I had a difficult start today

as I do most days that I have to get Bradley to school. He hasn't caught up on a lot of his work from when he was off sick and marks are due. I ended up shouting and he did a lot of banging around. I dropped him at school and we went our separate ways, not looking back at each other. A negative start to my day usually means things go wrong the whole day but a new friend restored my good humour by going out of her way to help me even though she hardly knows me. A bad start turned out really good and I got to know my new friend a bit better.

Later Brad was on mxit and told me that it was sports day today and not marks hand in day and he managed to get quite a bit finished while the teachers were busy with the sports day. I hate being the bad guy with my kids but sometimes its the only thing that gets them moving! Now we can enjoy our weekend a bit knowing that some positive things are happening.

Always look for the silver lining on the grey cloud and keep your sense of humour!

I owe this blog a post.

I've been gone for a little while (again) and in that time a few things happened which caused me to withdraw somewhat and gather my strength. I have to get past drawing back every time something stressful or traumatic happens or else I'll never write again. So since the beginning of June when I last wrote....one of my kittens disappeared into the night never to be seen again (I still miss him), my son decided to leave his job until he found the right one for him (leaving me to pay his cellphone bill) and our house was broken into at the beginning of August and 2 cellphones including one new one which Brad was using and my handbag with all my personal papers was stolen (this happened just before I woke up at about 4.40am and if I was faster I could have caught them). My daughter has now decided that she is not happy in Cape Town and has decided to leave her job and head to Johannesburg in search of greener pastures, even though she too is paying off her car still. Oh and we all had flu last week although the boys have had theirs for 5 weeks - Dael and 3 weeks - Bradley, the younger having missed 3 weeks of the new school term. Fun and games!

I came back to work last Wednesday after two days off sick to find that a dear friend and colleague, our messenger, Dave who was a fit and healthy just-turned-60 year old had died on that Monday while he was working. He had been diagnosed with a heart ailment in April (which he didn't tell us about) and was trusting in God to heal him, having refused whatever treatment was offered to him. He didn't want to be an invalid. On the previous Thursday, after a day of rushing around, he couldn't breath and was feeling faint. He went home and to the doctor but was back the next day saying that he had heart murmurs because of stress. But still working. On Monday he had come to work, was still feeling ill and despite urgings to go home and rest, had headed off on an errand and while there had suffered a heart attack. Despite being taken to hospital by ambulance and finally agreeing to the necessary operation for the sake of his dear wife, it was all too much for him and he passed. I attended his funeral on Friday and it was a very emotional time for me.

Rest in peace, my dear friend. The stress of this earth is past and your body is healed. I will miss you!

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Well, the ice is broken and I am determined to post more often.....

A mouse in the house

Back in the day when I was a new wife and mum living in my first home, a little two bedroom flat, my husband (the ideas man) decided to get himself a pet - a snake... I wasn't too concerned about this although I insisted that the snake's living quarters be made impenetrable. Being in the woodwork field, he had soon whipped up a decent sized wooden box with a sliding glass front for access to the snake.

The supplier of the snake was a client who was also a snake breeder and who had cases of poisonous snakes lining his bedroom! I kid you not. I saw this with my own eyes before I hop skipped it out of that room. He also had another little associated hobby of breeding mice although this he did in a shed at the end of the garden.

So hubby comes home with the snake which he pops into the box and two mice, one of which he pops into the box with the snake. While I wasn't watching, the snake swallowed the mouse. Its nature I know but not in my house - I wasn't impressed. So now the snake was fed and not due for another meal for a week or so. What to do with the other mouse?

Can you believe that I ended up buying a cage and accessories for this other mouse which ended up becoming a pet and lived with us for about another 2 years, in fact long after the novelty of the snake (which spent 100% of its time under the paper lining of the box) had worn off and the snake had been released back into nature, over the precast boundary wall of the block of flats.

I am an animal lover but I do not like pets to which you have to feed other pets. So bye bye snakey.

My child is warped.

After Friday's mugging scare, Bradley tried to drum up some support for his mugger phobia. But he received no sympathy from his brother or me. We made alternative arrangements for him getting home and then made light of the whole situation and he couldn't resist joining in with a couple of jokes. I don't encourage a victim mentality with my kids but instead encourage a 'Safety first and then get up and get on' attitude.

Anyway, when I phoned him today, the first thing he does is breathe heavily into the phone and with a shaky voice tells me "I got mugged again, mom".

Oh no!...........Just joking.

This is one thing I have had to get used to with Bradley. He is an excellent actor and has the older teens and adults at social occasions rolling with laughter with his little skits and clever jokes. He also puts this ability to good use to simulate illness to get out of going to school or doing something he doesn't want to do. He knows all about the little boy who cried wolf but it hasn't stopped him from trying his luck.