Not a happy camper!

So it is beginning to look like I might not be running this city after all.

For the past 5 / 6 weeks or so I have had a pain in my foot.  It is an odd one as the pain is not constant but when it does hit, it stays – usually for about 3-4 days.  I then rest, the pain goes away, I go for a run and it comes back.  Not straight away, I can run for about 10km and nothing, as long as the run is flat.  As soon as I hit an incline the pain hits, and then it stays for another 3 – 4 days.  It is on my right foot near the outside edge and is ANNOYING!  Especially as I have so many races lined up.

I went to the chiropractor, and he did a few things (that involved needling and lots of pain) and it eased up, but then I ran again (up a hill), and it was back.  On Wednesday he sent me for an ultrasound scan and then x-rays – nothing showed up.  No ligament damage, no muscle tears, no tendonitis, no nothing.  All good, that ruled out a whole lot of things, but the one thing that it does not rule out is a stress fracture.  They don’t always show up.  To rule that out we would need to do another (much more expensive) scan – which at this point I can’t really afford.  This is not good news.  But here is what we are going to do.

I am going to rest until Wednesday, he is going to treat me again and then I need to go for a run – shortish and up a hill.  Hopefully the pain will be gone, but if it comes back we are going to treat it like a stress fracture – which basically means rest it for 6 or so weeks.  I will also go for gait analysis (which I will probably do anyway) to see why it happened in the first place.

URGH – I want this to be gone.  I really wanted to do the trails and especially the trail run in Knysna but the Dryland Traverse is much more important to me.  I really need to be fit enough to do that.  If it is a stress fracture (and I am still hoping it is not) I guess my bike and I will be bonding a lot more to keep my fitness levels up, and I will be hitting the pool. At suppose at least I will be then be getting a head start on my triathlon training for next season.

Paint the Town Red – Painting

I have been drawing and painting quite a bit lately and love it.  One of my friends requested a large painting for her lounge, saying she wanted a city scape.

I got all excited and downloaded a few pictures to see what she liked and thankfully we had similar ideas.  We both like the same two, one quite abstract and one quite a bit more realistic.  I suggested that I try to combine the two and change the colours a bit to suit her room.  She was game.

This is the result and I am very happy with it.  (So is she, which is probably more important)

Paint the Town Red

 

Her lounge wall is red so this works very well.  Here is a photo of it in place.

Paint the Town Red – in place

This one also gives you more of an idea of the size.

It is acrylic paint on canvas.  Each canvas is 50cm by 100cm, meaning that the entire painting is 150cm (wide) x 100cm (tall)

Life Drawing

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

For me it was on Saturday when I went to my first ever life drawing session.  I was really nervous beforehand, I did not know what to expect, I was not sure if my drawing would be “good enough” and I did not know anybody else that was attending.

As with most things my worrying was unnecessary.  I absolutely loved it.  Although not a class or workshop they did give us a couple of pointers when requested. There were quite a few people there that were also doing it for the first time and it was fun to walk around and see what everybody else had done.

There were some people that had never drawn people before and there were some professional artists.  Nobody was made to feel that their work was inferior or “not good enough”.  And the lady hosting it did give some pointers for us “first timers”.

How it worked was they got the model to pose for short burst first, extending the time.  It was first 60 seconds, then 5 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 1 pose of 1 hour.  I was amazed at how quickly the time went.

Below are the two of my drawings that I am most happy with. The first one is a 30 minute pose and the second is the 1 hour pose.  I took these photos with my phone, so they are not the greatest.  I think I will need to try to scan the pictures.

30 Minute drawing

 

60 minute drawing

 

Both drawings were done with a mixture of pencil and charcoal.

Story Time

Story Time is taken very seriously in the Ordinary Life household!

I love that Little OL loves books.

I plan to run this city (and its surrounds)

I am not a fan of winter, however if it continues like this I might just change my mind.  It was 30 degrees in PE on Monday.  In fact I think I am going to change my mind anyway, regardless of the weather.  My reason –trail running!  I love trail running.  I have done a few over the past couple of years, but really go into it last year.  This year it is becoming a bit of an obsession!  So much so that my sister and I have entered a multi stage event in November – I am really excited.

It is the Fairview Dryland Traverse and is over 4 days, the first day being a 8km prologue with parts of it through the Cango Caves!  How awesome. The next three days are each about 27km.  VERY EXCITED!  However after last week’s little 23km run I have realise I need a lot more training, on trails, it is very different to the roads.  So I have tried to set up a schedule of events to keep myself going and excited. I won’t be able to do all of these, and some are more for fun that training but here goes.

JUNE 2013

1^st June – 11km or a 5km in Baakens Valley –
http://www.trailadventures.co.za
to enter and for more details

2^nd June – Muck Run – for fun 8km of mud and muck (Entries for this event are SOLD OUT and yes, I do have an entry)
http://www.zports.co.za/

8 June – Royalston for Rhinos – This is to be held at the Royalston Reserve, which borders on the Lake that Firefly mentioned in a couple of his blog posts - HERE.  Entries are open there is a 15km and a family 5km –  
http://www.trailadventures.co.za

15 June – 18km or a 5km –
http://www.trailadventures.co.za
to enter and for more details

17 June – 10km or a 5km SOS Horsing Around Trail Run Series –Schoenmakerskop, More details on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SosHorsingAroundTrailRunSeries

22 June – Katberg Eco Trail Run;  18 km, 10km, or a 5 km Details on below

29 June – Heartbreak Hill 21.1km.  Not a Trail Run but fun nonetheless.  I do plan on doing this.

JULY 2013

28 June to 7 July – KNYSNA OYSTER FESTIVAL.  There are a whole LOAD of events to choose from (not all sporting, it is the Oyster Festival after all.

6 July 2013 – Knysna Forest Marathon 21.1km and 42.2km- Charity Entries still open.  (I am not doing either of these – long story)

7 July – HoutKapper Trail – 27km (Entered) there is also a 16km and a 8 km .  This is the first time this event is being held and is part of the Knysna Oyster Festival Details HERE  (Yikes – it says the 27 is for “experienced trail runners – not sure if I consider myself that yet)

20 July - 10km or a 5km SOS Horsing Around Trail Run Series – Bushpig Adventure Cape More; details on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SosHorsingAroundTrailRunSeries

AUGUST 2013

4 August – Woodridge Trail Runs – not a series this year, this is the only date  (I have done a couple of these races before – read HERE)

9 August – PROVISIONAL _ Details to be announced.  There are talks about a 25km out at Cockscombe.  Should be awesome, can’t wait to hear more.

10 August – 10km or a 5km SOS Horsing Around Trail Run Series – Walker Drive Shopping Centre – More details on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SosHorsingAroundTrailRunSeries

9 – 11 August – Southern Cross Multi Day Trail Run – Details here
http://www.southerncrossadventure.co.za/calendar.html
  (I won’t be doing this, but have heard it is fantastic)

SEPTEMEBER 2013

8 September – Sunshine Coast Trail Run – Details to Follow (I did this last year, was awesome, read about it HERE)

14/15 September – Urban Run – entries open on 1^st June.  www.zports.co.za  ENTER , ENTER, ENTER!!!! Although not a trail run it is one of my favourite events of the year!  LOVE IT.  HERE (2012) and HERE (2011) are blog posts about the previous 2 runs held.

14 September – Baviaanskloof Trail Run – Entries are very limited and open soon.  I will not be doing it, but would like to one year.

22 September – Rhino Run – There are numerous runs held around the country with the PE event being held at at Crossways Village it has a 6km, a 12km and a 20km  Details on Facebook HERE

21/22 or 23/24 September – Otter Run SOLD OUT.  I would like to do this one year, but have heard it is very tough and entries are limited.  I have walked the Otter Trail a couple of times and it is an awesome part of the country.

NOVEMBER 2013

7 – 10 November – The BIG ONE – at least for me!  The FAIRVIEW DRYLAND TRAVERSE! Can’t wait.

If I have left any out that you think I would like or that you would like to include in this list please just put it in the comments and I will add it.

I also believe that there are training runs most Thursday nights, one held at Dodds Farm and one held at Hopewell Estate (run by the Charlo Running Club).  I unfortunately have art classes on a Thursday night and so have never done these.

So, PE people you can have no excuses not to get out there and see the surround areas.  Some of these runs are actually right in the centre of the city.  You will be amazed at the beauty we have here – we are very fortunate!

Conversations with a 3 year old

3 is cute.  I love that she is now talking and I get a glimpse into what she is thinking.  It can however also be very frustrating when she thinks she knows everything and that she is right.  Sometimes though, even that can be very funny.

On our drive into school/work each day we pass a Mac Donald’s and from the road you are able to see the outside of the kiddies play area and climbing stuff.  A few times now Little OL has asked to go but I always so no.  She has not yet been to a Mac Donald’s and I don’t want to start something.  The conversation normally ends with me saying “We are NOT going to Mac Donald’s” Sometimes she insists a bit more, sometimes she leaves it.

On Saturday however the conversation went like this.

Little OL: “Mom, Donald’s”

Me: “We are not going to Mac Donald’s.  It is not nice and we are not going” (truth be told I am a bit of a sucker for their Quarter Pounder with cheese but I am not getting her hooked just yet)

Little OL: “It is nice!”

Me: “How do you know, you have never been”

Little OL: “I have”

Me: “No, you have not, It’s not nice, we are not going”

Little OL: “But I want to go, it is nice!  I want to see the animals”

Me: “What animals?  There are no animals at Mac Donald’s?”

Little OL: “There are!  At the back”

Me: “Little OL there are NO animals at Mac Donald’s”

Little OL: “There are” and then breaks into song “Old Mac Donald had a farm, ee-eye, ee-eye oh”

I probably should have pulled over, I was laughing so much.

Feeding a goat (not taken at Mac Donald’s)

Retirement – will you be ready?

226 Months – that is the amount of months I have till I retire!  Or in other words the number of salaries I have left assuming I work until I turn 60. Scary isn’t it!

Two of my Facebook friends posted about financial wellbeing or retirement today.   The one posted the following:

“47% of women over the age of 50 are single; *50% of marriages end in divorce *in the first year after divorce, a woman’s standard of living drops an average of 73%; *Of the elderly living in poverty, 3 out of 4 are women, yet 80% of these women were not poor when their husbands were alive; *90% of all women will be solely responsible for their financial well-being within their lifetime.” – US stats.

And the other posted the following link: 
http://m.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-investment-insights/retirement-fund-contributions-where-is-the-bulls-e

Is your retirement something you think about? Is retirement something you believe you will be ready for?  Or do you rely on the fact that your husband/partner/wife (if you have one) probably has it sorted?  Do you know what position you will be in when you retire or even if you will be able to afford to.  Our daughter will only be starting university when we want to retire.

I work for a small company, I have always worked for small companies (or on contract or traipsed around overseas) I have never had a company Provident Fund or Retirement Fund.  A few years ago I took out a Retirement Annuity but nowhere near enough to cover what I would require to retire comfortably.  I knew I needed to make another plan so I started looking at buying property.  Not to live in, but to rent out.  I, myself, was renting at the time and it made financial sense for me to continue renting, which I did until I got married and movedin with my husband.  Somebody asked me the other day how I manage to do this.  I guess the best article I have found so far to describe it is HERE.  (Thanks Marcia  of Organising Queen for the link to this blog).  I always make sure that the rental I stand to receive covers not only my Bond repayment (I Bond it to the max ) but also the water (tenants pay their own eletricity), rates, levies etc.  And yes, it is totally possible, but you need to look around and be VERY fussy.  I look at a lot of properties!  You also have to realise that because you don’t want to live in that specific neighbourhood does not mean that nobody wants to live in that specific neighbourhood.  The lower income areas generally make for better rental areas.

There are a few other reasons why I buy in lower income areas.

1. I could never afford the deposit (or mortgage) on a more expensive property;

2.  At least if my tenant does not pay or I don’t have a tenant for a month or two I could afford to cover the bond (even if I need to use my credit card for that month – which is not a good idea by the way) and

3. There are more tenants looking to rent in lower income areas so your property is less likely to stand empty.

I have had hassles with tenants not paying and/or damaging my properties, but then so have friends of mine who rent out in more affluent areas.  I don’t beleive that the level of income is always a sign that somebody is going to take care off your property or pay on time.

So, for my retirement I have a goal – I want to own at least 10 rental properties by the time I am 55.  I have 3 at the moment and will be putting in an offer on another one this week.  I have however calculated that if I want to retire solely on the rental and maintain a decent standard of living I need at least 14 paid off properties – remembering that I rent out to the lower end of the market.  Thankfully I also have that RA ….

Do you have any questions?

NB:  Please note that I am NOT a financial advisor or expert in this field.  This is purely based on my experience.