Monte Casino Bird Park

Had huge fun today at Monte Casino Bird Park with Taz, Dani and Q. Thank God for patient friends as I arrive an hour late. Always forget how long it takes to get the two of us ready. Glad we are diesel fueled and that I don't have to tether up ten oxen or coax a grouchy camel into a tad of a rushed trot across the veld.

Rush out at last having locked only to realise that Christopher is shoeless and sockless. Consider going out this way and then think that would just be cruel. (On that note- think of the renditions of The Old Lady who Lived in a SHoe, on the walls at Christopher's nursery school. I cannot tell you how funny they were. Better than any adult cartoons that I have seen in ages and that with no captions... the range of fearsome specimens that were the Old Lady made Godzilla look like Bambi. But I digress...)

Buy some bird syrup at entrance. Sit down for lunch. Christopher feeling anti-pram. Eat Boerewors roll with one hand while holding him on my lap. He has plate of chips and tomato sauce in his hair and just about everywhere else. Leave small heap of half eaten chip discards under the table and the tomato sauce lid perched decorously on top (which had also had a good suck).

First sighting of a peacock. Christopher is keen to get his grubby hands on it. Another little boy wails in fear. I am straining to hold Christopher back. I suggest that we all go and have a look at the Peacock together and laugh at Christopher, saying, "you really want to get your hands on that bird." "And eat it by the looks of things," the father of the other child comments. Christopher's eyes sparkle.

Try to put Christopher in pram. Oscar winning performance. I am grateful that I am surrounded by knowing parents who play deaf. Even more grateful that Q offers to push pram so I can hold Christopher.

Go into first bird cage and am shocked at all the empty food containers littering the entrance. We open ours and are mobbed by feathered ones. I am too slow in trying to prise the lid off my container and I cry with laughter as the bird on my hands tries to bite me viciously to show his displeasure at how slow I am- which doesn't add to my speed. Tamzin is covered with birds because she has managed to get hers open. One of her birds craps on my jeans. Thanks, you feathered little bird brain. I like these little bits of excrement to spice up my otherwise dull life. Christopher and Dani a bit overwhelmed by this lot. Now I understand the litter at the entrance- previous feeders obviously beat a hasty retreat. Food gone, the feathered ones go as quickly as they came- I try to reach out to one that a moment earlier was all too keen to get on my hand. I get the cold shoulder (and back) as he waddles off- turning only to eye me beadily with birdy distaste.

In the big aviary- the birds are remarkably tame and we have a visitor on Christopher's pram who seems quite content to stay with us even when we push the pram. I make the mistake of putting Christopher down to walk, stooping over him as he drags me along. There are shrieks when I try to disengage to straighten out my aching back. Junior's tastes venture to bundu bashing and the most direct route to the objects of his pursuit. Unfortunately with the Big Stupid One in tow- she is rather ungainly and tends to hinder progress when met with Christopher-high barriers. I cannot believe how strong he is as he saunters underneath them and tries with all his might to drag me along after him. Good thing we don't have to catch our dinner, mom. Cos with your contribution to this team effort, we'd starve.

After that we went to visit Tanya. Great timing as she was just getting freshly baked banana bread out of the oven. But that is not the only thing freshly baked as Tanya has recently found out that she also has a bun in the oven and is 6 weeks pregnant. So, Christopher does a full demo for her of How Moms Keep in Shape Dashing Around Friend's House After Pint-Sized Agent of Mayhem, Finger-in-Gadget Inserter, Wannabe-Finger-in-Plug-hole Inserter, Furniture Finger Painter, Decor Rearranger, I-Make-The-Energiser-Bunny-look-like-a-narcoleptic-sloth-on valium. I tell Tanya this is great. She seems to have a doubtful look in her eye.

I am not looking forward to this week ahead. A roller coaster week where one peek at my diary and I feel vertiginously dizzy. You know that feeling where you're sitting right at the top of a really steep descent and you know it is inevitable- there's no getting off till the end- you are Committed. But at end of week- Yay!!! Going to the hairdresser- this is a major pleasure in my life. Then to movies with Pat and Loren- which seems to be a tradition now- before Loren or I give birth (she is about to pop) we go to movies. Before I gave birth to Christopher- it was Sex in the City. With my Mother-in-Law. But despite graphic sex scenes- we both had a good laugh and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. For some reason that escapes me now- I did not expect graphic sex scenes in Sex in the City.

Then after movies, James and I are off to a 40th birthday party- with an 80's theme at an Irish Club... Feels kinda weird that we are now going to 40th's! Feels even weirder knowing that your favourite 80's songs are now almost 30 years old...

So you think you love your dishwasher and Silver Linings

My cousin overseas, Nola, writes to say that she is getting a dishwasher and is so excited about it. I worry a bit for her cos she says that she got it off Gumtree for 50 Pounds (after diligent search of the keyboard I can find a dollar sign but not a pound sign- what does that tell you? About the world- not me, fool...) I suspected it would be a bit dodge- but heck I was impressed with the picture of it on her blog- didn't look dodge at all- looked pretty smart! http://www.stoneburble.blogspot.com/ if you must- I am short of time to blog here otherwise I would import her pic.

But - Noles is not the only one who loves her dishwasher. I don't know how anyone (especially anyone sans maid) manages without a dishwasher. Mine is brilliant- an AEG Favorit. But much as I love it- my little man loves it even more.

I have to laugh at him cos you have never seen such a scurry across the floor when the door of the dishwasher is open. No doubt as his weight goes above the 10kg mark the door is in jeopardy of busting off it's hinges as he clambers on enthusiastically- but in the meantime- the Big Stupid One is amused. Only thing is I have to keep a keen eye on him! Once I turned around and he was brandishing a steak-knife that he had pulled out of the dishwasher. I'm glad we don't have guns in the house. Why is it that little boys so naturally go for these things?

So I have been off everything lately. But find that my 2 favourite therapies never fail to soothe scurvy feathers- sleep and hot water (not both at the same time mind you). Managed to get a 2-hour afternoon nap yesterday - finally the advice kicks in- sleep when they sleep- what bliss. I felt like a new person. Till dreamtime this morning.

What a freakshow! Don't you hate those dreams that haunt you for most of the day and make you wonder about the competence of the little okes back at Command Central who seem to think that this is appropriate dreamtime entertainment. I read somewhere and I found it quite interesting that apparently- your mind never makes up a person's appearance in your dreams- they are all people that you have at one stage seen whether in person or on TV etc.

But moving right along from Freakshows to incredible wonderful sky shows. I took these photos on my way to work and then from my office window last week Wednesday. The cloud one was just to beautiful and my photographic skills and little cellphone camera don't do it justice- it really was a breathtaking reminder to look out for the silver linings in your life even when the sky is cloudy.

Visit to Francesca

It was a dark and stormy...morning. Well not quite, but dark and buggering cold. But this was just the excuse to purchase Malva pudding and custard. Perfect weather for it. In a rush as late to see Francesca. Scurry into the shop clutching Christopher. Mentally figure I can forgo basket, pram, trolley and any other mod cons as I can manage 2 items- Malva pudding and custard. Well, you would think. Remember my pre-mommy days when I would silently judge mommies that must have looked like I did today. Did not reckon on Christopher honing up on his dummy spitting and teddy throwing skills (hope that this is not a foretaste of things to come...like tobacco spitting and cow tipping). Scrabble around on the floor. About 10 times. Retrieve dummy. Teddy. Dummy. Malva. Wallet. Dummy. ...Plop dummy from floor into Christopher's mouth (for want of any other place to put it barring my own mouth). Psychically cringe from the vibes of those who have not travelled this path. Did that bloody idiot just pop that dummy back into her kid's mouth after it has been on the floor? I'm amazed she hasn't bleedin well managed to drop the darn kid yet. They shouldn't allow the likes of her to breed. Poor kid doesn't stand a chance unless his father has a bit more in the cranial way than she does. She practically leopard crawled the whole way to the till. It's bloody embarrassing...

I scurry out. Head down. Wishing I had on sunglasses. Dark ones. And a balaclava.

Soon cheered up when I saw Francesca though. As you can see from the photo's above- she looks ridiculously good for someone who gave birth less than a month ago. Christopher loved the dog. A new edition in the Rosolen family. For the life of me, I can't remember his name. Roxette - keeps coming to mind though but I know that's not it! Ah shit. Now the mental jukebox has just put Dressed for Success on the turntable. Yes that is very appropriate. Well done chaps. So long as you're all amusing yourselves in there.

There are pictures of me as a toddler with the Schnauzer I used to have- so I have always had a soft spot for these little dogs. I love dogs. Other people's dogs. I am not much into poop patrol in my own yard. And obedience training, when my work on hubby is hardly a staggering success story. Anyway, as he always says- he is a work in progress.

Though it would appear that hubby is less of a work in progress than my brother-in-law. Apparently, my Mom-in-law was helping him to get his house show-ready today as he is selling it. Unfortunately, he split from a girlfriend a while back and she left a small memento of herself. Well. Not so small. A big pink dildo if you will. Anyway, his philosophy being waste not want not and recycling and all- he threw it out for the dog as a chew toy. And, forgot to remove it before his Mom came around. So she was greeted by Fido (or whatever his name is) with a dildo flapping in his jowls. He seemed pretty happy. Hopefully, he is not so happy when potential buyers arrive tomorrow.

I look forward to Christopher being old enough to choose his own doggie one day. I get such vicarious joy watching him with Doggies. In the meantime though- I have got him LUCKY! For his birthday so shhh. Lucky is fluffy toy mongrel that according to the box will follow 15 spoken commands. Incentive to learn to talk I figure. Though will probably not go down to well if I am instructed to play dead or bark a song. I was pretty pleased with myself. LUCKY was the last poor bastard of his type on the shelf. There were other similar command creatures going for R350. LUCKY's box looked like he had tried to chew his way out of it (box didn't say anything about a chew command- hope this is not going to be a problem...). So, get to till and brave embarrassment as previous clientele are hovering about. Please can I see your store manager. He duly appears. I would like (ah can you 2 just piss off- you've bought and paid for your stuff and this ain't a fekking show) a discount on this dog. As you can see the box is very shop-soiled. Manager proceeds to tell me (and my audience)(watch and learn you plonkers) that he cannot. WTF do you mean you CANNOT (thought but not said). You see- this is our suppliers' problem. Ke? But I am a customer in your shop! No need to ask my officious manager to elaborate for me (and my fekking audience. The show's not over chaps) he orates on...You see, we can send this back to the supplier and they will give us the full price back. This sounds surprisingly logical and like I am about to be check mated. I graciously surrender my king. I understand OK, no problem. "But how much are you willing to pay for this thing?" He picks it up and regards it like a Sandton housewife would regard 1-ply bog roll. (Oh shit, you mean I'm still in the game here? Mind goes into a kamikaze dive trying to figure out where my man's bottom line is (while we're on the metaphor of bogroll and all). Audience visibly intrigued. 150 Ront? I ask hopefully, with my voice and my eyebrows raising in a telltale question mark.

So yay! I got LUCKY for R150! Oh come on. You know what I bloody mean.

Granny Linda Came to Visit

Granny Linda came to visit today. At first Christopher was a tad anti-social when we went to fetch him from his cot, but as you can see, he soon warmed up to his GanGan. He was eyeing out Gan's hair and could see that he was keen to get a handful of it. He doesn't get to see many redheds. What bliss, to lie in bed till 6.30am this morning having taken the day off to spend with my Mom. Can't believe that 6.30am qualifies as a lie in these days! Mom and Dad have a TomTom. Sad day when your parents are more technologically advanced than you are. Not that this takes much where I am concerned. I am still awestruck by fire and the wheel. Took Christopher to a new paed today. Will be back to my old one with my tail between my legs. It's nice to have a second opinion when you are worried about something. But this guy today made me fear that the next ice age was imminent. May have had something to do with the fact that I was 15 minutes late. Not my fault they were digging up the roads around the hospital. I don't know- but got the feeling it was just a job to him and felt cross that he could be so business-like when my son was flashing him his sweetest smiles. So anyway- he says that Christopher has a bit of asthma but that this does not mean that he will have it when he grows up. Oiy. Hope not!! Scary. Poor little mite. He then spoke to me very seriously about the fact that Christopher must not smoke. Um...ok. Christopher- we're throwing your fags away as soon as we get home. I know you like to have one after you've hit the bottle and all, but Doc says no, ok? No more fags. Good boy. On that note- I am wondering if the cravings will ever go away??? It has been 19 months and still- I dream about having one. Anyway, no smokes, no grass, no alcohol. Poobaroo doesn't need all that. Mommy blew the bank on drugs today. What is it with these Pharmaceutical companies? I think that they all get together and shnarff vast quantities of their own product and then set their prices in a drug-addled high.

Jou Ma se Blerrie Blog

James asked if I wanted anything from the shops while he was there. "Would love a Chocolate Log." Look in bag hopefully when he arrives home. Bar One and slab of Turkish Delight. No Chocolate Log. Not even hiding under the bread rolls. Come out, come out ,wherever you are- I don't want to hurt you, I just want to EAT you! Nope. "No Chocolate Log Love?" (voice still hopeful). I thought you said you wanted a chocolate bar! (what is it with men?) Oh well. No use complaining- have polished off half a slab of Turkish Delight. James has cooked dinner, made me tea and now he is waiting in bed for his tea. He says anytime before midnight will do. Reminds me of Yes Man that we watched over the weekend with Jim Carey. There's this chick that he fancies that sings, "I'm not your late night booty call. You can call me at 10.59 but don't call me at 11..." James has been singing it ever since. Catchy tune. Anyway- if you are a mother and you feel like a good laugh check out http://www.joumaseblerrieblog.blogspot.com/ . Very funny and it won the best Parenting Blog for 2009 by the South African Blog awards. I felt really old today. Worked out that I have been out of school for 17 years!!! How did that happen? James and I have started looking at schools for young Christopher. Unbelievable that to get in a good school we have to book him in now. So he's officially on the waiting list for 2014- for Grade R for the same school that both his Dad and his Granddad went to. Apparently Brother Cornelius was chuffed to hear from James and says it is always great to hear from the Old Boys when they want to put their kids into the school. SO James chats to the admissions lady and says I have to be honest with you- my wife is a Baptist (I am???) I don't really know what I am, but I never thought that I would be sending my little man to a Catholic School. James says he'll start going to church with little Christopher. Now this I'd like to see. I took him once with me to my church and he told me it was all, "tits and teeth"!!! Now if you can figure out which church I took him to... you win the "Smart- Arse" award of the year. Luckily, we don't have much of an issue about religion in our home. I met a wonderful girl the other night when I went around to Tanya's for a girls' get together where we watched her wedding video. Kirsten. Beautiful girl. How she was even remotely normal- I don't know. He dad was Orthodox Catholic and her mom was a cross Anglican/Jehovah's witness. Apparently they made her go to church 8 times a week until at 12 she told them both she would never go again. That is one thing I must say I love- is my girl's get togethers- they keep me sane and I am so grateful to James for this time-out. Bookclub on Saturday. Looking forward to that- although have not finished my book- The 19th Wife- about the latter day saints. I was really enjoying it- but a few pages in decided that I was going on a positive diet and would only be watching and reading "happy" stuff. My little boy was 11 months this past weekend. I cannot believe how quickly his first year is going. Soon I will have a toddler and my little baby will disappear. Sad! He weighs 9.7kgs and is 71cm tall. Sometimes as frayed as the end of my tether may get when he refuses to go to sleep- if i put him down in his cot and give him his teddy and his dummy- he screams his little heart out and throws both at me in a juvenile temper and I can't help but laugh at him. I never realised that the saying, "throwing your toys out of the cot", was actually literal. But Christopher is not one to be limited by cliche. He throws his dummy out too for good measure and then rails against the cot barrier and howls and fumes for his tardy (weary, cursing, amused) servant to fetch him. Yes Master...there in the jiffiest of jiffs...

Grow Down!!

How do you feel about locking children in dark cupboards? Until I had Christopher, I thought this was a pretty excellent place to store them.

I have been thinking lately that this is what we do with our own inner children. They are neglected and stuffed away out of sight, out of mind and then we wonder why we are stressed, we wonder why we are down, we wonder why we feel incomplete. We wonder where the spark in our lives has gone and where the fun went. And then we feel guilty because we should be thinking about the million and one things that we have to do...should do...must do. We are all our own Atlas- bearing the weight of our adult worlds on our shoulders. But in our case this punishment is not inflicted by some malicious gods up Mount Olympus. No- much closer to home- generally by ourselves.

I admit there are times when we do have to be very grown up. But surely not every second of every day. How often does your inner child see the light of day? Would she even know how to come out and play?

Imagine a bunch of 4 years olds...Now imagine them acting like a bunch of 40 year olds? Are they having fun? In my imagination- no.

If I think about it- some of my memories of when I was most happy- my cherised memories are generally not of times when I was acting my most adult.

Sometimes- don't we just take ourselves and it all a little too seriously? And where does it get us? So for my part- I think a lot of us need to take the time to Grow Down! (even for a little while). This should not be confused with a ho-down. If you want a giggle- go and have a look at the rather bawdy definitions of a ho-down on http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ho%20down . And yes- that is another oft neglected childhood skill- laughing at the silly- seeing the ridiculous and delighting in nonsense.

For some help for those of you who have no idea what I am cracking on about- take a look at this site : http://www.stilesdesigns.com/ . That really appealed to my inner child and my imagination. Look at a few of the pictures from the site below:

I love that- Tree Houses and Forts even you can build... License to dream. I think that's what having a child gives you. I have been dreaming of a fort for Christopher and would love to get my hands on this book. Hopefully the dream doesn't end there.

When I was younger, my Dad built my brother and I a "treehouse". I use the term loosely. It never got past its stilt foundations. I can't remember why he never finished it. I can't remember if I ever asked. We did however still play on the structure that we referred to affectionately as the bomb shelter. My Dad is incredibly good with the DIY side and I don't mean destroy-it-youself. That is my speciality and I am such a ninny when it comes to these things I am even afraid of drills. I once tried though to hang a picture myself. I managed to relieve the wall of a chunk of plaster the size of a tennis ball. Luckily, once the picture was hung- it covered up all the evidence of my drilling operation (looked more like serious shrapnel damage). Another childish delight- plasters with pictures on them. I managed to skin my toe- but I find great delight in looking down at my toes in the bath and seeing my toe neatly wrapped in a Batman Plaster. Nice to think about when I am being adult and in my work clothes. I have a batman plaster on my toe. Batman is definitely one of my favourites. Another childish delight- I love Marvel comic movies. Pure escapism and a return to childish optimism and the way the world should be- where you know the good guy is going to win in the end- even if he does have to wear a rather kinky leather get-up to achieve this. When I grow up I want to drive the Bat mobile... But given that it recently sold for $297 000, maybe not. But so good to see that someone out there is living one of my favourite bumper stickers, seen on the bumbers of obscenely expensive cars: It's never too late to have happy childhood.

Loving the Doggies at Dougies

Christopher loves Dogs. These mutts are very cute and live with Doug and AJ. So far, Christopher's favourites were Malcolm's flock of Yorkshire terriers- and I mean a flock- he has about 6 of the little guys- and something I have never seen before- an all blonde Yorkie- gorgeous.

These were the first dogs that Christopher ever got up close and personal with- and he was mesmerised (Malcolm had invited us to show Christopher all the beautiful Christmas lights that he had put up over his house- but Christopher wasn't the least interested in the lights- he only had eyes for the doggies). One of them growled at him but she couldn't help being a bitch.

I was surprised when I took Christopher for his first walk in his pram around our block. The dogs barked and he didn't cry or even seem to care.

Often when I either arrive or leave home- there is a crowd of beagles across the road that chatter to me from behind their gate and I chatter back to them. The other day I took Christopher to introduce him through the gate and the smile on his face was so wonderful to see- even when the one started barking, Christopher turns to me as if to say, "WOw Mom! These are the best!" and then he returned his gaze and his grin to the beagles.

Autumn is here

We went to visit Doug and AJ on our Worker's Day Holiday last Friday (1 May) and I noticed the Autumn trees for the first time in their garden- beautiful. We had a wonderful lunch with them and watched a slideshow they had put together of their trip to Angola. They should both go into tourism because at the end of it- I was seriously considering moving there. There were so many fascinating things that they told us about the place and the pictures were incredible.

Noticing trees- I noticed something I had never noticed about palm trees before as I was stuck in traffic driving home from work today- they sparkle! None of the other trees shine. I have never been one for palms- but in the late afternoon light- they were shining and beautiful.

Time for bed! By the way- the time on my posts is not accurate. A few people have commented on it- but I can assure you that I never blog away at 3 in the morning! I think my blog is on American time.

A Dinghy Bashing rather than a Scuttled Ship?

Ah- may have an answer on the slideshow- Web Albums are temporarily unavailable.... So beloved slideshow may do a prodigal on me. Shame. 3 new mommies returned from maternity work to leave today (I've just reread this sentence- how's that for a Freudian slip- I think I will leave it as is cos I am sure any mommy out there will know what I mean!). I don't envy them at all. I remember how hard it was for me to come back to work and how quickly you realise once you have had your first baby how inadequate 4 months of maternity leave really is. Anyway- I have passed my Rescue Remedy around- I keep it in my handbag for when Life leaves me feeling haggard. Boy- those first few months as a new mom. Gees- I have never felt so overwhelmed in my whole life. But glad to say that what friend mommies told me- ie that it just gets better- was right on the snout- happily so!

Slide show -No show???

How enormously disappointing. Where is my slideshow??? It was working perfectly last night and I was so proud of the darn thing. Is it just taking awhile to download or has it bloggered off? Sorry Bookies!!! Maybe if you just leave it on and get on with something else it could just be something that takes a while to download... I will try to redo when I get the chance- so check back in a few days if you have no luck.

Welcome Little Alessandro Rosolen

We went to visit Francesca and her new little babba at the Wilgeheuwel Hospital on Friday. Have a look at the slide show on the right of the pics we took when we were there. The slide show is on the right handside of the screen under the picture of the light of my life! SO a BIG welcome to little Alessandro Rosolen. I hope that I spelt it right. As you can see he is gorgeous and so tiny! I can't remember exact weight but around 2,9kg's! Francesca as always looks fantastic and this just does not seem right given that she had just given birth on the Wednesday! Anyway, she is back home with baby. Nando (Francesca's hubby ) gave James and I a huge fright because he was the first to appear in the viewing window carrying the baby in his arms all wrapped up in a blanket. Next thing he dropped it on the floor and he drops down to his hands and knees and leaps back up again grinning with the empty blanket that he had been carrying and Francescawheels the Real Baby in. Nando thought his prank was hysterical. James and my blood pressure ratcheted up a few (significant) notches. The other 3 gorgeous little boys in the pictures- are on my side of the glass- Christopher, on Francesca's side- her other 2 sons- Sebastiano and Stefano ( I hope that I have spelt their names right). As you can see everyone had fun goofing around except for little Alessandro who found us all a bit of a yawn. So Francesca and Nando- Congratulations on your beautiful little boy! As an aside I have to share with you that I am so chuffed with myself for getting the slideshow on the blog. Gees- for a blonde- I impress myself. It took long enough trying to figure out how the heck to do it and I am not quite sure that I would know how to do it all over again. Feel a bit like Edison with his grillion attempts at a light bulb. And finally when it actually works. Yay!!!! Internal peanut gallery just wondered if Mr Tom got mindlessly drunk on the day that he finally succeeded. James and I watched Australia over last night and this morning (this is what happens when you get old - you can't even finish a movie in one sitting but it is around 3 hours long!!! and I had come back from a day in Cape Town and was pretty shattered). Anyway- a beautiful film- not at all what I was expecting- very light-hearted for the most part and joyful and uplifting- though a definite tear-jerker in parts, but watching Hugh Jackman made up for that. About the Stolen Generation in Australia and a love story. Beautiful. The nicest movie I've watched since Marley and Me. Right just saw off the Ginger Ninja- man would I like to give that furrball a nice cold shower. Bedtime!