Author: Nic Howard

From the bottom of my heart, so quick with the puns today, thank you so very much for all the facebook and blog comments, emails and texts while I was in hospital.  I am home now. 

How time can drag so incredibly during such a whirlwind trip is beyond me.  I was determined not to have visitors ,the hospital is full of sick people, please don't bring my kids in, and I had told Paul to keep working.  Thank goodness for technology.   I'm incredibly grateful for the company I recieved from everyone online,  for a public health system, especially the cute doctors, and for the drugs they say they will feed me in the tests I am still to have taken.  It could be next week, or it could be the week after. 

I'm thrilled to be home to my family, my computer, my sports assignmenst, cardiovasular system, remember?  my students at Double Take and I'm happy to be home in time for the online crop at True Scrap.  I didn't think I was going to make that one, and I've been planning to be there for 6 months.

I've just had an email from a good friend "Helluva way to get some attention, don't ya think?"  Very true – didn't mean to, but so grateful for the company while I was there.

laters

The public health system is a curious thing, and never in a billion years did I think when I first said to my hubby last thursday “oh honey, you just made my heart skip a beat” that it would end up with a hospital stay.

I’m in a respiratory ward which, curiously, is the place you end up when your heart forgets how to beat right. Respiratory wards are full of confused people ( the majority of the people here truly are struggling for those last breaths) and you could probably add me to the confused list too, because sometimes I wonder why I’m here.

Then my heart races (hot doctor, cute male nurse perhaps?) no. I moved. That’s all. That’s what does it.

Apparently xrays are showing random stuff in my lungs, in fact yesterday while I was alone they told me I had a series of calcified lymph nodes through the centre of my lungs. Possible cause? Unknown but did I ever live on a farm? Did I ever spend a lot of time with cows? At this stage I told them I had the TB injection when I was young. They still decided to question tuberculosis. Whispered of course. We don’t want anyone to hear.

I ring my hubby and mum in tears. The lady next to me asks if I want to talk. I sob and say no, (don’t come too close im thinking).

An hour later the cutest of the three males doctors comes back to tell me whoops, ya know, we were wrong. We don’t think there are any calcified lumps, nodes or nodules at all. He says it almost laughing, we mis-read the xray, new imaging software, bit of a blip, hope you’ll forgive me.

And they wonder why my heart is dodgey.

Xrays do show something though. Infection most likely, ( I could have diagnosed that myself cute doctor, without all the freakin drama).

All of this for a patient that was admitted to hospital with possible lung clots due to travel. Blood tests had set off alarm bells. Seems they aren’t worried about it now, although they haven’t taken any more bloods etc to discount it. Clots? Did we admit you for clots? But you know your heart isn’t beating properly, right?

No crap. That’s why I had the blood tests in the first place.

So where does the skipping heart fit in? Who knows. Could be that it just forgot what it is doing ( healthy, fit 30-something year old, of course it will forget how to beat!!) could be that it’s complaining about the food around here ( I’m on the middlemore diet) or it could be that it is a little inflamed and grumpy at a month if coughing and it is crying ENOUGH!

So here I sit, the healthy happy person in a ward of the dying. The elderly cry out in the night and relatives walk the corridors during the day, talking on phones sadly telling loved ones that grandpa is taking his last breathe. I have a bronchoscopy booked for sometime today. Camera in the lungs and then flush them out with water, all done under local – to be awake will be such joy, I’m sure.

I’m remaining upbeat though ( excuse the pun). Good news us that the cute doctor had no idea what he was looking at when he looked at my xrays yesterday. The bad news is that the cute doctor had no clue what he was doing when he looked at my xrays yesterday.

So I wait. Nil by mouth because the nurse has told me I might have a proceedure sometime today. I hope so. My 10 yr old wants his pajamas back.

Laters

And here it is.  The post entirely dedicated to True Scrap.  Now if you thought you were correct in thinking I have mentioned or promoted True Scrap 8000 times in the last 2 months, you'd be right.  BUT I have never dedicated a post entirely to my class at True Scrap.  This makes it difficult when I want to link someone to the information all in one place when the info is spread through many typepad posts, some of them titles things like "The Elephant Incident" or "The egg conspiracy".  I mean really.  Who writes about that stuff?

So here it is, summarised in one place.  You need to watch this video first though.  Even if you ignore the whole rest of this post, humour me by watching my efforts on youtube.  This was released on facebook about 2 days ago and I immedicately had a member of the NZ drug detection agency contact me and ask if I was spending too much time with myself.  Little did she know there were more bloopers than shown in the video.  There was the one where I hadn't stopped laughing at my squeaky chair again and then there was the one where the courier rang my door bell, I screamed "noooo!" as it ruined my video and then "Yesssss!" and went running from the room when my mind caught up with the fact that it was infact, a package being left at my door. 

So anyway.  Super promo blooper video found below.

And the link for where you can find the schedule, the info on all 17 classes, the make n takes, the class descriptions, the cost and whether or not you are allowed out of your PJs on the 20th-22nd of October?  That is here. 

So my part in this huge-stay-at-home-but-participate-all-you-like-and-get-the-recordings-so-you-can-look-back-anytime event?  My latest class, Ready Set Distress.  More info coming up!

 
 

So there it is, all in one place… easily linked to and a bonus laugh-at-nic video included.  Don't forget to visit the True Scrap Website to find out more, basically because the less people in my class, the less I get paid.  That's being honest, right?  It's just the kids are sick of 2-minute noodles and cheese on toast.

We were at Kichaka for three days.  I think.  I slept a lot.  We fitted in four game drives.  I was going on those game drives come hell or high water.  Paul & I were both ill, and on looking back at some of the videos, I sound terrible.  It's all part of the memories, right? 

Despite the extensive close up elephant pics on the previous Sth Africa posts, we saw many animals and thanks to Ashley, we learnt a whole lot of stuff that is sure to be useful.  At some point. 

Like – did you know that a group of zebra is called a 'dazzle' of zebra?  Or that giraffes are a 'journey' of giraffes?  And there are two other options for that one but clearly I wasn't listening close enough at the time.  And did you know that Cheetah hiss and spit when they are grumpy?  Just like this one did before it did a scary little run towards the other jeep?  Oh yes,  it's funny when it's the other jeep!

We also came across these two lions, which was really cool.  When I was at Kichaka in 2010 with my hubby and son, these two cubs were missing.  The large adult male lion had killed their two siblings (there were orignally four) because they weren't his.  It's a nasty wilderness sometimes, huh?  And these two were missing.  They were a little afraid that the large adult male had killed these two as well.  It was lovely to arrive at Kichaka just last month and see these two hanging out in the sun together, brother and sister, happy and thriving. The male is just starting to grow his mane – how cool is that?

I was sad to go on the last game drive.  I remember sitting in the jeep while Ashley was driving and taking a deep breath, looking around at the African sunset and thinking "This could be the last time I see this".  It's a really humbling thing to be in such a big place, seeing so many majestic things and realising it's just one day and I'm just one person that is only on the earth for such a small amount of time, in the big scale of things.

Among all these deep and meaningful thoughts there was plenty of time for fun too.  There was the time Ashely went carefully around this big rugged hole in the track, we all complained loudly that we would have enjoyed the ride, so he backed up and went through it at speed.  Poor tracker on the front there, holding on for dear life!  We also had times where we had to save the other crew -  despite the way it looks, we are towing them out backwards.  See Werner, Ashley would never have attempted that track!

We always stopped for sundowner drinks, meeting up with the other jeep for Amarula as the sun went down.  We added Brandy to mine too, since I was sick.  Medicinal purposes only, honest.  It was a fun time to catch up with the other crew and compare funny, and often made up, animal stories. 

 
So that was Kichaka.  It has to be one of the most magical places on earth.  For the animals, the game drives, the company, the surroundings but also the staff.  We left Kichaka on the Thursday morning, but before we left I had to go to the bar one. more. time.  Jason was there handing out cough medicene as usual – I swear next time I want actual proper, like, alcoholic drinks served, ok Jason? – and I had to get my last dose.

Thanks Kichaka.  Thanks Ashley.  Next stop Capetown.

Giveaway closed – thanks for all your lovely comments!

Today is the day I give away stuff on my blog.  Because it's Wednesday and the sun is shining, because I have things I can share, and because I decided this morning to be kind to myself today, and I can easily be kind to you too.  Because that's a feel-good thing, right? 

The plan is for you to leave me a comment at the end of this post.  Anything.  Tell me if the sun is shining in your part of the world.  Tell me if you are being kind to yourself today, or give me your favourite choux pastry recipe because the one I used the other night failed miserably.  Full credit to my own kiwi ingenuity though, I put two together, whipped cream inbetween, drizzled them in chocolate icing and told the family they were a new recipe for 'chocolate flat-cakes'.  Oh yes.  They loved it.  But back to giving stuff away.  I have three packets of happiness to send out in the mail.  Anywhere in the world because this is a world-wide gig.  Leave a comment, that's a selfless promotion to get comments because I seriously love it when you do, and I'll draw some winners.

That's one happy idea for the day, and here is another.  Don't think I'm finished telling you about South Africa, BTW, I have more to share but in the meanwhile I wanted to spread the love with some other ideas.

Are you going away and leaving your kiddos anytime soon?  Shhh what was that?  I think I heard about 350 people whisper "I wish" under their breath.  I'm a traveller.  I travel to work.  I travel to teach.  My kids are used to spending time with their grandparents and their Dad.  I firmly believe that it's OK that I do this, but helps me to leave them a little something to help them count the days.

This takes no time to do.  It doesn't need to be a masterpiece.  The key ingredients are some lollipops, cardboard, a marker and some tape.  I roughly write up a calender, outlining each of the days I will be away.  I tape 3 lollipops to each day (one for each of my children) and highlight a few days that they might get a little pressie as well.  The kids get a treat each day and as the lollipops disappear, they know I'm getting closer to coming home.  Don't ya love it?  Feel free to eat the leftovers yourself while you create this essential travel item.  Seriously.  That's OK, it's neccessary even.

Scrappy plans – Today is the last day to register for Double Take at Big PIcture Classes if you were thinking about it.  We have been going for 5 days in this workshop and it's a huge success.  See, there is that feel good feeling again.  I love it when a plan works out.  I love it when a class works so well. 

True Scrap has released the schedule for the True Scrap weekend coming up soon.  You can see it here. 

AND DID you KNOW (no you didn't because I neglected to tell you,I was worried I was going on about True Scrap too much but then I shouldn't leave out information about prizes, right?) .. do you know there are a  whole heap of giveaway draws for those that register before the 30th Sept?  Everyone that registers before that date goes in to win some of the following: 

Simple Scrapper download - 1 year Simple Pages / Simple Projects subscription to 1 winner
1 free class (choice of Keep Calm & Stay Organized, Light Your Fire, or any class in the next year) to 1 winner (courtesy of Jennifer Wilson and Erin Bassett)
Hero Arts digi goodies (courtesy of Jennifer McGuire) 
Paperclipping membership (courtesy of Noell Hyman)
Digital Scrapbooking Basics (courtesy of Paula Gilarde)
"Exposure" online photography class (courtesy of Katrina Kennedy)
Jenni Bowlin October kit, plus vintage holiday release (courtesy of Lisa Dickinson and Jenni Bowlin)
Scraphappy membership (courtesy of Lain Ehmann)
4 classes in each of Online Card Class and Inspiration Showcase (courtesy of Jennifer McGuire)
Pass for two to Shimelle.com class of your choice (courtesy of Shimelle Laine)

So I guess if you were one of the people thinking of registering but hadn't got there yet, this is your cue to actually get off your butt and register.  There is clearly no better time?. 

Anyway.  I have two hours before the kids come home from school.  I have three deadlines and the last few levels of Plants vs Zombies to conquer before they do.  Wish me luck. 

Laters

On one of the last nights at Kichaka we sat and chatted about our favourite memories from the trip so far.  We gathered around as a group the day before and played a game of "tell us something about your partner that we don't already know".  The stories that came out of that game were classic and the what-happens-at-kichaka-stays-at-kichaka rule was quickly applied.  But anyway, that session in the sun was named as many of the group as one of the favourite memories.

But then there were those of us that named the Elephant Incident.  We'd been out on a game drive and as we were driving around in the wilderness, one of us pipes up "That was awesome seeing that one elephant the other day but I wish we could sit with a whole herd like we did last year when that one tried to charge us and Nic screamed and dived under the seat".  Yea.  Very funny.  The other jeep had taken the 'low road' out in the open and our ranger Ashley had taken the high road, turning into the thick bush and putting his foot down, hauling it through the scrub.  We'd gone about ten seconds into the bush and turned a corner and there was this freakin GREAT elephant on one side of the jeep.  Gasps.  But no sooner had we realised we'd just crept up on that beast just.a.little.too.fast than we see more(that's plural) extremely large beasts on the other side. 

We'd driven right through the herd with no warning at a great rate of speed AND when we were surprised, there were more than one of us that a) screamed b)swore c)exclaimed the obvious "ELEPHANTS!" d) yelled the less obvious "Aard-vark!" - you had to be there to understand that one, or e) all of the above. 
Ashley keeps his calm and keeps driving.  Paul retrieves Nic from under the seat.  Right when one of the elephants decides yea that was a little too annoying and chases us, thundering down the road, trumpeting after us. 

The rangers and trackers at Kichaka are amazing and they managed to make all the right moves and noises to stop the elephant.  It was little more than a teen showing us how big and scary he could be, but an elephant trumpeting next to you is scary all the same.

And then we got the word from Ashley.  "Just so you know, what we are in now is less than the ideal situation.  We need to remain calm and quiet while we make our way out of here, raising your voices, screaming "elephants" or sqealing is not going to make these elephants happy".  Less than ideal situation.  No crap.  Love the look on Ashley's face..

At this point Ashley managed to turn the jeep around quietly, we turned and drove back the way we came, a little more respectfully this time. 

We drove out of the herd, we drove up the road and went and visited a more friendly solo giant, eating quietly in the bush.  He must have felt some "I'm scared of Elephant' vibes because he also let us know he was a little less than happy.  You can tell by the straight on stare and the way he put his ears up.  He stood for a good twenty seconds staring at us.  The whole time I was wondering why we werent' heeding the warning and turning and leaving.  Eventually the elephant turned and ambled away.  Ashley explained that you never leave until an elephant lets you.  If we had turned and left while he was challenging us, he may have chased.  When he turned and left, he was letting us go.  And we did.

I have to say before signing this post off that the Kichaka staff are awesome.  Ashley was an experienced ranger that knew what he was doing the whole time. It was probably just another day the office for him.  However for those of us that were hoping for a little adrenalin in the wilderness, we'll always remember it as "The Elephant Incident".  Thanks Ashley.

Laters

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Click here for more information! (Posting this here because I can't figure out how to put it in my sidebar.  I mean.  Seriously.  How hard can that be?!!)

After a fabulous time in Johannesburg we all woke early and made our way to the airport to fly to Port Elizabeth. I was looking forward to two things, firstly Kichaka Game Lodge and secondly, being able to breathe easier.  Johannesburg is high altitude and it sounds crazy, but you really feel it.  Breathing deep as we got off the plane at Port Elizabeth was a wonderful thing for this low-altitude girl.

 
(Laura from Glitz at the bottom of the stairs, followed by Paula from 7Gypsies and Jay her hubby).

After a short drive we arrive at Kichaka.  There are huge gates at the entrance because of the wild-life, and we stopped for what seems like forever outside – 14 scrapbookers – hundreds of pictures needed to be taken, right?  Seriously.  There were hundreds of pictures taken.

Actually we stayed out there so long that they called through to us and asked if we wanted tents and boxes of beer delivered outside the gates if we were choosing to stay there.

Here's a great shot of Gary (hubby of SA Scrapbook organiser, Glenda) and Paul.  These two have a lot in common and got on fabulously.  Until they both came down with the man-flu and went their separate ways.  Fortunately they both recuperated in time to watch multiple games of rugby and sample many wines.  I know this friendship was a highlight of the trip for Paul but secretly we are glad to leave Gary's company before South Africa and New Zealand have to meet each other in the Rugby World Cup games… although I think there may be some sort of wager between these two lads… bring on the game.

Finally we were done with photos and drove in to reception where we signed a waiver – you know, one of those "if a lion makes a meal of me, I promise not to blame anyone but myself" kinda deals.  This freaked me out the first time I went to Kichaka,  this time I knew it was coming but would I have signed it had I known about the up-coming Elephant Incident? (see the next blog post for that one). 

Kichaka staff always meet you at the gate with a friendly welcome and hot lemony towels… as you arrive, after game drives etc.. love it.

And you get two steps in the door and you are greeted with gorgeous smiles and beautiful drinks…

The treats don't stop there.  Everything is amazing.  From the rooms with private pools overlooking the waterhole, to the food, to the smiles and attention the staff give to every detail.  One night we arrived back at our room from dinner to find our robes had been laid on our bed, a gorgeous bubble bath had been run, a bottle of champagne and glasses were beside the bath, candles right through the room, bath mats down and rose petals scattered around the room.  It was soooo nice! 

We spent 3 nights at this amazing retreat.  We went on four game drives and saw a huge variety of wildlife – check back for the next blog post, remember 'The Elephant Incident'?.  We spent most of Tuesday hanging out as a group in the sun at Kichaka.  We all had the most fabulous day that day, and it's something I will never forget.  We drank Amurula in the sun, we shared crazy stories, we chatted with the staff at Kichaka.  My favourite part though was the bonding between the teachers. It was something really special, helped along tremendously by the surroundings we were in.

Unfortunately we got up Wednesday morning for our early morning game drive to find that many of us had come down with the flu overnight.  Of the 14 of us travelling together, 9 of us became sick.  It wasn't a cold, it was the full-on flu.  It was nasty.  Paul & I spent Wednesday sleeping.  One of my big regrets of the trip is the time I lost through being sick.  I couldn't help it at the time but I'd love to have that time back.

The team on the game drive on Tuesday morning – before we all became sick.  Back – Rosanne from Ellison, Glenda from SA Scrapbook Convention, Debby Schuh, Ginger from Glitz, Ashley 'Aard-vark' the Ranger, Werner 'Did I really get the jeep stuck' the Ranger, Laura from Glitz, and Mel from KaiserCraft.
Front: Paula from 7 Gyspies, Stephanie from Sizzix, myself, and our two fabulous trackers. 

We left Kichaka on Thursday.  Most of us still very sick.  As I said, one of my big regrets of this trip was the time I lost at Kichaka through having to sleep off a nasty illness.  One thing I was incredibly grateful for was the attention of the staff though.  All were genuinely concerned and did anything to help us get better.  Seeing Jason behind the bar handing out teaspoons of cough medicene instead of drinks was something hilarious I wish I'd got pics of.  Kichaka is one place that I haven't said goodbye to.  I will go back one day and I'll be taking my Mum and Dad and anyone else I can convince to come with me.  Thanks to the staff at Kichaka for making it so special, thanks to Jason for showing genuine concern with all the illness and thanks Ashley-Aard-vark-ranger for trying to exorcise the flu-bugs through extreme adrenaline on the Wednesday game drive.  More about that in the next blog post…

laters.

It was my intention before I left for South Africa that I would blog and update my facebook status every few days.  That was before I was cursed with breaking just about everything I came in contact with, including the bathroom pipes and internet in the first place we stayed, the AV in the classrooms, the microphone and even the window shutter in the plane on the way home.  I was the cursed one. 

So I didn't update, blog, or facebook and now I am left with the mammoth task of recording all those fabulous memories after the fact.  I've been going through my photos today and there are so many I want to post, but it's all so out of order. 

So I'll start again at the start.  Johannesburg.  Land of the passionate rugby supporter, amazing scrapbooker and the Emporer's palace convention centre.  It's where I met the rest of the team, we joined together as a team of 14 people that didn't know each other and we left after ten days as the best of friends.  This is one of my favourite photos – this was taken at Johannesburg airport while killing some time.  Some of the pics that came out of this photo shoot were hilarious but this one represents us all pretty well.

Ok here is a real photo of the team -  this one taken at Sandton shopping centre.  We caught a train over there the day before we started teaching.  Missing are Rosanne and Stephanie, Glenda and Gary.  

I said this last year, and I'll say it again.  SA Scrapbook convention has to be one of the most organised events I have ever seen.  Every single little detail is taken care of and the delegates and teachers are well taken care of.  There is a team of around 25 teacher helpers that are the hub and the heart of the event.  You can see some of them here, busy at work, putting the crop room together for an event that sees 600 delegates go through the doors. 

I attended this event as a teacher for BasicGrey.  From the feedback received in class I can say that we all did BasicGrey very proud.  Almost everyone finished, the ladies were all happy and the results were some fabulous layouts that had me grinning from ear to ear about how creative and amazing a group of women can be.  And on top of that, I was able to commentate the South Africa vs Wales game with a little help from student, Ada, who was keeping contact with her hubby via text.  See what teamwork can acheive?!!

You've seen this before, but I need to show it again.  Some of the great layouts produced in class. 

Just FYI – the new Basicgrey design team was announced while I was away.  A design team for BasicGrey?  That's something that they have never done before!  I was asked many times if I had applied.  The answer is no.  Design teams aren't on my radar right now.  They have obligations and responsibility that I just can't commit to and my focus just isn't in that area right now.  I will remain an on-call designer for BasicGrey though- it's hard to break a habit of over 4 years!  You won't have seen the last of me and BasicGrey but in the meanwhile, congrats to the new team of amazing BasicGrey designers!

So, South Africa,that was just the start.  Really.  I have lots more to show you.  LIke my favourite place (apart from home) in the whole world.  My favourite game park ranger in the whole world, my new discoveries in scrapbooking products, some old friends and some new.  I'll save that for tomorrow.

laters.

It's my last night in Cape Town.  Tomorrow I start the long trek home via Johannesburg and Sydney.  I'm still quite ill, luckily my energy levels are returning but the cough lingers.  I cough, people move off from beside me pretty quickly.  It should be an interesting scenario on the plane tomorrow.  I've had the most amazing time again and I have 11GB of photos to wade through before choosing my favourites to share.  I've made some more great friends and spent some really happy times with the South African delegates which are so much like New Zealanders in so many ways, I always feel so comfortable spending time here.

So this will be just a quick post from my motel room.  I've been asked many times by delegates at this event to outline quickly in one blog post some of the online events I have coming up, so I'll give it a go!!

First up is Double Take.  Double the teachers, double the sketches, double the fun!!!!
Online for 4 weeks, and forever after really, all Big Picture Classes have forever access.  This is the class I did 16 double layouts for, I'm teaching alongside May Flaum, we both love super interactive fun workshops so I think this one is going to be HOT.   This is a sneak from one of the send-outs… the layouts from really simple to dimensional, kid layouts to travel… and everything inbetween.  I love love love Big PIcture and I'm really looking forward to this one starting in just a few days!!!   (I need to go home now, I have a Big PICture Class to do!!)

My other BIG project is True Scrap… October 20-22nd…. all online, 17 teachers, 17 classes, you can scrap just you and your computer and you don't even have to get out of your PJ's!  You can read more about it here…  

I'm teaching a class called "Ready, Set , Distress" – heeeeeere we go on the description!!!

Beautifully detailed vintage pages are the focus of many scrapbooks these days.  Inking and curling, sanding and painting,  Nic has built the perfect how-to class to set you on your way to distressing perfection.  Learn how to create a vintage distressed layout from start to finish, using a techniques you can apply to any project.  Nic is known for her ability to create visually stimulating textures and dimensions on a scrapbook page, and now she's going to share her favourite techniques with you!

Right – time to go to bed, my last sleep here in South Africa, perhaps forever.  Who knows.  It's one of those places that will always call me back though.  I like to think I'd be back someday.

Laters.