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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

IT'S BEEN TOO LONG ...

I am finally sitting down for a long post (I'll probably have to break it up a bit into a few posts)- I have missed my little blog and I have missed that comfortable feeling I get when I am sitting here telling some stories - why ever did I leave for so long??? So much has happened - not all drama, thank goodness ... and I'm not sure where to start ... so let me just start rambling ... usually, if you start typing, the words flow - so let's hope for the best ...

Greg was away this time for three and a half weeks - got back last Wednesday - it was tough ... I really missed him and being a single mom is not fun ... of course, while he is away all hell must break loose ...

I'll start off with the garden and work my way to the intruders and the abscess (ewwww) ....

Greg takes care of the outside of our home and the building maintenance inside. I do ALL the cooking and cleaning and loads of other stuff that goes on inside. This is kind of an addendum to our Marriage vows and mostly suits us both ... So, anyway, Greg does the gardening and takes care of the Pool - I have posted before of how he will sometimes creep out at 9 at night and mow the lawn (just for FUN???) but when he is away, the garden becomes a Jungle - I don't like gardening (I only have to look at a plant to kill it and let's face it, winter gardens are not the most beautiful - flowers die, etc ...). I am very capable of paying somebody to do the gardening for us - don't ask me to mow the lawn and clip the edges and pick up the doggie doo (ewwwww). The trouble is that I cannot find a reliable Gardener ... the result ... a Jungle while Greg is away .... This is one of the stresses I cannot bear when he is gone. Another bugbear this last time has been the Pool - Greg bought a new Pump before he left but I can't open the freaking thing and I don't know it works so it's a pain and another stress - or maybe I should have left it to become a swamp - every good Jungle needs a swamp, right???? Trivial??? ... maybe to some ...

Okay, then on Wednesday morning of last week, just after I had dropped Bryce off at school and was sitting down to catch up on my blogging, I heard the dogs barking pretty ferociously - now this is not unusual especially in our neighbourhood - everyone has dogs and if the dogs at the top of the street start barking at a passerby, you can guarantee that a Mexican wave of barking moves all the way down the road ... It could be a good warning system or it could be a pain in the A - mostly a pain in the A because they do not stop barking until you rush out there and scream like a wild woman (20 mins of incessant barking could drive you stark-raving mad, trust me ...). Well, on this particular morning the barking was not coming from the road side but from my bark yard - a little unusual ... I went to the glass door in our TV Room and looked out - mmmm ... strange ... the dogs were trying to get into the incompleted cottage (another story) at the back of our property ... I opened the door a fraction and the Gardener next door called out to me to "stay inside and call the Police" as there were intruders on my property .... Oh my shattered nerves!!!! I duly called the Police and our Armed Response Company. Bring in the big guns is what I say - if I had the clout I would have called in a Helicopter as well ... tee hee ... (I wasn't laughing then though ...). Anyway, two policemen duly arrived and I let them into the front garden and into my house to walk through to the back. Of course, they drew their guns and proceeded cautiously through the house - I was a wreck - I so hate guns ... and quite honestly, they seemed more nervous than me .... I suppose they see such dreadful things on a day-to-day basis that being ultra cautious is part of the job .... In the interim, the "baddies" (I was going to say Bastards) had escaped ... I think that when the Police arrived, the dogs ran down to the gate leaving the cottage unprotected. Anyhow, another two policemen arrived and so did the Armed Reponse unit - like a movie I tell you ... horrid ... I of course had my trusty Tim Holtz scissors (thanks, Tim) in my clammy hands and was ready to poke the eyes out of anyone who wanted to mess with me ... seriously ... I think I would have, although the thought of blood makes me squeamish - DON'T MESS WITH ME, MY FAMILY OR MY HOME ....

The week prior to that had me taking Bryce to the Chiropractor for manipulation due to a very sore lower back possibly caused by some hectic rugby tackles. Unfortunately he had a reaction to the manipulation and was in even more agony than before the treatment (apparently this happens to only about 12% of the population????). I had planned to scrap at Sophia's home (maybe pull an all-nighter??) on the Friday evening and I was teaching a class in Umhlanga on the Saturday morning. After about the 3rd call from Bryce (who was sleeping over at his cousin's house) complaining of how much pain he was in, I fetched Bryce, who then didn't sleep all night because of the pain. After class on Saturday morning I took B back to the Chiro and he had further treatment. That afternoon he proceeded to show me a huge abscess at the base of his spine - GREAT!!! - It had popped (ewwwww) but was seriously inflamed so off the Medical Centre early on Sunday morning. He was given hectically strong antibiotics to combat the poison in his system ... sigh ... I knew that the meds would start working but he was starting exams on Monday morning and I knew that he would not be able to sit for long periods of time ... grrrr ... it rains and then it snows and then the tornadoes and earthquakes hit .... and Greg was away ....

Okay, so Bryce is so much better thank goodness and we got through the first week of exams without too much tension ... but then on Monday night of this week Bryce couldn't sleep because he said that he had the most incredible pain in his left arm - he could not even clench his fist- off to the Hospital at 10pm for some X-Rays. He remembered that he had fallen on the Astroturf at school that afternoon so I assumed that for the amount of pain he was experiencing, it was fractured at the very least ... GREAT!!!! ... Fortunately just bad bruising ... more painkillers for the poor kid ...

In the meanwhile, I did the East Coast Radio Big Walk on Sunday morning and came home with blisters on top of blisters ... whoa - who would've thought that blisters could be so sore ....

This was only the last 2-3 weeks - I cannot even bear to go back further than that - I am not a happy girl when my Family is not well or when things are not calm and peaceful ... but things are settling down and I am getting back to normal ...

Some good news ...

  • My sister is getting married on the 12th September - I am happy when she is happy ...
  • My brother's new baby is 2 months old and doing really well ... he is gorgeous ...
  • Greg is home for at least the next two weeks ...
  • Bryce finishes exams on Friday - hallelujah ...
  • My mojo is creeping home ... after another long AWOL ..
  • I am planning a day of scrapping on the 16th June (a public holiday here) - Any Locals who are interested please leave a comment and I will give you the details ...
  • I am laying low and taking care of myself ... always a good thing ...
Please go along to Scrap{a}Tale and enter our Fairytale Page competition - Candice has some awesome yumminess to give away to the winner ...

My friend, Sam, has started a blog - please go and welcome her to our little bit of cyberspace ...

For all you BOM-mers out there ... check back by the end of this week for an announcement and your next challenge ... - thanks for being so patient ...

Okay, well, that's all I have time for now ... so go on and take care of yourselves and those you love ...

Love,


7 comments:

Beryldene said...

AHEM...YES WELL...was quite relieved actually by your bad news, as I had started to think even worse, like ...oh..maybe you had DIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WELCOME BACK. And yes I can so relate to all those things and feelings...I recently had someone IN MY HOME, while my husband was away for the night....so glad you are BIB (back in Blogland)...it's good to hear your news, and always have a good laugh at your writing!

CathQuillScrap said...

NO WONDER you've been so quiet... boy oh boy... I don't think I would have enjoyed the last three weeks if I had been in your shoes. Enjoy the next two with hubby before he disappears again.

Sophia said...

Glad to see you surfacing again...YAY!!!

You sure have had your share of things hey!

Loving that crown girl, awesome!!!

Jacqui Bourne said...

so glad you're back in blogland. Sorry to hear about all your stresses. Amazing how these things always happen when one has to deal with it alone! Glad hubby is back for a while at least. you can recharge your batteries for a while.

Samantha said...

Yay! I've missed you! Shew, no wonder you've been AWOL! Glad you're back though!I'd love to scrap on the 16th......
Chat soon
Sam x

Andrea said...

Wow Tracy, welcome back, sounds like you have had a HELL of a time, which as always you seem to have handled exceptionally well and not without a little bit of humour.

Keep going sista it can only get better!

xxx
A

Michelle Ramsay said...

Welcome back, certainly have missed you. Terrible about all the drama you have had, but glad everyone is okay. Hope you got my BOM challenge 15 I sent.