We're back! I gave my notice at work and took on the role of stay at home mom/wife. Both Neil and I working in London left the family short changed, and when we calculated the money I was taking home after we deducted all the expenses of my working, it just didn't make sense to continue.
My last day was 17th December, and we flew to South Africa the very next day for a 3 week holiday. The details of the South Africa trip will be covered on Facebook through photos for the time being. I don't have access to the bulk of the photos taken, but I will definately revisit it in the future. To summarize, we stood at the tip of Africa at Cape Point, swam with penguins (and almost swam with a shark!), had many great meals with family, walked the beach every day; watched the sun rise in the east over the Indian Ocean, and set over the Atlantic on the last day of 2011. We went to a wedding, and a to a game farm, to the top of Table Mountain, and rode horses on Noordhoek beach.
I am very pleased to have met the bulk of my In-laws over the past month. It has been a long time coming and I was touched by how kindly they treated me and Michael. We are very lucky to be part of such a fabulous family.
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Now that I am staying home, I find I need a little help in the 'getting things in order department'. The trusty Flylady is always available for inspiration, and little by little I am managing to get the house back to order. Along with Flylady, is the handy Cozy Calendar application, which allows me to add events to my family calendar, make grocery and to-do lists with ease. You would be amazed at how rusty I am at doing school runs and managing my time at home!
I searched around a found a brilliant leash coupler on Amazon by Company of Animals:
Today was the first official school run with two very excited, very strong Bassets in tow. (Actually, I was in tow). I have no doubt that my upper body streangth is going to increase exponentially over the next few weeks, but they really love having two 1.5 mile walks a day and already show signs of feeling more calm in the house. (picture to come).
My favorite part of being home is having time to cook. I love cooking, the whole process is very relaxing for me. I bought a cook book Cook & Enjoy, in South Africa. I made Bobotie, beef casserole and a pumpkin fritter so far, and I have two very happy guys here that appreciate and enjoy my efforts. I also bought a bread maker and already have made 3 loaves of brown bread.
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Michael has had a very good news from Lego; they have reinstated Lego Batman as Lego SuperHeroes! He has already purchased this set. He has paged through the Lego catalog so much the pages look old and worn and its only a week old.
Well thats it for now. Til next time!
