Mom died 13th June 2008

Off to Egypt! Bus comes in an hour! Whheeee!

Very excited!!! Have decided I'm going to look for a camel saddle blanket when I get there - those made of carpet - so have packed my small case which holds all my clothes and then put the small case into the big case - so I have room for my camel stuff!

We have a wonderful itinerary awaiting us!

29 May 18h45 Check in at the Egypt Air Counters at Johannesburg International Airport 21 h45 Depart Johannesburg on flight MS 840

30 May 06h45 Arrive Cairo airport, meet your Emeco representative who will assist you through passport control and transfer you to the
Ramses Hilton Hotel 1115 Corniche EI Nile Cairo
Tel: 20-2-2577 7444 Fax: 20-2-2575 2942

10h35 You will be collected from the hotel for a Half Day tour of the Citadel, Mosque and Bazaar including lunch at a Local restaurant
15h30 You will be returned to the hotel
19h30 You will be collected from the hotel for your Sound and Light show at the Pyramids

You will be transferred for dinner aboard a Felucca

31 May 06h30 You will be collected from the hotel for a Full Day tour to Alexandria including lunch
20hOO You will be returned to the hotel

Dinner at the Ramses Hilton hotel

01 June 09hOO You will be collected from the hotel for a Full Day Tour to the Cairo Museum Pyramids and Sphinx including lunch at a Local restaurant
16hOO You will be returned to the hotel

20hOO Traditional dinner at a Felela restaurant
.

02 June

Check out from the hotel after breakfast.
10hOO You will be collected from the Hotel for a Half Day Tour to Memphis and Sakkara including lunch at a Local restaurant

15hOO You will be returned to the Hotel where you will have the afternoon free to explore local shops or relax at the Pool.

19hOO You will be collected from the Hotel for a Nile Cruise dinner 22hOO Transfer to the airport for your International flight

03 June 02h40 Depart Cairo on flight MS 839
09h40 Arrive at OR Tambo International Airport - and back to a full days work!

Need my energy pills for this one!

..And a piggy stole from the shed

" It'd hold eight kids 'n' four hound dogs and a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun on Grandma's feather bed "

Well we swopped the pig for a cat and were lacking a couple of kids but I think we made a fair approximation of John Denvers memories! The lyric definitely did spring to mind the other night!

In the middle - Samantha - with Biggles (dog) lying across the top of her head
On left side of Sam was Johan
On the left side of Johan, was Frodo (dog)
On the right side of Sam - Me
On my feet - Leo (cat)
Curled behind my knees - Taffy (dog)
At Johans feet - Jenny (dog)

And it is just a normal double bed - a very full one!

Somebody's sick???

Well, now it is confirmed - teenage boys should be on their own planet - far away from normal people whose lives they confuse terribly.

I got to work yesterday and after a while Johan phoned me with the following message
"Michael phoned home, asked Nomie to phone his dad, to ask him to phone his mum (me) to say Somebody is sick"

Huh???
Why would I want to know that somebody's sick - who?
If its Chad that is sick (lift club) then why aren't they phoning his mum and dad - not me???

I gave up - was a completely incomprehensible message.

Arrived at the school at 2.30 - earlier than usual because Sam was sick in bed but had been confirmed when the biys climbed out of the car that morning.

Chad came to the car - he can't find Michael and didn't see him at second break. Odd. Very unusual for Michael not to pounce on the car as soon as he sees it - always desperate to get home.

So we waited at the car, then we walked around the school, maybe he was in :
Sick bay? No
Detention? No
The Library - No
Aftercare - No and Rowan (in his grade but not his class) said that he had not seen him all day.

Off to the school office - explained the situation plus the peculiar message and we all sat in a puzzle. They asked if he had been at school that day - when I said I had dropped him at the gate they said that that didn't always mean they had gone to school! No, Michael is not like that.......

Phoned home to ask Nomie for the message again - just in case. Still the same "somebody's sick" and then he dropped the phone. Dropped the phone? In a rush, pulled away from the phone???

But where was he now - had been looking for over an hour and started to wonder who on earth would ever want to kidnap Michael? Was there some paedophile/boy murderer stalking the school grounds? ??? Ridiculous ideas but I was running out of sensible ones! Phoned his friend Kyrans mum, Ann, whose office is close to the school - maybe he had felt ill and walked there? No, and now there was another person worried!

Phoned Chads mum - what to do with him - explained the whole ridiculous situation again and she said he must just stick with me. Chad kept adding helpful little sayings like "we could have been home by now"; "nobodys seen Michael" etc etc.

Back to the car to see if he had appeared.
No
Then back to the main building - met one of his friends who suggested we check the computer lab!

YES!!!!! THERE HE WAS - IN AN EXAM!!!!

Relief - he was still safe and alive - but he was not going to be when he got out of that room!

I opened the door and gestured to the invigilator who was most reluctant to come to the door and I explained why I needed to find out what time the exam ended - 6 o'clock!!! AND the exam had been organised months ago!! GRRRR.

Phoned to tell people he had been found and then realised with horror that Sam would be at home alone (sick) when Nomie left at 4 - help! Next batch of phone calls started.
Mandy - sorry am at the dentist
Elsie - answering machine
Sherry - only get home at 5.30
Sarah & Charlie - bless them! Picked her up 5 mins after the call and took her home.

Sorted, but now what - 2 hours to go, so Chad and I went to Killarney mall, I had a cappuchino and he had a pot of Rooibos tea (at 13!)

At 5.15 Michael phoned, he had finished and we could come to get him (why so early - did he not know his work or did he know if so well he could do it easily??? Time will tell!)

He jumped in the car and pulled a face when I said we had to pick up Sam - I told him NOT TO SAY A WORD!!

"Somebody's sick" = "pick me up at 6"in teeneage mumble.

Re-Energised, focussed and ready to go!

Just back from a 2 day "Executive Athlete Programme" and despite aching muscles am feeling quite chipper! The programme is designed to show how having a fit body and constant energy levels can improve your work performance.

I farmed out the children - Michael to stay with Glynis & Rob and Sam to stay with Jo, because the course started at 6.45 in the morning in Woodmead and finished at 5.15 which made taking and collecting kids from school very difficult for me.

The course started off by taking us to the gym - wieghing us, seeing how many press-ups, how many sit-ups, how far we could stretch etc and how much flab we had around the middle, the back and on our arms(!)- our biokinetic assessment. Needless to say I did not do very well in anything!

Then we received our PNI results - these are the results from a questionnaire plus a blood test. Well my blood test was shocking! Cholesterol at 6.9 (should be 4.5) and glucose levels on the borderline of becoming a diabetic. Stroke and heart attack on the horizon!

To recover from the gloomy news - which appeared to be common to most of us (18 people all from RMB) we went out for the recovery break - a session with the golf pro's - must say thwacking a golf ball can be very therapeutic - but only if you manage to hit it!

Lunch was very healthy - and left us feeling full (but thinking that a nice pudding would also have gone down well) and then in for a session with the nutritionist. How depressing - must eat regularly to maintain energy levels but what tiny portions, and how bad most things are for you! gloom and doom again so off to hit another half hours worth of golf balls! All very well to say we must eat snacks between meals but they are so tiny - less than a mouthfull!

Next day was back at the crack of dawn again for our healthy breakfast (fruit, yoghurt, ham and a boiled egg) and then in for a session with the sports psychologist. All about how the great athletes are so focussed, play strategically and can block out background distractions. Then off for, not golf but some stretching exercises - yipeee :(

A bit more about the mind of the athlete and then to the gym with the biokineticists for our individual execrcise programmes to make sure we can do them correctly. They asked what "wellness" means to us - I replied and said "Bad grammar!" I hate these bastardised words! This looks quite overwhelming - when am I meant to do all this twice a week?

After lunch - all of us consiously piling up the salad and veggies, back for a session of storytelling - had to insert our own personal experiences into the story and see what it revealed and how we were going to move forward.

Well, at the end they said to start things slowly - do one thing at a time and do it so that it becomes a habit. So this morning I had some breakfast, drank black rooibos and have a jug and glass of water on my desk - so I hope this is the start of the new healthy me.

On the family side of things Mum is still not eating and her blood sugar is fluctuating - no changes at the moment.

RMB Adventure walk!

We had a really lovely day on Saturday - all the staff members of the InfoZone plus their families came for lunch, and once again we had an adventure walk for them - apple bobbing, skipping, mud throwing, walking along ropes etc - lots of fun and enjoyed by adults and children alike ! Followed by a potjie lunch and pony rides - photo's will be loaded soon!

Our walk was as follows:

RMB’s Farm Walk 2008

On the walk you must collect:
1 feather
2 wild flowers
and identify at least one bird that you see.

Along the walk there will be tasks that must be accomplished.

TASK 1: Collect two cushions for each team plus one piece of rope and go to the obstacle course in the garden.

Choose a partner and tie your legs together with your pieces of rope.

A pair at a time must - balancing a cushion on their heads –
· pass under the pole,
· climb over the bales and
· knock over the plastic cups with their noses.

Couples hop back to the starting line to give the cushions to the next pair.

Task 2: Proceed to the basketball hoop near the garages. All team members must throw a ball through the hoop before leaving.

Once every member of the team has done this - you’re off on your walk

Q: How many rolls of hay can you see as you go out of the gate?

Walk – out of the gate, diagonally to the left crossing the road, climbing through the fence, cross over the ditch to a small track heading down the hill.


TASK 3: There are a pile of sacks – each member must walk/hop in the sack from the beginning to the end of the marked area.

Continue walking to the traffic cones you can see further down the hill.

Task 4: Time to play “Simon Says” (10 instructions from team leader) and then off you go again!

Continue to walk down the hill, to the end of the ploughed section – bear slightly left and walk across the fence (on the floor) to the fire break and follow it along to the left until you reach the next clue.

TASK 5: Work out what the clue tells you to do – break the code! (Code said - Jump up and down 3 x)

TASK 6: There is a paint-tin in the middle of a circle, without crossing the circle, throw the marbles into the tin. Each team member must get a marble into the tin before you continue (parents can help little ones!)

TASK 7: Contine to walk along the fire break until you get to a marked area -from one line to another you must pass without letting your feet touch the ground. Look in your bags for the answer.
Continue along the fire break.

TASK 8: From the marked start one member of the team must throw a tennis ball straight ahead. The second member of the team must go to where it lands and throw the ball forwards from that spot. Continue until each member has thrown the ball. Keep the ball in your backpacks.

Task 9: Find a stick and make a mud ball – flick it at the target over the river with the stick – everyone must hit it before you continue. (we gave up on this one - a single flick each was enough!)

Go back to the firebreak and cross it heading up the hill. Cross the fence where marked and continue through the trees following the markers until you reach a clearing.

TASK 10: You must be hot and hungry by now- get the kids to bob for apples:
Once they each have an apple – walk on up the hill.

TASK 11: Skipping – each child must skip to this rhyme (rope turned by 2 adults please)

Blue bells, cockle shells, Easy ivy over
Oh no, here comes the teacher
with her big black stick
Now its time for arithmetic
Two plus two is?
(jumper responds) Four
Four plus four is?
(jumper responds) Eight
Eight plus eight is?
(jumper responds) Sixteen
Nows its time for spelling
Spell cat.
(jumper responds) C-A-T
Spell dog.
(jumper responds) D-O-G
Spell hot.
(jumper responds) H-O-T

(when the jumper finishes spelling HOT then they jump out and the next one goes in.)

TASK 12: Walk the Log! Each member of the team must walk along the logs without falling off.

Task 13: Fear Factor! Stick your heads in the bowl and grab a creepy crawly with your teeth!

Task 14: Stepping stones – walk from brick to brick – no falling off!

Task 15: Put on your blindfolds and follow the track (holding onto the tape)

TASK 16: Using the catapult and pebbles – try to get each team member to hit the tray.

Follow the track to the left

TASK 17: You will find some balloons. You must blow up one for each of you and then go to the marked start area. Put the balloon between your knees and walk/hop to the end without dropping/popping the balloon.

Once you have finished, leave the balloon (or carry it with you) and continue walking towards the windmill.

TASK 18: Hop along the hopscotch grid!

Task 19: Near the broken windmill are some long sticks – tie them to your legs and walk as a team along to the gate. Return the sticks once you reach the gate.

TASK 20: Rope walk (2 ropes between trees)

Each member of the team, must walk along the ropes, if you fall off you must start again.

Continue down the road back to the house . Ice creams in the kitchen!

THE END!
Hand your answers in the kitchen!

We did not have time for ice creams in the kitchen - piled straight into the lunch!

Latest update

Mom had another hypo attack yesterday morning - settled in the afternoon.