Posted my goals on the left and highlighted the complete ones in green.

June 2009

Claire bought me a pink tin of mints in Wales that has the words “Spoilt Rotten” on it and I deserve that title :)

Tarryn
The last time I updated, I said “She is having a tough time at the moment as she is still very confused and undecided about what to do with her life”. Nothing has changed. This has spilled over into her relationship and she and Trevor have spilt up.

She completed her bookkeeping to trial balance course and passed with distinction. She is now doing the computer bookkeeping course. The company that she was studying through, offered her a job and they agreed to a half day position so that she could continue with the water job. She starts at the beginning of the month.

Kiara
The new love of her life is Kyle that she met in Sun City when we were there last. He goes to KES and is a weekly boarder there so it is quite difficult for them to get to see each other. She managed to get Costa to take her to Pretoria the other day to see a rugby match between KES and Pretoria Boys where she met up with Kyle.
I got her a Man U shirt, soccer boots and a Man U birthday cake from my trip. The cake survived in my hand luggage. She also asked me to buy her blue contacts overseas and she wears them at every opportunity. She sang a solo in the school soiree and really did very well, she wants to go for singing lessons now and after seeing her perform, I can’t say no.

Devin
Is doing well, busy with exams and still loving BMX. He has SA champs in Natal at the end of the month. He is playing soccer at school and then when he gets home, he plays FIFA 09 (his only request from my overseas trip) on the Sony.

Mom
Has been battling with her health this year and has been quite depressed, but she is talking about helping out at a local old age home and I think that will be a great thing for her. She needs to be busy and with people. Unlike me, she hates being alone and has a great love for people.

Patsy and Roger (other mom and dad)
We are hoping to see the folks at the end of the month when we go to Durban for BMX, dad has organised a flat in the same building that they are in, so we will spend a long weekend with them.

Costa
He is doing fine and we have been dating for over a year and a half already.
He is working hard and I get to see him mostly on weekends.

Sport
Wow, we have been so spoilt for choice at the moment, rugby, cricket and soccer. Costa and I went to an IPL cricket game and I loved that, also, to the opening ceremony and game of the Confederation Cup soccer. What fun, we caught a traditional taxi to Ellis park and then sat in a stadium full of South African soccer fans, I must say the vibe was amazing and I never felt intimidated for one second. I was very proud of the opening ceremony and the crowd’s behaviour and am really looking forward to going to the World Cup games next year.



Wales
was amazing, I had fun from the time I landed until I got to the airport for my flight home. Hated the flights, but you know I am such a wuss about flying, (you wouldn’t believe I have been overseas 6 times already, besides all the local flying I have done), and then there was the Air France disaster just before I left. BUT I survived again.

It was such fun to see how different life is in a village environment. Lance and Claire live in a tiny village where the kids walk to school, you have a postman (who is scared of the dog) delivering post through the flap in the door “a la Harry Potter” and you can walk everywhere, even to the local beach.

Claire and I spent one day in London and did the whole touristy thing again on the open top bus, to the London Eye, which neither of us had done before and then to Madame Tussauds. I remembered it as being more realistic but I was much younger then, still fun though. Never got to Old Trafford because it involved a 3 hour train and bus trip and then a walk and I had limited time.

I saw lots of Wales and fell in love with the place. There must be 23456 different shades of green that I saw there. Friendly people too.
I came home with 15 mg worth of photos. I posted a selection from each day onto my Facebook site and will think about sorting through the rest at some stage.

Various suggestions were made about ways to detain me in Wales so it sounded as if the people there enjoyed having me there too. I loved it and miss them all lots.

Holidays
We went to Sun City again at the beginning of May and to the Vaal for a weekend too. Upcoming trips to the Natal coast at the end of the month, Zebula game lodge for a scrapping weekend in July, Sun City in August, Sondela in October. My next dream is a Mediterranean cruise next year.

Work
We moved floors at work and that involved getting rid of stuff, it is such a good feeling. I was allocated to a window seat and have the sunshine all day long, so lucky, again. Still enjoying what I do, the people and the place. Our Friday lunch tradition with the boys and my glass of red wine as a reward for surviving the week continues.

Other
Monthly bookclub, supperclub, and chick flicks still going well. Jenny and I still manage a dinner about once a month. Bobbi found me again and it is so good to be in contact.

My photos from the trip are on Facebook, if you want to see them and are not a friend of mine on Facebook, let me know and I will send you the link to my albums.

Keep well and keep in touch.
Regards
Natasha

January 2009

I am still the luckiest person I know. I really do lead a charmed life and have been so fortunate. I have the most amazing people in my life and every day I am reminded of how blessed I am. I am a spoilt brat and I just love this life!

Don’t know how to top this introduction, it still all applies!

Tarryn
She is having a tough time at the moment as she is still very confused and undecided about what to do with her life. At this stage she feels that she does not want to be stuck in a 9-5 office job, she does not want to study at university and does not want to sit at home doing nothing. So, she faces quite a challenge. She is helping Costa with his water business and some bookkeeping to keep busy.

The kids all went to Cape Town in December to visit their cousins and had a wonderful time. They had a nasty episode on the way to the Cape Town airport to catch their flight home, a smash and attempted grab incident. The guy broke the passenger window where Tarryn was sitting and tried to grab her bag, between her and Marina they fought back and she ended up with a deep gash in her hand. She was taken from the airport to a nearby clinic. Devin got to ride in the ambulance with her and thought that was too cool. She had stitches and they missed their flight. The members of staff at the local “One Time” airlines were superb and made arrangements for all of them to catch a later flight at no extra charge! We do deliver service in South Africa.

She completed her scuba open water qualification and breezed through the course and loved it.

Kiara
She is growing up so quickly, clothes crazy, new haircut and can’t leave the house without doing her face. She doesn’t take after me in that regard, must be from her Nanna. She passed well and is now in her second year of high school, just back from a 3 day camp with her school friends, where judging by the anecdotes and photos, they had a great time. She is crazy about the Stephanie Meyer Twilight books and is on the last one at the moment. She also goes through books in a day or two, takes after me there at least!

Devin
Is quickly entering the teenage phase and his goal for this year is to kiss a girl. He is now in the second last year of primary school. BMX is still his main sport although skateboarding comes a close second. He is such a happy-go-lucky easy child.

Mom
She is doing ok at the moment. She bravely passed the 1 year anniversary of Colin’s death and then got the summer flu. She is still our chef during the week and plays the mom’s taxi role too.

Patsy and Roger (other mom and dad)
It was great to see the folks for their 50th wedding anniversary in November last year. All the kids and grandkids were there and we celebrated with a grand meal at our favourite restaurant in Ballito, Mariner’s, I had prawns and red wine (bliss). It was lovely family time and nice to have everyone together, having fun.

The Boyfriends
Yes, this category still exists for both Tarryn and I. Trevor is now in his second year at design school where he is completing a graphic design course. Costa and I are doing well. We flew down to Geraldine’s wedding in Durban and joined the rest of the supperclub bunch at an amazing B&B and had a lovely time at her perfect wedding. We also went to visit my in-laws in Ballito and I really enjoyed that evening too.

Work
The team went to the Barnyard theatre to see the Circus of Rock show and it was a great afternoon. We were fed and entertained amazingly well and I loved the time spent there with the hooligans.
We have a new manager now Hilton and he will start getting involved in the next 2 months, so we will see how that goes. Our quality team is working on a new project that is very exciting but as always everything seems to take so long to happen. I can’t wait to get stuck in and start.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend a voice coaching course and learnt so many new things.

Diving
I did not do too well in the pool sessions when we were doing our diving training so I decided not to continue, but I did agree to go to Mocambique with Tarryn when she did her qualifying dives. We had a long great weekend there and I went out on the dive boats to see exactly what they do. I was the nominated sucker that had to drink sambucca out of a skull cup for my non-participation.

I have agreed to have a second go at diving and am waiting for the new dates in the coming months.

Scrapping
I have moved my scrapping room to the outside room. I had it repainted and carpeted and it has become my hidey hole where I can escape form the world. I LOVE spending time there and have my iPod playing, my digital photo frame displaying my latest photo choices and coffee and chocolate close at hand. Please don’t confuse this new room with any actual scrapbooking, I haven’t managed to get around to that yet. Still only organize, arrange and collect supplies 

Gym
I am back at gym and have managed to get up to a 1km swim per session at the outdoor pool there. Crazy about my gym, it is open 24/7/365. How amazing is that?
They even have outdoor treadmills! I also train at the work gym on the treadmill with my friend Juanette, although I have been quite slack in the past 2 weeks.

and …
We got away to Durban and Sun City so far this month, my ticket to London is pending dates… Still spending time on Facebook, scrabble, reading and my new project is to get all our videotapes onto DVD. That seemed like a simple but time consuming task until the 1st video where I saw Richard, I couldn’t watch without dissolving into tears, funny how sometimes I can watch with fondness and other times not. This year on the 4th March will be 10 years since he was killed. Hard to believe that so much time has passed.

Richard’s aunty Ellen and uncle Brian from Canada came to visit and we all loved seeing them and listening to the stories they had to tell.


We had a new addition to the clan this year, my nephew and his wife in America had a baby boy. Congrats again Dene & Holly!

Still meet my supper club friends once a month, book club too. A few of us now have started going to the monthly “chick flick” at the movies and I manage to combine that with a quick sushi dinner.

I am missing the sunshine, we have had so much rain lately.
Keep well and keep in touch.
Regards
Natasha