24 March 2011

MMMMMMMMMMMM 42 more sleeps. Sorry I am really going to be annoying you all with my count down but I feel like a child on the night before Christmas. We just went to buy our luggage for our trip. The last time we had nice new suit cases it was 21 years ago when we went on honeymoon. Well this is like a 2nd honey moon so humour me over the next 6 weeks.

The windsurf just from a different angle!

Oh people its gonna be a long six weeks.

On a different note I had a fabulous day on Monday back at Fish hoek beach.So many fond memories of my times with the children growing up. We went back to "our rock pool" as the children still call it and saw 5 stunning star fish and so many beautiful sea anenamies. It was stunning wind free day.

The only bummer to the awesome day was that I really hurt my arm again. Anyway I will just continue to plod on with this stupid impingement, exercise and hope it gets stronger!

As you can see my daughter is absent from this family pic below. She chose to go back to res on Sunday as she wanted to work on the public holiday. She is such a gem and I really miss her on outings like this one. Too much testosterone

So glad she will be home for a weeks holiday I am going to cherish her presence back home as I am sure her brothers and her precious rabbit DJ will!!!!!

18 March 2011

Is today the Ides of March. Me thinks it is and so it would not be a good day to mess with me. It takes a lot in business to make me really angry, but you do not want to see that side of me. I have worked my ass off for R3500 a month doing creditors for a Greek restaurant. It seems like a little money yes it is for the amount of work I am doing, for what I should be doing for them it is reasonable.

However ...... since last year Oct whenn we were visited by the Department of Labour for unfair Labour practice I stood into the role of managing the HR side of the business. Big mistake, I did it as a favour to my boss who lives in Jhb as there was no one else qualified to do so. That ends today! Needless to say I have been suitably cheesed off (I am using much stronger langusge in my head) and I am no ones fool. It ends today here right now.

Right now I feel better lets get back to living. It is 45 sleeps and I am off on a lifetime dream cruise with my better half. We are so excited we find ourselves just staring randomly into space and trying to believe how blessed we are. However my day used to say "The harder I work the luckier I get!" Actually I think Gary Player the great golfer said that but my day used to quote it all the time. Andre and his team worked really hard to reach the target set by Good Year and now thanks to his great leadership we are being rewarded a cruise for 10 days on The Windsurf.

How did I qualify well I have been married to Andre for almost 21 years - i think I qualify!!!!!!!!

I rest my case we are thoroughly going to be SPOILT.

14 March 2011

Gosh I feel like dancing. When I look at this picture it just floods back memories of my life as a 16 year old girl whose hopes and dreams were to be a ballerina. Then in one moment that dream was shattered as I sat in front of my doctor and I remember him saying "Debbie find another dream you will never be able to dance again" It was like my world stopped turning...

I wander how different my life would have been if I hadnt been forced to give up dancing, in the prime of my life I was debilitated by Hepatitis. I picked it up in a restaurant in Cape Town and how ironic that 20 years later while working for another restaurant last year I contracted measles, and once again I made some major life decisions. I had lost the feeling down my entire left side, had to fight through high fevers and excruciating headaches and have been working so hard since August last year to feel like the Debbie I know.

Finally I feel a breakthough ......my shoulder seems to finally be healing and responding to treatment and physically I am feeling so much stronger. Its a groovy place to be.

Its 52 sleeps until Andre & I leave for The Mediteranean I am still needing to pinch myself everyday...when I started the year I said I believe this is the year for the Blignauts I stand amazed the goodness of God.

8 March 2011

Life is Hard ~ Pam Thum

You turn the key
Then close the door behind you
Drop your bags on the floor
You reach for the light
But there's darkness deep inside
And you can't take it anymore 'Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you
And sometimes living is all you can do
Life is hard, the world is cold We're barely young and then we're old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is good You start to cry 'Cause you've been strong for so long
And that's not how you feel You try to pray
But there's nothing left to say
So you just quietly kneel In the silence of all that you face God will give you His mercy and grace
Jesus never said It was an easy road to travel He only said that you would never be alone
So when your last thread of hope Begins to come unraveled
Don't give up, He walks beside you On this journey home and He knows
Life is hard, the world is cold
We're barely young and then we're old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard, but God is good

7 March 2011

I am a hopeless romantic and I love the way Pam Thum sings these words - Love should be this!

If I were a wall
I'd fall down around you
And build you a home where you
Could be safe and warm
I'd keep out the cold
Yes, I'd be your shelter
If I were a wall
If I were

If I were a storm
I'd gently pass over
And send down my rain, sweet, rain
To cover your trears
I'd fade till the sun
Could shine down upon you
If I were a storm
If I were

If I were a kiss
I'd seal every promise
And follow the softest words
To fall from your lips
And I would live on forever
In only a moment
If I were a kiss
If I were

If I were a prayer
I'd rise without ceasing
Lifting you higher with
Each breath that I'd take
I'd cover your soul
With only a whisper
If I were a prayer
If I were

6 March 2011

Last week I went to a presentation by my physio on his journey to Kyrgyzstan. He went with his best friend in 2008. It was really interesting, all I knew about the place was that it was near to Uzbekistan and that was where an ex of mine ended up working for the past 10 years as tent maker and missionary. It reminded me of my love of travelling, and honestly the one regret I have that I did not travel for longer when I was younger. In 1988 I went to the UK Amsterdam and Portugal. But it is never too late and as I write this I am beyond excited.

Tomorrow will mark the 2 month count down to our Mediteranean Meander. My sweet husband has worked his butt off to meet the requirements for Good Year that are giving us a trip along with other managers and their partners to experience 8 days on a cruise which promises to be a dream come true for Andy and I.

Setting sail!
Last weeks email from Good Year read
Not long now until you'll be able to smell the salty sea breeze, feel the sun-warmed deck beneath your feet, and watch the sun set over open waters.

So keep on selling Goodyear to ensure you're on board when the Wind Surf sets sail acroos the Mediterranean on the trip of a lifetime. Only you can make it happen! It will definitely be worth it.

Keep in mind that you need to have an up-to-date passport that is valid for at least six months after the date of the trip, which takes place from 07-16 May, 2011.

You will also need to organise your own visa since travel agents can no longer do this on behalf of their clients. Please click here to view the visa requirements for Italy.

Goodyear

Tomorrow I will go off to organise our Italian Visa. Pinch me!

I serve an amazing God and I feel completely spoiled that He has blessed me with my wonderful hard working husband who can finally after almost 21 years take me on the trip he has been promising me ....He has had a mantra over the years..."Baby our ship is coming in....." His words are starting to ring true. I believe it is almost here.....

Need I say why I am too excited to sleep!

2 March 2011

Who would have thought ... March is here. One month end done , one to go Yippee!!!!

Well its been a crappy week. Month end enough said. Greek men with SMS in my life - too many.

Anyhow I have come to the conclusion this morning that no matter how hard you try to be the perfect parent you will always fail. There is no such thing. Children are inherently selfish and self absorbed and until they become parents themselves will never begin to understand how much they are loved and how much they hurt us.

Maybe its just in my household but being a mother sucks in the respect that because you are the one the kids spend 90% of their time with and you end up being the main disciplenarian yet it is always their dad who is the hero in their eyes. Honestly I have spent most my mornings this week crying silent tears wandering what the solution is. I have one kid who thinks I am an idiot another who thinks I know nothing and another who only sees me for being a good cook and clothing provider!

So then why is motherhood so esteemed why do we as woman aspire to this? Are we masochistic? Do we love the feeling of constant rejection? Or is this just what they mean by the teenage years? And of course all these feelings I am having will be blamed on peri- menapause. Ever notices all female problems have the preposition MEN in front of them

MENtal Illness
MENstration
MENapause

And yet with all these negative emotions I adore my children, I would give my own life for each one of them. Maybe thats why churches tend to be filled with more woman than men, why women gravitate to mornings of bible study and men to the golf course. Now before I have all you men up in arms this would only create a reaction in you if you belong to the men who have the sms problem!

As I continued the Beth Moore study this week on The Patriachs - I was amazed to see how Abraham responded to God. Imagine God gives you a son in your old age and tells you you will be the father of many nations and then one day He says take your son Isaac and sacrifice him to me. Now why do you think God asked this of Abraham and not Sarah? Did God in His infinite wisdom think to himself ~ seriously I do not feel like dealing with Sarahs hormones and her irrational thinking, or did He reckon well she had done enough sacrificing in her lifetime....it was time to test Abraham mmmmmmm I wander?

Juat my theory opinion whatever you want to call it...what do you think?