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.

I had fun! Honest.

Today I am not drinking any water!  None!

I know it is supposed to be good for me blah, blah blah…. But the toilets are on a different floor to my office and I am not going up and down them unnecessarily.  My legs are in pain, actual physical pain!  I am so stiff I am surprised I managed to drive myself into work this morning.

On Saturday I did a little trail run and today I can barely move.  Truth be told I could barely move at the 19 km mark on Saturday but still had 2 km to go, or so I thought.  The 21km ended up being 23.5km but hey what is an extra 2.5km among friends….  Quite a bit it turns out, when your legs don’t want to move.

There has only been one time in my life when my legs have been more sore whilst running, and that was on the last 3 kms of a 32km training run where I started out too fast.  The ache felt so deep in my legs it felt like my bones where aching.  My calves were sore, my thighs were (are still) sore, my hips were sore.

On Saturday I could not decide which was worse – running or walking!  Both were equally as painful but after a while I figured that at least if I ran I would get to the end quicker and could sit down, so I ran.  That and the fact that there were 3 girls right behind me who told me they were going to catch me… Hell no!  Pain or not that was not going to happen (and who says I am not competitive).  Also fortunately the last 2.5km were downhill.

All in all though it was a great race and the route was fantastic.  I absoloutely loved the first 19km.  It was organised by Zports and held at Elephants of Eden near Woody Cape and at one point you could see Bird Island and the sand dunes.  It was stunning.  I love getting out of town and doing trail runs.  I did this one last year (link here), but they changed the route slightly, made it longer and reversed it.  The scenery was amazing and for quite a bit of it I ran with friends – until my legs decided to pack up on me.

I am very glad I did it, and by tomorrow my legs will be back to normal an I will only remember how awesome it was to get out there.

I have been told she is now 18

At each stage/age of Little OL’s life I have said that “I LOVE this age”.  I always thought that I would prefer just to be given a 2 year old so it came as a total surprise that I would even remotely enjoy the baby stage but I did.

So, as she gets older and changes, grows up and becomes a little girl I once again have to say “I LOVE this age”  I must however put in a little addition – I LOVE this age….90% of the time.  The other 10% I want to run away screaming.

Boy – the 3’s are tough.  (I am assuming it is an age thing and not just the fact that we are the only parents that have an absolute little terrorist on our hands at least 10% of the time – please tell me we are not the only ones…….)  Anyway, I love the fact that she is growing up; the things she does and says are so flipping cute.  I love that we can have conversations about random stuff, go out together, play pretend and that she loves helping me.  I love that in the morning she will open the curtains and say “Mom it’s a beautiful day?” even if it is not.   I love that she can be kind and thoughtful and caring.  And then she is not….

I don’t like the screaming, lying on the floor hitting anyone in sight, little monster that happens at the flip of a switch. (and back again as soon as she realises she is not getting her way).  She will go from laughing to crying and back to laughing quicker than you can say “Time Out”.  Academy Awards have been won for lesser performances!

I also don’t like that she want to grow up so quickly.  I have been informed that I need to give her my car keys and money as she needs to go to the shops – alone!  She’ll drive…. I told her that was not happening until she was 18 and had a licence – apparently she is already 18 – or so I am being told.

Potato Stamping

10 or so minutes later the potato stamping turned into potato throwing…..

Her first race – not quite according to plan

I signed Little OL up for her first running race this Workers Day. It was part of the Spar Ladies Race – which is on Saturday. This was organised for the girls that are too young to take part in that and was called the Little Ladies.  She loves running (see picture chasing bunnies HERE) and I figured she would easily manage 2 km.  Maybe not run the whole way, but definitely walk and run.  Quite often on a weekend, when I get back from a run, she insists that we go out for a run/walk around the block together.

She was super excited about it. I told her about it on Monday and it is all she has been talking about. She proclaimed she was going to be the winner……  We did realise though that she does not really understand what a winner is when she told us that I would also be a winner.  We told her that everybody that does it will be a winner.

On Wednesday morning she was up and dressed by 5:30 – the race only started at 9:00….. She even wanted her hair in ponies (apparently that is what you do when you run).  She knows what I wear when I go running, so my sister (who joined us) and I wore our normal running kit.  She even made me phone my sister to make sure she was awake and getting ready too….. (although I managed to get her to wait till just after 7 to make that phone call)

The whole drive down there she was excited, the walk across the field to register she was excited…. And then the wheels fell off.  I think the number of people was just a bit overwhelming.  I ended up carrying her for the full 2km.  She would not even walk 2 meters never mind 2 km…..  Thanks to my sister for “running” with us, and my brother and his wife for supporting. Although they ended up walking the whole thing with us too.

I must say though that the whole thing was great, there were a lot more people than I expected and each little girl received a really nice medal – which later on in the day Little OL was showing off with great pride.  I will try again at another race, but maybe one that is not quite as big.

Dear Monkey Land

Dear Monkey Land

Just a heads up…. The troop of baboons that hangs around the entrance to your sanctuary is not very good for business.

Yours sincerely

Mrs OL

We spent the weekend in Plett.

Plett Lagoon at sunrise

On the way home we thought we might pop into Monkey Land so Little OL could see the monkeys.  You know how it goes, trying to distract her while in the shops… “Do you want to see the monkeys, should we go see the monkeys, that’s a good idea isn’t it?  If you are a good girl we will go to the monkeys.”  Yay, excitement all round, until about 400m from the entrance where they have a huge sign board with the prices.  Holy moly R240 per adult and well, I did not even read the kids prices….. (or the board properly it turns out)

Mr OL and I looked at each other; I asked if we really wanted to pay that much just to see some monkeys?  We drove on slowly for another 50m or so trying to decide what to do, I mean we had promised to show her some monkeys and could not really back out of it.  Then lo and behold a large troop of baboons!  Big ones, small ones, some sitting on the posts next to the road, the babies playing and chasing each other. Some in the trees and, some even crossing the road right in front of the car.  Ah… Monkey Land came to us… She will never know the difference, right?

“Look Little OL MONKEYS!  See, we told you we’d take you to see the monkeys……”

We sat and watched them play for a while and then we went and fed some goats.  Happiness all round.

Feeding goats

The actual highlight of the weekend for Little OL – the Bunny Rabbits which provided lots of entertainment

PS:  Just a side note to add, I have actually been to Monkey Land before, yes, paid and gone inside.  It is fantastic.  I actually have a HUGE phobia of monkeys and even I managed to walk through the whole sanctuary (quickly), I do believe it is worth it, however don’t think that Little OL would have appreciated it at this age.  I do see however on their webiste that there are other cheaper options.  I think the R240 must be a price for all 3 sanctuaries together.

Courage, grit and determination

On Sunday the 9^th  annual Ironman South Africa was held in Port Elizabet, it was also my birthday and I could not think of a better way to celebrate than to be there supporting all the amazing athletes, which is why I am struggling with the fact that somebody would target an event like the Boston Marathon.

I think that this has shocked me because it is “so close to home”.  Not obviously in a geographical way, but the fact that it is something so similar to an event that I would attend and that it is something that I would take Little OL to.  I knew people there.

My blog post about Ironman South Africa was going to be very different had I written it yesterday….

Sport is something I love, sporting events are something I love.  I see them as places of hope, and mutual support and camaraderie.  It is a lifestyle that I want Little OL to grow up knowing and want to actively encourage.  I want it to be a way of life for her as she grows up, so on Sunday I took her with to watch Ironman SA.  We were there from before the start, watching the sun come up, watching the athletes all line up on the beach. We were there for the cannon and the helicopters and the vibe.  We stayed there all day.  We watched them swim, and then cycle and then run.  We were there when the lead guys (and girls) finished and we were there as the sun was setting (and then we had to head home).  We cheered, we screamed and we encouraged.

Some of us even slept………

Future Triathlete

I love this event. There are people that take part that you think would not even be able to walk up a flight of stairs, never mind swim 3.8km, cycle 180km and then run a marathon – 42.2km.  They are not sporty. This is a challenge, a goal and a life changing event.  There are people of all sizes, and colours and shape and ethnicity.  All doing it together and being encouraged equally.  They struggle, they have moments where they swear they are not going to make it, but most do. They show the courage, grit and determination necessary.

Ironman and many other sporting events bring out the best in people.  And in the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon I hope that this is remembered.  My heart go out to those who lost loved ones, to the father who, while running a marathon lost his 8 year old son that was waiting for him at the finish line and to the injured.

On my next run I will be thinking of all these people.

 

Edited:  Latest newspaper reports say that the father of the 8 year old, Martin Richard was not running, but that the whole family was spectating.  His mom is in serious condition with a brain injury and his sister has lost a limb.  What ever the story my heart goes out to this entire family and the other families affected by this act of cowardice.

Corporate Ironman Challenge 2013

On Saturday morning it was the Corporate Challenge or locally known as the “Corporate Ironman”.  It is 10% of the full Ironman distance, so a 380m swim, 18km bike ride and a 4.2km run and can be done individually or as a team.  I chose to do it as an individual however, if truth be told when race day rolled around, I was not that keen.  I am not sure why?  It was not because I had not trained properly (I hardly ever do), I just was not in the mood.

Until I got down there!

I always forget how much I enjoying being part of an event of this magnitude.  I LOVE the vibe, the atmosphere, the people, the excitement and most importantly I love taking part and doing something physical.  I have not ridden my bicycle or swum since January so I was a little nervous about those, but not enough to let it worry me.  It is a short race so I could just push the bike.  I swim at the same speed not matter what.

Our company entered 3 teams and 2 individuals, me being one of the individuals.  I got down there before sunrise and racked my bike.  It was awesome watching the sun come up over the sea and was a beautiful morning.  The race starts in waves with the individual girls starting last.  It was quite nice to get to watch all the others go off first.  Boy, some of those people can swim.  Then it was us.  The sea was gorgeous although I did swallow a huge mouthful of water when the wake of a jetski hit me.  My swim was ok, not bad, not good, just ok. When I first started swimming I had as serious pain in my arm, but it is one I have had before I know that after about 50 meters or so it goes away.  I just need to play with my stroke a bit.  After the swim was the bike.  I had a good ride condidering I have not been on my bike since the 70.3 in January.  My average speed was 28 / hr and I really pushed it.  I figured the race was short enough that I would not die.  Luckily I felt good. Even going into the run I felt good. In fact I feel good pretty much the whole way.  Right up till about 60m from the end……. I know I am a little bit competitive.  I have mentioned this before.  I know it does not appear that I am, based on my times etc, but I can be.  About 600m from the end a girl passed me – I did not realise that I actually knew her, but nobody had passed me on the run and I was not going to let somebody catch me right there so I tried to keep up.  Bad idea!  I have never ever before felt that I was not going to make the finish line.  I kept up for about 550m and then it went a bit pear shaped.  I started seeing black marks and my legs turned to jelly.  My thoughts where “uh, so this is what hitting the wall really feels like” I thought I was going to hit the floor in front of all those hundred spectators and it was not going to be pretty.  I had a decision, either slow down and hope the feeling passed or try to keep up and know that I was going to fall flat on my face.  I slowed down and let her go.  Thankfully the feeling did pass and I did make it down the red carpet…. As soon as I stopped running I felt perfectly fine again.

Well, what can I say?  I finished 27^th girl overall and in a time of 1H17.  I am totally over the moon with that result and I bettered my time from last year (I had not trained for that one either).  I loved this race, every single moment of it (except when I thought I was going to land on my face).  I am so glad that I did it.  The weather was perfect once again and the support was awesome.  Can’t wait for next year…….

Swim: 11:06, Bike 44:05, Run 22.28 –Over all time 01:17:48

I seriously need to think about training for next years one……

I want to learn how to…. (a Bucket List of sorts)

I don’t have is a bucket list – for some reason it has never appealed to me.  However I have always had a vague list of stuff that I would like learn how to do.  I love learning about new things.  I get overly excited, I Google it extensively, I watch tutorial after tutorial on You Tube, I buy books and read everything possible about it, I might even attend a course or two and eventually I will attempt it.

I love the challenge of learning something new, pushing my boundaries and trying stuff that I have never tried before.  The problem is that as soon as I have figured out how to do it (not even mastered it, just how to do it) I get bored and move onto the next project.  Sometimes I will go back to that project because I really enjoyed it, or I found out more about it and realised I only just scratched the surface with my abilities and then I will get all excited about it again.

My problem though is that my list of things I would like to learn about it is endless, varied and I forget about the one as soon as I have thought of something new.  So ci decided to write them all down ….  Here are just a few that I can think of at the moment:

• I want to learn how to do quick sketches on location (and make it look like the people are people and not monkeys) – STARTED - WORKSHOP BOOKED, BOOKS ORDERED, GOOGLED EXTENSIVELY – See other blog An Ordinary Life – Sketched
• I want to learn how to take a decent photograph
• I want to learn how to paint a decent portrait (properly) – STARTED – SIGNED UP FOR THE DIARY OF FACES ONLINE WORKSHOP – PART ONE with Sharon Tomlinson
• I want to learn how to work with chocolate
• I want to learn how to make fondant (sugar paste) figures decently
• I want to learn how to design a website
• I want to learn how to use my Silhouette machine properly
• I want to learn how to illustrate a children’s book (I will even settle for drawing a decent greeting card)
• I want to learn how to use a photo editing program with a little bit of skill
• I want to learn how to use a graphic design program
• I want to learn how to make money out of property
• I want to learn how to retire rich (don’t we all)
• I want to learn about trading on the stock exchange
• I want to learn about permaculture
• I want to learn how to reupholster furniture
• I want to learn how to write more creatively
• I want to learn why my tomatoes keep dying
• I want to learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• I want to learn how to bake a Black Forest Gateau
• I want to learn how to swim more efficiently – for long distance open water swimming
• I want to learn how to hand bind a book
• I want to learn how to do Lino Block Printing

As you can see my list is extensive and varied…..  Although you will note there is nothing musical on there. Even I know my limits.  I am totally tone deaf!!!

I have decided that instead of just having a vague idea of things I would like to learn and randomly doing some as I come across them I am going to try and work my way through my list.  I am not saying I am going to try and learn them all.   Some I might scratch off the list all together.  I am also not giving myself a time limit.  Who knows, I might find one on the list that I absolutely adore doing and get stuck on it for ages.  Then again I might try and do two at once.

There are also some obvious constraints – obviously money is a huge one (if you offer courses in PE or online and want to donate a space to me in any of the above I will gladly accept – just saying…..). Time is the other biggie – I have a full time job and a 3 year old.  Space is another – the garage is my husband’s domain (or he so he likes to believe) I can’t really just take over the entire house and garage with my stuff.  I have already taken over about 95% of all available storage spaces (including the garage) with my hobbies (yes, I have a few).

So, with this in mind I have asked to attend a Pen and Wash workshop held by Talbot Cox for my Birthday, it is all about sketching on location and using your sketchbook as you go.  It sounds exactly what I am after at the moment. The course is in a couple of months and I am very excited.  HERE are details on the workshop if you are interest.

What would you really like to learn how to do, or like me do you have a list?

This weekend

I think I am living in denial about this weekend.  I have not even thought much about it and am not stressed (yet).

It is Ironman weekend!  I love Ironman weekend!  I love the build-up, the excitement, the expo, the registration and seeing all the athletes.

What I have not been thinking about is the fact that I have entered the Corporate Challenge Triathlon (10% of the IM distance).  What I have not been thinking about is that I have not been on my bike since January, nor have I swum.  Yikes.  Thankfully I am not a stranger to doing an event with minimal training…

This weekend it will also be my amazing sisters 6^th Ironman. We did our first one together in 2007 and she has just kept going, only missing one when she was living in London.  I am so amazed by her.  Did I mention that she swam the Bell Buoy Challenge on Easter Weekend???  I am in total awe of her.

The other thing that I am in denial about this weekend is the fact that it is my birthday!  Oh dear…  I still have not celebrated my last birthday and here is another one.  At least I am planning on doing something I absolutely love this weekend – cheering on at an Ironman. Believe me the temptation to do it as it was on my Birthday was extremely, but sanity prevailed.

So, if you are down near Hobie Beach on Sunday, come and say hi.  I will be the one eating handing out cupcakes in between screaming for my sister.