I have just read some of our posts this morning and wonder about who wrote them, me but I don’t remember writing those words but the words do trigger memories and that’s good. We are doing well after coming back from our Gold Rhino KwaZulu trip. Must still put the pictures and write ups up but the day seems over in the blink of an eye. It does not help that I sleep most mornings and then be as normal as possible for the girls in the afternoons. But the key is that I have plans to put the pictures and words up and that’s the important thing.

After 2 weeks of severe pain I am back on trackish with my new pain meds – still taking them a lot but I think its residual not being on anything for about 2 weeks that hammered my system. Nice to not be walking around in a sheen of pain sweat and not to be constantly nauseous from pain all the time. Did not realise it until I took the pain meds and had no pain and no nausea! I still get to hobble in the mornings though so at least I am normal hahaha.

The girls are doing fabulously and are so excited that I finally journaled on holiday again – something I have not done for a long time.

Meg has been having a tough time with her eczema that went rogue on her face so she got some days off to recover and was told to keep sun to a minimum because of her cortisone course. She was delighted as apparently hockey is way worse than swimming (which she hates with a passion!). The girls then proceeded to tell me with hockey you have to run around the hockey field TWICE! On jokingly asking them if they get to pass out at the end of the run they informed me that they are not allowed to do that! Only hockey sticks, hockey balls and feet are allowed on the ground! I couldn’t contain my laughter at their ultra serious unamused faces! Giggle! of course its Meg’s Phys ed today and she was up bright and early and unusually cheerful – no hockey today mom!

Em is in that strange world of the pre-teen when she is not sure about herself or she is taking on the world. She is kind, sweet and 100% crazy in a good way! Em is working hard on a huge science project for school and is slowly working her way through her 100 pages of research on alcohol and its effects. Poor Vaughn is being lectured as she discovers more and more but luckily dad is resilient and can drink beer in the face of all lecturing from his 12 year old. She told him last weekend that its a good thing he drinks his own beer because at least he knows what goes into it! We also have tap and modern exams coming up – its a crazy world of practice out there, luckily they have a hugely super dedicated teacher who is pulling out all the stops to make sure they do well in their exams.

Vaughn’s horror was that his world of warcraft account got hacked – he was horrified! Luckily a speedy support ticket solved the problem and he is back playing his beloved characters in his graphics generated realm. He loves his WoW and spends ages marching around and doing stuff and his new favourite thing is raiding. Raiding takes precedence and there is always much jabbering and running around and standing on arrows and the likes. Em was keen to follow her dad into WoW but mom is not so keen on giving her something that is far more fun than most of her homework … Work wise Riaan and Tahiti and the boys came out in March and it was great to see them all and to catch up and have the whole Pulse Team in one office so to speak. Once again the importance of these meet ups was highlighted as its so easy to get caught up in the everyday that you forget to look at the bigger picture. Vaughn continues to be a super dad and help out at home and with me and be supportive to myself and the girls – he is a true gem and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it as its not easy living with crazy sick people. The crazy health swings continue to happen but Vaughn is always there encouraging me to take it easy and not overdo it and rest when I need to – something that is very hard when all I want to do is get going but he is completely right – slow and steady wins the race.

ok enough random babble for now – I promise I will get the new pictures up at some stage … this lifetime anyway!

Have a fun filled day!