A-NOTHER Birthday!

 Dear Blogger readers. Just when you thought it was safe to visit this blog again...

LOL

However, this is a VERY important birthday, celebrated on a SPECIAL date in my life.

Thandi, my house lady of the past seven years has a birthday on 4 March. This is the same day which Grant and I married many years ago. This year, it was my 53rd wedding anniversary...

BUT 

more importantly it was Thandi's 60th birthday.

I had a personalized cake made for her and Estelle painted a personalized coffee mug as a gift. 

A cake and coffee mug with Thandi's photo 

In South Africa, when you turn 60, you qualify for the old age pension. Because you have to jump through several hoops, I helped Thandi through the process. 

We started off at a commercial bank; we waited in a long queue eventually getting to the front and opened an account in Thandi's name. Then we went to the municipality to obtain a "proof of residence" for Thandi.  Here we waited in a long queue before finally being served. We eventually arrived at the SASSA (South African Social Security Agency) at 1pm.  Yes, again, we waited in a long queue. By 4pm we had not yet been attended to, and we told to return the next day. 

Which we did...

Finally, by Thursday midday Thandi had been approved to receive her social security pension. Hallelujah! 

 I dropped Thandi off at her home and I returned to the farm. 

That night I received a WhatsApp from Ntombi, Thandi's adult daughter: 

Hi Gogo (pronounced gawgaw - Zulu for grandmother) 

Thanks a lot for taking my mom back to SASSA today.  She has been approved for her pension. You have given her a second chance. 

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL!

Another birthday!

 Good morning, dear Blogger readers. 

On Sunday, 2 March, our Bloemfontein granddaughter, Abby turned 13! How I remember the day she was born in that city. Grant and I had just relocated from the Great Rift Valley in Kenya to Tanzania. When two of the ladies on camp came to welcome me, all I was bubbling over about my newest little grandie. 

Recently Abby danced at the Sand du Plessis theaters in Bloemfontein. Amanda, her mum, shared the photos below with me. 

Abby Hedges - she looks JUST like Angus at that age

Seeing these photos, took me back to when Angus (Abby's dad) and my younger son was a teenager. He attended Saint Andrews all-boys school. The school put on a play production called Julius and Cleopatra - a spoof of a famous Shakespear play. 

Being only boys, Angus and three other lads were handmaidens in the royal court. My eyes popped slightly when I saw my son - like his classmates - wearing female support garments under short tutus!  They were all beautifully made-up with their hair scraped back.  At the famous line "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears", Angus and his fellow thespians responded with "Ears?"; each respectively cupping a hand behind an ear. 

Unfortunately, in the 90's there were no Smartphones or digital cameras but seeing Abby in those photos, reminded me how much she looks like her daddy at that age. 

On that same Sunday of Abby's birthday, she had asked to be baptized at church.  Later that day Amanda shared the photos of this auspicious and very serious spiritual occasion. 

Faith in your mother and faith in God 

 Amanda, a pastor's daughter knew exactly how long to immerse her precious child in the water 

A very emotional moment with a shaft of light adding a blessing 

I'm so proud of the way Angus and Amanda are raising their three children. 

Happy Tuesday to you!

More celebrations!

 Dear Blogger friends. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I really appreciated them all! 

No sooner was that over and I started to prepare an event in Winterton for Weigh-Less' 50th birthday! 

Weigh-Less is the weight loss company (the BEST weight loss company) that I have worked for over the past seven years. With Lockdown, April 2021, when Weigh-Less went Virtual, I was the first Group Leader to put my hand up to do Virtual Groups. The best decision I ever made! I have 180 members worldwide. This keeps me on my toes, especially from Tuesday night when members from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan weigh in with me.  I weigh the rest of the world (including South Africa and neighboring states) from 3am through to midday on Wednesday. Then I deliver my motivational talk via voicenote.  

In addition, I also have three Venue Groups on two different days in two different locations. Weigh-Less has always been a Venue orientated business and is preferred by those members who have a Group and Group Leader in their town. Our Winterton and Valley members have this privilege! 

Weigh-Less was founded by Mary Holroyd a transplanted young Irishwoman who arrived in South Africa in 1974. She had lost a great amount of weight using her own weight loss program. In South Africa she soon realized many women and men needed to lose weight the healthy way and Weigh-Less was born.  

Sadly, Mary passed away suddenly in October 2023.

But... 

So great was the legacy (in South Africa, Weigh-Less is up there with the supermarket giants and retail businesses) which she had created, that her daughter, also part of Weigh-Less since she was a four-year-old at the Weigh-Less inception, immediately took up the reigns. Weigh-Less has continued to grow from strength to strength. 

I have been involved with Weigh-Less for 39 years when I lost 32kg/70lb in nine months and kept it off all these years. 

Jacqui, our 62-year-old gorgeous granny of two, kept the audience enthralled with her upbeat explanation of the eating plan; how to prepare and store your meals and snacks as well as  relating  her own successful  journey with Weigh-Less

Jill Atkinson was my Group Assistant in Winterton from 2019 until she asked to step down in 2022. Her twin (in the city) was dying with pancreas cancer and 

she wanted to spend as much time with her. A year later a malignant lump was discovered in Jill's left breast. She had a lumpectomy and subsequent chemotherapy. In January this year she got a clean bill of health. All throughout this traumatic time, Jill said the fact that she had lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less under my guidance in 2021, and is enjoying optimal health, she sailed through the treatment. (Jill will be 80 this year) 

A wonderful testimony! 

Esme, my current Group Assistant these past three years, spoke about the fact that she lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less in my group. She told us about having a knee replacement in 2022. She had hardly had time for the knee to heal, when she needed emergency back surgery. Although she suffered incredible pain and discomfort, the doctor commended her on being on her healthy goal weight. Today her back and knee is completely healed. She attends "boot camp" twice a week with much younger folk, walks 8km daily with a friend and fellow Weigh-Less goal weight member, Susan, and does Parkrun every Saturday. Esme turned 75 the day after our Weigh-Less event! 

A skinny child, a slender teen and a slim young woman, even after childbirth. However,  I gained weight in my 30s after major surgery which caused me to lead a sedentary life for several months. Inadvertently Grant was instrumental in getting me to join Weigh-Less after he had seen a friend of mine who had lost weight on this program. I am eternally grateful to Weigh-Less, not only for keeping me healthy and on my goal weight but for the opportunity to help others to experience the same! 

When I greeted the guests, I asked them to guess which birthday we were celebrating . It caused great hilarity! 

With my trusted loyal soldiers!

The next day, Sunday, I travelled back into town; I collected Susan and together we entered the Dutch Reformed Church. We could see Esme sitting in a pew towards the back and quietly slid in beside her. She was so surprised and touched that we had come to celebrate her 75th birthday by attending a church service with her!

The moral of the story? If you would like to lose weight the healthy Weigh-Less way and maintain your healthy goal weight for life while ageing gracefully, contact me online for more information! 

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY!