1. KK’s new bike – Specialized Epic MTB. 2. Loving my winter Camper twin shoes. 3. The bed prepared for me by KK when I was sick. 4. Set of Woolies soup mugs (which I am using as giant tea mugs). 5. Examples of good food choices at dietitian. 6. ‘Happy water’ on the menu at Voodoo Lily Cafe. 7. Annie supporting me when I was sick. 8. Power outages. 9. My favourite building wrap in Jhb CBD for Anglo American.
As a 37-year old married women with no kids, I must admit that I don’t exactly know where I ‘belong’ in society these days. You see, one would have thought that as people have started to accept mixed racial couples and same sex relationships, so too would the idea that a woman who decides not to have children be okay. But it isn’t.
I still get the confused looks, the gasps and the disbelief. In fact, majority of people who know my decision will still tell me that I will change my mind in future and ‘I better hope it’s not too late.’
Women judge me and quiz me as if somewhere in my explanation they’ll find a loophole to my reasoning and try to convince me otherwise. I’ve been warned that I will have no one to take care of my when I’m old. I’ve been informed that when KK and I grow tired of one another, that we’ll have nothing in our lives to hold us together.
I’ve been told that I am missing out on the biggest blessing of life and that there will be no one to carry our family name in to the future.
But not many will tell me that it’s okay. Very few are able to tell me that it’s my decision and that there are loads of women like me who are fine not to have kids and who have never even wanted to have any.
I get insulted when people say that I have four-legged children instead. Um, no. I grew up with dogs, I love dogs but they are not a substitute. They are dogs. I get upset when people suggest I am concentrating on my career. Nope. It is just a job and I personally do not want to be the boss. I just don’t want children.
Do I hate children. No, why would I hate them?
The hard part is that I have lost many girfriends who have moved on into that phase of their lives and now have nothing in common with me anymore or perhaps who don’t know what to talk to me about anymore. It’s still me. Bron.
All around me, I am flooded with messages on TV, magazines, billboards and the media about what a ‘normal’ couple looks like.
And I guess that’s my point. I’m confused as to where exactly in society I fit. In my head and my heart, I know who I am and the decisions I’ve made.
But not everyone around me seems to get it.
I must be the biggest fan of Opening Ceremonies. I love them! (I know, pretty nerdy right?)
The only opening ceremony I have been fortunate enough to attend was the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Soccer City. It’s a day I’ll never forget! When tickets sold out for it so quickly, I was devastated. But not giving up hope, I registered on a website which would send updates to my phone when tickets to games became available. I remember clearly waking up on a Saturday morning just after 7am and seeing the alert that opening ceremony tickets were available. I was shaking as I bought them! Unforgettable!
But wow, the Olympic Games opening ceremony is on a whole different level. Do you remember at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta when the great Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame, shaking from Parkinson’s? Oh wow…Legend.
Or at the 1992 games in Barcelona when that archer received the flame on the special tip of his arrow and shot it into the cauldron? Reports the next day were that it totally missed and technicians lit the flame themselves. People like me didn’t care.
Remember those giant footprints in the sky during the Beijing games? Awesomeness!
So I’ve given KK strict instructions not to make plans to go out with any friends tonight. If anyone knocks on my door, I’ll pretend we aren’t home. Nothing and nobody is going to stop me from watching it.
News reports have hinted that it is going to be spectacular! Spectacular! The music, the dancing, the celebrities, the crowds, the thousands of volunteers, the fireworks finished off with the walk of nations. Caster, you will make me cry, I just know it!
I have *goosies* already! I can’t wait!
Let the Games begin! *cheese alert*
As I write this post, I feel like death warmed up. Never in my life have I felt so sick. It started on Sunday afternoon and instead of me resting, I simply thought a couple of medi-keels and throat spray would sort it out. I went to work on Monday because I had “so much to do” – sound familiar?
As I got home on Monday night, I jumped straight into bed, thinking I could ‘sleep’ the flu away. Tuesday was spent entirely in bed, no TV, no mags, no blogging. But when I woke up on Wednesday, it was worse. I realised I would need to get to the doctor. But as per usual, I thought I would get as much done before going to the doctor so I quickly scooted off to my dietitian appointment at 7am and into the office to sort out some emails.
When I finally got to the doctor, she was horrified. I have blisters all down the back of my throat and my muscles ache so bad, I groaned when she touched my legs and my ribs. I am sore, there’s no doubt about it. Very sore. It’s only when she said she needed to do a throat swab to rule out swine flu that I suddenly stopped and started to take notice. Swine flu? She reassured me that it was just the strain going around and I had the same symptoms but nothing to worry about. But it’s still not the words I wanted to hear.
I’m at home, in bed, feeling very sorry for myself. But I’ve learnt some hard lessons from it all:
The test results for my throat swab come out on Friday but I have been booked off from work regardless. Even if it’s not pig, it’s still flu. As frustrating as this is for someone like me who never takes sick leave, I have no choice.
On the topic of pigs, one of my Twitter BFFs @lucypeta has a pig as a pet. His name is Merlin. Here he is, giving me a smooch hello! *love him* Isn’t he just gorgeous!
Keeping up with the Walkers... 