My flood pictures

Yes, I also took some pictures of the flood. It was incredible and I think the last time I saw so much water was in 1981 when I was still in primary school. We have had big rains since, but not as bad as this. I took these photos from inside my car and the rain still got me as you can see from the drops on the lens. The first is the road I normally travel on to work. It was just mud and water.






Then the day after the flood, the Swartkopsriver came down. Mr B phoned me to bring my camera and I couldn't believe what I saw.





Ok, maybe not what you would have expected when I said the river came down. It is actually what came down the river that was so interesting. You see all those weird green patches, well it isn't land or grassland but this....
it came down the river in hundreds and thousands and was so bad that a fisherman got stuck and had to get off his boat and push himself to safety...

Winter equals warmth in my heart......

What a weekend we had? We have been slapped with water restrictions in our city due to an obvious shortage. People all over has been praying for our region to be blessed with rain. Well, it happened. The heavens opened this weekend and we had two days of glorious rain. But jeepers, creepers, we weren't ready for the cold that came along with it. On Saturday, our temperature peaked at 12 degrees. Now, we are used to 20 plus temperatures and have been experiencing days in the late 30's during the last couple of weeks. All of a sudden, it got COLD!!! We spent the weekend indoors, under duvets and watching dvd's. On Saturday, I ventured to the store and bought ready made dough. I made curry bunnies for supper. I bought enough dough to bake 2 loaves of bread, so I ended up with about 24 vetkoeke. When I went to bed on Saturday evening, there was only 1 left. I am not a big soup eater, but due to the cold, I decided to have my first attempt at making a pot of soup from scratch. It is always much easier to just open a packet and whip in some hot water and there you have a steaming cup of soup. But I had to be different yesterday. I cooked up a chicken, then painfully deboned it. Using the stock as a base, I grated some carrots into the pot, some onions, added the chicken and some pasta rice(just for something different), added some herbs and spices and voila!!! Delicious!! Served with some fresh hot bread from the bakery, it was a winner. I went back for seconds, but alas the pot was empty!!! I could have fed a small country with the amount of soup I made, but maybe the kids were hungry because along with the pot of soup, 2 loaves of hot bread was polished off.

The weather seems to be clearing, it is not raining today, but the chill is definitely still in the air. I am dressed in winter woollies. We don't often get the opportunity to dress so warm here, so I am taking full advantage of it. From spencer to long sleeve t-shirt, to long sleeve shirt, to warm wooly jacket, to tights, black pants and knee length boots. I used to be a summer person, but boy do I enjoy winter days like the weekend we just had. I think it must be the coziness of the whole family being together. Summer is spent outdoors with everyone doing their own thing. It was wonderfull being together like that. Go on, call me sentimental or call me a romantic, I don't care. I hope winter stays for a while!!!!!

The days of our lives...

As an answer to a comment left by my good old(sorry YOUNG!!) pal Reluctant Nomad, I am still here. I looked back this morning and saw that I hadn't posted anything in a while. No wonder people think I have left the blogworld!!! No way!!! I am alive and almost well. My other blogfriend Whatalotoffun mentioned a new hairdo a while ago. It almost looks like the attached picture. Ha ha ha no no not at all. Just kidding.

Yes, I have been naughty. I have ignored my blog duties. I have been so busy being absolutely miserable and sick, that I completely forgot the one thing that makes me feel better immediately. The flu is very bad this year. It just doesn't let you get any better. Add me being sick to my hubby being sick and both our babies as well. You have a house full of coughing, sneezing and vomiting(yes even that) bodies. I had to take my little 14 month old to the doctor yesterday. Her body just couldn't fight the virus on its own. She is now on antibiotics and hopefully she will start getting better. I haven't slept in more than a week and little Jessi is permanently attached to my body. I feel sorry for the nanny at home, because I have to be at work and now she is carrying Jessi on her back. Fortunately I know that this is just a temporary setback and we will all be well again soon.

Apart from the illness, I am still busy searching for old school class mates. I googled some and found them on the net. Isn't that awesome. Putting the net to good use!!! So, I haven't been completely away from the internet. I even had time to browse some of my regular reads, but I am afraid I didn't leave any comments on any of your pages.

I let myself out about how I felt and what I thought about the Zuma happenings, but the blogmonster ate that paragraph, so I decided to just not say it!!!

So, be good and if you can't be good, be good at it!!!!

Post 2 for today!!! This is funny...

My friend sent me this this morning and it gave me a good chuckle.

Ever spoken and wished that you could take the words back...or that you could crawl into a hole? Here are a few people who do....


I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow and asked loudly, "How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?" I turned around and walked back out and never went back. My husband didn't say a word... he knew better. Melinda Lowe, 39, Seguin, TX

I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using. After browsing forseveral minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store. He asked if he could help me. Without thinking, I looked at him and said, "I think I like playing with men's balls."Colleen Collins, 31, Ferndale, MI

Nuts about You
My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold a variety of nuts. As we were looking at the display case, the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help. I replied, "No, I'm just looking at your nuts."My sister started to laugh hysterically, the boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away. To this day, my sister has never let meforget.Faye Emerick, 34, Ellerslie, MD

While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and ran amok. I was finally able to grab holdof her after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons.I told her that if she did not start behaving "right now" she would be punished. To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, "If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!"The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing. I mustered up the last of mydignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me were screams of laughter.Amy Richardson, Stafford, Virginia

A lady picked up several items at a discount store. When shefinally got up to the checker, she learned that one of her items had no price tag. Imagine her embarrassment when the checker got on the intercom and boomed out for all the store to hear, "PRICE CHECK ON LANE THIRTEEN, TAMPAX SUPER SIZE." That was bad enough, but somebody at the rear of the store apparently misunderstood the word "Tampax" for "THUMBTACKS." In a business-like tone, a voice boomed back over the intercom."DO YOU WANT THE KIND YOU PUSH IN WITH YOUR THUMB OR THE KIND YOU POUND IN WITH A HAMMER?"Diane E. Amov

Have you ever asked your child a question too many times? My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was onhim constantly. One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch in between errands. It was very busy, with a full dining room. While enjoying my taco, I smelled something funny, so of course I checked my seven-month-old daughter and she was clean. Then I realized that Danny had not asked to go potty in a while, so I asked him if he needed to go, and he said "No." I kept thinking, "Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don't have any clothes with me." Then I said, "Danny, are you SURE you didn't have an accident?""No," he replied. I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse. Soooooo! I asked one more time, "Danny, did you have an accident?"This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants, bent over and spread his cheeks and yelled. "SEE MOM, IT'S JUST FARTS!!"While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing, he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down.An old couple made me feel better by thanking me for the best laugh they'd ever had!

This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likelythink before she speaks. What happens when you predict snow but don't get any...a true story...We had a female news anchor that, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the weatherman and asked:"So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?" Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did toothey were laughing so hard!

What are we chasing after???

These past 2 weeks have had me preoccupied with finding people who went to school with me. I found some of the people whom I had close friendships with at school. One in particular pulled at my heart quite severely. We were the best of best friends you would ever find amongst school kids. We spent weekends together and had pajama parties and did each other's hair and make up and then we got boyfriends and completely forgot about each other. How sad is that? I managed to find someone who still had contact with her. She gave me her phone number. This is how it went:

Z: Hello this is Z. How may I help you?

Me: Hi, is this ZJ?

Z: Yes, that was my maiden name.

Me: Well, we haven't spoken in 20 years. I have been trying to get hold of you for ages.

Z: Who is this?

Me: It's Jo

Z: No

Me: Yes, it's Jo

Z: NO!!!!!

Me: Would I lie to you?

Z: silence ( can hear little sobs)

Me: Should I rather put the phone down?(tears running down my own cheeks by now)

Z: silence (can hear muffled sounds of tissues and nose blowing and then I hear) but it can't be. How did you find me?

Me: Well, I called someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knows you!!!

Then we both started laughing and figuring out what has happened in our lives since last we saw each other. She is still married to the same guy who became her boyfriend at school and they have two beautiful children. She lives in the same neighbourhood in Pretoria as my two teenage children. We promised to stay in touch and we have been. She is away on study leave at the moment, but she has a few e-mails awaiting her return.

There were several more conversations like this one. Funny that the people I used to be friends with at school were the most difficult to find. I had an interesting one yesterday where the guy told me that he had a huge crush on me and was too shy to tell me at school. Damn and he was one of the hunks at school.

This experience has led me to realize how selfish us humans really are. Life is a chase. I'll be damned if I know what we are chasing after. We are so busy chasing ?????? that we have left the most important things behind. I'm no psychologist or doctor or shrink or whatever you want to call it, but I know that we(all us humans) have to take a serious look at where we are going and what we are giving up to get there.