Birthday old-boy

Just a quick Happy Birthday to Five Star General Awesome. Dad, may you have many, many more. You’re an inspiration, a wonderful man, and a tough act to follow.

No time like the present…

Last week was pretty darned good. For the first time in about 2 years, I didn’t have a single headache. I can’t officially declare the solution to be the two LCD screens that I now have on my work desk (replacing the two CRT I had), but let’s say I’ll be surprised if that hasn’t helped.

Speaking of work, we’ve been spring-cleaning – for about 4 springs. Since moving into these premises in 2002, R&D hasn’t ever been reorganised or reindexed or whatever, so it was high-time it got the feather duster. As well as turfing out at least a ton of books (all available via google in less time taken than walking to the library…), just about everything got some attention, and it’s actually looking half-decent now.

As for the weekend, I’d say this was about a brazillion times better than last. Absolutely no less hectic, but Jamie was decidedly less needy, and I think that made all the difference. Rather than lament on about our hecticnessicity, I figured that a skeleton outline might make the point:

(Friday afternoon) Mr, Mrs + Mini RG walk to Residence Oosthuizen, home, Mrs + Mini O arrive for supper, make braai, braai, fix heli, eat, clean, lurk, drive to airport to collect Mr O after nearly 2 hr delay, home, collapse.

(Saturday) Jambo starts day at 6am, we follow, me to shops, me to Fish Hoek beach for breakfast with Lucke men, appreciate whale cavorting behind the breakers, walk on beach and marvel at 2 tons of Yellowtail beach-trawl-netted in front of us, sight-seeing from mountain, race home, race to Jambo’s first swimming lesson (aka drown-proofing…), grin madly while Jan and Jamie frolic, race over the mountain to Kommetjie for lunch with folks, cryogenic resuscitation after swim, lunch with folks, walk on beach, race home to prepare dinner for the Hougaards, cook, cook, cook, exercise brains playing Settlers, relish the victory, collapse.

(Sunday) Jambo starts day at 5:50, no choice but to follow, made it to church, popped into the Trefz’s to check out their building, race home to lunch braai with neighbours, eat, eat, eat, drink, home, sort the usual splurge of chores out, swim (this time our pool, warmer!), race to pub on corner to watch Schumacher’s last race, enjoy the company, love the (excellent) racing, return home, write this blog, collapse.

Jambo

Well if there was ever any doubt, Jambo is in control!

Despite the smiles, this was probably one of those weekends-to-forget. It was windy, we’re all sick, apart from hard manual labour which I put in in the garage, we stayed indoors and hid from the weather, we played an AWFUL game of Settlers on Saturday, we ate ourselves silly on realfood, we ate ourselves silly on junkfood (probably depression cravings…) and Jamie is almost certainly teething again, because he’s been pretty miserable, rashy and clingy. Yeup. All the things you learn as a father!

Jamie also has timed his fluid-evacuations to boggle the mind of anyone who tries to figure it. He’s ‘watered’ me several times in the last few weeks and apparently thinks it’s damn funny. He’s been upgraded to a first-class seat at the table (in his little clip-on chair), and seems pretty content with this. We also built him his own swimming pool in the garden by pulling a big-blue tarpaulin out on the grass, and then ‘floating’ his donut-thing in it (with him in it… for a few seconds…). Fun all round.

Anyway, if this blog reads a bit like a Jamie-logue, it’s probably because most of our lives are spent in a whirlwind of activity around him. But we wouldn’t trade it for the world. My heart breaks for a fantastic lecturer who taught me at UCT.

Still ticking…

… and NO, that’s not a veiled reference to a terrorist plot.

Jan, Jamie and I are still OK. He and I are both fighting off some sort of bug, and he’s had a couple of rough nights coughing and sniffing etc. It’s probably something we’ll have to get used to, but for now it’s very sad hearing him battle through a night. Sunday, his 7-month-day, was especially bad, and in a cruel twist of fate, I didn’t manage to watch THE turning point of the F1 season that I’d stayed up late to watch. Sigh… priorities.

It was my folks 30th wedding anniversary yesterday, and I thought that deserved some mention. How they’ve survived each other is nothing short of a wonder, but there they are – still ticking – and presumably getting stronger every day! Adin happens to share their anniversary, so it was his 26th birthday yesterday too – so veels geluk ouboet. Op jou verjaarsdag. Of iets. (And to Pam too!)

I got a little flying in on Saturday, but nothing to speak of – the north-westerly was in control. It was also in control of a tree in the garden, and since the tree was almost rotten, I opted to pull it out before it fell in the pool. Garden looks a little spare without, which is a pity. And I’m depressed about the crime and misdirection of country, especially after a nice lunch with friends became a platform for emigration-talk and one realises what utter nonsense we put up with here on a daily basis.

Anyhoo. Last weekend was just to blurry to remember clearly, but I did take some pics to remember. Aunt and Uncle from NZ (eek – more emigration-talk), love-boxes, Settlers (the revival of my victorious ways!), breakfasts, suppers, people-people-people.

This weekend was not particularly different, also busy and also Settlered (ah ha! Two more victories!). Aside from the F1 shamboozel this weekend, I took great joy in reading of my buddy Juan “Lightning McQueen” Pablo’s success in his debut NASCAR race.

Anyway – if there was any need for proof that Jamie is now officially ‘on the loose’, here it is – this taken nearly two weeks ago already!