Words and pictures

It's been a busy time. TSC's dad was in hospital for a few days to have a kidney stone removed. The process was more painful than expected and TSC and his family have been quite stressed. We also had a lot on this weekend and TSC's helpers, Isak and Johannes, have been staying with us on and off to help him out on the odd jobs he's doing, which has meant no real privacy for a bit.

The weekend was good, despite being busy. I am so broke after Hobby-X, although I came away with awesome loot. I have lots of craft ideas now - just no time to execute them! On Saturday afternoon we had a picnic in the Pretoria Botanical Gardens to say farewell to my friend and her hubby, which was lovely, but made me sad. We also went to Moo Moo for supper with my folks, which was great.

Thankfully, after a mad Saturday, we got to spend Sunday chilling with my folks at their place. It was the perfect day - naps, good chats, swimming, a great Sunday lunch and a leisurely walk around the estate where they live. TSC and I felt like we were on holiday. Neither of us was keen to come back to our house to do laundry ;-) Being a grown-up... *sigh*

Isak and Johannes are with us for the rest of the week, which is challenging in terms of cooking because they struggle to eat with a knife and fork. We did a braai for them the week before last and burgers last week and I've made a chickpea curry with rice, which is easy to eat with a spoon, but I'm running out of ideas! Especially seeing these odd jobs are always last-minute, so I've already bought ingredients for food for TSC and I this week. I was planning on grilled black mushrooms with some nice toppings for tonight with sides of salad and roast potatoes, but you can't eat those with your fingers or a spoon. Well, not without some difficulty, that is. Any bright ideas?

In other news, TSC's cell phone contract was due for renewal, so he got a new BlackBerry yesterday. His is much fancier than mine and he's very happy with it. He hasn't stopped playing with it since it came out the box. It's nice to have him on BBM - he's the person I SMS the most, so it's going to save me some money. Yay!

I'm super excited that we're going to see Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco next week. CANNOT WAIT! I really didn't think we'd get tickets and was so bleak that we'd miss it, but my folks stepped in and saved the day.

I have so much work to do today, so I'll sign off and leave you with a few pics...

Sapphire, in the desk drawer next to me. When I'm at my desk, this is where she is.



Marble, loving my high threadcount duvet cover as much as I do. Spoilt boy.



I took this shot at the wedding we were at two weeks ago. I don't know why I love it so much. Maybe it's the contrast between the groom's masculine shoe and the feminine rose petals. Or maybe it's just because I remember how he was almost dancing while he waited for her to arrive and be walked down the aisle - he was just so excited!



Eh... I had more, but they're taking too long to upload. Next time.

More jewellery pics and my kitties

How cute are my darlings? Well, I think they are. You don't have to ;-)

My little Sapphire cat...



My gorgeous Marble boy...



It's been a bland day... rain, updating a client's website with all the press releases I've ever written for them, laundry, invoicing and photographing my jewellery. *yawn* Nothing exciting.

Deep blue necklace with pendant...




Some alice bands. This is the first time I've tried these. What do you think?




Gold sparkly earrings...



This eve is my final photography class. So sad that it's nearly finished :-( I've loved every minute. I'll probably take the Photoshop course too, seeing I now have the fancy software and no idea how to use it. I love being able to keep learning new things. I want to be doing that for as long as I live. That's one of the main attractions of journalism for me, actually.

Before then, I must finish the work I'm busy with, visit the lady doctor (joy), exercise and make supper. So I'm going to say cheers for now and get to it.

Urgh.

I have spent the last day and a half between bed and bathroom with a horrible gastro bug. This is the second time this year! At least it's taught me something - if we ever redesign our bathroom, it should be so that I can sit on the loo and throw up into the basin or bath at the same time.

Sorry for that charming mental picture.

My cats and my husband have been wonderful. TSC has sorted himself out for food (me standing in the middle of the kitchen bent over, trying to control my gag reflex was probably some indication that I was not up to the task of cooking), done the pharmacy run for me, fed me dry crackers and Lucozade (the only things I've been able to keep down), undertaken all chores and generally been an absolute sweetheart. I don't like being crowded when I'm sick, so although his instinct is to cuddle me, he's learnt to give me space.

My cats, the darlings, plonked themselves on each side of me on the bed and put up with my feverish tossing and turning, taking turns to follow me to the bathroom each and every time I got up. They seemed to know I needed their furry distraction, although Sapphire did take it too far at one stage.

I had just showered and washed my hair (not by choice - it had puke in it. Lovely) and ventured into my office to check emails (I have a big story deadline coming up and I was waiting for some responses from interviewees). I suddenly felt very hot and dizzy, so I lay down on the carpet. I still had my towel on my head and Sapphire thinks that all towels are hers, so when I lay down, she promptly climbed onto the towel, on my head, and happily starting kneading away and purring. She wasn't even fussed by the strange noises I was making - somewhere between a moan, a gag and an attempt at a giggle.

Today I'm feeling a bit better. Thank you Lucozade and Petrolyte (an amazing concoction, that besides tasting and looking like banana-flavoured cement mix, worked wonders for my stomach). My stomach is still bloated, aching and generally unhappy, but at least projectile activities have ceased from the various orifices. The fever comes and goes, but the nausea is much improved.

The caffeine from two glasses of Lucozade has given me more of a buzz than my usual morning coffee, and although the head is fuzzy and the body sore, this self-employed chick has got to get back to work, so off I go.

But I thought seeing I've probably grossed you out with this post, I'd leave you with something from my inbox to make you smile: