I decided to take a few extra days leave, and I ended my year of corporate work yesterday.  Corporate work only, because I’ve got so much editing to finish before I can really relax… and in fact I’m hoping I do get to finish it before the next shoots start next year and I do get a break.

So my idea for my blog post was to show you photos from my day… but alas… that’s not to be.  I’m reviewing a Sony camera and after using it, I realised I didn’t get a cable to connect to the Mac… and I don’t have a SD card reader.  And now I’m just freaking annoyed.  I went and bought a SD card reader tonight while Christmas shopping, and the bloody thing doesn’t work… so no photos I’m afraid.

Anyhoo, what a busy busy day!

Took the dogs to Walkhaven, and Connor, like normal forgot to take shoes (and I only realised too late), so he spent most of the time waiting for us at the car because there were too many thorns and rocks on the ground.  I have SUCH problems getting him to wear shoes!! He’s only got one pair of flip flops again… heaven only knows what happened to the other 2 pairs… it’s not like he wears them!

Then we went home for a quick swim before heading off to the shops.  I only wanted to get boxes for my photography, because my stock is too low and my custom boxes are only arriving in Feb… but the shop seems to have closed for Xmas (I found a new packaging place that I wanted to try).

Then we dashed home again to have a spot of lunch before the kids’ friends arrived for the afternoon.

And while they played and swam and played again, I edited… and finished another shoot

And after supper, I went shopping again.  That’s right, I started my Xmas shopping at 7pm.  That’s how I roll every year.  Thankfully one of the shopping centres still opens that late!! I was so surprised when planning my shopping this year, that Sandton City’s idea of Christmas trading hours is until 7pm… and Cresta until 8pm! Madness! Anyway, Clearwater got all my business then.

So I’m done… all presents bought and just need to be wrapped… and tomorrow I can relax… and edit some more.  And try get the photos off this stupid SD card.  So far, I’m not enjoying this camera… not just the hassle getting the photos off, but I don’t really like the way it works (it’s almost their top of range DSLR, the A77)

Ooh I do have a photo… one from Walkhaven that I took with my iPhone using Path –  and that’s my new latest favourite app btw!!  How awesome is that grass… next time I go, I’m taking a proper camera.

Love this video that I found on Seed’s blog this morning… and it helps that I’m quite into indie music at the moment.

Hudson – Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

I used to love colouring-in and drawing. I don’t do it nearly enough with my kids, and I think it’s so very important.

I was telling my dad the other day that I think he should take up art again when he finally stops working… would love to have some of his work hanging in my house.

So, there are a lot of bloggers and IG’ers doing a thankful and grateful meme this month, and posting photos every day with the things that they’re grateful for.  I decided not to partake in it… mostly because of time issues.  But today I attended Wenchy’s 11th Thanksgiving lunch that she hosts every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the US.  For the US readers of my blog, Thanksgiving is not something we ordinarily celebrate in SA.

Anyhoo, she throws a magnificent shindig every year, and invites her friends and family.  This year it was held at their home, and for a change I didn’t take my camera out of my bag… instead I took one photo with my iPhone. Only one… the one in this post.

Everyone gets a turn to speak.  Everyone gets a turn to say what they’re thankful for and grateful for this year.  Even Bradley spoke today… in front of all those people… and there must’ve been more than 50 people there today.  I was so proud of him

So when it was my turn to speak, my brain went to mush.  Partly because of my sinuses that have clogged up my brain waves… but anyhoo, I decided I have quite a bit that I’m grateful for, so I’ll just blog it instead.

1.  I’m grateful for my husband and kids who let me think up crazy ideas and just go with them.  Like jumping off buildings.  Seriously… this is what I said!! LOL!

2.  I’m grateful that I’ve been able to tell the stories of so many people this year.  Seriously… and that’s the only other thing I said today… crazy hey?!

And this is what I should have said… I’m grateful that…

1.  My husband and kids let me dream up crazy things to do… and let me do them.  Lance does smile, and sometimes shake his head, but he never tries to stop me.

2.  I have so huge supporters in my husband and parents for my career issues that I’m having this year.

3.  I can live out my dreams

4.  I’ve been able to tell Kathy’s cancer story

5.  I’ve been able to show the love between so many people this year

6.  The dogs are calmer and not so looney anymore and my garden is starting to recover from their puppy phase

7.  Friends in my computer who send me the most awesome emails just to let me know that they’re thinking about me.  They read between my blog lines so very well.  You know who you are

8.  Friends who let me just sit at parties now and don’t expect me to take my camera out all the time… they understand that I need the timeout

9.  Connor who is growing up and so very cute, and so very maddening.  and who ever so often says… “Mommy wouldn’t that be a nice photo, get your camera out”

10.  Bradley who is still the gentlest soul… but who fights in a very ugly way with Connor at times (hopefully this stops soon)

11.  My mom who picks the kids up every single day from school and does the afternoon mad rush with extramurals etc

12.  Lance telling me when something I’m wearing doesn’t look good.  He’s normally right

and finally… that our little family is healthy.

I haven’t done this meme in a while, and I’m literally bursting with random things that are not big enough for a post

• I’m driving to Dullstroom tomorrow for a wedding. I’m really really not looking forward to the drive, because I’m going on my own… but the wedding will be gorgeous.
• I’ve been invited to the long-service awards at work… just the thought that I’ve been working at a company long enough for an award makes me feel old
• My hair looks much better when it’s really short… and this week I dyed it a purply shade of red
• I’ve lost touch with most of my friends now I’m quite sad about it but I seriously have no time for myself let alone phoning someone to chat.
• I hate randomly chatting to someone… I can never think of anything to say
• I haven’t got a clue what to buy the kids for Christmas this year.
• We’re trying to plan our big bucket list trip for next year… it was going to be Vic Falls, but that’s ended up being too expensive.  Now we’re thinking Mauritius, but OMG that’s so expensive in April!
• Did you know it would cost us R50k to get to New Zealand to visit Michelle (Lance’s sister) and Marlise… that’s JUST for the flights!! Holy moly I had no idea it would be that expensive!
• I just love getting the Yuppiechef emails… and I want this new toy… a Zoku Quick Pop Maker.  How cool is that?! (excuse the cheesy pun)

It was hectic this weekend… and I’m determined to learn something from everything that happened, so lets see if I can get a lesson spin on the chaos that ensued.

1. To say you’re going to get a rape survivor kit together is easy, to do it is another thing (I donated one at the Slutwalk that took place this weekend). I found myself thinking about every single item that I bought for the bag… and the bag itself.  Would the person like the bag? Would they even want to keep it after the reason they got it?  Is yellow a good colour for a facecloth, maybe it’s too pale considering what you’re trying to clean from your body?  I settled on a nice moisturising soap, after thinking that I’d want to scrub my body raw and I wanted to get something that would help her skin.  I bought lip-ice even though it wasn’t on the list, that’s what I’d like after crying a lot.  The gift that I added was a scarf, a really soft one that she could wrap around her body for more comfort. It was quite an exercise and made me really think.

2. Threatening to not give Connor pocket money is now not working.  He was in top form this weekend, and even ran riot in the shops with a Woolies basket which he walked around Woolies with, using it like a crutch… he had his one foot inside it and clomped around the entire shop shouting his head off… and when I got it away from him he just lay on the ground in the middle of the aisle and refused to move.  And that was the start of the weekend.

3.  I’m not superwoman after all.  After literally running most of the slutwalk trying to take photos, I actually collapsed in a heap after getting home.  We were supposed to go to Wenchy’s house… and I cancelled and had a nap instead. Lance told me I looked like hell… he’s nice hey?!

4.  The dogs make me feel so very guilty for not taking them for walks often enough. Some days Kimo just looks at me and whines it breaks my heart.  I just don’t have the time to take them to Walkhaven and they’re too strong for me on the road if they haven’t been walked for a while.  Lance took them for a run this evening though, so hopefully I’ll cope with them this week

5. I’m feeling cut off from friends right now.  Every invitation we get, Lance is either working or I am, and we don’t get to see anyone… and the kids are now having such boring weekends.  This is not going to get better in the bear future either, considering the number of weddings I have booked.

6. I need to sleep some more, but I have so much editing to get through

• My mom‘s carrot cake is the shizz… especially when you get a take-home piece to eat after a long day of photoshoots!
• I noticed a new patch of gray hair this week
• I’m SO looking forward to my boudoir shoot next month.  Quite anxious about being on the other side of the camera, but it will only make me a better photographer
• I would love to get a new house and not have to worry about changing our current place, and I would love to live on a quiet road where the kids can go cycling on the road.
• I have something big I have to do next week, just need to get the courage to do it. Or maybe the following week.
• A big shopping spree would be really appreciated right about now.

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

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.

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!