Thursday, September 25, 2008

A wife once again...and the new South African President

My husband came home in the wee hours of this morning from Cape Town...after driving 14 hours to get to Jo'burg and sleep in his own bed. And it did not do my nerves well to think that he and Marco were driving whilst actually being dog-tired due to continuous road-works along the way! So I am happy to report that I once again have a husband in the house, and that he is much more awake after taking the day off work!

His mother has not been doing very well, and Thinus said that she complained of severe pain (headache I assume) yesterday. I could actually HEAR her crying yesterday morning when I was speaking to Thinus over the phone, and he was 2 rooms away from where she was. So please continue praying for her, and that her pain will stabilize. Only God knows what lies ahead for her and Thinus' family, and I find my strength in the fact that He never takes us through situations / experiences which we can't handle.

As for our new president...uhm...jah. BEFORE today I've NEVER heard of this guy in my LIFE! And it's not as if South Africa is a very big country... His name is Kgalema Motlanthe and if you wanna know more about this dude, feel free to click on his name and you will be directed to an article published in the UK Guardian today. Besides for him being chosen for the President, I also have NO IDEA who this new deputy-president of ours is... a certain Mr. Baleka Mbete. So please read the article attached to the link by clicking on his name.

And then...for all the political turmoil that follows the resignation of our previous president, Thabo Mbeki on Sunday afternoon (21 September 2008). I think about 11 of our ministers and about 3 deputy-ministers have resigned from the cabinet since Thabo Mbeki put forth his resignation. I've stopped trying to keep track of who's resigned, who came back on board (for example Minister Trevor Manuel - Minister of Finance) and who has moved elsewhere (e.g. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang - Minister of Health...right NOW I don't know WHAT she is, but she is part of the presidency). So I've lost track of what is happening in my country...and it terrifies me. But I do believe that God is watching over us, and that He is ultimately in control, even with the human free-wil given to us.

So I will try keep you updated regarding the happenings in South Africa. However the changes come about so quickly that it is hard to keep track. Hope this week is blessed for everyone else, and that the weekend is relaxing!

Ciao!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hubby's short-term farewell...

It is now almost 05H30 in the morning...and I've been up since about 04H15! The reason for such unreasonable times to be awake? Uhm...my husband has a business meeting in Cape Town today, and his plane leaves at 06H30. This means that he was picked up at 5 o'clock to go to the airport, by his friend (Marco) and the friend's mother.

The cool thing about him flying to the Cape, is that he will get to spend the evening with his mother, father and brother. And if I have my way, with his best friend as well! (I'm gonna call his best friend's wife at 06H30 to tell her Thinus is at his parent's home for ONE NIGHT ONLY... I know that he will really love to see Ettienne (the best friend)!) Another awesome thing is that only his dad knows that he is coming, and he had to keep it a secret since SUNDAY AFTERNOON! I think Thinus' mother is gonna be thrilled beyond words to see her son!

Thinus and Marco will be driving back from Cape Town (a cool 1,500 km OR 932 miles) to bring Marco's company car back to Jo'burg. So Thinus decided that they will probably stop over at my 2nd brother's house in Bloemfontein [Bloemfontein to Jo'burg is about 420 km / +- 261 miles] (I'm including the picture of the South Africa Map, so you can fathom these distances!). Then they get to see my very cute niece (the one that I took pictures of in my wedding dress?!?) So I'm either seeing my lovely husband tomorrow night or Thursday morning. But it's worth the wait, and he gets to see his mother!


So I'm all lonely now..but NOT FOR LONG! I get to spend this evening and the WHOLE of tomorrow (which is a Public Holiday ~ Heritage Day) with my family on the other side of Jo'burg! I'm really happy about it, coz I have not seen my brother (my oldest brother) in about 4 weeks, and it's been a week since I've last seen my sister-in-law and the niece & nephews. So I'm sure it's gonna be a blast. Only thing is, my brother and his family are Jewish, and I've not stayed over at their house since they made this transformation a few years ago (They were living in the Eastern Cape, and I was studying in Jo'burg..so I didn't get to see them that often). But I'm sure that we will be able to get past that fact.

Ah well, I better go and pack my overnight-bag now. I will go to my brother's house straight from work...YIPPEE!!!!

PS: Thinus' mother's pain is quickly spreading, especially being really bad in the fontanelle region of her skull. This is because the cancer has spread to the frontal skull bones. So please pray for her, just for some relief from the pain. The medication does not always take away all the pain, and then all we can do is pray.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I have direction!!!

I have been threatening for a while now to apply for a Postgraduate Diploma in Hand Therapy at the University of Pretoria (PTA, South Africa). And this afternoon I FINALLY did it!

I've paid for my application, I've signed the contract, and now I'm just waiting for my new student number so that I can fax through the signed contract to the university. I cannot tell you how psyched I am!

Last year I realised how much fun Hand Therapy really is (when I was supervised by two EXCELLENT Occupational Therapy Hand Therapists at Johannesburg General Hospital). Since then I've known that I really want to study further in this direction. But up to now I have not gotten around to it.

That was until I was asked at my interview on Monday if I have applied for the postgrad diploma yet..and I had to answer "No". That really made me think I better do it fast! So this afternoon (I'm home because I'm still recovering from illness) I actually gathered up all my nerves and called the PTA University to get all the necessary info and how to go about applying for this diploma. And I just LOVE internet, 'coz I did it all via internet without any difficulty (I must say that they have an excellently designed application website!).

Now I know what I will be doing next year, besides for working for the Government's Gauteng Province Health Department. (I am not allowed to study this year, because I'm doing my Community Service Year and that's basically like your internship...or something ~ but you do get paid!)

So yah, just thought I'd share this exciting bit of news with you all! I better get back to bed now...my body is yearning for some rest :o)

Ciao!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The inevitable

There was always one thing in life that I had wished, as a grown-up, to avoid...to never face, to NEVER have to participate in. And that was: The first job interview".

Yip, you heard me! I had to go for my first ever job interview...it was inevitable~ It just had to happen...and I think it went alright. That was until I started replaying the interview in my head --> over and over and over again! Not clever, cause then you start picking up on all your mistakes. And believe me, when you are interviewing for the post of an Occupational Therapist, there ARE mistakes you can make. What mistakes, you may ask?

Things like, applying the wrong patient right to a given scenario; or getting the type of treatment given to a Guillian-Barrè patient in an acute setting right the first time! EISH! Oh yah, and how would you correctly supervise an Occupational Therapy Assistant within the hospital setting...uhm...gave them my answer. I'm wondering if my answer was in line with what they were thinking?...

Anycase, so I went for the interview, both the longest and the shortest 10 minutes of my life! I can't believe that they can actually decide your fate based on 10 minutes spent with me, but okay. And this interview happened with me being ill.

I've been ill since last week Wednesday, having dizzy-spells, sometimes having some nausea, and feeling like my blood-sugar levels were dropping every half 'n hour or so. Plus I had this constant, but not too high fever that would not go away even after taking Paracetamol to fix the problem. But by late afternoon yesterday, it ALL became clear to me. I had developed a bladder-infection (which explains every last symptom!), and it was NOT pleasant!

This morning I called my doctor (one of my sisters-in-law) to ask if I should still not eat/drink anything to take a fasting blood-sugar level test, or if I could PLEASE drink some water and a Urispas tablet since I had now solved the puzzle. She then said that's fine, and that I should just come in for a prescription and a note off work.

The worst is, this morning I woke up (unbeknown to me)at HALF PAST THREE!!!! This is because a bladder infection brings on this beautiful urgency to want to urinate every 2 seconds...3 drops at a time! It was aweful, and because I was still actually asleep I cried a great deal and kept my husband up with me. Now I know why I married this guy! He came and sat with me in the bathroom...to comfort me and just be with me. Then he switched on the TV for company when he had to go back to bed to get just a little bit of rest in until he had to get up for work. He even drove to work, and then I just drove to my (other) sister-in-law (where I spent the day). He was awesome! I love this guy to bits!

Anyhow...a little bit of last-minute info. Thinus (my husband)bought a Sinotec 32" LCD TV yesterday, after having to go without TV for the past 2 or 3 months (I begged him to get rid of our previous TV, which was about 20 years old and giving us more trouble than joy)! And the best is, he bought it for R4899 at Game Stores, as he was able to PRICE BEAT the original price of R5999 with R1000 at Makro (who sold the TV for R4999). The cool thing is, on Saturday he renewed his contract with Vodacom, and got a nice old R2600 voucher with his new contract. Then he Price-Beat Game Store's price, and then he only had to pay in R2300 to buy the beautiful TV! He is the happiest man alive, and now can play X-Box and watch all the UEFA Soccer Games in STYLE! I'll put up some pictures when I'm a bit more rested.

For now I'm going to say ciao. Still have one call to make, and then it is sleepy time!