News, views, and stress

I suspected, shortly after we moved into the little room, that there was a problem.  It seemed to have sorted itself out but 2 nights ago, it became obvious that it was still indeed a problem (I should have known, things just don't ever sort themselves out, do they).

I've been finding little black dots 'inked' on the sheet of my bed, almost like a fineliner point had touched the sheet and left a mark.  2 nights ago, as I was neatening up my bedding before going to bed, I noticed there were a few dots collected in one place on the sheet, at the corner of the mattress (where the sheet is tucked in).  I pulled the sheet, untucking it, and recoiled in horror:  there were LOADS of the black marks there, plus a bug... or 2.  I don't remember what exactly I saw, because I was so horrified that I jumped back at least 2 metres.  G found and squashed the one bug, but if there are others, we haven't found them - yet.

The little room has bedbugs.  I am HORRIFIED.  Let me first say that a) bedbugs are not a sign of bad hygiene b) they can come from anywhere AND they can last a long, long time without food, and c) they probably were in the room before G's parents moved in a few months ago and have probably been merrily living off the dogs' blood (the dogs slept in the room before it was prepared for us to stay in).

But I am still horrified... it's revolting.  Just the thought of lying there, unaware, in the bed, while these little bastard bugs creep around and feast on me... I just... EUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHH.

At the moment I'm busy washing all our clothes, (one load at a slow time), all the rest of our stuff (unwashable, like the luggage) will need to be sprayed with bedbug spray (gotta pop out to the shop and buy it soon), and then kept out of the room.  I do NOT want to take them with us, firstly because we're staying with G's friends who I seriously do not want to give bedbugs to (what a way to thank them for their generously letting us stay in their spare room!), and ultimately, I do NOT WANT them in our new place.  If there is a bug problem there, then it's the fault of the house, not because they've hitch-hiked with us across the planet.

What a BLOODY PAIN (no pun intended here, GRRR), and just the sort of stress I REALLY FEEL LIKE right now.  The horror and anxiety is just so unnecessary right now, but what can we do apart from soldier the fuck on and deal with it.

In other news, we've been going out a bit lately - we went to the Tibetan teahouse for lunch yesterday, after which we popped in by Tears to drop off some donation odds and ends, then to Mom+Sis, to pick Sis up to go visit M's horse, and also so that I could dye my hair.

Yes, the 'yay I'm finally free of this horrible workplace' celebratory hair-dyeing has only just been done now... and it's done and I loooooooove the colour!

After I dyed my hair, we headed off to find the place where M's horse is currently stabled.  Her directions are unfortunately based on 'visual' cues - which are subject to change: just now someone cuts down a tree/the shop moves/someone knocks over a street sign - and she was unable to give us a street name... so we couldn't find it.  This has been a bone of contention between her and Sis before, and although Sis is very quick to jump onto her high horse about stuff, in this case I can understand at least the reason for her annoyance, if not the degree of it.

But we found it after phoning M and asking where she is, and we had a nice time visiting Poneh!  Interestingly, he's now stabled with his 'brother', M's sister's ex-horse, who he 'grew up with'.  It's lovely there, and nice for them to be part of a home stable, and not a stable-yard or riding school.

Last night, after Pony Party, we headed through to the Spur (a local steakhouse chain) for supper.  We met up with Bobby & her bf Nico who was at school with me (see previous post about winning a necklace on her blog giveaway).  It was so lekker to see them, but a pity that we didn't get to chat as much as I'd hoped - I guess she felt a bit 'odd' what with Nico knowing most of the rest of us and her not really knowing anyone.  I have a suspicion I am going to feel the same way later today, as we go to G's office farewell.

On Wednesday I had to go to the bank to sort out the closure of my account.  The STUPID branch in the CBD had lost my details.  I SPECIFICALLY went there after we got married to give them a copy of my new ID, a copy of the marriage certificate and also so I could sign the signature record form.  But no, after banking a further 2 years with them, they have managed to lose that and so I had to take my ID, G's ID and our marriage certificate as proof that I am who I say I am, because I don't have my maiden name ID with me (it's in the container by now).  Great stuff, and I thought this bank was a rather good bank - I was a bit mistaken, I suppose.

It's nearly time for me to hang out the 2nd load of washing.  I think there are another 6 or maybe more loads to do.  Yippee.

Wow

That's great.

I also care so much... I think my GIVE A FUCK BUTTON has just broken.

Great days

Yesterday G and I spent the day at the World of Birds.

The weather was perfect, I even wore SHORTS! Canyoubelieveitgaspomgwtf?! It's rather a large place, so it took quite a while to make our way through it, but it's still lovely to go there and see all the birds.

Unfortunately, G wasn't having as much fun as he'd have liked, as his (recently-filled) tooth was hurting, his leg was sore from Sunday (see below), and his legs in general were tired (cos of his nerve condition).

The birds are fascinating, and they even have a honeybadger, meerkats, porcupines, badgers and a dassie (or 2?), and I was most amused to see the bright pink ibises. We even got 'attacked' by a hadeda ibis who was probably conditioned by moron visitors that passers-by = food. He tried to rip open the shopping-bag G was carrying and also tried to eat my shoelace (after pecking my sock and leg). I had to fend him off with my own bag so that I could get past him as he was in the path. It's quite weird to be walking and all of a sudden have a hadeda between your feet!

The pic below shows how big a hadeda is - those are standard size bricks (in SA, at least).

^ above pic from Locutis on Flickr

Sunday we met up with Sis, KM, S+C+KW plus KM's friend, to go to Cape Point. It was INSANELY windy, despite being the most beautiful sunny day. We endured though, and made the most of the time there. We went to the look-out point, which looks down to the point, then went to the restaurant for some coffee/cake/lunch. I had a pasta, which was big so I had more pasta for supper! We took a look around the curio/souvenir shop. I bought a Cape Point lighthouse thimble, except I chose the one which says Cape Town (it looks like a mistake as everything with the lighthouse painted on it says Cape Point), so I have a unique one! :D

Then we made our way up to the lighthouse, where I held on EXTREMELY tightly to the video camera. It's so beautiful up there, so awe-inspiring seeing this panorama of open ocean almost all around, where you just KNOW that out there, there's no land for a very long way. I don't envy the sailors in the old days, setting sail to find a new land without any way of knowing whether they'd ever get home again.

I must say that our gym sessions seem to have paid off, as I am not madly stiff/achy after the walk as I would have been previously. I wasn't able to mountain-goat it up the walkway, nonstop, but I still managed without stopping to catch my breath every 10 metres.

Today is another stunning day, and Sis is picking me up for a 'jol'. G is at work today, and I need to go to FH to clean the fishtank - for the last time, ever. It also serves another purpose: to show Sis how to do it so that once I'm off on my merry way in Aus, she'll know how to clean the tank.

We might go to the beach, too, and we're also meeting up with Te (or kidnapping her!) for coffee.

It feels crazy. There are 4 days til we fly. 5 sleeps. Four days, total, until we are out of the country, moved. Relocated. Emigrated. Mind-boggling, really.

Let me sign off with that, as I need to get some tea before Sis arrives.

Friday hilarity

The picture below has had me in stitches the whole of yesterday evening and all day today so far. Even thinking about it cracks me up.



Today is brilliant for another reason: I won the bird necklace from the giveaway on Bobby's Blog Yippee!!!

Here's a pic (cropped from the pic she has on her blog) so y'all know what it looks like...



It's too cute for words, AND is another bird-themed thing (to go with the bird-on-a-wire-pole) to keep me going emotionally when I think about Dude and feel sad.

Other reasons for my general jolliness today are:

* Someone's interested in the car and MAY just take it for a test drive tomorrow.

* We're having Syndicate tonight, at M&J's flat which usually gets a bit snoreish*, tonight Sis is hopefully bringing a HOSS DVD to watch. Why it's a good thing that it's a hoss movie is that M at one stage, upon hearing the suggestion that we watch My Friend Flicka (I've never read the book nor seen the movie) stated without hesitation that she's "grown out of watching those kinds of movies", which made the rest of us feel a bit sad. Mostly G I think (since I'm younger than the other 3 by 3 years), because being over 30 is not the death-sentence she makes it out to be.

* I paid off my medical accounts, so shouldn't owe anything here at all now.

* Sunday we're (touch wood the weather behaves!) having a picnic at Cape Point, as a sort of bye-bye/farewell/toodle-doo get together with some of our long-time friends.



^above pic from Page88

A dream of mine is to fly past the cliffs at the end of the peninsula, one day maybe we'll get to do that, but for now it'll be enjoyable enough merely being there again. Of course I'll take my videocamera!!

Sunday is also my last ever fishtank cleaning day. I've printed out the handbook for Sis, just need to get it laminated and stapled and then it's ready to hand over.

Another thing we're going to try do on Sunday is donate some of our last odds + ends to an animal charity. The stuff isn't really worth much to us and we doubt we'd get much for it. I hope I don't find the puppies and kittens there too cute because I already wish we could get a puppy, but we'll have to wait (...a long time) before we can get one. Depending on the house we end up renting, we might not even be able to get a bird for a while.

Restlessness

I'm sitting alone at G's parents' place. I feel so unbelievably restless, and I'm not sure why. I had a Dr Pepper but I doubt it's the caffeine in it that's making me feel so antsy.

We don't have that much still to do, in preparation for our move. The car is the biggest thing, it's still to be sold - no one has really shown an interest in it.

I feel tired, restless, on edge. Plus I'm irritated because I have mosquito bites. Or I think they're mosquito bites, they might just be flea bites.

We have 10 days til we fly. It's supercrazytired now. Mom and Sis just keep on going, endlessly. They haven't really been speaking to each other for the past age. I try to enjoy time with both, separately, but it's difficult because of the issues between them. It seeps into my mind and I can't get away from it.

Sis came to G's parents' place, left her car and went through to Spier with us yesterday. Of course she rants about the houses here not having numbers, liberally using the F-word where it isn't quite required. I understand Mom's unhappiness about Sis's attitude, but there's nothing I or she can do about it.

We went through to Spier and as soon as we got there we looked at the crafts stalls they have just at the entrance. Of course I fell head over in love with the little stone birds-on-a-wire-pole, and had to be swayed to have lunch first. We had a delicious buffet lunch at Moyo, an African themed restaurant. Sis, G and I each got dots painted on our faces and we were serenaded by 4 singers who sang a click-song.

^above pic from SAWeddingVenues.com It shows one of the kinds of eating area at Moyo - we had a similar place which is built up out of wood so it felt as if you were up in the trees.

After lunch we browsed the Moyo crafts shop, had a brief relaxing moment sitting by the river/lake in the picnic area (see below for pic of the lake), and then went to see the Cheetah Outreach and Eagle Encounters area.

^above pic from Afrilux.co.za

The cheetahs are beautiful, but the experience wasn't much to write home about. Not dissing their work etc, just from a tourist point of view, unless you feel like forking out R110 to have an encounter with a cheetah which involves stroking it a bit*, you can only see them from a few metres away. Luckily the handycam has a good zoom so it wasn't that far off.

* Ok, maybe growing up in wild ol' Africa and seeing wildlife so much in pictures makes this less exciting to me than it would to real tourists LOL!

^above pic from Picasa user Bonnie

After the cheetah view, we went across to the Eagle Encounters, which was incredible. For R30, you get entry plus you can 'cuddle' some owls (there are other additional experiences that you can have, like an encounter with a Black Eagle, for example).

As we entered, there were 2 Wood Owls stationed at a table, one 3 years old and one 9 weeks old. The 9 week old one was SOOOOOOOOO adorably floofy and fuzzy, I wished I could steal him and take him home in my bag!

This is a pic of a Wood Owl youngster, like the little floofball I scritched:

^above pic from Owen & Mzee's Web log.

Isn't he just too adorable for words?!

This is the older Wood Owl, Woody's Facebook page

Next to the Wood Owls were 3 half-asleep Barn Owls who didn't seem to care either way whether you stroked them or not. To me, they look so much like over-sized moths!

^above pic from cdedancemom's photobucket

We then entered an owl enclosure, got to don leather gloves and become Spotted Eagle Owl perches!

^above pic from Owlpages.com

These guys were clearly trained to perch in order to get food as they completely ignored us apart from the cue of glove+outstretched arm, and focused entirely on the 'handler' guy who was (in the minds of the birds) limitlessly laden with food.

We spent quite a while admiring the birds there: eagles, kestrels, falcons, vultures, the list goes on. The birds are really beautiful but it's innately sad, because the whole reason so many of the birds are there is because they've been injured, or rescued and imprinted and can never be released into the wild. Some of these birds spend so much of their time 'screaming' for the attention of the handlers. On the plus side, though, is the fact that you can see the birds comparatively up close, and they really are beautiful (apart from the vultures, of course!).

Afterwards we popped by the craft stalls again, for me to finally buy my birdie. Sis decided she also wanted one, so we both got one each. Each and every one of the birds has a different personality as they are hand carved and also are of different colour stone.  It was hard to choose but I think this one is by far the sweetest. Sis's one has an attached, carved tail, whereas mine has an inserted metal tail. I have yet to name him, but I'm sure he'll love wherever we live, in Aus.

Hope AQIS doesn't have a problem with him!

Ok, that's all for now - time to head out to gym! Yes, not quite a new year's resolution, but we've been good and have gone quite a few days in the past 2 weeks. We only have until Sunday to gym, so we're going to head out now and work up a sweat.

13 sleeps left

Craziness!

This blog post has taken me a while to 'get around to'... I started it probably at about 9am this morning, and have just felt too distracted to settle into blogging.

The floods in QLD have been quite a concern, specially since Brisbane's been ravaged too. Thankfully we have the option of popping in to visit my cousin + aunt in Perth though, which is a big relief.

We have 16 days until we fly. Crazy. Just admin stuff to do, and then we're A for Away.

My inspiration has fallen off my chair, so I'll say 'tarrah for now' and blog some more latahhh!!

Heatwave

The past 3 or so days have been blazingly hot. Hot, meaning 38C, 36C and so on. I am SO GLAD we aren't still living in 'Town', where it was that hot USUALLY, at least upstairs (the bedroom/bathroom). We've been swimming occasionally, G more than me as it's just too hot and I feel the sun a lot more than he does, I think. I already got a 'bikini burn' for the first time ever. I think the last time I actually swam was probably 10 or so years ago.

Gym has been fun, but today we gave it a miss as both of us felt a bit head-poundy. Not exactly a headache but an on-and-off throb. Hope it's nothing bad.

This morning we went to the dentist for our 6 monthly checkup. Stupid medical aid doesn't cover me for this time, because I went most recently in August which means the soonest I'd be covered is March. Sorrehh, no can do. Luckily I had a credit with the dentist, so I won't break the bank this time. However, I need to go for 2 fillings. Ok, 2 replacement fillings - I've been good with my teeth for a long time now and hopefully won't need any more fillings. These 2 are silver (mercury-based) old-style fillings, and will be replaced with new-style white ones. Yay, I really feel like having fillings done!!

Oddly though, despite ignoring it when I was small, I now regret not grabbing on tight to the advice of "take care of your teeth now, once you get a filling you can't undo it". I have, in my opinion, too many fillings. Not visible or detrimental cosmetically, but still, I regret having them. Maybe one day they'll be able to regenerate teeth, but I doubt it'd be in my lifetime!

Next up, once I get a PROPER answer from my medical aid, I'm going to go for an eye checkup. Haven't been in probably nearly 10 years, haven't had problems with my eyes, but it's still a good thing to do anyway. I'm trying to get a straight answer from my medical aid as to whether I'm covered for optometry or not. You'd think they'd be able to give me a definite answer after 3 days... but no.

I've been looking at our Move Preparation list. There are a couple of things to do, but it's 'easy' stuff like getting certified copies of important documents, getting bank reference letters, etc. Also (as mentioned above), going for general checkups.

It's crazy to think that we have 23 days until we fly. I think I'm excited, because it's a flight, overseas trip, etc... but I still feel sad, because we're LEAVING. Permanently. Moving. Not merely going away for a long time, we're MOVING there. That in itself is exciting (new home, new car, etc etc), but it's a bit scary thinking we won't just be 30mins away from family. Can't just quickly drive down/up to the mall. Can't just sommer sms friends. Although, granted, we haven't been 'just hanging out with friends' because friends have, for the most part, disappeared. There are so few people we have actually seen or heard from since the wedding. I must have mentioned it in a previous blogpost (or two), but it still sucks, and hopefully things will improve in Brisbane.

But anyway, it's a nice cool evening now, perfect to head out to our little room in the garden and get ready for bed.

Tired!

We've joined a gym.

Walked there on Friday, went for our first session yesterday (yes, a Sunday). Today was our second session.

G's not doing weight-training this time as it's just a 3 week contract, so we've been doing 'aerobic' stuff, like:

Cycling,

rowing

and running/jogging/walking/hobbling:

We've taken it easy, seeing that it's my first ever stint at a gym, but it's been fun. After our session today we had a swim, which was refreshing and relaxing.

We have 4 weeks now until we LAND in Brisbane. Things are settling in a little here at G's parents' place, but it still feels weird and as if I'm in the wrong time-zone. It's quite an adjustment getting used to a whole different 'schedule' and modus operandi for just about everything.

My brain has fizzled out now.

I'm interested in getting a new phone, once we're in Aus (I am DEFINITELY getting a new laptop!!)... thinking about a Blackberry... but not sure. Will research lots (as per my usual level).

Shyablog: Secret Blogs...?

Shyablog: Secret Blogs...?

It's all done

Everything's all systems go, now!

Tuesday the movers came at +-9:30 in the morning, and started just about straight away to pack up our stuff. They worked solidly until 4pm, with just 1 smoke-break and 1 lunch-break. I'd say more than half our stuff was packed up on day 1. We're both very impressed with how well everything has been packed, how thoroughly they packed everything.

Wednesday they arrived at 9am and worked solidly til just past 4pm (with smoke+lunch break). Packing everything else up, like the fridge and washmachine, and all the furniture. They left past 4 because they couldn't get the bed down the stairs and out the door: they'd packaged the mattress and base together into one package. They had to slit the package open, pull the mattress out, bring the base+box down the stairs and repackage it and tape it all back together again afterwards.

On the whole, we have a good feeling about the whole thing. Everything went smoothly, our only 'concern' is that everything was packed so all-together and mixed that we wonder how customs/AQIS would ever find things easily. We didn't get to varnish the ornament odds and ends, so hopefully they won't have a problem with them. We do need to fill in the customs declaration form though, which we hand to the Aus office of our moving company.

Other than the move, today we went back to the house to take the furniture odds + ends and also to clean up and hand back keys. It was so strange, looking at the place all empty, and virtually spotless! It almost felt like we were about to move in!

In other news, Dude has pretty much settled in at his new home quite well. He's fascinated by the finches and loves yakking away to the room in general: his cage is alongside the finches' cage and is across the room from the Amazon parrot's cage. He just ignores the parrot for the most part, but loves watching the finches.

I felt very sorry for him over Xmas time though, as everything was so new and startling, AND the whole room was full with family, and the dogs were rushing around outside the windows and doors behind his cage. EVERYTHING was too stressful!

I'm going to miss him so much. It was very emotional on Xmas eve day and Xmas day. I felt sad and teary at the most random times. Boxing day and the days after have so far been fine. We've been very busy though.

On a whole other front, things aren't going so well between Mom and Sis these days. Again. What's new. This time, Sis is housesitting. She left just after Boxing Day lunch and popped home yesterday evening to get a change of clothes (she's housesitting til Saturday). She smsed to say that the dishes etc from Sunday lunch were still in exactly the same place (on the tables in the lounge), unmoved/uncleared/uncleaned. I gather that Mom's been sitting watching cricket the entire time, doing nothing else. We left before dessert was dished, otherwise I'd have helped clean up, but that's just crazy. Sis was extremely unimpressed, because it ultimately means that SHE has to clean the whole lot up by herself (no help from Mom). While I'm fully aware that Sis isn't one to selflessly volunteer to do things which would inconvenience her/cause her discomfort, she still does what's necessary... and to have to do that after cleaning up after herself while house-sitting... that's a bit crazy. Specially considering it's the height of summer...

I don't know what to think. Nor what to do. It wasn't like this when I moved out... and yet I still feel bad about it. I can't help but project into the future and envision Mom, in an eBay house. Sis phoned for a chat before supper and we just commiserated... but there's not much we can do. She desperately wants to move out, I desperately wish Mom would 'come right'. But I seriously doubt that would ever happen. So I guess the only thing is to 'wait it out' until she's old and senile and able to be put into an old age home and we get to attack the mammoth task of clearing out the house. Apparently in October, when Sis was house-sitting the whole month, she came back to find that the poop-scoop hadn't been done the entire month. Delightful.

It's now 9:30pm, and time to head to our room. We used to go to sleep past 11, but these days, since the family goes to bed about 9, we end up heading out at around that time too.

I will blog more when I think of it - my brain is tired and it's time to zzzzz.

Ciao

Pop in and update

First off, let me say I have a suspicion our to-be ex-ISP is being generous: this is our notice month, and we have officially been capped. Officially as in, I got the 'you have used 100% of your cap' email, the online-account details page says 'capped'.... and yet, we are still able to surf. Internationally.

Every moment, we are glad for the previous moment's internet connection LOL. Well, I've been a customer since probably 2002 or 3, so maybe it's a generosity to a long-standing customer? Not sure. Maybe it's because I wrote 'thanks for years of great service' on the disconnection-instruction page... who knows.

We have 37 days til we fly. I just realised a day or two ago that I don't really have to keep posting the 'days til' because there's a widget in the side-bar, except, once the countdown is complete there'll be no reference anymore and looking back on these posts will be contextless.

We've been madly rushing and packing and preparing. We got rid of the couches, donated a whole load of things, dropped off e-waste at the drop-off place, and Dude (and our potplants) have been dropped off at G's parents' place. It was a pretty emotional drive. Last night was pretty emotional too: I clipped his nails for the last time. Gave him neck-scratches for the last time. Played with him on the bed for the last time. My adorable, lovable Little Dude. I know that we'll still have a month with him before we go, but it's still painfully undeniable that after that, we probably will never see him in person again. It's so unbearable. It's no consolation when people say things like 'oh, you can always get another bird', or 'forget a budgie, you can get a parrot!!' or something, because that's not the point. The point is, he's our Little Dude. He's our tiny member of the family. We love him. I think he also, in his birdie way, loves us. We're his flock, and although G's parents will by extension love him too, it's just not the same - they don't whistle like we do, and make weird sounds (pretend bird-talk) that he appreciates and 'understands'. I'm going to miss him far too much.

We just have a few more things to do, and then we're ready to 'move' out. The new tenants have been found, and oddly enough, live in the same complex! We need to pack our luggage still, which I think we should get started on.

Cheers for now - if I don't blog between now and then (or if we get capped), have a WONDERFUL, safe, happy and peaceful Xmas, a fantastic new year and a GREAT 2011.

Watch this space!!

Today

has been a flurry. I am tired and pretty much everything is funny right now, and yet I've had nothing to drink that was alcoholic.

Everything's ready now for the fishtank to be moved tomorrow morning. This morning we raced through to the big hardware/outdoors/gardening/etc warehouse shop, to buy a potjie pot and grille to use it with the Weber.

A potjie pot, like this:

N&N gave us a potjiekos recipe book, and now we're all set ready to make potjiekos and also to make our Aussie neighbours jealous! Potjiekos smells DIVINE!

Less exciting has been the weather: EXTREMELY hot. Driving back from the shop earlier it was 36C. It's now 28C inside the house, with the windows open. It's not windy, and the air hasn't really cooled outside very much.

40 days til we fly. Today apart from the shopping, we sorted a bit more of the 'junk', odds and ends. Basically listed stuff to sell (G emailed it to his colleagues), and I researched places to take the real junk, like electronics that are just obsolete/broken etc, plus ornaments/bric a brac that we don't want to keep. It's quite a 'difficult' or tiring thing, emotionally, but I'm sure once the whole load is off our hands, our whole journey will seem much lighter.

Tomorrow, after setting up the fishtank, we're going to drop off the stuff I mentioned above. We'll have to organise another day to take the furniture odds and ends away. Other than that, it's cleaning odds and ends, completing our inventory AND then listing values for insurance.

EEEk. I'm looking forward to once our stuff's all sent off... although then I'll probably be worried about it all sitting cooking in a container, what with it being midsummer and the container spending weeks on a ship!

Right now G's backing up all our music, so in the next 2+ months we won't be starved of music: we can hook the external drive up to my laptop and enjoy some TUNEZ cos my laptop's got pretty funky Harman/Kardon speakers (yay!)

Ok, that's all for now, folks! I'm sure I'll blog tomorrow :P

What a topsy-turvy day *_*

Now, it's 'all systems go' for the fishtank. Mom & Sis had a fall-out yesterday/last night, Mom said she went to bed with tears, but this morning things simmered down and it's all ok again. Sis sms'd during the day saying that Mom was busy taking the bookshelf down and that she'd get the rest of the diningroom sorted out tomorrow...

So at least G and I don't have to go through to their place to make things happen. I just hope the status quo holds.

In other news, I uninstalled iTunes. Winamp handles iPod music functions fine, so VOILA! No more FRIGGIN' Bonjour being installed every week/whatever and other Apple blah processes running the entire time!

G tackled most of the study (junk room) today, pulled out everything that was stored in the cupboards. So much stuff to get rid of (donate/dump/recycle/give away).

I had a few more things to mention in this blogpost, but I'm so tired I can't even remember them.

12 days until we have officially 'moved out' of this place. 41 days til we fly :P

Ok that's all for now... *snore* I think it's bedtime.

42 days to go...

I will try not to make the next batch of blogpost titles the countdown to our flight, but for now it's like... 'woah'. 42 days left.

** Not related to anything in this blogpost, but an update: WE FOUND AN ADVENT CALENDAR! Our tradition is being upheld! Mmmm, chocolate!! **

G and I have been majorly busy. It's not that we've procrastinated and have to rush, it's just that everything needs to be done only just before the packers begin. They are here in about 10 days' time. We move out before the end of this coming week!!

Friday evening we spent a rather weird time cleaning the lawnmower. Yes, cleaning, as in: dismantling the entire thing (poor thing!) and wiping down and washing the metal and plastic parts respectively. It was pretty exhausting work washing each individual part, which I did in the bath. What made it worse was that I wasn't really able to sit comfortably and do it: I was NOT going to put my feet into the bath and get covered in grass-greened dirty soapy water, so I had to sit in a rather twisted up position. But, it's done, and now I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that AQIS will have anything to say about it!

Thankfully it required both of us to reassemble the thing, because while we were putting the motor back I noticed a 'coffeebean' in it. On closer inspection, my auto-horrified reaction was justified: it was an ootheca... a cockroach egg-case. THANK GOD it was long dead (not hatched praise the LORD!), it must have been roasted to hell and gone repeatedly LOL. I felt so vindicatedly joyful!

Apart from the lawnmower, we also cleaned the Weber. Not such a big task since I already cleaned it quite well a couple of days after we'd used it. We still need to clean the bicycles, our shoes, the remaining food containers which have yet to be emptied, plus once we've moved out/finished our food here, we need to clean the fridge. And also need to unplug the washmachine and let it dry out completely and secure the drum, etc etc etc.

So much to do. I mentioned in the previous post that we were going to help move the furniture around at Mom's place. Well, that didn't work. Aunt + co went to visit (to borrow money, woot - long story: this 'borrowing' has been a habit of theirs since at LEAST 2002 or so), so I decided we weren't going to go 'hang out' with them while they spend Mom's money, and we were instead going to rearrange the furniture this weekend. I sms'd Mom this morning to find out what the plans were, whether Sis was home from work etc so that we could drive through and make moves. She suggested that she and Sis do it, saving us a long drive through (30km one way). So I sms'd my sis, who replied extremely doubtfully but that she would try make this work.

Basically, it hasn't happened. Age-old problem with Mom over-reacting whenever there's change, procrastination/complication and so on and so forth, which ends up with Mom over-reacting generally to everything, which ends up with her objecting to Sis's attitude and the last change that has occurred, and then Sis ends up having a complete huffy-fit because she is the only one who actually makes a change there and it's all for naught. Yay.

Now I don't know what to do with the flipping fishtank. Yes, 'flipping'. I love these fish, they are so special to me, but I don't even want to get involved with Mom's problems. I don't want to have this negative thing hanging around the memory of the fish for all eternity.

I wonder if there's a way of having the fish put to sleep, humanely, like take them to the vet etc. Then I could just give the tank away. I know that people who you give the fish 'to good home' to - it's just too much of a responsibility. When you get a tank like this, you want it so you can put your OWN choice of fish into it. Or whoever would get them might put totally unsuitable tankmates into it... etc etc etc.

I don't wish that I never got them... they have been so special to me and I've enjoyed them so much. They're more than 'just fish' to me. But now I don't know what to do.

I'm very tired. Anyone saying emigration is an easy way out needs to catch a wake up. There's a saying (at least, with SA migrants), "emigration is not for sissies" and boy is it so true. Each stage is more taxing than the one before it. It's like a computer game - level 1 is hard for the first time, then once you've progressed to level 10, level 1 seems obscenely easy in comparison to level 10. I think we're on a pretty high level now LOL. Next level is doing all the admin once our stuff has shipped off. The NEXT level is once we've arrived - starting things up again and waiting til our stuff arrives. I think the last level (at least in this emigration game!) is once our stuff arrives, settling everything back into place and then rerooting ourselves.

I think for now, the right-now stage is heading to bed - it's SLEEP TIME!! :D

48 days

We have 48 days til we fly.  It's a bit crazy now!  We have 2 weeks left staying here... and then we move out to G's parents, to Xmas, and to the new year.  I don't know if we'll have time to do everything we intended to do, before the moving company packs everything up, but we're just going to try and see how we fare.

All our Xmas shopping is done (apart from gifts for each other - we're going shopping tomorrow), and everything's been wrapped.  G got a big suitcase, so we're ready for when we need to pre-pack and 'move out' before the movers arrive ^.^

Tuesday G's going to the office, and I'll be cleaning the fishtank, then sometime this week we need to mow the lawn (again LOL!), I need to clean the lawnmower (yay, it's plastic so I can wash it with dishwashing liquid), and we need to oil/varnish/lacquer a few wood ornaments - and basically make sure that all our things are alright generally for customs/quarantine's inspection and scrutiny.

G has to do his stuff (sorting/culling/etc etc etc), his bicycle needs a new tube + the tyre put back on, and then we need to actually get rid of the stuff that we decide not to keep...

Wednesday G and I are going through to Mom's place, to help Sis move the furniture in the diningroom around so as to make space for the fishtank - next Monday M is lending us herself and her bakkie (ute?) to move the fishtank and table to Mom's place.

We also need to get certified copies made of NB documents, need to back up all of our computers...

And once all our stuff has been packed up, then the admin side is our focus, as well as the 'relax and enjoy the time left in this country'.

48 days... that's crazy.  This 'transitional' phase is tiring now... I'm longing for some quiet time without 'zomg we need to get going on what we need to do!!!!!!!' etc... I'm longing to be settled in our new home, settled and able to go out and see our new town, see our new part of the world and... not quite put down roots, but at least put our feet down in one place and know that if we need to relocate, it will at least be a matter of putting our stuff into a truck and having it driven to our new place, it won't be 'gone, out of reach' for weeks/months like this time.

Totally unrelated, but I've been in love with this adorable Little Wooden Horse ever since I was old enough to page through magazines.  I don't seem to be able to find pictures of him, but here are the youtube links to the actual Storyteller stories being read, with the corresponding pages being displayed:

Gobbolino and The Little Wooden Horse (Part 1)

Gobbolino and The Little Wooden Horse (Part 2)

Gobbolino and The Little Wooden Horse (Part 3)

Gobbolino and The Little Wooden Horse (Part 4)

Gobbolino and The Little Wooden Horse (Part 5)

And then the one we had:  Gobbolino's Christmas Adventure

You don't have to actually watch them, I just posted them for fun AND as a record for myself for the future:  I want to build my own little horse like that.  I'm not sure if it's even possible, but he's too adorable for words and I'd love my own.

Talking of adorable and my own, etc, we've decided that Dude's going to be moving in with his grandparents (G's parents), because that way at least we can spend another month with him, as opposed to only visiting him when we go to Mom+Sis.  *Sigh* don't even want to think about saying goodbye to him :(

Ok let me just press post here before I think about it too much :(

76 Trombones

Seventy six trombones led the big parade

With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand.

They were followed by rows and rows of the finest virtuosos,

the cream of ev'ry famous band.

Seventy six trombones caught the morning sun,

With a hundred and ten cornets right behind.

There were more than a thousand reeds springing up like weeds,

there were horns of ev'ry shape and kind.

There were copper bottom tympani in horse platoons,

thundering, thundering, all along the way.

Double bell euphoniums and big bassoons,

each bassoon having his big fat say.

There were fifty mounted cannon in the battery,

Thundering, thundering, louder than before.

Clarinets of ev'ry size and trumpeters who'd improvise

a full octave higher than the score.

Seventy six trombones led the big parade,

when the order to march rang out loud and clear.

Starting off with a big bang bong on a Chinese gong,

by a big bang bonger at the rear.

Seventy six trombones hit the counter point,

while a hundred and ten cornets played the air.

Then I modestly took my place as the one and only bass,

and I oompahed up and down the square.

This used to be one of Dad's favourite ditties to whistle or hum.  I never knew there was more than 1 line of lyrics!  Another of his favourites was Henrietta's Wedding:

We've been invited to Henrietta's wedding,
Though she can't tell us when it will be.
We hear, the tears that her mother is shedding,
Are because of the old lady's glee.
When will it be?

When will it be, when will it be? (2x)
We've been invited to Henrietta's wedding
Though she can't tell when it will be.

We've been invited to Henrietta's wedding,
No one knows who her husband will be.
They say she's started to buy all of the bedding,
But the husband's a deep mystery.
Who can it be?

Who can it be, who can it be? (2x)
Though we're invited to Henrietta's wedding
No one knows who her husband will be.

We've been invited to Henrietta's wedding,
And we want to know where it will be.
We wonder which way to go to the wedding
And, between you and me, so does she.
Where will it be?

Where will it be? Where will it be? (2x)
We wonder which wway to go to the wedding,
And between you and me, so does she.

Interestingly, here's a quote (taken from mudcat.org) from one of the co-composers:

"There used to be a Zulu tune of about 8 bars about the coming celebration of Henrietta's wedding- an event that always remained in the future. My theory is that some man at some time told his wife he had spent his money on a present for Henriettta's wedding, and, when this proved to be a myth, he became the laughing stock of the town... then the country... and quite logically, a folk ditty ensued. Upon that fragmant, this published song is based."

There was something freaky in the house now...

I kept hearing sounds... scarily reminiscent of the time when there was one of those 3" cockroaches on the rim of G's bedside dirtbin (in (our previous abode - shudder)

It sounds like it's coming from the area of the frontdoor/stairwell - which would make sense cos there's a gap under the door (nice and spacious).  I'm a bit creeped out and it's getting louder/more insistent, so I turn to G and tell him (what I said above, about cockroach).  As I am telling him that, something comes out from upstairs...

... lands on the mat in front of front door... black, dark

Insecty...

I mini-freak.

Then, it hopflies towards me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I big-freak!!

It flies towards me, after bouncing on the carpet halfway towards me, then flies past and lands on the curtain behind me.

I kinda wobbly-'scream'-gasp sound and JUUUUUUMP out the way.

G gets up... I sorta come closer to look:

IT'S A FRICKIN' GRASSHOPPER!!!!

*huff*

Grasshoppers are fine... cockroaches, however, are not!!

What I want to know, now, is wtf it was doing upstairs?! 

Christmas is in the air... sort of

Only 'sort of' because we ...

MISSED OUT on the Advent calendars!!!!

WTF seriously!

I know the supermarkets here rip down the Xmas decorations pretty much before Xmas day is even over, but this is ridiculous!  We went to the mall on +- 2 Dec and there were NONE!  How's that for unfair?  Our 'tradition' has been to get it a few days into December then to scoff the chocs whose days have passed at once... then G and I alternate days (I take on the even days, he takes on the odd, for example).

Man, how dumb.  Missed out... can't believe it.

Anyway, we did pretty much all of our Xmas gift shopping today, gotta get a few more things, and then also stock up on wrapping paper/stickytape/labels.

Another thing on our shopping list:  an external hard drive, to make a backup of all our stuff and also so we have access to our stuff while the computers are in the container (thankfully we have laptops).

Then we also need to buy a large suitcase for G.  We're already needing to begin planning our flight and camp-out in Brisbane as we've only got 3 weeks left til our stuff's packed.  I'm amped, I guess the '3 weeks to go' sensation is tricking my brain into being all excited when we ONLY fly in just under 8 weeks.

Despite it being 23:33 right now, I've been sending S in US pics of sushi (cos I'm not sure what my favourite sushi dishes are called there), and OMGGGGGGGGGG I'm so hungry now!

(I was going to insert a lekker pic of some to-die-for sushi here, but everything on Google images is blah/too big/not right, so nvm :-P )

Salmon uramaki, salmon fashion sandwiches, salmon handroll... mmmmmmmmmm!!

Ok, now it's actually time to go sleep, not eat, so: adieu!

Just a little bit of proof

Proof that, yes, I have been stitching:

I've finished all the pink now.  Just greys, browns, blues/turquoise and cream to do.  It's slow though, I'm not sure why this one is taking so long - unless it just FEELS slow because each colour is an element in the pic.  With a big horse like Warpony or Golden Ice, each colour fills out the horse a bit more, where with this it's like, "the geese don't have bodies!!  There are no feathers yet!!  There's no mountain! Blehh so slow!" LOL

I'm going to finish the next few 'small' colours.  I have 11 colours left.  On the three cardboard thread organisers they seem to be organised by number of stitches/skeins.  I'm trying to finish the 'fewest stitches' organiser LOL.  Don't worry - it's completely irrelevant, just my way of ticking off what I've done. "Oh, look!  Just 1 organiser left" (completely ignoring the fact that that organiser, with 5 colours, makes up 50%+ of the actual design... X-D