The Dinx Diary – 4 September 2010

Posted: Sat 4 September 2010, 12:56

I’ve been in a depression this week – not that I’m a depressive person by any means, but returning from 3 majorly intense months with my children and grandchildren, being with them 24/7, [in a time zone 9 hours behind this], leaving them, knowing I won’t see them for at least another year or more, leaves me scarred. And the scars from the year before are ruptured again. Scars on scars, year after year. I’ve been doing this for 12 years and it doesn’t get easier… definitely gets tougher. The ache and heartbreak runs deep… Nicki, before you say I’m over dramatising (your favourite quip with me lately), it is exactly how I feel. There is no dramatising whatsoever. My heart is sore.

On Wednesday late afternoon I called to wish my oldest 2 [grandsons], Daniel and Zak, good luck with their new school year and their new school. Daniel into 4th Grade and Zak into 1st. Moving from a private school system into a public school one is a whole new ball game, where they will be much less coccooned. It’s not a bad thing, as it’s a very good school, but it is rather a shock to their schooling culture. Daniel is still angry with me for leaving so I haven’t spoken to him yet, or rather, he hasn’t spoken to ME [yet]. But Zak told me he’s missing me and “when you come back next time Granny Di, please will you stay for 5 years“. I’ve not stopped crying since! Not that I’d stopped much before then, since I’m home. Zak has the most incredible vocabulary and he’s a wit to boot. Reminds me of the day their friends came for dinner and the 2 little girls (the same age as D & Z), came running up the stairs to play with them. Zak rushed to close the door. When I told him that was rude, he said “it’s inappropriate for girls to come into our room.” He’s 6 1/2 years old!!

I’ve also been busy organising air tickets for friends of mine to fly to London tonight – another very good reason for not blogging. I thought they’d booked while I was away, but he’d been waiting for the outcome of the online casino appeal – and for me to get home. V is the lawyer for Piggs Peak (as well as being one of the directors). Btw, yesterday they were granted leave to appeal, which means they have another year, at least, of grace to work on the case, thus their online casinos, which they shut down last Saturday night, will open again tonight – in case you’re interested. I’m thrilled to bits for them. And for the next year at least, if you gamble with Piggs Peak and win, the banks have to take/use your money! Nothing illegal about it… for a while at least.

Because they’d left it so late, I couldn’t use their Voyager air miles with SAA – who don’t make it easy to use one’s miles in any event and their tickets would have cost R60,000 each. Absolute highway (air?) robbery!!! I’m so sick of SAA. In retrospect I’m pleased as I was forced to research Virgin Atlantic. What a pleasure to deal with them. I got their tickets at HALF the price (of SAA) — their Premier Upper Class is far superior to SAA’s with FLAT beds which are made up by the stewards – as a real bed. And Virgin answer their phones like speedy Gonzales – no waiting for hours for someone to assist…. and boy do they assist. Also, their online booking is a breeze! Big UPS to Virgin and fly safely V&B, have fun with the kids and grandsons, Shana Tova (it’s our New Year on Wednesday), and come home safe and sound.

The appointment with the Prosthodontist on Thursday didn’t go the way I wanted it to unfortunately. The tooth I broke in the USA and subsequently had to have extracted is going to prove more costly and painful than the initial $600 I had to fork out. The bone in the gum broke badly, too close to the lower sinuses, which means surgery to build up the ridge with artificial bone and then an implant. And so on Tuesday, the next appointment is with a Periodontist… always something to fill my life, in case I didn’t think my life was hectic enough!

I’ve been busy uploading all my Tahoe pictures to the Kodak Gallery. Above: taken from the summit on the Sierra-Nevada mountain range over the lake. The left 2/3 of the picture is California and the right third (more or less) is Nevada. (Lots of Casinos in Nevada, which is less than 5 minutes from where we were staying in South Lake Tahoe – not that I went there, but the temptation was great :D).
Have a bright and beautiful weekend.
Hugs,

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