I saw this on Laura’s blog, and decided to join in

We’ve been on holiday for 5 days… and yes, I have learnt something in the last few days…

• I completely underestimated the weather, so I’ve had to go buy a few warm pants and tops to keep myself warm.
• I’m really grateful that I cancelled the photography workshop that I was going to do in Ballito… I’ve really needed the break.
• I get a HUGE headache on the 3 rd day of every holiday we go on, and this time was no different.
• It’s so cool that the kids are older now… I can relax just a little on the beach.  No scratch that… the worries are different.  I’m no longer concerned about Connor eating the sand… now I worry that I can still see him and that he’s not too brave in the ocean.
• It’s been really hard leaving the dogs behind this time… our first holiday as dog owners.  I’m really hoping they’re ok and not howling every day.
• The Kindle is awesome.  Should have bought one ages ago… however it’s costing me a bomb considering the speed at which I read!! Buying a book a day at the moment!
• I read a Sophie Kinsella book yesterday and haven’t laughed as much in ages!
• I haven’t lost my knack with the fishing net… and I’ve caught a crab and a sand fish.

I’m actually feeling a bit overwhelmed at everything I’ve got to do before our holiday in just over a week’s time.

1.  4 photoshoots, and possibly a 5th that’s urgent and can’t wait

2.  Deliver 3 photoshoots

3.  Deliver 3 photobooks (and the DVD’s that go with them) and design another book from one of the photoshoots I’m doing this weekend.

4.  Discovered tonight that I need to get Connor a yellow t-shirt before Thursday morning, and I’m in meetings ALL day tomorrow!! That actually sent me into my tailspin… there’s always a trigger for this breathless feeling… and today it was a t-shirt.  But seriously, WTF isn’t this piece of news on the news site that the school proudly advertises!! FFS I’m just annoyed now.

5.  I also forgot to buy Bradley a long sleeve collared shirt (that’s not a school shirt) before Thursday morning when he’s a mayor in a play.  This one I did actually know about but forgot about.

6.  Getting my tattoo on Thursday… woohoo!!

7.  Try a fit in a hair cut and colour… and a bikini wax.

8.  Find a dog sitter!! Oh crap just realised I forgot!

9.  Try sort out my job… which I’ve actually just resigned myself to the fact that it’s not going to sorted out before I go away, so I’m more relaxed about it.  Just have to go with the flow at this point no matter how annoying that is.

10.  Meet a bride.

11.  Buy the kids summer clothes for the holiday because they’ve shot up and last season’s stuff doesn’t fit at all.

12.  Go to a kids party on Saturday.

… and I’m sure there’s something I’ve forgotten…

I feel a little panicked right now… but I’m sure all will be well with the world again in the morning and I’ll regret this stressed post.

If you follow me on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, you may know that I bought a ring yesterday.  It was a spur of the moment birthday present from me to me.

At lunchtime yesterday I heard some of the girls in the office talk about a person selling jewellery in the building, so I went to investigate thinking a funky black stoned ring would be a great addition to my wardrobe.  There are often private people selling stuff in the building and you have to be on the mailing list to know about it… but this time I didn’t get the email… and I’ve discovered that there are 2 mailing lists (both of which I’ve now ensured that I’m added onto).

LOL, you know how much of a shopaholic I am… so of course I was keen to see what she had on offer, especially after I’d scoped her website out.  The lady (can’t remember her name) from Silver Garnet was selling silver jewellery with semi-precious stones.

So anyhoo, I go and look, and nearly buy a black ring as planned, but then spot this ring… it’s much more organic in design than the other rings she had on offer, and the stone is green.

Not what I was looking for at all, but when I put it on, it just felt so right. So I bought it, and I LUUURRRVE it.

Anyhoo, then I get home and decide to google the stone… a Russian Amazonite.

According to all the sites I found, the stone’s benefits include (just copied the things that relate to me)…

worry; fear; negative energy; aggravation; hair loss.  Its energy is that of personal truth, allowing one to express ones heart through communication. This stone also assists one in identifying how ones words have created current reality, and how to change ones communication to reflect a higher, more aligned reality.  Amazonite is helpful for those who dont know what they want, what they feel, or what they have to offer the world; this stone can assist them in gaining clarity, gently pointing them toward their knowledge and gifts. Amazonite also assists those who have difficulty setting appropriate boundaries. Because of its ability to help overcome fear of conflict, it frees one to identify and set strong and clear boundaries on physical, energetic and emotional levels. These can be internal boundaries helping one to develop self-discipline, or external boundaries assisting in defining ones personal space.

And now the question is… did this ring choose me?  Seriously, I could not have chosen a more perfect ring… I think I’m going to have to wear it every day.

… that I cannot do 4 weddings in a month again… I’m just too far behind with editing now

… that we have another mouse in the house (so the pest people are coming tomorrow)

… that the kids are now addicted to XBox Lego Star Wars III and I have to really pry them away from their game.

… that 44 Stanley is awesome… but Bean There Coffee place is closed on Sundays and Public Holidays so I can’t use it for the photo workshop I have planned, and all the other places there are too noisy.

… that the Ski Deck in Randburg is not a great place for Connor in winter (sorry Fiona), ‘cos he’s sick again after getting so wet on the slope.

… that I really really love doing tween and teen photoshoots

… that my bucket list needed updating in anticipation of my birthday… so I can start ticking them off every month

… that my birthday is coming up very soon, and I need to organise something considering it’s a Sunday (and I haven’t booked any photoshoots for that entire weekend)

… that I’m stumped with the photo workshop venue… not sure if the workshop will happen now.  I don’t have time to wander around looking for venues

Today has been a little epic…  it entailed…

I slept through the alarm clock and got up 30 minutes late

Connor and Bradley refusing to get out of bed and having to be coaxed to get ready on time

Finish packaging a shoot before work… so that that one, and another shoot could be sent to Postnet for delivery to Cape Town and Durban.

Fighting with my loan laptop at work…it’s slower than a dinosaur, while the IT dudes try fix mine (which at the moment isn’t sounding hopeful as they’ve been busy with it for 3 days now)

Finishing an outstanding 16 page document for a project.

Trying to organise my career.

Getting my voice heard.

Editing a shoot from beginning to end.

Playing an XBox game with the kids… I have to review it for Girl Guides.

Answering a few questions that will be a guest blog post on another local blog soon.

… and I spent half the day in tears… don’t ask… so I’m exhausted…

I’m now having a cup of hot chocolate (because my favourite Milo is finished and I didn’t have time or inclination for food shopping today)… while waiting for photos to export… and then I’m going to bed.

How was your day?

On Sunday I met up with a bunch of girl geeks, who like me, write reviews for Girl Guides. In between tucking into cocktails and sushi at the Southern Sun Hyde Park pool bar (which is awesome btw) we had to introduce ourselves to the PR reps that were there too.
I found that surprisingly difficult! I couldn’t figure out how to explain who I was in a geek sense, and what kind of gadgets I like using.
Instead of saying that I like ALL gadgets and want to try them ALL, I went on about how I’m a photographer, a blogger, that I do social media strategy and banking strategy and that I’m a mom with 2 boys who are enamored with Xbox at the moment. Lame that explanation, isn’t it?

Anyhoo, I was listening to everything the others said around the room and it struck me how different we were, if compared to a bunch of male geeks in a similar environment.

We all love gadgets and blogging and social media. But… We don’t necessarily have the gadgets to support that love. If you had to ask a bunch of tech reviewers on a male dominated site guaranteed the majority of them actually own the gadgets already or something similar anyway.

In fact, it may surprise you to know this but even though we have an Xbox and my camera equipment is fab… We don’t even own a flat screen TV at home!! LOL!

When I thought about this topic on Sunday driving home, my feeling at the time was that it was because there’s always something else that seems more worthwhile spending money on.

I mean, I would give my eye teeth for an iPad2 or a Kindle or flat screen TV, but paying school fees and getting a new lens and clothes shopping and kids entertainment… and in fact, a new couch, is more of a priority.

And then on the way to work yesterday, I heard an interview on 5fm with a lady from FITE who is in South Africa working with local woman entrepreneurs and she was quoting some stats that astounded me, and also made me realise that my thoughts were in fact right. Do you know women on average, plough 85% of their income back into their family?

That makes complete sense to me. If the kids asked for a gadget I would buy it in a flash if I thought they’d gain from it. But I wouldn’t buy it for myself. I think it’s selfish.

Strange but true. Is this the case for you too?

Not sure if it’s valid… but this is apparently my love language… and thinking about it, it is about right.  I found this link on Jane’s blog this evening, and decided to take the quiz.  I’ve heard this Love language thing being bandied about quite often recently, and really had no idea what mine was.

I feel loved when…

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Quality Time

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Take the Quiz!

It was a big weekend actually.  You knew about Bradley’s party, and you knew that my parent’s dog was coming to stay but you don’t know:

1.  My granny died on Saturday morning.  My dad phoned me just after 9am to tell me the news.  Granny Marie was the granny I visited in Hermanus a few weeks ago.  The one who was fine until a few weeks ago.  The one who told me that she was tired.  Oh my word, I loved her a lot.  In a few days I’ll write a proper post about her like I wrote about my grandpa when he died, but I’m not ready yet.

2.  Bradley and Connor are playing XBox LEGO Star Wars every moment they can, and it’s already driving me dilly.  It’s only taken 4 days for me to completely lose it with them.

3.   The dog situation worked ok… until yesterday when Jackie tried to play with a old hoof in the garden.  She let it go, and Kimo grabbed it.  She then just attacked him, which he didn’t take kindly to… so he then just went for her… and eventually had her by the neck.  Thankfully he listened to Lance and no physical harm was done.  But we had to seperate her from the huskies for the night… and she went home today.  I just couldn’t take the risk of leaving her outside with the huskies.  She was just looking for trouble all the time with Kimo, and he warned her enough times.  Anyhow, it’s a pity because she’s stopped a lot of her anxious licking while she was here, and the raw wound on her leg was actually healing for the first time in months (I think it was because they kept her very busy).

4.  Lance and the boys took me out for supper last night to Mo-zam-bik… I LOVED the prawns in beer sauce… no-one else really enjoyed their food… but anyhoo.  They did give me a gorgeous bracelet though… which I thought was a nice touch for Mothers Day.

5.  Bradley made me a simple bead necklace (with green and white beads) at school for Mother’s Day.  I wore the necklace last night to supper.  He loved that I wore it.  Connor however, was very jealous of it, and wanted to grab it off my neck.

I’m getting a little tired of all the jealousy in the house actually.  If I sit in the lounge and the dogs are around, Kimo tries to get as close to me as he can… until Kitara jumps onto my lap.  If I get close to Lance, Connor appears and wants to be cuddled.  If I sit next to Lance on the couch, Connor wedges himself between us.  If I sit with Bradley, the same thing happens.  If I sit with Connor, the dogs jump all over us. And having Jackie in the house made it a thousand times worse!

Anyhoo, back to work, these images aren’t going to edit themselves!

As per usual my week has been hectic, but bizarre things have happened too… I know I know it’s not the end of the week yet, but my oath how much more can happen. Here’s a quick recap:
1. Delivered 17 DVD’s full of images to various clients (and before you photogs reading this think I’m mad… clients have ordered more than one copy )
2. My career (not photography) changed direction after a 5 minute conversation on Monday evening… and I’m still not sure what it entails… but hey in this place you have to be flexible or else you won’t cope at all.
3. I’ve all of a sudden got 4 weddings booked this month. 2 of which are back to back… and one of those is not in South Africa… can you say MAD?!
4. Bradley got his orange belt in karate… and on the way there to watch him some stupid stupid woman in a yellow beetle bashed into the loan car I’m using while my NEW Kia Sportage gets fixed (last week’s drama that I didn’t blog about). This woman clearly doesn’t know how to drive because you should see her car… it’s literally got multi-coloured strips on the bonnet from the various vehicles she’s clearly “thought were moving” in the past. As if I have the time to sort this out now!

The most bizarre has to be what happened this evening though. I was about to start the kids’ baths, when I hear Lance shout at me to phone ADT. He’d happened to see something fly through the air and land on the roof over the garage… it was in flames. Seriously, it was a little alarming!! Anyhoo, after scaring us all completely, and ADT rushing to help us in case it was some person trying to get us distracted so they could steal the cars or something else… it ended up being one of those paraffin lit paper lanterns.
You know those sky lanterns that are the “in” thing to fly up in the sky after a wedding or party.
How very odd! I thought those things were supposed to completely burn away as they started flying. As Laura said on Twitter, we should thank our lucky stars that it didn’t land on the roof of our lapa… we would never have noticed it and it would have probably started a massive fire!
It’s just very strange that it was just one… what happened to all the others?  And who let it go?

The whole thing is just weird.

I really hope the rest of my week becomes a bit more normal!