I was so happy to be able to fly to George to see Lily, Trevor, Josh and Amelia. Josh’s mom Jackie is home at the moment and it was lovely to get to spend time with her too. We are very similar in so many ways.
Josh and Lily picked me up from the airport on Friday afternoon and we headed home and just chilled that night. On Saturday Lily had a baby shower to attend so she and Amelia were up and out pretty early. They both looked so adorable. Amelia has some of the cutest clothes.
Trevor came over after he finished surfing and we hung out.
Do you remember the rabbits that appeared when Amelia was born? I wrote about it here. They had not seen the rabbits around for over a week or so and I stood outside and said ‘Rabbit I would love to see you’ and the grey bunny hopped into the gap between the hedges bordering the golf course! He did not come into the garden, he stayed just beyond the fence and then later we saw him hop along the outside of the fence heading up the golf course.
Everyone was a bit surprised or they did not believe me, it could be either really! However I know it was him, I also know my connectedness to the universe and that Mr Rabbit was responding to me.
We left just before 2pm when Lily had booked for us to go for lunch. Josh was working and Jackie was not feeling great so it was just myself, my kids and Amelia. Trevor gave me a lift in the back of his car, smushed between his surfboard and the door. It was pretty funny. On the way home I had to balance a giant cake box in my lap.
Trevor and I were hungry so we ordered the Parmesan crusted Aubergine tapas to share while we waited. It was thick slices of aubergine coated in a mix of panko bread crumbs and parmesan. It came with a sweet red pepper aioli. This dish was absolutely divine. The aubergine was so soft and creamy and the coating was perfectly crispy.
Lily came straight from the baby shower to meet with us at Nina’s Café. Poor Amelia was so tired from her busy morning of socialising and the long drive there and back.
We all love the chicken schnitzel at Nina’s, but I did debate having a steak as it was my birthday but I fancied this mushroom, tomato and feta sauce. Trevor and I both ordered it.
It is funny because Lily had felt full from the baby shower so she decided to order a couple of tapas items thinking they would be manageable portions based on the size of the aubergine tapas dish. She chose the Chicken Strips with panko breadcrumbs and it was a massive portion!! It came with wholegrain honey mustard sauce.
She also ordered the halloumi. It was also coated in panko breadcrumbs and came with pineapple chutney.
We laughed that everything we ordered was covered in breadcrumbs, they must have thought we had some sort of bread crumb addiction. Maybe we do?
We did not have dessert as we had ordered a cake to take away with us. The owner makes divine cakes.
When we got back to the house Josh was home from work and Jacks was feeling a bit better so we all indulged in the cake. It was so rich but it was gorgeous! I had asked for chocolate and they obliged, it was decorated with edible Ferrero Rocher®, Oreos and gold coated Maltesers. We discovered the big gold balls are NOT edible after we bit them. Oops.
We were joined by one of Trevor’s friends who popped by and brought flowers from him and his wife. They were so beautiful!
It was such a lovely afternoon. The kids all gave me a beautiful concrete angel planter for my garden.
This is myself with Lily, Amelia and Trevor at Jacks house. Amelia was not impressed with the brightness of the sun. I love her expression, it is hilarious. Once we realised she was being blinded by the light we moved her bless her heart.
My actual birthday was on Sunday but we did not plan anything exciting, just a chilled family day at home. Trevor came over and Jacks made us the most delicious roast chicken dinner with rice, roast potatoes, gem squash, gravy and honey carrots. Yummm. I love a roast dinner but hate making them because it takes such timing coordination and I am rubbish at having everything ready at the same time, one thing usually undercooked and one burnt. It was cold and drizzly outside so it was perfect food for that and we all stuffed ourselves. We had more cake of course, I even brought back a bit for Norm and I for Monday night when I got home.
Poor wee Amelia was so exhausted because she had been running around with Lily for two days straight and she was out of her routine so it was best to have a quiet cosy day.
On Monday I had to work during the day and Lily dropped me at the airport around 3ish. I checked in and went through security and found a corner to sit in. I like to get there early and get settled and try to keep calm. If I rush or anything disrupts me it makes me very anxious. A starling came to sit on the railing behind me and stared at me through the window as if to reassure me.
It was a teeny tiny plane with only 3 seats to a row, a single seat on the left of the aisle and 2 seats on the right of the aisle. I had booked a first class seat going down but somehow missed doing that for the return flight and when check in opened they were all taken. I had an aisle seat on the right of the plane and was hoping no one was going to sit next to me. I should have done what I usually do and book one of the single seats. But my ADHD seemed to be in charge as it booked the first available seat I saw and it seemed the flight was fully booked.
Just before take off a very large girl arrived with a group of her friends. She must have been at least 6’2″ and her backside was probably a close width to that. I do not want to body shame her but half her buttocks were in my seat. She was not fat, she was a large solid looking girl who could probably hurl a shotput further than I can see. She had about 6 carry on items which she proceeded to stuff in the floor space between our seats. I looked at her and said she needed to collect her shit and put it all on her side. She spoke German but seemed to understand me as she moved it all somewhere other than on top of my feet. She used the entire armrest as she had so many objects in her lap that she could not put down her tray table. She spent the whole flight turning around to chat to her friends behind us which meant bumping me repeatedly. I cannot handle strangers touching me. I am terrified of flying (well, crashing, flying does not bother me) and this kerfuffle all started getting me really anxious. I could feel a panic attack coming on and I mentally slapped myself across the face and said in my best Cher’s Moonstruck accent ‘schhhnap out of it’. Anyway.
I knew I was the only person responsible for how I responded to the situation I was in. I talked myself off the ledge and focused on calm breathing, playing a mindless card game and ignoring the annoying person beside me.
Norm collected me from the airport. I was wound up tighter than a spring. Poor Norm asked me if he should stop on the way home to get me something for dinner when I mentioned that I had not eaten all day and the thought of having to be around people for one minute more, triggered the meltdown I had been holding off all afternoon. My sadness at leaving Lily, Amelia and Trevor, especially not knowing when I will see little Amelia and she is changing so quickly. I was almost past the point of hunger because I had such low blood sugar it was making me nauseous. The tension of the German lady sitting in my lap and touching me the whole turbulent flight. All of it erupted in a LOUD meltdown. Poor Norm.
I had a strong moment of realisation. This behaviour would have triggered abuse from my first husband. He would have just smacked me if I shouted at him or spoke back to him or got hysterical. He would have been Cher in that scenario.
Norm quietly took me home. The dogs and cats were all waiting at the door for me. I had a huge love in with each of them and then I threw something in the air-fryer and changed into comfy clothes. Norm took Finn out for a late walk and while the food was cooking I sat on the stoep looking out at the little solar lights flickering around my garden, the pommies sitting at my feet and I was suddenly all right. When Norm got back from walking Finn he built a big fire and I snuggled up with all of the animals and munched my fish fingers perfectly contented.
I apologised to Norm. I told him what was going on and he said “I know. You had too much people and not enough food.” He understands me so well. I am so glad that he is so secure in who he is that he is not threatened by my melt downs. He knows they have nothing to do with him. He just waits them out. The highs are obviously worth the lows in this roller coaster because he keeps on buying the tickets!
It was wonderful to sleep in my own bed on Monday night and then to be outside praying on my hill on Tuesday morning. Just after I came inside it poured with rain.
I was happy that my order of a new yoga bag, t-shirt and yoga pants arrived on Tuesday so that I had proper gear for my classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I have been wearing leggings and I even wore PJ bottoms once. The bag is nice and deep so the mat stays put. It is just the right size for a towel, water bottle and my mat. I got a pair of nice basic grey cotton pants, a purple pair of Lycra pants and a red nylon top that dries quickly if I sweat but makes my hair stand on end with electricity. I ordered a couple more pair yesterday now that I have an idea of my size.
I have paid for 2 sessions a week for the month of September and will attend every Tuesday and Thursday evening. It is killing me in the class but I am determined to do it. I am getting a bit stronger already and I want to be able to keep up with my grandbabies. At this stage I struggle to get up off the floor with anything resembling elegance or a soundtrack that could serve as a porn due to the excessive grunts and groans!
On Wednesday afternoon I was invited to a team lunch at Stardust. As always with large events, I panicked about going and almost did not go, but our team lead messaged me to say she was going and so I went for it. I had forgotten to ask Norm beforehand to drive me and he had to do some last minute changes to accommodate my BS. Why does he put up with me?
Anyway, he dropped me and went off to his meeting at a coffee shop nearby. I saw a group of my team and sat between my main client / top level manager. I just admire her so much. She has a really incredible education (Masters or something?) and is just so kind and so beautiful too.
On my other side was a colleague from my consulting house who is also a data architect on the BI team. We were the only 2 from our consulting house or the Data Architects who attended. His birthday is the day after mine so we joked us Virgos will never miss a party.
I thought about it and that did not actually sound very Virgoish as we like to be alone so I guess it is similar to my other extrovert vs introvert qualities. I am both, depending on the situation or whom I am with. I googled it and what came up sounded far more like a Virgo characteristic than being a party animal.
I digress. #ADHD
The Stardust is a dinner theatre experience. The wait staff are local performers and students and in between courses the staff sing and do little productions. One guy who was dressed like he was on holiday at a water park had the most beautiful voice and was classically trained. He sang a beautiful version of ‘Figaro‘ in perfect Italian. I really want to be his stylist so that his outside appearance matches the elegance of his voice. He is the 2nd pic in this post.
The lad in the first pic of the above post is Heinrich Hanana who also had an amazing voice and a really wide range. He also just oozed with a pure, shining happiness. His high notes could put Minnie Riperton Rudolph to a contest. Now you young ones are clicking my link above and see that she was Maya Rudolph’s mother and that she died very young. Tragic story. #ADHD
Back to the Stardust.
The staff brought out large platters of starters.
That hummus was to die for. It was all lovely. I could have just had a few plates of these things. We also had a platter of dips, meze, olives and other bits. We watched a wide range of different types of songs being performed while we ate.
The starters were cleared and after a bit the mains arrived. Again it was large platters for the table and there was both grilled and fried calamari, mussels in a sauce on a bed of rice, grilled prawns, chicken kebabs, lamb chops, lamb cigars, lamb other things (I do not eat lamb so did not listen to the lambiness.) There were also large plates of fries. It was all yummy.
After a bit, everyone was up dancing and I could not stay seated either. I was also screaming along to something or other, lip-synch skills on point as always. If I do not know them I make up my own. I detest Coldplay so have never listened to this song.
I really had a blast and danced non-stop for at least an hour. I was dripping with sweat but just mopped my brow and carried on jumping about madly. All this on zero alcohol. I had a welcome fruit drink (booze free) and a grapetiser and a lot of water. I was detoxing for my solo quest which was supposed to happen tomorrow. We were a bit late starting the afternoon as it took everyone so long to settle down and take a seat. This meant we overran the end time of 4pm and Norm arrived at 3:45 instead of the agreed upon 4pm and I did not want to leave him waiting in such a dodgy area of town, so I left and ended up missing the dessert course.
Thursday I attended yoga and I had sushi for dinner as it was load shedding and we could not be arsed to struggle with cooking in the dark since I get home late on those nights.
It was Amelia Ray’s 2 month milestone on the 7th. Isn’t she a beauty? I am just so blessed. Lily is a wonderful Mom and Millie reflects that, she is the most contented happy child.
My friend T came to hang out on Friday after work. She had been travelling and then she was sick, then I was travelling, so we had not seen each other in ages. She popped over and we sat outside until it was too cold to cope just because it was such a lovely evening. The food we had ordered arrived and we came inside to eat. We ordered from Mexicola Locale in Hout Bay. I ordered the Tortilla chips with Jalapeno & Olive Dip for us to nibble, and the Carne Locale nachos to share (Chilli con carne, red kidney beans, mozzarella, guacamole, tomato salsa, pickled jalapenos, pickled red onion, cream cheese, coriander). We both ordered the El Pastor taco: Braised pork shoulder, red cabbage, pineapple and green chilli salsa, red onion, avocado, lime, coriander. We also each ordered the Churro Waffle: 66% dark chocolate sauce, horchata spiced ice cream. To be fair the ‘we’ is me – I asked for minimal input and just ordered loads of food. But we devoured it all! I love that the churro waffle came with a side of extra chocolate sauce! The sauce is just amazing and I do not usually care for dark chocolate. The food was gorgeous.
It was lovely to catch up.
Today I had planned to go to drum rehearsals but it was cancelled. Tomorrow I was supposed to do my Solo Quest which consists of meditating and sitting alone in the milkwood forest for the day, but a severe storm is predicted so we have moved it to the following Sunday. Now I have a weekend of relaxation and after the week I have had I actually really need it, so thank you Universe for looking after me.
I know this is an exceedingly long post this week, but I have to share the new Miley track “I Used to be Young”. I identify so strongly with these lyrics. The video captures her raw emotions as she watches a video of her Mom and I also identify with the relationship Miley has with her mother as I am very close to my own daughters. Also it is a pretty good title for a birthday blog for an old bird like me.
Much love to all. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox
Kitten in the City 