Funerals & family

''Introducing me'' from Camp Rock 2 is stuck in my head. That happened just because I just saw the word ''perusing'' on a blog somewhere. Interesting.

Today was my grandmother of 83's funeral. She died on September 27th. The whole family was there. I saw my cousins for the first time in about 10 years. THAT's not cool. I mean, a family supposed to be tight-knit. A strong, solid circle of people with genetic similiarities and the same quirks and character traits. People that stick together when the going gets tough. They're supposed to be the people you run to when friends let  you down. Well, I guess the word ''supposed'' is just that: A requirement that's not always or even regularly met. Which is a pity.

Anyhow, what I actually wanted to say is that when I heard my grandmother died in the hospital after her organs gave in, I wasn't shocked or sad. I didn't cry or feel any sorrow. I guess it's because she was old, she couldn't remember a lot of things (sort of like early Alzheimers), she was a bit sickly and she had a full life. She wanted to die from about 10 years ago. And now her wish was fulfilled at long last. Don't get me wrong, I loved my ''ouma'' a lot. I spent a lot of time with her when she lived across our house in the flat on our property. We used to watch ''Days of our lives'' together and a lot of times she'd tease me, and say that when she dies, I must call her in heaven and tell her what's happening in Day's. The sad thing is, I don't even watch it anymore.

Today when my dad talked about her life, telling about how she raised 5 kids on her own and how theu struggled, how hard it was for them, his voice quivered. Now, I've NEVER seen my dad cry or hear him speak with any emotion in his voice. When I saw how deeply his mother's death affected him, something in me cracked and I started to cry. My dad, who always seems as if he doesn't feel anything, who seems like this rock-solid, couldn't care less ''boer'', showed his emotions. And it broke my heart to see my daddy that sad. On funerals where people close to me's loved ones are buried and said goodbye to, I never cry because of the dead person. I always cry because it hurts me so much to see the people I love so full of sorrow and grief. THAT makes me cry.

So yeah, guess I just wanted to share this with whoever might read this in the future, even though it might just be me...

xXx

Overflowing laundry bin...

So I'm writing again, not wanting to forget the stuff that happened the last few days (might be about 10?? since I last wrote). It's like an overflowing laundry bin. Speaking of laundry, I feel so domestic today! I did two bundles of my own washing today, right now my clothes are on the line, drying. So... My folks bought a house in Namibia, on the beach in Hentiesbaai. WHY!?? It should've been Swakopmund! (that might have been a little dramatic, but sheesh, Swakompund is so much awesomer, google it!!!)

Anyhow, yesterday was my eldest brother's bday party... He turned 32 last week Saturday, the 14th. 52 grown-ups and 12 kids attended the party... Can you so whooooa??? I painted kids' faces, 2 tigers, a puppy, spiderman, heart, and 2 flowers... Have to say it was rather fun! I also supervised the kids on the trampoline, jumping castle (please forgive that horrible translation, I can't remember the right word now) and the jungle gym. I also had to intervene quite a few times to prevent nasty fights between kids due to jealousy and pettiness. The people (and especially one guy) were very drunk, and one married couple had a big fight at the party... It broke my heart to see their 7-year old with tears in his eyes because he knows that his parents are fighting.. And I was told in no uncertain terms that I'll be murdered if I ever think about getting married, because marriage is a big... Yeah, u can imagine what the woman said (the same one that was in a fight with her husband.)

I'm going to Pretoria again today, gonna stay with my brother for a week or two.

Well, I'm not in a very ''writesy'' mood today, so that'll be it for now...

Ciao =)

Stew & last thoughts before leaving Pretoria...

Sigh.. Well, the last 3.5 weeks really flew by.. kind of. I enjoyed driving my brother around (most of the time, when we didn't fight) and I REALLY enjoyed doing crazy and silly stuff with him, like singing along to goofy songs as loud as we can! lol. Now that me & Philip (my bro's 2 year old) is actually bonding for the first time, I gotta leave.. Ai ja jai! (that's an Afrikaanse expression, like aahhhh...)

My brother made a DELICIOUS stew (over here we call it ''potjiekos'' and the folks in ''The Princess and the Frog'' call it gumbo) and I've already eaten from it twice... It's YUMMMMMy! I'm going out tonight, going to Brooklyn Mall with friends, so it's gonna be a rather late night... Anyway, not much news further...

So... ciao for now =)

Women's day

Do you know how hard it is to find a padded laptop bag for 17.3 inch laptops? I think I've been to 10 or more places and while most don't have, those that do have want an arm & a leg for it! I quickly popped in at the mall today to get a few toiletries, including a very lekker body scrub. Healthy skin = exfoliating!

Anyway, I actually want my blog to be about all the wonderful women in my life. There are 3 that stand out by far:

My mom

My sister in law

And my one best friend

Flowers for these amazing women..

My mom is one of those women, you know... The very rare type that will do absolutely anything for her children. She'll walk through fire for me & my brothers. She will go to the ends of the earth for us. She stayed (and still is) in a complicated and tough marriage for us, so that we can have both parents. Maybe I'm oversharing right now, but hey, you don't know who I am, so it's not like you'll know who my parents are. My mom gets up in the cold winter nights to check if I've got enough blankets and if I'm warm enough. She always boiled an extra egg for me to eat when she made potato salad, and then she ate the yellow part, because I didn't like it. She learnt to sms just so she could keep contact with me when I was away and couldn't talk a lot. She gives me a bell to ring when I'm sick so I can call her. She goes without a lot of stuff just so I can have things I don't really always need. She is unselfish. She is strong. She is unbelievable. I really think she's the best example out there. When I have kids one day, I want to be the mother to them that she was to me.

My sister in law... Ha, now there's a wild one for you! Not wild as in rough, but she's funny, smart, and very open about a lot of stuff (stuff that some kids shouldn't know about). I met her when I was in grade 1, she called me ''gesiggie'' (little face, although it sounds better in Afrikaans) and I regularly sat on her lap. As I grew older, I confided in her about everything. She gave me THE SPEECH (flowers & bees one), because my parents figured she would be the best candidate for that. She taught me how to bikini wax. We exercised together, and we were in great shape at one stage! We played squash almost every day and before or after that, we would have a full gym session in her bedroom with her home gym. We even chased the ice cream man's truck twice so we could get ice cream! (She might have been pregnant at the time: blame it on cravings, lol) I don't see her that often anymore, but when I do, I know I can ask her anything and that she'll answer me straight. Oh and did I mention that my heart's tip is her 3 year old daughter? hehehe

The third awesome woman in my life is my 17 year old friend. Yeah, we differ 2 years, but boy, is that girl mature! She isn't like any other girl her age. Or even my age. I guess she owes a lot of that due to the fact that she didn't always have it easy growing up. I'm not gonna elaborate on that. This friend of mine is a gem, a jewel. I was the first person that slept over at her house, just because she was shy to let other people in. We would stay up late and do prank calls together, calling her ex and pretending that I'm a stripper, lol! We would randomly drive through our town's streets. She would come with me when I rollerblade and take the most awesome pictures. She would buy me airtime when I didn't even ask her to. She loves to bless people with stuff. She always encourages me to do great things, even when I don't think it's possible. She prays with me and for me continuously. She inspires me to go even further. This one time we went jogging on our farm and she had an asthma attack. She didn't let me catch on and she ran the remaining 2km's flat out without her lungs working properly. When she sets her mind to something, you can know that it'll happen. She is truly the best friend anyone can ask for.

So there you have it. 3 awesome women that inspire me. You'll hear more about them later on. I think I'm gonna google a few stuff now. (When I leave Pretoria Wednesday, I'm going to the farm which means: No internet access!!! Eeek...!)

Ciao for now =)

Lazy weekend

So today is day 2 of the long weekend, and so far, nothing much has happened. Recap of yesterday: Lying in, breakfast (well, Pronutro) in bed, trying to play Cabela's hunting game on Xbox without freaking out and running away when an animal attacks me and snoek (a fish with very very large grates) braai @ my bro's inlaws' house. So. Not much, eh? Oh ja, and I jogged a little tiny bit.

Today I might do my washing.
I might play some more Xbox.
I might read up on family law cases in the casebook I bought.
I might go for a run.
I might rollerblade a bit.
And I might surf the net.

All of the above are ''might's'' so don't expect anything. Haha.

Personal info bit for the day: I LOVE making lists. I'm a listmaker. So you can expect all sorts of lists in my blog posts.

I think I might just upload a few pix today... Who knows. You can add that to the ''might'' list.

By the way, so far it doesn't bother me that no-one is reading my blog, because I'm not doing it for others, this is a ''me'' thing. =P

Day 2... and starting to realise it's not as easy

I just like this picture. Period.

Okay, so this is my second blog (duh) and I'm starting to realise that blogging is much more complicated and complex than I thought it to be. I read this one guy's blog, well some of his blogs, at least (or do u call it posts?) and its got pictures and links and a lot of fancy schmansy words! (even though I like broadening my vocabulary). I guess I'll learn the art of blogging along the way, right..?

Okay, personal info: I live in South Africa. I can't really tell you in which province, because that varies from time to time (but from next year it's gonna be Gauteng, Pretoria). Oh shoot! I didn't even mention that I'm a female! (I wanted to say girl, but then it sounds so very young, and woman sounds so oooold. So: Female.)

To explain my migration habits, I used to live in a small town (formerly known as Warmbad, now known as Bela-Bela). Then my parents bought 2 farms near Botswana (still in SA, in Limpopo). I've got a brother in Pretoria and one in Warmbad. So that's already 2 provinces. Oh, and for 5 months I was in the North West Province. So I move around quite a lot. Oh, and I recently found out that I'm going to be traveling to Namibia quite often, since my parents bought a beach front house there. Whoopee. It's freaking far to drive, okay? (I know because I've been there a LOT of times, and we drove the 2000km's every time)

Today's gonna be a boring day. At home (my brother in Pretoria's house). Wanna go for a jog, but I'm told it's unsafe. And I really think it is! Last week on the radio, I heard that 2 kids were murdered here in the area he lives, scary! And my jogging buddy can't jog with me, his cousin is visiting so he's hanging out with her. What to do...?

Day 1..

Starting a blog, baby, starting a blog... Officially my first post. This one will probably not look as good as it could, since I'm a total rookie at this whole blogging thing, so bear with me. Ok, I should probably tell you stuff about me so you know I'm not a serial killer or some psycho, right...?

Okay... Well I'm 19... But to me, age is mostly just a number. Friends come in all shapes & sizes & ages. Not that this an invite to old people or whatever, I'm just saying. I am a very straightforward and honest person. I tell it like it is (most of the time). One of my best friends always tells me I'm very technical, so go figure. Currently I'm a hobo... wahahaha, nah, just kidding. I am in my first year after matric, going to study LLB Law next year (got in at the university that I wanted to, so booya!) and I can't wait...!

This is not a FB ''about me'' section, so I'm gonna divulge my info in bits and pieces, when I feel like it.I hope I keep up blogging, I mean, it's a good thing to look back and see how you improve, right..? I've had this nasty habit of not finishing what I started, but I'm quitting that habit! (encouragement would be great right about now).

So... that's it for now. I'm gonna try & figure out how to make this blog more attractive (prettify it). Hmm.

Listening to Train's Soul sister... Catchy!

Ciao 4 now!