chronicals of an IKEA mad woman

Its been quite busy in Wendy's world recently and i realized I have not blogged for a while. I like the release of writing down all my news and sharing it. The year seems to be flying by at an alarming rate. I have begun my countdown to Cape Town and its on 75 days , that's nothing!!

I know it will fly as I have lots of organizing and packing to be done, and then the actual moving , cleaning and unpacking process. I also know that on the other side we have a lot of work as you see I have discovered IKEA. Its my new addiction , along with mindless Internet surfing, blog reading and looking for the perfect wrap to wear on my wedding day.

I knew about IKEA but it never really made a huge difference to me as we have always rented furnished places. I know its reasonable and good. Nothing prepared me , or my family , for my delight on visiting said warehouse. Its an experience not to be missed, all set out beautifully in rooms. You can buy anything for your home and garden there. I was running from one section to another exclaiming on the top of my voice." Look Kristian this chair is £13" and many other phrases. Eventually Kristian suggested a lunch break to calm me ,but to no avail as I had picked up the catalogue. I now spend hours on the website or in the catalogue deciding what to buy. I have spent thousands in my head.

But hey, if you think it was just me , no, my daughter was also affected by this euphoria and eventually I really thought we would have to dart her to calm her down.

We have chosen some lovely furniture . We have a bed and a wardrobe and chest of drawers all picked out , as well as a lovely extending white bed for lily with a lovely white wardrobe.

downstairs we have picked a sofa as well as a tv stand and a table and chairs for dining with a little chair for lily to sit at the table too. hang on i see this as an opportunity to go online to IKEA to show you our choices.....

Lily's furniture was too white and did not show up but this is what we think we are getting for the bedroom, however this may change if I insist on looking at everything over and over. Perhaps once we have bought it and set it up that would be the best time to take photos. I think it may take us 4 years though as its all self assemble. Kristian , myself and self assemble are a no no. It took us 36 hours to put our cot together!

On the wedding front things are coming together nicely. I have a dress fitting on the 15th July the week after I arrive and mostly everything else is organised or booked. We are so looking forward to it. There are so many good things happening over that 2 month period. I think it will be a time we all remember vividly and fondly. We are so happy that we will be there to meet baby Sarah , Steven and Veronica's baby girl. We will also be there for little Amy's first birthday. It seems like just the other day I was having a cuddle when she was barely a week old. My dad will have his birthday when I am there and Veronica will have her birthday. Then we have the hen night and bachelors and our little girls birthday as well. 2 years will have passed since she was born.amazing.

Lily is doing well bar a few tantrums that have been coming my way. Shes talking very well now usually with one word but occasionally 2 or 3 words like "der it tis". I of course think she the cleverest little girl ever but all parents think that. I have a theory, which I may have shared with you, that we all think that ,because the growth and learning that takes place is just mindblowing , in such a short space of time.

here's a few photos of her and us in the park on Sunday playing in the trees and having fun and a few in blackheath village sitting on the heath.

Lily sitting on a bench at the pond. hows that coat!!! Lily running with the imposing church in the background We must stop to smell the flowers Mummy and lily in the tree Daddy contemplating life with lily

So you are up to speed with my life. lovely chatting ;)

xxxxxxxx

My week

My week started off in a very stressful way. I have been waiting for our references to clear on our new house we are renting. Yes, house!! Its all very exciting as its a whole house with a garden and everything. I can barely contain my excitement. At the same time we have had a loan denied that was crucial, a wedding photographer forget that she was doing our photography, out car fail its MOT and then have to have a new exhaust fitted at huge expense.
I could go on but really it just makes me feel tired.

But yesterday was good. We got our loan approved from our bank and booked our flights to Cape Town. So now we will be going to our own wedding.
I arrive on 8 July my little Cape Town people!!!
Cant wait!!

Fridays photo... branches

this was taken on the one sunny day this week in... you guessed it.. Greenwich park with my sony cybershot

oops I did it again

I started writing that post 20 things about me and then did fridays photo after it. So I finished it and published it and now its... right under Fridays photo if you would like to read it.

fridays photo.... shoes

without a doubt one of my favorite things in life. inherited by my daughter by the looks of things. I have vivid memories of all shoe based things. I can remember going to my aunts house , Mora , and getting lost in her shoe cupboard. she had so many pairs that were so pretty. one pink suede pair pops to mind. Oh how I wished my feet were big enough to wear them.

Then I remember my dressing up days. I used to go to Carolines house and we would lock ourselves away for hours and dress up. she had this pair of patent black heels with a sort of black netting that would be sooo in fashion now. I loved those. I don't think they were dress up shoes though. I think we stole them from her mums wardrobe. Sorry aunty Sandra.

To this day nothing gives me a bigger buzz than a new pair of shoes. Lily is the same she just loves all her shoes and when she gets new ones she walks around looking at her feet all day. She got a tiny pair of lilac crocs in cape Town and those are her current favorites. She takes any others I put on, off, and tries to put the crocs on. Her other favs are these little red ballet pumps. So the other day we were slouching at home and she insisted I put these on. you can just see she is loving wearing them...................

20 things about me

things about me

1. I am a true Taurean. both sun and moon sign.I like my roots to go deep and change makes me feel very unsettled. I am stubborn ,loyal , affectionate and love beautiful things. oh , and I think I am right all the time.



2. I have a toothbrushing phobia. I cant bear seeing others brush their teeth even on tv or in a cartoon and I don't like my toothbrush to touch other things. I only use mentadant p toothpaste and will not use another kind. My brother has the same thing so we were obviously both affected by some toothbrush trauma as children.



3. Having a child has fulfilled me more than I could ever have imagined. Before Lily I was always searching for something, now I feel I have it.



4.I love tradition and old treasures. Following tradition is very important to me as is creating new ones. I would much rather have a lovely antique bowl than a brand new one.



5. I hate the actual process of travelling especially by car. I get so motion sick and hope one day in my lifetime some sort of time travel is invented where i can just transport from one place to another in seconds.



6. I am not a religious person but I am a spiritual person. I have explored everything from pendulums to past life regression in some little way. I believe in spirits and angels.



7. I am terrible to get into a heated discussion or argument with. when i feel strongly enough about something I am like a dog with a bone and cant let go. close friends of mine know to move away when I start.



8. I am an ultra sensitive person and cannot watch or hear anything that upsets me as it lives with me. I much prefer to be an ostrich much to the annoyance of several people who have to pass a film with me before we can watch it.



9. I love old music like Billy holiday and Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney. I also love George Micheal . Nothing puts me in a better mood than a bit of Wham.

10. I am naturally curvy and have accepted that I will have a lifelong battle keeping my weight down. Its in my genes you see.

11. I look to my mum and dad for everything from advice to comfort. They are my role models and they have always given me love , acceptance and unconditional love. I know they are proud of me and there is nothing as important than knowing that.

12. I love travelling. We had many great holidays as children that were so important to my childhood memories. Nothing educates you like travelling does. I would love to see India , Thailand , Mexico, Japan , America (north and South) , Canada to name a few . Europe is a fascinating continent which I love seeing and exploring as is my home continent , Africa.

13. I love Cape Town, my heart lies there an always will. I feel different when i am there. I am comfortable in my skin

14. I love parties and dressing up. I like things to have a sense of occasion.

15. I am straight laced , law abiding and sometimes prudish. I cant bear to break the law or jump a queue. Sad I know but I cant help it.

16. I feel lucky that I found Kristian when I was so young and we have been able to build a life and family together. We have our ups and downs but we are perfectly matched as we just get each other.

17. my friends are very important to me. My close friends feel like family to me. In fact they are family to me. When they are in crisis so am I. if they are happy I feel happy. I am lucky to have them.

18.I love shoes. I really really love them. all types. I wish I had money to buy hundreds of pairs

19. I am a tv addict. I would love to tell you I am not bothered and read books all night , but no... I cant get enough of my favorite programmes. Lately we have taken to watching those bid tv channels selling awful , cheap products. We roar with laughter. Its very funny... honest.

20. All I really want from life is to be happy and fulfilled and for my daughter to be happy and healthy.

xxxxx
W

the north wind doth blow...

and we shall have snow... in APRIL!!!!!

yes really. On Thursday I sat in St James park with Jenny and Lily on the deck chairs and ate a sandwich and drank a skinny cap. The sun came out and at times it reached the balmy temperature of 18 degrees. then 3 days later I woke up and stumbled to the loo with an 18 month old trailing behind me whining "bot , bot" (bottle) and my eyes nearly popped from my head I tell you as i saw this..

Lily's new word for the day is snow. We have just returned from Greenwich park where we had so much fun playing and making a snow man. Everyone was out and about sledding down the hills on trays , boogie boards and proper sledges. there is a real excitement in the air when it snows here because contrary to what a lot of people think it hardly ever snows. here's some photos of our day

and not a word about my hat. I thought long and hard before posting that photo. note to self. next winter buy a new hat

walking towards the observatory and view point the kiosk is "the honest sausage" that makes me laugh and laughlooking down towards Greenwich and the university

fridays photo.. on a saturday sigh!

Happiness is... being on a Cape Town beach looking across the sea towards table mountain. there can be no better feeling than this. This is Kristian in August last year on the beach. we had a wonderful time...