Deep within the maelstrom

I’m sorta resigned to just a weekly update now, not being afraid to admit that I’m so desperately short of time that this is all I can do! I feel completely frenetic at the moment, in part because we’re really burning the wick at work. Deadlines are drawing closer (Whizz…here goes the Feb deadline), and our meetings are becoming strong arguments for instituting chapters in our to-do lists. Deep within the maelstrom, I’m also trying to organise my now-official trip to UK in May, which will be part-work, part-pleasure, both requiring a fair amount of planning and sequencing.

So when weekends arrive, it’s a wonder that there’s any energy to spare! Courtesy of paying friends (and other Jamie-sitting friends) we ‘dined’ at Da Vinci’s, enjoying some fabulous pizza and some enviable pictures of Croatia. Saturday saw a later rise, courtesy of a sleep-in Jamie had obviously planned without our knowledge, and after eyeing the weather out, I ventured to the field to fly, only to bail out and end up drinking coffee with a fellow-flyer, gawking at his hansel-and-gretel garage of toys. Amongst the tasty-treats, an NH90 turbine helicopter with a running pricetag of R95k. Yes. That’s k as in kilo. 1000. Anyway, he’s a great chap, and I can hardly hold it against him that his model collection is worth a small country’s GDP.

At Jan’s prompting (and arrangement!), we took an evening picnic to Groot Constantia and had a ball watching Jamie tackle the slopes. Up. Down. Rolling. Around. Very funny. The mirth was subsequently doused with a dismal Settling on Catan, despite my taking the win. Truth be told, we were probably minutes away from retiring.

Sunday was absolutely breathless and perfect, and naturally every DNA molecule in my body wanted to fly, but I opted to do the honourable thing and spend some family time with the er… human family. What was planned as a canter along Bailey’s walk became a rather long laze at St James, where Jamie was awarded freedom-of-the-beach. He nearly squandered it by devouring a concerning quantity of coarse sand, but eventually wised up to the priviledge and explored. It was a lovely morning, and the weather was fabulous.

Two hours later, we journeyed to the other ocean to visit friends in Kommetjie. Great company, delicious food and said-weather led to a glorious afternoon, completed with another beach-stroll.

So having survived four different meetings this evening, with the family in bed, a blog under the belt and already on the eve of Wednesday, I sigh and fire up the next project – a One-Year-With-Jamie video. Yawn…

Evelyn Patricia Ross-Gillespie, 1928-2007

Sadly, last week was the last week for my Gran – fondly known as Locks. The very day she was due for an overdue visit, she was found collapsed with a stroke and what appeared to be a subsequent heart-attack. After struggling in and out of consciousness for two days, she passed away on Saturday morning.

Obviously it was very sudden, and we’re all still reeling with the shock, but if there’s any way to rationalise it, she’s in a better place, free from her pain, free from her age, reunited with her husband. Rest in peace Locks.

Eight down, forty-four to go

Sheeeesh! This blogging is becoming a bit of an ordeal – something I dread, yet feel totally obliged and compelled to maintain! Rotten luck! After burn-scarring people’s retinas with the last subject-line, it’s time for an update.

Since our Bonnievale holiday, we’re already 8 weeks into 2007, and we’re pretty exhausted. We’ve been camping, Jamie discovered the hosepipe, he’s popped his 8th tooth (4 top, 4 bottom), had a couple of garden-baths and mastered the art of dismounting high things. Combined with a recent discovery of ‘tunneling’, his almost unlimited explorative skills have taken him into the garden, through the gate, without our supervision. Charming. The stuff neurosis is made of.

Anyway, our weekend in Stanford was great – if not just a heck of a long way away. The beauty of the area was magic, and certainly worth a visit again in the future. My plane has had several very successful flights now, and I’m pleased to report that it is a great design.

Jan visited a sleep-clinic a few weeks ago, the situational hilarity of which would probably be best conveyed in her own words, but in essence was expected to sleep with about 10 million electrodes glued to her head and body. Anyone familiar with Jan’s sleep issues could take a rough stab at the fact that this was not going to improve her odds of sleeping at all.

So, about 5:30am the next morning, she arrived home to tell me that at about 2am they’d come to her in the ward and sheepishly asked if she was planning to sleep at any stage so they could actually glean some information. Sigh…

She’s also realised, and subsequently had diagnosed, that she’s got carpal tunnel issues on her one arm, which will possibly/probably require surgery. Not cool at all.

Finally, I’ve been working my ass off at work, and the deadlines are looming ever closer. We’ve been knocking out some really impressive stuff, but like typical engineers are being sorely tempted to re-build Rome. It’s so hard to stay on the straight and narrow! I’ll be going to Birmingham sometime in May for a security expo, and thereafter hope to connect with my boet in Edinburgh, so amidst the approaching storm clouds, a few rays poke through!

Oh – Got me the new Switchfoot (Oh! Gravity), and loving Buckley. Playing a little more guit again, so that’s also good.