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

It looks like February was the last time that I updated my blog…

Devin

He is doing very well. He is playing soccer at school and loving it, he got a new BMX bike that was built up from parts ordered in the USA. He has not done much riding though, with going away and getting the flu that has been doing its rounds. He rode in the SA’s in Natal in March and the 2 of us flew there. I was not very happy about the flying thing, but I survived.

Kiara

She has a lovely new friend Amber and she is still enjoying being in high school. Their weekends consist of going to youth on a Friday night and then spending the rest of the weekend at the ice rink. I don’t know how much skating takes place but I do know that her phone list has tripled with BOYS numbers. She is also playing soccer at school and seems to love that. She also started netball and water polo. She gets home exhausted every night and never does homework! Her room is still a disaster zone and I am not sure that will ever change.

Tarryn

She is now a fully qualified air hostess with wings to prove it. I was so proud when she passed her final exams with 95%. She has already had 2 overnight stays in Cape Town. She says she will be very bored doing international flights, but she has committed to completing her year with the airline, while she decides what to study going forward. She is still dating Trevor and he spends most of his time at our place. He is at college doing a 3 year graphic design course.

The folks

We had a lunch at their place to say goodbye to them and their house. They have packed up and sold the house and settled into the Ballito place. It seems very strange to realize that I will never go to the old house again. I have been part of that property for the past 27 years. When I started visiting there, Richard’s brother Scott was still in primary school and now he has children in primary school!

Mom
She is doing ok, hating winter and can’t wait to get stuck into her garden in the spring. She has redecorated her house inside and it is looking good. She is struggling to come to terms with her loss but manages most days pretty well.

Work
Doing ok there. Still enjoying work. I am going on 2 really nice courses next month A Quality Management course for a week and then a 3 day assessors course so that I can give training. We are also going on a teambuilding that will consist of Frisbee golf, treasure hunt, target shooting, a cave tour lunch and a game drive, so that sounds like fun.

Sun City
For my birthday, we went to Sun City. It was a long weekend and I booked a 3 bedroom chalet. My mom, my kids, Costa, Trevor and Tarryn’s friends Caroline and Ryan were with us. I enjoyed every minute of it and was thoroughly spoilt with gifts and messages. Costa made an amazing braai and the meat was superb. The kids made a great breakfast on the morning of my birthday and Michael and Tracey came to join us for that.

Scrapping

I have done quite a lot of scrapping lately, went on a scrapping weekend with my cousin Lee Ann this month. We went with a whole bunch of ladies to Sparkling Waters, a lovely resort and conference centre. We started our weekend off with a hot stone massage at their health spa. It was an awesome weekend and I had loads of fun. I won the catty shooting competition and Lee Ann came second. At least she as the excuse that she grew up on a farm! We won huge rugs that need to be in a room with a fireplace, I have not collected mine yet.

We also did a weekend at the scrapping shop where we did 8 layouts. That was exhausting but I loved it too. I made a mini album for my boyfriend and am busy with a mini album of Tarryn’s birth.

Phuket
We got our air tickets when we were at supperclub last week and all of a sudden the trip seems real. I am so excited. 6 weeks to go.

And
I am still having such fun in my life. Taking lots of photos, still loving Facebook, the friends I have made and the scrabble games that I play online. I have been going to movies quite a lot and eating far too much sushi. Went to a “eat as much as you can” sushi feast with Tarryn and Melissa yesterday and we really did well. We had 15 plates! What bliss.

I can’t wait until this cold weather is over. My hot water bottle is working overtime. Looking so forward to spring.

Have fun and keep warm.

Love to all

Tasha

Check out my Slide Show!

February 2008

Christmas and New Year
Have come and gone so quickly. We had a lovely family lunch for Christmas and spent New Year at home too.

Devin
He bought an Arsenal soccer ball at the mall this weekend (I know, really bad choice!) and left it at a food outlet that has tables in the mall’s open area. He only discovered this when we got home and we told him to just write the ball off. 2 days later he convinced his sister to call the Juicy Lucy outlet and they let him know that the waitress had found the ball and kept it for him! I was so impressed at finding there are still people with good values in South Africa.

Kiara
Started high school and absolutely loves it. She is like a different child and comes home smiling and full of enthusiasm. The new Grade 8 class (standard 6’s) went on a 3 day camp near the Vaal with the prefects and some teachers and she came back with the comment “Mom, I go to the best school in the world!”

Tarryn
She had a nice long time doing nothing but spending money on my credit card until last week. She has started a course, training as an air hostess and so far she is doing brilliantly. They completed their paramedic week and she was top of the class with 100% for her practical and written tests! I was so proud of her.
By the time I added this, she had completed her training, gone for 2 interviews, got the 1st job and is at the final interview stage for another airline. How amazing is that?

Ballito
We spent a super week at my favourite holiday spot and although I had to work down there for 2 of the days we had a fantastic time. The weather was terrible for most of the week but I got lots of reading done, we played poker, took photos, went for walks and I caught up on much needed sleep.

Colin
The day after we got home, my stepdad Colin got dressed for work and then did not feel well. I heard him and my mom leaving and a while later I got a call from the hospital to say I needed to get there. Mom drove Colin to the hospital and he got onto the bed in casualty and had a massive heart attack and passed away. It has been a very difficult time for us, my mom is struggling to come to terms with it and it brought back painful memories for all of us. It was really nice to see how family and friends rallied around and made me realise how lucky we are to have such special people in our lives.

Work
We have had some restructuring at work and I have been fortunate to be given the Quality portfolio, strategies, processes and standards. I am also assisting with a graduate program that we have set up to train up test analysts.
Attended an awesome conference at the Emerald Casino and met a bunch of great people there.

Scrapping
I created a scrapbooking page this weekend for the first time in about 5 months and was so glad that I did. I realised how much I have missed playing with photos and journaling. I will make time for this.


‘Basco
Is the new dog that we got from my brother who is moving to a new place. We were the lucky winners of his German Shepherd puppy that chews everything he sees!

And
I have renewed an interest in gemstones and their properties and meanings
Between the kids, supper club, book club, Facebook, Devin’s BMX, skateboarding, scrabble, friends and my boyfriend, there is not much time left for blogging.

Hopefully I will be more organized in the coming months.

Love to all
Tasha

12 December 2007

Well I see I missed another month and now it’s just over 2 weeks to go until my favourite day of the year. I have started buying presents but know that I will forget what I have bought and will end up buying until the last moment. The tree is up and gifts are wrapped thanks to Tarryn and her organized, efficient character. The kids have put their wish lists up on the notice board in the kitchen and I see the list growing every day. Kiara is especially good at adding to her list and I now see a whole lot of skateboarding items that appear on both her and Devin’s lists.

Devin has started to teach her some tricks and she just loves the attention and praise he gives her when she achieves. I love seeing them together and not bickering.

I know we don’t do Thanksgiving in South Africa but I really think it is something special. I do it on a small scale and love to start out writing 3 things a day in my journal that I am grateful for and then finding that I have written 20 things before I even realize it.

I love December and the build up to Christmas. It is really my favourite time of the year. This year I am making decorations using photos of my friends. I have the family photos on my Christmas tree and there is a fight on with some people to “get on the tree”. I have run out of frames for the tree so I figured making a “friends” chain would be a good alternative.

I still need photos from a few of you
Cathy, Jon, Hazel, Liz, Chris, Brian, Carin, Carol, Elsabe, Erica, Jeanette, Judy, Kathy, Liezel, Mark, Peter R, Peter P, Richard, Sav, Sherie, Terry, and Viresh so hurry up and send them please ...

Tarryn
Matric is now over, it’s so weird to think that my little girl is driving around and finished with school!
She loves having the independence of having a car and is a great help when I need something done. She has not quite decided what she is doing next year and although she applied to do a BCOM, I think she will be doing flight school (air hostessing) training and then maybe flying for a year before she decides.

She was so excited to be going to Cape Town with Trevor. He has never been before. Even though he is an Arsenal supporter, he has also been included in all our Christmas activities at our home and got his own advent calendar when my bunch got theirs. He was so pleased with it and allowed me to take photos of him opening his very first advent chocolate ever. I think he is getting used to the photo thing now and does not seem fazed when I whip out the camera to record some event that seems significant to me.

Kiara
She went away to Grade 7 (Standard 5) farewell camp for a week and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Although she complained about school every day for the past year, tears flowed when she said goodbye and realized that it was the end of primary school forever.

Prize giving was very fruitful this year for her again. She got an external ATKV certificate for Afrikaans. A certificate for distinctions in 4 subjects and the computer trophy for the best student. I got a photo of her with her Grade 1 teacher so we can have a first and last day comparison.

She has been pestering me to get her new school uniform and everything she needs for next year, I hope Santa brings me a credit card that never needs repaying!

Devin
I took him on a date on Monday after work and we went to see Balls of Fury and then to Spur for a meal and to the games arcade for some games. We had a great time together and he must have thanked me 10 times for taking him. Makes it so worthwhile!

He is still having fun and doing well at skate boarding and we will see if he gets involved in BMX next year. Since Trevor has been around, he has developed a passion for soccer so we will see what develops there.

Devin also did really well at prize giving and got distinctions for Maths as well as Economic Management sciences and an external Math certificate.



Natasha

My friend Claire is leaving for Wales this week and I don’t even want to think about that. It will be terrible to drive past her house every day and know that I can’t just pop in for coffee.

Our Christmas Supper club event was our annual breakfast at Aurelia’s at Emperor’s palace. A perfect day with friends, gifts and lots of smoked salmon with breakfast. What more can a girl ask for?

Our Christmas Book Club event was a day at Mangwanani day spa and it was so enjoyable that we decided to make this an annual event too. The day was filled with laughter and stories about sweetie pies, long toes, a herd of wildebeest doing the strangest things to Louise.

The Pantomime this year was Peter Pan and thanks to my friend Ruth, we could take Trevor, Dylan and my mom with us to this annual event. We all loved it.

I have made some lovely new friends this year that have just added to my wonderful life. I have also started dating someone and went out with the folks, Darrel, Scott and his girlfriend Sue the other night. I told them about my new relationship and it was one of the scariest things I have done in ages. Darrel still teases me about it! They were all very happy for me as is everyone else in my life.

We went to Sun City for our team building event this year and I loved every minute of it. We went by bus and I was served different flavoured Brutal Fruit drinks all the way there! We swam in The Valley of the Waves, I went down the dark tunnel water slide with Alan and Herman (first time I have ever done that and yes I was sober!), ate lunch there and lazed about at the pool at the Observatory deck. Al must have had far too much to drink because he asked Herman and I “Why don’t they fix this stuff up, it looks so shabby!”

The supperclub girls are going to Phuket in August and I am really looking forward to that. I was not going to be joining them, but I got an award at the Year end function this year and decided to spoil myself.

Nanna & Colin
Colin was hospitalized for a few days with pneumonia but is recovering well. Nanna is doing well and enjoying the summer garden. We are going to be having Christmas at our place this year so she will be very busy arranging all the food. Keep her out of mischief!

Lawrence
My brother and I have fallen into a lovely Sunday routine where he comes around for a cup of coffee or 2 and we play backgammon outside on the patio. It is usually early and quiet before the mad rush of the day begins.

Will update again before the end of the year!
Love
Tasha

September 2007

What a crazy month, my calendar looks like a pre school kids got hold of it and scribbled everywhere!
It’s been lots of fun though a bit stressful at times.

Tarryn
She survived prelims and passed all her subjects, not much studying went on I can assure you. The highlight of her month was the matric farewell that was held on the 20th of September. Her friend Garth did all the crystals on her dress and I think she looked perfect! Trevor had his hair dyed to match her outfit and he looked stunning. Trevor’s dad Gary arranged an old Jag to take them to the farewell at the Birchwood Hotel. From there they went to Roxy’s in Mellville in the Party Bus which I think was a brilliantly sensible idea. I got an sms from her at 6-15am the next morning, to say they were back at Gary’s place and he was making breakfast for them. Gary sent me a message shortly thereafter saying they had eaten and passed out for the rest of the day! Oh the joys of youth! Gary and kids joined us for Sunday lunch and the topic of Ballito came up. I said that the kids were wasting an opportunity not being at the coast this week. They could not quite believe it when we agreed to let them drive down for a week on their own!

Kiara
Her highlight is the Cape Town trip that the school arranged. She is coming home tomorrow morning and has had a great time so far. They had a jam packed schedule and she was lucky enough to get to see her cousins from Cape Town while she was there. She is still doing ice skating but deserves her colours for shopping. Took her to Greenstone shopping centre to get a few things for the Cape trip and wow she shopped. Her report was perfect as usual and she goes into the last term at primary school next week. Hard to believe.

Devin
His moon boot is finally off, although he won’t be riding in the Grand National champs for BMX. Next year maybe? He has joined “skate skool” and is learning a whole lot of skateboarding tricks that have names that are beyond me like NOLLIE, OLLIE, NOSEGRIND, POPSHOVEIT and SPINE TRANSFER. I have a whole new language to learn. He was feeling very left out when Tarryn went to Ballito and Kiara was in the Cape, so we arranged for him to fly to Darrel and Marina’s for 4 days. He is coming back tomorrow and when I asked him if he was looking forward to coming home, he said, in typical diplomatic Devin style, “Sorry to say this mom, but NO I am not, I wish I could stay longer”. Another perfect report too.

Natasha
My month has been made up of friends, fun, alcohol, laughter, smiles, book club, supper club, meeting Darrel for breakfast, dinner and strawberry daiquiris with Megan after the matric farewell cocktail party, Facebook,
MSN Messenger, TV (yes I did watch 3 program this month!!!!!!!), music (and I still love my ipod), going on
a personal effectiveness workshop that reminded me of my Lifeline training, hooking up with old friends, ten pin bowling, taking lots of photos, not much scrapping and some new goals. Will share with you soon.

Nanna and Colin are well and so is my brother.

Work is great too and so we plunge into the next month …
Lotsa luv
Tasha