The books on my bedside table

Some are a bit old, some are new, some are borrowed…

I am ah huge fan of Jodi Picoult, she tends to jump from character to character so you can get everyones point of view in the story.

Perfect Match
My Sisters Keeper
Mercy

Battlefield of the Mind – Joyce Meyer
Joyce is a true inspiration. With a troubled childhood she rose up from her circumstancesand faced the world. I can relate to her. She knows where she is coming from and heading to.

7 Steps to a better you – Joel Olsteen
An American preacher whos dad used to work in the cotton fields and built a church from scratch.

Relationship Rescue – Dr Phil(lip) McGraw
His motto is – People will only do what works for them – So true.

Chicken Soup for the Christian Womans Soul
Chicken Soup for the Working Womans Soul
Chicken Soup for the Ocean lovers Soul
These are my all time favourate. True Stories that opens the heart and rekindle the spirit. Sometimes when I am lost I only have to read one of the stories and then I am on track again.

Anderkant die Scrap – Dana Snyman
He is my favourate Afrikaans Author. He is a storyteller that I can relate to. I would like to meet him one day so he can sign the book.

Mense van My Asem – Steve Hofmeyr
Many people might not think so, but he is a true inspiration. I have been a fan since his “Agter elke Man” days. Yes his eyes might wander a little, but he is a phenominal singer/songwriter. He also stands up for the Afrikaans culture and language. Unlike Joost - he leaves no stone unturned in this book.

Well that’s my bedside full of books. At the moment I have no time to read, but this stage of my life shall pass too and then I will be able to read a little...

Us

This morning at 2:00 am I was holding a hungry baby whose life entirely depends on me for survival. We shared a smile as I looked into my own eyes. A little hand grasped the neckline of my nightgown as if he wanted to let me know that that was the way he felt safe.

At 2:20am I watched those same eyes drift off. He drank the Milk as if it was the last bottle and he would never have the chance again.

We don't need much at that time of the morning. When our eyes meet the world and everything in it is forgotten.

It is true that nothing prepares you for Motherhood.

What were you doing at 2:00am this morning?

The New Year

Life does not always turn out how you want it to be - true. Last night I was thinking about the new year and all the adventures that waits. Did we have a few surprises this year.

I don't know where I will be a year from now, but I feel positive that it will be in a better place. The challenges of 2009 lies behind me. I climbed that hill.

Every year has it's challenges. I don't know if I am ready for any of them in 2010. I try to be positive though. Yes, there will be days that you cry and ask "what now?". On the other hand there will be joyful days where your heart miss a beat. But who am I to predict 2010?

I try and be greatful for every day.

So people, the new year is upon us. Try and stay positive.

May we all have a good one and may God be with us in all we do.

Ok all you crazy bloggers, time for me to take some time off and relax. This is my last blog for 2009. I will be back in January and hopefully try to fit as much blogs into 2010 as I can. At long last (and way overdue) I am getting internet at home as a Christmas present so yay for that!!

We have had a rough week, Corne’ had to see the urologist on Tuesday and might need a small operation in February to set things right. But it can all change I pray that things don’t have to go that way.

Keep on blogging till the brightest star on the Christmas tree fall on your head and you need a glass of wine and some marzipans to make it all better.

HO HO HO.

I love you always.


XXXX

The South Coast

It was in June 2008 when we decided to drive down to the Natal coast to show our daughter the sea for the first time. She just loved playing in the sand. She and her dad ran along the beach jumping at the waves and chasing sea birds.

It was nice to get away. The beach was there for us to enjoy, it was out of season and only a few locals hang around that couldn’t be bothered much.

What is magic for us is that as little as she was at the time she still recalls that holiday. She asks us often if we remember that we did this and that, then my husband and I just look at each other in amazement. That is what we are there for, to contribute to her happy childhood memories.

We have decided to take a trip to the Coast in March next year, when our son is a little bigger and then our daughter can return to her favourate place – the beach where she has fond memories.

The Biology Teacher

Our grade 12 Biology teacher used to take a week off a year and travel to the City to sit on park benches to talk to strange people. (Those were the good old days when you could still do those things). She used to share her life experiences with us while teaching the anatonmy of the human body. I was amazed the stories she told. She could tell persons whole life story in a couple of minutes. She made me realise that there was life beyond the small town that we lived in. And if you had a big imagination like me you would hang on to every word she said and take to the stories in an instant.

She was an interesting person. She never had a Pizza in her life, or Coke for that matter. She did not believe in reading the newspapers or watching the News on TV. To some people she might have sounded a bit borring but she was the most interesting person I have ever met indeed.

She gave me hope beyond my boundaries.

On Rotten Tomatoes

Once I was running away from my Dad hoping to escape the hiding he was about to give me. He chased me around the house. My Mom used to put green tomatoes on the kitchen window silk to ripen and sometimes one or two were forgotten there to rot. When Dad realized we could run around the house all day with all my energy, he grabbed one of the rotten tomatoes when we passed the kitchen window and threw it at me.

Surprisingly the hit against my head was soft – but the bad part was that I had rotten tomato all over me. Dad turned around and laughed. Justice was done – it was way better than a hiding.

And that’s how I got hit by a rotten tomato once.

The Plant Whisperer

We have a small garden and I am sad to say that we hardly give any attention to it. The old woman next door who talks to her plants’ garden looks like a small paradise compared to ours.

Every Sunday when my father in law comes for his weekly visit he just sighs and connects the hose to the tap to give the thirsty garden a little water.

“These plants need water and attention,” he always says.

I don’t have time. Besides, I am not a plant person. When my mother died someone gave me a plant and it died within 2 days. Plants have senses and things.

Plants die you know, if you don’t look after it.

No Shit.

Searching for Snow

One winter about eight years ago we jumped in the car to go searching for snow. I would’nt say that it was my wild days back then, I was just a little bit less responsible than now. We drove around lesotho and the closest we came to snow was to see it on the peaks of the Drakensberg. We stayed in a lodge at the bottom of the hill just before you go to Tiffendel – SA’s famous ski resort.

On our way we had breakfeast in the free state I think at a cold cold town called Smithfield, where we were informed by the locals that it snowed there a week earlier.

I have only seen snow twice in my life or rather touched snow twice. Once was in 1995 in the town I grew up in – it snowed for the first time in 20 years. The last time was about 2 or 3 years ago in Joburg but it only lasted for about 2 days before the sun melted it all away.

Well that was my wild weekend of driving – all in the name of snow.

The Capetonian

Last year when my sister and I flew to Cape Town there was something about the Cape Town men that struck us. Wherever we went to visit the family or friends we would find men in one of two places – either behind the stove or behind the sink doing the dishes with their hands in the water. At my Aunts house my cousins took care of the dishes.

My one cousins husband went to the shops and returned with shopping bags and a Paw-paw of all things. Who would have thought to go past the fruit isle and get a Paw-paw? To put it this way, if my husband came home from the shops with a Paw-paw, I would’nt know wheter to throw it at him or grab it and hug him. Her husband also cooked the meal that evening and did the dishes. We were really impressed. We asked my cousin what the magic ingredient was…maybe it was the women behind the men that made all the difference.

Oh and something else, you have wine three times a day, where there is food it has to go with a good wine and the people down there know their wine might I add.

Cape town is a bit laid back like they say. Gauteng is one big rush..

Serious Bru, SPOIL the lady. That’s what they do down there.