Tiah Beautement's Blog, page 139

Since it's that Christmas time of year...

I wrote my BookSA blog post on a gift: Music messes with our minds. It lifts our moods, joins us in sorrow, expresses what we fear to utter out loud. A song transports us back to a memory, a person, a moment. I can't sing 'We Three Kings,' without recalling the small Christian Brother, a professor at my university, opening his mouth in the dimly lit chapel, releasing a booming baritone. Who knew such a quiet man could transform himself into an awe inspiring magi? My mother wished for her children the gift of music. She required one year of...

Still around

Hello, still here, although my ADSL line keeps taking holiday breaks. Guess it's just that time of year. I CAN still get online thanks to my brand new kindle (kindle is going verb, so we can lower-case from time to time, yes? Or not yet? Hmmm). For those that do not recall, in an act of love, Husband bought me one for my birthday. Shortly before my birthday I stuck foot-in-mouth and declared my lack of desire for one. Kindle was already on order. Awkward. But it is here. And of course there are upsides. Already reading By Nightfall. This...

13 days to go...

Heaven help me. The children are insatiable. Nothing is enough. They are so EXCITED about Christmas. Thing 1 has been anticipating this event since, oh, the day after Christmas 2009. Thing 2, not as much. In fact, she hardly remembers a thing except...Santa hats. On Saturday I declared the start to Christmas decorating and went to my hope chest to retrieve all things Christmassy. 'HATS!!!!' she demanded before I'd even lifted the lid. Hats have been firmly on their heads during naps, bedtime, dinner at Nandos, church, a trip to the chemist, Spar, petrol station, battery store and anywhere else...

Oh Christmas Tree...

Since the school shut its doors on Friday morning we've been focusing on all things CHRISTMAS. Have had to nicely explain to small people that we do not have to do it all at once, but have a few days (weeks!) to get it all done. They remain wary. Thing 2 doesn't remember too much from last year. However, she wanted to know where THE HATS were. Santa esq hats...they clearly made an impression. I hauled them out on Saturday and the children have worn them everywhere, including Nandos and church. My son, however, has been anticipating Christmas since, oh,...

And now on to Grade 1

It was the last day of Grade R today. I said good-by to his teacher. The one who battled to get my son into Grade 1. The teacher who encouraged my son's interests, did not tire of his endless questions, or his over-enthusiasm and she worked hard to keep my son from getting bored in a class, where they are teaching such things as 'Q is for quarrelsome queen.' His teacher was a rare gem, to say the least. My son was only 2 when he started his first day of preschool. His birthday had been but a few weeks...

Paige Nick is having a good day

...and so is The Bookery. Thank you to everyone who clicked to win money for the cause. The link to Ms Nick's jubilation is here.

I was wrong...

I have push started a car - twice. It happened shortly after we moved to this country. Husband ran out of petrol. Husband kind of makes petrol for living. But we'll ignore that. He ran out of petrol. So I shoved his bakki around until some very large men joined me. I never noticed I left my lights on. I had to phone Husband to drive BACK to where he had been and come help push start my car. They don't teach this in driving school. Thus, I'm never in the driving seat, always pushing, because nobody has exactly explained...

Too much

Been busy and life keeps throwing so many interesting things at me. Makes it hard to focus on a topic and blog. Drinking my 5amish coffee (it's the birds, they wake up, then I wake up) and Charlie Brooker had me thinking maybe I should blog about...the blog post you'll never see in regards to this would have tied in nicely with the arrival of my kindle this afternoon. Not that I'm sure Husband is still going to give it to me after my behaviour, then again, I don't think he has a back up present to hand for my...

You wanna write?

Thanks to BookSA for the link!

This post is for me

Because I don't want to write this down somewhere else, forget where I saved it and it all get lost. We went camping. I went through a real stage of dread / dislike of camping. Camping has always been a bit of a challenging experience for me. Sometimes it is brilliant, other times it is simply fantastic fodder for amusing others. We have a knack for turning the everyday into stranger than fiction. Trying to camp pregnant or with small children can also be tricky, or downright suck. But I think we are really getting over that hump. No longer...