Quick Post

To all those amazing people who left comments on my last post - THANK YOU !!!!!  I will try to get to answer your questions as soon as I can.

Life has got in the way of blogging and, unfortunately, after this post, life is going to get in the way again causing another lack of posts.

This evening my folks and I are flying to South Africa as my aunt died on Sunday.  While she was incredibly sick 6 years ago and spent 9 months in intensive care, she pulled through and has been doing really well.

She was admitted to hospital on Saturday with a blood infection and died early on Sunday morning.  I feel really sorry for my folks, they already had their tickets booked to go there to visit next month.  On Saturday after we got the news she had been admitted to hospital, I asked if they were going to see if they could change their tickets (without having to pay a fortune to do so) and they said they would see how she progressed.  We certainly never expected to hear that she had passed away the next day - she wasn't that sick !!!!  (or maybe that is just my brain that doesn't want to accept that she isn't here anymore.)

I am flying home on Wednesday night and my folks arrive about 10 days later.

The stresses this week of trying to get a passport renewed in quicksmart time all the while waiting to hear about funeral arrangements to ensure we get flights booked that see us arriving before the funeral has been awful.  I do want to give a whole hand of high fives to DFAT - 90mins after dropping my renewal form with them, my passport was ready.  The only thing that would have improved the service is if they had told me there was a person at the back, anxiously waiting for my paperwork to cross their desk.  Had I known that someone would pounce on my renewal and get it processed that quickly, I would have taken my folks to lunch, picked up my passport and driven back down to the coast !!

And riddle me this - why, oh why, are passport photos so awful ????????????????????????

On to happier news - my interval running is going really well.  On Tuesday night I was doing a 5min warm up, 5 x 3 min run 90 sec walk, 5 min warm down.  During the run intervals of 2, 3 and 4 - I felt like I could run forever - it was amazing.  And then I started the 5th interval and I realised that, while I would love to run forever, I still need to work a little bit harder on that.

I have packed two sets of running clothes, my runners and my Garmin because I would hate to want to run and not be able to because I don't have the right equipment !!!!  A suggested taking the charger etc for my Garmin because if my 'sister' doesn't have a 'running' watch, I could leave that with her and buy another one when I get home.  I will see what she has and whether or not she likes it.

I caught up with some beautiful people at the QT Hotel on Sunday - it was so good to meet fellow bloggers for real.  It sounds like most people had a great time at ProBlogger and certainly a lot was learned by those who attended if the tweets and FB posts are anything to go by.

I promise to be back as soon as I can !

Have the best day everyone !!

Australia - A Great Country

About 20 years ago, A mentions that he wants to leave South Africa - I say no.  There is no way I am going to leave my folks.  End of story - if you want to leave, that's fine, go, but without me, are the words I say to him. (Or at least words to that effect !)

Fast forward 3 years, and the National Party pull out of the coalition government and I realise that there really is no future for our then 4yo daughter (or for us for that matter) and I turn to A that Sunday night and say "Right - I'm ready to leave." which he finds rather strange as it's 8pm on a Sunday night and we weren't planning on going anywhere.

Then, I patiently explain that I am ready to look at moving countries and he does a happy dance - because he has been waiting 3 years for me to change my mind !!!  So we look in the paper, find an immigration agent who just happens to be advertising a seminar the next night.  So I phone the next morning and book us in.  We drop K with my in-laws and off we go.

Because A has a trade and is under 35, we qualify on points - it's just whether or not Australia actually want us.  And so the long, drawn out process begins.  We put in our application in May 1996 and we find out we had been accepted in March 1998.  We come out here on an LSD (look, see and decide) trip in October 1998, go back to South Africa, put our house on the market, tidy up our affairs (well as much as we could) and land here on 29 January 2000.

I cannot begin to express how thankful I am to have the opportunity to live in this wonderful country.  To be able to call this country home.  To raise our daughter in a country that has far less violence than we are used to.  To be able to let her ride her bike in the street and play outside without fear of what may happen to her.

Yes, I know that bad things happen in this country.  But they are far less frequent than what happens in SA.  The fact that I can go for a run at 8pm at night is something I am so thankful for.  The fact that I can drive around with my doors unlocked and my windows down are things I am thankful for.  The fact that I can wear my jewellery without fear of being strangled as someone tries to yank my necklace, or actually chop my hands off to get my rings and bracelets - these are things that I am thankful for.

Do I miss South Africa ?  Absolutely - it is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever travelled through.

Do I miss the violence and blood shed ?  Not a bit.

Would I ever go back ?  Highly unlikely because I am too scared I won't make it home.

Am I worried about the increasing violence in Australia ?  Absolutely - where would we move to from here to get away from it ? 

What are you thankful for today ? 

Why not join in with Francesca at Francesca Writes Here ?

 

Have the BEST day !

 

TFTD : You are a human who is not perfect. You will make mistakes. But life is not about the mistakes you make, it’s about what you learn from them, and the unique steps you take to rectify them.