My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold hold. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst, indeed, that water i give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The Lord will guide you always he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land, and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden like a spring whose waters never fail. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. How precious is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the the lamb.

Whoever is thirsty let him come, and whoever wishes let him take the free gifts of the water of life. With joy you will draw water form the wells of salvation. So wherever the river flows everything will live. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the Holy pace where the Most High dwells.

All these verses are from the NIV translation of the bible…

So I am planning on blogging through the alphabet. You know my posts, with the words and definitions? Well, i will blog a word with a different letter of the alphabet each time. I have already done some random letters, but from now on it will be in chronological order.

But there is a catch. I would like you the reader to help me decide on the word I will blog on. Each time, at the end of a ‘alphabet blog’, I will give some options of topics i am keen to cover and then you will have to vote/comment and say which you would like me to do. I know… Commenting! WHAT A MISSION! I mean you have to write your email address and everything! lol but at least you only have to do that the first time you comment! AND I PROMISE not to sell your email address, in fact i probably have most of your email addresses anyway

I will still be doing other blogs in between, like simple meal ideas/links to blogs i enjoyed reading/’reviews’ of experiences etc… the alphabet thing is more for my ‘thoughts’.

So here goes, the options for ‘b’ are: big, banquet, backseat, bubbly, brave. PHEW.Now.I.wait.ball.in.your.court.

[uh-soom]

verb (used with object)

1. to take for granted or without proof: to assume that everyone wants peace. Synonyms: suppose, presuppose; postulate, posit.

2. to take upon oneself; undertake: to assume an obligation.

 

So my friend brett anderson is running a ‘marriage’ blog series thingy. There were some pretty inspiring posts, covering brilliant ways to love your spouse!  Here is, one piece of advise for marriage (that wasn’t yet covered).  Make assumptions! LOTS OF THEM! Normally we think assumptions are a bad thing, but that is really only if you are assuming the worst. In marriage you should always assume  the best. Always assume (take for granted) that your spouse loves you, wants what is best for you and does not want to say/do things that will intentionally hurt you.

 

Then when your spouse says or does something  that offends/hurts/irritates you (Because they will). Pause. Think, “Okay I know they love me and want the best for me, so maybe they meant that differently than I took it” / “Maybe they didn’t sms because they honestly are swamped with work” / “Perhaps they weren’t trying to undermine or criticize me.”/ “I will assume their brain is somewhere else for a second and they did not hear what I asked” etc. You can then ask for clarification/explanation, not from a place of hurt or frustration, but from a place of wanting to understand them better. That will dramatically affect your tone, wording and imaginings.

 

Starting for the place where you assume your spouse loves you, helps you to respond lovingly, it helps you focus truth, rather than fanciful lies you might get caught up in imagining. And who knows it may even help your spouse to really love you more.

 In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.

Enter my two new grocery store finds: ‘Tortellini Pagani’ and ‘All Joy- Simply add Spaghetti’.

Tortellini Pagani is affordable and DELICIOUS Ravioli/Tortellini. A 250g bag is R12 at Food Lovers Market.  There are three flavours and we have tried (AND LOVED) them all! There is the cheese, the meat  and the ricotta and spinach filling! All Oh-SO-Yum! Seriously all you do is throw it in a pot for 16minutes and then add the All Joy sauce and you have a meal!

The first time we tried it, we loved it so much we both had seconds (which is usual for me, unusual for Sam). Ravioli is normally super expensive so this Tortellini, is a way to enjoy something special on a budget. Granted not all the Tortellini’s (ummmm what do you call an individual piece of tortellni?) stay stuck together in the cooking process, but once you start eating you really won’t mind that fact.

In fact it’s soooo good we are going to have again for dinner tonight!

Ps: I have in NO way been rewarded for writing this blog… well except by the pure pleasure of blogging

Yays:

* The bus was exactly on time! (OH so nice)

* There is a fantastic little ramp that comes out of the bus door so that you can drive your pram (or wheelchair) right onto the bus, without any ‘bumping’.

* The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. They helped me secure the pram, answered questions, made small talk etc.

* It was quick, environmentally friendly (compared to just me driving into town) and SUPER cost effective!

* Because this was my first time on the bus and I was buying a MyConnect card they gave me a free trip into town!

* Children under 4 ride free!

Nays:

* ummmmm, ummmm trying hard to think of some…

* ah one I can think of, I didn’t know there was a R1.50 ‘load fee’, and haven’t seen that on any literature. Oh and you can only load with cash…

Some would be nice’s:

* It would be great if they had timetables on the buses, as i was planning on walking to another stop for the way back, and would like to have known what time to be there..

* The website is not fantastic….

What you need to know:

* You need a MyConnect Card to catch the bus. For the first few weeks of the new route, these will be sold on the buses and you get a free trip when you buy one! A card costs R23 (cash). If you are from out of town or are having family and friends come and visit, you can buy the card and return it and get a refund, when you leave Cape Town (as long as it is in a good condition and you have the receipt).

* There are various places that you can load money on to your card, but you must load in cash, and you will pay a R1.50 load fee.

* The buses stop at bus stops, not anywhere like taxi’s

* A trip on the Salt River/Woodstock/Walmer Estate/Civic Centre Route costs you R5.30. You can then catch another feeder bus to a stop in the CBD at no additional cost, but if you wish to go to Table View, then its an additional R5.30.

* links to the Salt River route map and online timetable can be found here

* here you can find a full list of the places you can recharge

I am so excited to have such a world class transport option in Cape Town, and it really will make getting around the city so much easier for locals and tourists alike. So basically you should explore your City, on the MyCiti!

I have to say that generally Home Affairs have improved their services dramatically. I was waiting to collect the certificate, from start to finish, for 32min, which is still a while, but compared to times in the past, when i waited two hours to collect our marriage certificate, 32 minutes is nothing! Although I have  four ‘nays’ i would say this was my best home affairs experience yet.

Yays:

* The ‘new’ (its at least a year old now) ticket system is being more efficiently run by the officials. (if you haven’t been to home affairs in a while, basically you stand in a queue as you enter the building and get a ticket number, you are then free to sit and wait until your number is called to the counter, avoiding the need to actually sit or stand in a queue).  One of the challenges with the ticket system is that: people are getting numerous tickets/or some are giving up on waiting/or there is something wrong with the ticketing machine, because there were many numbers that were called over the speaker system, to which no people responded. Now, why I say the system is being more efficiently run, is on previous visits, the officials at the counter would call each number about 8 times (no I don’t think I am exaggerating), and unless a person with that ticket came to the counter that number would get ‘stuck’ in the call loop. I remember watching one official doing nothing but push the ‘call’ button for about 10 minutes. NOW they only call a number once, if no one responds in a few seconds they move onto the next number.

* The other people waiting around for the numbers to be called were friendly and smiled and pulled faces and ‘played’ with my son. One very patient man next to me, picked up a dropped toy four times!!!

* There is a mother’s room! I didn’t go in, because I only saw it as i was about to leave… but there is always next time!

Nays:

* The ground was filthy, rubbish was being swept up, But after crawling for about 3 minutes on the tiles my son’s feet were black! (Thank goodness for wet wipes). sometime i will blog about why i let him crawl on a dirty floor…

* The ticketing system is not known by all, and is not INCREDIBLY CLEARLY signed. While I was waiting at least two people were very rudely told/shouted at, that they needed to get a ticket. ( longish side note here: The one guy actually had a ticket, but because of a  staff confusion i will mentioned below, the official did not know he had been called, so being shouted at resulted in the man having an incredibly defeated look on his face. He stood next to the counter shaking his head, and the walked a few steps, paused again, before eventually leaving the building. You see the birth certificates counter, also happens to be the death certificates counter. While I don’t know if the gentlemen with a ticket was there to register a death, his response makes me think he was. I know the other man who did not have a ticket was there to register and death and he was incredibly thankful when I went over and explained the ticket system).

* Which brings me to my next ‘Nay’, whilst the people waiting in the queue were friendly the officials were not. They also had no issues with complaining about the people they were serving to their colleagues right in front of everyone. Granted I would not like their job, but perhaps they need gentle reminding that they might be dealing with family members who have recently suffered the shock of a death in the family.

* and final Nay, the above hinted at staff confusion. There were three staff members working counter six, which meant that sometimes they did not realise that a number at just been called (resulting in a ‘why are you here face’), or that another staff member had taken on the called number when they had turned their back for a second (which made them shout out in frustration, “why is no one responding’.).

What you need to know:

Birth Certificates: 

* You must register a birth at a Home Affairs Office, within 30 days.

* The father must be present if you are not married and wish to register the child under the father’s surname. IF you are married the child will automatically be registered under the father’s surname.

*Bring: Your ID and the hospital or clinic certificate of birth you were given on discharge

* Get a ticket and fill out a Notice of Birth, BI-24

*Everyone will now be issued with unabridged birth certificates (Which include the father’s name), some of these will be issued on the stop, whilst some might take 30 days to process.

There are many wonderful words I could use to describe my son, Adorable, wonderful, advanced, clever, determined, OUTRAGEOUSLY-GOOD-LOOKING, etc (You probably saying ‘Easy, girl, what’s with the bragging?’ {do u see what i just did there?}, so I won’t put you through too much more proud mommy jabber ) But, easy. Easy is not one of them. He was colicky from day 4 and has bad reflux, and so posed many difficulties and it has taken A LOT Of effort to get him to stop crying and it still is taking huge amounts of effort to get him to stay asleep.

But then i read the definition of easy again and i was like, ‘well i suppose you could use ‘easy’ as an adverb for him’ (Quick side note, I don’t know if it really is grammatically acceptable in South Africa to say ‘scare easy’ as in the definition above, but what the heck it aids my blog.) um, so yes, you could say ‘he wakes easy.’

So there maybe my son can be easy after-all!

Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’

The top two reasons were: 1) The AMAZING cost saving, and 2) wanting gentle fibers, rather than the chemicals from disposables on my babies bum, yes then the environmental reason was number three. Join those three motivations with the fact that the new cloth nappy designs are SUPER SIMPLE, and SUPER CONVENIENT to use, and i was sold on the idea of cloth nappies.

Reason 1: Cost Saving
Have you seen the price of disposables lately? They are ridiculous, and if you think you will be using on average 8 a day for two years, that mounts up to be a huge cost. Then on the flip side you look at the cost of cloth nappies. Sure they can be pricey to start with, but once you have spent the initial outlay, you are saving money all the way. (Each time i put on a cloth nappy, I hear coins dropping in, not out of my pockets)

2) Gentle Fibers
Disposables are filled with so many chemicals, and in a time when we are constantly been exposed to harsh chemicals if there was a simple way I could reduce my little boy’s exposure I will jump at it. Using cloth nappies means he is surrounded by gentle fibers. His bum is less red when we use cloth.

3) the Environment
YAY we are reducing our carbon foot print, and not filling up land fills!

4) SUPER EASY
So to be 100% honest even with those previous motivations, if cloth nappies were still the same as when i was a kid, my baby might just be in disposables full time. But they are not. They come looking just like disposables, and require no pre-soaking!! YAY. Actually all i do is throw them in the machine an d then hang them on the line in the sun to dry and be sterilized by good old sun light.

But there is a flip side… and i have to be honest, here are the downers of using cloth nappies:

1) Poo gets yuckier as time goes by, and if you forget to put a liner in, it can be SUPER gross. Its is essentially to have a trigger hose!! and maker sure you have a wet bag too!
2) Micro-fibre does begin to retain smells, so you do have to ‘strip’ them (heavy washing) every now and then.
3) I dont really like hanging things on the line!

But all in all, i am glad we went this way. Here is to saving money! (errr um, i mean the environment)