................   

What  had  happened  was  she  had  come  out of the  wrong  gate,  and they  would  not let  her  back  into the  school,  she  had  no air time  and  could  not  phone  me,  and  was  to afraid............  thankfully.........  to walk  around  to where  I would  be.

We  both  learnt  a  lot  of lessons,  never  forget  your  cell phone,  always  make  sure  you have  airtime,  I  will always  drop off and  pick  up to  any event,  I  really  need  to learn  not  to  panic,  and  she  really needs  to be  much  more  responsible,  if she  wants  to be treated  like  an  adult ,  it is  time  for  me  to let  go,  and  stop the  "smothering".

 

 

Real Life

 You find  true  joy and happiness  when you give and give and give and go on giving and never  count the  cost........... ( Ellen Caddy)

Well,  holidays  are  long  over,  and  it has been  back to the real world  for the past few weeks,  one thing I hate about going on holiday  is the  197 emails  when  I get back to the office, that  have  to be  answered  and actioned,  and the in tray  that would put the leaning tower  of Pisa to  shame...........  it  is  like  when I am gone  all the  queries  slither  out of the wood work  and breed on my desk,  it is  almost like a conspiracy theory ...... paper  versus  the  empty  in tray.............. and the paper  wins............   so  to catch  up  I  have  to put in  some  serious  effort,  hence  the length of time between  my blogs......    and then .........
my eldest  daughter  has  decided  that a half hour at the gym each night  is no longer  sufficient  so now  we have an  hour each  night  and  as  I type  this, my body  is  so  stiff  that  I  am convinced  that rigor mortis has set in........  can that happen  when  you  are  still alive............ I think i am  witness to the fact that it can.
it  was  great  to go to Sunday service  again,  we are doing a sermon series  on fasting, and I really miss the  fellowship when  I don't  get  to church  when  I am away , I  was so happy when my  minister  said  he wanted  a chat with me...........  I was convinced  that he had  missed  me  and  wanted  to wish  me all the best  for the new year.................  he  asked me  to do the evening  service  on  Sunday evening as he was going away.  For me it was amazing,  I think it was one of my best messages  ever,  and I ended with a challenge  to everyone,  that  we all had to think  and  talk  only positive  thoughts  for an entire  day,  but if you had a great day because  of it,   then  you had  to do it for an entire  week.   Try  it............  not one single  negative  thought  or word  for a week................
My youngest  daughter  is  back at  school after  the long  summer  holiday,  she is   now  in her  final  year  at  school  so next year  is  university,  it was  just  like  yesterday  that  she  was born, and now  she  will soon be  a  young  woman  out on her  own......she was  elected  deputy  head  girl  at her  school,  so she  too has a whole  load  of extra  responsibilities,  are you ever  too busy............
On Friday  I am going to a funeral,  Billy  a  friend  from  work  passed  away  on Monday  morning,  what a shock although he has been sick  for a while,  you don't really ever face the possiblity  of  death.......  gone forever.............. it makes  me realise  just how  precious  life  is  and at the end of the day,  it is not about the worldly stuff, who has the biggest  car,  or  nicest  house,  or  better  job,  clever children,  pretty daughters  or  handsome sons, it is  all about  who you  are,  and  what  you  are,  it is about  honesty,  integrity, it is about being  the  bigger  person.......
  This is the bible  verse that has  been  laid  on my heart for this  year,  I just  know  that the pain of  2010  is  gone,  and  2011  is going to be an absolutely amazing  year for me ............

Holidays - Part2

After  the  marathon  day  of the  28th,  the  29th  is  one  of  our  rest  days,  so  all the  "none morning"  people  slept  in  and  only  started  surfacing  at  around  9.30  which  for  me is  like the middle  of the  day,  because  the  weather  was  overcast  and  raining, spending the day on the beach was  not an option  neither  was  going  up  Table  Mountains,  so those  who  wanted  to  fish  went  off to  fish,  and  those  who  wanted  to  shop went  down  the  road  for  about  an  hour  to a  beautiful  little  fishing  village  called  Hermanus

which is famous  for  its  whale  viewing which  unfortunately  finishes  in November  so  we  were  not  fortunate enough  to see a whale  here.  The  town  is  beautiful little  cobbled  walk ways,  with  tiny  little  shops,  selling  everything  from  candles  to  helicopter  trips, the  place  is  beautiful...........  so  beautiful  that  we  found  ourselves  a  little  coffee  shop  called  Memories  and  sat and  watched  the  world  go  by  from  there. We  were  there  for about  4  hours  and  apart  from  doing  all the  whaling  museums,  I  just  love  museums  and  art galleries  we  actually  only  got  to  do  about  a  block of the  shops  because  of  the  sheer  number  of shops.  We  had  just  been  in an  amazing  beach  shop  all done  out  in  blue  and  white  and  on the  way  back  to the  cars  for the  trip  home,  we  saw  a  beautiful  "shop" exactly  like the  beach  shop  all done  out in the  blue  and  white.  Lorraine  was  first one in the  door  and  I  was  right  behind  her  and we  were  looking  at the  picture  on  the  wall and  Lorraine  asked  whether  is  was  for  sale,  a  gentlemen  sitting  on a  chair  said,  "This  is my house  I  live  here".........  did  we  laugh  all the  way to the  car.  We  then  realised  we  should  have  suspected  something  when we  went  in  and  he  was  sitting  with  a  beer  in his  hand,  we  thought  he  was  just chilling  waiting  for  his  wife..........
The  30th  up  early  and  today  was  the  day that  we  hit  Cape  Town,   firstly  to the  V & A  waterfront,

  then  to the  Castle

  then  to  Green  Market  Square

and  then  to The  Company  Garden , and  then  to the  Eastern  Bazaar  for  supper,  which  we  had  to eat  the traditional  way  with  our  hands......  not  sure  whether  that  is for  me.

and  then  to the  flea  market  on the  main  street  at  5pm  they  close  off  Adderley street  and  it becomes  a  flea  market  and  at  8.30  the  Christmas  lights

go  on,  the  to  Mitchells  Plain  to  meet  Wayne's  Mom  and  then  home just  after  12,  everyone  exhaused  but  what  a  day.  We  wanted  to  do  Signal  Hill and  the  Noon  gun  as  well,  but  there  was  a  fire  on  the  hill  and  no  traffic  was  being  allowed  through  although  we  did  get  some  amazing  pictures  of the  helicopters  and  crop  sprayers  trying  to  put  out  the  fire.

31st  was  a  chill  day, with  just  a  trip  to a little  town  near  by  Kleinmond,  to  get some  groceries  and  then  off  to the  Stand  to  set  off  fireworks  to  let  the  New  Year  in,  which  was  quite  an  experience,  there  were  some  young  adults  setting  off  fireworks  which  turned  out to be  quite  an  experience  as  they  obviously  had  none,  firstly  one  of the  girls  turned  towards the  people  while  holding  a  live  hand  held  firework,  everyone  ducked  and  screamed,  quite  hysterically  I  might  add ,  then  they  set  off  a  flare  which  was  really  beautiful,  then  they  set  off another  flare,  which  was  caught  by the  wind,  and  blown  under  a car,  which  caught  fire,  thank  goodness  the  fire  engine  was  on the  beach  so the  fire  was  put  out  with  minimum  damage...........  now  I remember  why  I  dislike  fireworks  so  much..............................
Then  the  1st  of  January,  the  weather  was  perfect  and  so  the  cable  car  on  Table  mountain  was  open,

so  off  we  went  (  without a bath  I might  add  because  their was  no water  there  was a burst  pipe,  I  very  uncomfortable  feeling  to be  sure) what  an experience   nothing  can  describe  what  it  looks  like  you  can  almost  see the  entire  coast line,

what  a  fantastic  way  to  end  a  fantastic  holiday.......   everyone  was  on their  way  home  on the  2nd  and  we  were  on  our  way  to  Port  Elizabeth  to  visit  some  family,  another  800km  trip...................