My office is decorated, air tickets and car hire booked. Flags are up at home. The vibe in the country is amazing at the moment. On Friday I wore my Brazil kit to work and on the way a taxi driver gave me the thumbs up! It feels so good to be part of this amazing event. My first game is on Saturday at 4pm Greece vs Korea can't wait.
YAY! YAY! YAY!

A very busy couple of weeks!

In January, we went down to Ballito to visit my mom-in-law and she was not doing well, spent some real quality time with her and said our goodbyes. She was still making wisecracks and entertaining us at that stage but said she had had enough. Sadly 3 weeks later she passed away at home in her own bed, the way she wanted. My father in law did an absolute sterling job of making her as comfortable as possible and seeing to it that she had, and did, everything she wanted to. I am really glad we had the time with her and memories of her bring a smile to my face.

We had a memorial service down at the Ballito beach in February. It was a lovely way to say goodbye and it was wonderful to see cousins and friends. We really had a great weekend.

Got back into swimming and now do a kilometer every time I get to gym. Try to go 4 times a week and this is my preparation for the Midmar Mile. I have until Feb 2011.

Tarryn and Trevor are teaching on a Saturday morning at on outreach programme. He does the high school computers and she does the primary English, math etc. She had a photo shoot done by a work friend of mine and I loved the results.



Devin has given up BMX for the year and although it gives me a lot of extra time, I miss being part of the whole thing. He has crazy about soccer and that is all he cares about at the moment.

Kiara is also working on a Sunday now. She is waitressing at a nursery and is enjoying it so far. She is also teaching kiddies for a couple of hours each week at the local ice-rink.

Bookclub was at my house this month, followed 2 days later by Tarryn’s 21st. We had a tea party for the oldies and had loads of food drink and speeches. We took photos and videos to record the occasion. It is such a nice feeling to have family and friends over to help celebrate an occasion like this. Grandad made the effort to be there for her day too! For her “real” party, she is taking 6 friends away to Sun City for the weekend.

Work wise, the trainee tester graduate program is underway for the next yesr, they have completed their classroom training and are now doing “on-the-job” training until they write their final exam on the 30th April. It is such a good feeling to interview these people, see them being trained in a brand new (to them) discipline and watch how they handle the challenges. Their first presentation of their case study was as stressful for me as it was for them. They have all done really well.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the team that was chosen to share
R1 000 000 as prize money for being part of the innovation campaign that we have at work. Our internal training academy for Hogan Cobol, operators and test analysts that we set up was a winning team. It was a big team that shared the prize, but really cool nonetheless :)

I went on a week’s training and then wrote an exam that had to get couriered to London for marking. It was quite stressful, waiting for the results, as a third of the paper was from a module that I wrote over 3 years ago and threw the notes away! I passed :)

My mom is much chirpier, she has joined a “friends” group at the church and now has something to look forward to on a Thursday afternoon.

Other than that, life is good.
Still working on achieving my goals and having fun, the tickets for the Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Wishbone Ash are booked, so are the World Cup football games.
Thanks for keeping in touch, I love hearing from you all.
Tasha

Christmas has come and gone in a flash, not a very festive time for me. I’m glad it is over. Perhaps this year will be better. I certainly hope so.

My goals are progressing nicely, I have finished a few more and need to just get my head down and accomplish some more. I just feel like I am not anchored at the moment and have yet to establish quite what the thing/s are that are causing this in my life. I have been so disorganized and not at all motivated to change at the moment, I have not even planned and booked our holidays and weekends away. I usually do this in October the year before!

One of the causes of my lack of time at the moment is my addiction to the Facebook application called Farmville. I do not usually play or enjoy any type of computer game but this one has me hooked. I stopped for a week and felt such relief, but unfortunately I was lured into the game again. One of my friends was banned from playing by her husband and I saw other people commenting on her Facebook page saying things like “How did he get that right, wish I could get my husband to stop”, and “My girlfriend has no time for me anymore, wish she would quit”.

Tarryn is having a wonderful time. She had her boob op and is very pleased with the results. I am very proud of her for having the courage to make a decision, save for it, plan and select the doctor and then follow through on the whole thing. It has given her a lot more confidence too. She is loving the job she has and the people she works with are fantastic.

Kiara is in the final phase of high school. He boyfriend’s name is Devin, causing much confusion in our home with the names. She did very well at the end of last year with minimal effort again. Her dream is to go to Paris with her friend Meagan for her 16th birthday this year. I am not sure how feasible that will be at the moment but we will have to see.

Devin goes to his final year of primary school and I have no idea what high school we are going to. I guess I better get my act together soon and sort something out.

Update soon
Tasha

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

September 2008

I am 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!

Tarryn
She decided after much discussion and deliberation to resign from the job at the airlines. She hated being away from home and also not being able to plan each day and week down to the last detail. She worked her notice month and was really fortunate to have received an offer to work at a hotel and conference centre for a 3 month period doing secretarial, events coordinating and general office work. Hopefully she will find out what type of work she wants to do, perhaps study next year or else decide to go overseas and have some fun for a year (my suggestion).

Kiara
Has just had the whole month of August off for school holidays and spent a week at Crystal Springs with her friend Amber and her family. She is such a happy person these days and walks around singing and smiling. She is really enjoying this year and brought home the most encouraging comment on her report from the headmaster saying that she has the potential to set the world alight. (Obviously, only if she decides to put some effort into her undertakings).
Ice skating and boys are definitely her top 2 past times at the moment.

Devin
Is just Devin, he has such an amazing sense of humour and is so much like his dad. He comes out with the most appropriate comments and has us in stitches. He still loves BMX racing and was very chuffed that he has a photo with Sifiso our BMX champ that made it to the finals of the Olympic games. He got an 80gig ipod from Singapore and has it glued to his head at all times.

Mom
She is doing very nicely and seems to have more good days than bad ones. Her garden is looking beautiful as is her cottage. She is having fun with her new friend Val and still sees her cousin Merolyne every week. She loves getting out of the house and uses any excuse to go shopping. She still cooks our evening meals for us during the week and is an absolute star at helping me with the fetching and carrying of the kids in the day. She also does doctors visits, dental check-ups, vets, BMX and sorts out all the maintenance people that need to work at my place on a regular basis. She is such a help.

My brother
Lawrence and his girlfriend Lynn went to Mauritius the same day that we to Phuket. They also had a great holiday and came back with the exciting news that they got engaged over there.

Patsy and Roger
Just after I had posted my last blog update, Patsy (my mom-in-law) was diagnosed with cancer. She has been going for chemo and is unbelievably brave. Roger (dad) has been an absolute star and has been at her side through everything she has had to endure. It is so encouraging to see them so happy together after all these years. It makes it a bit difficult having them living in Ballito now and we are trying to get there for a weekend soon.

The Boyfriends
It feels quite strange to have a section for this now. Costa and I have been seeing each other for a year already and Tarryn and Trevor for 18 months! Kiara is dating Matthew at the moment but he lives in the south and it is a bit of a challenge for them to get the parents to facilitate their meetings. On the relationship front, as with everything else, we are all doing very well and having a great time.

Phuket
I don’t know how to describe the 2 weeks that we spent in Phuket. I told my friend Perren that it was 2 weeks, 9 girls, pure bliss, but he said that sounded too much like the title of a blue movie!
We had an absolutely amazing time there and I loved every minute of it. Our hotel was perfect, the food amazing, prawns almost every night, plenty of alcohol, sunshine, laughter, shopping and nightlife. My best place was Rock City where a different rock band played every hour and they did covers of my favourite bands.

We also went on an elephant safari, and a fantastic canoe trip in the sea that became a starlight spiritual experience that words could never express. “The Hong by starlight” adventure is a must and I would recommend it as the number 1 “must do” item in Phuket. I loved spending time with my special friends and will always treasure the memories of this perfect trip.

Work
I work with such nice people, some of them are crazy, weird and plain dumb asses (no names) but they are all great and as unbelievable as it sounds, I love going to work. Sure I love Fridays just as much as the next person, especially the lunch and red wine ritual with Al, Herman and Pieter, but I am glad that I can come back moaning and groaning on a Monday morning. I was also lucky enough to win tickets to the soccer 2010 World cup through a work competition.

Diving
I am starting my diving course in October and we will be going to Mozambique for a long weekend in November to do our qualifying dive. I am quite nervous especially after having a problem snorkeling in Phuket, but have eventually committed to going. Tarryn is going to be doing the course with me.

Scrapping
I am really trying to make time for my favourite hobby, but the days just fly by. I can’t believe that it is September already and we are discussing plans for Christmas!

Holidays
Our next major holiday is a trip to Cyprus planned for Easter next year. Costa, all our kids and I, plan to stay in a villa at the beach for 2 weeks.
The travel bug has bitten me again and I am really looking forward to that trip, We will probably not be doing anything too exciting in December and anyway I enjoy being home for Christmas.

I am so glad that spring is here and I can’t wait to swim and laze around the pool again. Thanks for all the mails, keep well.
Love
Tasha