MY BIRTHDAY WEEK

Birthdays have always been a BIG deal.  It isn’t only a day in the year; it has always been milked the weekend before, birthday week and then the weekend after.  It was always a day to look forward to as my boss used to give us the day off for our birthdays, so it made for a short working week as well which was always welcomed in the month of November when the last public holiday was in August.  I normally also have a BIG party each year, with some form of theme and a chance to get all my friends together rather than for my actual birthday, a great excuse.

This year is a little different. I have had so much on this year, this month and this week that is doesn’t even feel like my birthday tomorrow.  Even today, Monday, has been a crazy up and down day.  I spoke to Zeme this morning, I spoke to a friend in Kenya, I’m thinking about my mum who passed away 4 years ago tomorrow, I got a message from my friend in Ethiopia that is helping with my move and I may have a travel buddy lined up for 3 weeks in January.  All that today and it all got a little emotional for me.  I think you add into the mix that I gave away every single thing I owned and threw out 20 years of memorabilia and I think it has all just caught up with me.  But after a good cry and an early birthday lunch with my best friend the day picked up as birthday messages started to flow in and I pick myself up, dust myself off and look towards the future and many more birthdays to come.

Shelly is looking for present ideas and I just don’t need anything.  She is one of those people that will not let a birthday slide with no presents; it is her specialty, so it will be a total surprise on what I will get from her and the Goddaughters.  Birthday morning was amazing.  Shane had gone to McDonalds to get us breakfast (the GD’s favorite) and I LOVE the frozen cokes from there and ‘that’ was the start of my birthday treats.  I then had a bevy of presents to open including some Pandora charms, 2 Marci ‘friendship’ calendars (if you know of them they are friendship quotes to bring tears) a bottle of Verve, a blue scarf, 3 Pandora beads, my Human Nature ticket and an iTunes gift voucher.  I was very spoilt indeed and then add the birthday cake with sparklers and the ONE candle; it was a beautiful start to the day.  We walked the girls to school and then Shelly had to go to work so I was left to my own devices for the day.  I was okay with this.  I really have lost my mojo to see people.  I had a few options I could have taken up for lunch dates today and I just couldn’t face anyone.  So what is the next best thing?  SHOPPING!!! So after Shelly left at 10am I headed down to the shops and spent a few hours walking around.  I didn’t really need anything, so I bought a few things that I had on my list and 2 Christmas presents and then I was home at 1pm.  The rest of the afternoon was spent returning some long overdue emails and I still have some messages to reply to, but I am making some headway which makes me feel a little better.  I also rang my Nan today- my mums mum.  It has been awhile since I have been in touch and she is no spring chicken anymore.  He is still very active teaching dancing and playing tennis though, so still growing strong.  She is one of those people you just think will be around forever, but not knowing when I will be back, I NEED to see her this trip.  For mum and for myself.  I looked up flights and told her once I have made a booking I would let her know.  I don’t have a lot of spare time, so I’m just going to go for the night, but it is something I wanted to do last time and didn’t, so I will take one night rather than nothing.  Once the little people are home, the dynamic changed, their fresh faces, their perspective on life can do nothing but lift your spirits and it is just what I needed.  After Nana left, I got them showered and dressed for our dinner date tonight at Sizzler. 

This was my choice, I am the birthday girl, and Sizzler has always been one of my favorite places to eat.  Between the cheesy bread, the potato skins and the salad buffet, what is there NOT to love about Sizzler?  The neighbors came with us to dinner and I was blown away when I saw the price of the meals.  Holy smoke I have been noting the rising cost of the KFC and McDonalds meals and I don’t know why I would have thought Sizzler would be any different.  The salad bar was now 24.50AUD… I remember when it used to be 12.95AUD and the meal I wanted with the steak and the BBQ garlic prawns was 44.50AUD!!!  ARE YOU SERIOUS!  But it was my birthday and I thought I would just lash out after all and then it worked out that the Elkins picked up the bill as part of my present, they really are too good to me.  The meal was just as good as we remembered and I even had room for some apple crumble and the ice-cream with sprinkles that Tessie had got for me herself as the birthday girl.  I was feeling better at this stage.  I was surrounded by friends, my god-daughters and had food in my tummy.  I don’t have anything to feel bad about. 

After dinner we headed home and I was on the computer till midnight when Zeme came online.  I messaged him as we have some unfinished business that needed to be sorted out and then before I knew it words were being exchanged and he asked me to call him.  So I did, more words were exchanged verbally and then there was a hang up and then he took me off as a friend on Facebook.  I will not go into details, but let’s just say I have been taken advantage of, I didn’t see it coming and I have learnt a massive lesson the hard way.  I just never thought that Zeme would be that kind of person and as Shelly pointed out after I hung up the phone; it is best I find out his true colours here than once I got to Ethiopia and lose a lot more than I did.  I guess it is now not hard to work out what has happened but it was a crappy way to finish off what had been a nice day.  I just hate the thought that my generosity was abused, I believed in him and what we had and it has just been thrown back in my face.  What a fool I have been-but I will not let it overshadow my day. 

So with all that said, today was significant in so many ways. Not only was I born today but my mum passed away 4 years ago on this day.  It is also special as I embark on an exciting new adventure with my move to Africa in January and who knows where I will be for my next birthday.  And lastly I am asking for birthday donations to a charity I am supporting for clean water to a community in Rwanda. If you can help (any small amount is appreciated) please follow the following link.
http://mycharitywater.org/bernies-odyssey-for-clean-water

If you're like me, you don't spend too much time thinking about water -- it's everywhere we go. When we're thirsty, we flip a handle or push a button. When we're dirty, we twist a shower knob. When our garden needs watering, when our pasta needs to be boiled, when we use the bathroom -- water is just there for the taking.  But for almost 800 million people on the planet, it's not. Millions of women and children have to walk hours each day to get water from muddy ponds and rivers. And much of that water is infested with bacteria, parasites or leeches.  When I learned that an average of $20 can give someone access to clean, safe water, I decided to start a campaign to help. My goal is to raise $5000.00 charity: water will use 100% of the money to directly fund the water projects in the field. Even better, when the projects are complete, they'll show me just where our money went. That's right -- we'll be able to see the GPS coordinates photos and other details about the community we've impacted!
I've never actually been dying of thirst. I'm sure we'd all like to see a world where no one does. 
Together, we can make a difference in the global water crisis. I hope you'll consider helping.

Nanny Juane kicked in on Wednesday with me taking the girls to school SOLO.  I am confident now in the routine, and Shelly has all the girls lunches and uniforms ready to go, so really isn’t a big deal, for parent, but as a god mother I take this responsibility very seriously and I have to say I LOVE taking them.  As the world would turn, I ran into a lady that I used to play squash with years and years ago, Denise.  She was dropping her grand kids off to school and after a very brief chat and a wave I had completed another successful school drop. 

The rest of the week ebbed and flowed with a large ‘birthday’ purchase of a new laptop.  My small one I have travelled with for the last 20 months has been a gem, but knowing the laptops in Africa are expensive, I decided to get a new one for myself-happy birthday.  I couldn’t see one as cheap as I had bought 2.5 years ago, but I did go for a larger notebook this time and I will take my small travel netbook with me as well as a backup.  By the time you add on the new case, Windows Office and the additional warranty (that I declined) the cheaper computers don’t work out that cheap, but I know I get my money’s worth and now I just have to learn what all the fuss is about with the running platform using Windows 8. I will also need to transfer my ITunes library, which is always a challenge when it is on another computer, so I will have to work that out in the following weeks.  It’s nice to have a keyboard where I can see the letters-my travel laptop’s letters had rubbed off and I have sticker spots with Nikko pen written on them of the missing letters that will last approximately 2 months before they have to be replaced.  Happy Birthday to me.

So I had a great day with my Elkin family and it was a shame that it ended on bad terms with nasty words from Ethiopia.  But I can hold my head high and I think it is a good thing that Zeme has taken me off Facebook as I can now start a fresh and have cleansed the bad people out if my life. 

I wonder where I will be for my next birthday xx