Off to Durbs

Just a quickie to let you know we're going to Durban today for the weekend. I'll definitely keep you updated on what harpoons. Keep praying ok?

A Policeman named Speedy Gonzales

So I asked you all to pray for God to open the doors for police clearance to come through quickly? Are you ready for this? Last night I got an sms from a friend who knows someone who works in the Police Criminal Records Department. They can fast-track the Police Clearance for Robin and I, and what should take 8 - 12 weeks will now only take one week! Praise God! Need I say more? I am just totally astounded by His interventions for us. Wow.

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Speechless I am.
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Wow.
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Keep praying and praising with us ok?

Fast track

Today we are fasting. (I was dead nervous about fasting, what with my insatiable desire to eat all day and all... I am totally addicted to food. I couldn't live without it! hehe. But it's going way better than I thought it would. We're having a fruit fast - in other words we abstain from all food except fruit and nuts. Much easier. Especially if you have P.C.O.S. and your blood sugar is unstable. Ask me about it!)

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I must tell you about something that made the hairs on my teeth stand on end. God is leading is such amazing ways! I shouldn't be surprised though, because He is GOD, after all... and yet, this enormous, incredible, awe-inspiring God, that very same One, He is listening to our prayers and answering! Wow. It really humbles me.

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So anyway. I have this friend. Her name is Stephné and we are like peas and carrots. We look different, but we are both vegetables so similar in many many ways. Both studied art and graphics. Both love men who are outdoorsy. Both are musical. Both are beautiful. Just kidding. She's beautiful, I'm hillbilly-like. But, it's in our personalities that most of the similarities lie. You know how sometimes two people are just totally on the same frequency? Well, that's me and Steph. Uh, Steph and I. You know what I mean. So, Steph has been praying with us about Maybe Baby. Yesterday morning I was impressed with 1st Samuel chapter 2 v 6, after I'd read the first two chapters of 1st Samuel. And so I blogged about it, and emailed my friends who don't read my blog regularly. Steph immediately responded with this email:-

Hi Rob & Char,

Thank you for sharing your prayers, hopes, desires and dreams with us we are pleased that we can be a part of your "Prayer Warriors" group of close friends as we regard you the same way. I find it so interesting that this morning, I committed to making a very serious effort with morning devotions and am happy to report that by the Lord's strength and support alone I was able to get up at 5am and spend time in reading and prayer, the passage I read was 1 Samuel 1 & 2 and I too paused on the verses you have taken courage from; isn't that cool?! We will certainly remember you in our daily prayers and will fast with you on Wednesday too.

Lots of love
Steph

Wow, the hairs on my teeth all stood up in neat little rows when I read that. She was impressed to read the very same passage as I was. OK, to you maybe that would just seem like coincidence. I just believe that God is comforting me and reassuring me that He really is guiding. And that the verse is pertinent to what He wants me to know right now. And that is that He is the Giver of Life. He is Life. And I need to trust Him. And to trust Him with the Life He will provide.

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This morning Steph sent me this sms (text message):-

Thank You Father that You will bless this woman with endless treasures (Isaiah 2) and never allow her to fall (Psalm 66). Meet all her needs according to Your riches (Philippians 4) and reveal to her Your secret (Colossians 2) and Your endless love for her. Spoil her and make her feel special. Thinking of you both today. Love Steph.

What amazing friends we have! I am so blessed.

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Incidentally, there's one more thing we need you to add to your prayer list. We need to get police clearance for the adoption proceedings. And, since Robin and I hijacked a bus a few months ago and robbed a few banks and have been running from the law ever since, that's going to be a bit challenging. Just kidding. Oh what a kidder I am. OK OK, before you all start sighing and disappear for good, the challenge is this - police clearance in South Africa takes between two and three months to come through. Which means that this Maybe Baby in Durban will already have been born and given to another family by then. Please pray with us for a miracle, and that the police clearance will come through almost immediately. "With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." Matthew 19 v 26

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I'm sorry if this blog has become a bit stuck-record-like. I don't know when this blog will resume it's normal frivolous chit-chat. For now, it's all about the Maybe Baby(s).

Maybe Baby update again

Robin and I went to visit Maybe Baby (number 1 - yes, there is more than one now!) at the baby shelter in Johannesburg on Thursday. She is a beautiful four-week-old little girl, named Angel (surname withheld for privacy). It was heartwrenching to see this little girl, wrapped in blankets and lying in a crib, knowing that her birthmom doesn't really care what happens with her. The ladies who work at the shelter told us that it's very likely that Angel has HIV. She is also a crack-baby and is in the throes of detox right now. It is heartbreaking. Robin and I have taken a decision that we will not adopt if the baby has HIV. What a horrible decision to take. But, honestly, we don't have the financial ability to care for a baby with such special needs. Anti-retroviral treatments cost an arm and a leg. And we would just shrivel up and die if she were to die shortly after we grow to love her. But we made some good contacts while we were there and left feeling like even if this baby doesn't become ours, things will still work out fine for us.

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It's so weird to sit here writing about something that moved us so much, only to have it sound so shallow and arbitrary when I read over it!

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And then, also last week, I heard about a local teenaged girl who is pregnant and whose family are dirt poor and cannot afford to keep the baby. And then to add fuel to the fire of their decision, the little girl went for a scan and found out that she is pregnant with twins. So, there is another possibility. Remote possibility, but a possibility nonetheless. So, that's Maybe Babies numbers 2 and 3.

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Maybe Baby number 4 we found out about from a friend of ours in Durban who counsels teenagers in crisis. She let us know about a girl in Durban, who is looking for a family for her child. Together, Lesley and her social worker have already turned down a few families because they aren't Christians, and she specifically wants her baby to be adopted by a Christian family. Hello! Pick meeeeee! The baby is due to be born in a few weeks time, so time is VERY short. As you all know, the adoptive process is a very long and complicated story, with all sorts of red tape, etc. So, our chances for this little baby are very slim. But somehow in our hearts, this is the baby we feel most drawn towards. Maybe it's because we know the lady counselling the mom.

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The stumbling block in the works for us, though, was that we couldn't get hold of a social worker who was willing to even write down our names. So, we spent the better part of this past weekend sharing our burden with our friends and praying about it together. Yesterday we started praying specifically that God would reveal His will to us and help us to know what to do next. Because all of our efforts to find a social worker to help us, resulted in zip.

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This morning I got an impression to phone Debbie (the private social worker in Durban, whom I'd been unable to contact up until today) right away, so I did. And she answered!!! Halelujah! She has agreed to take on our case and we will be meeting with her next Tuesday morning in Durban! I can't even begin to tell you what a miracle this is for me. What might seem insignificant to you, and easy-peasy in the big scheme of things, had been an enormous challenge for us. We were beginning to believe that it may not be in God's plan for us to EVER have children - even adopted ones. But God has OPENED this door for us! I can't even begin telling you what a huge relief it is to have tried Debbie's number this morning and to have actually gotten a reply on my very first attempt today, after WEEKS and WEEKS of trying to find a social worker and getting no reply from anyone!
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Surely God is leading in this? Surely God always has His finger in our pies - and surely He will show us the right way to proceed! Even if the answer is no. I am trying my best to be attentive to His voice, and asking Him to make His will mine. And not the other way round. For too long I have been afraid to say "Your Will be done, Lord" for fear that it might be contrary to mine. How selfish is that? But, finally, we are seeing a light at the end of this dark tunnel, albeit a very small, flickery one.
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We would like to ask you to join us in praying for God The Father's guidance in this, our most precious heart's desire - our pursuit of parentdom. And our longing to love a child and to have one (preferably more) to call our own.
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There are a few specific things we are asking for:-
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1. The RIGHT social worker (hopefully that's Debbie!)

2. The RIGHT baby (or babies)
3. The RIGHT timing - His timing in answering our prayers
4. For God to reveal His will to us, and to help us accept it, no matter what that might be
5. For a PRIVATE adoption. Preferably for a family to choose us as the parents of their child.
6. For all of this to happen as speedily as possible, even though we've asked for number 3 also.
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That last request probably seems silly - but we feel as if we've been floundering, and would really like to ask God to take into consideration our impatience! haha. Even if we didn't ask Him to hurry up, He would know we were thinking it anyway. And we can hide nothing from Him. So, we're asking for HIS timing - and to help us be ok with it. Basically that's what it comes down to.

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I also want to share with you a verse that was greatly comforting to me when I discovered it. It is found in the prayer that Hannah prayed as thanks when she fell pregnant with Samuel in 1st Samuel, chapter 2 and specifically verse 6:-

"The LORD brings death and makes alive;

He brings down to the grave and raises up."

(It sounded a whole lot better in my paraphrase Bible this morning, but I never brought my nifty paraphrased version with me to work this morning... but anyway,) in other words, God is the giver of life. He holds life in His hands. He decides. And He will give life (or a child) when He sees fit. I am learning to trust Him again. I am learning to wait. And I'm trying to do so patiently, without questioning His "delay" in my eyes. His timing is PERFECT. Even though I've been asking Him to hurry up.
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So, will you please lift us up to the Saviour in prayer this week?
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Our friends will be praying with us every day from 06h30 - 07h00 in the morning. Robin and I and a handfull of close friends will be fasting on Wednesday too. If you would like to join us in fasting, we would really appreciate it. We are often reminded in the Bible of God intervening when His people fast and pray.

• "So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer." Ezra 8 v 23
• "...with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust." Acts 14 v 23

Will you do the same for us? Commit us to the Lord, and put your trust in Him?

Gone for the weekend

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be gone until Tuesday next week! We are going camping with all our friends (most of them, at least) to Heidelburg (about 45 minutes from Johannesburg). Yeah baby! We're hoping to go and visit Maybe Baby tomorrow while we're there and to make contact with a Private Social Worker. Yay! So exciting!

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So anyway, here's wishing you all a Happy Easter. Chat soon with all the news, on Tuesday. Hopefully we'll have some good news to share with you. Or at least a step in the right direction!

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Something to think about over Easter weekend:

1 cross

+ 3 nails

= 4 given

Rainy Daze

It's been raining for four days. A steady, clean-washing, soaking-in kind of rain. The kind that makes you wish for a cuddly blanket, a cat on your lap, socks on your feet and a good book to read. And a stack of pancakes. The kind that makes you nostalgic for places you've never been. Romantic, misty places where magical things happen.
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It's also the kind that turns your driveway into mush.

And makes you get stuck in the mud on your way to work.

The kind that requires someone to come and tow you out.

And have a good laugh at your expense.

And make you late for work.

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And make you wish that you could rather be at home, on your denim couch, with a blankie, a few cats, socks on your feet, a good book and a stack of pancakes.

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And that's about all I have to say about that.

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That and, oh where oh where is a sick note when you need one?

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PS. Your comments to my post on Friday made me cry my eyes out. Of course, at that stage it didn't take much to make me cry, already. With me being such a sop and all. But really, you guys are so thoughtful and kind. Words fail me. Thanks so much!

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Incidentally, when I was worshiping this morning, I asked God what it was that He wanted me to do. Was there something He wanted me to do. Or should I just wait on Him. The answer came through immediately and clearly: Just TRUST Me.

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So that's what I'm going to try my very best to do. Wait on Him. Trust Him. Stop doubting His plan for me. And along the way, stop being miserable. If possible. And with God, ALL things are possible, right?

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Many of your comments said exactly that, when I read between the lines. I think God's trying to tell me something. And I'm going to be listening.

Finding beauty in unexpected places

We are struggling to hold up our heads at the moment. Robin especially. He is heartbroken that it seems our quest to find a social worker to do a home study for us isn't yielding any results. Social workers are just so overworked. They shudder at taking on yet another couple - especially when you live in the sticks. Three hours from the nearest city. There are three social workers in Dundee, but do you think any of them are even available telephonically? Nope.

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I guess I wasn't expecting to get immediate results - or maybe I've hardened my thick skin enough that I am not nearly as disappointed as Robin at this stage. Maybe I'm not really expecting a good outcome. Either way, I'm nowhere near as depressed as my hubby.

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What does eat at me though is - when Robin's hurting or angry about the situation, I struggle to distance myself from playing the Blame Game with myself. You know how it goes. If it wasn't for me, he'd have been a father already. I wonder if he's angry at me for denying him the chance to be a father? I wonder if he'd prefer to be with someone else? Maybe he wants to leave me? Maybe he's waiting for me to do something wrong so that he can... Ugh. Awful. And that's what's got my head hanging. It's my stupid body's fault that I can't have babies. Not his.

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And that makes it very very hard to be ok, when he's not.

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Because even though my head says "stop being ridiculous"... my heart is breaking. For my hubby. For me too. But even more because of how I've let my hubby down.
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And so I spend my days searching for beauty and things to make me smile. This email brought me a huge smile this morning. And also a few tears.

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In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops?

(The pics in the email have a 2004 date stamp, so I guess it's a very old story. This was the first time I read it.)

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I wonder if there are a few "piggies" out there for me somewhere?

Maybe Baby update

OK, so here's what I know about Maybe Baby. The families who adopted her siblings get first option on whether or not they would like to adopt her, to keep the siblings together. Which is only right. But this puts us in the queue. And we have been there, done that before - and it usually means that we don't stand a chance. However, being in the queue is better than not being in the queue. So, I'll take my space in the line, thank you very much.

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The courtcase to officially remove custody from the mother is only at the end of April. In the meantime the baby is in a safehouse in Johannesburg somewhere.

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The only reason why we were included in the possible families, was because my friend Riana knows someone who works at the safehouse. And she asked Riana if her friends were still interested in adoption. And she said YES! and that's how the story began. We can go and visit the baby anytime we want.

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The reason we haven't gone yet, is because we've been trying to get a few ducks in a row on our side. We really want to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed, so to speak. And so we've been contacting social workers etc.

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Even if this Maybe Baby doesn't come through for us, at least we will have had our Home Study completed and (hopefully!) approval granted for any future possibilities.

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So, that's what I know right now. As I find out more, you'll know more.

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Of course, I would have loved to have hopped into our vehicle and driven there on the spot to go and visit. Call me cautious, rather than optimistic. I'm dead scared of falling in love with that little girl and not being able to keep her...

Huge Happenings

There is so much going on here right now, and I really don't know if I should tell you about it. Ah, what the heck. Why not? We all know that I'm about as good at keeping things from y'all as I am at making babies.

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OK, so there is another Maybe Baby looking for a home. She is a 4week old little girl. The third child to be removed from one mother. I don't know any details right now. Which is probably better. I am a mix of emotions. Trying my very best not to Hope. But praying like a banshee! The social workers have said that we can come and visit the little girl already. Oh my heart! Only thing is the baby is in Johannesburg (about four hours drive from us here in Dundee). So, Robin and I are thinking of taking a few days off from work and driving up to go and visit.

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Oh my.

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I can't afford to Hope. Please pray with us about this. As always, we would do anything to have this baby. As in ANY. Thing. My friend, Riana, is going to visit the baby today for me.

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Processes in South Africa are so very frustrating and unique. Adoption in this country poses a multitude of huge boulders to clamber over. If at all you are even considered as adoptive parents, the adoption could fall through at any given moment depending on which person happens to be behind the counter at the time the papers are submitted.

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Of course, I'm skipping way ahead already. We are nowhere near that stage yet. First things first. Let's pray. OK? Of course if we are given the opportunity we will grab the baby and run. But it's not that simple in this country.

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So, we could use ALL the prayers we could possibly get!

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Oh my word.

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My heart's pounding.

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And just as well my hubby set up a nifty studio for me, because I spent most of last night glued to the canvass trying to keep busy and not dwell on this Maybe Baby. Here's my progress so far. Nowhere near finished yet. But I'm having so much fun!

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I love the art deco style - especially artists like Tamara de Lempicka. The very thickly made-up women with crisp curls and flamboyant outfits reminiscent of the thirties era. So I'm going to paint a few in that vein. Need to keep busy! And some extra dosh in my pocket wouldn't hurt either! c",) Hey - maybe I could auction them on my blog? Woot woot!

Inspiration

Just look what my awesome gorgeous and sexy hubby did for me! Now tell me how I couldn't be inspired with this waiting for me at home. I'm so excited I can barely stop fidgeting in expectation! Yay! A few blank canvases and a whole SHELF FULL of paints waiting for me! Woot woot! I have my very own art studio!

P.S. I'm so glad I nabbed my hubby before someone else did!

Crazy Sexy and Things That Bite At Night

Well, what a good, solid navel-gazing session that was on Friday. Let's hope we don't go there for a long time again. (I just know you're all breathing huge sighs of relief right now - YAY! no more infertility issues for a while! It just might be safe to return to Char's blog!) I so hear you. And I agree. But I must tell you, I feel SO MUCH better for having vented a bit. And thanks for all the awesome comments you left me. I only read them a little while ago - I didn't trust myself to check my emails or my blog for a few days.

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But what a swift kick up my derrière I got when I watched Oprah on the weekend and realized what an enormous ungrateful sop I am really... I usually record all of the shows during the week, then sit down at some stage and do some catching up while the dirty dishes attract flies and cockroaches stacked in the kitchen sink. So I snuggled into my favourite couch with a cuppa and pressed play on my nifty pvr (I think some of you called that teevo?). The show was called Dr Oz: A Special Report on Death. I know - just makes you wanna go out and buy a copy of the show, huh? But seriously - if I watched that show once this weekend, I watched it fifty-two times. Dr Oz interviewed a lady named Kris Carr and I was bowled away by her exuberance and total passion for life. And get this - she is diagnosed with stage four cancer. Since she was diagnosed, she has created the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer for TLC. And then went on to write the book Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips. What an AMAZING woman! I just couldn't get past something that she said when Dr Oz interviewed her for Oprah...

"I think that life is just too sweet to be bitter," she says. "Once I was able to change my focus, desperation led to inspiration. Once I was able to do that, I looked around me. I made so many changes and I thought, 'This is an awesome life. I mean, honestly, I don't think anybody has a better life than me. When people ask me 'How do you live your life with the knowledge of cancer?' I say 'I might not ever be able to get rid of it, but I can't let that ruin my life.'"

Hello. Wow. What a paradigm shift. The Oprah website says:-

Kris says the way she has reacted to her cancer is the way everyone should evaluate their lives. "I think just go for it. Life is a terminal condition. We're all going to die," she says. "Cancer patients might have more information, but we all, in some ways, wait for that great permission to live."

I am so going to buy her book. I could use some of her enthusiasm! And would you know it - she blogs! Could she get more perfect? I wonder if she'd like to be my new best friend for ever?

Seriously. I mean - she has CANCER! I'm not even dying and I was moping about so much that I wouldn't have objected if I'd known my funeral was imminent. I have to stop moping. There is so much to LIVE for. Life is worth living. Not just existing.

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I choose to be a tigger, not an eeyore. (Quote: Randy Pausch, the other interviewee on that show that day. Click on the link to watch the awesome talk he gave.)

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Before I go and try to make friends with Kris leave a comment on Kris's blog, I just have to tell you about my going-to-bed incident last night. I did my usual pre-bedtime routine (I'm a creature of habit, y'all) then as I was pulling apart my bed (continental cushions, spare pillows, quilt, etc.) I heard the strangest crackling sound. It sounded like static electricity. Mmmm... wonder what could be making that sound? Continued pulling pillows off the bed. Then, as I was removing my extra pillows I heard the sound again. And guess what it was? An ENORMOUS spider web from my pillow to the bedside table. Oh my word! And, where there be spider webs, there be... yip: Those Icky Leggy Things That Bite At Night. And leave enormous welts all over your body. More than once. Out came the trusty DOOM spray, and I proceeded to fumigate everything. Which apparently causes said Icky Leggy Things That Bite At Night to come out of their hiding places. But not die.

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I had to photograph it, because you wouldn't have believed me if I had to tell you how big this thing was. Behold the Bugg(er).

And you wonder why I have trouble sleeping! Grrr... Gives me the hippy creapies just thinking about it!

Body shopping

Warning: infertility issues again.

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They're stalking me again. The preggos. Everywhere I turn there is another bulging belly. Big, round, bulging bellies. Everywhere. Even on my favourite teevee shows. It seems I just can't escape this fertile planet. I feel like an alien. Like the only defective species roaming the corridors of a very lush, fertile paradise. Just when I think I've escaped to a place of safety, I get another email. Another pregnancy announcement. Another invitation to another stork party of another person who "fell pregnant when they weren't even trying". I'm sick of it.

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And I'm trying SOOO hard not to be jealous. Or angry. Not to mention bitter and resentful. Those are all the things that I don't want in my cup. And yet my cup overfloweth. In a bad way.

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Last night I sat through an episode of Private Practice where babies were being born left right and centre. Screaming, angry women bemoaning their pregnancies. And then immediately after that was Desperate Housewives, where Bree's daughter gives birth.

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Can't I even escape to my little teevee world where I can watch my shows and not have to wonder what Robin's thinking while he watches with me???

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I am tired. Tired of having to be ok with it all the time. Tired of there not being an escape. I want to escape. I don't want to have to face my infertility every day. I don't want to have to think about how I've let my hubby down. I don't want to have to smile and ooh and ahh and be happy for others anymore, when all I'm really feeling in that moment is anger and hurt.

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I want to be able to really be happy for them.

I want to be browse through shops without avoiding the baby aisle.

I want to be able to feel like a wife should feel. Like I've been a part of my hubby fulfilling his dreams. Not denying him the very thing he's always wanted more than anything else.

I want to be able to talk with my friends about their children. And actually have something to contribute.

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I just don't want this anymore. This barren body I'm stuck in.

I don't like this body much anymore. (Apart from the boobs, that is.)

And I can't get rid of it.

It follows me wherever I go.

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If anyone knows of someone with a body going on special, let me know please. I'll be the highest bidder. It just better be one that can pop real live healthy babies. Or else I'll be asking for a refund on that one too.

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Found this article online - written by a physician to fellow physicians, addressing the psychological impact of infertility on their patients and how they should address their patients facing these challenges. I might as well have written it myself. It is that accurate.

Bizzi-ness

Sjoe! It's just madness here right now. We have 114 children here at the Bush Camp today, learning First Aid. So, this is a quickie just to say hello and to let you know I haven't absconded.

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I leave you with this pic of my man. Because I just love him. And because you can all do with some eye candy in the middle of your week, I'm sure.

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Porcu-pology

I have to apologize. Apparently I was grossly mistaken. Or, more accurately, the "ignorant idiotic farmer" was mistaken. haha! I got an sms (I think some of you call that text message) from one of my best friends (Joey) last night, who is an AVID animal lover. And I MEAN animal lover. As in - she practically has a second home on the Kruger National Park's front doorstep and spends as much time as possible driving around the park looking for animals. And when she can't be there, she's watching dvd's at home about things like... oh, I don't know... ants. And elephants. And anything else that might possibly be alive somewhere in a game farm somewhere. In other words, she knows her stuff.

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So the sms reads as follows:-

Just read your blog. So glad that you are ok after the scare with the porcupine BUT HORRIFIED to hear you say that porcupines are a pest!! There is critical concern over porcupine numbers! That is why caracals and wilddogs are endangered - because of ignorant idiotic farmers.

Now, in order to understand why this sms was totally hilarious to me, you have to know that Joey and I have a LONGstanding joke about what a bunny hugger she is compared to me. She thinks spending a year in the bush with nothing but binoculars would be heaven on earth. And me? Pure torture. Seriously. I love animals. I really do. From a distance. Unless it's a cat. Then I love it up close too. But please don't leave me in the bush somewhere to do birdwatching. Or driving up and down looking for tortoises. Or elephants. And can somebody please explain to me how something THAT enormous can hide away so easily?

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So anyway, I just had to let you know that you better not dash off into the bush on a porcupine safari anytime soon. There are not hundreds of them lurking behind every blade of grass anymore.

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Sad but true.

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And now I will refrain from talking about That Spiky Thing again.

Because it's still a bit of a prickly subject. c",)

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Oh and about the zebras. Yes, we see zebra pretty much every day here. But only because our neighbour has a herd of them on his farm. They don't roam around the countryside. Unfortunately. But we've become so used to seeing them that we hardly bat an eyelash in their direction. Robin calls them donkeys in pyjamas!

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One last word about That Spiky Thing... This is his cousin, the humble hedgehog:-

(One of my favourite ads on our tee vee here in South Africa.)

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Blogaversary!

Hey, I just realized that it was my One Year Blogaversary this past Saturday! Never one to pass up an opportunity for a celebratory slice of cake and a cuppa I don't know how I let that pass me by without my noticing?
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Never fear. It's never too late for a belated blogaversary birthday bite...
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And you know, I don't need much of an excuse for a wedge. Or three.
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Happy Birthday to meeee my blog.
What would I do without you?

Porcu-pickup

It was when we were on our way home from town last night, after dinner together with friends at The Spur. It was already dark. Travelling a good 100km's per hour (approx 62 miles per hour) on the open farm road. Suddenly an enormous (and I mean enormous!) porcupine ran out in front of the bakkie*. Robin did his best to avoid it. But apparently porcupines always chase the light and actually made an about turn in it's tracks and chased after us. Robin jammed on the brakes, and the vehicle skidded off the side of the road, hitting the porcupine in the process.

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This morning Robin and I climbed into the bakkie to go and see if the porcupine was still there. I took some pics.

This is the road out to our farm:-

(That's Robin standing on the side of the road,

and see the skidmarks on the road where we

went careening off the road)

Incidentally, South Africans drive on the LEFT side of the road, so we had already

hopped lanes to get out of the porcupine's way, before we started skidding.

Close-up of the skidmarks:-

And then we found the porcupine...

.

It was still alive. I am so sad. I wish that it had died on impact. It makes me heartsore to think that it might have been suffering there all night. We went to the farmer on whose farm we found it, and told him about the little guy. He said he would send his workers there to "take care of it". I don't really want to think about what that means. As long as it isn't suffering anymore I'll be happy.

.

But now, look at our tyre:-

Ish! And we were broke already this month to begin with, without still having to replace our two front tyres.

It was quite a bad night for "animal things" though, because after we'd hit the porcupine we got home and there came Cassidy running with a bird in her mouth. And the bird was still chirping. Grrrreat.

At least this morning we feel a bit better after having spoken to the farmer (our neighbour) who told us that the porcupines are actually real pests in these parts. And that there are hundreds of them around the farm. But I still feel sad for the poor little (BIG!) guy that we hit.

Enough about the porcupine though.

As we were driving out of our neighbour's farm, we were bombarded by his herd of cows. They closed around the bakkie and gave us a whole earful. And when we kept inching forward to get to work, they put on a bit of a "peepshow" for us. Let's just say we now know a bit about the birds and the bees. And the um, cows. Mooooove over Hugh Heffner. You got nothing on these guys.

And then, we saw these beautiful guys.

There was a little baby zebra with them too, but by the time I got my camer out, he'd already trotted off into the veld and we couldn't see him anymore.

---

*Bakkie = South African for pick-up truck; pronounced buck + ee

Sicko hubby

Turns out the poor dear hubby actually has tick bite fever. As in headachey, shivery, shakey, dilerious, sweaty, feverish, sick sick sick man. Who even looks cute when he's a sicko.
My poor man.
I wonder if this means I can hog the remote? Just kidding.
He probably won't even feel like watching teevee.
Yes!!! America's Got Talent, here I come.