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New space, same ramblings
My eyebrows. I know. Hello there 🙂 How are you? I’m fine, thank you for metaphorically asking. Well, as you can see, things have changed a bit around here. It’s a new space! I’ve taken the plunge and decided that it was time to move from Blogger to WordPress. Why, I hear you ask… Well, there are 101 reasons why WordPress is more blog-smart than Blogger is. For motivation you can check out very informative articles over here and here.
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My nanny thinks she’s Leon Schuster
I love my baby’s nanny. Let’s call her Maria, for privacy reasons. Maria is in her late 50’s and is a wonderful woman. I love the way she looks after our girl – I’ve even walked in on her, with a toy on her head, trying to make Kari laugh. You can’t buy that kind of devotion. But she’s not that clued up when it comes to technology – which is no train smash… I know a few older folk who think that Whatsapp is pure evil anyways. So it’s not a shocker.But ey, this woman has a really weird way of calling me. By “calling”, I mean phoning. And by “weird”, I mean she gets other people to speak on her behalf – which is okay, but then, get this, they pretend to be HER! “Hi Luchae, it’s Maria here!” – when the voice clearly belongs to a 20 year old. I’ve had older ladies call, pretending to be her. I’ve had younger ones call in, saying they are her. But yesterday, she just took the whole cake!
It first started off as a random phone call from someone who wanted to remind me that they aren’t coming to work because they are going for their check up at the hospital. Usually by now I’d piece together that this is another Maria impersonator, calling on her behalf. And friends, I normally play along. I’m that person. But this time was different. This time, the impersonator was a MAN! This MAN is now phoning me, as Maria, to say that “she” isn’t coming in. After a few shocked minutes of silence I was like, “Uhmmm no I dont know who you are!” and ended the call.
He then called back to say that he is, in fact, calling on her behalf.
*insert cricket chirps*So yes, that was confirmation: our dear Maria has a thing about talking on cellphones. She’s not keen. But this “whose voice is it anyways” is freaking me out!
It makes me feel like someones going to jump out from behind the couch and point me to a cleverly hidden camera.
Is… is this a joke? Ahhh Maria, you jokester you!
So funny! Noooot. -
And then I found out I was pregnant
I fell pregnant with Karis like, two months into our marriage. It was a beautiful, scary surprise… one we were not prepared for! Yep, it was all totally unplanned, but such an exciting thought. Plus, more children to make me tea… I was winning already. And now, as we prepare to celebrate her birthday, I can’t help but remember the day that I found out I was pregnant. It’s one of my favorite memories!
Planning to plan
We knew we wanted to have babies – since Hubstopher has one and I have one. Having a kid of our own just made sense. But my spreadsheet brain planned (hahaha because I think that I can plan these things) that I would only fall pregnant once we were married for a year or so. We had just moved into our new place and I was still busy unpacking and preparing the boys rooms and all of that. I had wanted to get some new curtains and carpets and had so many diy decor stuff I wanted to try out. I wanted to set up our kitchen so that I could be a culinary expert for my family, cooking them gourmet Jamie Oliver stuff. (All gone in the wind. Try doing that when you’re puking your lungs out because you cant stand the smell of lettuce).
So, taking my spreadsheet brain into consideration, I would like to think that I was always very diligent with those tiny, annoying contraceptive pills (which took some getting use to). I mean, im my mind, I could just like, you know, decide to not fall pregnant and that would be it. (Because it worked so well the first time around, right? Well done, Luchae.) Anyways, I had started taking the pills about a month before the wedding, but they gave me leg cramps and a bunch of other nasty side effects. The nurse at the mediclinic advised me to stop taking them immediately, because the cramps were a symptom of blood clotting! She told me to wait for a month and then she would put me on something else. Easy peasy. I mean, how much trouble could we get ourselves into, in a span of 4 weeks? I remember hanging up the washing a few days after that, and I put my hand on my belly and said “God, if you want me to be pregnant, then bugger my plans… I’ll be okay with that! Have Your way.”I just knew
Soon after that I started feeling queasy and drained. (Who lied and said that you only feel tired when you’re a few months pregnant?! Shoot that busy.) Look, if you’ve been pregnant before, and you know what morning sickness nausea feels like, then you KNOW the difference between “oh I just ate something and now I feel queasy” vs “Oh my hat! My stomach is doing cartwheels, while breakdancing, on it’s head. I’m pregnant!” I mean, I had to reprimand myself for being too dramatic, but I just KNEW that I am ‘with child’. The fact that I could be pregnant seemed far fetched and I was elated and excited but also so concerned about what people would think. I mean, we’ve only been married for a couple of seconds. What is WRONG with us?!
Anyways, keep in mind that all of these thoughts occured before I even did a test. Bwahaha. So I did a couple of home pregnancy tests, and it came out negative. (Yeah, I said “a couple”) The last one I did (at work nogals) had a faint second line. So I promptly sent my bestie a message saying “what does this mean?” (She had found out she was pregnant two weeks earlier and had sent me the same message.)The best moment
The next day, my family doctor did a pee stick test as well and said “sorry, its a negative”. But he sent us for a blood test anyways, which we did the following day, en route to a wedding. Since we had to sing at the wedding, the blood place person (sorry, what are they called now again), was a friend of a friend, so she promised to send me a text once she had the results.So picture us, sitting at a wedding ceremony, getting ready to go up to sing, and I get this sms:“Congratulations, you’re going to be a mom again!”
Woohoo!!! Of corse my darling husband wanted to burst out in tears! The wedding ceremony was underway, so we couldn’t even scream or shout or hug each other and then 10 minutes later, we were called to the stage to sing… talk about an Oprah moment! It was very dramatic for us.
Post wedding, we called our families immediately. Whaaat? I know that you’re suppose to wait until you’re atleast three months along, but we were just so excited! The boys were told together. They were excited. And apprehensive. Both had already received a newly acquired sibling (from their other parents), so they reckoned they were experts already. And then lo and behold my doctor calls, saying he’s been trying to get hold of me since Friday. It turns out the pee stick test turned positive after we had left the surgery! Haha. Talk about a movie ending.
And our Karicurls is the star! Man it has been such a journey ever since! Our little darling has brought so much joy and I wouldn’t trade any part of it for anything! Having this baby just restored so much in our lives. God’s plan is the best plan.
Thank you for journeying with me today. Karis celebrates another birthday tomorrow – she is a tad bit more excited than I am.
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Technological me
I think I understand the difference between potatoe and potato when I go from using Hubstophers MacBook Pro to my 1990s Acer laptop. I feel like I’m playing ‘whose fingers are they anyways?’ It’s like: you scroll up to scroll down (huh?) and right click with 5 fingers versus “oh look there’s a button for it”.
You know, I used to be the kinda girl that I would call ‘old fashioned’. And that’s because I liked things that are old fashioned. I believed If it aint broke don’t fix it! With that said, I have had the same Blackberry for the past four years. This thing still works like the bomb dot com! Because of my cleverness and cunning ability to figure things out, I’ve found that the less apps I have on it, the better it works. So I don’t have waiting issues (remember the ghastly wait icon that everyone cursed to the pit of hell?) I don’t have “take my battery out of my phone quickly” problems. But I’m starting to wonder: is it enough?
I feel a new era dawning.
An era where I want to take photos with my cellphone and not have to find a photo app online that would make my pics look remotely okay. An era where I’d know what people are speaking about when they want to ‘load a filter’ before they ‘post to Insta’. An era where I swipe on my screen when I want to do something on my phone, as opposed to pressing a button. (It looks so cool to swipe. I waaannaaaa swiiipe tooooo) An era where I can also dubsmash and play angry birds and finally download Twitter without it making my cellphone run slower than a Bold and the Beautiful story line.
I’ve decided to give this big screen phone thing a try. I mean, it has some lady who can speak back to you and everything, so that’s a plus. And also, it looks really cool and according to my super smart husband it can do lots of things too. (List of things it can do is yet to be revealed, but I’ll take his word for it based on the fact that I am married to him).
Needless to say, since I am controlled by a spreadsheet brain and all, I will need to do some deeeeep soul searching before I make a purchase. Deeeeep. Like deeeep deeep. Like “Rolling in the deeep” by Adele, deeeep.
I’ll send an update once I find a phone worthy of my lots of moola. Until then, I’ll appreciate my BIS a little bit longer.
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Being offended doesnt make you right
I’ve developed ninja-skills when it comes to holding a grudge. I mean, come on lady friends, we’re pretty good at keeping an offence, right? And the thing is this, it’s easy to be offended or angry at another persons actions. I think that the hard part is showing kindness and tolerance even when you feel the other person does not deserve it. And offence is a big pile of stinky poop anyways. There is nothing good about it. I mean, life is so short and precious and filled with way more important things than to mull around about the actions of OTHER people and how wrong I think they are! Being offended doesn’t make you right, darling. It makes you irrational.
Human beings are extremely good at this! I know of sisters who have not spoken to each other for years, all because of a little offence. “Being offended” has broken up families and relationships – much more wreckage that it is actually worth! I, myself, have been in countless situations where I sat with huge hurts on my heart and instead of sorting it out properly, I walked around with a major chip on my shoulder. Holding on to resentment is a burden… there is no freedom in it.
The funny thing (it’s funny because it’s not really funny) is that offence is TAKEN and not given – so you have the power to choose whether you want to live in this anger/hurt/hatred or not. And, you know what Margaret, ultimately you are not in control of the other persons actions. Your anger or offence will not lessen the value of their opinions or even their lives. Like, you will find no joy in it.
I think that being the self proclaimed queen of efficiency has made me look at an offence with the question: But what’s the point?! It’s not adding to my day. It’s not adding value to my life. It’s slowing me down. It’s throwing a spanner into my system. It’s stunting my growth and affecting how I make my decisions. No thank you please.
Yes, I agree, there are times when someone has wronged you and it is what it is. But YOU have the decision to forgive. Make the decision to move on and to grow. Every opportunity to forgive is a life lesson learnt, yo.
And so, my friends, even though being offended has become the new social norm (yeah, you know what I mean, we are so opinionated now a days!) I dare you to stand out. Choose freedom and forgiveness over the burden of resentment and offence. I mean, unless you enjoy feeling like a big pile of stinky poop. Which is slightly weird. Life without the poop is way better, trust me.
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Tonsils are a conundrum
Hello there, and please accept my not-so-cleverly named post for all that its worth. It has been a rough couple of weeks!
Well, it all started last week… uhmmm last week? week before that? See! I don’t even know what year it is any more! Any ways, it started a while back when my lovely son came home with a head ache and sore throat, which then spontaneously combusted into a full on intense attack of tonsillitis. My baby boy had a fever that brought on hallucinations and nightmares… for him, not me. I even had to rush him to the hospital at one point! Not nice. He missed 4 whole days of school and stayed in bed over an entire weekend. When he was finally better, I breathed a sigh of relief…. but not for long.
The next Thursday, I felt a little ummm qualm in the back of my throat, and chose to ignore it. By the time Thursday night arrived, I realized that the qualm had mutated into one of those giant ogres that you find in…. (okay I was going to reference a movie here, but I don’t watch movies any more)…. just trust me, it was really big okay! I had like these, cold shivers… literally freezing down to the core of my core! Any ways, the doctor said that I have tonsillitis and that I had picked it up from my son! Who knew it could be contagious?! Shocking. Doctor says that tonsils actually play a particularly important role in your body… I think it protects your throat or something. So he isn’t to keen on getting them removed. Go figure.
Any ways, that was on Friday. Its Monday today, and I am still not eating properly, I have crazy dizzy spells and my throat feels as if someone shoved a sock down into it.
I need this feeling to end like, right NOW, please. And thank you.
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Still Standing
Whew… I cant believe I made it through my birthday in one piece. I’m still standing! It was an eventful day… not necessarily all good though. I don’t know what is going on in the spiritual realm, but in the natural, things are just going W.R.O.N.G.
But Chris and I have chosen to STAND … and not let these crappy situations get us down. Clearly we are doing something right, if we are getting attacked by the enemy this much. Like, for reals!
1stly lets not even get into the fact that we are paying off a huge wedding! Then my car refuses to work… its like one thing after the other, THEN Chris’s car starts giving problems. A week later, my laptop breaks while I am busy completing 2 major assignments and then to top it off, yesterday, on my 30th birthday, I get home from work to find that they’ve broken into my house. They stole some of my clothes, my sons games and electronics etc. I didn’t check what else is gone yet… hopefully nothing! We couldn’t sleep at home last night because its not safe… the window that was pried open is not safe at the moment, so my landlord has to fix it today.
But you know what… hahahhaha I am laughing all the way to the metaphorical bank. Because none of this… NOTHING… can separate us from the destiny that God has preplanned. Nothing can cancel the promises He has made us.
All things work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose!
That’s what it says in Romans and that’s what is inscribed on our hearts!If you feel like you’re going through adversities or hardship today, put your trust in Jesus. Yeah yeah yeah how cliche of me. But I really want you to realize how awesome God is… We are His! We belong to Him! And He wants nothing but the best for us. So choose to believe that! And choose to stand on who HE is, and not what your situation is telling you!
No sorrow is greater than Gods reward! He is ALWAYS good to us!
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Farewell
My grandma passed away yesterday morning. I had to say farewell to the lady that was more than just a grandma to me. She raised my sis, bro and I, so it is a big loss in our family. It was a very quick burial, because she was Muslim and they believe that the dead must be buried before the sun goes down. So it was all very impersonal and formal – altho, we shed alot of tears.
I found myself feeling very guilty and tired and angry at myself, for not being more of a granddaughter. I could’ve been a better one. I could’ve done more. I don’t know. I guess its to late to turn back time now. Yeah yeah yeah and I know that there is no condemnation in Christ. But I am filled with regret and heartache. Strange how its the only things comforting me right now, as scary as that sounds.
I was reading Romans, Jeremiah and Isaiah last night. I needed to hear from God so bad. And then He gave me Isaiah 44:22-24.
21-22″Remember these things, O Jacob. Take it seriously, Israel, that you’re my servant. I made you, shaped you: You’re my servant. O Israel, I’ll never forget you. I’ve wiped the slate of all your wrongdoings. There’s nothing left of your sins. Come back to me, come back. I’ve redeemed you.” 23High heavens, sing! God has done it. Deep earth, shout! And you mountains, sing! A forest choir of oaks and pines and cedars! God has redeemed Jacob. God’s glory is on display in Israel.I know that He loves me and that in His eyes I’m still a princess. Gotta soak that up right now, I guess and start healing. Hope you’re having an awesome week.
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Duh! Yes, you’re suppose to read my mind!
Sometimes I wonder what God was thinking when He created the female brain. Coz I sure as heck don’t understand it. And I’ve got one! I was just pondering on the fact that sometimes I want Chris to do something, but I don’t want to have to say it. My thought processes are normally like:
I’m fine! 🙂
I am SO not fine with this and if you don’t know that I’m not fine then grrr!No, its cool you don’t have to do it! 🙂
Boy, you BETTER do it, if you know what’s good for you!What makes you think I’m upset?? I’m not upset 🙂
AAAARRGH!!I dont mind if you do that! 🙂
Gasp! How dare you! Is nothing sacred anymore?!Ladies, do you feel me: there are some things that men are just suppose to get, right? Like, hello, you cannot watch rugby on Valentines Day and expect me to be okay. And no, you cannot take your friends to our secret romantic spot and “chill”. Some things are just suppose to be known. For everything else, there’s MasterCard. (As in, buy me food and we’re good).
But then, reasoning kicks in and I realize that I might need to give the poor guy a break. I mean, it makes me realize why he is always quiet when he thinks I’m upset – maybe its because he’s not sure whether I actually am upset. He’s just suppose to KNOW that I’m upset!! Why should I tell him?! Hmmf!!!!
Anyways, point: I do believe that I need to ease up on the guessing games. How will he know if I don’t tell him. Right? I mean, who am I, Professor Brain Doctor, trying to teach him how to pay attention to my every need and stuff? If I want an ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles, I say “Hi, please can I have an ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles?” and if I get the wrong one, then I can throw him with a chair or something. But why throw the chair if he doesn’t even know you want chocolate sprinkles? Save the chair until you have a good enough reason. The chair will always be there. The chair is faithful. The chair can be stowed away in a corner, half concealed, to serve as a threat and a reminder. Okay now I’m rambling.
If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, then this means that they should have a highly developed sense of ESP. This is my story and I’m sticking to it.
