Lessons learnt this Monday..

1. Daniel does not like peas

2. Hiding peas in banana will not fool my little Einstein

3. If I insist on force-feeding him peas - in the hope he will suddenly change his mind and love them - then I must deal with the consequences of projectile green pea vomit all over my new wool jersey!

Lesson learnt!

There are still good people in the world..

This is Margaret - Margaret is the person who keeps life at our house running smoothly, she is also one of Daniel's favourite people in the whole world.

Last year, when I went into labour with Daniel at 31 weeks, we hired Margaret to take over some of the heavy work around our house so as to allow me to rest more. Since then she has become so much more to our family, but especially to Daniel. Daniel absolutely adores her. When she comes in in the mornings he gives her the biggest smile you have ever seen and he loves spending time with her during the day.

Even though she was originally hired just to help with our home, she is now so important to Daniel that I don't think we could ask her to leave even if I wanted to - which I obviously don't. She loves playing with him and whenever he is grumpy and nothing (I do) is working, Margaret puts him on her back like you see in the picture, and he calms right down and will happily "chat" with her while she goes about her day. The way she is carrying him here is the traditional Afrcan way to carry a baby and it is so soothing to Daniel that he completely forgets his grumpiness.

I am a firm believe that you can tell a lot about a person by the way babies react to them - same as how animals react to people tells you a lot about their character.. based on this, I know Margaret is one of the good people of the world.. Daniel loves her, and we are so lucky to have her.

Thank you Margaret.. from Adam and myself, but most especially from Daniel...

Rambling thoughts...

So here I sit at my machine.. wondering if I am even going to post this or just keep it to myself. I guess if you are reading this now, then it means I decided to share it with the world..

As you all know, I have been really emotional about Kayleigh for the past month or so.. especially with her passing... Today I have felt really down - I think the fact that Daniel is ill and we are not getting much sleep definitely has something to do with it..Anyway, Adam told me a story at dinner tonight that has reduced me to tears. I know some of you must be wondering what on earth is going on with me..and the truth is.. I don't know!

The story that Adam told me at dinner concerns child abuse and for some reason it has affected me so badly that I am an emotional wreck at the moment.. let me back-track.

Today I have been trying to find a story (or piece of news or politics) for me to blog about. I have been looking for a topic that means something to me..I have searched in our local newspaper as well as our national newspapers, trying to find something to inspire a post that does not focus on my chilren.

Okay okay, I know this post is rambling a bit.. and a bit without flow, but stay with me..please..

So tonight Adam tells me this story and I just fall apart - yes, I managed to hold it together until Caleb was in bed. The thing is this..

I won't go into detail with this story that Adam told me, but the abuse was horfic, and I keep thinking about this poor child and what he has suffered at the hands of his drugged up father and the agony this child must have suffered, and I think about how absolutely wrong the world is to allow this small child to suffer so much, and yet people like Aimee and Adam (Kayleigh's parents) who have lost their little girl would give anything to have her with them.

How does the world (read fate.. or God) allow Kayleigh to die and yet leaves this poor sweet child in the care of a drug addict who inflicted such horrific abuse on his own child??? How can that be right?

Don't tell me about His greater plan.. or that it all has a reason.. what plan or reason can there be for leaving a child with such a monster and yet take Kayleigh away from such loving parents..

I wanted to write so much more about this topic.. but I feel physically exhausted and emotionaly drained.. so I am going to stop typing now.. and try to forget..I am not going to even spell check.. I know there are errors.. but I just don't have the energy to change them..

Let me forget..

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

High:
Daniel has finally cut his two front teeth.. yay! It only took about 6 weeks..He has been drooling like an overgrown hound for weeks now. I have been covered in drool from the moment I wake up till the moment I shut my eyes.. aaahhhh the joys of motherhood!

Low:
Daniel is sick - we are not sure yet if it is just teeth related, or if he is really ill. I have an appointment with the Doc for him in about an hour will keep you posted!

Low:
Kayleigh.. I wonder.. what is the norm? Is there a norm? What is the norm for mourning someone you never met? Could someone give me some insight into this so I have some idea of what I am in for? Every day life carries on as normal.. but she is always there in the back of my mind - in the quiet places when nobody else is around.. Kayleigh is always there. I cannot look at Daniel without being reminded of what Aimee and Adam have lost. RIP baby girl..
Sorry Hi/Lo Thursday is late, but we had to redo my whole machine last night as I had a virus.. :( Thankfully it is now fixed :)

Are those...? They can't be???

Today I was training with Jade (see above post) and we decided to go for a cup of coffee (See * below unless you are my Mother-in-Law) at the end of the day because the training finished early. On the same grounds as the building we were training in, there is an eatery called Coffee and Fringes, and Jade and I both had a look at the menu - and then decided we would prefer something a little stronger - so we ordered a Savannah. Side note to readers - I tried to order a Savannah Light, and Jade said, "Why bother with a light, we are only going to have one". Jade is a bad bad influence ... We order our drinks and then begin the light chatter and looking around that one does whilst waiting for your order to arrive.

One of us (I am not sure who) suddenly notices that there is a gentleman standing a little way along the railing and something is not quite right with his ensemble... then we look closer - and sure enough, he is wearing purple slippers...Double take!! What??? That's right, purple slippers...

I wonder if the lady he was chatting to on the phone is aware of his..ummm... preferences?

*It was never really our intention to order coffee, I just added that in there for my Mother-in-Laws benefit as she was on duty looking after my children while I was "working"

Body After Baby Week 3

Okay Okay, so I should have done this on Monday.. or yesterday.. but the truth is, when I arrived home last night I was so tired that I did not even go online at all.. can you believe it? Me.. the addict.. not online at all.. you must know how tired I was..

I did not do very well last week.. I did not lose any weight, but I did manage to go to Gym every day except Wednesday .. so yay for that .. at least it was something..lol

My goals for this week:

1. Go to gym every day that I am not working.
2. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day
3. Cut out sugary snacks
4. Have the scale go down, even by a little bit!

I pray I can be a little more disciplined this week - the wheels really came off last week! I blame my friend Jade... she took me out for cocktails last week, and cocktails really interfere with ones diet!

This is Jade....Naughty naughty Jade leading me astray off my diet!

One day at a time!

A balloon for Kayleigh

Yesterday at 16h00 people all over the world released balloons in honour of Kayleigh.. we were part of it.. I feel so blessed to have been able to contribute to her memory in some way.

As I watched this balloon fly away, was the first time since her death last week that I was able to think of her and smile a little...Does it seem crazy that I miss someone I never met? Possibly. Do I feel a little out of whack with reality because I am in mourning for a little girl who I have only read about? Probably. Do I think I am alone in this? Definitely not. I know that there are literally thousands of people all over the world who are mourning this sweet baby girls death.

Rand Air Show

Yesterday we took the boys to an air show - What you need to understand is that my husband comes from a family of pilots. My Father-in-Law is a pilot, so is Adam's eldest brother, and his cousin and his uncle - On top of that they all love anything with an engine and speed. Planes, bikes and cars are the order of the day in this family! Add to that the fact that I am mad about motorbikes and aeroplanes. I dated a couple of pilots before I met Adam, and I absolutely love living near OR Tambo (South Africa's largest international airport) because it means that I can watch the planes coming in and out. In fact, my fascination with aircraft is so obsessive that I sometimes have to focus when I am driving so as not to crash on the highway because I am staring at the aircraft landing.. Caleb seems to have developed the same love of aircraft and he goes absolutely nuts whenever we see one..

Right, now that I have set the scene..

Adam, my Father-in-Law (Mike), myself and the boys head off to the air show. We take (one of) Mike's cars (4X4) and off we go. So on the way there, Mike keeps swerving into other lanes..and I start wondering if he has been drinking? Keeping in mind that it is 09h00 in the morning, I am a little concerned. Then I start paying closer attention to when he is swerving into other lanes, and it dawns on me that he is trying to miss the puddles - when I ask him why he is trying to miss the puddles in the road, he informs me that it is so the car won't get dirty...??? Pardon??? lol.. what you should understand about my FIL is that he is meticulous about his cars. This is a man who will get up at 05h00 and spend 3 hours washing and polishing a car. In fact, he puts so much weight in how a person looks after their vehicle, that I find myself making sure my car is spotless when I am going to see him..

Anyway, after I tease him about not wanting to get the tyres of his 4X4 dirty/wet (am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?), we make our way to the show. We had a lovely morning watching all the aircraft, and I must admit that I love the old planes.. there is something so majestic about them. The aircraft in the video is 53 years old - it still has roll down windows.. can you believe it???

So after we have been there for a couple of hours, Caleb decides he wants a hotdog - so off he and I go to find him one - only to discover that the queues are horrendous. I, naturally, try to persuade my first born child that perhaps he desires some other form of nourishment for his lunch - I even offer ice-cream or crisps out of desperation. But no, he is standing firm and it must be a hotdog (see stamping foot)!

So we stand in the queue.. and it is moving as slow as a wet weekend.. so we stand.. and we inch forward.. and we stand and we inch some more. The people behind me are.... lets see.. how do I put this? Umm.. the people behind me are not my cup of tea. The lady has on enough make up to start her own drag queen extravaganza, and the man is not wearing any shoes - Now keep in mind that it is winter in South Africa!!! How can you not be wearing shoes man??? No wonder people on the East Rand have a bad reputation!

Just in case you are wondering, we are still standing.. and still inching...

Eventually we get the hotdog - after about an hour in the queue - naturally, Caleb has 3 bites and then decides he does not want anymore.. grrrr... thinking rude words, but not saying them! I missed the best part of the show because I was stuck in a hotdog queue behind a tent watching make up run off the face of a lady who was standing too close to me.. So the above video is the only aircraft I actually saw that I was interested in!

And to top it all off, when we arrived back at Mike's car it was filthy.. and I mean filthy.. covered in dust and dirt from all the cars driving past... ha ha ha.. that made me feel a little better.. Does that make me a meanie? Nah... it just makes me human with a wicked sense of humour!

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

High:
Adam and I were finally paid a rather large amount of money that has been owing to us since February - and because it has now been paid, we were able to squish a large portion of our debt!

Low:
Kayleigh.. what more can I say about this...On top of the obvious tragedy, I just feel so completely let down by fate.

How could this have been her fate when she fought so hard and for so long? I mean what was the point of all that suffering only to lose in the end? Adam and Aimee love her so very much, not to mention all the people like me around the world who fell in love with this little Angel.. only to have her torn from us just as she was reaching her goal? What a cruel mistress fate has turned out to be, and I for one am not warmed by any of the "upbeat" things everyone keeps telling me when it comes to Kayleigh.

I know that is a horrible way to look at it, and I do feel guilty for feeling this way, but this is how I feel.

First time ever...

Caleb had homework yesterday for the first time ever!

He had to learn the meaning of the word "migrate" and he had to make an Autumn tree - I loved helping him with it.. made me feel like a real school mommy...

Body After Baby Week 2

Well, last week I did pretty well:
I went to gym 5 days - considering I had a toddler with Gastro, I think I did well..lol
I lost 0.7kgs this week - which I think works out to about 1.5lbs.. so I am a bit short there, but something is better than nothing!
I cut down on my sugar, but it is still not where I want it to be.
Lets not talk about snacking in general, it was not a good week when it comes to this goal.

My goals for next/this week:

To lose 1kg - 2.2lbs
To cut out all sugar
To only snack on healthy food
To get to gym at least 5 times in the week
and to drink 2litres of water a day!

Away Baby Fat Away!

Kayleigh Anne Freeman

Kayleigh passed away yesterday - anyone who has been following my blog knows how I feel about this baby girl.

I am heart-broken.. the tears flow freely... there are no words at the moment..

Shock... heartache...

Rest in Peace baby girl.. you are so loved and will be missed more than you know...

Winter Walk

Caleb is still at home.. hold on.. rewind.... I don't think I blogged about this yet...???

Last week Thursday Caleb started complaining of a tummy ache and by midnight all hell had broken loose in our house. So first thing Friday morning I took him to ER - he has a tummy bug and has had to take antibiotics (which I hate) for it.

Anyway, he is much better now, but still battling a few issues, so he is still not back at school - So yesterday we were all suffering with a bit of "cabin fever", so I wrapped them both up and took them out for a walk.

Caleb had a fabulous time chasing leaves and collecting sticks (why do little boys need to collect every stick they find?). But poor Daniel was not won over by this walking thing at all. Daniel is quite sensitive when it comes to loud noises, and every house we walked past had huge dogs and they would bark and carry on as if we - a mom and two wee boys - were a threat to their safety.. So Daniel would burst into tears like someone had broken his heart every time a dog would bark.. poor little wee one...

So although we enjoyed the walk, we did practically run some of the way to get away from the dogs!

I feel so blessed..

I feel so loved and blessed.. my boys (Adam included) really spoilt me yesterday - but the most special thing I received was a card from Caleb and Daniel with these words:

I don't recall the first time you held me

or when I first heard your voice.

But from the first moment you held me in your arms,

you made the most selfless choice.

You chose to change your busy life

so that my life could begin.

You are my shelter from the rain,

on you I can depend.

Even though you cannot always be right beside me,

your love is matched by no other

And I thank God each day for his greatest gift:

Making you my mother

How sweet was that? Really made me cry.. but those happy joyful kind of tears that only the love for a child can bring.

Adam also gave me a beautiful card from a husband to the mother of his children - and he said such beautiful things in that card, but that is private..:) Adam gave me a beautiful Tanzanite ring..it is so special.. every time I look at it I am reminded of my greatest role in life - namely that of mother and wife.

Adam, Caleb and Daniel thank you so much for letting me be part of your lives - I love all three of you so very much - I would not swap our life for anything. You enrich my soul and bring happiness to my heart - the kind of love and happiness that some people only dream of -

I am so blessed

A wish from Heaven..

So I will write two posts about Mother's Day.. my first is very difficult to write, and in fact, now that I have begun it, I don't really want to go into detail..

This message goes out to all the moms who have lost a child/ren. It can be very hard on days such as Mother's Day.. When I know that there should be more little squigly signatures on my Mother's Day card..enough said..

A Mother’s Day Wish From Heaven

Dear Mr. Hallmark,

I am writing to you from heaven, and though it must appear
A rather strange idea, I see everything from here.
I just popped in to visit, your stores to find a card
A card of love for my mother, as this day for her is hard.

There must be some mistake I thought,
every card you could imagine
Except I could not find a card, from a child who lives in heaven.
She is still a mother too, no matter where I reside
I had to leave, she understands, but oh the tears she’s cried.

I thought that if I wrote you, that you would come to know
that though I live in heaven now, I still love my mother so.
She talks with me, and dreams with me; we still share laughter too,
Memories our way of speaking now, would you see what you could do?

My mother carries me in her heart, her tears she hides from sight.
She writes poems to honor me, sometimes far into the night
She plants flowers in my garden, there my living memory dwells
She writes to other grieving parents, trying to ease their pain as well.

So you see Mr. Hallmark, though I no longer live on earth
I must find a way, to remind her of her wondrous worth
She needs to be honored, and remembered too
Just as the children of earth will do.

Thank you Mr. Hallmark, I know you’ll do your best
I have done all I can do; to you I’ll leave the rest.
Find a way to tell her, how much she means to me
Until I can do it for myself, when she joins me in eternity.~

by Jody Seilheimer ~

All fall down!

So please just excuse the chicken sound half-way through - that is the ring on Adams mobile..lol.. my husband!

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

For my international readers, the background is this:

South Africa does not have an effective public transport system. There is no underground (tube) and the rail service that we do have is in a horrendous state. The trains are mostly old and not very well maintained. They are a safety risk - both from a maintenance point of view and personal safety with regard to crime.

We have a taxi industry, but it is not the kind of taxi you may be familiar with. This industry is (mostly) the only form of transport that the poor have in South Africa. A taxi, in South Africa, usually means a minibus, which generally seats around 14 people. The taxi industry in South Africa is run by a few taxi bosses who make a great deal of money and mostly feel they are above the law. The majority of serious and fatal accidents on South Africa's roads are caused by taxis. Most car owners in South Africa will tell you that their biggest headache on the roads (especially in peak times) is caused by taxis. Mostly (yes I am generalising) taxis do not obey the rules of the road. They use the emergency lanes to reach their destinations faster, they jump across traffic-lights before they turn green, they cut in front of anyone and everyone in the traffic, they over-load their vehicles and their worst offence is to not maintain their vehicles at an acceptable level - the most dangerous thing I have ever seen was a taxi with no steering wheel, the driver was using a wrench to steer. Say What?

End of background, start of grievance..

Now, the South African Government has been trying to launch a new bus system so as to improve our public transport ahead of 2010 (Soccer World Cup) as well as, in the long run, provide a safe and reliable transport system for the workers and poor in South Africa. As you can imagine, the taxi industry is not very happy with this idea as it will be direct competition for them. So, instead of taking their grievances to government in a formal manner and following procedures, what do they do??? They decide to threaten the very government who is their only hope of survival.

We are now under threat that taxi bosses will not allow government to implement this system as they say they "will hold the country to ransom, start a war, there will be bloodshed and they will cripple the economy" if government do not give them what they want.. ummm.. PARDON??

They strike, blockade roads, go on the rampage and generally raise hell on South Africa's (Gauteng province) national roads. They fire guns, beat each other up and intimidate bus drivers. They then threaten Government that if their demands are not met they will disrupt The Soccer World Cup.

And so, in response to these threats, our new President today announced that we will be putting BRT on hold until further investigation is done into how this will affect the taxi industry..

Well done Jacob Zuma.. well done! Once of your first acts as President of South Africa is to cave under manipulation from a lawless industry..

Hi/Low Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

Highs:
Both boys are healthy (Can I get a WOOHOO). Adam and I are healthy! And last, but certainly not least, I am back on my diet after a two week break and have lost 0.7kgs since Monday!

Lows:
A friends son was run over by a car on Monday - at first they did not think he had any serious injuries, but he is now in ICU on a ventilator.
A dear friend has been trying to get pregnant for a long long time - this week we thought she may finally get a positive on a test, only to get another negative.
And of course Kayleigh.. always Kayleigh.. my heartbreak over this story grows with each week...

How do I love thee Biscuit.. Let me count the ways..

I recently remembered the teething biscuits that I used to give Caleb when he was little... so I tried one with Daniel and the above video is the result.. boy does this child love his food!

Body after Baby cont..

Okay.. so apparently I was supposed to blog about my goals for this challenge... sorry.. I forgot.. but I am sure you will forgive me considering the sleep deprivation thing I keep going on about...

So here they are.. my goals for this challenge..

1. I would like to lose 1kg (2.2lbs) per week.
2. Go to gym 5 times per week - 6 if possible
3. Stop unhealthy snacking
4. Break my sugar addiction

Wow... that sounds really tough...

So far this week I have done really well (0kay it is only Tuesday, but every bit helps). I went to gym yesterday and today. I was only weak once yesterday and once today - Two sugary snacks.. I know that may sound like a lot, but you need to understand that I am a sugar addict the true sense of the word, so only having sugar once a day is a pretty big deal for me. My plan is to get better and better with each passing day, and to not beat myself up if I am not 100% strong all the time, but to take it one hour at a time and congratulate myself for every small achievement.

Also, I am supposed to post a "before" picture, but I am so embarrassed by what it looks like that I cannot bring myself to do it.. so I plan to post it with my "after" picture at the end of the challenge..

Watch this space..

Laughter Lives Tuesday!

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

About 10 minutes ago we, Caleb, Adam and myself, are sitting at the dinner table eating Caleb's favourite - Spaghetti Bolognaise. All during dinner Caleb had been getting more and more bolshy - it may have had something to do with the lime milkshake he devoured this afternoon - anyway.. Adam was becoming more and more frustrated with Caleb's behaviour at the table (I, like any exhausted mother after a long day was staying out of it) - at the end of the meal, as Caleb got up from the table to go and brush his teeth, he accidentally hit the knife on the table and it did a somersault through the air and smacked him on the forehead.

Caleb and I both started laughing as there was bolognaise all over his face and it was pretty funny. Adam was taking it seriously and trying to find out if Caleb was okay... but Caleb and I were laughing so hard that we were ignoring his enquiries.. so eventually Adam freaks out and uses his biggest Daddy voice to say, "Caleb!! I am trying to find out if you are okay or if you are bleeding from your forrest (instead of forehead) to which Caleb and I fell off our chairs laughing...

Ha ha ha...

Body After Baby..

As most of you know, I am desperately trying to lose "The Dreaded Baby Weight". Last month I was named The Biggest Loser at gym. I then took two weeks off my diet (but not off my training programme). I found this blog today and it looks like just the sort of thing I need to get me motivated!

Anyone who has tried to lose weight after a pregnancy, let alone two, knows the pain that I am now going through... wish me luck and watch this space!

No matter the worries...

Yesterday afternoon I was feeling decidedly down.. not sure about what really, just felt blue. Adam was napping and I was sitting around the house with the boys and decided I needed to get out. Due to all three of my boys being really sick recently, I did not want to take them out into the cold weather with me - so I opted to leave the boys at home (after Adam woke up of course) and take the girls out with me. The girls are our two dogs who (like most dogs) absolutely love going for a walk. You can just make them out in the second picture - Bandit, the black and white Husky is my dog, and Shadow, the Afrikaaner, is Adam's dog. I tried to take a good shot of them playing in the stream, but they move so fast it was just a blur!

Anyway, I went for a very brisk 30-minute walk around the park and it was like food for my soul. When I started out I felt really grumpy and sluggish, but by the end of the walk I was feeling really alive and full of love for the world and everything in it!

There is something about feeling the fresh winter air, just before dusk, on your skin and being out in nature that is so soothing to the soul. The girls had a fabulous time and were completely worn-out by the time I arrived home.

So I say bring it on! Tear yourself away from your sofa, take off your slippers, and put on your winter cozy.. and dash outside... you will be surprised how it feeds the body, mind and soul!

Friends, Drinks and Bad Husbands...

This is my friend Ruth with Daniel - as you can see, winter is on its way to Africa
From the left: Sam, Steve, Jenny Baby Kian and Gareth

There were other people at the braai- and I should have taken pictures of them too, but pretty much as I finished taking these two I began working and didn't stop for many hours to come after that!

I have been sitting at my machine for the past two hours.. reading other blogs, checking-in with my FB account, reading emails etc - and in all this time I have also been attempting to formulate a blog post in my head - and can you believe it, after all that time there is still nothing! NOTHING I TELL YOU!

I am not sure what is going on with me, but even though I have so many things I want to blog about, nothing is formulating with any sense of logical flow within my head - I blame my husband and friends for this lack of creativity.. let me explain!

Yesterday (being a public holiday in SA) Adam and I invited a few of our friends over for a typical South African braai (that would be bbq to all my international readers). Everybody arrived at around 12:00 and the last of the guests left at 01:30 this morning - Sam and Steve you know that karma is a terrible thing, and will eventually catch up with you. I blame Steve mostly... See, Sam and Steve have three beautiful children, but their children are a little older than ours and are already sleeping through the night (and all the glorious things that go along with that luxury). So at around 21:00 last night I was ready to go to bed - as most of the ladies reading this blog will know, a woman's work is never done and I spent most of yesterday baking bread, making salads, cooking potato bake, serving drinks, clearing drinks and loading the dishwasher! So by 21:00 last night I was exhausted, my dishwasher and I had worked all day (it was on its 4Th load for the day by this time) and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed - considering I am still averaging 3 hours sleep a night, I am sure you understand my need for rest.

Anyway, Steve made a few rude comments about me being a girls-blouse wanting to go to bed so early and that I was being rude to my guests (of which there was only Steve, Sam and the children left). Unfortunately for me, this insult to my hostessing skills found its mark and I dutifully sat through another 1.5 hours of watching my husband and Steve throw back an obscene amount of brandy and rum. By
22h30 I could stand it no longer and was literally weeping for my bed, so I decided to sneak away whilst nobody was watching - the only problem ... my bed was full... unfortunately not of me!

Caleb and Jordan (Same and Steve's youngest) were fast asleep in our bed, the two girls were dreaming away peacefully in Caleb's bed.. which left the sleeper couch or the spare bed...What to do what to do??? I chose the spare bed, crept under the covers and dozed off. Only to be woken at around 12h30 by the raucous laughter of Steve and Adam as they discussed matters which must surely have encompassed topics of grave importance and national security! As you can imagine, my sense of humour was now nowhere to be found and my once charming "hostess" disposition had now been replaced by my "I am sleep deprived and going to kill you" disposition. As I walked into the lounge, Sam looked a little nervous, and sort of mumbled, "We are going in a few minutes". At this point I realised I probably need not lay down the lore and threaten anyone with death or worse as everyone seemed to have picked up on the hint (or perhaps not so subtle hint) that party time was over and it was now "killing alcoholic husband" time.

Once Sam and Steve were safely in their car and off our property I proceeded to manoeuvre my husband through a hot bath and into bed - Needless to say, he was asleep and snoring peacefully (for those who couldn't hear it) before my head even touched the pillow - and of course, as my head touched the pillow, Daniel woke up and only went back to sleep at around 04h00!!

So please excuse the lack of logical flow in this post.. also excuse the spelling errors.. sentence construction errors ... and various other cardinal sins of writing... yawn...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to bed I go.. as Daniel begins making his "I am going to yell soon" noises