18 October: Fethiye to Pamukkale

We were up before 8am, showered and had breakfast at the hotel before checking out. We left our luggage at reception and hopped on the scooter. Lots of exploring today!

By chance we passed the Lycian Tombs carved into the side of the mountain (in 350BC apparently!) (we had planned to find our way to them later in the day) and then continued on our way to Kaya Koy, the nearby ghost town.

What a gorgeous ride over the mountain thru pine forests (looked like Tokai forest!) ... although we were a little nervous about our scooter's ability on the steep uphills, we managed just fine.

Kaya Koy was pretty cool. Although, again, it's all Greek houses that were abandoned after the "swap" in the 1920s. What was amazing was going into one that had been preserved. Wow!

Read a little online about the whole swap. Sounds like it was all religious #sigh. People do dumb things in the name of religion. I mean who cares what someone else believes? Why do countries even have religions anyway? Should be down to personal choice. Also weird is to think that less than 100 years ago ... how few people were probably openly atheist? Frowned upon, I imagine. I find the whole religion thing quite surreal.



Then we headed back to Fethiye. Took a bit of a ride thru more suburban bits before taking the coastal road back to the city centre.

Stopped for BK for lunch haha. And then took a stroll along the harbour side. Such a nice walk. Although I did expect more in the way of beaches.

The Trucker decided he needed a beard trim at one of the many barber shops. It is quite amazing to watch these men, such a craft really. And you can't rush them!

And then we returned our scooter and collected our bus ticket and our laundry and returned to our hotel to wait for our transfer to the bus station at 4pm.

Our bus to Denizli left at 16h30 and our itinerary said it'd be an approx 3 hour trip. But I doubt it ever is ... ours took 4.5hrs. So instead of arriving at 19h30, in time to get some dinner, we arrived at 9pm.

And then struggled to find our hotel transfer. They said sorry, no one had phoned to confirm what time :/ Urgh, so we grabbed a quick toasted sarmie at the big Denizli Bus Station and then grabbed a local bus to Pamukkale.

We arrived at our hotel around 10pm.

The Final Countdown

Morning! Shew, that was likely the "last" weekend of "Just the 2 of us". Nope she still hasn't dropped. And it didn't really go as planned ...

On Thursday night we decided to try a new (for us) restaurant in Rosebank called Hashi. We've been slacking a lot and figured we should try cram in as much "Date nighting" as we could before The Arrival. OMG it was exactly what we needed. The food was incredible. Although we both completely over indulged. If you enjoy sushi I would highly recommend it! It's not the sort of place that would end up being my local, regular sushi spot, even if it were close enough because it's expensive and the portions are large, but for a treat it is perfect!

I wish I could remember all of what we ordered but even when it arrived we couldn't tell what was what so I can't even recommend my favourite dishes. But go, try it, it was delish!

On Friday, after working from home all day, I headed to the office for a good friend's farewell and The Trucker had gone to play cricket. There was also an office braai on the go so it seemed like a good opportunity to say goodbye to people as many seemed surprised that they wouldn't be seeing me a) for a very long time (maternity leave) and b) possibly ever again (moving to Cape Town). It turned out to be quite a nice evening and good to spend some time with everyone :)

I don't know what we thought we'd be spending the rest of the weekend doing ... I had a vague notion of cramming in as much "us" time as possible ... but doing what, who knew? It didn't happen that way. There were too many last minute things that needed to be done. The Trucker has spent the last 2 weekends fixing up little things at my old house so we can put it on the market. Damp proofing and painting was last weekend. This weekend was finishing the painting and putting new counter tops in the kitchen because we'd bought a built in oven-stove to replace the stand-alone one. He had guys come in to actually do most of the work, but needed to be over there to supervise most of the time.

Also, he'd hurt his back at cricket the night before so was pretty miserable and walking hunched over like an old man when he came home around 6pm.

We did see each other earlier than that ... he managed to pop out for a bit before lunch so we could go to Baby City. Here comes a disappointing story! Remember that awesome incredible amazing Baby Monitor we bought last November at the Baby Expo? The one we were so excited about?

Well, he tried to set it up last weekend. And very sadly it doesn't do what it says on the box :( We tried to get it to connect to our home wifi: nope. We tried to get our smart phones to connect to it from the spare room (4m away, maybe?): nope. Well, it'd work for about 10 seconds and then you'd lose connection and never seem to get it back. Pretty unreliable if you're hoping to monitor an actual child of yours. Luckily I'd kept the slip and the CPA says you have 6 months to return something that doesn't work as advertised (or something). So he'd taken it in during the week to get a refund so we could get the older (working) video-sound-movement monitor instead.

They kicked up a bit of a fuss but the manager of the store got the Area Manager on the phone and they issued the refund. So on Saturday we went to get the replacement and a few other things.

More disappointing is when I was sorting thru the nursery on Sunday afternoon (this is about as close as I get to nesting, I haven't been down on my knees scrubbing floors or anything - haha), I realised that they'd also sold us the large mattress instead of the standard for our cot (after he'd asked while we were there, able to show them exactly which cot we had bought) during our previous big shop there. So we have to now return that along with the linen (all still packed and with slips, I am getting good at keeping them!). AND we have to return the baby gate we bought on Saturday's shop (I know the babe won't need it yet, but it's more for the dog at this stage ...) because when he took it out of the box to set up, it's bent and physically the lock can now not even connect :/

I am a little over Baby City right now to be honest. In our 3 big shops with them, all where we've spent over R2500, we have to go back and return something. How freaking tedious!

On Saturday evening, we took it easy at home so The Trucker could rest his back. It's still not 100% today, but definitely a bit better.

On Sunday we headed to Salvation Cafe with friends ... gotta have that breakfast if we're cramming in our favourite things to do! And they spoilt us by buying us the base for our car seat! I am so thrilled ... we tried to put the car seat in for the first time on Saturday. Trying to strap the seat belt into all the right places in no easy feat and I can't imagine it'd be easier with a baby sitting in it either! I am sure it probably gets easier with practice, but now I, at least, won't have to worry.

From there is was grocery shopping and then home for a relaxing afternoon - The Trucker very much needed to rest!

Prayer for the Dead by James Oswald

The search for a missing journalist is called off as a body is found at the scene of a carefully staged murder.

In a sealed chamber, deep in the heart of Gilmerton Cove, a mysterious network of caves and passages sprawling beneath Edinburgh, the victim has undergone a macabre ritual of purification.

Inspector Tony McLean knew the dead man, and can't shake off the suspicion that there is far more to this case than meets the eye. The baffling lack of forensics at the crime scene seems impossible. But it is not the only thing about this case that McLean will find beyond belief.

Teamed with the most unlikely and unwelcome of allies, he must track down a killer driven by the darkest compulsions, who will answer only to a higher power.

This was a slow starter for me. Based on the title and the first murder, I began to worry it would have some serious religious overtones ... which put me off. Also I was reminded what a struggle it is to read a thick hard cover book. They are heavy! Haha.

But at some point, when I really gave it a chance, I was completely absorbed and in the end thoroughly enjoyed this story. I didn't guess whodunnit correctly, although there was a tie-in with a specific character I saw coming a mile off (I thought he'd done it).

I also quite enjoyed the character of Inspector McLean so I will look out for more from this series in future.
 

* This is one of my Featured Book Reviews, sponsored by Penguin Books.

Thanks for all the fish.

So just a quick update. Clearly The Littlest One won't be arriving today :) I feel like that at least alleviates some pressure off her future sibling from possibly being the only one in the family who is not born on the 26th of the month ... haha.

On Monday, The Trucker drove me to Sandton (to try and remove any traffic issues that could be affecting my blood pressure) and we had everything checked again. My blood pressure was still high (149, I think) and there was still no protein in my urine. The doc was happy that although it was high it seemed stable ... so we'd just check it again at my Wednesday appointment.

Yesterday my blood pressure was right down below 140 although there was a very minor trace of protein in my urine. So we got the all clear :) Seems likely the 2 days working from home definitely helped!

At the moment it's sounding likely that we'll make a call at next week's appointment and she may arrive next Thursday (SECOND of April - haha). She still hasn't dropped. I've read some stuff online from midwives about that not being a good reason for a caesar, but am trusting my doc. If they haven't dropped there is often a reason they haven't (cord too short, cord around the neck, hands in the way, forehead presenting) and I could try going into natural labour, but likely it will end with an emergency c-section and just cause additional stress to us both.

I have a week to get my head around the idea of a caesar. I know I have always maintained, whatever is best and safest for us both. But I clearly had definite leanings toward natural labour (with pain meds tho). The thing I like least about the idea of a caesar is she'll be out in 5 mins and then whisked off with Dad while I lie around on the table for another 45mins getting stitched up ... that's the longest we'll ever have been apart. I really liked that with natural labour she would come straight to me and for that first hour all three of us would be together bonding.

It probably sounds like such a ridiculous thing and I'm quite sure that even 6 months from now it will be the last thing I remember or care about ... so few moms (the ones I've chatted to about this) seem to remember much about the birth after their child has arrived because although it seems like the biggest deal right now (from where I am in the process), once the kiddie arrives, everything changes and is about them and those are your memories. Irrelevant how they arrived, all that matters is that they did.

So anyway, I've bumped up my leave. I officially only have 4 days left of work and I'll be working from home for all of them. So yesterday I went into the office and cleared out my desk and handed in my access card. It felt so weird. Peeps I've been working at this place for almost seven years (there was a lot to send for shredding that had been piling up in my drawers - haha). And after my maternity leave I won't be going back to the Joburg office (unless a lot changes in the next 6 months) because we'll be moving to Cape Town (!) and I'll be going back to work at the office there. Yikes. It all feels very peculiar, actually.

I am sure you can imagine, since my blog posts have already become fairly erratic (we don't do much anymore so there isn't that much to write about), I have no idea what'll happen to them after next week. I was hoping to finish up my Turkey posts before she arrived, but I think I'm about half way so I'm not even sure I'll get that done :( At this point I'm not committing to anything.

If you don't hear from me here for a while, I'm sure I'll be around with more byte-sized updates on Twitter & Instagram. Blogging has been fun and a much needed outlet, but I'm not sure yet if it's part of my future. Thanks for reading :)

Here's to a whole new phase!

17 October: St Nicholas Island to Fethiye

We had a slow start to the morning. After breakfast we left St Nicholas Island and took a 2hr trip to our next stop. OMG, I felt so awful! The boat was rocking dreadfully, I felt completely ill. But I survived ;)

We stopped in a little bay just before Fethiye, for one last swim and lunch.

This cruise was such a superb experience. We relaxed wonderfully ... which is usually quite tricky for me to actually do on holiday because I'm all about cramming in as much experience into the time as I can. I would highly recommend it. But, I'm not sure what it's like when it's "in season" ... we were the last cruise of the 2014 season.

And then, we were saying our goodbyes to the crew, our tourmates and the boat.

From there we headed to our hotel, Villa Daffodil, and showered and relaxed before heading into town to rent a scooter and find a laundry.

We also had a browse thru some of the shopping streets and shared a meatball kebap (yum!).

Woo! Being back on a scooter really made this feel like a holiday - haha. We rode along the coast, actually passing the bay we had stopped in for lunch.

After a nap back at the hotel, we headed to dinner at the top Fethiye restaurant on Trip Advisor, Mozaik Bahce. Of course there was a waiting list ... we'd completely forgotten it was a Friday night! Haha.

But it wasn't too long, soon we were eating red pepper bread (amaze) and I finally got to try Manti. Wow, that was absolutely delish!

16 October: Butterfly Valley to St Nicholas Island

Early this morning (about 4:30am apparently) the boat headed to our next stop, Butterfly Valley. We woke up at 8am just as we arrived. There was no one else around at all!

Unfortunately it was a very overcast morning but we still had a pretty awesome swim. And, actually, after I was out, I had the next exciting sighting of the trip, from on the boat (the viz was so good!). I watched a cuttlefish swimming about. Very cool!



After that we headed to another little beach where the group of doctors were hoping to go Paragliding. Unfortunately  for them, even tho we saw loads of people floating down from the mountain, their trip was cancelled due to wind.

We didn't stay too long and didn't even leave the boat to explore the busier-than-Butterfly-Valley beach.

From there we headed to our overnight stop at St Nicholas Island.



I was off the boat with the snorkelling gear (barely any working masks and only one snorkel!) almost immediately after lunch. Best stop so far!

So many fish. A sunken city (sort of). I saw 2 more eels, a school of about 8 little cuttlefish and 3 pufferfish. Also, sadly, plenty of litter.

By the time I headed back, The Trucker was over his need to relax (last night catching up with him - haha) and we headed out to snorkel together. After a Nutella Roti / Pancake from a sales-boat. We saw hardly anything! Very disappointing.

We relaxed a little more, the group of doctors got collected from our boat for their next stop and the rest of us headed up to explore St Nicholas Island's ruins just before sunset.

36 weeks, 3 days

Friday ended well with an awesome Baby Shower at the office! Wow, so much yummy food and friendly faces and did we ever get spoilt with more gifts!



So I left the office on quite a high. I decided to come home for a bit and revel in all the cute baby things and relax a little after driving thru the traffic before going to get my blood pressure re-checked at Olivedale.

Turns out they wouldn't check my blood pressure or urine protein at Olivedale Maternity-Labour ward. I was told to go to casualty. I found the whole experience quite awful and after wandering around there and seeing their Maternity & Labour ward I couldn't be happier that that is not my hospital! (Maybe it is because of their renovations, who knows?)

I did take a wander to their casualty ... but the place was full and I really had no desire to sit around actual sick people waiting for who knows how long. Fed up with the experience, I got back in my car and headed for Sandton where I felt instantly better. The place is lighter and feels more "in control", there were people to be seen on duty, I didn't have to hunt them down.

(photo: 16 weeks vs. 36 weeks)

They let me rest for a bit before taking my first reading. And then, because that was high, I waited again for a second reading. It was lower than the first but still higher than Wednesday :( On the plus side, there was no protein in my urine.

After a look on Google to try see how I can lower my blood pressure, I think I probably have Gestational Hypertension and not actually preeclampsia ... since I don't seem to have any other symptoms for it other than the high blood pressure.

The nurse phoned my gynae and I'll go get it checked again today. I really wasn't expecting it to be up again. I got home and bawled. I'm okay now, but it was a bit of an emotional weekend ...

We made home made pizzas and watched series and went to bed early.

On Saturday morning I had a very lazy time ... although The Trucker was up early. He had arranged to get some work done on my old house in preparation to sell it (painting, damp proofing, that sort of thing). I stayed home, read my book, watched some tv ... rested. Until about 1pm when I'd booked a hair appointment in anticipation of our Maternity Shoot later in the afternoon.

All was going well till about 15h30 when a crazy storm rolled in. Luckily we could move the shoot from the original location (James & Ethel Grey Park) to the studio nearby. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't get a nice natural outdoor shoot, but I wasn't going to take any chances by postponing it! I think the photos will still be great :) We had fun!

In the evening we watched Fury. Which was okay. I'm a bit over movies lately, to be honest.

On Sunday we had absolutely no plans so we had a lazy morning in bed and then met some friends at Blandford Manor for a late breakfast.

After that we took a drive so The Trucker could show me the progress on the house he is building. Wow. It is looking absolutely amazing! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling great after that so he dropped me back at home before going to do the grocery shopping.

I think I spent the rest of the day in bed dozing and reading my book. Probably just what my body needs! The thought of still being at work this week feels a little overwhelming right now, but thank goodness I get to do it from the comfort of my own home ... so less stress, more comfortable.

What happens next is anyone's guess!

Yikes.

Shew. So a bit of a weird week, really.

Tuesday marked One Month till The Littlest One's expected due date. Eep.

And then on Wednesday we had our next gynae appointment ... from now on they're weekly! And my blood pressure was up. Apparently that could be an indicator of preeclampsia so I've been told to work from home as much as I can and get my blood pressure and urine (for protein) checked again today and Monday before next Wednesday's gynae appointment.

What that really means is that she could be here A LOT sooner o_0 I am hoping it was a once off anomaly and today when I get it checked it'll have all gone back to normal. I'd really like her to stay put till 38 weeks (and more importantly till I have had a few days off work to just relax and settle my mind!).

The only real plus is that The Trucker and I have always joked that we wished her birthday could be the 26 March (careful what you wish for?) because he is on the 26 February and I'm on the 26 April. Haha. It would be kinda perfect. But not enough for me to be wishing it could happen now, for real! It feels way too soon.

The other thing we'll discover at the next gynae appointment is if she has "dropped" ... she still hasn't and apparently if she hasn't by 37 weeks, she is unlikely to. Apparently neither my sister or I dropped when my mom was pregnant with us. So that'll mean natural is not an option anymore.

While I'm pretty terrified of both options, I was really hoping for natural. But, will obviously go with whatever the safest option for us both is.

So, in light of all that, I packed my hospital bag this week too ... That's actually harder than it sounds because I'm still using so much that I'm supposed to pack. And a lot is "in case you need it" items ... but still, we're now packed, with a list of "grab before we go" items on the bag too (so we don't forget in the moment!).

And then, on some advice from friends who said "go out for as many dinners as you can", The Trucker and I tried a new spot last night. Our eating out has slowed down dramatically (I'm sure you've noticed). I just don't have the energy or inclination, honestly.

But decided as any night now could be "the last" before she arrives, we decided to try The Windjammer. It's big draw is the view from the deck, but there was a private function there so we just sat inside ... looking out over the petrol station o_0 It's a pretty weird choice of venue, I'll say. But at least the food was nice. I had no idea what I was in the mood for ... I'm avoiding all Indian and Mexican cause of the heartburn / reflux. But as soon as I saw the sole on their menu, I was sold ;) Haha.

Yum. I am not a big fan of fish generally ... I only really like salmon and sole. So this was a nice treat :) The malva pudding we shared for dessert was okay. Tasted a bit orange-y (?).

Anyhoo. Tomorrow is our Maternity photo shoot so I'm pretty excited for that ... and hoping the weather is nice :) And that the bambino stays put!

15 October: Kas

Struggled to get up this morning. It was darker than I expected in our tiny cabin.

After breakfast we headed into Kas for a quick visit. It's such a quaint little town. First stop was coffee. The Trucker is struggling with the instant on the boat - haha. I tried "coffee with ice cream" but it wasn't quite the sort of iced coffee I'm used to.

After that we wandered around the town a little. It really is so quaint with so many little shops and restaurants!

Haven't bought a thing yet. Honestly I'm not sure this is going to be the holiday for it ... Haven't given ourselves much time. I think I might like some of those glass tea glasses tho ... and some apple tea. But not a single idea for anyone else gift-wise. It hardly even seems worth sending postcards what with the postal strike in SA.



We stopped for a waffle with ice cream and then headed back to the boat for lunch.

After lunch The Trucker headed off with the other South Africans for some scuba diving and the rest of us left the harbour in the boat.



I snorkelled off the boat for a while and there really wasn't anything worth mentioning. The highlight was seeing an eel swimming between rocks.

A while later the others showed up on a boat and scuba-ed not too far from us (They'd had to wait an hour and a half before they even left the harbour!). Apparently they saw 2 turtles but also very little else worth mentioning. I no longer feel like I missed out - haha.

Then we headed into another protected bay for the night. We had a rousing game of 30 Seconds. I went to bed at about 10pm but barely slept because The Trucker & the others stayed up being noisy and playing drinking games for another 3 hours. Pfft. Boys o_0

14 October: Antalya to Demre

We arrived at Antalya bus station just as the sun was rising ... just before 7am.

I had managed to get some sleep, not solidly or comfortably, but still pretty much the whole 8 hours.

We had looked online yesterday for how to make our own way from Antalya to Demre to join our Blue Cruise. Turns out, there was another bus to catch.

I assume this isn't booked in advance in case your bus to Antalya is delayed ... ours arrived 30mins after it was supposed to. But, we managed to get a ticket on the next bus to Demre, leaving almost immediately at 7:30am.

Was very glad we'd bought some pastries in Urgup before leaving yesterday!

The bus ride to Demre was another 3 hours, but on a smaller bus. It is quite a nice drive, along the coast and then thru pine forests and then along the coast again.

I did doze off for some of it, but the coastline from Cirali to Demre was stunning. Got me super excited to join our cruise. The water looks divine!

We arrived at Demre bus station just after 10h30 and headed across the road to Sabanci Pastanesi for something to eat. Cheese Borek again. Sheesh, I am over all this pastry! But, I also had a pistachio ice cream. It's already 22 degrees here.

Our collection for the cruise is only coming to the bus station at 12h30 - I presume also to alleviate any potential bus delays.

It was a bit of a surprise when a man wandered over and asked if we were waiting for the Blue Cruise and we were shown back to the cafe to join a group of about 20! But the group soon split into 2 and we left with a group of 9 SA doctors from Nelspruit, 3 Brits, 3 Canadians and the 2 of us.

It's turned out to be a fabulous group really. Everyone (except the docs) are really well traveled.



We had a quick dip when we arrived at our boat and soon headed off. We have a tiny little cabin which just fits a built in double bed and a single cupboard (behind the door) and a cute little bathroom with a loo and shower.

We sailed past the sunken city, which I found less than impressive. No swimming allowed, which was a disappointment :(

And then we stopped at a little village and walked up to a castle on the hill.

We anchored for the night in the bay next to Kas.

35 weeks, 3 days

Shew. Every week is getting harder. I think it's a combination of early dark mornings and The Littlest One's imminent arrival. Feeling very heavy right now!

Luckily our weekends are getting quieter. We did nothing on Friday night. Home made pizzas and series on the couch for the win :) We got 2 late lazy mornings this weekend - The Trucker says he's trying to bank as much sleep as he can haha. Oh, if only we could!

On Saturday the only plans we had were to do a big shop for me and the bambino. You know, all the practical stuff ... cause I didn't get much of it at the baby shower. I've still got a work baby shower coming up and put a lot of the practical stuff for her on there. But there is so much I need for me! Hopefully I'll be able to pack my "Go Bag" this week.

First on the list was Kid's Emporium (Rivonia). I've heard the See Me Baby Sling is the best from 2 different people so when Mom offered to buy us one, that's what I chose (it's R450 at the store versus R399 on the site). While there I also took a look at the feeding tops. My problem is I mostly wear T-Shirts and have continued to thruout my pregnancy. They are, as you can imagine, less than ideal for trying to breast feed in. That or dresses (it's been summer!). And, those are even worse for breast feeding haha.

From there we went to Meoli, who were giving 10% off on presentation of an sms - what great timing! Their feeding tops were quite a bit more expensive, but I've bought a variety of styles in different colours so I can figure out what works best and which are most comfy etc.

In total, I got 5 tops in different colours and a pair of pants (the others I bought months ago will prob only fit again after the birth). So far my favourite is the Peek-a-Moo tops I got (I got 2 in different colours).

Which meant a quick trip to the Bryanston Kid's Emporium to get the 2nd one in the right size. And while there we couldn't resist popping into Sowearto - awe they have such cute stuff! Got 2 little babygrows :D

(At this point, The Trucker got a T-Shirt from Big Blue ... haha, seemed only fair ;) )

From there we headed straight to Baby City and Dischem for the rest of the necessities ... all sorts of things for me, again. But the gross stuff I'm not looking forward to: Maternity Pads, Disposable Undies, Linen Savers o_0 And some stuff for the munchkin ... cot mattress, digital thermometer, receiving/swaddling blankets (we have lots of quilts / crochet & knitted blankets but no cotton regular ones ... of course!), nail scissors and baby wipes ... you know the sort.

Shewee ... this is what 6k worth of shopping looks like when you're expecting:



In the evening we had a nice quiet dinner with friends at their house. And then on Sunday morning we stayed in bed till almost midday! I think we both needed it ...

We headed to Doppio for lunch and then got the grocery shopping done before a lazy afternoon. I also got some new pjs from Woolies (button up - at home I mostly just wear my sarong and no pjs ... which is unlikely to work in a hospital haha). We had another lazy afternoon and evening. Just what we both needed!

Oh, Saturday was pretty brilliant too ... it was  the first time we could actually feel her little heel or fist or whatever. It was very distinct and she was very active. It was incredible! While I am so looking forward to her actually being here ... I am going to miss feeling her kick inside me.

The other thing I was talking a lot about this weekend was how no one can prepare you and you'll never understand just how the whole experience changes how you view your partner ... I love and adore The Trucker. But aside from me being excited to meet our little girl, I am also completely overwhelmed with how much I can't wait to watch the two of them together. And already, hearing him talk about her and prepare for her fills me with such a sense of pride. It's hard to explain, but I have no doubt that anyone who's had a kid while in a loving relationship knows what I mean ...

Joburg Shower

Shewee, I am pretty exhausted today. And definitely over work ... less than 4 weeks left! And while I am sure it'll fly by, it also can't come soon enough. But that also means that The Littlest One will be imminent. And I have stuff to do before then ...

Talk about Catch 22 ;) Anyway. My Mom arrived up from Cape Town on Thursday afternoon. The Trucker & I took her to dinner at Col'Cacchio which was nice - I don't know if you've noticed, but our eating out has slowed to a near halt. Haha.

I'd taken the day off on Friday and after a lazy-ish morning, Mom & I headed back to Lanseria to collect The Peeb who also came up for the weekend. From there we did a whirlwind shop for Baby Shower provisions.

The Trucker got taken out by a couple of his friends on Friday evening to celebrate the baby too :) While Mom, Peeb & I stayed in and ate Indian take-out (that was the last time for me ... I rather suffered. The heart-burn / acid reflux seems to have escalated! Bugger).

On Saturday morning we were up early and then headed to @clairam's house for my Joburg Baby Shower. It was a bit chaotic to start ... we were running a little late and still trying to get everything ready as people arrived. But it was a lovely morning. The food was delish, although we rather over-catered.

The Trucker's sister had a soft Dinosaur toy custom-made for The Babe. Seriously it's awesome! And she got a Jellycat bunny rabbit! I am not yet sure if I'll even tell her that one was for her haha, it is so soft. And a bunch of my lovely friends all donated to pay off the remainder of our Maternity & Newborn photo shoot with Little Black Box!

Once again, we were so completely spoilt. Although my mom did find it amusing how little we got in the way of practical gifts these days ... apparently that was what it was all about back in the day.



Next weekend will be our big practical shop ... for her and me! I pretty much only have TShirts and dresses right now, which are not ideal for trying to breast feed. And she only has 4 packs of nappies (and 1 is prem, so we'll likely have to swap those when she goes over 2.5kg ... she was 2.1kg last Wednesday!) and 4 outfits for 0-3 months!

On Saturday afternoon we all napped! It was much needed. And then we decided to head to Cedar Square for sushi for our last dinner all together.

On Sunday morning The Trucker headed to an early cricket game and I took Mom & Peeb back to Lanseria. Awe, next time we see them we'll be parents! Yoh.

On Sunday afternoon we headed to @WhizBangLouLou's for a housewarming braai. So good to catch-up. And then the rest of Sunday was spent on the couch ... exhausted.

Yep, definitely need to slow down now.

More relaxed

The weekend, oh right. Sorry yesterday morning got away from me a bit ... I started out with a phone call to my Mom first thing after arriving at work and fell down the rabbit-hole of twitter and facebook, watching and waiting for news on the fires in Cape Town.

I'd known about it since Sunday morning, but was a little horrified that the only thing people were talking about was the implosion of an old hotel ... things changed as the fire didn't come under control by that afternoon and it is sadly, still continuing :(

We had a pretty good weekend tho. They are definitely slowing down (well, except for maybe this next one coming up!). We stayed in and had home made pizza on Friday night ... I was still jealous I'd missed out on The Trucker's pizza the Friday before when I had barely been able to eat anything. Haha.

On Saturday we had a lazy morning and then headed to Hogs in the afternoon for a bit of a birthday celebration for The Trucker. Was a great afternoon with some great people :)

On Sunday he was supposed to have cricket but because of the rain on Saturday afternoon it was cancelled ... but only after he got there cause theirs was the first game of the day. So he came home ad we went for breakfast and did the grocery shopping and then had a pretty lazy afternoon.

We watched Whiplash. After being thoroughly unimpressed with Birdman, I'd heard Whiplash was really good ... although I knew nothing about it. I didn't really enjoy it and I didn't pay that much attention thru most of it.

What I did do was get started on one of the Nursery DIY projects ... which I am super excited about :) (more when it's finished).

Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris

For anyone who has ever worked in an office, hating everything and everyone in it, yet fell apart when it was time to leave -- this book is for you. Heartbreaking, yet hysterically funny, Then We Came to the End is the definitive novel about the contemporary American workplace.

With an irresistibly casual writing style, Ferris makes readers a part of his fictional advertising agency from the moment we open the book. Through numerous impromptu conversations, colleagues come alive. We learn that Larry and Amber have had an affair, and that Amber is pregnant. We know that Chris Yop is panicking because he exchanged his office chair without permission, and that Joe Pope is universally despised because he got promoted and now everyone has to listen to him. No one likes Karen Woo because she's always trying to seem smarter than everyone else. And the head boss, Lynn, has cancer, but she doesn't want anyone to know. We understand that the agency is in trouble, and that the unstable Tom Mota is being laid off. We realize that anyone could be next. And we're dying to know what's going to happen.

By the time readers finish the book, they'll swear that Ferris has spent time in their own offices. And they'll thank him for capturing so knowingly what makes it so horrible, and what makes it our own.

Life is too short for boring books. I got thru the first chapter of this and decided to give up. My Kindle tells me I could've spent another 7.5hrs to finish it ... I just didn't get into it enough to justify that.