The Force is not Strong

Well well well, what can I say, Im a slacker... Started my blog with HUGE intentions and as usual got sidetracked... the smallest things can make me lose focus. But I plan to remedy that. Somehow. Hopefully. I do plan to take all three blogs and create one megablog eventually, cos, well, basically cos I am forgetting all my passwords. heh. And as I already said, I get sidetracked and I forget what I started and, hey... theres an open window in the kitchen. Hang on....

The Spongebob Extravaganza

Lucky it is warm out this evening, I say warm, I mean 8 degrees, which is not bad considering it is 9pm. We just got home from the Magniferousillent Spongebob Squarepants Live theater show at MK central. I cannot believe how good Z was, she sat on my lap, three rows from the front, transfixed the whole 2 hours, except for an ice cream break halway through. Aye Aye Cap'n, from the moment it started, and the pirate walked out onto the stage, and we all sang along to the Spongebob Squarepants song, to the moment where Patrick and Spongebob flew off with the hypnotic jellyfish, she didnt budge, well a little, but that was only to clap when the giant ghost boat came rolling in, 10 foot skeletons and all. I think her pro-longed exposure to the nightmare before christmas has given her that darker edge, and then of course, she is Treys and my baby, it would figure, having a mom who loves B-Grades and a dad who loves loud music and comics... She even clapped, and was the only one, when Plankton tried to get Spongebob to take him to steal the Krabby Patty formula. I think we have hatched a little evil genius.

It was a very enjoyable evening, with singing, dancing and ice cream. I was dissapointed by Patrick's character though, he lacked the depth and personal anguish which he holds in the cartoon, I thought he could have given a more well rounded performance and been a little more, emotional towards spongebobs dream. Anyway, thats just me. It was totally worth every penny, just to watch Zoey react to the brilliant stage sets and loud music, she was literally enthralled, and I must add, what a nice Theater too. Now we have come home, and put the little monster to bed, may she dream of the flying dutchman (only Trey and i found that funny) ghost ship and the luminous dancing jellyfish... her only gripe being that her three boys werent there to share the fun with her!

The Hunt for Jobs continues

Indeed, the hunt is on, Jobs are not just lying around on the street anymore. Apparently there was a time that the UK valued the South Africans as hard workers and we were sought after laborers. I think in the financial and market place crisis now, it is unfortunately not so. People are hanging onto their jobs by the end of their toenails, and if you do spot a job, you are more than likely competing with a couple of thousand other applicants. Apparently, well, that's the excuse they use for not getting back to you to say yes or no...

Not to worry though, it just means we need to look harder, and do a few things to make our CV look better, and that is not just printing it on a finer grade paper. No, it means learning some new packages, not a bad idea, something I must say I have been putting off for some time, but now, I have to get stuck into Flash and Illustrator, as well as dreamweaver and more photoshop. Its all MAC here, I am happy to say, because after acquiring my new IMAC, I love everything MAC, and am happilly attending my 52 courses for the year, I must say, APPLE is just amazing, I used to be the biggest naysayer, but... they really have their game together, what a machine. In the meantime though, I might just stick to something I know how to do, and that is to make pictures. I think i may do some investigative work into the costs of canvas printing and hit the baby world with portrait offerings, like above. (CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE FULL SIZE) Not the normal click click, please print this on canvas for me, I am talking about turning the pictures into REAL artworks, and just seeing if there is a market for it, you never know, and in the meantime, I have nothing to lose.

Trey is busy going through the Microsoft Professional Developers course books, and will begin writing her 5 exams soon to get certified, this is promising, and will be a good inclusion for her CV. Although she is constantly attached to her phone and agents, interviews loom all over the UK, one person wants us to move to... wait for it... EXETER! HA Ha ha... we just frikkin came from there, she has my CV too and says she will find us both jobs there. Thinking back, it was a really beautiful place, I could work there. I guess. The time has come to really broaden our search, as there seems to be not much going on in Milton Keynes, and I have started to wonder exactly how great this city is. I am beginning to be lured to the windier roads, the more social cities, the coffee shops on street corners and lack of parking because they want you to use public transportation instead.

Dont get me wrong, I love where we live, the little village is great, but, the center of MK has lost it's appeal, very much so. It is just a large room with people wandering around looking for earings. Other than that, its just turns and roundabouts. And more roundabouts. People keep to themselves, weekends remind me of JHB, the mall, the beehive of activity, shoppers, trolleys etc. With many job prospects being further afield, we HAVE to be able to move around a little in the first few years, until we get settled. Birmingham really looks like a nice place actually, and the more I think of it, the more I could work in an Oxford environment. Or Reading. Oh I dont know, if I was offered a Job in MK I would take it tomorrow and swear by the seat of my panties that it is the best town to live in. Things are getting tight... but I wont lose hope, never, even if it does mean taking a job filling envelopes or dismantling new BMW's that cant sell and using parts as paperweights. They would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to the long drive up louis botha, and even then, I would be back on the next plane like a dutch MP.
In other news, we celebrated the little monsters FIRST Birthday on the 11th of Feb! Cant believe how time goes, we have not slept properly for a full year, ha! But every moment has been worth it. Every day now is a suprise of sorts, she is learning so fast, and pulling herself up onto her little feet, and exploring. She is still so small compared to other babies her age, but as cute as the cutest little pink monkey, stuck to the underside of its mothers belly. Thank you to the people that called, and the family for the wonderful gifts and things. She really was spoiled. She is going to love the spongebob live show at the MK Theater. One years old and going to the theater, I do say...wot. Hope she naps before and is not too cranky. She still has her hundred pounds to spend, maybe she should save it for babyfood and nappies. Heh. And buying her mom and dad Sainsburies® Vanilla Cheescake. Keith will have to take a bagfull of that back to SA!
The weather is getting better, it was a balmy 12 degrees today. I wore a T-Shirt. I think I am going quite pale too. Have to find a pool of sorts so we can take Zoey swimming, she must miss that. Mkay, well, I will write more soon... thanks for reading it :)

The Snowy Day in Pictures for y'all

The Snow Keeps on Coming

Dont know what or why, but i feel drawn to this tree. Its snowing heavily here, which is awesome, so i put on my hiking shoes, and walked 2.5 miles...... In a snowstorm, got lost in a forest (pictures will follow), and inspired on my way back listening to the arb sounds of berg sans nipple. :). It is time to employ myself, to work a full day from my office, learning, creating, not wasting creativity. Yes, INSPIRED! and that is my Tree, my tree of Hope, and inspiration, I cant say what it is that draws me to this thing, I climbed over a small barbed wire fence to get to it, but there is a bigger fence around it, I will get to it though, need to find where to get in, cos I do believe that if i sit under this tree, and choose the lotto numbers, well, tata ma millions.... (in pounds). 0

We had to pick Zoey up early today, due to this weather. And school may be closed tomorrow too, keep you updated we will, So I am off upstairs, whilst the snow blows around outside, to watch a kids movie, with Tree and Zee, in the warmth of our lounge. Bye

Fridge Poetic Maddness

What do you mean, two minutes to make a work of art, do you think Edgar Allan poe write the Raven in under two minutes? Or Led Zeppelin wrote the lyrics for Stairway to heaven in that time (Actually, they did for those who didn't know). Well, yes, two minutes intervals and a pack of poetic fridge magnets could keep us busy for days, it's a great way to pass time whilst waiting for the food to cook, or Zoey to stop throwing marmite toast around the kitchen. Oooh Actually, she is having her FIRST TAKE-AWAYS this evening. Hah, little monster is oblivious to that right now, sitting at school probably painting one of her teachers bags in vermillion. But yeah, but no but yeah but... she is having TGI Fridays PIRATE FISH FINGER® meal for kids. Trey and I had lunch there today, the recovering vegan she is, had a starter of three different types of meat, inc prawn, chicken and pork rib, and then a main meal of chicken and steak, and some of my salmon..... heh, good food tho, but nice place if you feel like spoiling yourself, we did because it's cold, and we drove to Northampton, which is a bit of a hole, but maybe we drove through the wrong end. Keith (brother-in-law) would have turned pale in the backseat and sworn never to live there, as he did when we once drove through the wrong end of Bristol. Yup, it was dirty, and cramped and ... old. Northampton that was. But we did stop in at a drum shop, to try find a power supply for my yamaha electrics, to no avail really. And we did try find the occultique book shop which mysteriously popped up on the GPS, and then, was not there. So, that is what transpired today. I thought If I might work in northampton, we may as well drive there, took 20 minutes or so, but uhm, yeah, I think we missed the centre, looked like it could be nice... I guess every area has it's dodge bits, like Africa has Zimbabwe, and Congo, and Johannesburg. HAHAHaaaa.

So. Yes, two minutes and a little bit of jostling at the fridge, saw us come up with some interesting poems, well, trey battled at first, only because she was looking for words, which was a bad move, you got to roll with what you find right away, to make shimmering scribblings of poetic beauty. I will let you decide which one was Trey's, the rest were mine.
AH and with Zoey's first birthday coming up, we are booking tickets to see the SPONGEBOB Musical, she will love it, live music, patrick, what more could you need.? She must wear a party hat though, one that matches mine, and have her rattles. It's going to be Grand. I am going to stand and shout out to patrick that i love him, maybe there's a job for me, cos I am sure I have the eyes... and hair to be a better patrick than who-ever else is playing him... Man, I love patrick. He is by far, the most complex and fully rounded character in modern day story telling. Also, he is not afraid to show his bum off in public, I admire that in a person, George Bush was the same, except he didn't have a choice, cos his face was his bum. Must be tough going through life as an Asshole. I bet Ray Mcauley has written a book on the subject. Ah, I am going off the topic. Yes, TGI Fridays, thats good eatin y'all.
Thanks for reading again, if anyone ever does... see you on the dark side of the moon (still looking for my pink pink floyd shirt I am :)

Pink is the New Black

Yes, it's official, Pink is indeed the new black. Before we had Zoey, we swore off pink and yellow as one would swear off a severe infestation of cold sores around the eyes, but, after some dear friends of ours, Hugo and Michelle, seemed to willingly IGNORE our plea, and gave us a PINK suit which, you know, couldn't go to waste, we saw the benefits of pink. It just brings out the pinkness of her fathers eyes when he stands next to her, it makes the days seem, pink, it makes mens current button up pink shirts seem a little less 'happy' than what they actually are, (not really, but hey), it makes the inside of a dead mouse seem cute. And yeah, she is now certifiably cute in Pink. We have however remained steadfast on the yellow ban. Trey hates yellow, and anything that Trey hates... well, no, but yellow is a stupid colour, reserved only for the sun and maybe some foods...rice, yellow rice is nice.

So I am hoping to find some PINK mens black sabbath shirts, or Pink Tool shirts, or some pink metallica clobber possibly, how's about this for a novel idea, a pink PINK FLOYD shirt. Now wouldn't that just be great. Like Pink floppy man boobs great.

This was meant to be the start

And so we begin again, the BlogBUG has bitten, I love blogging, hah, about 5 years to late you may say, but we have never had reason to use it before really. Now that we are other-side-of-the-world, and far from family and friends, well, here we are. I now see why people go blogging mad, if they so much as fart in a rest-room, they rush home to blog about how loud, how wet or dry and how it made the people around them react. Yes, well, No, I wont be documenting farts, at least not on THIS blog page, and in any effect, not from either Trey or I, maybe from Zoey though, cos she is learning to smile a little when the bottom half erupts, and lets face it, kids love fart jokes. I guess she (and all of you) can be lucky that Trey has thus far declined my attempts to secure home schooling for Zoey by yours truly. I will work on it though, cos besides maths and ... maths and stuff, there is important shit to know, like what to do when someone pee's in their pants in your classroom, it's a no-brainer, of course you point and laugh. Or when a person in a wheelchair falls over, again, point and laugh. These things go untaught at school, and that's where I guess I will have to intervene. Anyway, as I was saying... So THIS is the family blog now. Erase all that you have seen of the other one from your mind, as that was mostly my ramblings, as I am sure this may be - but more family orientated rambling, all ages, besides the odd word here and there, but those will be used for comical value, or exclamation, you know, like adding carrots to a bean salad for colour, or sprinkling parmesan cheese on a fettuccini, or cheese cake for that matter. So if you think it is not ALL AGES, well, your opinion does not really matter, but in extreme cases you may take it up with Trey, and we will see if it can be edited, in between my home schooling of the ZeeMonkey that is. (I can see a lot of pointing and laughing happening).

Anyway, if Trey has the time she may ramble here too, in fact, I will get her to write at least once a month if I have to stand behind her with the spatula she hits me with and threaten her god dammit! And we may even have Zoey bash out some indecipherable words! Although whenever she gets near the keyboard or remote, it always ends in tears as she somehow finds the worst combination of keys to push all at once – like [format:C] or [eraseSKYTV]. Dunno how she does it, I think, like her mom, she is born to handle the TV remote, which is why I gave up watching the telly a while back, as Trey likes to skip the channel ten minutes in and just when I look away, she does this on purpose I have realised, cos it takes me about 6 or so minutes to think, what the hell is going on… and then she giggles, maliciously.

So here we are, finally, living in Sunny, cof! Splutter, erm, kind-of-sunny UK. I however am enjoying this weather, it is exciting, every day brings something new, only this morning I nearly slipped on my face as I Ski-ed across our bricked parking area trying to get to the car with a jug of warm-not-hot water to try and de-ice the wind shield. After using some of the warm-not-hot water to get my hand unstuck from the car door handle, I managed to clear the windscreen and Ski back inside. The other morning I ran out in socks… (Amazing how the stony garden retains most of the icy water from the previous evening), I spent the rest of the day trying to feel where my feet were. But really, I love it, better than having sticky balls back in Africa all day. HA! I said sticky balls, but any male will agree, there’s no fun in that. I am trying really hard not to elaborate, and it hurts me to change the topic, as there is so much to be said about being in the seated position on a hot day and having your bag glue itself to yourself, I do however fear, I have said too much.

Haircut 101

I have noticed a LOT of hairdresser shops and kebab shops all over the UK, man, there must be big business but I don’t understand it, CUT YOUR OWN HAIR! And eat at tescoes!And... just cut your own hair, there's so much nasty weather about, I don't see the point in styles. Mind you - saying that, it's hard to find a person with a normal hairstyle in this country, all the kids and teens and twenty somethings are into the Big hair look, I try find someone with normal hair to help me in shops, it;s difficult, really, try it the next time you are in Boots and need to find lactose free sticky toffee pudding.

Christmas in Kent and Other Stuff

Christmas we spent in Kent, yeah I know it was a while back, but I am just itching to put up this picture of Zee and the Kitty that James and Chloe bought her, she loves it. And it was a good time! We were made to feel right at home with total strangers really,.. I mean, I have only know James for about 25 years. Of course, I am talking about Chloe’s parents and family. Wonderful people who really made us feel like we fitted right in, I have reserved my seat for next year already and vow to get to the food before James and Gerry (that guy eats like a horse!). So, that’s where that picture was from, and Zee was treated to Sarah the fairy, her first real British story, about a fairy and some kind of LSD induced trip to the forest, and I don’t know, I fell asleep.

And then we returned, it was cold, we unpacked our house, which fortunately was not hi-jacked by somalian pirates, Jesus I was worried, but we un-packed and came to the horrifying conclusion that, despite our BEST efforts, we will NEVER be minimalists! We have so much stuff, even after all the junk we threw out in the move here. Oh well, we are tightening up, and for every four pairs of underpants I throw away, I get to buy a new one, fair deal.

Groovy, the sky was blue for the last two days, it was a balmy 9 degrees if you stood dead still in a ray of sunshine, of course if you didn’t, it remained 5 degrees or so through-out the day. I would trade that any day for being able to see the kids walking home from school and playing in parks, little kids mind you, not the 18 or 19 year old ones we see back home, playing in the park with burning tyres and semi-automatic weapons. Hoo boy, I must be careful as not to paint a too-bad-a-picture of back home, but, if you just have to compare the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper to the Edenvale/Bedfordview news, man, it’s like comparing H.P Lovecraftsauce with Walt Disney. But still, the people here don’t realise that and it just sounds like I am bitching.

On that note, I am off to shower and shave my back. Good evening all.

I am doing this for fun dammit!

AH… After assembling my bike, I have been on 2 rides, and I am quite proud of myself because A: I didn’t fall off, and B: I doubled the distance on the second time… by the third I may even make it past the drive-way. HA! No, 12km on my second ride is not bad I think, round trip of course, with one walk up a hill in the middle. But, as I keep saying to myself, and anyone on a bike passing by (minus the swear words), ‘I am doing this for fun’ the fitness part will kick in later, when I can make it a round trip of 20km or more. I set my riding computer to miles, and then reset it to km, cos it always looks so fickle in miles… bloody 20km is only a few miles. More is more I say. Yeah… So, what I love about riding here is, that you can, you don’t have the fear of Thabo Mbeki cruising up in a taxi and squashing you dead into the ground. Or getting lost in the wrong area of town and making the sports page on the edenvale news for gang rape. No, here you just ride, and every now and then, look up into a huge cathedral, or, another smiling motorist waving you to go first, or in my case, the face of the old man and his dog and three children as they pass you, walking, on a downhill. Yeah, ‘I am doing this for fun’ I murmer… but it is a feeling of fresh air, being able to do that. The people here don’t realise what we actually lived In in Johannesburg, they all say, ‘why’d you move here?’ I have begun to reply ‘for the weather’ and watch their faces drop.

But really, most people here say Cape Town is beautiful. And that’s about that. I would LOVE to see some of these people who give a chip packet flying across a zebra crossing the right of way… I would love to see them driving the length of Louis Botha, just one time… and then ask me why we moved here. I DARE YOU.

Those pictures are from my ride, the town of Whaddon and up top Nash, (I felt like I was in Kentucky y’all). I passed two churches, one a 13^th century huge job. Man, it’s a great place, the history! I came home and looked it up on Wikipedia, so much history and grace and style, then I watched sponge-bob squarepants with Zoey.