Oh my hat! I have just seen the last time I wrote and it is over 18 months ago.....so much has happened! The City of Gold has welcomed us and we have made great friends. But it hasn't been without it's obstacles....I am 9 months pregnant with number 2 and about to pop any moment. I am no longer a fashionista and have rather turned my talents to floristry - choke......well I have a small business and a florist so am more like the admin/business/marketing person! We have built a house, run out of money and moved in to a 90% complete house of our dreams...I will update you in detail shortly.....

I am back

I am back. My laptop has been replaced, I have new passwords, and I now have time to write. I am in the City of Gold, fashion week is over and I am now horizontal - in my new home.

Make over

I am stealing a moment from my awful day to write this blog. Since 10pm last night, I have been asked for this, do that, write this - all for a board meeting today. I am run ragged. Anyway. I won a competition last month. I knew I would when I entered, something told me that I was the perfect candidate. It was for a wardrobe make over - no new clothes but advise on what I should / shouldn't wear. I motivated my entry as just having had a baby, body shape has shifted, feet have grown one size and now with the eminent move to Joburg, I need to ship up and shape up! now I know how these things work - you go along, they take a pic (which is badly lit/your worst side etc) and then they do you up and take the next photo which with the help of photoshop, an outfit you could never afford and a bit of slap on your face - you look great. So I cunningly went along looking fabulous in my newly acquired jersey dress and sandals. Oh how wrong I could have been. There did not seem to be one thing right with the outfit I had chosen, from the neck line, hem line, fabric and colour, even my sandal strap was to high, bra was too small yada yada yada yada ya - can you believe it. The 2 hour session went into three and we didn't even finish. I was so depressed. How much of a make over do I really need? I am going back next week. This time I am rebelling - I will be wearing my 3/4 length (wrong hem line), denim (wrong fabric for my shape) much loved peddle pushers which have been donned an absolute no no. When I get my camera next week (my last one was stolen) - I will post my own before and after photos. Joburg here I come!

The heat is on

Somewhere is my schooling I learned that a temperature of 41 degrees was basically death's door whilst 37.5 degrees is the human average. With only 3.5 degrees as room for error, there is not a lot to work with (unless I have a digit wrong :).

I picked up little M today and 'calmly' decided that she felt really, really rather hot, and far too close to the 41 degrees for comfort. Minutes later, with her carrot supper still smeared over her face and half naked, dog hanging onto the passenger seat for dear life, I was half way to my mother in laws for a little advice. I wouldn't say I am a hypochondriac (I leave that to my friend H - you know who you are!), but rather medically-independent with the modest skill of being able to self diagnose most things with the useful help of google (please don't ask what poor J had to endure on a weekly basis during my pregnancy!). Anyway M is fine, the temperature I am assured is a common symptom of teething and as well as a side effect of the vaccination she had today which I forgot clear about. I will however be running a tight ship tonight. I have resigned myself to the fact I will, like M have no sleep tonight. I am camping next to her bed and am typing this in the dark, with the genius use of my laptop screen providing the necessary examination light. I will be watching out for any possible sign of convulsions which I have just read about (wink wink).

Her temperature isn't the only thing that has risen today. I spent Sunday clicking on my blog to raise the traffic (you will notice at the bottom there is a little sign that says "how many people are reading my blog"). It was unnecessarily and embarrassingly low for the first couple of days so I decided to give it a little boost and sat mundanely clicking on its various links to raise the number. Well I know I stopped at 34 but then today to my sheer delight I noticed (phhhh noticed makes it sound like I happened upon it as opposed to admitting my obsession for it) that I have had 66 visits. That means 32 genuine clicks - and 3 comments - hoorah I have a new lease of life - someone is out there!!! Some one is reading this! It is like seeing the first bud sprout from your home grown veg!! Bring it on.

It is 4 weeks today that J, me and M the dog will set off in our two cars and make the journey from CT to Joburg by road. Little M will stay behind with her grandmother and take the more sensible route by air a couple of days later. The heat really is on.......

M is for moving

So the truck is booked and a rather over-smoked, husky sounding account manager has told me that all is in order. I leave this in her capable hands - despite not having done an inventory and with only a very vague email of what we own, G the account manager assures me it will fit in the truck and will be in Joburg on the 1st December. The insurance side of things makes me a little nervous. I notice in the small print we are not covered if the truck is hi-jacked. It is odd how you get used to things like that here.

I have been thinking about our move of late. In London despite living a mere 5 miles from work it took me over an hour on the bus. It was my commuter time... a great time for contemplation during which time I often resolved many issues to and from work (more so on the way; the way back was usually fighting the whirlie twirlies after a session in the pub). My life here has been very different. Most recently I have worked from home. Well actually from my bedroom. To be more precise, actually from my bed ....Before I divulge too much more how common is it for bosses to find your blog?

So I have had no commuting (it takes very little time to be up and ready for 08h30 when the most that needs to be done is a mere reshuffling of pillows) and thus I have little time for contemplation. So my time is now in the bath. With M asleep, M1, M2 and T fed and watered and J watching the box, I hit the bath and come up with fabulous ideas like writing a blog, or money making ideas like an online shop, a creche, to become a designer, vegetable crisps, organic frozen baby food, waterproof laptops so that I can capture the ideas that I later forget...you know all the creative ideas where I can lead a successful, relaxed, stay at home mum, kind of a life. Usually at my most creative or indulging my imagination, the cold water of the bath wakes me up to the rude awakening that in just over a month, the three humans in our household are going to have to be up (yikes), dressed (what not another track suit day?), fed (what happened to mid morning snacks when the emails slow down) etc and out of the door (wooohohoo, slow down I am beginning to taste vomit in my mouth) by 7am in order to drop M off in one direction, beat the traffic and be at work by 08h30. My boss' husband apparently lives off 3 hours sleep so I know that despite being deprived of these 2 hours sleep each day, I will survive.

It is odd though how this menacing thought of the changes in routine infiltrates my thoughts and affects me far greater than moving to the unknown.

My welcome note

My friend just sent me her blog. There were two articles in particular that I loved - the one about the cats that I once owned and left to her when I emigrated and the one about my wedding. It got my thinking. I too want a blog, I want followers and I want people to comment on my stories. I have always hated writing, but soon after reading her blog, I sat in the bath and realised my life is full of stories. And I am going to share them.



So by way of introducing myself, I thought I would do so through my family. I am 'S' (that is how above mentioned friend refers to friends and as she is a novelist, I will too. I am married to J, and we have little M - a 7 month old bouncing girl. We too have M1 (the dog) and M2 and T the two (new) cats. That's us, a perfectly happy little family unit. We live in a cottage far too small for the 6 of us, and are soon to relocate to the City of Gold in the Southern Hemisphere. By soon - I mean in 6 weeks time. Aware of the crime stats for the City of Gold, we are completely pooping ourselves but have numbed the pain by renting a much larger home with a POOL.

I work in fashion, which is a complete joke (if you were to see how I dress that is). I hope that one day the run of the mill, drab kindovalook that is my signature, will be the forefront in fashion and I will be interviewed on my inspiration for so casually throwing together a look. Until then I work hard and I love my job (most of the time). It is probably opportune to further elaborate on my unique criteria for choosing garments. My above mentioned blogging friend pointed out that my entire wardrobe had dissolved into a murky ginger palette. This in fact was completely intentional as one of the above mentioned orphaned cats was in fact ginger and I just found it easier for G (G is for Ginger in this case) to malt on me if we complemented each other. That is how I do fashion.

With the Great Trek around the corner, I hope that this will provide great relief for me and huge entertainment for you. Til my next posting - good night