Hi all,

What an interesting week it has been. Firstly, the biggest news of the week was the UK elections, with the Leadership Debate being televised continually, and subsequently news reports carrying the outcomes and predictions of the debates. On Thursday, UK finally went to the polls. The result is a hung parliament, with the future of the UK seemingly to be in the hands of Nick Clegg and his decision to form a coalition – the question is, with whom? While the UK was going to the polls, the rest of Europe was holding its breath over the economic crisis facing Greece, which hit a climax this week as it affected global bourses as well as oil prices; Germany fortunately approved the bail out funding for them (a cool €22.4bn). Locally, the JSE took a nice little hammering. To make matters worse, most of Europe and UK are still reeling from the impact of the Icelandic volcano which shut down practically all European airports. This past week, a second wave of ash resulted in Irish and northern UK airports closing again, as well as some other European airports in the latter part of the week, such as Spain, Portugal and Italy. During all of this, Portugal and Spain are bracing themselves for economic turmoil as they too may soon be following in Greece’s footsteps, and dare I say it, so to might the UK. In the midst of these economic dire straits, Mohammed Fayed decided to flog the world famous Harrods to the Qatari Royal Family for £1.5bn. Continuing with awesome sales, a Picasso painting, Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur, sold for $106.5m, now becoming the most expensive art piece to exchange hands on auction. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous.

On the other side of the pond, BP was facing its darkest hour as it had to deal with its very own Exxon Valdez disaster as the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig continued to spew as much as 4 million litres of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico per day. At this rate, current predictions are that the disaster will eclipse that of the Exxon Valdez of 1989. Over the weekend, BP’s attempt to cap the offending well failed. While the US was struggling with this massive catastrophe, they once again attracted the interest of terrorists, with a potential bombing in New York City being successfully averted. Further south, on the South American continent, Peru was rocked by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake.

On a lighter note, Tuesday was Star Wars Day (sometimes also called Luke Skywalker Day). The reason behind this is not difficult to understand, as the date 04 May, can be said as follows: May the Fourth be With You!

My own week was just as interesting, to me! Monday morning started with thunderstorms, resulting in Dad having to go to work by car, owing to the wet roads. Mom and I headed off for some physio for me where I showed Di my walking skills. After a good session Mom and I headed into Sandton City for some Global Wrapps for lunch – yum. I opted for the sticky chicken one. Back home I started playing with my building blocks, and to Mom and Dad’s delight I built a 5 block tower, which was almost as tall as I am. I walked a great deal up and down the passage, and I’ve learnt to navigate comfortably down the stair, albeit a little clumsily, using the walk for support and doing a semi-crawl. I also learnt to jump, which is really cool.

Tuesday Mom and I visited Nina and little Kate. It was a great visit, and with the miserable weather outside, it was the perfect thing to do – visit with friends and get cosy. Afterward some grocery shopping ensued, and in the late afternoon I was put in Dad’s care as Mom headed off for a facial and back massage. By end of Tuesday, the rain had finally stopped.

On Wednesday we woke up to beautiful blue skies, and despite the fact that its technically winter, the temperatures are not unpleasant. Dad took advantage of the clear weather and resumed riding to work by bike. In the afternoon Mom and I met up with Bev at the Cnr Café in Craighall and we spent the rest of the day there. Bev told us all about her 5 week holiday in New York. It was stunning to listen to how awesome a place it sounds. Dad joined us after he finished work, and he quickly got into the cocktails menu!

Thursday Mom took me to see Lauren, and then for the rest of Thursday, we were at home. In the evening, Opa came to visit, and we had an awesome dinner with him and he stayed for my bunzy run. On Friday, we hung around the house, playing in the sandpit or waking around inside and outside.

Mom resumed lecturing on Saturday morning, so Dad and I had some boys time together to bond. After a quick stop to Builder’s Express (it’s a boy thing), we headed to the Johannesburg Zoo. The weather was incredible, and Dad parked by the Memorial Statue and we walked down Memorial Lane, enjoying the animals and the blue skies. We snacked and lunched at the Zoo, and then Dad took me home for my midday snooze. Mom arrived home early afternoon and we decided to head to the Spur at Brightwater Commons. There we bumped into Fanie, and after a brief chat (as I was eager to get to the inflated rides that I’d spotted) we went to the fairground. It was awesome, there were inflated jumping castles, slides, boxing rings, etc. Needless to say there was a height / age restriction on the taller slides, but Mom and Dad did get me onto a medium sized ride, with Dad locking he’s feet in the cargo net ladder and Mommy handing me up to Dad. Dad then positioned me and giggling hysterically, I slid down the slide. Mom and Dad were exhausted from lifting me, so they took me to the jumping castle where I spent time being bounced around by Mom and Dad, taking turns! The very late lunch afterwards at the Spur was awesome, and once home, Mom and Dad decided to veg-out, so four DVD’s were rented and they got square eyes over the next few hours!

Sunday was very quiet. We did not do much. I wished Mommy an awesome and super duper Mommy’s Day and then we all chilled for the day.

The week ahead will once again be very taxing for all of us, with my undergoing surgery on Thursday. I will send out a blog on Wednesday evening to provide all the details, but briefly it will be my 7th brain surgery via radio intervention. As per previously, there are enormous risks associated with the surgery, with the worst case scenario being my ‘checking out’ on the table, to losing the use of my legs, losing the leg entirely through which entry is gained, and also the risk of losing my spatial visual perception. Leading up to the surgery, Mom and Dad are psyching themselves up for the enormous amount of stress they are about to endure, and Mommy the lack of sleep, as she basically stays by my bedside for in excess of 36 hours, often without sleeping a wink. For me, I try and avoid any situations that could cause me to take ill in any way. The risks of the surgery are already extremely high, so there is no need to introduce additional risks or unknowns.

Bye for now.

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Playing with putty

Photo 2 A walk in the passage

Photo 3 Chilling with my seal from Ushaka

Photo 4 Going for block number six

Photo 5 Demolition man

Photo 6 Peek-a-boo

Photo 7 Sonic in my tunnel

Photo 8 Surfing the ‘Net

Photo 9 Breakfast!

Photo 10 Checking out a foal at the Zoo

Photo 11 Walkies at the Zoo

Photo 12 Snack time

Photo 13 A quick rest

Photo 14 A walk in the park, ahem, Zoo

Photo 15 Mommy and I

1 Comment on Back to Normal, For A Short While

  1. Allyson Sacchetti says:

    Hi you 3 just wanted to let you know you are in our thoughts and prayers especially your precious son Jarrod as he faces his next op. I have been following your blog and he is such a beautiful child a real little angel! I know your courage and faith will help others in your position. Well done for being such amazing parents and bringing him through this with all your love. I cannot begin to understand how hard it is for you but just know he has lots of prayers. God be with you and bless him always
    Lotsa love, hug and prayers

    Allyson, Steve and family xxxx000000000

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