D-day no. 2

D-day no. 2 came and went without much ho-ha. And up until now I just feel a bit tired and not in the mood for food. I assume, as with the previous session, the side effects will only kick in over / after the weekend. The doctor reduced one part of the chemo drugs and hopefully that will help with side effects as well. My hair also started falling out yesterday. And I have to say, I am not feeling as emotional about it as I thought I would. I think it is because the biggest part of me wants to get well and healthy, never mind no hair - it will all grow back and apparently even thicker and nicer than before.... And today there are such nice scarves and beanies not to mention wigs! Maybe I should get a different colour and style for each day of the week.

But I want to go back a few days. I went with Hugo to Paradise Park. A nice place for young and old with lions, tigers, farm animals, owls and a lot more to see not even to mention all the things to do! The highlight of my toddler's day? A ride on Thomas the Tank Engine through the "jungle", with man-made animals that make (or rather trying to..) scary sounds over loudspeakers. That is all he is talking about... But, it was a great trip and one I especially found worth our while.

In the meantime we are packing and getting ready for the move to the new house. I am very excited - four bedrooms and a nice garden. Then I will feel much better for finally giving Ouma Ronel her own bedroom instead of a sleeping spot on the living room floor!

This weekend there is also a South African festival, Immergroen, typically like Aardklop. There is a bunch of South African artists and melktert, koeksisters and biltong on sale. If I feel well enough, we will definitely showing our faces there!

A wonderful friend, Géne (a fantastic English teacher at Affies!), wrote me this poem:

LOURIKA
Passionate, Devoted
Laughing, Chattering, Caring
Her eyes sparkles when she shares her dreams
Inspirational!!!!!!!! (This type of poem is called a Cinquin)

Thank you Géne, is it a great gift and one I carry in my heart every day!

I want to end of by sharing a beautiful verse I found in Rom 8:18 (forgive me for the free translation) - "I know for certain that our current suffering can not even be compared to the glory with which God is going to surprise us". Isn't that such a special promise?

PS. The photos are of our precious boys, Ivan (no. 1&3) and Hugo (no. 2&4) taken by my wonderful friend Anne-Marié on our resent visit to SA.