The year in review 2006
January
Tarryn swam the Germiston 1200m swim.
Went to Mangwanani (which is an African Day Spa in the mountains) with my friend Georgie. What a wonderful spoil. Foot, hand, head, back, all kinds of massages and treats.
Went to Sun City for a sponsored weekend with work. Families included. Beach parties and fun.
Darrel and Marina (brother and sister in laws) came for dinner on a flying visit through our area. Miss them so much.
February
Took my mom and the kids to Sun City for a few days.
Devin and Kiara are both cast in lead roles for the annual school play.
Kiara got braces.
March
I joined the Bank on a permanent basis this month and now I get paid leave!
I took immediate advantage of this situation and we went on a cruise to the Portuguese islands. It was a scrapbooking cruise but families were invited. It was my first cruise and although we were all feeling ill the first night, we made up for it by dancing the nights away in the disco, eating like kings, swimming, visiting the island, taking photos, scrapping and generally having a ball. Kiara had to visit the ships doctor for an unrelated infection that she developed, and was put on antibiotics. She was miserable most of the time and is not looking forward to another cruise. Tarryn and Devin loved it and can’t wait to do another one. I would love to do a Caribbean cruise but won’t combine it with scrapping this time.
We spent a few days in Ballito before coming home.
I had streaks put in my hair! Brave hey.
April
I had a whole bunch of my family and friends around for my birthday and we had a great day. It is a South African public holiday for my birthday so it works out beautifully.
Easter was spent at my uncle’s farm again and they arranged wonderful games for the kids, egg hunts and quad bike riding
May
The highlight of this month was Tarryn’s 1st boyfriend. His name is Kyle and they have known each other for about a year through mutual friends. They were at the same table at a 21st birthday party and so the story begins......
I went on a scrapbooking weekend away and it was wonderful. I was with my friend Claire who is one of the top teachers in South Africa. We finished a whole album that weekend and it was wonderful.
June
This month has been a real problem one, my mom’s doctor took her off all the medication she has been on for 17 years tranquillizers etc and after a week she had an epileptic type seizure and collapsed. For a few days, she was not at all responsive, unconscious and when she did come around, she was very confused and not making any sense. In the past week she has improved vastly but x rays discovered that she fractured her femur when she had her attack. She is going in for surgery today and is very nervous.
Devin was at BMX training on Thursday night when I got a call that he had fallen. Took him to the same hospital as my mom was in and he had X rays, checked for concussion etc. He fractured his wrist and needed to go to theatre to have it aligned. I moved him to a different hospital. He spent Thursday evening at a hospital in Benoni and they did his arm on Friday morning. Devin is very disappointed that he will no longer be taking part in the South African BMX championships in July. His arm will be in a cast for 4 weeks and then 3 more weeks until he can ride again.
That afternoon we left for a weekend away in the bush at Sondela Game Lodge. Tarryn and Kiara each took a friend with them, so it was 5 kids and me but it turned out to be a very relaxing and pleasant weekend.
July
Nutmeg our little sausage dog died on Tarryn’s bed while I was at book club on the Thursday evening and on the Friday, some idiot crashed into my car when I was going to fetch Tarryn from a friend’s house. It had to be towed away. Kiara and I were in the car but not hurt. My insurance gave me a great little VW Polo to get about in and my car took 4 weeks to get sorted out.
Went to Ballito for 10 days. I love going there in winter, leaving the freezing Gauteng weather and then swimming in the sea and having a “summer” holiday at the sea
August
Had a break from BMX this month with Devin’s arm being in plaster. It was so nice to have Sunday’s free.
Lots of soup evenings and games nights with friends.
September
Attended the international scrapbooking university. Loved every minute of it.
The kids flew to Cape Town for the week of school holidays and loved every minute of their trip. I had very good intentions of getting such a lot accomplished at home but the time went so quickly and I went out so often that I ended up doing nothing constructive.
Out to dinner with the Dawson cousins. Met cousin Lionel for the first time.
October
Attended the “Scrapbooking for Hope” function to raise money for breast cancer. This has also become an annual tradition now.
Devin and Kiara both got main character roles in the school play and had been practicing very hard throughout the year. Went to see the opening night and it was really an excellent production.
November
Attended and assisted in arranging a conference in the Drakensberg for 4 days at the Drakensberg Sports Resort. Had a perfect time and got beautiful gifts.
Took the kids to Sun City for 4 days and as always had a fantastic time there.
BMX prize giving – Devin got the trophy for 10 year old novice riders (he will be 10 on the 23rd December but they use the age you turn during the year)
School prize giving Devin and Kiara both received awards for Math and other subject distinctions. Kiara was made a prefect, 18 were chosen out of the 100 or so kids in her grade. She is very proud and hopes that this will help her to get into a privatehigh school. Tarryn did very nicely for standard 9 and goes into her matric and final year. Can’t believe how the time has flown. She only started school the other day.
Went to the annual pantomime at the Civic theatre. This year it was Aladdin and it is always such a great show and I love the tradition we have established.
Our book club Christmas was held at my house this year. I was still working and my mom was in Swaziland for the week so it was a very stressful time getting everything decorated and arranged. It turned out very well and we had a great evening.
Went to a fancy dinner and the Beatles tribute show at Emperor’s casino. I sound like a gambler playing poker and going to the casino, but I hate gambling. My brother gets tickets because he very kindly donates much of his salary to the casino.
December
Had my kitchen re-tiled and the wash up cupboard collapsed when they tried to tile under it. No one could match up the cupboards so I ended up having to re-do the kitchen!
Went to a very nice dancing party to say goodbye to my friend Silvana’s plot that has been sold. We spent so many of our dating years having fun there and it’s quite sad to think that soon that beautiful environment will become storage warehouses. Another chapter closes...
Took a week off and went to Sanbonani in the Lowveld. It was lovely; we did all the tourist things like visiting Pilgrim’s rest, all the waterfalls in the area, the Bourke’s Luck potholes and the Sudwala caves. Went to the Wildlife endangered haven for a day and got to touch the cutest little hippo called Humphrey. The photos that I got of him and Devin are so cool; it looks like Devin is walking his big dog. We also went into the Kruger National Park for a day and saw such an amazing variety of animals. Devin was thrilled to have seen his favourite, a black mamba snake that crossed the road at a leisurely pace in front of our car. We got great photos and had a wonderful time in the evenings playing 30 seconds and poker.
Had our supper club Christmas get together at Monte Casino. Went to a fabulous lunch and saw the show Menopause.
We will be going to Ballito for about 10 days on about the 30th December.
The weather is so glorious here.
Hope you are having a joyful and blessed Christmas wherever you are.
Let me know if any of you are on msn messenger or skype.
