Charlie's Bird
living the dream with Charlie and Thandi and chirping all the way back to the nest.week 5+3
…phew, a lot happened last week, and we were on the road on Friday morning, therefore, no blog.
- Thandi – had an up and down week. The highs included some great swims at pour provincial top 8 trials, where she swam mostly PB’s and thoroughly whipped her competition. She was so happy with her results. On Thursday morning she was due to leave with her waterpolo team for the Oakhill tournament which takes place in Knysna. It is a fantastic festival which takes place in the lagoon, the construct floating pools in the waterfront area at Knysna. Absolutely incredible experience for the kids. She was exhausted when she went to bed on Wednesday, and when I woke her up on Thursday morning, she was under extra blankets and she was on fire, with a massive fever. So, like any good doctor, I loaded her up with paracetamol, send lots of meds along and sent her on her way. To get a call to tell me she’s throwing up and is looking terrible. Anyway, the teachers managed the situation quite well, they kept her hydrated and managed to get her fever broken. Poor girl, she was finished! She didn’t play on Thursday afternoon, and was good to go on Friday, but the sparkle faded and by the last game of the day, that temp was up again and she was all teary and upset. Anyway, Saturday was better, by the final game of the festival the entire team was tired, but they managed a great result! They finished 3rd on the log, having only lost 1 game (no team was unbeaten by the end of the fest) and Thandi played some great polo, some okay polo, and spent some time on the sidelines.
- Running – this was a tougher week, and I struggled with my energy again. It has been extremely hot and humid, and I have not enjoyed those conditions. On Saturday while in Knysna, I suggested to Charlie that we go for a run, all was going well until I tripped and fell off a pavement, in the process breaking one of the bones in my foot. So, there’s that. Thankfully no surgery required, but, not my best day out.
- Work – steadily ticking over.
week 4.3
…apologies. my Friday was insane! I got swept up at work, and never had a chance to0 sit down and blog. So, forthwith, my weekly round up of the week.
- Work – was steady and quite busy, which is a good thing. The hospital called a meeting with us OBGYNs, and there is an interesting pilot project coming later this year – call it a sign of the times, and I will share more, when I can.
- Running – 2 good runs, 1 not so good one. The heat and humidity is a real factor at the moment, but plodding along. There is a possibility I may do Wild Women hit Europe (Portugal) this year, busy looking at dates and finances.
- Thandi – is as usual, is a busy bee, but she is thriving! Swimming is going well, we seem to be managing her programme okay, Monday is her completely manic day! Today she has swimming trials, a ballet lesson and a polo match, she is missing polo training and a marimba lesson!
- Charlie – is starting to train for a multi day trail event he is doing with a mate. they intend to shuffle along, and we will see how that all goes.
- Meetings – are full steam ahead – Grade 7 meeting, lifesaving AGM, hospital meeting all last week, this week, SGB. Phew!
Week 3
Time for a wrap up of the week
- School – the highlight of the week was back to school. Thandi is happy with her class teacher, and she has some lovely girls in her class. Hopefully she settles down well. I am meeting the principal today, just to get a feeling for what is planned for the year ahead, and put some of my own goals for the school in.
- Swimming – the gala went went last weekend! She swam herself to 3 new big PB’s! She was very happy, as is her coach. Her new carbon skins came from America in time, and I reckon they made all the (mental) difference!
- Running – today I had a slightly better run, flip, it is hard trying to find fitness. My weight is definitely a factor at the moment, and its making it hard. I am on an eating plan and hoping to see some changes in the scale’s pronouncements soon, which will make things a bit easier.
- Work – it’s nice to be a bit busier at the moment, and again, that’s all that needs to be said about that.
- Garden – its looking lovely, I am so happy! We have had so much rain, it really helps. But it also encourages the bugs…
Running review
So, I finally totalled up all my runs for the year and was amazed to see that I had my highest mileage year since 2020!
- 2020 – 2099.9km
- 2021 – 1140km
- 2022 – 850km (the less said about the year of the ankle, the better)
- 2023 – 1480km.
I am actually astounded! I really haven’t felt like I have had a fit and healthy year, but, there we go! Here’s to more mileage in 2024, the year of more!
Week 2
Lets do a wrap on week 2 of the year…
- Running – I managed to get 3 runs in – I am running extremely slowly at the moment, but I’m out there, hopefully making some progress. I also went back to CrossFit this week, so, I am going to try to take back some control of my fitness!
- Work – ticking over.
- Home – all is quiet, I am going to do a little gardening this weekend, my rose bed is looking really good at the moment, but needs a few tweaks, as they always do. I planted a lemon tree in November and that has taken off dramatically too, but you always need to watch the damn aphids on a lemon.
- Thandi – has been swimming and swimming and swimming. Her Coach has had them in ‘swim camp’ effectively, so 5 hours of training a day, and then throw in an hour of waterpolo too! She is exhausted. Anyway, rest day today, and tomorrow she is swimming in the Interdistrict gala. Here’s to some more PB’s.
- The Land Rover – is still tab the repairer. The supplier of the part they require only opens on the 15th! And they will only get it on the 19th! So will only start working on the vehicle on the 22nd! 3 weeks without a car! Beyond frustrating. How do they do business in this day and age?
- Joy – finding joy has been challenging, but, I am trying to find moments in my days – I’m crocheting quite a bit , and I am finding joy in learning new stitches and seeing my blanket grow. I’ve been reading and have really enjoyed some light books from a new (to me) write, Jenny Colgan. Some lovely stories about a remote Scottish island and all the goings on there.
Here’s to the weekend – let us run, craft, read, garden and relax!
Joyful
…I’m going to try to set a word for every month this year, and be intentional about it. So, Joyful January! So far, it hasn’t been particularly joyful, but, I am trying to embrace the moments and find joy in them.
Christmas and New year – what a time of the year, so much pressure, such a show of forced conviviality and family, mixed with aggrieving work. I think that says all you probably need to know about the time. On the surface it was nice, and I love my little family (as they say in Afrikaans – gesin), the weather did not play along, but, the food was plentiful and good. New Year at the farmstead was lovely as always., Many of our usual friends were not there, but we connected with some new families and thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, my family enjoyed it so much, that I extended their stay, and I returned to work, and went back later to fetch them. Which was not without its own drama… cue a broken down Land Rover on the side of the road…
January is being very January. Work is busy. Thandi is swimming already, and playing polo.
Lets the joy be sought!
Catching up again
…can someone just stop this bus! Jingoes. Whenever I think it cant get busier, it does!
The last 2 weeks were good! TAFKAD was in town for her father’s 80th birthday, and we had been invited to his party on the Saturday. So special to celebrate with them, and just honour their dad. Made me miss mine a lot too! Anyway, while we were celebrating Dr PS, Thandi had travelled down to GQ for the waterpolo IPT, they were only due to play their first match of the tournament the following day, so crack of dawn, we headed down and settled in to watch their first match. Bearing in mind, she was playing for the B team, they played well, showed great cohesion as a team, and we were so impressed with them. As the tournament progressed we saw ups and downs. Thandi did not have the most game time, but she had some really nice games, and even scored a goal! The team were full of really nice girls, and they all got on well, such a positive experience. Anyway, they ended up 10/16 teams (should have been 8th, but, lessons learnt!) We are super proud of them.
After the tournament, I headed home to get some work done, (for a day), and I then returned to GQ for a gala. Charlie and Thandi stayed on, and the girl got some down time. And what a gala it was, she swam like an absolute champ, and out of the 10 events she did, only 1 was not a new PB. I am so proud of her! I am. however, all poolside sat out, and am very relieved there is a bit of a break before our next gala. Phew!
We really were treated with good weather while we were there, there were a few crazy days when we had 4 seasons in 1 day, but on the whole, really nice!
I’ve been back at work this week, and it has been quite busy, but, its that weird time of the year – medical aids are done, so it’s quiet, but some workers who have their holidays now want to sort things out, those who have problems who thought they could push through to January are realising that they can’t and are rushing in, and obviously pregnancies keep ticking over. So, we do what we have to do.
Busy week
…its been a busy one!
Monday was an evening at home, Tuesday saw us at the SGB end of year function – a nice cocktail party, but man, I hate standing at these events for hours on end. The snacks were excellent, the wine was wet, all in all, really nice evening. Wednesday Thandi went her first school social, with their brother school boys. She looked just gorgeous, and I am just overwhelmed with my love for her. She is so grown up though!
Last night was the school’s Awards Ceremony, I had to do some of the formalities, welcome everyone and introduce the guest speaker. The principal presented his annual report, but given the year we have had, the seats were very uncomfortable to sit for so long! Yoh! But quite something to see how our girls are just flying at the moment! Thandi got her academic award, but the grade 6’s aren’t in line for many exciting prizes, so, she looked, watched and has set some intentions for next year and exactly which trophies she will win. The girl has high goals.
Today will be her last day at school, tomorrow she leaves for Gqeberha for the waterpolo IPT, we will travel down on Sunday to go and support her and the team, I am really excited for her, she has worked hard at her polo, and I trust she will have an amazing tournament. I am beyond relieved to get a break from the stress of the rooms.
Change
…so I spent a lot of the weekend trying to find some extra coins. I tried to get to bed early and have good sleep, I decorated the house with all the Christmas stuff, I went for a run, I made a new recipe for dinner. All good stuff. And yes, I do feel a bit better, but sitting at my desk doesn’t feel good this morning. I’m carrying a massive burden of (financial) responsibility to my staff and the practice in general, and I do feel like I am shouldering it alone. Anyway, you guys don’t need to hear about that, so let’s look at some of the pictures of the Christmas decorations!
(Excuse the trailer and detritus on the porch, we have finally sold my Dad’s beach house, and so had to bring a whole lot of stuff back into town, and have run out of storage space… Busy working on tidying up the garage and packing things away.)
The wooden crate stack is shamelessly stolen from a friend, she did it first, it looked amazing, and I thought a great way to display all my Christmas goodies I have accumulated over the years. It isn’t 100% completed yet, I want to get some more little lights and some more hooks to hang things in some of the boxes, but on the whole I am absolutely thrilled with it! Gosh, Christmas really does make me smile!
Broke
… shattered, broken, smashed, roadkill…
Okay, so this year has officially done it. I am beyond where I have ever been before, not sure how to find my way back to me.
So what has happened in the almost month since I last posted a blog.
- Work – has fluctuated from devastatingly quiet, to insanely demanding. When things are quiet though, I find it very difficult to cope with challenges though. I expect things to be smooth sailing, and when I notice I get irrational because things aren’t straightforward I know I am burning out. While my partner and I work well together because our medical processing is very similar, our financial processing isn’t, and this is putting a huge amount of stress on my shoulders.
- Home – the bathroom renovation is complete, sans the towel rails and toilet roll holders and that sort of thing. Thandi’s new bedroom has yet to begin. visitors arrive mid to late December, so basically, we’ll sort her new room out in the new year.
- Running – I seem to be going backwards rapidly. I’m finding it extremely difficult to run because I am tired and can manage about 2kms before I just want lie down on the tar and go to sleep. I haven’t even been able to go to CrossFit lately.
- School – it’s been a term. Thandi has been so busy, with so many demands on her – she finished exams on Tuesday, thankfully. In the midst of school exams she had a tap and modern dancing exam, our city’s aquatic championship gala and provincial waterpolo practices. I have never felt more stressed for her. She did wobble a few times with all these demands, and if I hear one more coach/instructor or teacher tell us about the benefit of exercise during exams, I may just scream!
- Estate – my father’s beach house has been sold. Key handover is happening today. This chapter is now closed.
- Christmas plans – do I have to?
I listen to GC regularly, as you all know by now, and he has a regular slot on a Monday with a psychologist, who has a lovely way with words. 2 things that he has said have stuck with me. The opposite of depression is not happiness, its purpose. I wish more people knew and understood this. And the second is his coin theory. This theory is that at the start of every day we have fixed number of (emotional) coins to spend. If we waste them on road rage and silly things we have nothing left for the things that matter, like our families. We regenerate our coins when we rest and relax. Right now, I feel like I am starting every day with a coin deficit. I have so many things that I am worrying about, so many demands on me and my time, I am exhausted before my day begins, and I have no coins left. I know, I know, self care is important and all that, but attempts at self care feel stressful. So, here I am, coinless and feeling paralysed.
Apologies for not being around, Charlie moaned at me yesterday that it had been almost a month since I last blogged, it’s the longest break I have ever taken. But, coins. I didn’t have any to spend here. I am going to try to reserve one for this space going forward, but bear with me, as I feel overwhelmed and overwrought.
Charlie's Bird 