So Blessed

Laetitia called me yesterday out of the blue. She'll be in Potch today she said. Would I like to have coffee with her?


Nothing extraordinary about that, right?

Well, not if you don't know that Laetitia is the sister of one of my ex boyfriends whom I used to live with 10 years ago, and who used to be my husbands' best friend. (A whole different story, and no, I didn't cheat on the X)

He used to beat the crap out of me. He was a scheming, bullshitter and an alcoholic (apparently still is).

Since I left him 10 years ago, I never saw Laetitia again until we added each other on Face Book a while back. So suddenly, out of the blue, came the invitation.

Of course I accepted! I'm too curious a person to decline! I invited her to have coffee at my house, not really knowing what to expect. Back then when we broke up I was under the impression that she didn't believe me when I told her how he used to beat me up. Seems I had that all wrong. I felt closer to her today, than I have ever felt to her when me and the X were together. What an amazing woman. Maybe I'm biased because she also hates her brothers' actions. Apparently her parents lost their house because of him. But still they believe nothing bad about him. Maybe because it's their child, but aren't there any limits? Do you send your child out to self destruct by helping him every time he comes begging because he's too lazy to work for a boss?

So I was wondering who's to blame for what he is? The parents or the X? I think both.

Laetitia, thank you for coming back into my life. I'd love to have you as a friend again. You made my day!

I'm typing through tears of laughter. My husband has a very naughty cat, Smokey (Siamese cross). She's always up to some kind of mischief. About 30 min ago she killed a dove and brought it in to play with. Of course we took the dead bird and threw it away. Just now she came in and ran to hide under the bed, soaked! She was seen playing on the lawn by the pool just a few minutes ago, so she must've fell into the swimming pool! Hilarious!!

Reminds me of the other night when she was thrown out of the house and had to sleep outside in the cold. Chris (hubby) got fed up with Smokey playing around in the house and making a huge noise after 11pm when we all tried to sleep. Chris lost his temper and got up to go find the cat to scold her. Smokey ran away, Chris got more pissed off, Smokey ran into a room, Chris cornered her under a bed and caught her, Smokey hissed at Chris, Chris LOST it, Smokey flew out the front door (with Chris' help of course) It was an especially cold night. Smokey couldn't get back into the house as all the windows and doors were closed. Don't know where Smokey slept.

Next morning Chris felt bad about what he had done to his favorite, innocent, sweet Smokey. Smokey was missing. Chris was too proud to admit he felt bad so didn't want to make it obvious that he worries about where Smokey was. I called out to Smokey and heard the dogs bark. There she was sitting on the wall between the street and our house. She couldn't get past the wall to come home as the dogs wanted her for breakfast. I could see the relieve on Chris' face when he went to rescue Smokey!

Smokey behaved for a few days after that incident, but now is back to her old naughty self again. Maybe falling into the pool will keep her in tow for a while again now! (I get some kind of satisfaction when I think about her falling into the pool Ha ha)

My cousin had a baby just a month after Zander was born, his name is Tristan. He is about 4 months old now. In the beginning of her pregnancy my cousin had German Measles. Doctors recommended that she has an abortion, but she decided to keep her baby, something I really admire. Tristan was born at about 24 weeks and only weighed 1.6 Kg. My cousin doesn't have medical aid, so Tristan was born in a state hospital, and South Africa is known for their bad state hospitals. Tristan and my cousin was discharged after a few days. The first time I saw Tristan I was very shocked at his size. He was so tiny! I couldn't believe the hospital discharged him, as in a private hospital the baby doesn't get discharged if he weighs less than 2.5 Kg. But it seemed Tristan was just fine and had no obvious problems...

Up until a few days ago...

My cousin called to tell me Tristan was in the hospital with influenza and that the doctors also picked up that there's something wrong with his heart. The doctors apparently said they're going to concentrate on healing his influenza first, and then they'll see what they can do about his heart.
Yesterday my cousin called me, crying uncontrollably, to tell me that the doctors told her Tristan was going to die, but they don't know when. Because of the German Measles she had early in pregnancy, he has brain damage and also a heart problem and there's nothing they can do for him. They also told her, should another baby come in who has a better chance of survival, they will move Tristan out of ICU and let him die. That is the way it is in South African state hospitals. I can't imagine how my cousin must feel! She also lost another baby boy a few years ago, a few days after his birth.

How does a mother go on with life after she lost a child?........... :-(

When I first found out that I'm pregnant I was indecisive whether to breast feed or bottle feed. Then I read that breast feeding has a lot of advantages like losing weight quicker after birth. Just there I made up my mind. I am still breast feeding Zander and plan to until he is 1 year old. Unfortunately, I still didn't lose all the pregnancy weight. So is it true that you lose weight easier because you are breast feeding? I doubt!
BUT.. It IS true that it's best for your baby! Zander was born in March this year (at 36 weeks), winter in South Africa. He only weighed 2.46 Kg at birth and had to spend his first night in ICU after an emergency caesarian because of placental abruption. His heart beat was only 39 at birth...

While everyone around us had terrible flu and influenza this year, neither one of us had so much as a sniff up until now, more than five months after his birth! I believe it's because I've been breast feeding Zander.

So I'm not thin again yet. And I'm not sure if I'll ever be thin again. But I am happy and our little boy is healthy and that's all that matters for now.