That's the first week

I'm not going to do an update every week. In fact, I want to stop talking about work for a bit.

I will, however, be writing about things that go through my head triggered by work but are part of a bigger thought pattern...

Seen in Ballito

1. I've done mostly nothing this week which, in my view, is as it should be in your first week :)
2. I've been at least 10 minutes early every day (unheard of).
3. D and I travel together some days - it's nice because hello, no driving, but not nice because I walk to his offices afterwards and drivers in Jhb do not care whether that light is green for pedestrians so I'm praying and going "OH MY GOD! I"M GOING TO DIE" at every traffic light. That's a teensy bit stressful. The alternative is worse - I hate waiting around - it feels too out of control for me (story of my life).
4. I've already had two friend dates this week - yay and double yay!
5. They ban blogs (the nerve :)) so I can't read anything which is probably good. I have been occupying myself writing articles and organising blogs when I've had free time - 6 blogs this week.
6. The wi-fi is very weak and my new package is small (turns out I don't get that extra 1GB since I didn't take a proper package - I still have my iphone 4S) so I'm being vigilant about the social media. This is ALL good.
7. I've been making note of what I wear for my "pretend" work capsule wardrobe and taking sneaky bathroom selfies which are all horrible and I would never post them. I just take them to remind me.

 

The truth is I'm going to be a little bit cautious about any new job for the next few months. I think that's quite normal, isn't it?

So how's your week been?

(oh, and of course I am literally dying of the heat. But I'm not complaining, at least not until the rains come and we have even worse traffic than normal)

First days

I had a good first day, as first days go. I got email, printer and access cards set up and met the whole team.

As I said to my one friend a few minutes ago, everyone seems nice and the environment is really nice BUT my confidence in my people instincts is shot so I'm being cautiously friendly for now.

Which is just sensible, you'll agree!

In other news, I deleted my old company email account from my iphone today forgetting that I had TONS of contacts there and they're all gone. So for a few weeks, if you sms/ whatsupp me, please just put your name at the end so I can add you!! I've picked up some from the content of existing SMS..... but let's face it, after 9 years with one company, most of the people I know I've emailed and contacted from that account. You only need to do it once - I'm quite efficient ;)

The kids were fine when we got home but Connor asked me to phone them tomorrow during the afternoon which I will happily do for the boy who hates the phone!!!

I planned menus for two weeks and most of that food is already cooked, so I'm SUPER prepared in terms of suppers but let's see how long I can keep it all up.

How was your Monday?
Do you menu plan?

So, tomorrow.

Well, here I stand on the cusp of a new adventure.

I'll have to write more about the emotional stuff another day... or not.

Meanwhile, my lunch bag is packed, my work bag is packed with a new notebook and a pencil bag with all my lovely gel pens, and I also have my miscellaneous bag with a favourite mug, photo frame and water bottle. I've purposely left my ipad at home in an effort to fully engage from the get-go.



Tonight I said to Kendra, "I'm going to miss being with you during the afternoon." And she said, "me too, Mummy, but don't worry, we'll meet up in the evenings". Such a sweet girl!

In other news, my contract with Cell C ended today and they cut me off straight away despite me having over 90 minutes and over 1 GB of data.

Since I don't want to give them a cent more than necessary, I've only topped up with R30 in case of the odd emergency phone call (like I'm stuck in traffic - ha ha - on my first day!) and will use my wifi for internet when I get home, so if you don't hear from me, that's why.

It will be a novel experience being offline during the day but I can do it!!!

Vodacom told me I'll be up and running on Wednesday, and I'm sure I can survive til then, right?

How was your Sunday?

{Lovely things to do this year} Two things off my list

Well, you know what my favourite time of the month is... but since the last day of August was wifi-less, I did my thorough goals review this afternoon. I did the business version earlier so I could do my post on the organising blog.

Overall, I got 86% which is a bit lower than I normally get, but is understandable considering I was out and about a lot more, plus the holiday away.

My average for the year is still 90% so I'm happy.



The obvious highlight was my birthday lunch and 5 days away! I thoroughly recommend it. Thoroughly.

I counted and we've now been on holidays away from home for 20 days of the year. I love it!

SUCH a difference to last year's birthday when I was hauled over the coals for not doing something I didn't even know I was supposed to be doing. Thankfully, a friend INSISTED that I still come out for a tea and cake. I needed the breath of fresh air and normalcy to save the day!

BTW, my one work colleague who left last year went back to that crazy team. I told her she is MAD! I would NEVER do that to my mental health again. Never.

Moving on.



The fitbit.

Daily steps are supposed to be 10 000. I hit that maybe twice a month.

So I decided to approach this as I do every goal - SMALL steps :) (pun totally intended)

I made a goal in August of 5 500 steps on average in a day. So some days I got to the 7 - 9 000 range, and other days, when I was very productive at my desk, I got 4 000 steps in.

My daily average for August was 5 769. My July average was 5 611. My June average was 4 628. So I'm getting better.

For September my goal is a daily average of 6 500.

Aside from the fitbit goal, I have a few others:

• Arrange this creative meet-up thing...
• Get a new cell phone contract
• Do all my filing
• Finish the root canal (I went for part 2 of 3 today - it is torturous. Next time I'm taking a calmette and some headphones so I don't hear the "sanding" or whatever you call it. I had gooseflesh all over my arms.)
• Sign up with a personal trainer

And last but not least, the two things off my lovely things list (it has 24 in total) that I was able to cross off?

1. Finish August Break 2014
2. Get a wonderful, new job.

Yes, friends, I kind-of fell into a job. I really like the people, the company, the building, not so much the location yet, the money, the leave, the work (!!!). I checked my offer against the list I prayed over. All boxes ticked. I checked against my list of core desired feelings. Again, all boxes ticked. Turns out when you get clear and specific, God can do things really quickly. Who knew?!

This won't surprise some of you but I got REALLY excited at the free money (money the company contributes towards a provident fund / 401K). I love free money!

So I start on Monday.

I'm slightly apprehensive in case things go pear-shaped like before, but this time, I'm not putting up with nonsense.

Even K said to me, "Mummy, when you start your new job, will you please make sure your boss doesn't make you cry?"

!!!!

They remember EVERYTHING.

The new boss phoned me the minute my signed offer landed on his desk - he was so excited, etc.

So back to work it is!

What's news on your side of the world?

Back to ... everything and the talking twins

So tomorrow's back to work for D and me, and back to school for the kids.

They've only had 3 days at school in the whole of Jan which kind-of kills me that we paid full school fees but I've put that out of my mind... mostly :)

I've decided that I'm turning over a new leaf.

Dullstroom, 2011 - taken with Sony Cybershot

As in, since the kids will be out of the house by 7.30, there'll be no more faffing around in the morning so in theory I should be able to be at work by 8.30 every day.

Let's see how that goes but to set myself up for success, I've packed my humongous lunch bag, gym bag and my work bag, and I've even set my clothes out for tomorrow.

Oh, I didn't mention this on purpose...but I saw in my diary that I have an interview tomorrow... so I'm wearing a navy pants suit with a lovely lime-green/ yellowish bag (not the huge one I've put on the blog before) and Jess's rosette necklace.

I'm "having the conversation" but the job was initially graded at lower than my current grade and I told the HR it's a no-go for me, so let's see if they've briefed the recruiting manager otherwise the interview is going to be very brief. :) It is something I'd be verrrrrry good at in an area I'm absolutely passionate about, working for an ISTJ :) :)

The kids are all ready so hopefully they also co-operate tomorrow.

Today after church we split up to go do girl/boy toilet duties (how do you parents of same gender twins do it?!!!).

Me So, Kendra, did you enjoy church today?

K: No

Me (shocked) Why, Baby?

K: Because I don't like church! (as if it's so obvious!)

In the car I explored this a bit more. Turns out the teacher wanted them to pray in front of the other kids.

Me (coaching) Okay, Kendra, here's what I think you should do. Next week, go to the teacher straight away and tell her you don't feel ready to pray in front of the class yet.

Then we'll keep practising at home and when you're ready, you can tell her when you want to pray with everyone again.

K I won't EVER be ready. None times! (this is how she says NEVER)

D and I laughed so hard.

Me (trying) But Baby, when you practise, it gets easier.

K (waving her little finger at me) I told you, none times!

Of course then Connor pipes up: Mummy, I LOVE to pray in front of lots of people.

Me Yes, Baby, we know.

(he really does - he just takes over and gets all Pentecostal... Father God! blah blah blah - it's actually really sweet)

Thank goodness for these laughs because we had a little boy screaming for about 30 minutes on the way home, throwing a tantrum. He was so exhausted he just went to his bed and passed out.

And last, I finished my Dorothy Koomson, "Goodnight, Beautiful" As usual, her books are gorgeous - so rich and characters full of life and depth.

Have you read any Dorothy Koomsons?

I'm on 8 for the month so far. I want to squeeze another in this week :)

How was your weekend?

A little boy in time-out and a few other things

1. Well, I'm feeling tons better today - not so guilt-ridden about yesterday and also it did me good to get out of the house for a bit.

Good thing too because my doctor's note only says I'm not well til today and I tend to take those things as law :)

Tomorrow when I go to work I have a 6 page document of action items waiting for me from my boss - I kid you not - plus my own standard 2 pages.

So there's going to be no rest for me while she's on leave. I said in my 38 things list that I need to get another job and I'm working on exactly what that will look like with my coach. I have lots of homework.

2. Can I officially say I'm over winter? I am SO OVER IT! By this time of year it's usually in the low 20s already, which means a short-sleeved shirt with a jersey for the mornings and evenings and yet I'm still dressed like it's June!

Louisa knitted me a scarf for my birthday - a bright blue one that is the PERFECT colour for me (the kids are both eyeing it) - and I've lived with it around my neck the whole day today. Perfect for this horrible windy weather too.

But I know in typical Jhb weather one day we'll be wearing caps, gloves and scarves and then two days later we'll be in short sleeves moaning about the heat again.

3. I've been banging on to anyone who will listen about a book called What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty. If you're looking for a page-turner, get it, read it and come tell me what you think. I LOVED IT! It made me late for work 3 out of 4 days (I had a meeting on the 3rd day so had to move my butt) and it was so very worth it.

Right now, I'm about 75% through with Mary DeMuth's Thin Places (memoir) - you have GOT to read Watching the tree limbs.

And then a friend in the computer and I are going to read The 5 love languages for kids. I should start on Wed/ Thurs. Anyone else keen to join us?

4. I'm currently sporting green nails on the one hand and black nails on the other (Kendra and Connor's idea). I'm not in love with this green (a new one) so I'll paint over them in black and be a goth for the next few days.

I still have lots to say about the USA (at least two photo posts but also what were my favourite things, my least favourite things, best things about NYC, how you guys are different from us South Africans (waste!) and how I felt myself change during the trip) but right now I'm feeling like a good spring-clean. 

• I went through my bathroom drawers and tossed bath salts, foot salts, hair contraptions I no longer use, etc. 
• I also put together two bags of clothes from the kids  - one for Nanny V's little boy and the other for the church.
• And I updated my old budget (pre- the trip) and tossed all of those receipts (bliss). I need to finish it up this week though.

next up:

• delete some of my pics from the laptop
• organise all the electronics chargers
• print pics for the kids' birthday brag book

Oh, did I tell you my work colleagues gave me a nice digital photo frame for my birthday? I was super-chuffed even though I already have one at home. But then I thought, "hang on a minute. is this a hint about my desk with my 12 photo frames?" hmmm. Anyway, I'm going to put some pics on a flash drive and then use that one at work.

What's on your list for the week?

PS Please tell me how you're getting through this cold. I'm drinking COPIOUS mugs of tea and hot chocolate, and looking decidedly unsexy.
PPS The rest of you, is your summer hanging on too, or do you feel the slight chill of autumn?

Back to work

Last night I suddenly realised that I had ONE day before going back to work.

I made a list TWO pages long of things I wanted to do.

Somehow I got stuck into one of those items (sorting out my project 365 photos) and I'm nearly there.

Apologies for those of you who are friends with me on FB for the gazillion updates (my photo blog goes to FB automatically).


Tomorrow V is back from holiday (I hope!), that's if she arrived safely back from Zim.

My messages to her have been undelivering... so hopefully all is well.

D and I feel like rock stars because even to my very objective self, we've coped beautifully with not a stitch of help from anyone, and with sick babies. D is also sick and is going to the doctor tomorrow to get a sick note since he's also supposed to be back at work.

Oy!

Anyway, so we've been with the babies for 18 days on the trot.

The longest since my maternity leave for me, and he has never spent this much time with them.

The time with the babies and as a family has been so good - they are so, so cute, can communicate their needs and are generally 70% good, 30% spirited/ sassy. Which D constantly reminds me is what I prayed for as I said 100% good kids are boring.

Those words have come back to bite me...

The one thing I will not miss is feeding time. That's a post for another time but also the cleanup afterwards is just terrible. And I'm not lazy about cleaning.

Work it out - 18 days X 5 meals X 2 kids = way too much cleaning up

I have a confession - I've been skipping the afternoon snack for the last few days so that there's one less meal to clean up.

!

How V does it I don't know.

I guess you keep going because of the cuteness?

Anyway, my deadline is 10 pm tonight so off I go to get my beauty sleep :)

Have you made your menu plan for the week?

P.S. I write quite a popular blog on organising - if you're interested in following that one, leave a comment and I'll send you the link.

I'm fine, promise!

Well, by the time I left work (1.45 pm) they STILL had not sorted out my emails so I called it a day and will tackle it all tomorrow.

Something about me taking too much leave (is there such a thing?!) so the system disabled my account and other such nonsense IT-speak :)

Hopefully the nice young IT guy retrieved my emails as he promised otherwise I am kicking butt tomorrow.

It's so nice to say "I only work half days so I need this done NOW" ...

I know you want to know about feelings and so on.

I thought while driving to work, to the mellow sounds of Rod Stewart, (told you I love the man) that I actually made the best decision to come back now, in December.

The schools close tomorrow and the roads are empty of traffic so I have no traffic stress for at least a month.

Also everyone (I exaggerate, but most people) goes on leave tomorrow so it will be nice and quiet and I can sort through my thousands of emails and get back in the swing of it.

This all so that come January I'm all on top of my game and can perform optimally again.

I didn't cry, I didn't even feel like crying. All I felt was very slight apprehension about work (mushy brain!), not really about the babies.

I think this is because I've been weaning myself off them. From last Monday (so a total of 8 days) I've been doing little trips out of the house every day leaving the nanny to cope with them.

Today I knew the dishes might not get done as quickly as I'd like but the babies would be fine and taken care of.

And when I got home, they were all smiling (well, that was Connor; Kendra was sleeping) and happy, which is our goal.

So I got all caught up on my socialising on our floor, gave various versions of the baby stories to whoever I was talking to and showed a few pics.

It only felt weird in that the last time I was there I was ginormous and then my waters broke. And the next time I'm there I'm all back in my normal work clothes and talking about babies, sleep and stuff I knew nothing about. But the work stuff? No weirdness at all - just slotted right back in talking about my campaigns, sales figures and so on...

One of my colleagues bought some scones for me (I was SO touched - still no crying) because I love her scones.

Oh, and one of the best things? I got a salary increase! Can't wait to see how much extra money I get out after tax :)

While talking to the big boss about the salary increase (they have a discussion with you - I can't see the point of the conversation, it's the same drivel but you have to play along...), he told me that my boss spoke to him about my new working hours so it was all easy peasy. I love it!

All in all it was a really good day.

Tomorrow I really must post about what I'm learning about the sleep thing.

So far so good

It's 8.32, I was only 7 minutes late today (although I can start anytime up to 9 am, I decided I will be early so I can leave early) so things are going well. I forgot to leave enough time to do lots of kisses and cuddles so that's why I was late.

Am waiting for IT to arrive to get me into my email. Am also waiting for the telephony people to get me into my phone (everything is password-controlled).

Any guesses as to how many emails are waiting for me? I'm thinking between 2 000 and 3 000...

This is it!

Today was my last day of maternity leave....

My husband took a day's leave so we could do some fun things together - isn't he sweet?

We handed the babies over to the nanny at 7 am and went back to bed to.....

SLEEP!

Woke at 10 am, had leisurely breakfast, etc, etc. and then went to a movie (500 days of summer - highly recommend it) and a late lunch.

And shopped for that birthday gift. I ended up buying some wooden blocks (thanks S) and one of those wooden puzzles with only about 3 - 4 pieces :)

So this is it - my lunch bag is packed, my handbag is packed, my clothes are ready and I'm about to jump into bed to read one of these books:


Now tell me, how will I be able to concentrate at work when I'll be thinking about these two?

Back to work - part 4 - new working hours

Remember last week Wed when I was having such a horrible time?

Well, I wrote this post just before I went to gym (arrived very late but as I say x minutes is better than nothing) and after the dance class, was feeling only very slightly better.

Even WITH listening to Rod Stewart (one of my absolute favourites - I triggered at his concert :)).

Anyway, so afterwards, I had to stop off at the shopping centre to get their baby vitamins and afterwards I decided to draw some money at the Pick & Pay cashier.

She hands me the money, I put my parking ticket down to put the money in my wallet and when I look down again, the ticket is gone.

I tell myself to calm down (because I am still right on the edge...) and look through my bag again. Done. Still no ticket.

So I ask the lady if she saw it. She then says, "oh, that man took it. he must have thought it was his"

Wonderful.

I go to the information desk to tell them my sob story and they couldn't be bothered. It's R25 for a lost ticket.

But the ticket isn't lost. The man took it. You know me, I'm here twice a week - why would I lie?

A nice man says to them, "oh just give her a ticket. you can see she's not lying" but no, they're not having any of it.

So I burst out crying.

Yes, I did!

Can't believe it myself.

Of course that got them moving. The lady then walked me to security, blah blah blah, eventually they give me a ticket and I'm out of there.

I don't look good when I've been crying so of course, while walking through the shopping centre, everyone is staring at this sweaty, gym person with red eyes and nose.

I got home about a half hour before my scheduled telephone meeting with my boss and I was THIS close to cancelling.

It was all the working hour issues that had to be discussed, where I'll be working, what I'll be doing, etc. and you need to be in the right frame of mind for that stuff.

But I sucked it up and made the call. Especially since I requested the telephone meeting.

And... it was all fine.

Within minutes I was laughing, we were talking rubbish just like normal, he found my parking ticket story hilarious (especially since I'm usually very "together" ) and in the last 10 of the 30-minute meeting, we got down to business.

I'd prepared earlier which was good so I got caught up on all my major clients (I deal with corporate clients) - basically will be continuing with all plus one nice, big, juicy client (whose head office is right near where I live so will be great for meetings).

Will stay in existing department at least for next 3 months and then probably move to new department with him.

Okay, a little background.

My boss phoned me in August to tell me he'd been seconded to another area for 6 months to head up a special project. I was like "oh wonderful blah blah" because it is GREAT for him. Well, a few hours later I tell D the news and he asks me what that means for me. Oh my word - I totally didn't think about repercussions.

I get along with my boss's boss personally but work-wise, he and I will butt heads every single day. That's if I actually manage to corner him about issues (he hates confrontation). So safe to say the thought of working with him gives me new levels of anxiety.

I then sent my boss an email saying things like .... great to catch up with you.... wonderful news on your appt... and ha ha ha you do know I'll be coming back to work with you :)

He emails back saying he wouldn't have it any other way.

We really make a great team - he is what I'm not and vice versa.

He thinks up elaborate pricing structures, cool products and profit sharing arrangements (yawn!) and I keep the clients happy and get the cool products implemented. We both know our place and we recognise the other's competence. It works beautifully.

Then I talked about working hours.

Ta da da dum...

I said if his offer still stands, for December, I'd like to work only a few hours in the morning and then catch up with emails and such later.

No problem!

And then the big one.

I asked for a 6-hour day in the office. And again catch up later with emails and so on.

Also no problem. He is so okay with the whole thing; I can choose my start time up to 9 am.

Saffy, you were right. He said he knows how I work and I'll get everything done easily. Also he says to me "you'll have to make sure you don't accept any meetings after you're supposed to leave".

!

Winner boss!

So the plan from Jan onwards is to work at the office from 8 - 2, come home, play with babies, etc, and then log in later for an hour or so.

No pay cut so the money thing is unchanged and I don't have to worry about them getting sick as I would have had to with a half day salary.

I am so happy about that.

So even though the day was really horrible, it ended really, really well.

P.S. I still want to tell you about the new nanny and my weight and Connor's cereal and the sleep books (dear Lord, when am I going to write all these?!) but again, have run out of time since this is the 30-minute post for the blog challenge.

Strung out

That's how I'm feeling.

On edge, irritable, close to tears, stressed.

And very alone.

Last night I realised that I'm pre-menstrual. I'm thinking these new hormonal feelings are one of two things:

• either because of the new birth control pills or
• because I'm going back to work in two weeks
  

Could be either option or both because I'm normally very even-tempered and realistic about things so it's got to be something else. I usually go into problem-solver mode when I'm stressed otherwise I'd crack in my job :)

Also I've figured out why it's so difficult to go back to work after maternity leave. It's because the children finally get CUTE! And responsive.

Even my stroppy child, Kendra, has been rewarding me with lots of beautiful smiles and talking back to me.

Connor's always been very verbal and chats up a storm with me all the time. As my MIL says, "he only has eyes for his mother". Very complimentary but also scary because I don't want to be the only one who can comfort him...

I have such a lot to say (lots of noise in my head) and don't quite know where to start so let's do some bullets:

1. finished chapter 1 of sleep sense last night - all about how sleep works. I learned why the babies sometimes only sleep for 45 minutes.
2. very inspired by Mo's weight loss plan. STILL have my 0.5 kg to go - no surprise as I've been to gym twice this whole month and have not changed my eating habits at all.
   
3. Connor's started cereal. While he loves it, it's not quite doing what I thought I would. Night 1 he slept for 9 hours, then totally normal sleep for next 13 days. Then I increased to 2 tablespoons, again two nights of 7 hour stretches and the last two nights normal sleep again (4 hours).
4. I don't know how people "know" what to do with all this stuff - solids, sleep, stimulating them. I honestly feel like such a loser. They've had their pram for 9 weeks and we've been out 3 times. I'm too scared to take them out.
5. The babies still have not been to church. Beautiful. In 20 weeks!
6. Have a telephone meeting with my boss this afternoon. Hope it is all good - need to find out if I'll be in the same department or not when I get back.
   
7. 3 ladies pitched for interviews. In addition to last week's 2 so I had 5 to choose from in total. The last lady of the day was just delightful! Contacted agent to make her an offer (way above what she wanted), the agent's contacted her but no response yet. Why must everything be so hard?
   

And now I'm crying again. I think I need to go to gym just to get out of the house, get a different perspective and try to get rid of the stress.

Back to work - part 2

Because of my infertility and the long, LONG road it took to actually get pregnant and stay pregnant and then take home LIVE babies (Dr G always told me “our goal is a live, take-home baby” which is so true, not just getting pregnant), I initially thought I’d want nothing more than to stay at home and gaze into their adorable little faces.

My husband who knows me SOOOOOOOOO well said to me around the 6th or 7th month that he didn’t think my basic personality would change just because we were having babies or because of the infertility.

(My basic personality is a highly-driven, go-getter type one, always achieving, etc.)

Since I was high on the preggy hormones I said I really didn’t know what I wanted to do but "we’ll have to see".

Then my fabulous boss (ML, don’t show him that post!) told me once after a meeting that our Big Boss wanted to know if I was coming back to work after the babies were born.

I told him I had no choice because we need the money. Right.

I thought I should be honest with him about my feelings (since he’s so great and all) so I said that I’d been thinking of going half day once they were here and he said he had no problem with that as I probably would still be as productive!

It’s probably true since I do talk a lot of nonsense during work times. I am that person in the team who is all about the team lunches, going for coffees, checking up on the sick people, asking after the family, etc. But only after the work is done!!!! Am highly task-structured.

I did tell him that I just wasn’t sure how this whole baby thing would work out and would he please just go with the flow because isn’t that how my whole baby journey has been?!

Of course he laughed and said yes.


So the babies came home, reality set in and even now that they’re cute as buttons, I realised that my husband is right – my personality has NOT changed.

I still want to work. I still NEED to work.

I still want to interact with clients.

I work for an insurance company as a Relationship and Operations Manager in a business development team.

This position is absolutely perfect for my ESTJ-ness. Perfect.

About 40 – 50% of the time I deal with people – clients, internal people, team members on different projects, and the rest of the time I faff around. Only joking! I get the deals that we sign up implemented in the company so the things can start making us money.

There are lots of departments I deal with, hundreds of tasks and I’m great at co-ordinating all those details and getting things done by bossing people about. In a nice way, of course, but I don’t stand nonsense, because I’m harder on me by FAR than I am on other people.

I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I will be a better mother to them if I get out of the house on a daily basis so I can miss them and look forward to coming back home.

Does that sound weird?

The half day thing (5 hours a day) would be great as I’d be stimulated, nicely stressed, interacting with people, etc. and still have time to play with babies, cook, and have time with D.

Only thing is because they’re so expensive, we can’t afford the half day salary. I checked and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the amount!!!

So I’m thinking of a 6 hour a day scenario… if my company even does that sort of thing. Otherwise will have to work full day (am not prepared to be stressed about money) and try and split up the day – 6 hours in office, 1,5 – 2 at night when babies are asleep.


Will have to make a meeting with my boss and the big boss to discuss all these things sometime this month.

Lots more to say but again, time is up as this is my 30-minute post for the blog challenge.

Back to work - part 1

I have about six weeks before I go back to work...and already I've been off since 7 July (16 weeks today).

In South Africa, an employee is entitled to at least four consecutive months’ maternity leave BUT the company doesn't have to pay you a cent. However, if you're a South African citizen, you can claim something like 45% of your salary from UIF. This amount is capped at about R12 000 or thereabouts.

I'm fuzzy on the % as this doesn't apply to me.

At my company, we get paid 100% of salary for the four months, as long as we've been working there for 13 months by the time you go off on maternity leave.

You with me so far?

So the twins.

I am quite bolshy so I asked them if I get double maternity leave since I'm having twins (!). Hey, it was worth a try. Of course, they said no.

In the beginning of the pregnancy, I was just talking nonsense as I usually do :) but actually I had a point in there somewhere because I hadn't realised how high-risk the pregnancy was.

I had the two bleeding incidents, the doctor told me to work half days from 28 weeks and of course, my waters broke very suddenly at 32 weeks.

I was reluctant to start working half days and going on early maternity leave because I didn't want the before-babies leave to eat into these precious 4 months, or 87 days as my company calls it on our e-leave system.

Saffy told me that in New Zealand, they get 12 months unpaid. 12 months!!!! And if they need to go off work from 28 weeks due to health reasons, it doesn't cut into the 12-month entitlement. How cool is that?

I wish we had that extra maternity sick leave too – maybe I could have kept them in longer if I’d stopped work properly at 28 weeks? I could feel at 30 weeks that I was DONE and really should have started proper maternity leave then but as I said if you take your leave early, you simply cut short your time with the baby(ies)/. It’s terrible.

Anyway, I have a fabulous boss. Seriously fabulous.

This pic was taken at my work baby shower and that's my boss in the middle, laughing with a mouth full of food :)

Other than my husband and then my friends from the infertility support group, he has been my biggest supporter through this whole crazy journey.

He knew every single thing about the whole IVF process. We have the kind of relationship where I could say to him "don't ask me anything; I'll tell you when I'm ready" and I would. This is when I was a bit teary at my desk....

So when I mentioned to other female colleagues that the doctor said I have to take things even easier, he overheard and immediately said, "well, from tomorrow, you'll be working half days".

Just like that; no fighting.

My plan was to take my 87 days (!) and then add on my 18 days annual leave and also take a few days' unpaid leave up until the end of Dec and go back in January.

But when the twins came early, the plan got messed up (the first of many plans!). I obviously took off the first four hospital days as maternity leave. But then after that I told him I'd work from home while they were in NICU and he was fine with that.

So now I have to technically go back on 18 December because we decided that it's just not worth taking half the month as unpaid and losing thousands of rands seeing as the babies are so expensive.

My boss then said to me, "well come in on the 18th, show your face (n.b.) and sort out your emails and so on, and then work from home the rest of the month"

Is he not a winner boss?

As I said, fabulous!!!


By the way, there's never been any question in my mind of going back to work or not...but I will have to save all that thinking for another post as this is my contribution for the 30-minute blog challenge and 25 minutes are up!

P.S. The babies are 16 weeks today. Now getting very cute :)