Being an expat has turned me into this.....

I cannot believe I had time to do anything when we lived in the UK. I worked we had 5 kids at home and I was studying for a degree. I made cakes, I cooked once a week for the freezer, I atended meetings all over the county with my job and ran the local football club.

I always made time for family and friends, but I'd often be up at midnight trying to catch up with myself.

I get asked a lot 'what do you do with yourself all day and I really don't know' I tweet during the day, total drivel, about what I'm doing and this morning there were a few comments about me being a super mum and I was putting others to shame.

Not really. The kids are 13 & 17 and in school from 7am often until 4pm every day and on the weekends and holidays they are out and about with their mates on the estate, away at Private game reserves with their friends parents on weekends or on rugby tour somewhere in Limpopo. I need to keep myself occupied or I'll go mad. I do a bit of volunteer work here and there and look after my friend's children (also teens, as in I collect from school, do homework and feed them)

Todays tweets were typical of what I get up to.

I made sandwiches ready for the toaster and a mix for waffles ready for when the kids came home.

I prepared tonight's birthday feast for my friends birthday.

I decorated and laid the table, blowing up balloons.

Emptied and reloaded the dishwasher and emptied it again.

Put the washing on and hung it out.

Blogged, tweeted and caught up with emails and played with the cat.

I made easter gifts for the kids and some friends.


Collected kids from school, fed them.

It's now only 1pm

Packed the car and bags for camping.

Popped out to the post office and to buy Steak.

Cleaned the fridge after throwing a glass of red wine down the back of it.

Cleaned the kitchen.

Brought the washing in.

Blogged.

Swept and mopped the floor.

Took kids to back to school for hockey.

Fed the cat, made milkshakes, altered the timer on the sprinkler system.

Just got this left to pack, which I'll do in the morning.

And relax...it's 6.30pm. The house looks exactly the same as it did this morning when hubby left for work...and if he dares to ask me what I've done all day, I'll just email him this link.

I'm not a super mum, I'm just a bored housewife (not yet desperate)

365 days on in South Africa...myths exploded

So a year ago today I blogged about Day 6 in South Africa http://www.chickenruby.com/2011/01/day-6.html

Well here's what I've discovered 1 year on.

THEN
'I won’t be driving at night on my own and as long as you are alert and remain alert it is perfectly safe to drive here.'
NOW
I drive alone, into Johannesburg, shopping malls, volunteer placements, the airport to drop off hubby and collect him, to game reserves, school runs and am often found in Pretoria at night on my own meeting up with Internations expat group.
THEN
'I’m driving a rental car at the moment and won’t be buying anything flash, so not to attract attention. All bags are put in the boot and valuables kept out of sight.'
NOW
Couldn't afford anything flashy, I drive a Jeep, same make, model and year as I owned in the UK, but I often drive hubbies shiny Toyota Fortuna and all valuables kept out of sight.
THEN
'This morning Peter and I returned to the bank....Peter has to give permission for me to have a bank account and as I’m here on a visitors passport it seems pointless as I won’t have any money to put in it.'
NOW
I have to 'ask' permission for money each month...I hate not having my own income, having to ask for money and to my despair, I won't be able to have my own money...I can't work here.
THEN
'We drove to the office in Eden vale about 10kms from Jo’burg after dropping Peter off for the day I drove home. Road works and exit changes which hadn’t been updated on the sat nav made for an interesting journey home, thankfully I had paid attention and apart from the township I drove past I felt safe.'
NOW
I drive many familiar routes without the sat nav, journeys of 40-50kms.
THEN
'SA is safer than I thought; I made an assumption that apart from the school runs I would be ‘stuck’ in the house all day and would need to go out with Peter couldn’t be further from the truth. If I want to pop out to the shops for a coffee or a pint of milk then I can.'
NOW
I am on constant alert, at the robots I check my mirrors constantly, keep a large enough gap to drive off quickly, keep doors locked and windows closed when i have to stop.

There are many more things I thought I wouldn't be able to do and many other things I thought I would be able to do with ease but rules and regulations prevent me.

If you want to know more just contact me.

Takes some getting used to.......

Can’t get my head round this......

My normal journey home takes me on the M5, the most exciting road sign I ever see is for Birmingham.

I keep thinking I’m ... well I don’t know what I’m thinking at the moment the kids seem indifferent to the fact, maybe it’s because they are so well travelled, maybe because they don’t realise exactly what we have done...all I do know is that seeing a sign for Jo’burg on the school run every day is not an image I ever thought I would see on such a routine journey.