I’ve seen this meme on Shayne’s and Laura’s blogs, and I liked it… so I’m using it

I am: editing the photos from this morning’s shoot so I have photos for Weekly winners tomorrow

I have: a sore neck, and I’m not sure what it is… it’s been sore for 3 days

I know: I spent too much money this week

I think: therefore I am

I don’t think: this should be cheesy

I want: a whole load of things after today’s photoexpo!! Lenses, light stands, soft boxes, a new flash etc etc

I have: to choose photos for this week’s camera club meeting and I have no idea where to start

I like: chocolate and red wine

I dislike: yellow clothes

I hate: my skin and the fact that I’m going gray!

I dream: the most annoying recurring dreams about a very strange house

I fear: that my clients don’t like the photos I deliver

I am annoyed: that I’m not more confident about my art

I crave: Woolies triple chocolate sundae

I usually: get too little sleep

I search: for something t buy at Kalahari for my birthday voucher

I hide: my real feelings

I wonder: if I’ll ever be able to stay at home with the kids

I know: we’ll never have loads of money

I just can’t help: crying sometimes

I regret: not buying a lens today

I love: my kids even though they drive me batty

I can’t live without: my camera and my PC

I try to: leave work early, but then I feel guilty

I enjoy: taking the kids to places

I don’t care: … I do care… that’s the problem

I always: make tea in the morning and lunch for Bradley… and then check twitter

I never want to: let my boys down

I rely on: my mom and Lance to help with the kids

I believe: things have to be fine!

I dance: with my boys

I sing: terribly badly, but the kids think I’m wonderful

I argue: too infrequently these days, I don’t have the energy anymore.  It’s not worth it.

I write: only on my blogs nowadays

I win: very few arguments

I lose: my keys and cellphone all the time!

I wish: I could work half-day

I listen: to my gut most of the time

I don’t understand: why people have to be so mean all the time

I’m scared of: too many things

I forget: all the time

I am happy: when I’m in my garden playing with the boys and taking photos.

I’ve been shopping again… this time online!

Got the coolest stuff this week, and I’m still looking for something to buy from Kalahari with the vouchers I got from Angel and Glugs!

First up… a POKEN!! I finally got one   They’re the cutest gadgets ever.  I got a Geisha poken.  Basically, it’s got a little USB connection on it, and you register your contact details including your social media details (i.e. your Facebook page, Twitter address, Flickr etc etc).

Then when you meet someone else who has a poken and they touch hands, the hands light up and the information passes from one to the other.  It’s instead of getting business cards in a way.

All I need now, is to find another person with a poken! LOL!

Then last night, I got an email from Springleap with a Twitter offer – they had an offer with 50% off any t-shirt purchased for 24 hours! So, in true Jeanette style, I bought 3!  Two for Lance because he loved the humour once I showed him the styles, and one for myself

(and btw, I have a discount voucher for R50 if anyone wants it )

Cannot wait to get them!

We went to a picnic (or nick-nick as Connor called it) concert at Emmerentia today.  Stupidly, I didn’t take any toys for the kids to play with, other than a few balls, so Connor got VERY bored and ratty especially when he got tired.

Luckily, one of the other moms had a few toys for her daughter to play with, and Connor joined in the game for a bit.

One of the toys he made a bee-line for was the barbie doll.  He promptly brought it over to Lance and asked “what’s dat?”.  LOL, he’d never seen one before… which actually surprised me… I thought he knew what a doll was.

Then he went off and played again.

Five minutes later, Lance and I noticed him studying the doll again.  He lifted her t-shirt up and quickly ran over to us again.  He lifted her shirt up “Daddy, she’s got boobies!” and he stroked them!

PMSL!!

I just got this link via Walter Pike on Twitter about a new dinosaur species that’s been discovered in Australia.

As I started reading it, I realised that Bradley needed to hear the story too.  For the last few months, he’s been saying that he thinks that paleontologists won’t be able to find new dinosaurs anymore, and he thinks they’ve all been found.

So I called him and read the news article to him and Connor.

And it’s sparked all sorts of things now… Bradley wants to be a paleontologist again (he now wants to help them find more in Australia), and they’re both running around the house growling at each other pretending to be dinosaurs!

And this is one of the reasons why I love Twitter so much   I get to hear about things I wouldn’t find as easily myself!

Everyone got my birthday gifts spot on this year.  I’ve loved each and every thing I’ve got given this year.  Amongst the gifts were a pair of tracksuit pants (the K-way Nemesis) from my parents that I was really sceptical about wearing.

But boy, was I wrong!  The fact that they’re made from fleece put me off completely, and to top it off I haven’t worn tracksuit pants in years.

But then you wear them!! They don’t actually look half bad because they’re actually styled perfectly, and they’re the warmest pants I’ve ever ever worn.  Perfect for photo editing at a desk!

So, guess what I’m wearing to bookclub tomorrow night especially considering we normally sit outside… and it’s abso-freaking-lutely freezing at the moment!  Thanks Mom, they were the perfect gift   Now I’m going to have to get myself another pair, and I have to get Lance a pair too!

Hmmph! I got an email from my school reunion Facebook group this morning with all the details of the reunion and I’ve been steaming about this ever since.

It was clearly organised by a whole load of people who had their kids when they just left school (so the kids are now adults) and a bunch of singles without kids!!  It’s been organised as a lunch on a Saturday with no kids, and spouses if they have to be there!!

And if you’re wondering about the adult kids bit… it’s the 20 year reunion   I’m THAT old

There’s no way I can go to it now.  I spend enough time away from the kids and Lance with my photography and my day job!

Oh well, no use whining too much, I probably wouldn’t have had much to say to them anyway.  And in fact, none of the people who have said yes were my close friends anyway.  And I really didn’t enjoy school…  I never fitted in… I was a bit of an odd-ball.

So, it’s really no great loss… but still… I was quite curious to see everyone

Since when are learner drivers allowed to drive without a qualified driver being in the car with them?

What makes some of the people I pass on the roads so special, that they can…

1.  Buy a brand new car

2.  Drive that brand spanking new car  ALONE with L plates on the back window

… on the roads when they can clearly not drive?! There’s one particular lady that drives around Sandton in a brand new car that is very obviously a learner – she’s too scared to even drive around the corners in the parkade at work – she inches around them.  What makes it OK for her to drive without a license?!!

She’s going to kill someone… or herself  in the process…. I’m convinced, she’s seriously that bad!

We went to Parys again yesterday, and I thought before I started my little rant that I would post a happy photo from playing with the kids in the garden.

I got so cross with Lance’s mom (MIL) yesterday again because of the stories she was talking about in front of the kids.  Firstly the house is absolutely damn freezing, and for some reason they think that it’s colder outside so they refuse to venture out into the sun.  So anyhoo, if you’re wondering, the camera and the new skipping rope was my way of getting the kids to play outside in the semi-warmth of the sun.

Because inside… it’s not fun for anyone.  There are china dogs on the floor… yes folks… dinkum I’m not lying.  Ooh and not to leave out the pink china cats and the brass flies hanging on the wall, and the pink china bell things with gross fake birds stuck to them with prestik.  And you try keep a 2-year old from touching stuff like that!! It’s not easy!

And that’s just the start.  The kids play with their toys on the carpet while Lance and I try and get her to speak in Afrikaans (once Tannie Gwen and Oom Hennie leave at 2pm on the dot for their weekly visit to their friends).  Now ordinarily that would be weird… to make someone speak in a language that the kids don’t understand.. but believe me… it’s a whole load better than Bradley and Connor listening to her talk about all the hijackings, murders, car accidents etc that have happened in the entire province (because she’s worried about us).

Every time it’s the same topic.  Oh and her new-ish one… the fact that she can’t get medicine from the clinic because of the doctor’s strike and the fact that a 20 year old gay coloured guys took her blood pressure last month and she didn’t trust him because he was far to young to know what he was doing.

I would absolutely LOVE to see more of the town one day, and maybe even go for lunch one day… but heaven forbid we suggest that because she doesn’t trust restaurant cooking at all and they might just poison her.  Oooh and to suggest to take her somewhere is just a waste of petrol and all the other drivers on the road are out to kill her anyway.

It’s exhausting, and very depressing. And to make it worse, because of all the negativity we dare not tell her much of our news because all she’ll say is how she’s so very worried about us driving because of all the crime etc etc etc and then the whole story starts again.  So she doesn’t actually know what we get up to.

And so it’s over for another month… before we have to drive the 90 minute trip to spend 90 minutes with her, just to drive 90 minutes back home… because we cannot possibly spend more time there on a particular day.

On a happier note, the kids actually love going there, because they love her cooking, and we all get to play outside and play catches and kick the ball etc, so it’s not all that bad.

I love the way Connor speaks   I really have to make more of an effort to blog about it now, before he speaks properly.

I’d just dished up Connor’s supper, and got a spoon out of the cutlery holder when he pipes up…

“A pork Mommy, a pork, not a poon!!”

Hehe

Lance is taking me away on a surprise trip tomorrow.  I know, it would be a real surprise if I didn’t know I was going away, but because there was going to be a work function on this weekend he had to tell me so I could get leave.

So the plan is… no clues!

Apparently we’re going to be busy all day tomorrow  starting with breakfast somewhere.  And my mom and dad are looking after the boys tomorrow night – their first sleepover anywhere ever (which is quite sad considering Bradley is already 6)!

Hope it’s nice

One thing that’s already nice about it… this is the first birthday in about a decade where I haven’t known exactly what I’m getting.

So forgive the sparce blog post, all I can think of is what clothes I’m going to pack, and wear tomorrow.   And to make sure my camera is charged and I have the right lenses