Today, I had to work most of the day from home because I had scheduled Sofia's checkup on her allergies and then we had to take the kittens to get their 2nd round of shots.
At the doctor's office, Dr. Darby changed Sofia's allergy medication from Zyrtec to a nasal spray which she is not too fond of. Then he told me he wanted to do some blood work to see if they can identify what allergens are causing her problems. Both girls have been coughing so much lately, but I think that is because of congestion and a cold. Sofia gets coughing fits that always end in her gagging. For the past 10 days it has been going on and on. He prescribed some cough medicine for them both to take at night. I am up about 10 times a night between the two of them. So after the dr. office we had to go next door and do the lab work. Which I was not looking forward to at all. Needles and I don't mix well. And even if the lab work was not being done on me, it might as well have been given it was one of the girls. Luckily, Sofia's veins are likes Sal's- nice and protruding. The lab technician was there by herself so it was up to me and her to try and convince Sofia this was the right thing to do. At first, she was not having any of it. She politely packed her little purse up and started getting down from the bed. The technicial told me I would probably have to go to Hillcrest where there were more nurses there to hold Sofia down. So, I explained that to her- I told her either we could do it there and get it over with or we would have to go and nurses would hold her down. After a few minutes of convincing, she actually agreed to it. I distracted her, Sienna exitedly watched and talked 90 miles an hour about Froggy getting blood drawn and it was over before we all knew it. I tried to be brave so they don't inherit my fear of needles. But with her little veins she shouldn't have the problems I have had. She got to write her name on the wall of bravery and got a little badge to wear. Sienna didn't understand why she couldn't also write her name and get a badge so the relief of having the tests over with quickly turned to chaos as Sienna was screaming she wanted a badge. I looked at the technician as if to say- just give her a badge but she wasn't having it at all. Anyway, we will see once the results come back. Sofia was really worried about her blood being taken away in the two vials....
Then, we took the kittens for their shots. We ended up having to wait a long time at the vet because there were two dogs brought in that had to be put to sleep. It was sad. There was also a huge pig there that was squealing like crazy when they put it in the back of a truck. And Sofia and Sienna made themselves right at home behind the desk at the vets office with the receptionist! Finally, we were called back and the kittens, about 4 months old now, got two shots each. More needles. The girls watched and asked tons of questions about everything in the office. Dr. Singh, the vet, said they were very, very bright for their ages! Of course, Sienna whipped out several Froggy stories. Sometimes people don't know what to make of her stories. I am always explaining, it is her little stuffed animal. Now, we are up to date on shots for the kittens. They will get neutered next month so I don't have to worry about them getting pregnant. Sofia didn't like the thought of her cat not having kittens. I told them between the two cats, we could have 20 kittens and I couldn't deal with that. They said they would tell the cats not to have so many and just to have one kitten each. Yeah, right!
There was a breakin at our office last week. Luckily, they did not get in the office but they did manage to steal some tires off of our trailer that we use to haul materials to the projects. They think they have found the suspect and have arrested this person. And from what I understand, the tires have been returned.
The monkeys visited today again. We didn't have time really to watch them. They were just arriving as we were heading off to the doctor's office. About 15 of them.
Otherwise, just a normal day in South Africa.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Poor Tippy
Yesterday, we went early in the morning to try again with Tippy. We brought him over and played and played with him. He was very gentle with the girls and wasn't as anxious to try and get out to go back home. All was going well until about 4 pm when I heard that high pitched bark again. I knew he had gotten back over Michelle and Conrad's fence. And, like last time, they weren't home. I tried for a long time just to coax the dog's into being friends and not fighting. They just all stayed in the corner of the fence. Then, Tippy's brother Dipstick (or Lipstick as the girls call him) got loose and came over. He got all the dogs upset. I guess because Tippy felt bolder with his brother around, they started all getting worked up. Sarah, the girl, who had given us Tippy came over and got Lipstick. Then, I called Michelle and told her what was happening (AGAIN). They came home. As soon as they came home, Grommit, Michelle's bull terrier, and Tippy got into a huge fight. Grommit is just pure muscle with jaws of steel. He got into Tippy's neck and back. It was horrible. And what's even worse is the girls were standing there watching it all unfold. I was trying to get them to go back into our yard but they wouldn't. Finally, they got the dogs apart and Sarah took Tippy back home. We talked in the evening and even this morning and things seemed to be okay. But because she just can't care for them and her dad travels to Angola a lot, she took them to the SPCA (like the Humane Society). The staff were very positive and said that they would definitely be able to find them a home very quickly. Then shortly after they called her and said Tippy needed quite a bit of medical attention or they would have to put him to sleep. By the time, Sarah called her dad in Angola, the SPCA had put him to sleep. Poor Tippy, he was such a sweet dog. He had the sweetest nature. And the girls were absolutely smitten by him. So sad.
Meanwhile, the kittens continue to ransack the house. As soon as we let them out of the spare bedroom, they wreak havoc! They broke my statue from Zimbabwe. It was a stone carving of a mother and twins. They have started fraying a hole in the carpet in the spare bedroom and love to use the leather furniture as a scratch pad. They are so mischievious.
Sofia told me today that Billy Ray Cyrus called her and asked her to marry him. She said that he promised he would marry her.
Sienna said Froggy got a haircut today. He has two hairs and they cut them and now he looks like a skinny dog. She said she saw Alicia Keyes, Michael Jackson, Curious George and Lady Gaga at Disney World today. They were buying presents for Froggy. And all Froggy wants to do is sleep all day and when he gets up he punches her in the eye!
They are a mess!
Meanwhile, the kittens continue to ransack the house. As soon as we let them out of the spare bedroom, they wreak havoc! They broke my statue from Zimbabwe. It was a stone carving of a mother and twins. They have started fraying a hole in the carpet in the spare bedroom and love to use the leather furniture as a scratch pad. They are so mischievious.
Sofia told me today that Billy Ray Cyrus called her and asked her to marry him. She said that he promised he would marry her.
Sienna said Froggy got a haircut today. He has two hairs and they cut them and now he looks like a skinny dog. She said she saw Alicia Keyes, Michael Jackson, Curious George and Lady Gaga at Disney World today. They were buying presents for Froggy. And all Froggy wants to do is sleep all day and when he gets up he punches her in the eye!
They are a mess!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Froggy's an astronaut
I haven't posted in a while on Froggy but his adventures continue.
This week I was talking them to school and Sofia says "Mom, I have never been in a rocket ship". Sienna pipes up and says "I have. Froggy took me in a rocket ship. And we saw so many planiks. We saw the cheese planik, the tomato planik, the pizza planik. And Froggy flopped out of the rocket ship. I didn't go out though. Froggy was floating in outer space. And then Jimmy (from Curious George) came and pulled him in."
She also said she bought Froggy a bicycle. It is a spider man bicycle- red and black because Froggy loves spider man.
There are too many stories to tell. And she is so serious when she tells them.
This week I was talking them to school and Sofia says "Mom, I have never been in a rocket ship". Sienna pipes up and says "I have. Froggy took me in a rocket ship. And we saw so many planiks. We saw the cheese planik, the tomato planik, the pizza planik. And Froggy flopped out of the rocket ship. I didn't go out though. Froggy was floating in outer space. And then Jimmy (from Curious George) came and pulled him in."
She also said she bought Froggy a bicycle. It is a spider man bicycle- red and black because Froggy loves spider man.
There are too many stories to tell. And she is so serious when she tells them.
Just another eventful Saturday
I look forward to the weekends so I can finally get some rest from the hectic work week. It just doesn't happen. The girls refuse to sleep past 6:30. I have to get up relatively early on Saturdays anyway because Emmanuel, the gardener, comes around 7:15. He works Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Today, he brought his wife, Faith, to meet us and his little 6 month old girl. I can't pronounce much less spell her name but the English translation is beautiful one. She is a little cutie and the girls had fun playing with her this morning.
In addition to the visit by Faith and beautiful one, we had about 40 monkeys come down our street today. They were all over in the trees and in our yard (and the neighbors yard). It is insane how many there were. There were quite a few babies and young ones. They were sitting all over our fence and in our banana trees. We fed them some cut up apples and then even more arrived. They were pretty brave and would get very close to get the apples. It made me nervous because the girls also have no fear. The Alpha Male monkey arrived and the mood in the troupe changed immediately. They got much more nervous. And he let everyone know he was the leader. Sofia asked why his "bum is red" and, as usual, why he has a bright blue toy hanging on him (the vervet monkeys have bright blue testicles). Then Sienna and Sofia got the bright idea to try and eat a banana in front of the monkeys. Luckily, I stopped the girls before the monkeys saw them. I went inside to get my camera and for some reason, when they saw it they all ran off. I think they may have thought it was some kind of weapon to hurt them. You could tell they were scared of the camera though. Sienna had laid a sucker down and one of the monkeys grabbed it and ran off and sat in the middle of the street licking it. So cute!
We took Emmanuel and the family to the taxi rank so that they could get home. When I got back to the house, I parked the truck in the garage and closed the garage door (it's manual). As the door closed I realized the house keys were in the truck. We were stuck. I couldn't get in the house and I couldn't get out of the gates of the house. No way in or out. I sat outside for a while trying to figure out what to do. Finally, the neighbors, Michelle (the girls call her Mrs. Shell) and Conrad came home. Since I didn't have the gate opener, Conrad had to climb over his fence to get onto our property. He was able to get the garage open and we finally got into the house.
Then later, we went to our other neighbor's, Sarah, to get the dog she wants to give us. He is a big dog but still a puppy. He is 9 months old and part Boer Bull and part Rhodesian Ridgeback. Most houses here have a big dog outside to deter anyone with bad intentions. Tippy is the dog's name. Sofia calls him Tipsy. Tipsy has a brother called Dipstick but the girls call him Lipstick. Anyway, we brought Tippy home around 3:30 and he cried and cried. We sat with him and tried to calm him but he was so upset. Then Lipstick got out of the neighbors fence and came across to us. As I was trying to get him, Tippy escaped and ran back to his old house. We went and got him again and then Lipstick escaped once again. It was chaos. I got the girls in bed and thought all was finally settled until I hear a high pitch barking/screaming. Tippy had escaped into Michelle and Conrad's yard. They weren't home and their two dogs, a Bull Terrier and Siberian Husky, were not happy. I was so afraid they would all start fighting. I called Sarah and told her to come and help me. I called Michelle and asked if she could come home. In the end, we managed to keep the dogs all calm. I fed Michelle's dogs a whole bag of doggy biscuits to keep them distracted from Tippy. Tippy had a gash in his back from crawling under the fence.
Maybe tomorrow will be less eventful.....
In addition to the visit by Faith and beautiful one, we had about 40 monkeys come down our street today. They were all over in the trees and in our yard (and the neighbors yard). It is insane how many there were. There were quite a few babies and young ones. They were sitting all over our fence and in our banana trees. We fed them some cut up apples and then even more arrived. They were pretty brave and would get very close to get the apples. It made me nervous because the girls also have no fear. The Alpha Male monkey arrived and the mood in the troupe changed immediately. They got much more nervous. And he let everyone know he was the leader. Sofia asked why his "bum is red" and, as usual, why he has a bright blue toy hanging on him (the vervet monkeys have bright blue testicles). Then Sienna and Sofia got the bright idea to try and eat a banana in front of the monkeys. Luckily, I stopped the girls before the monkeys saw them. I went inside to get my camera and for some reason, when they saw it they all ran off. I think they may have thought it was some kind of weapon to hurt them. You could tell they were scared of the camera though. Sienna had laid a sucker down and one of the monkeys grabbed it and ran off and sat in the middle of the street licking it. So cute!
We took Emmanuel and the family to the taxi rank so that they could get home. When I got back to the house, I parked the truck in the garage and closed the garage door (it's manual). As the door closed I realized the house keys were in the truck. We were stuck. I couldn't get in the house and I couldn't get out of the gates of the house. No way in or out. I sat outside for a while trying to figure out what to do. Finally, the neighbors, Michelle (the girls call her Mrs. Shell) and Conrad came home. Since I didn't have the gate opener, Conrad had to climb over his fence to get onto our property. He was able to get the garage open and we finally got into the house.
Then later, we went to our other neighbor's, Sarah, to get the dog she wants to give us. He is a big dog but still a puppy. He is 9 months old and part Boer Bull and part Rhodesian Ridgeback. Most houses here have a big dog outside to deter anyone with bad intentions. Tippy is the dog's name. Sofia calls him Tipsy. Tipsy has a brother called Dipstick but the girls call him Lipstick. Anyway, we brought Tippy home around 3:30 and he cried and cried. We sat with him and tried to calm him but he was so upset. Then Lipstick got out of the neighbors fence and came across to us. As I was trying to get him, Tippy escaped and ran back to his old house. We went and got him again and then Lipstick escaped once again. It was chaos. I got the girls in bed and thought all was finally settled until I hear a high pitch barking/screaming. Tippy had escaped into Michelle and Conrad's yard. They weren't home and their two dogs, a Bull Terrier and Siberian Husky, were not happy. I was so afraid they would all start fighting. I called Sarah and told her to come and help me. I called Michelle and asked if she could come home. In the end, we managed to keep the dogs all calm. I fed Michelle's dogs a whole bag of doggy biscuits to keep them distracted from Tippy. Tippy had a gash in his back from crawling under the fence.
Maybe tomorrow will be less eventful.....
Saturday, June 26, 2010
"Coca Cola will make you stronger"
So, the girls have really been watching the World Cup games as much as I do. And, unlike in the US, the commercials are very few and far between. Thank goodness. Really, the only two commericals are Coca Cola and cell phone companies. And the Coca cola ad showcases the song "Wave your flag" by K'Naan that the girls just LOVE. So, the ad catches their attention. Because of this, I heard this evening...."Sofia....Coca Cola will make us strong...we need to ask mom to buy us some". Sofia- "No, Sienna, I don't like Coca Cola. I only like milk and grape Fanta, I don't have to be strong". They are a mess! It was such a cute conversation. They see the ad being played over and over about Coca Cola supposedly making you strong if you drink it...
The girls were out of school this week. I am glad they go back on Monday. Their normal school still hasn't started back. It will start back after the World Cup. It is still holiday care but still better than having them at home and trying to organize care. They went with me 2 days to work and were too loud, they fought and just didn't understand the concept of being quiet.
The girls were out of school this week. I am glad they go back on Monday. Their normal school still hasn't started back. It will start back after the World Cup. It is still holiday care but still better than having them at home and trying to organize care. They went with me 2 days to work and were too loud, they fought and just didn't understand the concept of being quiet.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Woza Moya visit
Yesterday, I spent the day in the field visiting some of the families we are helping through our Woza Moya Project. We were in the Ufafa village near Ixopo. I visited families from our Imbumba project. We exited this project last year. The families still seem to be moving forward and doing well. And I visited some of the families who just received chickens through a passing on the gift ceremony, which I attended, in April.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Daily routine
Not much happening in these days. The girls are out of school this week. Yesterday, I took them to work with me and they terrorized everyone- not really, they were pretty good. They colored pictures for everyone, watched a movie, played in my office and played outside.
Today, tomorrow and Thursday, Penny is watching them. She has watched them before. She is a teacher at their school. Very sweet girl. She's Tai's aunt. Tai is in their class. Today she took them to the movies. Tomorrow, she is taking them on to their friend, Izabella's house for a play date. Then they are going on a picnic with Tai and Quinn in the afternoon.
This afternoon, South Africa beat France! Sofia sat by me the whole time mesmerized by the game. She asked hundreds of questions. She knows that the soccer players aren't supposed to handle the ball and she couldn't quite understand why they would go on the sidelines and throw the ball back in. She kept getting mad at them. She wanted to know what a referee does, what a coach does, why this, why that. They were very excited throughout the game- and they had on their little Bafana Bafana shirts. They keep asking me to take them to the stadium so they can see a live match! I don't think I want to brave that with them. In order to get to any of the world cup matches here in Durban, you have to park at the mall and take a shuttle. Because of the traffic, a 30 minute ride in the shuttle ends up being over 2 hours. THEN the shuttle drops you off 1 1/2 miles before the stadium and you have to walk...don't think I want to go through that with the girls!
Sofia told me today that my hair felt like soft hay. Hmmm. I don't know if that is good or bad.
This morning she asked me if I was ever going to get fat. I don't know why she asked that.
Yesterday she told me that Penny's hair is turning black and it's because she is getting old. Penny had darkened her hair to a dark brown....
All the while, Sienna tells nonstop Froggy stories. I can't even keep up with the stories anymore. I try but she tells so many of them. It is always about froggy doing something "naughty". He breaks things, he doesn't listen and it makes her back or head hurt, he causes trouble at the doctor's office, he is constantly up to something. I can always tell when a froggy story is coming on- she starts every one with a "you know....froggy".
Cookie, the hamster, escaped over the weekend. We didn't know he had escaped. On Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen and I heard something rattling under the refrigerator. I was sure it was a rat or other creature. It just kept on and on. Finally, I moved the refrigerator out of its little space. And then I see Cookie pop his little head out. He ran right up into my hand and I put him back in his cage. He is so cute. He was so happy to get back in his cage. He ate and ate and drank lots of water. I am not sure how long he was out. It was probably a day because I remember seeing him on Saturday. I guess one of the girls left his cage door open. He waits patiently every night for me to give him a piece of broccoli or lettuce. And he really is good with the girls handling him. The other day, Sienna was playing with him and he pooed on her. She got really mad and said she would never hold him again.
The kittens are fine. We all have scratches on us from them. Sofia has decided hers is named Sarafina. Sienna still calls hers Bella. The kittens run everytime they see the girls coming. We still keep them at night in the spare bedroom. They have latched onto one of the girls' big stuffed Nemos. They think it is their mamma. They sit for hours licking the Nemo and kneading it with their little paws. It's so funny. We laugh and laugh at them!
That's all for now.....
Today, tomorrow and Thursday, Penny is watching them. She has watched them before. She is a teacher at their school. Very sweet girl. She's Tai's aunt. Tai is in their class. Today she took them to the movies. Tomorrow, she is taking them on to their friend, Izabella's house for a play date. Then they are going on a picnic with Tai and Quinn in the afternoon.
This afternoon, South Africa beat France! Sofia sat by me the whole time mesmerized by the game. She asked hundreds of questions. She knows that the soccer players aren't supposed to handle the ball and she couldn't quite understand why they would go on the sidelines and throw the ball back in. She kept getting mad at them. She wanted to know what a referee does, what a coach does, why this, why that. They were very excited throughout the game- and they had on their little Bafana Bafana shirts. They keep asking me to take them to the stadium so they can see a live match! I don't think I want to brave that with them. In order to get to any of the world cup matches here in Durban, you have to park at the mall and take a shuttle. Because of the traffic, a 30 minute ride in the shuttle ends up being over 2 hours. THEN the shuttle drops you off 1 1/2 miles before the stadium and you have to walk...don't think I want to go through that with the girls!
Sofia told me today that my hair felt like soft hay. Hmmm. I don't know if that is good or bad.
This morning she asked me if I was ever going to get fat. I don't know why she asked that.
Yesterday she told me that Penny's hair is turning black and it's because she is getting old. Penny had darkened her hair to a dark brown....
All the while, Sienna tells nonstop Froggy stories. I can't even keep up with the stories anymore. I try but she tells so many of them. It is always about froggy doing something "naughty". He breaks things, he doesn't listen and it makes her back or head hurt, he causes trouble at the doctor's office, he is constantly up to something. I can always tell when a froggy story is coming on- she starts every one with a "you know....froggy".
Cookie, the hamster, escaped over the weekend. We didn't know he had escaped. On Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen and I heard something rattling under the refrigerator. I was sure it was a rat or other creature. It just kept on and on. Finally, I moved the refrigerator out of its little space. And then I see Cookie pop his little head out. He ran right up into my hand and I put him back in his cage. He is so cute. He was so happy to get back in his cage. He ate and ate and drank lots of water. I am not sure how long he was out. It was probably a day because I remember seeing him on Saturday. I guess one of the girls left his cage door open. He waits patiently every night for me to give him a piece of broccoli or lettuce. And he really is good with the girls handling him. The other day, Sienna was playing with him and he pooed on her. She got really mad and said she would never hold him again.
The kittens are fine. We all have scratches on us from them. Sofia has decided hers is named Sarafina. Sienna still calls hers Bella. The kittens run everytime they see the girls coming. We still keep them at night in the spare bedroom. They have latched onto one of the girls' big stuffed Nemos. They think it is their mamma. They sit for hours licking the Nemo and kneading it with their little paws. It's so funny. We laugh and laugh at them!
That's all for now.....
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