From SA to UK

So we have made the decision to emigrate.  It's been a tough decision and even more,  I'm still not 100% sure it's the right thing to do,  but the wheels are in motion and there's no turning back now.

And then of course,  every time I consider that perhaps  we shouldn't go,  something happens to remind me why we should... The simmering tension of the nation,  the corruption and arrogance of the government,  the education system's downward spiral and the ever increasing unemployment rate.

I know things won't be perfect over there,  but I just want to feel safe,  to not panic because there are unknowns hovering outside my gate;  to walk into a shop and be greeted with a smile,  and not the sullen indifference one gets now.  I know we will struggle with the unfamiliarity of the roads, the areas,  the systems,  the procedures; with the weather,  the no maids,  and the filling of our own petrol.  We may not find friends easily,  but then Kevin isn't a sociable person,  so I'll develop my interests,  Raine will make friends through her job as a beauty therapist and through Keagan and Nancy, and Kevin will have his motor bike.

We'll take Skyla to all the parks and playgrounds in York,  then we'll take day trips on the weekend and explore the countryside and take photos of all the quaint house and historical architecture and bore everyone on Facebook with those same pics.  We'll love the long days in summer,  and enjoy the crisp freshness of autumn,  the sparkle of Christmas,  and endure the cold,  miserable days until Spring comes along.  And it will.

And we'll Skype everyone we love, back home... Because in spite of leaving,  South Africa will always be my home.

Dear Raine

How are you?  We are all fine. 
Clifford and I  used to write letters like these to my cousins in Rhodesia, and to my grandparents in East London, when we were little.  We HAD to write letters and they always started the same way and ended the same way - like the beginning of this one, and the end of this one. 

I would write about what we had been doing, about school, and sport, and often would just sit gazing into space, with the pen stuck in the corner of my mouth, trying to think of what else I could write about.  Life always seemed so boring and yet, it wasn't. We were LIVING.... so, that must mean life isn't always about DOING something...it's about enjoying everything around us....not just the ACTION of living, but sometimes the action of things around us.

Does that make sense, my blonde angel?  Sometimes we have to just sit, and appreciate what is around us, without always the rushing off to be busy, busy, busy all the time.  Because life flies by and before you have known it, ten, twenty years have gone by, and so many things have happened in that time that we lose sight of the everyday....

So maybe my letters to you will be about remembering - both your childhood and mine, so that I will be answering the questions now that you haven't yet thought of, but that will come to mind when it will be too late for me to answer.

Tons of love,
Mommy
xxx

Letters to my daughter

My 22 year old daughter asked me last night, out of the blue, to write her letters, and to leave them for her, so she will have something to remember me by, when I am no longer here.  She said she would do the same, but hopefully I will never get to read hers - as I hopefully will check out long before she does.

So perhaps I can write to her here, and handwritten ones too.

And maybe she can respond here sometimes too, but maybe not :)

Bad News

Yesterday I heard two bad news things.... The first was a message in my fb inbox from a friend of mine now living in England, who had seen on fb, that the principal of the pre-school that both Wendy's daughter and mine had gone to, had lost her son.  How does one handle that? We bring our children up, teach them, laugh with them, chastise them, go through the horrible teenage years with them, and then just as they are finding their feet, and become ready to face the adult world out there, something like that happens. 

How do you face each day without him in it anymore?  How does a mother face losing her only child? I cannot even begin to think of an answer to that question.


The second bad news was that a really good friend of mine, has been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.  She will have to have a full hysterectomy, and hopefully they will get it all out in that operation.  Here's hoping, Elsa:)  I'm not even going to think anything negative about this.  She will have the operation and will be totally 100% after that.

Tila's bandaged leg

Tila's leg all bandaged up.. she had a Grade 3 luxating patella.  It was a catch 22 situation because she is still a growing puppy, and so her bones are still growing, and yet the rotation was quite bad and we couldnt wait.  We have to hope that her bone doesn't continue to grow crooked and she ends up having to have another op done.  Her left leg is a Grade 1, and hopefully that one will just stay at a Grade 1, otherwise Raine will never get a car !!!

Visiting Tila in the "ward"

Tila had her operation and according to her surgeon, it was successful.  He mentioned he had added a anti-rotational pin, which I think, comes out in a few weeks.  She had a firm bandage on, but it has been removed today, and just has a dressing now.

Raine and I went to visit her last night because we couldnt get there during "visiting hours" in the middle of the day.  She was very excited to see us; couldnt wait to get out of the cage, and I am sure she thought we were coming to take her home

When she is nervous or unsure, she likes to climb right up onto our shoulders.... and that's how she was last night.  We managed to take a couple of pics of her very ungainly leg, and had a good kiss and cuddle with her before putting her back in.  She wasn' happy at all, and we felt terrible leaving her behind.

Here she is telling Raine ALL about it !!!

Luxating Patella

We have the most gorgeous little Toy Pom - five and a half months old. About a week ago, we noticed she was limping and favouring her back right leg. We initially thought that Codie, our older Toy Pom was playing rough with her and didnt worry too much about it, but we kept an eye on them playing together

Over the next few days, the limping became more pronounced, and she would hesitate to run up and down the stairs, lie down a lot more, and not jump off the bed as frequently (she's still too little to jump onto the bed her own). On Saturday afternoon, when Raine, my daughter, and Caitlynn and Callan, my grandaughters, wanted to take the two dogs for a walk, Tila wouldn't go ! She just lay down in the middle of the road and Raine had to bring her back, and leave her behind while they took Codie.

So after much deliberation, we decided it was time to take her to the vet.  The short version is Tila is having an operation this afternoon.  She has a luxating patella, or "floating knee" as some call it.  The op has to be done by a specialist - no more just normal vets anymore... there are vets like gps and then there are "specialists."

So - sitting here on the edge of my seat and watching the time pass by.