Relaxing and recuperating

It's amazing how you can get used to pain.  This has now been over two weeks of constant pain, and all I can think about are the poor people who experience constant pain on a daily basis year in and year out.  Pain is wearying and slows you down.  I don't know how those poor people do it.  It can definitely get you down, that's for sure.  But, I am still determined not to take painkillers and just let my body do its thing by itself.  My last mastectomy I remember being completely zonked out on painkillers and I took so long to recover and eventually ended up being sent off for respite care and being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.  So this time I'm leaving it up to my mind and my body, and throwing away the drugs.  Hopefully, this little experiment will work.
At least it gives me a clear mind to work on my different book projects!  I wouldn't be able to do that if I was zonked out on drugs!


The backyard at the Hermanus house at dusk.

 After the U2 concert, I decided I needed to retreat to a quiet place to let my mind and body do their work.  Although I love my Mom to death, she is a little manic, racing here and there and when you stay with her you get caught up in her jetstream.  I swear she has more energy and life in her than someone in their twenties.  It can be exhausting being around her.  So as my folks were staying in their Cape Town flat while my Mom organised the redecorating and renovating of my sister's house, their beautiful house in Hermanus was unoccupied.  Kerri, my eldest daughter, and I decided to flee there and just relax.
The good thing, is when the pain gets too much or I get tired, I can lie on the couch and just read a book or watch TV.  I don't have to rush off anywhere at any particular time.  I haven't been able to do this for a very long time.  There are always things that need to be done and deadlines which have to be met.  Life can be hectic.

View from the lounge in the morning.

Despite all the relaxing I have managed to get a lot of work done.  I've completed the first draft of my novel Defective; completed the research for How to say NO to sex and other survival tips for the suddenly single; and worked on the Diet chapter of Redesigning Yourself for the Multitasking Generation, the book I'm writing with the esteemed and reknowned homeopath, Jeremy Sherr.  The good thing, is I can just work on them throughout the day when I feel like it.  I wish everyday of my life could be like this and I can work full-time on my books.  However, with a child still at school and a son at Hotel School I have to keep on working.
Kerri and I leave Hermanus on Thursday, and head back to Cape Town.  I plan on taking Tony and his girlfriend to watch the Stormers play rugby at Newlands on Saturday.  Kerri is not interested in seeing buffed men run around in tight shorts.  Poor girl doesn't know what she's missing!  Then a week of spending time visiting family and friends in Cape Town and then heading back to Tanzania.  So in effect I have four more days to get as much work done on these books as possible.  So what am I updating this blog for?  Got to go!
love
Cindy

Who said that I sweat cash?

Someone out there has told my kids a lie, and when I find them, I might fling them off the top of Table Mountain.  Seriously, I do not sweat cash.  It does not come out of my pores or other body orifices.  It comes out of my bank account, which is currently breathing heavily and sweating profusely.  My kids seem to believe that I sweat cash.  This is obviously a nasty rumour started by somebody out to get me.  Let's go and see a movie - IT COSTS MONEY!  Which restaurant are we eating at - IT COSTS MONEY!  And of course the classic.  "My new second-hand couch is dusty.  Let's just buy a vacuum cleaner."  Kids really have no idea, do they?  The shit we have to eat, crap we have to put up with to get our monthly paycheck which they plan to spend as rapidly as possible. 
One would think that a year living in res and going to hotel school would have taught my son how to budget and the value of money.  No way.  Looking through his bank statements, he takes on average 1-4 days to spend his monthly allowance, and then is broke for the rest of the month.  And now, he's moved into an apartment.  God help us all!  I have to say, with two daughters and a son, girls definitely are better able to budget.
It's hard to believe this holiday is nearly over and I don't really feel as if I accomplished much.  I wanted to work on my new book, read a ton of books, relax and do some school prep for the new year.  I haven't managed to do any of those, rather spending my time driving from Hermanus to Cape Town and back.  Quickly catching up with family and friends, racing around getting stuff sorted for Tony, buying some school supplies, beads for my friend Marina, never actually spending enough time in one place to accomplish anything.  In a way, I'm eagerly anticipating our trip back.  At least I'll be sitting still in the driver's seat.
Next week I've promised myself a week of writing and reading.  No rushing anywhere.  I've already ransacked the store with all our boxes and got a car full of stuff to bring back to Tanzania.  At least, we'll have more of our clothes.  Wearing the same things every third day wore the clothes down completely.  Although Tony's apartment is set up, he still wants to stay with me until his classes start.  He obviously doesn't realise that the money sweating mechanism has been turned off permanently due to a malfunction from over-use.  It basically burnt out.
We'll be leaving here the 16th or so of July.  The plan is to drive to Bloemfontein, then Johannesburg, Messina, Beit Bridge into Zimbabwe.  Go to Masvingo and check out the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, up to Kariba, cross into Zambia, then cross into Malawi, along the lake, then into Tanzania and then home.  I reckon the whole trip should take about ten days.  We'll probably stay at more budget type places this time around, because of a greatly depleted cash supply  Any donations from a caring public would be welcome!
Have a great weekend! 
luv
Cindy

Now I have no excuses!

As I come to the end of a very busy unholidayish holiday, I realise that I have not blogged since I landed back in South Africa. I have no acceptable excuse. Please queue up on the left to beat me.
This holiday has been very eventful and I have not managed to see everybody I wanted to, or do all the things I wanted to. It has been a little frustrating. What has been even more frustrating, is how little writing I have managed to do. It seems like I've been rushing off to Cape Town for the long list of medical check-ups I required, and then rushing back to Hermanus to try and get as many things done as possible for my Mom's Hermanus Rainbow Trust. All available funds has gone onto getting Tony all set up in Res at the Hotel School. Hopefully, he'll soon learn the value of money, as he's been tapping me for money every single week.
All my medical check-ups have gone okay, gynaecologist said I am far from menopause which was very sad news as I've been praying each month that it'll arrive. I rather fancy having hot flashes. He was very nice with a great sense of humour, which he needed after making me sit in his waiting room for 45 minutes clutching my urine specimen bottle which rapidly cooled down in my hot little hand. Nowehere to put it, so I couldn't even read a magazine! The physician was great as well, and has now put me on blood pressure meds and a special diet. the urologist reckons I have an irritable bladder which is what is causing the inflammation, so now I have to retrain my bladder by not going to the toilet when I need to, and rather doing the dance of pain and suffering as I clamp my legs shut and try and encourage my bladder to hold out. I'm not too sure how I'll stop the Niagara Falls in mid flow to practice clamping my muscles either. Oh well, guess I'll have fun trying! He also put me on a special diet, so I have to avoid any food or drink which irritates the bladder. There is such a long list of stuff I can't have. All that's left is a piece of steamed fish and a lettuce leaf!
As regards the Hermanus Rainbow Trust, I've managed to make a brochure, a movie, a website and run workshops for the Grade R teachers about planning and assessment. I really feel that when I finish my next job, I need to move back full time to help the Trust.
I managed to work quite a bit on The Case of Billy B, but not as much as I had hoped. Not nearly as much as I'd hoped. Never got to watch all the movies and series I brought along to watch either, or read the books.....ahhhhhh, time is the killer for me. There are definitely just not enough hours in the day. I'm still hoping to have The Case of Billy B and Toxic Weeds out before the end of the year! I'm going to have to work on them until the early hours every night. I haven't had a chance to do much writing on Hubpages either.
Somehow I also managed to sort through my shipment which arrived intact and unscathed from China. Julian's terracotta warriors remained in one piece. I've given all the boxes going to Moshi to the airfreight people. Reminds me, the buggers still have not sent me the invoice, must get onto them about that. Now, tonight have to do all our final suitcase packing. Luckily, have cut down so much, that I think Siobhan and I will manage okay without Tony as our packhorse. SAA only give us 20kg each to get from Cape Town to Johannesburg. But Kenya Airways gives us 30kg each to get from Johannesburg to Moshi. Now I ask you, isn't that ridiculous? I phoned SAA and they laughed at me and said thems the rules and suggested I go wild shopping at the duty free in Johannesburg to make up the extra allowance. Jeez, what a sense of humour!
Had quite a few games of scrabble with the folks and think that I'll be leaving here the scrabble champion. I plan on only returning in 18 months time, but members of my family have already bought books and maps of Tanzania, so think they'll be visiting, which is cool. Got to rush off to the website people and see if we can upload the website from the macbook onto the windows server.
luvya
Cindy