Team Up Thursday Trio - Week 41 - July

Pam chose the theme this week - It was very interesting to see what July meant to three different girls in three different parts of the world....
As soon as Mike heard the theme - he made a totally whacky, out of the box suggestion, which I absolutely loved, so my chosen picture is this....Very, very obscure but oh so clever - so thank you Mike for the suggestion and thank you Kayla-Fern once again for being my "model"....

If you can not see what it is ...I have told you in the comments section....

Pam chose a picture of .... a fried egg on the sidewalk - which just sums up how HOT she is so beautifully....



Mariette chose a picture of Maxine that encapsulates what July has meant for her .... all about Maxine...Mariette chose this picture over the others because it is a rare moment of Maxine sitting still and she looks so content and peaceful...(You need to go and read Mariette's posting this week...to see how "all about Maxine" Mariette really is - It is a beautiful post Mariette and it highlights how much you love your daughter, how proud you are of how far she has come and how concerned you are for her future and the bearing that the choices you make for her now will have on her in the future....Your final phrase sums it up - "Must be doing something right" - you are...and don't lose sight of that fact for too long...

Did you notice that on Mariette and Pam's side of the world it is hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk (or at least warm enough to swim)...where I am it is freezing - we have just been hit by another cold spell...

This picture was taken on the way to work yesterday morning - just kidding - it only snows in Jo'burg every twenty or so years...this picture was taken in Queenstown which is in SA (somewhere), but nowhere near where I am...



I was telling Pam on the weekend (on Skype) how sick and tired I am of the cold weather and I could feel her chuckling and saying "Really, Linda, Really..." - I know that we are pretty lucky her..we have about three months of winter (and most of it is pretty mild) and for the most part the rest of the year is glorious - lovely warm, (hot), sunny, outdoor weather...I know that Mariette and Pam suffer with much longer and colder (not to mention darker) winters....but still - I do not like the cold and for this year it has gone on long enough for me...and in my next life I am coming back as a bear, so that I can hibernate all winter....There are other benefits to being a bear - you are allowed to act like a bear with a sore head whenever you want, Lady Bears are expected to have hairy legs (Yeow...), And bears can eat whatever they like and be as fat as they like - in fact the fattest bears are the sexiest and healthiest - yip - a bear certainly has it good all roound.
Because my birthday is in July - I was also interested to find out who else's birthday fell in this month: -
Princess Diana - who can forget the beuatiful fairytale tragic princess - she would have been fifty this year/Kelly McGillis (54) and Tom Cruise (49) - who can remember them in Top Gun (1986)/John D Rockerfeller - I always think of him as the richest man in the world - although by today's standards he probably isn't/Emily Bronte - authoress of Wuthering Heights and last but not least, South Africa's biggest icon Nelson Mandela .... Seems I share the month with some pretty amazing people.

Finally I found this kind of interesting - I hope you do too....
This year July has five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays...2011 is the only time any of us will ever see this, since this only happens every 823 years.
I know that this next information should have been in our "NUMBER's" week, but it is interesting: -
This year we are going to experience four unusual dates:-
1/1/11, 1/11/11,11/1/11, 11/11/11 - and that's not all....
Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add the age you will be this year,
The results will be 111 for everyone in the whole world.  Fascinating - I would love to know who has the time and the mental capacity to work these kind of things out...

Well, that's it from me this week - so until next week, when we are looking at how we get from place to place..... If you are in the Southern hemisphere - Keep warm - If you are in the Northern Hemisphere - Lucky you ...Lots of love

Team Up Thursday Trio - Week 40 - Toys

So now from a partnership we have a trioship...Mariette’s choice this week was “TOYS’...

Mariette’s picture this week is of Maxine’s little sister Myrrill, who goes EVERYWHERE with them. Maxine always refers to her as 'her little sister, which Mariette says that she has needed to clarify on several occasions!

Myrrill was given to Maxine by a school friend, who gave it to her because she knew how much Maxine loved Pokemon...it was originally Emily's, given to her by her brother. Mariette says that she really appreciates how kind and accepting some of Maxine’s friends are….

I fully believe that it is essential for a child to feel accepted by their peers – Brad is my example  - I watched our happy go lucky, cheerful, sensitive little person go to a subdued, negative and depressed individual...It was an incredibly worrying time. And the more I tried to advise him by telling him ----don’t take notice of what other people think/ignore the kids that are mean to you and learn to be yourself and like yourself and if other people don’t like it- it is their loss – the more I realised that I had not yet fully learnt those lessons, so how could I expect a 12 year old to learn something that I only learnt much later in my life --- Fortunately, he found himself and now he is amongst one of the best liked kids in his grade – particularly with girls which at his age is great

Mariette also chose this particular picture as it shows Trev’s toys in the background – his RC cars…Which brings us to Pam’s picture….

Earlier in the week I e-mailed Pam to find out how things were going and if she had managed to take any pictures of toys….she responded that she is BUSY and said “I had the kids work on something for me and photograph it, they did a pretty good job so you can say I outsourced it!  But who better to photograph the topic really? “  What a clever idea-on all levels – firstly to outsource something that is going to be difficult timewise for you to achieve, secondly for acknowledging the best person/people to outsource to in this case were the very people that play with toys, and thirdly for giving the kids an exercise which kept them busy for a time and out of her hair so that she could carry on with other things....And I am sure that the whole exercise enhanced Ryan and April’s confidence, because mom trusted them and ACCEPTED that they were big enough, clever enough and creative enough to do something for her ---- Well done Pam

I also have to agree with Pam’s comment regarding her chosen picture ” ....  some Nerf bullets, a metal detecter, a jet and some trains which leads me to think that actually, boys toys don't really change!”   I absolutely know that Mariette and I can relate to that 100% - they just get more expensive don’t they????

Did you see how clever Pam's picture really is --- -Mariette did not until she had looked at the picture three times....then she e-mailed us and said "Ha ha -Very clever"...to which I e-mailed "HuH - did I miss something" - It took Mariette e-mailing me "Did you not see "TOYS" for me to see it - Clearly yesterday was a "slow" day....Now that I have seen it - I wander how I could have missed it...

My picture this week is of “Google” – he was Kayla-Fern’s birthday present from Omie and Gramps (my mom and dad) last year.  He is special because he will always be one of many reminders of my mom – Always remember Kayla-Fern that no matter what – Omie will always be with you, because you carry her in your heart....

Kayla-Fern reminded me on Tuesday night that her birthday is 13 days away – which means that in just under two weeks (1^st August) Google will be a year old and Kayla-Fern will be ten – Where does the time go.....

Anyway – that is all from me this week – next week  Pam has chosen to stay in July (I know that we will still be in July)...it should be interesting to see how all three of us interpret that theme from our three corners of the world...OH, Heidi – I just wanted to say Thank you for lending us your sister – I sense she will be a breath of fresh air – and rest assured that when you are ready to start up again – you may have her back – except we may also decide to keep her – so she will just have to do double duty every week – so Pam be warned – Of course – three weeks  down the line we might discover that we hate being a trioship, or we could all have a terrible arguement and never want to speak to each other again...That may happen, but I doubt it....Lots of love....

For the Love of TUT....

If you want the short, one sentance version of this story - skip to the end of the post...

Here is the long, version of the story..

Background: - My sister-in-law (Pam) in America http://www.live-life-as-a-play.blogspot.com/ started a variation of Team Up Thurrsday with her sister (Heidi) in New Zeland http://www.hidesignphotography.blogspot.com/ called Through the Eyes of Sisters...Both girls are extremely accomplished photographers and I loved reading their blogs each week and seeing the sisterly love across the miles and noticing the similarities and differences between the two of them...
About a month ago - they posted late, then the following week they did not post at all and then Pam posted on her own...Heidi in the business of her life at the moment has not caught up - Last week Pam chose the theme Red, White and Blue (for herself) to celebrate 4th July...And in her blog posting she stated that if Heidi did not respond to her desperate pleas for re-participation in Through the Eyes of Sisters, then Pam who could not see the point of a partnership on her own, would not be continuing with the challenge and the blog...
GASP/GULP/SOB - I was devastated and quickly e-mailed Pam to let her know how I felt...

Solution - Enter Mariette - who read Pam's posting and left a message (on her own blog - what is up with blogger - so many people are complaining that they can not leave messages on other blogs) saying that she would be sad not to read Pam's blog any more - Then she e-mailed me to tell me that although she harldy knows Pam she would be happy if I wanted to invite Pam to join our TUT - How special....I quickly checked the TUT rule book (there is no TUT rule book, but I had to pretend) and discovered that it is not written anywhere that TUT has to be a duo - so I e-mailed Pam and offered her a trio-ship....
In the meantime - Heidi had e-mailed Pam, begging forgiveness and requesting a respite and Pam has forgiven her and granted her the respite and in the interim is going to join Mariette and I ...

Conclusion - So for the next while, Mariette and I will be joined by Pam for TUT - which for this period should possibly be called TUTT (Team Up Thursday Trio), but I will check with my partners and get back to you on that ....

The End

Team Up Thursday - Week 39 - Numbers

I chose the theme this week - Numbers ...It was a theme that I thought had huge potential - our lives so often seem to be controlled by numbers - phone numbers we need to remember, pin numbers to retrieve our money from ATMs, passwords to access our information on pc's, adding of numbers (prices) when we go shopping and some of us work with numbers.
Mariette and I chose totally different pictures dipicting numbers - she took a photo of her trusty calculator without which she would be quite lost....

My photo is Suduko..I did not originally intend to take a picture of Sudoko, but when I saw the book - it really seemed like an idea that might work.  I have never enjoyed computer games or playstation ...but I do enjoy occassionally wasting time on Suduko.

Funny how Mariette chose a picture of working numbers and I chose a picture of fun numbers...

Here is a photograph of the quadratic formula taken out of Brad's AdMaths text book - Brad is in Grade 10 and his school offers AdMaths as an extra cubject by invitation....I am very proud of him...

And below is what I feel like doing when the word maths is mentioned...

Do you remember last week - I mentioned a number with a specail meaning - 381 - it is "I Love You" - 3 words/8 letters/1 meaning....

Our ages are also expressed in numbers...I am 43 today...The other day I got one of those "get to know your friends" better e-mails and one of the questions was ..."Do you want to be young again"....I spent some time thinking about my answer---- And after lots of thought - my answer was NO because I thought back to the person I was when I was younger.... 

As a little girl (about ten) I was very, very shy - I enjoyed reading and preferred reading to interacting with my peers...I was at boarding school and we were encouraged to play outside (I used to hide in the bathroom so that I could read), and it was expected that we do sports - I was always the girl who walked back to the dorm on her own, lifting my knee and banging my tennis racket against it...this earned me the nickname "Dainty Legs" - which I hated - Imagine that... Added to that I had this long name - Linda-Maree which my mom insisted I got called - and everyone would shorten it to Linda and I would have to repeat my name over and over again...and worse if anybody made the mistake of calling me Linda in front of my mom - she corrected the error of their ways.  It was not that I was unpopular - I did have a few good close friends.

As a teenager, I was also quite shy...and still had the long name...Had a few really good friends - One of whom is still a very dear friend (Hello Claire) and words will never be able to tell her how amazing she is or how much  treasure her and love her.

When it came to boys (particularly of my own age) - well I was totally out of my depth....BUT someone still fell in love with me and I with him...and I am reminded often just how beautiful our relationship is...

Once we were married - I was always second guessing myself - and if ever Mike and I had an arguement, the first thing I would think is "He does not love me anymore"

Then along came Brad and then Kayla-Fern and that brought a whole lot of other things to second guess myself with....

As time has passed, I have gotten better - I am not as shy, I don't second guess myself as much as I used to, I accept that you can have an arguement and disagree with someone, but still love each other and overall I am much more confident and have accepted myself for who I am - and I even like myself....I think I could even like being called Dainty Legs again...

I know I still have a long way to go, but I am happy where I am right now...And grateful for where I have come from, where I have been and the people I have met along the way...And to all my special people, friends and family and collegues and on-line buddies who add meaning to my life and make me laugh and are there to help me with my journey (and who I help with their journey) - A very big thank you for being you and just being there...

As for my name - my mom did eventually relax about it, and did not give people such a hard time for calling me Linda (although she ALWAYS called me by my full name) - I love and miss you mom...but I know that you are with me all the time and always will be....

And the really funny thing is, from hating it when I was growing up - I now like my full name - I know about five Linda's and no other Linda-Maree's and that makes my name unique - just like me....

Until next week - Lots of love....  

Team Up Thursday - Week 38 - Hair

Mariette chose the theme this week – She admitted to me on Monday that she thought that the  thought was nicer then the practise…But I think the pictures that we came up with, have done justice to the topic…

Mariette took a picture of her own hair – She says

 “I've always had a love-hate relationship with my hair.....I love the curls, but I also hate them because they never do what I want them to. Equally, I have mousy brown (with a slight red tinge) hair naturally, but have highlights put in to break the colour a bit. I kind of like the curls with the coloured bits...breaks them up a bit.”

 

I saw a girl with beautiful, funky hair (all orange and pink) at Kayla-Fern’s horseriding on Saturday, but I was too shy to ask if I could take a picture...Fortunately I have a very willing little model…we had fun taking different shots…I loved all of the pictures…and eventually chose my picture because it depicts the topic perfectly + has character…Mariette said it was artistic

Here I.are the other pictures of Kayla-Fern that I really liked….

Finally, I had my medium length brownish hair chopped and coloured a few weeks ago….but have yet to do a photo – (I am unfortunately very camera shy) I owe you all…..OK....

My post is very short this week – We are going to the bush for a long weekend and we leave tomorrow morning, (that being Thursday – which means that I am posting on Wednesday – which means that it is an “EARLY TUT” post) so I want to go and get things organised (I so love saying that, and wish that I could be…But alas – being organised is not one of my strong points – I will keep trying to attain it though and if it never happens,I will do what I have always done and muddle through it all anyhow….) OH Hey – Just realised that I must be a little bit organised cos my post is early this week….

My choice of theme next week – we could be going back to school for “Numbers” as in 123 - I have some fab ideas – hope they come out equally well in practise…Here is a number with a whole lot of meaning - 381 - Let you know what the meaning is next week....Lots of love