94.7

 Believe it or not, there have been other things happening in our lives other than the building.  Last week Carl, my dad, my 2 brothers and my nephew rode the 94.7 cycle race together.  They did it in a very impressive 4h10.  So impressive that dad came second in his age group.  Carl and Roland have vowed that next year there will be no pushing dad up the hills!!  Anyway, we were very proud of all of them, but most especially dad and Austin - amongst the oldest and the youngest in the race.

Lagging behind...

This is disastrous! I cannot believe how behind I have allowed myself to get with my blog. Slap, slap, naughty me! So, for those few people who actually read it, I'm sure you will be relieved to see a new entry. The problem is, I hardly know where to start!
OK, I know. I think the most exciting thing to happen since Megan's birthday was Heidi's visit in August. She came our for about a month, and happily, Darrell joined her (and the kids) for two weeks, which was a wonderful treat for us all! Seeing as pictures say a thousand words, I will intersperse my diary of activities with photo's.
Practically the first thing we did when they arrived was to head off to Afri-ski in Lesotho for our annual skiing pilgrimage. The actual skiing itself was fraught (no lift for 2 of the days!), but the snow was great, the weather was glorious, and we still managed to have a great time.

In Africa, a boer maaks 'n plan, and so we precariously went up the slope on the Pisten Bully. There is NO WAY that would've been allowed in Europe or the USA. It was SO dangerous, I was having heart attacks! When we were back in JHB, we filled the time with activities:

Our first trip on the Gautrain A visit to a tree top canopy tour thing in Birdhaven. What fun!! Then we a went to Sondela Nature Reserve, near Warm Baths (or Bela Bela for the more modern South Africans out there!). One of the highlights were the Nyala that came right up to us (and even into the chalet) to be fed. Quite an experience being so close to a wild animal (and yes, they are still wild - Ali got horned by one of them - clearly Ali looked like a threat!).
We took all our bikes and rode everyday. While it was great fun, we had so many punctures, that we started to lose our joy after a while. There is a heated out door pool - perfect for August when the weather is hot, but the water is not! Another highlight was that we were visited by some bushbabies in the evening, and if we sat VERY still, they would come right up close and grab whatever food we had chucked for them (probably highly frowned upon, but irresistible!). There were so many of us there (my folks, Bruce, Charmaine and kids, Heidi & Darrell and kids, and Carl and I and kids, as well as Darrell's mom) that we even were able to have an action cricket match, organised by Darrell. I am ashamed to say that I was hopeless. But, fun was had by all, and I'm sure one of the boys will tell you which team won. I've forgotten!

Sadly, our holiday was over all too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time for Heidi to head back to start their new life in Doha (where??? Qatar, in case you weren't sure!).

Not before Heidi and I had a glorious day at Vusalela Day Spa though! Ahhh, bliss.

U2!

After having missed out on watching any live soccer games during the World Cup, I was determined to not let another once in a lifetime experience pass me by.

The morning the U2 tickets went on sale, I happened to be listening to the radio and on hearing all the hype, as well as how quickly the tickets were selling out, I decided to tata ma chance and go to computicket to book. The radio was reporting the mile long queues all over Gauteng, so it was with some aprehension, yet determination, that I set off. However, I am not just a pretty face and I gave some thought to which computicket I would go to. NOT Sandton, NOT Fourways, NOT Hyde Park. Nope, I chose Randburg. For those of you who don't know, Randburg has become a Darkest Africa enclave in the midst of the Nothern Suburbs, and as such, I thought it might be a safe option for people NOT queuing for miles for U2 (U who???).

On arriving, I was alarmed to see a mile long queue (DARN, I couldn't believe it!!), but on closer inspection, the queue was filled with humble types (maids, gardeners etc.) who did not look the type to blow R1000 per ticket to see U2 (U who??). And I was right!!! The mile long queue was for a money market account thingy, and computicket was completely empty! Yay!! Within 10minutes, I had 6 tickets in my hot and sweaty hands. Roland and Caron and Wayne and Bev were the other lucky 4 ticket holders.

At last, the great day - Sun 13th Feb - arrived. I booked us Park and Ride tickets from the Coca Cola Dome and we were advised to give ourselves at least 3 hours to get to the concert. So, we all left from our house at 4pm. By 5:15pm we were on a bus (after MUCH chaos at the P & R) and we were in our seats by 7pm. The venue was at Soccer City (sorry, the FNB stadium) so at last I got the see the great 'Calabash' stadium up close. The two opening acts were less than inspiring (one hugely African and one very heavy rock - neither my cup of tea) but at last U2 appeared. The stage was amazing, and it was incredible to hear songs we all know so well sung live by one of the greatest bands of all time. A couple of observations .... on appearing on stage, Bono greeted the audience as the 'Rainbow People' and yet the audience was 99% white! Not to mention that the average age was about 40! He also tended to be very political - he obviously enjoys being able to use his stage as a political platform for lost causes all around the world (to think, SA was once one of those!!).

Anyway, the music was great, the stage effects were very impressive and I only shamed myself during 'Where the streets have no name'. For the rest I was very well behaved!

At the end of the concert, we went back to the Park and Ride where we had been dropped off and to say that there was unbeliveable chaos would be the understatement of 2011. No marshalls, no queues, no signs - all led to a crush of people trying to get on a limited number of seats on a bus. Reminded me somewhat of New Year's Eve at the Eiffel Tower, although not as bad. Anyway, we eventually got on a bus, and got home by 2am. Yawn!

The 94.7 cycle race

This seems to be an annual entry! Although this year's race was very different to last year's one.

Instead of Carl aiming to break the elusive 3 hr mark, he took one for the team and raced as a group with my brothers, Roland and Bruce, and... wait for it...., my septuagenarian father!!!

Yes, at the ripe old age of 74, my father did this gruelling race for the first time. Carl managed to get dad a start time with the Deloitte group, so the four men started at the same time and did the whole race together. It was a looong way (97.4kms, to be precise), in the blazing heat, but they did it - and did it well. In 4hrs 34 mins. Which is mighty impressive indeed! Carl and Roland put their hands on dad's back and helped him up some of the hills, and the three of them became this mean hill-riding machine. In fact, they even left a colleague of Carl's behind who's done Iron Man (who hasn't trained for a while, but who's counting?)! At the end of the race, the 4 guys enjoyed the Deloitte hospitality tent before heading home to clean up and crash!

Megs and Ali were meant to ride a leg of the race on an 8-seater tandem. We invited Austin and Liam (Bruce's boys ) and Jeremy and Jonno (Dion, Carl's first cousin's boys) to make up the 6 kids, and an experienced adult rider was at the front and back. This was all done in aid of CHOC, a charity which raises funds for Childhood cancer. We named our team CHOC-lets, and I fabric painted team T-shirts. However, the back wheel of the bike collapsed at the start of the race, and sadly the tandem ride didn't even get going. At least it collapsed in a safe spot, and not when it was barrelling down one of the hectic hills in the race! I'll save the shirts for next year!

In fact, one of the amazing things about this race is how many people did the race to raise money for charities - CHOC, Reach for a Dream, Breast Cancer (a man rode the race in a very racey pink bra!); and a host of others I can't even remember. I have heard that CHOC raised R3.1 million rand from the race! Now that's impressive!

In the late afternoon, all race participants and their families (from our family that is, not the 26 000 riders who took part!) came over to our place for a most pleasant celebratory dinner.

Xmas function

Last week we had Carl's company year-end function. Normally year-end functions are rather boring affairs simply to be endured, certainly not to be mentioned on a blog! This one, however, deserves to be shared....

We went river rafting on the Vaal River. While it is not the white water of the Zambezi, it was such a fun day out!! We were so lucky with the weather! The previous week it had been pouring with rain and maximum temps of only 12 degrees. We would've been VERY miserable! As it turns out, the sky was blue and temps went up to about 26 deg. Perfect!

We arrived there (near Parys) at 9am and had a nice brekkie. Afterwards, we donned our helmets (very sexy!) and life jackets and got loaded into an open truck for the very uncomfortable drive to the start of the rafting. Once we had been given a briefing by the guide, we were off!

If ever you want your staff to completely relax and throw off any facade - this it the outing!! It is impossible to look lovely with those helmets, and it is impossible not to just have fun - splashing other rafters, taking on the rapids (and falling out - Carl!!), throwing hyancinth at each other etc.!

We did about 12kms, and the last stretch took some serious effort. By which time we had completely worked off breakfast and were ready for lunch! After lunch, there were 'awards' and Xmas pressie giving, then we headed back home to JHB to retrieve our kids.

What a great day!

The 94.7

For those of you non-Joburgers out there, the 94.7 is a massive cycle race organised by our local radio station, 94.7 Highveld Stereo. The truth is that the race was actually 96.5km, but don't let the public know! So, Carl and my two brothers, Roland and Bruce, and 26 000 other crazy people took to the streets of Joburg for this race on Sunday 15 November (you can see it has taken me a while to get around to writing about it!). It was a clear, boiling hot Highveld day and by all accounts, the race was longer, steeper, hotter and tougher than last year, but apparently still enjoyed by all (OK, most!!). Carl did his race in 3:11 but was a bit disappointed as he was hoping to break 3hrs. To me, it was an excellent time, and the most important bit was that he beat my brothers! Not that we are comparing or anything!
Check out Carl leading the pack (OK, so you can't see the thousands of people in front of him, but anyway!). GO DELOITTE!!
For the spectators, it was great fun! We went up to a nearby water point and got to see all three men (plus thousands of others!) ride by. It is a great thing for Joburgers, because we spend so much time behind our high walls and electric fencing that we never really get out onto our streets! Sad but true!
The most dramatic moment came when our puppy Gemma got attacked by another Jack Russell and I could NOT get this dog to release her! What was more scary is that there were two other really big dogs right close by who also wanted to get in on the action and take a chunk out of our baby!! So, I was fighting off the two big dogs and at the same time trying to get Gemma away from the attacker. And let me tell you, Gemma was shrieking like she was being murdered!! It was terribly scary! The kids were crying, I was yelling and the dogs were snarling. Not nice! The minute I got her free of the other dog, we literally ran back to the car and hot-tailed it home. On arriving home, I cleaned and checked out Gemma from head to toe, and there ware no puncture wounds! Incredible! Did I say no puncture wounds? Well, I lied - only the wounds were on ME not her!!!! Turns out my foot got bitten (punctured), as well as my finger (bad bruising only). I only realised that once we were home! So, I then cleaned myself up, took a shower, popped two Rescue Tablets to calm myself and we headed off to Waterfall Estate to meet Carl at the end of the race! Whew! What a morning!

Here is Carl looking very lean and mean on his bike!

Worst mother of the year....

That title has to go to me after today. I would challenge other mothers to beat this, but that would mean a whole lot of kids out there fearing for their lives!!!
I was de-scaling my iron in the kitchen while the kids were hanging around. I squirted with the squirty button and Ali responded with a 'hey, that's cool, mom'. And so, you will NOT BELIEVE what I then did..... I pointed the squirty thing at him and squeezed, thereby squirting a large amount of descaler right into his eyes! I have been known to do stupid things, but this one pretty much takes the cake (other than the time I let Ali, age 2 or 3, eat a hard boiled sweet, on which he choked and I thought he was going to die there and then - remember that Girls???).
So, once he started writhing in pain, and I realised what I had done, it was straight to the sink for some serious flushing. It didn't work so well with the water running, so I ran a sink and made him submerge his head and do a lot of underwater blinking. Problem was, that involved coming up for breath, so I went and got his snorkel, and there was Ali, bent double over the kitchen sink with his head underwater and breathing through his snorkel!
Bent double, as I'm sure you are with laughter at the picture of what was happening in my kitchen today!
Anyway, he seems OK now. The doctor said to monitor him and bring him in tomorrow if he is in pain.
Fortunately, I have Carl for a husband who made a comment along the lines of:
'oh well, at least the scales have fallen from his eyes!'.
I always warned Carl that things are most likely to go wrong on my watch!

The Game's Room

There are two parts to this equation:
1) We inherited a pool table from my sister a looong time ago, when they left SA, and it has pretty much never been used since.
2) last year we did extensive renovations and built on a fabulous servant's quarters which are now no longer being lived in (long story, perhaps I'll write about it sometime!).
So, being a math's teacher , I put 1 and 2 together and came up with....
The Game's Room
Yip, pool table is duly ensconced in said servant's quarters (dust and cobwebs cleaned from both table and room!), a couch is there (very uncomfortable, for when the kid's are teenagers and start taking member's of the opposite sex there to 'play pool'!!!) and we plan to put in a dart board, hi-fi and a heater. There is also a small kitchenette which the kids can use to make coffee etc.
Right now, it is their favorite room in the house. Long may that last!

Not perfect - yet!

I hope you are enjoying reading about our activites. My apologies for the less-than-perfect lay out! Somehow, even when I get it perfect on the 'preview', it turns out differently when it actually gets posted! Anyway, if you keep on reading, you may see the quality improve as time goes by!
PS - only one person has claimed their sweet. For those of you who didn't get what MACK stands for - it is Megan, Alistair, Carl, Kirsten. Smart hey!

I couldn't resist....

Seeing as both Roland and Heidi each have a blog, I decided that I would jump on the band wagon and do one too! Not that I think that my, or my family's lives are that fascinating that I can keep you all amused for hours (the way Roland and Heidi do!!!), but perhaps there is someone out there who may be a bit interested in what's happening in the lives of the van der Riet's.
Firstly, you may be asking why I decided to call our blog 'MACK attack!'. I will leave you to puzzle it out, and there's a sweetie to anyone who figures it out! I'll reveal it in time to come....
I had this brilliant idea that I would do a course on 'Internet and Web Design' through Unisa, and then I discover that a Blog site pretty much does it all for you, so I can save myself quite a bit of time, money and effort. No, seriously, I'm still thinking about it. I would love to do a website for the school at which I teach, The Mitzvah School, because a blog site doesn't quite cut it when you have potential sponsors checking it out. I'll let you know if I do actually ever sign up.
That's all for now because I want to spend some time figuring out the layout etc. It would be very sad if I wrote a whole long schpiel, and then somehow deleted it all while fiddling around (which I could quite easily do,not having done that Internet course I spoke about!).
What does thrill me is that there is a spell check - IN ENGLISH! For some mysterious reason, the spell check on my email is in French, so unless my email is filled with deja vue, latrine and chocolat mousse (for all you Top Secret fans out there), I'm stuck. Now, other than typo's my blog will contain only correctly spelt wrods. (ha ha ha!).