Relaxed day - Company Gardens

As I've been away from the office this long - its weird to see how the office environment has adapted due to my absence. Needless to say, I'm taking things extra easy... loving all the attention, well-wishes and such. Even had the time to take a breather, and what better way then taking a stroll to the Company Gardens, Cape Town... A stone throw from my office! Simply breathtaking, hey? #I(heart)CapeTown

My first day back

So... I'm back at work... would you believe. And I'm just so thankful - for everything. I realise that the Lord has spared me, yet again from a nasty sickbed... Then, I also want to extend my gratitude to my wife - for her continued support throughout my "ordeal?"

Anyhoot: Last week Friday I finally took our ride, a Tata Indica 1.4 LSi in - to have it repaired - after a fender bender not too long ago (that's another story). As always - I requested the insurance to give me a rented vehicle, and lucky me - I drew a Hyandai i20 from the friendly guys at Tempest Car Rental, in Bellville.

Weird thing is, not a lot of people actually notice its a different car... HOW CAN THAT BE?

              

Maybe its just me?  :-)

I'm back

Hey there... So I've been quite for more than a week... recuperating at home... luckily not hospitalised. In case you were wondering, I suffer from Asthma. I've had it since childbirth, and these days its chronic. Its more apart of me than anything else, I'm almost accustomed to it? What can I say... Even though I had the time to blog away... my internet connection at home is "the speed of darkness!" Maybe its time I get a new service provider?

Out sick

Would you believe... After planning a super weekend with my son and friends... I get sick along the way... but not just sick... I've got a check-up tomorrow to hear if I should be admitted to hospital! Ouch!

A positive spin is that I could hand over my ticket to my brother in law, Mark, who thought he was working tomorrow and didnt buy himself a ticket earlier! At least I know it will be out to good use! All I can do now is recuperate, hope for the best!

Hope your weekend goes a lot better than mine!

Man United 2012 Tour - Cape Town

Nineteen time English premier league champions Manchester United will take on Ajax Cape Town

at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, 21 July 2012 - in a pre-season friendly -

and guess who has tickets?

        

The match between the Red Devils (Man United) and the Urban Warriors (Ajax) is also a bid to pay homage to Nelson Mandela on his 94th birthday.. the city has reported that it’s going to try to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of people singing collectively in one place by urging a packed out stadium to sing “Happy Birthday” to South Africa’s first ANC president.

Come this Saturday - we will be spending our Saturday afternoon bonding away over a game of soccer (football) - my son (Revano), his uncle (Justice), and a few extra friends / buddies. Heck, we plan to make a day of it... its going to be something to remember... Wish you were here? Kick-off at 15:00 (GMT + 02:00).

Mandela Day

For those of you that still doesn't know - Tomorrow - Wednesday, 18 July 2012 is official MANDELA DAY! This year — Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday — the UN is joining a call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to devote 67 minutes of time to helping others, as a way to mark Nelson Mandela International Day. For 67 years Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity — as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.

The overarching objective of Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so build a global movement for good. Ultimately it seeks to empower communities everywhere. “Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day.”

Individuals and organisations are free to participate in Mandela Day as they wish. We do however urge everyone to adhere to the ethical framework of “service to one’s fellow human”.

This year, people are urged to Sing A Song for Madiba - starting at 08:05am.

Its expected an estimated 12 million school pupils will be participating in this.

Monday Blues

The weekend came and gone. And not even Friday the 13th caused us much harm - I hope! And today we were confronted with the other scare: BLUE MONDAY. Who actually started that? Why do we consider certain days unlucky, others blue? Is there perhaps a lucky day? What shall it be? Wednesday? LOL! Who knows? Did everyone cast their vote when the names for days came out?

All I know is that even if I plan for something - things turn out differently - most of the time for the better! And before you know it - WHAM - routine creeps in and hits you squarely in the face. Have you been introduced to ROUTINE? Normally it comes with kids. Once you set your goals for the children, it just makes the world of sense you conform to the norm... such is nature. Its in our being. And before you know it - you're spending most of your time watching the Disney Junior Channel, and there's no escape! HELP!


Today also signalled the first day back to school for yet another semester for the children. And let me tell you - I felt it on the roads... travelling to work took an extra 15minutes today. And I drove my normal route on the FREEWAY, which cost me more time, stop-go, stop-go.


But before we go insane or act out on our mind-road rage... Let's say THANKS to the Monday - stuck in traffic cause I'm on my way to try and earn a salary (note: NOT money - a salary). Let's try for this week to look at the positive side of things.... who knows - we might just get to like it!

Jordan's Birthday looming

We do like spoiling our kids, don't we? And there's nothing wrong with that - nothing at all... Well, as Jordan's 2nd birthday is next in the family line (only due in October 2012) - we've started thinking of ideas on the theme, the invite, the arrangements, venue... Planning never hurt anyone, has it?

So this is the idea with an Invite (and general theme)...a Hello Kitty Invitation

We do like it... Don't you?

Courtesy of: http://www.handmadebyodette.com

Today is Friday 13th

So today is the 13th day in July 2012 and it just so happens to be a Friday!

What makes it so special? I wonder?

Can a number, or day, or combination thereof

really make a difference in our lives?

ARE WE REALLY THAT SUPERSTITIOUS?

Let's all just have a great day and weekend, right?

Have a look at what the WIKI says:

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition. One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year ofThomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
• Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and theKnights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.

BY THE WAY: The fear of Friday the 13th has been called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen).

Jodie accepted for First Grade (2013)

Hey all! Just wanted to let you know that our daughter

- Jodie Leigh -

has been accepted for the First Grade in 2013.

We're SO proud of her! And she's SO excited!!!

My kids

So here they are, the reason I'm glad to be parent....

JoJo - Jodie & Jordan - on a friends swing

JoJo - Jodie & Jordan - enjoying a slide

JoJo - Jordan - Dada loves you!

Jojo - Jodie - enjoying the "horsies" in the Mall

Boeta Revano 'n Sister Jordan poking fun in a shop

What do you blog?

So now I've started this thing... and the question is...

WHAT WILL I BLOG?

A bit weird and in reverse I know... But lets think about it?

Should I focus on a specific topic? Is that really who I am?

Do I want to be boxed in like that? I don't think so....

So perhaps I will just talk about ANYTHING! And EVERYTHING!

Being a father, mother, parent, kids, growing up, issues, stresses, exercise,

or lack thereof (LOL), interestests, gadgets, DIY, templates, shopping,

online shopping, rides, cars, computers, gaming, hook-ups...

There's a lot of possibilities out there! So let's explore! SHALL WE?

First time...

Do you remember the first time?

So this is mine / ours... After spending so much time on the internet... browsing, searching, buying... its finally time to start putting things up... So this will be remembered as the day that started it all... This one goes out to René, Revano, Jodie & Jordan (JoJo). LOL!