Fun and Fulfilment

I am feeling most fulfilled at the moment. I love enjoying what I am doing. It does not happen often, so when it does, it is a sensation to be savoured.


So what has made the difference you make ask?

Community projects! Strange but true! The project I had planned to be spending my time on was postponed, leaving me with a four week gap in work. The fact that this delay has taken place over Christmas has meant that this time has been my own. An incredible gift! It has also given me lots of time to spend on my community projects.

There is a small organisation called the Better Life Organisation which we have created in the last couple of days. It has the aim of improving the lives of people in our area that will never be able to improve their lives on their own. In essence the focus is on the sick, elderly, or disabled. Last year we managed to rebuild 5 houses, this year, with our new organisation, we hope to do a whole lot more.

There is also an incredibly exciting project involving film, religion, and internet broadcasting. Very interesting and just up my alley! This project will require lots of funding through Angel Investors and funding agencies. Things I never dreamt I would ever deal with! There is a whole lot of challenge in seeing if you can not only launch a whole new organisation but also find a way to do it even though it will always make a frightful loss!

And then there is my False Bay paddle. The idea is still in concept phase but I have started talking to other long distance paddlers, as well as shark experts in False Bay. This thing is going to require heaps of work in order to make it a reality. But it just seems like so much fun!

Soon I hope to be bored with all of this fun and actually go and do some work that will bring in an income!

The Belly on Film

Donna and I had heaps of fun the other night. We took pregnant belly photographs.

Donna trawled through the net and selected a couple of photographs that she really liked. Next we set up my alternative photographic studio and got busy recreating some really great pictures. Our sons were not the most willing of models, but we persevered and succeeded.


Our three children


My wonderful wife


My Family

We then tried to capture the sensual nature of pregnancy in a tasteful manner. Our bookkeeper almost blushed when she saw a large print of one of those pictures. Just kidding, she was seriously impressed. Unfortunatelythey cannot be found here...

No matter how hard you look!

Too Silly

I have spent a lot of time at home over the last eight weeks. As one would expect, there have been many benefits including; a finished half pipe, lots of surfing, community work, church work, and most importantly plenty of family time.

The whole reason that I left the corporate world was mainly as a result of the lack of time I got to spend with my family. My job kept me busy enough to ensure that 2 or 3 hours a week with my children was pushing the limits. I had known that this was a problem for a long time but a reasonable solution just seemed to be out of my grasp. In the end, I figured that it was better to earn a fraction of my then salary and rather invest time into my family. After all, I did commit to spend my life with my wife! I just don’t remember doing the same when I joined my old company. Somehow sans the long term commitment, that company consistently got the best parts of me for those 11 years. It just wasn’t right!

Yes, my family seemed to come in second, all the time. I think that I was one of the lucky ones in that my wife and children are still with me. And yes, there is a lot of love in our house! To think that I almost lost all of this for a FAT pay check.....

Money just doesn’t buy real love! But most of the world is hell bent on proving this statement wrong. Surely money is just too much fun to be given up for love???

If I look back over the last 8 weeks, I can clearly see that this time has helped me grow in a particular way. I have always been a tough, strict parent but now I have added silly to my repertoire!! Trust me, this is growth! My children love silly. Truth be told, I enjoy it too. That place where one can just let go of everything and just be funny face, laugh out loud from your gut, roll on the floor, tickle monster, silly.

My relationship with my children has gotten unimaginably better in the last couple of weeks. At long last, I am starting to feel like a real dad, and that my friends, is an incredibly liberating experience!

Longboarding - Old School Style

Life is certainly full of adventure...

A good mate of mine arranged a rather special surfing competition this past weekend. It was called the Freedom Day Legendary Longboard Surf Contest. Normally I would have ignored this event and steered well clear of the beach. Somehow my friends enthusiasm ensured that I together with another 125 entrants were committed to some old school surfing. It was to be the biggest surfing contest ever held on this side of the bay!

Saturday morning was very dark, cold, and rainy. A perfect time for the beach dressed in a pair of baggies. Yes and a beanie that I had grabbed at the last minute. My eclectic dress sense did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the volunteers as we got the beach ready for this legendary contest. The heavens remained wide open, which is not really a concern for surfers as one takes for granted the fact that you are going to get wet. The spectators surprised me with their awesome attitude and support. Weather aside, this was a happening event!

I surfed two heats in the mini mal division. A mini mal is a board longer than 7 foot and shorter than 9 foot with a large rounded nose. I had not the first clue about what I was supposed to be doing and so included a head stand and some switch foot jumps. My surfing was a cross between an old Michael Jackson thriller number and a dead cockroach. Understandably my scores were average to dismal and I was happy to bow out gracefully. Although the only thing graceful about my day would have been the curve of the board I borrowed as it lay calmly on the beach! I really had so much fun just surfing in my first ever competition. Making it out of the water without injuries to either the board or myself was a major win for me!

I took Luke down to the beach on Sunday morning after church. My theory was that the semi finals and finals would showcase some really great surfing. Some nut told me hurry up and get in the water. Obviously I ignored him; one does not swim in ones clothes. My mate’s wife looked shocked to see me dressed completely inappropriately for the next semi final. Surprised would be an understatement to describe my state of mind. A wetsuit was pulled out of somewhere and a board thrust into my hand and I was soon paddling around on some dismal waves. My surfing was not the kind of inspirational surfing I was hoping for Luke to see. But I had fun and left the sea with a big smile on my face! Not bad for an accidental surf!

We did see the current SA longboard champ and all of the Bings, dad and son and daughter (Deon Bing is the regular surf reporter on our local Cape radio station). They cleaned up!! Their surfing was out of this world and all of them looked like they were having a leisurely stroll on a short carpet! Luke and I are thoroughly inspired for next year!

It was great fun to interact with our local surfing community in such a different way. I think this competition may have changed the way we all surf at Strand. It is also fantastic to see a good mate come up with a far out idea and deliver it in such a successful way! Way to go Bro!

Dumping Girlfriends

We took our boys to the water park at the beach yesterday. The cancer institute would have been a little disappointed in our decision. A balmy 35 degrees Celsius blanketed the beach front in bright sunlight and the wind disappointed by not even stirring the leaves on branches. We did however coat our offspring in litres of sunscreen and insist on sun vests. All that taken into account, they had an absolute blast.

I stuck with our youngest for much of the hour that we spent in this world of rushing water. Yes, all three slides were working! As you may well imagine, I was the oldest participant in the activities. For some reason, perhaps my youthful countenance, I seemed to fit in with the rest of the revellers even though I was twice their height. Conversations ranged unabated and seemingly undiluted even with this pesky adult in attendance.

I learnt some interesting stuff.

A number of eight year olds were discussing girlfriends. I thought that it may be an interesting conversation to listen to and I was not disappointed. One of the boys proudly told his mates that he had dumped his girlfriend. I am pretty sure that they have no real concept of what a relationship involves. Either way this chap was proud of his achievement. If I had to get all psychological, I would say that he was posturing excessively to compensate for his bad squint! I was almost impressed myself. Not bad to have already had your first girlfriend at eight and have all your friends look at you in amazement and wonder. Another youngster asked him how he did it. He replied that it was so simple, as all he did was tell her that she was dumped. This statement was answered by a group of eight year old heads nodding in unison. The message was clear, this pesky girl situation can be simply resolved by uttering a couple of words.

I felt a little old at that point and could not stop myself asking the question, ‘but is that nice?’ Hardly a well phrased question, but I was reliably informed that this is how it is done, so obviously there is no problem. I resolved to keep the rest of my old fashioned thoughts to myself.

It was interesting to learn that my son at seven is exposed to some very interesting discussions. Knowing that I am not having these discussions with him means that I have not yet cracked that elusive father son relationship that I have been looking for.

This morning I collected all of the parent handbooks on sex that we seem to have collected. It is way past time for me to learn some stuff. I am also going to spend more one on one time with my sons to ensure that we start talking about all of the stuff that is going on in their lives as well as the stuff that they are just talking about.

I think I am going to learn a lot more now!!

Mums & Bums

My weekend (1 or 2 ago) was full of laughs. Mostly the stuff of great friends and family just having a plain good old time! It was camping weekend, something that could drive fear into any hardened suburban housewife. But not my wife! It has taken years but I think she is as close as she can be to enjoying camping. Years of effort and wise investment into giant Tabard candles, canvas, and inflatable beds have been the driving forces.

Normally there are four families that band together, pitch tents, feast on gourmet creations over an open fire, and play silly games with our children. This time there were only three. One mother pulled out as she did not think her four week old baby would be able to handle the gourmet creations. Or at least thats what I think the reason was.

We have rated this particular place that we go as the best camping spot we have ever been too. Picture rolling grass lawns down to the banks of a river, giant trees shading your site, almost your own mini forest, your own ablution block, and best of all, no other campers within 500m of your site! This place is a gem, and this weekend was our second visit.

The river is fast flowing and a transparent tea colour. It is filled with smoothed river rocks, which have created their own white water rapids. These particular festivities all started with one of the boys wading upstream a bit and then floating back down to where we all lounged in the cold mountain water. Then all of the boys were at it. It did not take long before all the children had found a place further upstream to enter the river and get a fun filled river ride. Yours truly was soon forced to try out this new entertainment with my little guy on my stomach. I very quickly realised that some skill was required to navigate between rocks otherwise I found myself royally thumped. All much to the enjoyment of my youngest who thought the wild up and down gyration of my middle was my addition to the game. How could I spoil that wonderful illusion by explaining that every up was the result of a collision with a rock!

During the day, there were suddenly load raucous screams, laughter and much giggling. Some of that noise sounded suspiciously like it originated with my wife. Having a deep understanding that nothing in camping could ever bring forth multitudes of mirth, I was understandably concerned for her safety. Rushing to the river’s edge, the screams and shouts were undiminished but their source was evident. Three mums bumping and bouncing their way down the rapids on their bums! The kids could not believe their eyes! Neither could I, but I was busy feeling on the grass to find my eyeballs that had popped out of my head on witnessing this sight. With much gaiety, laughter, and yes back slapping, they ran on back through the camp site to do it all again!

This was a good weekend!!! Bring on some more.....