Movie Time

During the early part of the week Mom and Dad received confirmation that my seventh brain surgery was to take place on Thursday next week. However, after a visit to Dr Nicoletta and some discussions with Prof Fourie, it was agreed that the surgery would be postponed to 10 May 2011. The primary driver for the postponement was that being so close to the holidays the Prof wasn’t comfortable that he may not have all his regular staff with him in theatre, and post surgery care, in the ICU. Given the risks I already face in such surgery it was agreed all round that the introduction of further risks wasn’t an option. So although by Tuesday morning a surgery date had been set, by Friday morning it had been postponed.

Not only was there much turmoil in my life during the week with my scheduling and then rescheduling of hospital visits, but the globe seemed to be on a journey of its own turmoil. The largest aftershock since the 11.3.2011 Japan struck this week, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale. A further Japanese nuclear plant’s suffered a power outage as a result of the aftershock, but fortunately the fail-safe mechanisms survived this aftershock, unlike Fukushima. Radiation levels still remain contentious surrounding the Fukushima plant, particularly in the Pacific Ocean after 11 ½ tonnes of contaminated water was released.

In Europe, further sovereign debt crises unfolded as Portugal announced it was in need of a bailout plan. Greater fears abound however, as Europe holds its breath, hoping the acronym of PIG (Portugal, Ireland and Greece), doesn’t become PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, AND Spain). It is surmised that Spain’s bailout, at almost $1 trillion, would be more than all the bailouts offered in Europe to date. If this happened it would bring into question the continued existence of a single European currency, and drag down the remaining surviving economies.

As I flicked through the news channels looking for some lighter news I was disappointed to continue being confronted by poor economic news, threatening the delicate fabric of world trade. Step in the Libyan crises, and with it oil hits shaky ground –trading at above $126, which is the highest it’s been since I was born. With it, the price of gold reached a new historic high of $1,475.23 per ounce. Silver, copper and platinum followed suit on the rally.

Some lighter news which was more up my alley was the setting of a new world record for the highest Lego tower in the world. After four days of construction in Brazil, the tower reached an astonishing 31.19m, which is about 34 times taller than me!

A very exciting achievement from our visit last week to the Montecasino Bird Gardens, was that Dad’s photos of the birds now grace the Gauteng Tourism Authority’s blog. I am so proud of my Daddy, and let me just say, I helped with taking the photos by having the camera strap around my neck at all times. Click here to see the pics they chose for their blog: http://norw.in/0-6w0

Ok, let’s get back to my week now.

Monday morning Granny had an appointment with a specialist Doctor at Morningside Medi-Clinic for her feet. My being a regular there, and knowing the environment so well, I offered to accompany her. Mom also had to come with, as we needed a driver. The day seemed to drag on forever as we had to go from one office to another, and then to radiology, and back. However, during all this time, my sole purpose was to ensure everyone was kept entertained. I did this by chatting to everyone, playing and cheering people up. I found a box to hide in and played peek-a-boo with passer-bys. Everyone loved my entertaining them expect for one crabby old duck who seemed to end up everywhere where Granny had to go. She moaned at me and I promptly started to howl! Fortunately everyone took my side and the crabby old duck felt very embarrassed at her uncalled for behaviour. Later in the day I thought I spotted a glimmer of a smile from her while I was doing one of my routines.

Tuesday was an incredibly memorable day for me, and it’s been etched into my mind where it will stay forever. During the morning, after we received the news that my surgery was scheduled for next week (only to be rescheduled later in the week again), Mom and I were feeling a little sombre, as surgery always scares us. The doorbell rang and through the CCTV cameras I could see a truck had arrived. On the back of the truck was a huge jungle gym. I’d figured it was a ‘wrong number’ and the driver was trying to get directions to correct his delivery. I knew for a fact Mom and Dad hadn’t ordered this, as they’d not told me about it or discussed it around me at all.

Lo and behold, after chatting to the driver through the intercom, Mom opened the garage doors and a squadron of delivery men hoped off the truck and started untying the restraints that secured the jungle gym on the back of the lorry. I looked at Mom – she was smiling from ear to ear! This was for me! I was totally thrilled. I practically wet myself with excitement.

Over the next while I watched how the delivery team carefully lift the jungle gym over the wall (as it was too big to fit through the garage), and then reassemble it in the front garden. I stood by the window watching all the going ons, chatting incessantly to Mom, or a cat, or the maid, or to whomever would listen. I was thrilled! After what seemed like forever the jungle gym was ready and I stormed out and started to play with it.

Mom explained that although it was a birthday present for June, I could have it now already and take advantage of the good weather and play to my heart’s content. There was a swing, a seesaw, a barrel, a rope ladder, a slide, monkey rings, and lots and lots of climbing bars. I spent the rest of the day climbing and swinging and sliding.

Much to my disappointment, it rained the whole day on Wednesday – I sat looking out the window at my new jungle gym practically the whole day wishing I could go out and play. Since all I wanted to do was play on the jungle gym everything else paled in comparison and isn’t even worth mentioning.

Mom had a dentist’s appointment Thursday morning, so we were out the house pretty early. Mom dropped me off at Granny’s place where I spent the morning playing while Mom went to her appointment. Eventually Mom got back from her appointment and we stayed there for the rest of the day. Late on Thursday afternoon we had an appointment with Dr Nicoletta to discuss my impending surgery; Dad met us there, as it was a really important meeting. After a lengthy discussion Nicoletta called Prof Fourie, and the next morning, Dad also chatted to Prof Fourie. From all of the discussion it was agreed that it would be better to postpone my surgery to May.

Dad worked from home on Friday morning, and although I know I’m not allowed to bother him while he’s working I still love his presence. Mom had a chiro appointment mid-morning, and I said I’d stay with Dad and behave myself really well, which I did, so that he wasn’t distracted. Mom arrived back just before midday, and after lunch Mom and I had a nice long snooze together. Around midday Dad received a call saying his afternoon workshop near Cresta was postponed, so he got to stay home the whole day. By late afternoon, after my snooze, we were all outdoors playing with the cats and dog, and I was storming up and down my jungle gym.

On Saturday morning Mom got a call from Granny that she needed a lift, as her feet were sore, and couldn’t drive, and she needed to go someplace she wasn’t able to find. I was sad that Mom had to rush out for the day, but it gave me time to bond with Dad. Plans were immediately made for Dad and I to go to the movies. This was a brand new experience for me and I was excited beyond comprehension. We quickly dressed and a short while later we arrived at the movies. The self-service ticketing terminals were out-of-commission, so we had to stand in line to get tickets, something I realised Dad isn’t used to and doesn’t enjoy much! After getting our tickets, we needed the mandatory Coke and popcorn.

I was amazed by the size of the screen – I’d never seen such a big ‘TV’ before! The movie we’d chosen to see was Rango, and we really got into it. I ate about half the box of popcorn, much to my Dad’s amazement, and put a big dent in the Coke that he’d bought for us to share. I managed all but the last 10 minutes of the movie, when I said to Dad I wanted to go home. Dad obliged and we packed up our things and left. As the movie house was dark, I opted to crawl up the stairs and out the cinema! Dad, prepared for the worst, as always, saw himself out with the torch he’d brought with.

After we snoozed and Mom got home some playing in the garden ensued. Granny also arrived as she was staying over for the night. I showed her the ins and outs of my jungle gym and before long she was helping me climbing and jump.

Together with Granny we went to breakfast at the local Wimpy on Sunday morning. Afterward a nice long walk at the Rose Gardens in the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens followed. It was a beautiful day – warm and the sky was clear; we had to remind ourselves that it was late autumn and winter was just around the corner. We made the most of the weather and ended off our walk with ice-creams at the tea rooms. I fell asleep before we even left.

I later discovered all of us had a snooze, even Granny, and we spent the rest of the day in the garden playing and giggling at the cats’ antics.

Til next week.

Hugs,

Jay-Bee

Photo 1 Trying out the box for size

Photo 2 Mmmmm, not bad for camouflage

Photo 3 Ok, ready for my first peek-a-boo victim

Photo 4 Waiting in the doctor’s surgery

Photo 5 On the phone to Discovery Health from the hospital to get pre-authorisation

Photo 6 My jungle gym!

Photo 7 Mmmmm, good height

Photo 8 Mickey offering an opinion

Photo 9 Swinging on my new ‘high-sky’

Photo 10 I love it!

Photo 11 Pushing Granny on a skateboard

Photo 12 Time for tennis

Photo 13 Its getting crowded on the court

Photo 14 Early morning climbing – in my PJ’s

Photo 15 Mickey and Milo try the slide

Photo 16 Cat molestation

Photo 17 Paddle ball with Mom

Photo 18 Exploring at the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens

Photo 19 Peek-a-boo

Photo 20 Testing the waters