This week was an unusually busy one for the McCarthy's in Cleveland! It all started on Monday when Liesel and Nathan had their first MOPS meeting and then a visit to the pediatrician! The doctor diagnosed a mild cough and prescribed some anti-biotics for Nathan. On Tuesday, after a lot of last minute rushing to and from places, I managed to get our trunks from South Africa cleared and loaded into the back of my Honda CR-V! Read the whole episode in my previous blog! On Wednesday, I went to an optometrist who fitted me for some new contact lenses! I should be getting those soon! Thursday, was Liesel's and Nathan's Apple Picking day with the playgroup from MOPS! You must go see the video clip (1 of 3 new ones) on http://mccarthys-videos.blogspot.com . I also received a brand new replacement HP laptop, because my old one had a faulty DVD drive, and they took too long to replace the part. To summarize, I complained, and they apologized and sent me a faster laptop to replace my one with a faulty drive! Not too shabby, Nige!
We woke to a cool and wet Saturday morning, very similar to last weekend! One big difference though, and that was Nathan! It is amazing what prayers, anti-biotics, and some long lost toys from South Africa, can do to perk a child up. He was totally the opposite to what he was last week! His laughter and squeals of glee warmed up our apartment again. Liesel took this opportunity to leave him in my capable hands to go and do some personal clothes shopping on her own, a feat that cannot be accomplished with Nathan ;-) Later on that day, Liesel called her folks in Botswana and was so happy to hear that they had finally received the DVD we made for them with video clips of Nathan! Then that evening I finally sat down and completed my SA Tax returns. I know it is WAY overdue, but I did get an extension, and I couldn't complete it until I could get my hands on a copy from my 2005 tax returns - which was in the trunks! So after putting that to bed, I followed at 1am ;-)
On Sunday we headed off to church where we are still enjoying our Sunday School class, followed by Church. Nathan was still filled with the joys of life, and even responded "Nay-thin" when someone at church asked him his name! I wish you could all share these moments of his with us as he grows up!
The wather is really starting to cool down now as we head into fall. The maximum temps are hovering between 15-18C (so Johannesburg is now hotter than us!) I was even mocked by my colleague (Brian) for wearing a jacket on what I thought was a really cold day last week! He replied that they are still sleeping with their windows open ... seriously! So looks like I am in for a fun time for the next 5 months!
Sorry that there are no photos for this week, but I have added 3 videos at http://mccarthys-videos.blogspot.com
Be sure to watch them and please leave comments! We love hearing from you guys, even if it just one sentence!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Nathan and Liesel at the Apple farm
Go have a look at Nathan loving his Apple Farm outing with the MOPS group. Thanks Liesel for taking the video!!!
http://mccarthys-videos.blogspot.com
http://mccarthys-videos.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Christmas in September!!!
It is like Christmas for us in the McCarthy household! Our trunks arrived, all intact, after 6 days of shipping!
We decided that we would not ship our trunks immediately after leaving SA, as we wanted to be sure we had a place and were more settled before squeezing the extra 204kg's into our apartment. So last week we arranged for our trunks dropped off at CosmoTrans in SA and after a few e-mails back and forth - and payment with my SA credit card, they were on their way!
They arrived yesterday and I could finally go pick them up today!!! When I got to the shipping company, they asked if i had a money order, which I did not I did have cash and a credit card, but these were unacceptable - so I had to jump back into my CR-V and go looking for a bank. Found a bank and got the money order - then made my way back to them. They now hand me documents that I need to take to US Customs to get the clearance... sigh.... so off to US Customs I go - just down the road luckily. It was now 4:20 and they close at 4:30. The shipping company said that they would most likely tell me to come back tomorrow to clear the stuff... AAARRGGHH. However, I said many a prayer and God obviously heard them, because at the US Customs - the officer, took the papers and my green card and then came back about 5 minutes later and stamped everything He handed it back to me and told me to take these forms back to the shipping company and collect the trunks. So back in my car and off to the shippers again!!! I got there at 4:50 and they were closing at 5:00!! They were so surprised to see me, and said that's the fastest they have ever seen goods cleared at Customs! But my prayers worked and I got all my trunks in the back of the CR-V and headed home!!!!
It was fantastic opening them up and finding our old SA items. Nathan (who has been sick the last couple of days), forgot all about his cold and his eyes lit up and his smile brightened the room, when he saw his old toys!!!!
What was even more special is that my friends and family have put a few special things in the trunks for us. I found some belated birthday presents which included a Springbok Rugby blanket, towel, cap and Jersey!!!! Something I wanted so that I might meet other South Africans in Cleveland!! It was fantastic. Other special items included Horlicks, Five Roses tea, Milo, Wellingtons Sweet Chili Sauce and hundreds of chocolates!!!
If anyone needs to ship stuff from SA, I highly recommend CosmoTrans, who charge $4 per kilo for consignments of 100kg's! They were also very easy to deal with via e-mail.
Now its up to Liesel to find space in the apartment for all these new things - good luck to her
We decided that we would not ship our trunks immediately after leaving SA, as we wanted to be sure we had a place and were more settled before squeezing the extra 204kg's into our apartment. So last week we arranged for our trunks dropped off at CosmoTrans in SA and after a few e-mails back and forth - and payment with my SA credit card, they were on their way!
They arrived yesterday and I could finally go pick them up today!!! When I got to the shipping company, they asked if i had a money order, which I did not I did have cash and a credit card, but these were unacceptable - so I had to jump back into my CR-V and go looking for a bank. Found a bank and got the money order - then made my way back to them. They now hand me documents that I need to take to US Customs to get the clearance... sigh.... so off to US Customs I go - just down the road luckily. It was now 4:20 and they close at 4:30. The shipping company said that they would most likely tell me to come back tomorrow to clear the stuff... AAARRGGHH. However, I said many a prayer and God obviously heard them, because at the US Customs - the officer, took the papers and my green card and then came back about 5 minutes later and stamped everything He handed it back to me and told me to take these forms back to the shipping company and collect the trunks. So back in my car and off to the shippers again!!! I got there at 4:50 and they were closing at 5:00!! They were so surprised to see me, and said that's the fastest they have ever seen goods cleared at Customs! But my prayers worked and I got all my trunks in the back of the CR-V and headed home!!!!
It was fantastic opening them up and finding our old SA items. Nathan (who has been sick the last couple of days), forgot all about his cold and his eyes lit up and his smile brightened the room, when he saw his old toys!!!!
What was even more special is that my friends and family have put a few special things in the trunks for us. I found some belated birthday presents which included a Springbok Rugby blanket, towel, cap and Jersey!!!! Something I wanted so that I might meet other South Africans in Cleveland!! It was fantastic. Other special items included Horlicks, Five Roses tea, Milo, Wellingtons Sweet Chili Sauce and hundreds of chocolates!!!
If anyone needs to ship stuff from SA, I highly recommend CosmoTrans, who charge $4 per kilo for consignments of 100kg's! They were also very easy to deal with via e-mail.
Now its up to Liesel to find space in the apartment for all these new things - good luck to her
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Weekend at home with Nathan
Since last week, Nathan hasn't improved and has actually gotten worse :-( On Saturday, Liesel and I noticed that Nathan wasn't his normal happy self. He was a lot more lethargic than normal. Also, since the weather was overcast and drizzly, we decided to keep Nathan indoors. I took Nathan to the Westlake Library, where he could play with puzzles, trains and build towers with cardboard building blocks. We spent about 30 - 40 minutes there before heading home. At home, he started developing a fever and was becoming very irritable. We dosed him with some medicine to try and help and put him down for a nap. By supper time, he was still running a temperature, and so we gave him a luke warm bath and that seemed to help a bit. We put him to bed shortly afterwards. On Sunday he woke up without a temperature, ate most of his breakfast, and seemed to be on the mend. So we went to church in two separate cars so that Liesel could bring him back home right after the adult Bible Study class. Back at home, he seemed to deteriorate again and by mid afternoon was running a fever again. Again we gave him a lukewarm bath and medicine which seemed to help. Right now he is asleep but I can still here him coughing every now and then! Tomorrow Liesel is taking him to the pediatrician. Please pray for him that he recovers from whatever he has.
On the brighter side, the weather today was wonderful. During Liesel's and Nathan's afternoon nap, I got to wash my car. The weather forecasters say that today is the "last gasp" of summer. A cold front hits this week and our maximum temps will be falling to around 15C. On the left is a photo of the sun setting behind the apartments.
More good news is that our 7 trunks, weighing in at 204kg, have traveled halfway across the world and should be waiting at the airport for me tomorrow. I am quite excited, not at getting our old stuff again, but more so to see what my friends and family have put in the trunks for us! Liesel is looking forward to the Nescafe Classic coffee, to enjoy with her new kettle! Hopefully everything in those trunks is deemed to be legal so there won't be any issues with the customs officials!!! I can't wait to open my Birthday presents from family and friends!!!!
Sorry about the shorter, boring blog, but with a sick child, you don't get to do much!
Now to let you in on a secret..... below is a photo of why I actually emigrated to the USA ;-) Hopefully I will have a more interesting blog with better news next weekend!
On the brighter side, the weather today was wonderful. During Liesel's and Nathan's afternoon nap, I got to wash my car. The weather forecasters say that today is the "last gasp" of summer. A cold front hits this week and our maximum temps will be falling to around 15C. On the left is a photo of the sun setting behind the apartments.More good news is that our 7 trunks, weighing in at 204kg, have traveled halfway across the world and should be waiting at the airport for me tomorrow. I am quite excited, not at getting our old stuff again, but more so to see what my friends and family have put in the trunks for us! Liesel is looking forward to the Nescafe Classic coffee, to enjoy with her new kettle! Hopefully everything in those trunks is deemed to be legal so there won't be any issues with the customs officials!!! I can't wait to open my Birthday presents from family and friends!!!!
Sorry about the shorter, boring blog, but with a sick child, you don't get to do much!
Now to let you in on a secret..... below is a photo of why I actually emigrated to the USA ;-) Hopefully I will have a more interesting blog with better news next weekend!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
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