Back with a whimper

I’m back and boy, have I missed all the blogging. I think you know you’re a blog-a-holic when you start thinking about everything you want to blog about 24/7. Yip. I’m an a-holic. I even make a list of topics. Whoo. I need help :o)

Hello to you all and hope that your 2009 is magical. I have a great feeling about this year (hah – we are all fresh and rested so everyone has a good feeling about 2009!! :o)))

My happenings over the last three weeks are mundane. Christmas day was fabulous, had all the in-laws over as well as my sister and some friends. A few strays too – people without families – but lovely all in all.

It must be very tough to be single over the Xmas time. Everyone is so busy prepping for their family feasts they forget about the single siblings and friends. Only at last minute – i.e. when the strays unexpectedly knock on your door (a few days before Xmas nogals) that you think “Does he / she have any plans for Xmas day. Do they have friends / family to go to?” Then you end up inviting them over to spend the day. Which is nice. But then they don’t wanna go home. Which is not so nice. Sigh. I guess there are greater evils, eh?

On the other end of the scale you have the people who do have a significant other (sommer SO from now on), but the spouse (frequently the wife) is alone most of the time. He either flies all over the place due to business commitments or he is busy in the operating room. That’s an even bigger bummer in my books – you have an SO and a family, but you are “alone” on Xmas. Which is ironic and begs the question – why do we need that SO to feel “complete”? The children and extended family is there, but we are discontent just because he or she is not around? Hmmmm…..

It was a fluke that I called her that morning to invite them over for the day. I could hear that all was not well. Her eyes were red when she rocked up. Can’t handle the forced “alone-ness” anymore. Of course I was supportive. The last thing you want to do is go “But you live in that big house, you drive the big car, you made your choices, so deal with it”. Am I harsh? Probably. But it is still true. And it is still tough. We all make our beds….

The Holiday in Durbs

First off – SO had another mishap with my car – managed to lose the entire left skirting. Whoo, was he upset. I’m starting to think he really bought his license. We were visiting his brothers’ in-laws, and didn’t take a wide enough turn when getting out of the 45 degree uphill driveway – and voila. Skirting off. SO’s SIL asks me am I not pissed off. Why? It’s just a car for goodness sakes, it can be fixed. Ok I didn’t have to pay for it :o). Poor hubby. Just no luck….

No one warned me what a plaas plek Darnall is!? (*deliberately?* :o)). Darnall is a “Miller’s dorpie”. All sugar plantation staff reside there. I don’t event think it is a dot on the map. There are probably about 40 houses and 100 people living there. And quiet. But they’ve got a Club House. We don’t even have a Club House. Go figure.

You don’t get woken up by screeching tyres and sirens. No siriee. You get woken up by friggin birds. Seriously. At 5 am in the morning. If they are not merrily chirping away, they are screeching and fighting. On the first day it was amusing and refreshing. By the third day I wanted to hunt those bloody birds down and silence them (note the mild manner of speaking, don’t wanna bird lovers…)

I really enjoyed it, I must say. Because the cities were so far out, we decided to chill at the beach rather than drive out every day. This was a first for us as we always drive around checking out the sights and stuff. But I think we needed it. The weather was awesome. Overcast and windy most of the time, but made for great waves. The kids loved it. I took a few (unintentional) tumbles in the surf and flashed everyone in the process! You should have seen the boys frantically gesticulating me to cover up every time!! Hehe. It was fun and funny!! Sorry to those whom I exposed to me “slinger-velle” (they are not the same after 2 babies – rather then being on my chest, they are closer to the knees….). Good news is, I now bought a bather with extra support, that covers it all up – from chin to knee….so no more flashing people :o))

Then the pleasant silence was shattered with the arrival of SO’s sister & family – two sons (18 and the mistake of 19 months old – she’s 43, you wanna tell me that last one was not a mistake??) and a friend of the 18 YO.

I don’t mind them, I mind the fact that they expect this hyper little boy to sit still and follow orders. Anyone who’s had a busy boy will know this is impossible. They want to be entertained – play with them, distract them, get toys they can play with on their own. But no, these idiots (harsh I know, but that’s how mad they make me) truly expect this robust little boy to sit still. Boy, does this piss me off. And the complaints all the time “ooh, this child is naughty…” and “ooh, he makes me crazy” …. FFS’s…the child is NOT NAUGHTY he wants to play, man! Wake up! We (SO, myself and the two boys) ended up playing with him most of the time. He’s a sweet boy. A regular little terror, as most boys are at that age. It proves a point – don’t have a baby to patch up a marriage AND don’t have one after 35 (if you can help it). BIG MISTAKE.

And there was no means of escape. They followed us everywhere. Not the independent type of people who want to do their own things. Huh-uh. “What you doing today? Oh, Ok we’ll come with”. The only place they didn’t follow us to was the toilet. “For goodness sakes, grow up and go your own way”. We don’t have to do EVERYTHING together….I hate babysitting people.

Oh, that was not all, the house only had one bathroom & toilet. So getting ready was a mission. If you are up first, get done in the bathroom so that everyone else – as they awake – can finish up. But no, they wake up at 6 o’clock and sit around drinking coffee and chain smoking. When I come out (uberefficient – dressed and ready to go) to make breakfast, they are still in their PJ’s. So we ended up getting out of there – every day – at 12 ish. Talk about irritating.

There is more, but I won’t bore you with it. Suffice to say, I have decided that I would prefer not to go on holiday with other people. SO shares the sentiment. Entirely because he is sick and tired of hearing me bitch all the time. I will reconsider if we share the same ideas about how things should be done. There are very few people who share my sentiments….so I guess we will always be on our own. Did I mention that we are planning a road trip to Namibia this December? So far 3 couples have confirmed. Some more pending….whoo…..gee my krag asseblief!! I think we must get separate accommodation and sign off on our itinerary. Keep everyone in line…..okay I kid, I will have to deal with it all later

There are many other things I got to pondering over this holiday – like why do we (think we ~) need another person to complete us? Why do we love people who aren’t our family? Why do we fall in love? Are we meant to be monogamous for the rest of our lives once we’ve got that ring on our finger? Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Rather strange thoughts for a 37 year old (happily) married female, huh? People fascinate me. Relationships even more….

New Year’s Resolutions

I honestly couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do this year, but on the drive back from Durbs (had lots of time on my hands as SO decided to drive the whole way….something about me not sticking to the speed limits and speeding fines…) compiled my (very long) list ….

1. Quit smoking by end January (sigh, don’t know how I got myself into that one….)

2. Quit stealing smokes from SO by end Feb

3. Quit bumming smokes at work by end March

4. Really quit by end April ’08 – JIT for my B’day on MayDay!

5. Donate time to coach youngsters in my community (not that I have much to offer, but it’s better than doing nothing)

6. Obtain my PM Certification

7. Get a new job

8. Lose the 2 kg’s that I gained over the 3 weeks

9. Stop being such a bitch

All in all it is more than I had on my list last year. And I fully intend following through. I will have a problem with nr 9 though. It’s ingrained…..

Have a super day ya’ll!! Going visiting…..

xxx