Saturday 18 July 2009

What went down this week...




This week was the last week of the holidays -
always a crazy one! Somehow it seems to have flown by & I have had a lot of scrap-related AND pc-related work to do, but honestly little time to take a breather & blog about it. At the end of long days I have simply fallen on my bed & passed out! I had a South African friend here who now lives in the UK, we met many years ago at college (I was at college in Cape Town because all Zimbabweans come to South Africa for University/Technikon, as there are no facilities there), and have somehow managed to reconnect every few years, wherever in the world we have been at the time, so it was lovely to catch up with her & her family again & be able to entertain them.

The kids, especially my 2 teenagers, have been trying to squeeze every last drop out of these holidays before they go back to school on Monday, so dutiful Mother (aka me...) has been driving them near & far! Chelsea has her Grade 11 dance coming up in less than a week so we have been shopping & she finally has the perfect outfit. Of course I will let you all see it when she is dressed up & I take a photo. She has chosen quite an avant-garde dress from YDE (Young Designers Emporium) - thank Goodness they had a sale LOL - it is creamy beige (satin twill) so an interesting fabric choice & I'm glad she didn't go for a shiny-shiny. Like my photos - I like my outfits matte!

It has a black lace & tulle petticoat extending from the hem, which is very Harajuka girl...It is strapless with a low waistline & a flared mini-skirt so is playful & cute & not as short as the one she originally wanted that I managed to talk her out of...in that one she looked more like she was off for a swim in her costume...??? The shoes were more of a challenge as they are SO expensive, everywhere in the world it seems, as I even went online to compare prices. She settled on a pair of stilettos with a relatively low heel - as her date is not much taller than her - cream with black lace overlay - court shoe style with a small peep toe & crossover at the front - as she is convinced her toes are hugely unacceptable so won't wear strappies! The heels are black & all the edging is black patent so they are very stylish & VERY fashionable, so she is happy...

I bought her a Versailles style black-crystal (costume-jewellery) choker to finish off her outfit & just hope she has another occassion to wear it, as my first-born looks very swish indeed in her ensemble...a bittersweet moment for me ;-( Jack has been struggling with the concept of relocating schools so it has all been a bit dramatic around here, but now that we have handed in the forms & purchased the uniform he has finally accepted that it really IS happening...again I feel guilty as hell...even thought I know that this move is in his best interests...

So it's been haircuts all round here as their schools adhere strictly to the short back & sides policy - and I agree for school ;-D It's all uniforms & discipline here - just not enough unfortunately - Zimbabwean schools were MUCH stricter & as a result experienced almost NONE of the problems we have had to face here with kids that are naughty beyond comprehension. We have all got into a housework & chores routine & found our niches, but nonetheless I think we have ALL found it tiring & quite a shock to have to do it ALL. I am a very tidy person but now that I am on my hands & knees polishing quarry tiles it makes me more determined than ever to buy as low maintenance a house as possible - not that there really IS such a thing LOL!

I managed to rescue my lost Picasa photos thanks to Heidi & all her e mail advice - just waiting to receive my bill LOL! I have to say that any problems I have ever experienced relating to pc/blogger/photo issues have ALL been solved by YOU, my loyal bloggy friends! ;-D So thank you to all of you!! I managed to get a few layouts done this week & need to get a few more done in the next few days. I also got a SLIDESHOW set up on my blog AT LONG LAST - admittedly with only a smidgeon of my layouts featured, but better than nothing nonetheless! So don't forget to take a look ;-D

I got my first NASTY comment on my blog this week - it didn't upset me as I have been warned that every blogger gets one within their first year of blogging so I actually feel initiated now LOL! I eventually managed to delete it & have decided I'll do that straight away next time, now that I know how! As I was rushing out when I received it & couldn't bin it I replied then deleted both comments when I had time to look into it.

The comment made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE to me as I didn't even know WHAT "Belle" (the mystery blogger...) was going on about - as she was ranting about how I had back-stabbed someone I have NEVER MET that doesn't even LIVE in Durban, & doesn't have a blog, so how I managed THAT is beyond me LOL! I spoke to my RL scrappy friend about it & she says comments like that only ever come from one place...JEALOUSY...so that HAS to be a COMPLIMENT {{{*wink*}}} So, on that note, to ALL of you out there, especially "Belle", who went to the trouble of creating a blog for the SOLE purpose of remaining anonymous while leaving random nonsensical & unneccessarily mean comments around Blogland...




May your troubles be less, your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door...


5 comments:

Vicki said...

Wow looking forward to seeing Chelsea all flashed up - did you have the dramas of finding the "perfect" dress that we had? LOL. Good luck with the kids going back to school and Jack starting a new one. Look forward to hearing how he gets on. As for nasty comments - do you have the approve button that we have on wordpress to check them out first before hitting delete?

Shayne said...

I must say that having not had a nanny/domestic for the last month (she has been on maternity leave), i've only had my ironing lady here. But what a pleasure. Betw the two of us we've pretty much kept things sorted (i'm a complete neat freak) and i'm quite tempted to tell my nanny that she only needs to work half day when she returns from leave.

it's just a lot less invasive not having them in my home all the time.

Desire Fourie said...

Love your layouts in your new slide show. You must be the most vigorous blogger I know out there. Never a dull moment over at Scrap Addict!
Hugs
Desire

Jacqui said...

Can't wait to see the Pics of Chel!
Glad to hear about your picasa retrieval.

topkatnz said...

Sorry I missed this post. Sounds like you and Chelsea have put together a fab outfit for her - I too, look forward to the photos!