Letter to Richard - 26 May 2014 (end of first semester)

Dear Richard

Wow, but last week was a hectic teaching week! To get through our budgeted teaching during the year we should have 8 contact hours a week, and last week I had 15½… So a very busy week! And during that time I also managed to get through a number of things on my to do list, so it was a successful week, even if it was exhausting! I also managed to start getting back to gym more consistently, after April and early May which was a complete write off J And now that the semester is over I can have a bit more time to arrange my life :D One of the to do items was that I had to fill in a form that we have to do every 4 years as part of our performance evaluation, which will be followed up with an interview with our Head of Department this week, and then his comments get added and it gets sent off to the Dean. I must say it’s quite a challenge to put together a record of what I’ve done over the last 4 years. Thankfully I have kept my CV up to date with most of the details, so that did make things easier… But I think overall I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, and I feel like I’ve grown A LOT as I’ve settled into my job. Compared to what I knew 4 or 5 years ago about how to do my job, I’ve come a long way!

This Sunday Andrew actually travelled to and from church with us! Except for conferences that hasn’t happened for most of our nearly 10 years of marriage! He went to Bellville, but at least we got to drive with him ;) We had our stake temple recommend interviews after church, with Pres Matzaluka, the 1^st counsellor in the stake presidency. He seems like a really nice man, and Andrew really likes him, from their time they’ve spent together.

In the afternoon the kids decided to create their own cake for the activity for family home evening. It was Joshua’s idea, and they mixed Marie biscuits and milk together (we added sugar and some cinnamon) and then it got baked… It wasn’t anything amazing, but Josh and Hannah were so proud of it! We took it over to Granny and Grandpa to show them, and they were just bursting with excitement to explain what they had done and to share it!

All of the kids are absolutely in love with the music from The Sound of Music. We had Joshua copying the dance routine from the song “So long, Farewell”, and we have Hannah and Caleb who sing along. And they all just sit enthralled most of the time. So cool to watch them appreciating something like that!

My quote for the week actually comes from my lesson last week, but I finally got to post it on the YSA facebook group yesterday, and I know that it’s actually very relevant to a number of them right now… And I know that you’re applying this principle often J

Elder Boyd K. Packer said:

“Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counselled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counselled me to do.

“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counselled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you’”

Good words to live by!

Have a good week J

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 19 May 2014 (Hannah's 4th birthday)

Dear Richard

Well Hannah is now 4 years old J And she had a really great birthday, by all accounts J The whole week was about getting ready for the birthday. There were party packs to make, cupcakes to bake and decorate for school, the birthday cake to bake and decorate, presents to wrap… Thankfully it was the last hectic week like that until February next year J Hannah wanted a Barbie ballet party, and we decorated the cake with some ballerina figurines and there was lots of pink icing all over the things for the party! One big highlight for Hannah was that we gave her a bicycle, with training wheels. We kept it over at Mom and Dad’s house, and then we only gave it to her in the afternoon after the party in the morning. She wanted to get right outside and be riding and she’s got the hang of the pedalling. Josh also wanted his training wheels off again (we put them back on when his friends were here and he wasn’t confident yet) and he was doing so well with riding independently! On Sunday afternoon they also both wanted to go out and ride bikes again. And this morning they were asking if they can ride bikes when they get home from school! Exciting times J

I spent 2 days last week at a seminar about public sector accounting, to help us develop the material for the new Post Graduate Diploma in Public Sector Accounting that we’re busy developing. It was held at PwC, and it was the first time that I was there since I left 5 years ago. It was strange to be there, and I can honestly say I don’t miss it! It was very interesting to learn about government accounting though. So where as the normal accounting we do is focused on making a profit, and reporting to the shareholders mainly. But with the government accounting something can be an asset even if it isn’t going to bring in future economic benefits, but if it has the potential to provide a service to the people. And there are just such different issues!

I was lecturing again for the rest of the week, and this week is now the last week of the semester. I was also spending some time getting my test ready, which I’m getting done slightly earlier than I’ve managed before. I’m just about done now J Today I gave my last first year tut. It’s been a great experience tutoring them this semester, but it will be nice to have that bit of time back…

And that’s really about it. The week was really dominated by Hannah’s birthday, so it’s great to have that over. The final stretch at work for this semester too.

Keep well, love you lots J

Shelly 

Letter to Richard - 12 May 2014 (Mother's Day)

Dear Richard

So awesome to speak to you last night J And it was great to see how much the kids enjoyed hearing your voice J Caleb doesn’t remember you, of course, but it’s good for him to hear you periodically, and so when we’re talking about you he can kind of put you into context. But I know that he’ll have to get to know you again from scratch really, so that’s okay. And he’ll warm up to you quickly, because he’s that kind of child.

I wasn’t teaching last week, but I spent the time working on the new groups textbook, and also the old textbook. With the old textbook we’re at the final editing stages of the new edition, checking the edits that the editor has done. With the groups textbook we’re doing some pretty major edits based on the reviews that we’ve got so far.

Wednesday was the national general elections. On Tuesday I was telling the kids that we’d be going the next day to vote, which meant we’d be saying who we thought should be in charge of South Africa. Joshua responded, “I know who should be in charge – Jesus!” Out of the mouths of babes… But of course that’s not how it’s going to work for now… So it worked out that the ANC dropped their majority slightly, with the DA and Julius Malema’s party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, getting a higher proportion than before. I must say that seeing that the ANC did actually have such a biggish decrease gives me a bit more confidence that that voting process is reasonably sound. It will be a test at the next election though to see if they would allow their majority to drop below 60% if that’s how it looks like it will go. In the Western Cape the DA has been voted back with a bigger majority, which is great for our day to day living J

On Friday afternoon I went to the kid’s school for a Mother’s Day afternoon tea. It was pretty chaotic, because it was raining, so we were all inside the classrooms, and then also because I have 3 kids at the school I was going between the 3 different classes with all 3 kids in tow… But it was still a special time J

Saturday we went to Fish Hoek to see Andrew’s mom, and then Sunday we spent most of the afternoon at home, and then went over to Mom and Dad a bit. Andrew helped to make my Mother’s Day special, but I must be honest, the kids didn’t make it the best one ever… They gave me nice cards and they sang in sacrament meeting (but I couldn’t see them singing because I had to play, so I was behind them L), but they were pretty badly behaved during the afternoon, so it did put a bit of a dampener on the day. But I know they do love and appreciate me, they’re just too young to appreciate the significance of the day. I wouldn’t change them for anything though!

Yesterday in my Sunday School class we were talking about Moses’ last messages to the Israelites, in the book of Deuteronomy. One of the things he reminded them of was how important it was to not forget the Lord in times of plenty, and the lesson had the quote by Brigham Young “The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth” One of the YSA commented that sometimes our  spiritual wealth can also be a problem for us. We can think that we’ve got a stronger testimony, or more gospel knowledge, and we can let pride creep in. Either thinking we’re better than other people, or just thinking that we’re fine and we don’t have to worry about ourselves. Very interesting take on wealth. And again, a case where wealth is a good thing, as long as you don’t let pride get in the way, and the Lord wants to bless us with both spiritual and temporal wealth, but then it will be a test to see how we respond.

So anyway, that’s me for the week. This week is going to be all about preparing for Hannah’s birthday and party on Saturday. But then we’ll be done with parties for a while at least!

Have a good week!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 5 May 2014

Dear Richard

I have finally had some days free of marking, for what feels like the first time in ages! I finished the board course marking on Monday last week, and that then started a week where I did very little work because the schools were all closed because Monday and Thursday were public holidays, and I was home with the kids on Tuesday and Wednesday on my own, and then Andrew stayed at home on Friday while I went to work. What’s nice is that the kids are getting that little bit older and being at home alone with them is getting easier. Mainly because Caleb is now old enough to play with the other kids instead of wanting to be on his own mission the whole time, and demanding that I do things with him. So I actually got some time to myself, even though all 3 kids were at home J 

We also did some nice family things like going to the beach a couple of times and braai-ing. The weather was really beautiful most of the week, which really helped J When we went to the beach it was one of the first times that Josh and Hannah went into the water and played around. I thought the water was too cold, but then enjoyed it… Probably the first of many times! But it probably helped that Cindy and Dom were there as well, and being Vaalies they’ll go in the water any time :P

We also had Amy with us the one afternoon, and then two of Joshua’s friends for most of the other day. It was very sweet to see how nice and attentive Josh was to Amy when she was here! And Hannah and Caleb are always playing together. In fact, Hannah is getting Caleb to play all of her girl games, and it’s interesting to see how long that will last before Caleb realises that he probably doesn’t want to play her games ;) But she can enjoy it while it lasts!

And because the marking is all done I got to do some family and home things in the evenings again, like I made a big bag for the soft toys to go into in the play room, and I sorted the freezers. I always feel better when my life is more on the organised side J

There really wasn’t much else to talk about that happened last week… Life is busy as always… Last night I listened to Elder Perry’s talk from the April conference while I was doing the dishes, and I was very impressed with his analogy of us as horses. Very thought provoking.

But I guess that’s it. I’m so glad to hear you’re having such a great time J

Love you lots!

Shelly