We had our 4D scan on Wednesday, and I was hit with the startling realization that there is an actual kid in my belly. I know we’ve had 5 or 6 scans already, but the 4D one gave him flesh, and you can see it’s that soft squishy baby flesh. The stuff that looks like it’ll bruise if you touch it.

Here’s our little shy guy, hiding behind his arm and the umbilical cord.

I’m still struggling with stitching together the incessant wriggling under my skin with the concept of a real live kid that is mine (well, ours) to keep and look after, day in day out, whether I feel like it or not. I suppose that realization will only properly set in when the hospital sends him home with us.

I can picture me with a toddler or a young child, but I haven’t once been able to see myself with a baby. Like changing his nappy and stuff. I’m not worried about that yet though. I’m pretty sure the maternal instincts will kick in when Junior is born.

8 weeks and 5 days to go, and I’m pretty sure those are going to fly, given all the activities I have planned to pack in for a large part of that time. For 3.5 weeks at the end of August / beginning of September I have occupied my self for 4 of the 5 week nights. Mondays and Wednesdays are ante-natal classes, Tuesdays Hunny and I are involved in student ministry at the Midrand Graduate Institute, and Thursdays I have evening classes for the diploma I’m doing for work, wrapping up with an exam on the 5th of September and an assignment hand in on the 10th. At least after that there will be nothing much left to do until our C-Day on 1 October. Except of course work, which I’m planning on going on with until the 24th of September. So far I still feel fit and healthy, long may that last.

On another note, I’ve taking the long way around to get home this week, to avoid the intersection where 3 out of 10 drivers behave like law-ignoring A*holes. Usually I can handle it, I just do my best to prevent the road abusers from cutting in front of me and leave it at that. But the sterling (what sarcasm?) mood I have been in since my laptop started giving me a hard time on Monday has made me a prime candidate for a road rage charge. So I cleverly decided not to put myself in that situation. I also eventually decided to fix my own laptop, rather than have helpdesk spin me another line about what could be wrong with it, spend another half a day trying to fix it, and give it back to me only to have the problem recur. I’m no technical genius, but my gut feeling solution ended up fixing the problem. Alex 1 – Helpdesk 0.

But back to the traffic thing, why do people do that? Did they grow up with no respect for the laws of the land? This is South Africa; that could well be the case seeing as for quite a while 90% of the population was subjected to oppression via the law. Do they look at us folks sitting patiently in the queue, wondering why we don’t just run up the left lane and cut in to turn right at the top like they are doing? Bute we are 14 years into our democracy now and it just seems to be getting worse.

Or is it a superiority complex? Do these people think they are that much better or smarter or more in a hurry than the rest of us? I hate it, it makes me feel like a fool for obeying the rules of the road. Not to mention frustrated and some times red-angry.

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly … count to ten … okay now carry on.

Hunny got a new camera, an Olympus E-520, he is very chuffed with it. He has taken a ton of pictures; the good ones are available on his new photo blog.

This is one of my favourites. Hunny doesn’t like how busy the background is, but I think it captures the two boys‘ personalities well. Pickle all big and brave, and Dartmoor checking out the suspicious activity from behind his mate. I love my funny horse.

Ps. How dry and dusty is this winter? Can’t wait for spring.

Any readers living in South Africa will know all too well about the electricity load-shedding going on here at the moment … At least 2 hours long, and as frequently as three times a day it’s really toying with people’s patience… Most office blocks have some kind of UPS system in place, keeping things running at half-mast. Business critical systems have power, luxuries like aircon (Ha! With the weather we’ve been having that should be mandatory!) and kettles don’t.

SleepyJane commented on this post a little while back about how folks always want to go and make coffee as soon as the power goes down, and she’s so right on that one.  I think it’s the interruption, the change in office condition wakes you from your slumber focus, and you think “Now’s a good time to get some coffee” but alas, the kettle plug doesn’t fit into a UPS plughole… (Unless you force it)

Of various the things that annoy people when they are subjected to load shedding, it’s not the lack of coffee-machine and aircon, the inability to cook dinner or having to open their garage doors manually that seems to bother people most, it’s the traffic. Perhaps putting traffic lights on a different circuit would have been a good idea, but hindsight is always 20-20…

So what can we do about this? Nothing really. You can get a generator for your home, plug your kettle into a UPS plughole at work, get take-aways for dinner 3 times a week, but you can do nothing to get yourself home faster when the traffic lights at *insert major road intersection name here* are out.  You can only sit and wait. And maybe get yourself the latest Madam & Eve book to read to make the trip less painful …

(ps. For any non South Africans, Eskom is our national Power supplier …)

Dear driver of the white Mazda that jumped the queue at the Allandale Main Road intersection this afternoon by turning right from the straight only lane:
What is it about you that makes you so much better than the rest of us? Please fill me in on your secret. Once the true reason is out in the open I’ll print you (and all your like-minded driving buddies) a bumper sticker that explains your reason to the person you just pushed in front of. After all, if we know what your reasons are, and I’m sure they are a valid reasons – it can’t just be that you are an arehole, the rest of us law abiding road users would be more than happy to oblige you by allowing you to push in front of us with less fuss and hooting.
Or is it that that you think we must be idiots for obeying the rules. You are obviously significantly more intelligent than us to spot a way to not have to sit in traffic when the rest of us idiots do?
Either way, please let me know? At least it would put me out of my misery, and perhaps make me less inclined to plant my bull-bar in your boot the next time I meet you on the corner of Main and Allandale.