Just some catching up....

It's been ages since I was here! What's been going on in my life lately... Mmmm



Shannon entered the Dros Kidz Super Star competition through her school. She competed in the first round against 10 other kids from Woodhill on Monday 23 Feb. She was one of the 6 chosen to go through to the next round where they will compete against another school for 1 place in the Gauteng Regionals. So it's off to the Dros in Menlyn again on Monday 9 Feb. {Holding thumbs and praying she gets thru to the regionals- it'll be so fantastic!!} The regionals will be on 16 March at Dros Midrand and then the National Finals are on 1 April at the Silverlakes Dros. Maybe it's a good sign that the finals are actually on my 40th birthday! There is so much talent out there that it's going to be tough, but just the experience of entering a big competition is great for her anyway.



I just wish she studied to pass Grade 6 as well as she sailed through learning her next set of lyrics! Grrrrr - I feel lately as though I need to pass Grade 6 {and Grade 2 for that matter} all over again. I have summarised, asked questions and find myself repeating the HSS or Natural Science to myself as I'm falling asleep! But Shannon- I bet the little diva is dreaming of her next performance as she drifts off!



Reece luckily hasn't got to the stage where he needs help with serious studying. He has weekly spelling words which are tested each Friday. {And that's enough!!} I'm hoping that by the time he needs help in Grade 4 with his tests that Shannon is well into High School & no longer needs help! I'm really tired of studying - but I guess you've gathered that by now!



I hosted Bookclub at home this morning. Can't say I was in the mood, but in the end it was fun seeing everyone and chatting about everything & nothing. At least this month it wasn't just Rozanne, Belinda & I - there were actually 8 of us! I have been reading The Venetian (something or other- I forget the name) by Steve Berry. Quite interesting with loads of historical references to Alexander The Great - pretty much akin to The DaVinci Code - with a fairly complicated storyline that has many twists and turns. I have kept out 2 other books which are a lot lighter & should hold up to the many interruptions by kids, husband etc that I seem to be subjected to every time I pick up a book to read.



Still toying with the idea of my 40th Birthday this year. Do I let it slip by quietly or do I have a nice big bash with great 80's music & pretty decor, great food and my close friends? The second option really sounds more fun than ignoring the event completely....we'll have to decide soon as time is ticking by. {tick....tick....tick....}



Ooh- I recently won a $10 gift certificate from Weeds & Wildflowers for the Blog weekly challenge {every Monday} for last week- I did a Valentine's themed layout for it- take a peek by looking at my Scrapbook slideshow- it's called "Always my Valentine" - I had fun doing this one {especially since I can go shopping now for more digi stuff!}



Oh -$*^%$(&^)&^ - 'scuse the &^%(&^%&, but my mouse won't work!!!! If it's not one thing, it's another.... Salt chlorinator in the pool; internet connection; whole computer bombed; central vacuum system won't suck in any air; irrigation system need the valves repaired; oh, and before all that, the electric gate wouldn't work for a couple of days until we discovered that Leon had switched it off when he switched the pool off when the chlorinator stopped working!

So now that I need to use my arrow keys to navigate here, I think I'm simply going to call it a night and rather go read my book before going to sleep! G'night...



Okay - I'll go now once I figure out how to get down to the 'Publish' button without a mouse!

Hey- I'm back!! At last!!!

It has now officially been close to 2 weeks without my computer!! I missed being able to do my Project 365 layouts and I desperately needed to download some lyrics for Shannon so she can practise her singing, but other than that (besides blogging), I managed to do without this little machine.
I have to admit I was a little stressed (okay, a lot!) over my 25GB-odd of photos which were in my harddrive which crashed shortly after my internet connection was repaired. Fortunately my photos were all OK and I have learned my lesson- I start the arduous task of backing up everything, and I mean EVERYTHING tomorrow!
Thanks to a friend of mine, Dylan, he managed to salvage my computer and all it's precious cargo and this ship is sailing once more! Well off to go ask Shannon questions on her Geography for the test tomorrow - will catch up soon on news of the past 2 weeks......

Yay! Internet is back and running again!! Leon thinks it's wonderful when I can't go online, but I really rely on the net for so many things. Simple things like looking up something for Shannon's homework, or paying for our holiday accommodation; everyday things which are made so much more convenient with the internet. Of course I also use the internet to feed my {addiction} to digital scrapbooking {and blogging!}.

Here's my latest Life 365 layout-

I'm really loving this project (did I mention that before?). Well it's true, I feel as though I have got something accomplished. Each week as I finish my layout, I am thrilled to see I am actually keeping up! (Which is something I rarely do!). How many times I have actually started off with something and never completed it - I have lost count. Well this time, I'm going to keep at it - and so long as there aren't too many interferences along the way, I'll be finishing off my weekly layout on time!

Speaking of interferences, the new Weekly Blog challenge at Weeds & Wildflowers is to scrap something which has interfered with taking your daily photo. Something beyond your control which has thrown you a curve ball and disrupted your life, even if to a small extent. I love this challenge as life is not always perfect, does not always go according to plan, and this only helps one to deal with those everyday hurdles.