Long Time No See!!!

It's been a while since I last blogged, although I've really wanted to blog in the last week. I collected photos to put on my next blog entry, and stories to tell....and then I never got to the blogging part!

Thinus and I, together with our neighbour, went for our first swim of the summer on Tuesday, 14 October, and BOY was that fun?!?! We did laps and water aerobics (my tummy muscles ache just at the thought of the water aerobics) and cooled down a LOT! We even took some photos afterwards to commemorate this big event in our lives...how exciting! As for the rest of my exercise, I even went to play squash for the first time in 3 months on Wednesday, 15 October. So I am rather proud of my physical activity these last few days, as I usually am a lazy girl. The thing is, I'm one of those lucky people who only have to exercise twice to see results, like in several pounds (not so many kilograms) - that makes me lazy coz I know that I don't need to exercise often to get results. Not a good way to live a healthy lifestyle!

Regarding my job hunt - I applied for no less than FIFTEEN jobs between Wednesday and Thursday of last week. God has been SO awesome, really changing me from the inside and my attitude towards other sectors of public service, such as the education sector. I have a love for children with learning difficulties, but I have some difficulty enjoying working with children with Cerebral Palsy, as my experience with most of these children are that they are not disciplined and lack respect for me as the therapist (I've been slapped and kicked more times than you can imagine). Even if your child is disabled, they need discipline and routine, and if they don't have this they wreak havoc, just like any other typical child would do without these basics. But children with learnding difficulties, I GET them. I was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age, and the early diagnosis spared me a lifetime of hardship (like my dad had to experience until being diagnosed at age 49?). I knew how to structure my own environment to avoid external stimulation and consequent distraction. Thus I can truly empathise with children that have learning difficulties, as I also have one. So the point of this whole rambling on?

I am now really looking forward to the idea of being a therapist in a school setting, as it will challenge me as a person and as a therapist. The fact that there are added benefits (increase in basic salary, more holidays/leave and less hours per day) also helped to change my mind! I will have more time for Thinus and myself, and my studies...maybe even a little pink foot? But the point is, God really miraculously provided in Thinus and my needs. It turns out that our Gauteng Department of Health are freezing all permanent posts (so if you are not a permanent yet, good luck trying to become permanent if you were on a contract for your community service year) due to over-spending by some major hospitals! I found out about the job vacancies in Dept of Education a cool 7 days before the closing date for application! And here I was applying for Department of Education as well as 3 posts in Dept of Health, not knowing that Dept of Health would not be able to offer me a job! So God really intervened in this matter, knowing that a job at a school would aid Thinus and me tremendously! Praise GOD!

Finally, regarding my mother-in-law...I'm afraid that she's had another serious set-back. She fell on Sunday night, and by yesterday (Monday) her right leg was VERY swollen and she experienced tremendous pain! She was taken to the hospital by ambulance (the driver was SO nice and only drove like 15km/h to prevent her from feeling too much pain and went EXTRA-slow over bumps!) and was immediately admitted. It turns out that she has broken her right femur just underneath the hip joint (that's the area where she has bone-cancer in her hip-girdle), and they had to do surgery to fix the problem. Thus they did an ORIF surgery (i.e. Open Reduction and Internal Fixation) to align the bones and secure the hip as well as the femur bone. Thinus spoke to his father last night, and it sounds as if they had to do a hip replacement, due to her bones being so brittle from the cancer. The doctor says that he cannot guarantee her mobility but that they are aiming towards as much comfort as possible for my mother-in-law. She was admitted to intensive care unit to get through the night, and we will find out this morning how she is feeling. Please pray for my mother-in-law and that her pain will be managed better. Also for Thinus' maternal family, especially his grandmother who is really being hit hard by the foresight that her child might not make it through this. Thinus and I spoke about it, and it is easier to accept to lose a mother (as it is inevitable) than to lose your child (that's just not normal). We are trying to be strong for the family, but we also cry with each other when it all just gets too much. We just wish his mother to be pain-free, as that would really improve her quality of life!

Anywhooo, I'm gonna have to go now so that I can still eat breakfast, bath and get dressed for work before it's too late! I will add some photos when I get a chance to!