Wednesday 29 July 2009

Life is Bliss...

Well truthfully life is sucking a bit at the moment...but the bliss part is that Mercy is back! Woo Hoo!! Yesterday I felt like a new woman (her first day back) as I had all those extra hours back in my day & could actually wake up, get up, get ready and LEAVE, without having to go via, via...cleaning & tidying up first. Phew! So glad that long haul is over. Yes I can do it, but no, I'd rather not - given the choice - and it's one thing we DO have a choice on here in Africa...

Actually I have had a headache almost 5 days now...I have taken almost an entire container of Grandpas to little lasting effect. I don't suffer from migraines but I do get headaches. Sometimes more often than others & sometimes they go on...It has been a very busy week for me. I have had a lot of conflab & concern with regard to DH's work situation...a BIG worry...as recession is a worldwide phenomena right now, with the garment-manufacturing/supplying/textile-related industry being one of the hardest hit.

Getting "back to school" after a few weeks of holidays always takes some re-adjusting & the end of the month is the time I need to submit my 2 double layouts to Reminisce in time for their website update & newsletter. I have been designing for France for 3 months now. I always find it slightly nerve-wracking, even though she is one super cool chick, because I am not designing for myself so I am wanting to be constantly inspiring & innovative & not to disappoint. As usual she was delighted though...I always lay my pages on the table in fear & trepidation LOL. My own personal problem that...

My inbox & sent-items has piled up...despite daily attention...(obviously not enough LOL)...and I am feeling like I could do with a bit of "time-out" but I can't have any. I have my Cocoa Daisy obligations to sort out for my little kit club crew here & another online shopping venture to co-ordinate for a few of us. On the upside my teenage daughter Chelsea has finally got the "earning money" bug so is helping me for at least an hour a day, getting to grips with my scrap room & sorting things out (an ongoing task) amplified by the fact that I have little hidden storage.

We have a house & a factory up for sale (again...) in Zimbabwe (think selling ice to eskimos...) in an attempt to finally buy a home here. One with more than one geyser, more than one plug-point per room, a roof area that is not infested with rats &/or birds, and a house that is not being hollowed out by borer beetle (I could go on but I think you get the picture...) so I have been doing a bit of house-hunting. Always a morbid task here...House prices have plummeted but a habitable home here for a large family is still R3 million rand & above...so I suppose all in all the pressure of life has put a dampener on my frame of mind at the moment.

Never fear, I will get my head around it all soon & be back with something worthwhile to say...meanwhile I will daydream that I am in Paris, eating chocolate croissants for breakfast & enjoying long lunches over copious amounts of wine...


9 comments:

topkatnz said...

Hoping your headaches go soon and you can enjoy life with Mercy back. Sounds funny that you were doing housework everyday!!LOL ..... interestingly, your houseprices don't seem too different to over here, they are pretty high, esp. in consideration that our wages are so low.

Penny said...

Glad Mercy's back - at least we should have time for our cappucino now!! Hope the headaches go soon - try and clear your days of anything but the essentials for a couple of days. A bit of breathing room always seems to help me!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Yay for Mercy! She has a very fitting name..."give me Mercy!" Like the sound of it. I really you need to take time out for a while...you had a lot going with children on holiday, housework and recovering from surgery.

Stefanie said...

Wow...so much going on.
Hope Hubby's work is ok. Times are hard all over- the building/construction industry is not doing well either.
I love Paris and would happily daydream about walking the Champs Elysees again.

Jacqui said...

Well my friend you must be having a tough time if you are talking about copious amounts of wine! Not like you at all. Sorry about drama all round but glad to hear you believe there is an upside on the horizon.

Ella Swan said...

Well Heidi that IS exactly the problem we have here...Durban is notorious for paying the lowest salaries out of all the major South African cities yet our house prices here are higher than Joburg & Cape Town...go figure...Penny this coming week I have something I want to achieve - quite a major scrappy project - but I can work at it at home at a reasonable pace, so hopefully that will help...am overdue at the optician...that could be the problem...Yes Lynette I have already done a LO called "Angel of Mercy". I am glad I have resigned from Little Shop of Sketches because that was something I didn't really get anything out of...I don't use sketches, never have, never will (well never say never) so I didn't find it inspirational, just more of a bind to meet another deadline. That said, I am glad I did it. The sketches were good as far as sketches go & it is another skill I learnt, but hopefully without it I can work on other stuff that inspires me more...Stefanie I have never been to Paris ;-( but like the look & sound of it although I have heard that the people there are amongst the rudest in the world. Well I reckon the Durbanites are also very high up on that list so at least now I may handle it better LOL. Jacqui Shane also scolded me about the wine comment. FOR THE RECORD - I DO NOT DRINK COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF WINE GIRLS... I didn't really mean that literally. 2 glasses is my absolute limit & that is rarely...and as for an upside on the horizon, there is always one.

Michelle Ramsay said...

Hope your headache goes now that Mercy is back!! I won't say I will join you in Paris - been there, very rude and saw the tourist sights and don't plan on going back.

tania said...

tell me about cleaning and tidying, no MERCY in my life, but I learnt to live without her:)So will we see your latest work of art? Ag, we should all just focus on the birght side of life, know it is sometimes difficult, but things fall into place eventually;) GOOD LUCK

Ella Swan said...

Thanks for your concern! Turns out my long-standing headache could well be the fact that my glasses prescription has changed quite radically since my last eye-test 20 months ago, so I have new glasses on order...mmm Michelle you have shattered my romantic dreams of Paris but it is also the thing I love about blogging - you get to change your perceptions on places based on what you learn from others - Tania...no Mercy would be a tough life...I could do it but it's definitely preferable having help. The downside of being an African is that your family is often scattered...as ours our...so, in our defence, we have NEVER had the privilege of grandparents close-by to help out at all & I think a lot of 1st world people have a relatice network for baby-sitting, etc. Thank Goodness our kids are growing up now & we have got through their childhood with never a weekend away on our own! ;-D