Wow, how time is flying by!

Today is Wednesday 28 December and the girls and Stephen have returned to Johannesburg. It has been wonderful seeing them, even if the time was short. I am hoping to take a short trip up to Johannesburg before I leave but we will have to see how things go in the next week or two.

Dad is trying to plan a family reunion for the 2nd, to get all the cousins and extended cousins around like we used to when I was very young. I am hoping many will attend as I have not seen some of them in years and would love to catch up.

Monday (Boxing Day) was spent having green eggs and ham for brunch, playing "Kerplunk" and "Conga" and then going to see Narnia:The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe as the weather was overcast and cold. The movie was enjoyed by all. Hayley and Caitlin had a great time but us adults came out rubbing our necks from staring UP at the screen. The only place where there was space for 6 people was 2 rows from the front! Oh well, I still enjoyed it. Gran, Stephen, Caitlin and Hayley went but to Gran's home after the movie. Dad, Chris(ie) and I had Christmas dinner leftovers for dinner which were actually very good. Chris crashed early and Dad and I stayed up watching a movie and eating some Christmas Pudding. I had forgotten how rich it was so it took me a LONG time to eat my little helping.

Tuesday I was up early. I drove Gran's car out to her home at 7 am, stopping to fetch Tyler on the way through town, he would have had to spend his Birthday at home alone if I had not convinced his mom to let him come with us. Once at Gran's we all piled into Stephen's car (Hayley sat on my lap) and headed to Durban to go to uShaka Marine World for a day of fun in the sun (as it was the first nice day we had had in a long time). We were shocked to see how long the queue was when we arrived but decided to wait it out...an hour and a half and some sunburned skin later we got to pay. Which in itself nearly knocked me off my feet. R125 per person to enter...oh boy! Anyway Stephen paid for himself and the girls and I paid for Myself, Chris and Tyler. While I was paying Stephen and the girls managed to get shooed off to the Dolphin show and by the time we got through the turnstiles the show had started and they were not letting anyone else in, so we had lost them. We decided to go and tour the Aquarium while we waited for the show to end and when we exited my cellphone rang...thank goodness for cells. Stephen had found a good spot to set up "camp" and I hired an umbrella for the day (should have been made of gold for what it cost to hire!). The girls (Caitlin and Hayley) went swimming and the guys (Tyler and Chris) went to find the slides. I decided to relax a bit and unwind. There were SO many people there. The place was absolutely packed! I was surprised they let so many people in, it was obvious to us that it is a money spinning venture. Anyway we ended up have a great day, my favourite rides being the Lazy River ride (self explanatory) and the Jika Jika (a ride where 5 of us rode on one big tube). We left right before closing time so we managed to avoid the traffic and get in a great long day of fun. In future I will put sunscreen on before I go though, as waiting so long in the sun is what did the most damage! I have a wonderful dress tan instead of a bikini tan :o(

Manta Ray Feeding Time

Tyler and Chris at lunch. Happy Birthday Tyler!

Miss Pink face! And this was the morning after!

Once back in Pietermaritzburg, we dropped Tyler off, went to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner and picked up my Dad before heading out to Gran's again. I helped Caitlin cook a FANTASTIC Macaroni cheese, from scratch - you don't get boxed mac and cheese here, thank goodness as I think that stuff tastes awful. Anyway we all said our sad goodbyes to each other last night as I would not be seeing the girls again the next day, they were leaving too early for me to do so.

I slept in today - Wednesday - and spent the bulk of the day tidying up the house and doing laundry. Rowan made an appearance and took Chris(ie) and I to go donate blood. Rowan got done first even though he started long after me and Chris was last as they had to call his mom for his address. But we all did our good deed of the day. We went to Cascades Shopping centre so that I could exchange a Christmas gift before heading home again just in time to get the washing off the line before the rain came. Dad had been to the Dentist (a new one) to get his tooth socket seen to only to find the previous dentist had left a tooth chip in the socket with had inhibited healing. Poor Dad he really is having a hard time with his teeth at the moment. I think the Dentist he was going to was not doing a good job. I went to him once and decided never again, I wish Dad had heeded my warnings, it would have spared him a lot of pain. Anyway he is now on antibiotics and is taking a nap as I type this.

All in all it has been a busy few days here and the coming week promises to be more so. Still so much to do before Chris arrives from the States on Friday. Hopefully this trip out will be better than the last!

Take care all and write soon.

Cheerybyebye

O:o)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I wish you all a very blessed Christmas. May you have many moments to remember!

Here are some pictures from ours....

God Bless,

Cheerybyebye
O:o)

***

Christmas Tree at 3:30 am Sunday morning. Father Christmas had been and Father Christmas was exhausted!

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Opening Presents..."I see you"...Hayley received a pair of Bino's from Father Christmas and Granny got a new wardrobe!

***

Not bad for 3 hours sleep! Was woken up by Rowan...24 going on 4...at 6:30. The miracle of a shower!

***

Christmas Dinner

clockwise around table from left to right:- Caitlin, Stephen, Hayley, Dad (Martin), Boet (Rowan), Chrisie and Gran (Daphne).

I had done the girls' hair (including Granny but excluding me), so they all looked beautiful.

Dad and I cooked up a storm in the kitchen. Dinner was fantastic, so you must excuse me I need to go rest my tired eyes and very full tummy. Good night.

***

Wednesday

It was a gray and overcast day, perfect for final Christmas shopping. I rose early but only got going later than I had hoped, around 10:30 am. I went straight to the bank to do that banking Gran needed and then decided to go to the Department of Home Affairs to go get a new ID Book and new SA passport, to reflect my maiden name instead of my married name. Needless to say the queues were outrageous. Oh well, it needed to be done. The divorce did not show up on their system so I had to go down a level and pay R1.00 a page to get copies of my ID and Divorce Certificate made and then go back upstairs and wait in line again. Once at the front the lady was very helpful and gave the details to the lady who dealt with it and was told to call in a week to see if the records had been changed and then if it had been done, then I could come in and apply for my passport which takes 6 weeks to process so my passport will arrive after I have left but Dad will hang on to it for me. Dad called me while I was in the passport office and we had arranged to meet so we could sort out my bank account. In SA there is a new financial governing body called FICA which calls for all bank accounts to be verified, which is time consuming. Anyway Dad helped me get my paperwork in order and my bank account legit. I then found out the it is FAR cheaper to do a wire transfer from the States than it is to bring foreign currency here and change it at a Bureau de Change. Lessons are learned and this is one. Dad, Chrisie and I then went to Makro, a wholesale store the size of a Wal-Mart with ceiling as about 3 stories high. Bought stocking stuffers, and sundry items to take back to the States. On the outside of the parking lot the was a street vendor on the side of the road that was selling my FAVOURITE fruit, Litchi's, and they were a reasonable price so I purchased a 2 kg box (about 4.2 pounds). Needless to say half of them were peeled and eaten throughout the day. Dad took Chrisie to the mall and I went to fill up with petrol and buy lunch. R247 to fill up a 45 litre tank, sheesh. It is just as pricey here as it is back home! I then met Dad back at his house and I unpacked all the items I took from the store room into my room at his house, as well as all the groceries then we had tea and lunch. After lunch we took a walk around the garden before heading back to town to look for places that sold Kruger pendants the first place was closed for the holidays so we continued on and stopped at the Ghela and Son's for Dad to buy an awesome pair of Khaki's for Rowan for Christmas. We then went on to find another jeweler who was very friendly with Dad, apparently they go way back. They were kind enough to let me photograph the jewelry so I could send pictures back to Chris's mom to choose which she would like. So nice to meet people in this country who are actually friendly and eager to help. Dad and I went and ran some errands for Gran. If only I had thought about it and bought the Feline C/D Science Diet food for gran's cat too, it would have saved her a lot of money. Next time. When we got done Chrisie called to say he was ready to be fetched. After picking him up we headed home and while we waited for the meat to defrost we walked around the paddocks, dad showed me the orchard he has planted and I got to pick gooseberries which remind me so much of my youth. Dad and I made dinner of stir fried veggies with a mushroom sauce and sweet and sour pork. No time to relax, I needed to get back to gran's so that I was there when she got dropped off by friends at 8:30. The crazy thing is that on drive back to gran's at 7:30 there were 4 road blocks! Luckily I managed to avoid being pulled over, but the traffic back ups caused my usual drive of 20 minutes to be 50! I got home 5 minutes before gran, but that was fine. I checked email then called Chris and went to bed around 11 after watching Vegas.

Thursday

We awoke this morning to mud for water! Gran's water come from the river then goes through several filter before reaching her tank where she has added a settling agent that clean the water, but as the pump was pumping nothing but mud (the water levels are low) the filters and everything else were full of mud...yuck! Thank goodness I bathed last night. Gran had to settle for an Aussie shower this morning. We cleaned all our filters and put more solution into the tank when the water started coming through again, and the tap water turned back to normal again, yay. I left for PMB around 11 am to run some errands for Gran, buy some sticky rat traps and pick up a few groceries. I met with James (an ex boyfriend now a friend) for lunch before buying ice cream for the girls and heading back to Gran's to get there in time to take Joice (my Gran's domestic helper) home. Gran and I enjoyed a good cp of tea and mince pies that she made yesterday. I sorted out today's purchases before making dinner. CSI is on right now, but I am being good an writing this... Litchi's are almost all gone now, still as good as yesterday.

Good night all, God Bless.

Cheerybyebye

O:o)

OH!...the girls arrive tomorrow, I can't wait. It is going to be fantastic to see them!

Sunrise over Africa

Took Gran to town yesterday to finish her Christmas shopping that she had left on her list. It was a very successful day, even if I did melt when I went back to fetch the car and go pick up gran from the front of the mall. Thank goodness for AC I had the car cooled down a little before I got to gran. I am going to say that I am glad we went in very early, we were there when the stores opened at 9 am. By 12 pm, when we were finishing up, the mall was packed! No more rushing gran around in the wheel chair, I had to be very careful of bumping people. I decided to spare gran the crowds and will do my final shopping on Wednesday. I bought us pies for lunch while gran went to the bookstore to pick up her new Nora Roberts book and I then drove us home. I spent the afternoon opening a few boxes in my store room and then cooked an AWESOME grilled chicken, fresh tomato and mozzarella pizza.

Today was a good day. I got into my store room and opened up several more boxes trying to decide what to take to the US this time. Chris is going to kill me or die laughing. I do not have my itemized box contents list with me so knowing what is in each box is a mystery, kind of like opening Christmas presents!

It was a cool day today and it rained on and off for most of the afternoon, which I loved.

Gran went with Di to do some grocery shopping and to visit a friend while I worked through the above. In the afternoon I worked on my accounts and made a chicken casserole with fresh homemade mustard. Amazing how much more I cook here! I love it.

Anyway I need to get an early night tonight as I have a long day tomorrow. Exciting news is that my cousins will be arriving on Saturday. I am looking forward to seeing my girls.

Take care,

God Bless.

Cheerybyebye
O:o)

Well, it is now Sunday. Time to update, "at last" some of you might say, but hey at least there is something to read now.
My flight here was good, uneventful but good. The food was not as good on this flight as it was in the past in fact the only thing that did not resemble the gray stuff you get served in hospitals was the roasted vegetables on foccacia that was served as a snack on the last (short) leg of my journey. Perhaps going vegetarian for the flight was not such a good idea. Oh well, it was at least healthy! Next time I must remember to take something along to snack on, or at least buy something at the airport as it is a very long time between meals if you don't have something to keep your tummy and jaws busy!

Saturday 10th - Tuesday 13th December
SAA, along with many other international carriers, have enforced a new rule about baggage weight. When I left South Africa last time I was allowed 74 lbs per suitcase and presumed the same on the way back, only to find that on check in at RDU that they have trimmed it down to 50 lbs. Thank goodness 1. Chris was still at the airport so I could give some items back to him if I had to and 2. My carry on was not full or heavy, so I could add to that...which is what I did. I managed to get both suitcases down to 69 lbs with the rest crammed into my carry on. I decided to rather pay the $25 per bag excess baggage fee than leave more stuff with Chris to bring with later..he is already carrying rocks for someone important (no names will be mentioned here), hehehe. Sorry Tam but I keep getting teased by Chris about it, so I thought I would pass the humor along (it is not a problem).
Anyway back to the story...The excess baggage charge is for luggage between 51 and 70 lbs, so I figured I would pack the max in the checked bags that I was allowed. For those of you think why on earth does someone like me need that much baggage, know this, I had 12 items of clothing in there including shoes the rest was gifts and other items not belonging to me. Don't believe me? Look at the photo's below. My clothes and toiletries are the only things not in the pictures. So much for traveling light huh? It will never happen on a trip to SA! Thank you Chris for carrying the overflow of the non Christmas items....oh and the grill rocks/briquettes! You're a star! Somehow I got sidetracked again...okay well I managed to get everything in and went to say one final goodbye to Chris (he had come around the loop again, expecting to receive a pile of things to take back) and then went to go through security. My necklace set off the alarm twice so I had to be searched, but it went quickly so it did not phase me, I had time to kill, so why not set the alarm off and make them search me for explosives or metal devices or that secret hidden weapon somewhere on my body...hahaha. I should have bought my knitting needles! Once through security I sat at my gate and tried not to doze off, having not slept the night before I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, where are the matchsticks when you need them.

My flight boarded early and we were able to leave early too as everyone was on board, only to have to circle Atlanta to wait our turn, oh well, more time to cat nap. I took my time getting to my gate again as I had a 3 hour wait. I enjoyed watching people trying to move as quickly as they could, rushing about only to get to their gate and still have to wait. I did my immigration check out at the new automated checkout system, I have to say it is quite impressive. I got to my gate with plenty of time to spare, I decided to go to the duty free to look for Ultra Violet, a perfume my brother had asked me to get for his girlfriend. They had none, but they did have Chrome by Azzaro, boy do I love that scent. Decided to save money and not get it. I was one of the first people onto the plane (after the business class had boarded) so I was able to stow my carry-on items above my head instead of under my feet, which cramps the already small space. I had chosen the same seat as my previous flight to SA as there is so much space behind, next-to and underneath the seat which meant less getting up and down for me, other than to exercise. I hope the seats on the way back are as good. It was a long trip, I managed to get 3 hours sleep which is very good for me. I watched Transporter 2, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Stealth and Surviving Christmas. I started watching Wallace and Grommet and Cinderella Man but fell asleep before 15 minutes had past in each of them. My mind finally turned off! I woke up in time to see the sun rising over Africa, I took pictures but I can't upload too many pictures (it would take forever in dialup). I listened to music and walked around until it was time for breakfast and then the landing in Johannesburg.

Wednesday 14 December
After 19 hours in the air I was ready to be on terra-firma again. In Johannesburg there was such a queue for immigration that they had to stop the escalators as it was causing passengers waiting in line to be shoved by those trying to get down the escalator behind them. The escalator was forcing people into an already packed waiting area. Anyway I got through immigration easily after a 45 minute wait. I collected my bags and then had to persuade a young guy that it was in fact my suitcase and not his. Were the 1 white, 1 red and 2 pink ribbons not enough evidence? He was convinced I had taken his suitcase, I had to show him that the number on the bag matched the number on my ticket and even then he was not please to I pulled out the first thing that was near the zipper....one VS Bra and I said to him, "if this is yours then you are welcome to put it on and take the luggage" at which he turned and went to harass someone else...no I'm sorry, no nothing...welcome to South Africa, the country of the rude and materialistic. I rechecked my luggage and took a leisurely stroll from International Arrivals to Domestic Departures...about a half mile from point to point...have they never heard of a rolling sidewalk? Oh well, it was good to stretch my legs. I went through security and as I had time to kill, I decided to do some window shopping. Strange how different the USA and SA are. In the US there are Christmas decorations everywhere...here all I found was one pink dancing Father Christmas. What is this world coming to? I miss the festivities and the Christmas spirit. Okay back to the story, I loaded my SIM card and called my Dad. There was a little girl and her grandmother waiting for the same flight as I was. The girl was working in an activity book but was having a problem with the pen she had...it was only one colour...she had a colouring-in book with only one colour...shame. I felt sorry for her so I took out my stationery bag and gave her all my colours. She was overjoyed and went right to work. It is amazing what you can do with the right tools. She solved puzzle after puzzle and had a good time, I enjoyed watching her as she worked. Time to board, she came and gave me back the coloured pens and said thank you...so nice to hear it from a child, without having to prompt her. The flight from Johannesburg to Durban was quick....only 55 minutes but we got a snack (the best food of the trip yet) and a drink served to us, I am impressed with SAA's domestic service.
Dad and Rowan met me at Durban airport, it was wonderful to see their faces again. I was thankful that all my luggage arrived this time, although I was prepared in case it didn't. We drove back to Pietermaritzburg where we dropped Rowan off at his car and headed home. Rowan fetched Chris (a 16 year old young man who is staying with my Dad for his Christmas holiday) and we all met up at home/Dad's house. I went to work unpacking my suitcases into a cupboard that is now called "the Christmas cupboard" that is locked. Rowan left to go to Haley's (his long time girlfriend), I then loaded a tog bag with my few clothing items and headed out with Dad. We dropped Chris off at Tyler's house and went to get dinner...Fish and chips, hmmm yum. We then headed out to Gran's. Gran was happy to see us. Dinner was inhaled and we settled to chat and watch a bit of TV before Dad headed home. I stayed up about half an hour longer but retired to bed when my eyelids kept drooping. In bed before 9, wow that's a first and a last if the last few nights have been anything to go on.

Thursday 15 December
Today was an unwind day. I woke up early and forced myself to go back to sleep. I rose at 7:30 am with Joyce jumping up and down with excitement that I was here. It was too funny! I spent the day, sorting out my room and then working on MS Money, trying to get our accounts reconciled. I finally finished around 5pm and all that was left was to get the accounts to balance with the bank statements. I cooked bangers (pork sausages) and mash with pea's and gravy for dinner, it was wonderful to taste SA sausages again. I stayed up late and watched the late night movie before going to bed at 1am.

Friday 16 December
Today was a public holiday, The Day of Reconciliation. All over the news were how South Africa has failed to reconcile, very sad. It would be nice to see some positive news about the state of South Africa in the news. I managed to undo all the work I had done yesterday, with one simple error..I imported the wrong details to the wrong account which through all my balances! I was very frustrated by it, but I decided to put it aside and focus on something else for a while. Dad arrived around lunch time, with cheese rolls and ham. We had lunch and tea together before Dad got to work trying to put Gran's new fan up, only to find the blades were the wrong size for the fan :o( I enjoyed a walk around the property with Dad, pulling up weeds, talking about plants and other things. It is fantastic to see him again. He left around 5 as he had some errands to run on the way home. Oh I forgot to mention that in SA on a public holiday, any public holiday, everything shuts down. I had thought that with Christmas just 9 days away that there would be stores open, but no, not in SA. The grocery stores all close at 6:30 or 7 here too. No midnight runs for milk...you have to wait until the next day at 9am when they open again. I have been very spoiled by my life in the US, I do not realise how lucky I am until I get back here and realise how blessed I am. Today was a very hot day (100) so, instead of cooking, I made sandwiches for us for dinner. I again stayed up late and watched the late night movies, The Mexican and then a documentary called "Grumpy Old Men, celebrate Christmas" which was fantastic, I laughed out loud several times during the show. Can you think of any reasons you don't like Christmas? I love Christmas but I could see the point of the various curmudgeons on the show...Christmas cards without your name in it...Christmas trees that drop their needles...socks and ties as gifts...etc. I got to bed at 2am.

Saturday 17
Gran woke me up with a cup of tea at 7am. We went to Dad's house today, planning on going for a swim, but the weather had turned and it was too cold to do so. Gran stayed at Dad's while I went with Dad and Chris to return Gran's fan and have a look at what Dad wants for Christmas...a Razor Cell phone that come with a Flatscreen TV and entertainment theatre for free, on a 2 year cell phone contract which costs R110 ($17.50) per month...how does that make sense? I am considering getting a contract too, I need to work out which will be cheaper...pay as you go...or...R110 a month plus all the other free stuff ( you can choose from a whirlpool washing machine, fridge, photo printer, digital camera or 4 in one fax/print/copy/scan)...hmmm. Okay I am getting tired. I need to finish this...needless to say we did not have all the paperwork they require to get the contract so we are going back on Monday. We decided to go collect my air ticket while we were in the Mall. Only thing is that the travel agent was at the other end of the mall. The mall was busy, but we zig zagged through the crowds at lightening speed, it was quite fun. I felt like a kid! We were more sedate walking back, we stopped in at Pick 'n Pay to pick up lunch, few other groceries and I bought airtime for my cell. We drove back to Dad's and had lunch immediately as our worms were about to eat us alive we were so hungry! The pies were fantastic! Wish we could get these in the states. We stayed at Dad's until about 4pm before we drove home made tea and relaxed on the couch. I stayed up late again last night and watched a very predictable movie called Crossroads. I stayed up later so that I could chat online with Chris, I even got the webcam working. It is so strange seeing daylight through the video stream when it is dark here. Couldn't stay online long as here we pay the earth for dial up that connects at 26 bps, 52 bps on a good day, making me realise how lucky I am to have broadband at home. Oh well, making do just fine.

Sunday 18th
Well this is the day I am writing this whole entry. This morning I cut and styled Gran's hair then did her nails for her as she was going to lunch at a friends house. She looked great. I dropped her off and then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sort out my mistake with MS Money. I decided to start over from scratch and managed to get through half of it before it was time to fetch Gran. Progress is great! Gran came home with a pile of meat and black forest cake. So dinner was very simple. Now my mind is getting tired and foggy. I think it is time to post this and then go to bed, especially as we are supposedly meeting Dad at the Mall at 9am tomorrow morning. Yawn. The stories got more mundane as I got more tired, sorry.
I hope you are all well and happy.
Write me an email.
Cheerybyebye
O:o)