Sunday, October 25, 2009

Such a long road to go...not really!

My husband has been on my case for the past few weeks now as to why I haven't recently blogged. I must say, life just kinda SWALLOWED me!

Shortly after my last blog, I had to get 4 assignments done for my Hand Therapy Diploma, and then fortunately, it was SCHOOL HOLIDAYS! For 10 glorious days I was allowed to just rest, do some serious sewing, go and watch an international cricket game with Thinus (he's NEVER been to a stadium to watch even a local cricket game - it ws the ICC Champions Trophy, New-Zea land VS South Africa ), and spending time with the nephews and nieces. What a stunning time.

Then it was back to school on Monday, 5 October, with my birthday following on Tuesday, 6 October. It was a very quiet birthday spent with family, baking cake and cupcakes. My mother and Thinus spoiled me so much, both buying me new sterling silver rings - I just love it! I also got money to spend, and bought a few picture frames, TEVO Vacbags (to vacuum pack-store clothing, toys and linen in) and CD's! Truly nice! Not to mention, I got to see my friends on Saturday, 10 October for a small get together with lots of cake and cooldrink - and Guitar Hero on XBox (Thinus bought 2 Gibson Les Paul Guitars for the price of 1, and then a week later got one of the Guitar Hero Games 2nd hand). My friends all loved Guitar Hero, but I truly suck at it! It was so encouraging though to see all my beloved friends, so sad for those who could not make it...

The past 2 weeks at school was spent in discussions and assessing children - it's really been hectic! We also had our annual prize giving ceremony, but in our school's case it's actually FOUR prize givings, since we have children aged 3 - 18 (preschool to final year high school). Truly hectic, but very awesome! And this coming week we're starting with the Gr.12 final exams - CRAZY!!!!

I also am studying since my final exams for my diploma is in 2 weeks time, which is just TOTALLY hectic, but I will survive :-) Especially since I was the one who paid for this diploma - it really motivates me to not fail anything. Just read the cartoon below to understand how I feel about studying right now - even though I'm paying for my diploma.

Then it's back to school for about 2 weeks, and then Summer Holidays!!!!! Can you gather that I'm excited? I can't WAIT for more holidays, even though I recently returned from school holidays.

So, that's me, and with photo's that will hopefully follow soon!

God Bless!!!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

My life this week...

Today's my oldest brother, Otto's, 40th birthday! I'm so excited about this, since it means at least one of my brothers can now be considered - oh, wait for it - OLD! I'm just joking! It's just amazing to think that my brother has been around for so long (I never do consider that my parents are much older than that, it's like my parents don't have an age). Compared to my young 23 years, 40 years seems somewhat older. But anyway - here's to a blessed 40th birthday Otto! Love you lots!


As for the rest of my life, I'm still trying to recover from my hectic Hand Therapy assignment that I handed in this past Sunday. It's like I'm now just want to chill...yet there is SO MUCH TO DO! I'm writing Anatomy exam in 3 weeks! (Not really all that prepared yet...kinda scary.) And before my 4th Study block, I still have to finish 4 assignments. Crazy stuff!

Some more great news is that one of my best friends got engaged on Tuesday. She says it was a romantic dinner with a beautiful mountain view. Her fiancé went down on his knees and presented her with the most amazing / stunning diamond ring! I'm so happy for her - the last time I got this excited, and felt the kind of emotion I experienced when she gave me the good news, was about 2 seconds after I got engaged myself 3 years ago! Yippee for her engagement!

Yesterday we went to Pretoria University to take one of our school children for an AAC assessment (Augmentive and Alternative Communication assessment). In the process I also picked up my application forms to study my Masters Degree in AAC next year. Yet, today I'm not really sure how I will cope with another 2 years of studying! But I'll push ahead, as it is a very interesting field of study and could assist me greatly in becoming a better OT within the Special Needs Education realm.

Tonight I'm trying to just relax, read a book, pack my bags (we're going to Potch tomorrow afternoon) and get into bed early. Hope everyone had a lovely week!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Feeling yuck...

I think I've finally come down with flu - after avoiding it for most of the winter!

It all started on Thursday, when I developed a post-nasal drip (leaving me with severe nausea), then on Friday it was a sore throat, and on Saturday came the inevitable - a sore back. I always get terrible backache when I've got the flu. On Sunday came the creepy feeling over my skin, and today came the chills!

So I've been self-medicating on Corenza C, acc200, Barocca effervescent tables, with SinuTabs taken to alleviate the blocked sinuses. I'm not a happy person when I'm sick - I completely loose my appetite, and poor Thinus has to figure out what to feed me. Shame! So bread buns with Bovril and cheese, melted in the microwave, will have to do right now.

The worst is that today when I had to take my niece to ballet, traveling the road I ALWAYS travel on a Monday since the beginning of the year, I could NOT REMEMBER how to get to her ballet class! That was rather a big fright! So Zoé (my niece) told me matter-of-factly that I better not be driving around for the rest of the day. I just sat in the car waiting for her, catching up on my Hand Therapy Projects, and then drove back to her house after Ballet. Then I told my brother he better take Zoé to gymnastics, cause I'm gonna sleep off this stupid flu.

I feel slightly better now, just had my doze of effervescents again, and will now go and watch Survivor. Hope I feel better tomorrow :-\

So that's me, feeling frustrated by this stupid, unwelcome illness.

Hope everyone else is in much better health!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Why I love being an OT...

This picture depicts what I am striving towards - and may I never get there, otherwise I can't learn more! But it is a good standard to uphold and strive towards :o) I saw this picture and thought, "Now I can explain my love for OT to the world".

Last week whilst I was working with my Gr.2's & 3's (we did a gross motor obstacle course and used a thing called a parachute, made of sail material, to bounce a ball around on!), I realised that I love working with kids. Why, you may ask? Because I have ADHD, and usually I have to contain myself (except when I'm with my family and my OT-colleagues who truly get me, and could not be bothered by my hyperactivity or inattention at times), playing on a gross motor equipment is the most amazing and fun thing EVER!!!! Thus having the opportunity to release my energy, is truly liberating. I love playing with children, and they have such insight at times. And then some children come up with such quirky things!
One of my 6-year patients recently had Botox injections to ease her spasticity in her (CP) hemiplegic side. It has been amazing to see the improvement, now that one muscle group doesn't completely override the other - but even better is that she is using her affected hand much more in activities! Thus she is also building up muscle strength in the affected muscle groups, allowing better motor control and smooth movement. She told me that her mother will tell her - "hold the cup in your weak hand", and she CAN! Then she continued with something along the line of "that lovely Mother of mine, God bless her beautiful heart!" AMEN to that!

As for working with paediatric & adult clients (in the Hand Therapy field) also holds its own rewards. Such as that older patients often can provide one with great wisdom, and even uplift your spirit when you're feeling down. They've had experience in life, and they are very willing to share their life lessons with you, if only you'd allow them. So I'm learning to listen more than I talk with my Hand Therapy clients - a very difficult thing for me as a person! But there is a reason why God gave us 2 ears and one mouth - it should indicate the ratio of listening to talking quite clearly to us!

So overall I just wanted to let everyone know that I LOVE being an OT. God teaches me new things everyday with the patients / clients I encounter. He teaches patience, wisdom, thanks-giving, joy, peace, compassion, and on the odd occasion He teaches me how to grieve with a patient. He is the reason I am an OT, and I hope that I never will forget that! Thus I have to strive to become the best OT that God intended me to be - that is my purpose in life!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Monday, July 13, 2009

A week's worth of work and laughs!

This past week has been such a fun week. My father-in-law is here from Cape Town for 10 days...and BOY are we having fun! So I thought I would share it with everyone... plus photos on what my beautiful St Joseph Lily buds...how beautifully they've bloomed!

The men hard at work is because my father-in-law decided that we needed some shelves for our kitchen, and I refused to settle for chipboard / laminated wood... I wanted the REAL stuff. It resulted in us buying an old bookcase that were painted with PVA or something, and had to be paint stripped. It was HARD work on all of us, but especially on behalf of my husband and his dad.


And here are also some photos taken on our wedding anniversary when both my parents and myself were cracking ourselves up...over NOTHING! (We were all tired...and then later on I realised that my parents could hold a straight face, whilst I couldn't!)


And this shot I just HAD to put in: Where in the world do you find a BMW 3 Series being guarded by a plastic roaring lion? ONLY IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

2nd Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, the 7th day of the 7th month, Thinus and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary :o) (We got married on 07/07/'07) What a nice day!

We had Thinus' dad here (all the way from Cape Town - 1500 km away - thx Pa Manie!), as well as my parents that came to visit us last night after work (They drove 130 km to come for supper - I really love them so much). It really was a special day, and Thinus even took me out for lunch...

The lunch was a nice way to spend the day, as it is the first time in our entire 8 1/2 years of being in a relationship that Thinus made a table reservation at a restaurant for us. We went to the Harvard Café at the Rand Airport and had some delicious food... I had Fettucini Alfredo, and Thinus had a hamburger (he just loves hamburgers!). The food and the conversation was really good!

Then, to really make this day special, Thinus took me to the flower market to buy a bunch of flowers to celebrate the day. Now, for those of you who do not know, Thinus is highly allergic to pollen, and gets terrible hay fever / asthma attacks when he's even just in close proximity to flowers... so this was EXTRA special! He bought me a bunch of pink St. Joseph Lilies which still have to open, with about 3 -4 buds per stem... VERY BEAUTIFUL!

When my parents came for supper, it was really nice to have all the parents here...but we all were sad that Thinus' mom wasn't here to celebrate the day with us. She passed away in November 2008, and I can still remember how happy she was to have made it to our wedding 2 years ago. (She was diagnosed with lung cancer about 2 months before our wedding). But we did enjoy each other's company!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Cleaning this house...

I'm officially on holiday since Monday, and I had the BEST of intentions to clean my house and sort out my cupboards, etc. Yet, I'm just making more of a mess than actually cleaning.

I'm SO frustrated by our lack of FUNCTIONAL furniture which would allow me more storage space. I suddenly have to make way for all kinds of things, and have to find spots for my husband's XBox games, XBox steering wheel and his hi-fi. This all in an attempt to create a corner for our fax machine and telephone. I just wanna go on holiday where I don't have to face my house!!!!

Anyway, this is all in an attempt to create the illusion that Thinus and I actual have an organised house where we can find ANYTHING at the click of a finger! But, alas, I don't know if that was destined for us!

Let me get away from this computer with its facebook, email and interesting websites.

I better go figure out what I'm gonna do with all the games that are lying sprawled over our lounge-floor. Oh, and did I mention that there are like TEN MILLION CABLES (of various types and function I presume!) of my husband, which I don't know what to do with? And then all the toys in the toy-corner has to be sorted for the nieces and nephews... and then... and then... then the two bedrooms.

Bye nice internet, hello cruel world!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Information overload and GOD IS GREAT!!!

I'm yet again in Pretoria for another week of lectures, and it being only the first day I am SOOOOOOOOO tired! This has been a day with WAY too much info being pushed into my brain. I cannot really handle the amount of work I have to process before going back to class tomorrow.

We had a class on pressure garments as well as scar management. This was followed by low tech activities one could use in a Hand therapy practice, followed by an afternoon of learning about upper limb massage and joint mobilization. EISH! I am beyond tired.

I only went to bed at 01H00 this morning, after having to finish 34 OT Reports that was due today. I emailed it, got into bed, and slept like a baby until 06H20, when I had to wake up to get ready for class. But that is not all of my adventures...

Yesterday afternoon I was doing the laundry in a twin-tub washing machine, and only half-way through did I take off my wedding ring. My wedding ring is a very small ring with three 4mm pearls on it. The ring is not supposed to be submerged into water, cause it's apparently bad for the pearls, and they can also come loose.

Anyhow, last night I came to Pretoria, and once again moved in with my aunt and uncle for the week. After getting everything out of my car, I was just brushing over my wedding ring with my finger (see two pictures below), when I suddenly realized one of the pearls (the one right at the back on the straight band) was missing. But the best is, I did not cry or even want to cry! I realized that this has happened before (3 times before), and EVERY time we found the pearls in truly miraculous ways. The first time I found my 4mm pearl in the middle of a huge ball-pool! God is AMAZING!

So I called Thinus and said that now is a good time to get me a diamond ring which I can submerge in water and don't have to remember to take off for every encounter with water. He's not convinced though ;-P But I prayed to God at 01H00 this morning (I did look for the pearl, but it was dark and I could not find it outside on the grass or in my car). I asked God to show me where my pearl is, and to find it, IF it is His will ( I know this sounds weird). I told Him that I am rather sentimental of this ring and the pearls, as it reflects a time when this was all we could afford (it was my mother's ring which my dad gave to her on their 25th wedding anniversary, and Thinus only replaced the pearls for our wedding, he could NOT afford a wedding ring), and it is precious to me. This was my heart's wish, just to find this pearl and restore the ring.

This morning when I got up, I decided to look everywhere (again ) I was last night (i.e. under the bed, the grass, the lounge, the kitchen, the hallway...) I also asked my aunt's domestic worker to help me look for the pearl. I went to check the grass again, then my car. And there I found it on the car-floor at the back... just lying there to be found! GOD IS GREAT!!!! To say the least, the pearl is now safely put away, together with the ring, in my luggage bag.

Last year I also asked Thinus for a diamond ring (an eternity ring) to go with my pearl ring, and only when he saw the two combined did he agree. So although I can't wear my wedding ring right now, at least I have the small diamond band to wear (we're talking like 3 mm wide). See the picture on the left (that's exactly what it looks like).

But I miss my pearl ring...I really do. We'll see what we can do about the ring situation, though.

Anyhow, I just wanted to testify that God really looks after us ALL the way, and knows even our smallest heart desire. I don't believe that this is petty, nor that He sees it in such a way. So we can pray to God about things like this...I really was once again proven that He can provide in miraculous ways!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Back to normal...ALMOST

It has now been more than a month since I last blogged and I must say I've really been SO busy!!! But it's bound to be a bit more quiet around the house until my next study block.

First I had to complete my 3D Finger Model for my Hand Therapy Diploma (2nd study block), then also had to help out with our school's musical production to celebrate 40 years of existence.... And not to mention preparing for my 2nd Study Block in Pretoria for my Diploma. It was all just SOOOOOO hectic!

I got 67% for my 3D finger model, and 75% & 70% for my Physiology Assignment that was due before the 2nd Study Block. I'm so pleased with the end-product, and thanking EVERYONE that assisted and consulted me regarding the finger model. I now understand what David meant when he wrote in Psalms 139:13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am ferafully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God really WOVE us together, do you know the intricate detail that is in-place for just a SINGLE FINGER?!?!? I cannot begin to describe to you how difficult it is to make a FUNCTIONAL and ANATOMICALLY CORRECT 3D finger model... God is the Creator, He is the Master Engineer...the most amazing Biomechanical Architect! When I deviated even slightly from God's design, my finger model did not work! And when I then fixed the problem by following God's design...VOILA! A working finger model! I really appreciated that Master Craftmanship behind our anatomy, and how intricate the design is to compliment good biomechanical function.

During the 2nd study block-week I had to work with a group to do a presentation on sensibility (your ability to interpret shapes and textures, thus what your are feeling and relating it to what that actual object is). It was SUCH a mission, and in-between we had to study for a test on Friday (8 May), which I got 78% for, although it did not count, it was only to check our progress. I learned a LOT, and was SO tired by the end of that week (4-8 May).

On Friday, 8 May it was also our school's musical production's last concert. I took one of my brothers and his family, my mom & dad, my paternal aunt, Thinus and 3 of our good friends to go see the show. From the first song I was in TEARS!!! These kids at our school struggle with motor planning, auditory perception and copying movements - BUT they out-shone themselves and their disabilities on Friday night! I cried SO much, cause these kids really had to work hard to give this AMAZING concert! The parents & other audience members were proud for different reasons than the therapists... we were AMAZED that these kids could learn how to co-ordinate movements when they're lacking the auditory perception to TIME the movements. But their timing was mostly SPOT-ON!!! Sorry for all the exclamation marks, but I'm just in awe of these kids...I'm so proud to have been part of the process to produce this production along with all the other staff-members. :o) I just love being an OT at a school!!!

For the rest, I've been trying to get back into a normal routine following South Africa's most UNPRODUCTIVE month in the year, namely April. During the month of April we only have 17 working days, as there are so many public holidays - I mean, TWO long-weekends within 3 days of each other? It's hectic! So now I'm getting into routine, sorta...because this coming week our school is hosting the South African CP Conference 2009 from Monday - Wednesday.. EISH. So 3 LOOOOOOOOOOONG days are to follow for me.

Thinus and I returned from a camping trip just over 2 hours ago, which was so much fun! We had to go baby-sit my brother's and friends of ours' children. 6 Children all together...ranging in ages from 3-10 years... the THREE year old gave us ALL our days! He even went missing when Thinus & I tried to fix ourselves breakfast. We finally found him, but I was very upset by that time. And that's how our day started..... It was a long day, but after yesterday I decided I've had my share of kiddies for a while. This keeps my broodiness in check! This was Thinus' 2nd camping trip in 3 weeks, and I believe his 3rd camping trip in his ENTIRE life! But he enjoyed it tremendously...it was just great! (Apart from the fact that I'm busy treating an annoying flu ;-)

So, that's my life in the past 6 weeks, in an egg-shell, cause I've outrun a nutshell's space. I will be posting photos SHORTLY. First I have to now go clean my house.

PS: GREAT NEWS! My baby-brother (read: age 25) is now engaged!!!!! After a short courtship of 4 months, and a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG friendship of 6 years, he and one of our very good and close friends (also aged 25) finally figured out what our entire family has known for the past 6 years --> They belong together as husband and wife! They're getting married next year April, when they have finished their studies and when her favourite flower (the KOSMOS) blooms. We can't wait, and are VERY excited that the entire Kahl-clang will soon be married. SO great!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Cape Town Holiday...and Hand Therapy Project

It's been FOREVER since I last blogged, but with good reason.

Thinus and I got very busy with school and work, and then illness struck...and it struck HARD! This was after Thinus was surprised with a mountain bicycle from my brother Gielie and his wife, Brenda. Thinus was over the moon, straight into seventh heaven and onto cloud nine when he got the bicycle! We fixed my bicycle, bought some safety gear (helmet for him, reflective cycling shirt for me) and went cycling at 19H00 one night...and that was stupid!
That evening we both became ill, and by the next morning (Wednesday, 18 March), our throats were killing us. Thinus was actually so ill that he had to take two half days (Wednesday, Thursday 20 March). On Friday we had had enough and went to see the doctor, who booked us off. I went back to school the following Monday but still had a fever until the Wednesday (25 March)! Thinus was very ill...and still remains ill. The doctor figured out that Thinus has a super-allergy because of our irregular seasonal changes. He's now on a series of nose sprays to alleviate the allergy, but it's much better now!
Meanwhile we had Gielie and Brenda's children (Ivan, Zoe & Joel) visiting us on 28, 29, 30 March as well as on 1 & 2 April. They slept over and it was SUCH fun. We went to Potchefstroom to visit my parents, and then I took them synthetic Ice-skating on Monday...which had dire consequences. Joel refused to skate and just took pictures of his older siblings. Ivan and Zoe was coming on nicely, and I told them to hold hands so that they could move more flowingly... BIG mistake! At first it worked very well, but then Ivan sorta almost fell, and Zoe did INDEED fall.... and in that moment Ivan actually (very much by accident) skated OVER Zoe's hand...uhm...there was lots of blood!
We drove to the doctor SO fast after tighgly bandaging Zoe's hand, with my niece really screaming very loudly, and I just put on the car's hazard lights and drove as fast and safely as I could. We got to the doctor whilst she was in consultation with Thinus, as he had to go and see her about his continuous illness. She then called in Zoe (after checking with Thinus that she could quickly see Zoe first), and I just stood there with Zoe in my arms, crying almost just as much as Zoe. I felt SO bad that this happened under my care of the kids! But when Brenda came (Zoe's mom), she sat between Zoe and myself and gave us each a tight hug, whilst the doctor saw to Zoe. 5 stitches and some sedatives later, Zoe was a happier and sleepier little girl.

After the doctor, we took Zoe to her first ever clothing shopping trip (the way women do it...trying out a gazillion outfits and only buying a few), as it is my birthday gift to her (we're in Cape Town whilst Zoe's turning 9 in Jo'burg). It was a lot of fun, and after that Ivan and Zoe decided they will return to the Ice Rink, as they had all-day passes. Joel said he will most definitely NOT skate, since Zoe ended up with five stitches! But they had such a jol!

We came to Cape Town on Friday (3 April) together with my brother Heinrich and a friend of us, Carlien. It's been such a wonderful time. Yesterday it would have been Thinus' mom's 54th birthday, so we (Father-in-law, Thinus, myself & Thinus' brother) took off at 06H20 AM and drove to Langebaan to scatter some of her ashes at her most favoured beach / place in the whole world. That gave us all closure, and it was a beautiful day spent with just us.

My mother's best friend's granddaughter (12 years) was also diagnosed with Brain Cancer last week, and our family immediately started praying. It is rather aggressive, and went inbetween her brain's lobes, into her skull and behind one of her eyes. The doctor will be operating on Thursday to do a biopsy and remove some of the tumour from behind her eye to relieve pressure. But we will only know the full outcome then. We went to visit Winé in hospital yesterday, and she was so quiet, not really like the bouncy and energetic kid that I remember from a year ago. Ivan, Zoe and Joel even made her cards to tell her that she should not be afraid, they are praying with her and for her. HOW AWESOME?!?!? We took her a teddy from the entire family, as Linda (my oldest sister-in-law) said that you can't be in hospital without a nice teddy to hug.
PLEASE pray for Winé and her parents and family! They all need the prayers, and we believe in THE Miracle Maker! God can heal, in which ever way He chooses to, and we can only pray!
On a lighter note. I've got this Hand Therapy project that is due very soon...and I have to make a model of a human finger minus the flesh and arteries, nerves and veins. So it's basically gonna be one finger's phalanges (proximal, middle and distal) with its cruciate ligaments, volar plates and attached tendons. It has to be fully functional as well as anatomically correct. I went on search for a skeleton whose phalanges I could impress into potter's clay (mould) and the make a replica of these phalanges. My dad was awesome in helping, as well as my father-in-law! I met up with quite a few people today, including a medical doctor, Dr. Wim de Klerk from Medis (CPT), as well as Paul Hepburn and Attie Bester (Orthotists and Prosthetists) and one of their assistants, Steven Davidson. WOW!!!! Theses guys were all SO awesome in helping me to make a replica of the finger's phalanges. I owe them BIG time! Thinus and I decided we might just leave OT and IT and become orthotists, it seems highly stimulating and satisfying!

So here follows a few photo's of our past week's adventures:
Zoe and Ivan trying to master the guitar.




Thinus&I @ Langebaan to celebrate his mom's life, and to scatter some of her ashes.
Thinus & Heinrich catching a sleep...
Carlien & I @ yet another road-works stop.

Mr. Bones & I, with his finger busy being moulded to make a replica of his middle finger's phalanges. (You can see Thinus in the mirror behind Mr. Bones' head, taking the picture).
Goodbye for myself and Mr. Bones!!!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Going back to Varsity...

This week was VERY busy! I started my Diploma in Hand Therapy at the University of Pretoria (aka "Tukkies"), and BOY did they make us work hard! Postgrad is tiring and we are chopping down lots of trees with all the gazillions of photocopies we had to make.

But seriously, this was info-overload in its highest grade! I am amazed that I survived varsity at all. I have no clue as to how I survived hour-long lectures and sat in class from 8 - 4pm with only VERY short lunch breaks in-between. I am now really in the mood to join a gym and start exercising, cause that's the only way I can think of that my body won't conk in on me this year! That maybe also explains why I had such a good-looking body back in my 2nd year. What, with all the classes I had to attend, I went to gym EVERY day of the week! So I'm motivated to once again look and feel great. Thinus tends to agree with me on this one, except he's one ahead in that he's already going to the gym at his work. Lucky man!

I stayed in Pretoria the entire week, except for Monday night as I had to go for an interview pertaining my current job. My word, so after a very LONG and BUSY first day at varsity on Monday, I still had to drive back to Johannesburg (70km to our house from Pretoria University), pick up my husband and go for this interview at 19H30 PM! I was SO tired and overworked by the time I got to the interview, that I became extremely stressed and could not eat. I made the mistake of having a bite of a cheese-muffin Thinus was eating, and I was IMMEDIATELY nauseous. After the interview I was exhausted (it was not a very long interview), and Thinus bought us McDonalds. Yeah for an awesome husband! It's been about 1 - 2 months since we last had any take-outs.

Thinus and I missed each other a lot this week, him more than me. I was just so busy at varsity, but in those very rare quiet, uninterrupted moments I would catch myself missing him. He had a hard week at work, but he came home to an empty house every night, poor thing! I, on the other hand, went to stay with my mother's youngest sister and her husband and it was like having parents there while I studied. AWESOME! So I worked hard during the day, drove back to my aunt's place, study, eat, study and sleep.

I better be off now, as I still have to make Sunday lunch, and it's already 14H35 PM!!!

Ciao!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

My life is almost back on track..or not ;-)

I've been really busy around school and at home. Since starting my new job, I've actually had time to help my sister-in-law out with driving the kids around for extra-mural activities. And not only that, I've been able to visit that same sister-in-law (Brenda) way more often. Keeps both of us sane, I suspect!

This week was an exciting week, as the new 4th year OT students came from WITS (University) for their Cerebral Palsy Practical. Not only that, but it turned out that one of the OT students is my Varsity - Residence 1st Year, meaning that I made sure they were alright in first year in Residence, plus they kept me sane at that stage. We were SO happy to see each other that Leigh-Ann (my 1st year, now 4th year, OT student) and I actually ran towards each other then she picked me up and we whirled around whilst screeching with happiness! She was the 4th person to know the night that Thinus and I got engaged – I told her and her roommate about 5 or 10 minutes after we got engaged.

Then, just for the HECK of it, there was a Solar Eclipse (Tuesday 27 Jan, I think?) this week! We got to see it at school when my dad called me to remind me of the eclipse. I think we got something like 35% coverage of the sun in Gauteng. Cape Town actually got about 62% coverage! And then I had my camera at school and got to take photos! (Look at the end of this post, there you will find the photos I took of the solar eclipse.)

Another happy event that happened 3 weeks ago was my dad’s birthday party to celebrate his 64th birthday. ALL of us were there, and I’m also including a family picture at the end of this post. Just to orientate you, here follows the names (and relations) of the people in the photo.

Back row: Brenda (sister-in-law, Gideon’s wife), Dad, Gideon (3rd brother), Heinrich (5th brother), Reinholdt (Oldest grandchild, Otto’s Oldest), Otto (Oldest Brother), Petrus (4th brother), Chantelle(Petrus’ wife), Jesse (sister-in-law, Marthinus’ wife, & pregnant with their second daugther), Marthinus (2nd brother).

Middle row: Joël (with his face turned away; Gideon’s youngest child), Aunty Ina (my father’s sister-in-law), Ivan (Gideon’s oldest child), Mom, Yochanan (Otto’s 2nd child), Eliyahuh (Otto’s 3rd child).

Front row: Thinus (my husband), Myself, Zoé (on my lap, Gideon’s middle child), Linda (sister-in-law, Otto’s wife), Ada (Marthinus’ 1st child), Amy (Petrus’ 1st child) & Netanyah (Otto’s youngest child). The last three girls are all the same age!
















































Hope you all have a great coming week. I will hopefully write a more informative post in the next week. Ciao!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A New Government Department, A New Beginning...

Hi to all!

It's been a while since I last blogged. What I can say is that I am doing somewhat better! I went to have a sonar done, and I was treated like a piece of meat being man-handled by a butcher. I still have to go and complain on www.hellopeter.com / .co.za to ensure others that follow will not get the treatment that I got.

I'm not going to go into detail, except to say that
  • both health care practitioners who saw me remained nameless to me,
  • did not wear a name tag,
  • did not introduce themselves (nor greet me properly),
  • did not say what profession they were in (e.g. radiologist, doctor --> although I knew the last one was a doctor as the previous person who saw me told me to wait for the doctor),
  • what they were about to do to me (e.g. the gel we are using are gonna be a bit cold, but don't worry)
  • WHY they were doing what they did (e.g. telling me to move onto my left side and just telling me to breath and hold the breath and not when to expel my breath!)
  • they did not close the door of the consulting room properly, as the doorhandle was broken.
ALL THIS IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL!!! It amazes me that people can be treated in this manner, and then it will be said that the person treating them was professional. But there is a HUGE difference between being professional and just plain un-ethical, as I see these health care "professionals" to have been. I've been working in the health care sector for 2 years now (1 year student, 1 year community service OT), and you
  • GREET someone,
  • then INTRODUCE yourself,
  • and then make them FEEL AT EASE,
  • as well as EXPLAINING ANYTHING you will be doing to them (what you will do and WHY you are doing it)!
I could not believe the way I was treated, and as I related the story and my mal-treatment by the health care "professionals" to Thinus, he kept on asking why I didn't say something. I think it is because I was in such SHOCK that someone could treat you in this manner. I will not EVER go back there again!

The good news is that nothing was found out-of-place(e.g. pregnancy) / wrong (gallstones) from the ultra-sound / sonar, and that it turns out my constant nausea is caused by reflux. But instead of me having heartburn, I only present with extreme nausea. So I'm now on medication to ease the reflux, and it appears to be working most of the time! Yesterday I had a nausea-spell again, and my blood pressure just dropped (with me still having to drive home in the rain!), so that when I got home I fell on my bed and went to sleep immediately!

As for the New Beginnings... I started at Muriel Brand School as an OT on Monday (12 Jan 2009) and could not be happier! I am also VERY happy to state that I have gotten through and have been accepted to study the Diploma in Hand Therapy at the University of Pretoria during this year! Since April 2007 I've been dreaming about studying hand therapy, and now I will finally have the chance to do so! It's gonna be a bit pricy, but that's fine as it all pays in the end. I can barely wait to start my course in 3 weeks' time, but first I have to get my finances in place to actually pay for registration ;-).

The school is awesome, and I love to be surrounded by other therapists. They are helpful and understanding, and I just love that I am once again in a structured and routined setting. We have not yet started treating kids, but on Monday we are starting to screen babies / kiddies. I'm very excited, and slightly nervous about that! Athletic trials are also tomorrow, and then next week we will have to start picking and processing vegetables found in the vegetable garden project together with the older children. Just at a time when I feel that I finally can say I have "green fingers".

Last but not least, today is both my father's 64th Birthday (Lekker Verjaar, Pappa!) and Muriel Brand School's 40th Birthday!

I'm praying that this will be a positive year full of surprises, and some routine, and happy days!

Ciao!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My moaning session

Right now I am a rather miserable person. I have to go for an (expensive) ultra-sound tomorrow to figure out if I have gallstones / stones in my gallbladder... In turn my faulty gallbladder is causing me to be a very awful person to be with, as I am CONSTANTLY nauseous. NOT NICE.

Our home computer has got a virus on it, with anti-virus software and all. Thinus says he will literally have to rebuild the computer to fix the problem! I can't even get to Mozille Firefox or Windows Internet Explorer due to the virus. Just comes to show you that it's better to pay up money for a good anti-virus than to download freeware / open software.

Now my tax return is also giving me trouble, as the SARS e-filing says I am not typing in the correct info, whatever that may be?! So tomorrow I have to go sort that out... Plus I have to go and pay a speeding fine, renew the car's license and my own driver's license. And inbetween ALL of this I have to clean our house. I forgot to mention the admin / filing that has to be done to sort out all our paperwork before we start with a new year's paperwork (which is already piling up on the kitchen breakfast-nook).

Thus I have turned into a rather depressed little heap, who snaps at the most sincere person (i.e. my husband) and dislikes doing housework. There are heaps of laundry to be done, and yet I can't find the strength in me to just even load the washing machine. So this is me, being all sorry for myself and really struggling to not be so negative about life.

One last thing, the past 2 days I've realised that something smells like it might be decomposing in my spare bedroom/store room. And to get to the smell, I first have to clean the entire spare bedroom to be able to move around in that tiny space. This makes me even more upset, I don't want to clean up all this mess! Even though I am mostly to blame for this mess :-/

May everyone else have a good week, and I really hope my week gets better - SOON!

Keep well. Ciao...