Soooo thrilled that Cesar Milan's magazine "Cesar's Way" is now available in a South African issue here! 

Can't believe its been a year since I posted! 

What's happened in that year?

Both kids have been back to South Africa for a visit :-

Sean and Henna for Christmas -




























And then they promptly headed off to Cape Town in our car -




























Of course we did "Ocean Basket" -


And forced them up early to come on a picnic!


Hayley and Duane arrived a month later -


Jelly-bean was soooooo happy to see them -


We also did "Ocean Basket"  -


And then they promptly went down to George in our car -

That's been our year so far!!!  :)

LLAP

Editorials. Becasue I like writing a whole heap of trash about nothing in particular! :)

When our church decided to have in International evening, I was thrilled and excited!  This combines two of my favourite things -  FOOD and TRAVEL!! 

There was the usual scrabbling, trying to get teams together.  By the time I had one, all the cool countries were taken! Even my own, Australia! What to do? 

Surely my recent trip to the US and Canada could help me come up with something? There was already a US stall, and a Mexican.... and apart from making a Moose stew I could not think what may be Canadian original fare....

Thoughts of Canada brought back memories of the Star Trek party my Canadian friends threw for me, and most importantly, the FOOD they prepared for the evening!

That was it!  I'd do a STAR TREK stall! Three of my favourite things - FOOD, TRAVEL AND STAR TREK!  I mooted the idea to our pastor. 
"Never mind 'International," I said to him, "lets go INTERGALACTIC!"  He chuckled and said sure, but that as the evening's proceeds were for 'missions', how would I go about spreading the gospel intergalactically? 
"NO PROBLEM!", said I!


Those poor, unsuspecting sods out here!  LOL

I gathered my crew.  Most only know Star Trek as that strange sci-fi show that has periodically been on their tv, that they don't watch. A crash Starfleet course was required!



Fortunately my freinds are game for just about anything (strange that they aren't Star Trek fans *puzzled*) and good-naturedly agreed to dress up in the outfits I made them wear, and cook the recipes I gave them.


Back row:  Elize, Kailin, Debbie, Hayley (yeah, my daughter, she was our resident Vulcan - this was two weeks before she left for Oz), and yours truly.
Front row: Elize's two kids, Jade and Rueben, with Kelvin.

We served Raktajino (a Klingon hot coffee drink); Klingon Targ stew (don't know if Klingons actually eat their targs, but it made for a pretty good stew); Yorakar (a Vulcan cracked wheat salad); and of course some Romulan Ale (illegally obtained on the black market from a passing Ferengi).

Well this IS Bloemfontein South Africa, and as you know I cannot stress enough how far back in the back-of-beyond we actually are here.  True to form, we did not sell much food.  Something called Yorakar is just too strange for the locals.  No matter how much I explained exactly what was IN the dish (all normal local 'earth' ingredients....obvioulsy!) people just gave us a bemused smile, nodded, and headed off to buy a hamburger.
Took a lot of food home, which our families ate, because it was pretty GOOD!

What DID sell out was our Romulan Ale!  Simply made with Sprite and blue food colouring, with a few red berries floating on the top (church function, no alcohol unfortunately).  Seems no one else had thought of supplying something to drink, so our Ale went fast!




We made the least amount of money of all the stalls, but probably had the most fun!  AND won "Best Dressed Stall!"


Knew my TOS dvds would come in very useful for something one day!


Mitch loaned us his Enterprise.  Well it WAS my idea to get everyone to club together and get it for him for his 21st birthday, even though he IS a little more "Star Wars" than "Star Trek" (*sigh* The younger generation!)
See...?(Mitch and Hayley)  We laugh at this pic....wrong Galaxies! :)  Mind you....who's to say that a clone trooper from a Galaxy far, far away, may not one day find himself in the Milky Way, Alpha Quadrant, rubbing shoulders with Vulcan Starfleet officers?  Hmmm??




Had to put this one up! Who says Starfleet officers don't cry! Those Gorn are pretty scary!
(It's not a normal day if Rueben doesn't end up needing stitches somewhere, usually his head!)

LLAP!

I can't complain. It's what I have been dreaming of, and working towards, since the day they were born. 

Getting them to spread their wings, explore the world, to not be afraid of change and new beginnings.

Sean and Henna have been living that dream for almost 4 years now, and Hayley and Duane have just embarked on their own. 

We saw Duane off from Bloemfontein, to Adelaide, Australia, on 19th February this year.  This week Hayley joined him. 




































You'd think she would be sad to be leaving us!  But no.......



...she skipped off happy as a lark!  Maybe the fact that she was finally, after a month and half of seperation, flying off to be with her husband Duane again!

And so Reg and I went home, wondered what on earth to do with ourselves. Decided to try movies, BIG mistake...saw one of the most awfully embarrassing movies of all time, walked out after about 40 mins. Ate at a restaurant even though we weren't really hungry, OD'd on ice-cream, and went home again.

Ah its a sad, sad world! *sigh*

Nah...its not all bad.  We are getting heaps of sympathy from friends who feel we ought to be devastated so, yeah, lots of people feeling sorry for us, sad looks, hugs, etc *wink*,  overall we are basking in pity!

So now we have all the excitment of planning when and how we can get over to Oz for a visit!  Yay!!  Round the World airfares are pretty good right now. Also, the Queen Mary II is passing by our shores on the way to Sydney early next year - a sea cruise is sounding veeeery nice right now.  Hmmmm, decisions, decisions....!  :)

LLAP

We recently had to deal with the passing of our kitty, Smokey.  He had been with us from birth (born to a feral cat who, already pregnant, adopted us, and whom we called Ragamuffin). Rags had her four kittens in our closet. A grey, a black and white, and two black kittens. "Smokey, Patch, and the Batcats". 

We made sure we found good homes for Patch and the Batcats, but could not part with Smokey. We had Ragamuffin summarily spayed as soon as the kittens were adopted, and settled in to be a two cat family.  Rags lived several years, and was an amazing mother, but an avid hunter, which became her final downfall. Shot with a pellet gun while harassing neighbour's birds, we had to have her put down.

Smokey missed his mum, that much was certain.  But he learned to be a little more careful about his hunting habits.  Although there WAS that morning we came out on to the patio to find it strewn with vibrantly bright green, yellow, and red feathers!  My heart missed a beat as it dawned on me that my precious, lovable, bundle of fluff had killed and eaten someones precious, lovable, bundle of feathers! (Like any good cat owner we quickly disposed of the evidence! My apologise, if you lost a parrot around mid 1998, in the vicinity of Eddie de Beer St!)

He was an expert hunter, taught by his mother who had had to hunt for her own survival until she found us. My husband, the kids, and I, were often on 'save the mouse' alert! I shall never forget that piercing squeak of a terrified field-mouse, or rat, or bat, or even on one occasion the tiniest wee shrew (it really was pretty cute! *sad face*) as Smokey cornered the poor creature behind a bookcase. We did sometimes manage to save the frightened thing, only to have him track it down and bring it back into the house again!  Sometimes there was nothing to do but close the door, shut your ears (another sound I shall never forget - the crunching of wee bones as Smokey finished off his dinner!) and just let him get on with it, hoping he didn't make the thing suffer too much!

He was born in our house, and he handled two moves with us while he was alive. He certainly did not enjoy our last move to a townhouse complex.  Here is was fenced in unable to roam and hunt as was his habit. But he had to adjust. Old, (though still looking like a sprightly young cat) he simply turned into a crotchety old man, complaining about everything, sleeping a lot of the time, and heaven help any visitor who sat in HIS place on the couch! He becoming more and more picky about what he ate.  He resented that he could no longer supplement his meals with fresh prey, and turned his nose up at most of the foods we tried him on.  He managed to stay in good condition though, and our vet loved him because he would happily let her stretch him out do her examinations on him.

Last Saturday evening, he picked at his food as usual, and sauntered out onto the patio to his favourite evening place on the outdoor table. We found him there the next morning. He had just slipped away in the night. Thank goodness son-in-law was there to help us deal with it all. He dug the grave, and we buried dear old smokey under the rose bushes next to the rosemary bush. 

RIP Smokey

Smokey:  1994 - 2011


Smokey with Sean, his favourite human. Photo taken 2010.

Thanks Kiri for the 'nudge'!  I have sooooo much to post, but no time to get my thoughts together and do it!
Got back from my amazing USA and Canada trip (primarily to visit my son and daughter-in-law in Raleigh, NC) a week ago, and am now full swing into starting the new school year, and getting my students and classes sorted! I know I have to pop in at Starfleet HQ too, as I DO so want to get involved in the missions there again....*sigh*...I just don't know WHEN!

BIG news is...my daughter and son-in-law are now finally making the big move to Oz. Duane has a job at the University in Adelaid, and they leave end March.  2011 - a bitter-sweet year for me!

Thought about my future and how I need to visit my kids and realised in order to do that I will have to circumnavigate the globe!  Oh where is the NCC-1017 when you need it....

I will have to fly from Joburg to Perth, Australia, then on the Adelaid. After visiting with my daughter and son-in-law, will have to fly either to Melbourne or Sydney to get a flight to LA. From LA to Raleigh, North Carolina, to visit son and daughter-in-law.  Then on to either New York, Atlanta, or Miami, whichever will give me the current cheapest connection back to Joburg...yup, all the way around the world! In LESS than 80 days! :)

Hoping to do a proper catch-up in livejournal, and post some piccies, soon. In the meantime, some pics of my trip and adventures are on picasaweb:
picasaweb.google.com/home

community.livejournal.com/starfleet_hq/

Am still very much enjoying interacting with the fans at Starfleet Academy.  And trying to do the assignments has been quite fun, and a challenge!
Some come easy though. This one I REALLY enjoyed, and decided to post it here too.
Our Assignment was to answer a few questions about our days back at the "Academy" (that's STARFLEET Academy to you non-nerd/geek types).  While most went pretty serious, and answered in a logical, more realistic way (listed things that really COULD be taught and done at a Starfleet Academy, should one such as shown in the Star Trek series and films actually exist).  Me, not so much :). I imagined myself a totally different person, and made my 'Starfleet" days a real hoot!

ACADEMY DAYS RESPONSE:

MAJOR(S):  Handing stuff, like Tricorders, to the Captain.

MINOR(S):  Thigh toning (gotta keep looking good in those short, short skirts!)

FAVOURITE COURSE (WHY):  How to look like you know what you are doing when pressing buttons at a consul. I felt I looked cool, and my class mates were fun.

WORST COURSE (WHY):  Quantum Mechanics...I had NO idea what was going on.

FAVOURITE INSTRUCTOR (WHY): Commander George Kirk. (A second Generation descendant of James T Kirk). He liked me, *wink*

WORST INSTRUCTOR (WHY): An uptight Vulcan named T'Kell.  We nicknamed her T'Hell. She had it in for me for some reason.

ANYONE ELSE?:  Well Saturday nights a bunch of us used to go down to a bar lounge in town (The Slimey Firengi - anyone remember that place?) and listen enraptured as a very frail, but still vibrant Dr Commander Leonard McCoy would wax lyrical about the 'old days', and tell embarrassing stories about those Starfleet legends; Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Checkov (he had a particlarly interesting story involving Scotty and a warp na-cell. I'll be happy to relate it to you in exchange for a bottle of Krellian wine, or any drink at any bar you name!). We'd buy him drinks, take bets on how long he'd live, and he'd just keep on talking! Loved it!  Learned soooooo much!  

FAVOURITE ELECTIVE: Tried very hard never to 'elect' anything.

CLUBS: The Zooming Targers cheerleading squad; The Pamper Babes; The 20th Century Swinging 60's Club.

OFF-CAMPUS ACTIVITES: Walking around San Francisco looking incredibly hot and important in my Starfleet uniform.

MID-ACADEMY BREAK - WHERE DID YOU GO?: Rizaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

THE INFAMOUSE FLOATING POKER GAME - HOW DID YOU DO?: I always ended up naked *sigh*.

ZERO-G TRAINING - HOW DID YOU DO?: I threw up on my instructor - T-Kel.

FLIGHT TRAINING - HOW DID YOU DO?:  My instructor was Commander George Kirk....sensored *smile*

SURVIVAL TRAINING - HOW DID YOU DO?:  My instructor was Commander George Kirk.....that was SURVIVAL training???

BEST ACHIEVEMENT:  First in my class in both my Major AND Minor courses.

SOMETHING YOU WISH YOUR CLASSMATES WOULD FORGET: Well, I realise now I was a bit harsh to Mathilda Pugsworthy about her nose and glasses. (But for goodness sake, with rhinoplasty so quick and easy these days...I mean really...). And now that she is already Captain of her own ship, the USS Geronimo, and it appears I may well be posted there upon my...er....release from the USS Matlock, I do wish everyone would just forget the stuff I said and did to her!

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOUR ACADEMY DAYS?: Two words - Andorian weed!

Surprized I actually graduated! :) 
LLAP

...and found myself submerged in a new world, learning new computer skills, and wishing I didn't have anything else to do but sit in front of my computer working out how to fullfill my weekly Starfleet assignments! 


starfleet_hq 

But a pesky little thing called 'real life' keeps raising its ugly head!
I have to keep telling myself - "Star Fleet deadlines are optional....they are NOT REAL!"
Wonder what I'd be if I really WERE living on a starship cruising the galaxy, in the 25th Century, instead of a dramatic arts teacher in Bloemfontein gearing up for year-end plays!  Hmmmm....I'd probably be a dramatic arts teacher for all the children aboard the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), gearing up for a shipwide production of The Merchant of Venice to celebrate Captain Jean-luc Picard's 25th Anniversary in Starfleet. I'd cast Will Riker as Antonio, and I know Data would LOVE to try his hand at Shylock!
I can dream.
LLAP

PS: Made this myself...new skills. new skills!