The Real Jenty

I asked Bradley to take a few photos of me… and the dogs decided that it was play time… it’s utter chaos at home!!  I think the photos are pretty awesome actually, considering Bradley is 7 years old.  I’ve done no cropping to these photos, just used a preset to pop the colours.

I can’t believe the difference that only 6 years can make.

I read my mom’s blog post that she wrote yesterday about my grandmother.   I now have tears in my eyes.

It was Granny Sylvia’s birthday yesterday, and she’s living in a home in Somerset West.  When I saw her 18 months ago, she didn’t recognise me at all.  She had no idea who I was.   **I can’t actually believe it was so long ago that I went to CT, jeez! Just realised as I typed that sentence!  I have to do something about that!**

Just as my mom wrote in her blog post, I won’t remember my granny the way she is now.  To me, she’s a free spirited lady who always dressed impeccably and was always ready for action.  I remember her playing tennis and bridge and doing flower arranging and loving life.  I’ll always remember the birthday where she wanted to go white water rafting down the Zambezi, but went on a trip to London on her own instead.

And this photo that I took from my mom’s blog says it all… mucking in with playing with Bradley…

Granny and Bradley in 2004

Belated happy birthday Granny!

Oh and remember I told you about all the hair that Bradley had as a baby… check out the last photo on my mom’s blog post!

I feel so bad, but it’s gonna have to be done

My parents have had dogs most of my life.  I grew up with them in the house, and part of the deal is that in my family, dogs sleep in the kitchen.

However, having 2 puppies in the house is no laughing matter.

I love them to pieces, I do, but my God, that smell that greets me in the morning when I open the kitchen door has to be dealt with!! I cannot handle it! 

Exmi and a few other guys on Twitter have told me to crate the dogs at night.  Apparently if you put them in a box that they can’t climb out of, they’ll be forced to call if they need to wee.  The theory is that they won’t mess their den.  The problem with this is the following:

1.  Finding a box that’s big enough for these dogs.

2.  Our bedroom is upstairs, and it’s not going to be practical to run downstairs every time they cry… and it’ll take too long to take them downstairs and out the door if the box is upstairs with us.

So, tomorrow Lance will be going to find a kennel to put in the garden.  They should be fine, they’re huskies for crying out aloud… right?! Their genes are supposed to be used to the cold… right?!

I’m already dreading the half hour tomorrow morning that I’m going to be spending cleaning the mess and trying desperately to get rid of the smell

Then why do I feel so guilty?!

I got an email on Monday with the most cute photos of 2 Siberian Husky puppies that a colleague’s neighbour is sellling.  After chatting to Lance about it, we decided to take the boys (who were so extremely excited) to choose a puppy tonight.

However, this is proving to be a problem.  We can’t choose which one to buy, in fact we might end up getting both.

There are 2 available, neither of which have been named yet… which is a little odd in itself… how can you live with puppies for 8 weeks in your house without naming them?!

So, now the big thing is… choose a name… and a puppy… and collect it tomorrow.  But we can’t decide on a puppy or the names… so please help…

First up is the little girl…  she’s kinda quiet and gentle and she’s smaller than the male.

So far our names we’re thinking about for her are :

Kitara (from Avatar on TV)

Saskia, Anouk or Anushka (suggested by Camilla)

Next is the little boy… he’s gorgeous with pale pale fur and a stripe of pale grey/beige going down his spine.  He’s very playful.

So far we have the following names:

Hulk - as suggested by Connor ‘cos he wants a superhero name

Kent, Alaska, Kimo (suggested by Camilla)

Seriously, please help… we’re kinda useless with names!!

I’m not in a good space today.

Bradley’s been acting up a bit at home and school recently, he’s not concentrating and the teacher says he’s being disruptive in class.  Yes, the same child that’s normally a star and got merits etc etc.  Oh and he was bullied by a girl the other day in class, she called him names, so he hit her on the shoulder so he got into trouble for that too!

Anyhoo, Lance asked Bradley last night whether something was bothering him.  It took him a while, but eventually he spoke to Lance before he went to sleep, and said that he misses playing with us.

We don’t play with him anymore.

I suppose he’s right.  I’m forever working.  I’m either at work, or editing or at photoshoots.  Lance is always pottering around on his laptop.We’re not really spending time just playing with them.  Lance plays cricket with them in the afternoons, but that’s instructions again, and organised play, it’s not play!

It’s not fair.

Something is going to have to change.

And this blog is getting boring, and seems to me like I’m always moaning lately

I did actually go to work today, and while I was there I was quite productive… but I also did the following:

1.  Delivered photos… well, not personally… Lance printed photos for me and delivered them to a client (it’s handy to have him at home at times like this)

2.  Donated blood.  I haven’t donated since the HIV incident, and now that I’ve been the clear for so long, it’s safe to donate again  The blood service actually comes to our offices every 6 weeks and sets up stations for donations.  In fact, to remind their regular donors, we also get reminder emails and phone calls from the SANBS a few days before. It’s very handy, because I used to always forget.

3.  Trekked to the other side of the world to visit Nicole (my SIL) in hospital.  The trip home took forever in peak hour traffic, but I’m very glad I saw her with my mom, and she had some company for the hour that we were there.  My mom and brother have blogged about her hospital stay.  She’s been in hospital since last Thursday.  At first they suspected swine flu, but she didn’t respond to treatment and the blood results came back negative.  Thankfully, she’s doing slightly better now, even though they have no idea what’s wrong yet.  She’s not in high care anymore, and she’s now in the cardiac unit undergoing test after test.  Even the hour we spent there today, tired her out a lot, and she needed to go back on her oxygen canula when we left.  I really hope they get to the bottom of the problem soon, so she can go home.

4.  Saw Bradley ride his bike without training wheels for the first time with help!  That’s HUGE!  I’m so glad I was home to see it.  He’s hates not being able to do something, and it was frustrating him, but today he got it right.  OK, he’s not flying around on his bike yet, but at least he can go a bit without help. I reckon he’ll have it sorted by the end of the week, and then we can take him riding on the road again.

5.  Took the boys to get pizza.  It may seem tiny to you, but I’ve been getting home so late in the last few months that I’ve just got supper on the way home.  The boys love going to get pizza, and watching the guys make it etc, and it was nice to spend some time with them too.  One day I’ll get a job where I can leave the office before 5pm again, these late evenings kill me.

So, all in all, it was a good day

Lance had supper ready by the time I got home tonight.  And he’d been to the shops!! And the homework was done! Wow!

I told him this evening, that I could get used to this house-husband thing.  If I made enough money for him to stay at home, I’d be fine with going to work and doing my photography on weekends.

He was horrified!! LOL! Which is hilarious considering that’s what he’s been joking about doing since we got married!

I think the last few weeks at home have cured him of that illusion.  He now reckons he’d sweep streets rather than stay at home all day

I’m so freaking stressed right now, and I can’t even blog about it.  But, saying that, I can’t keep this quiet for much longer, people are bound to realise what’s going on.  And no, I’m not pregnant   That would just be the cherry on top.

Needless to say, I’m just working like a demon.  And working. And working.  It never stops.

We went to Parys again yesterday, and I thought before I started my little rant that I would post a happy photo from playing with the kids in the garden.

I got so cross with Lance’s mom (MIL) yesterday again because of the stories she was talking about in front of the kids.  Firstly the house is absolutely damn freezing, and for some reason they think that it’s colder outside so they refuse to venture out into the sun.  So anyhoo, if you’re wondering, the camera and the new skipping rope was my way of getting the kids to play outside in the semi-warmth of the sun.

Because inside… it’s not fun for anyone.  There are china dogs on the floor… yes folks… dinkum I’m not lying.  Ooh and not to leave out the pink china cats and the brass flies hanging on the wall, and the pink china bell things with gross fake birds stuck to them with prestik.  And you try keep a 2-year old from touching stuff like that!! It’s not easy!

And that’s just the start.  The kids play with their toys on the carpet while Lance and I try and get her to speak in Afrikaans (once Tannie Gwen and Oom Hennie leave at 2pm on the dot for their weekly visit to their friends).  Now ordinarily that would be weird… to make someone speak in a language that the kids don’t understand.. but believe me… it’s a whole load better than Bradley and Connor listening to her talk about all the hijackings, murders, car accidents etc that have happened in the entire province (because she’s worried about us).

Every time it’s the same topic.  Oh and her new-ish one… the fact that she can’t get medicine from the clinic because of the doctor’s strike and the fact that a 20 year old gay coloured guys took her blood pressure last month and she didn’t trust him because he was far to young to know what he was doing.

I would absolutely LOVE to see more of the town one day, and maybe even go for lunch one day… but heaven forbid we suggest that because she doesn’t trust restaurant cooking at all and they might just poison her.  Oooh and to suggest to take her somewhere is just a waste of petrol and all the other drivers on the road are out to kill her anyway.

It’s exhausting, and very depressing. And to make it worse, because of all the negativity we dare not tell her much of our news because all she’ll say is how she’s so very worried about us driving because of all the crime etc etc etc and then the whole story starts again.  So she doesn’t actually know what we get up to.

And so it’s over for another month… before we have to drive the 90 minute trip to spend 90 minutes with her, just to drive 90 minutes back home… because we cannot possibly spend more time there on a particular day.

On a happier note, the kids actually love going there, because they love her cooking, and we all get to play outside and play catches and kick the ball etc, so it’s not all that bad.

It was Lance’s birthday on Saturday and we got him a hammock… which he loved… and then packed away because the little monsters thought it was their new swing!  Oh well, hope he’ll get some use out of it!

Connor is feeling better.  He’s not 100% yet but he’s well enough to go to school tomorrow… and hopefully they’ll be able to get him to eat! I’m only getting the results of the lab tests done on his seconed urine sample in the morning, but I’m sure he’s fine… apart from the NEW spider bite on his knee!! Blummin’ heck, even with the pest exterminators coming in he’s managed to get another bite!

My parents came for tea on Saturday afternoon, and my dad used my camera to take photos of the 4 of us because we don’t have ONE; and my grandmother wants to frame a photo of us! Easier said than done… here are the best 2 of the lot.First one would be perfect if everyone was facing the camera.  Second one… well apart from the obvious dummy in the way… spot where Connor’s hand was!!  LOL!

I’ll have to crop it, and we’ll have to find her a long narrow frame   Either that, or take one again!!

Note how swollen Connor’s face is… he wasn’t a very happy puppy yesterday.