Die Roete van die Cloetes

It is funny how attached we can become to THINGS. As if a part of who we are lies within our STUFF. And we know with our minds that this is simply not true, but our emotions reveal that it might be something that we believe deep in the hidden corners of our hearts. We will have to let go of some stuff before we leave in May. And deciding what should stay and what should go is no easy task. Not even for the kids.  Charma really wants to take her bedside table and her bedside lamp along. Declan wants to take ALL his remote controlled cars. I want to take my piano (hahahahaha.... :-) I know....) Pieter wants to take his tools. (Of course his stuff is the most practical of all of our things...) But we will have to sort through things and let go. Why do we hold on to stuff? I have concluded that we hold onto it, because of 2 things: We need it We are overly sentimental about it This hurts, because I really do not want to let go of albums and pictures and books - a...

"Everything comes at a cost. Just what are you willing to pay for it?" - Serena Williams So our plans are busy being formed, and a few decisions have been made. So far, we will rent out our house (it will be listed next month), and we will spend out first month of travel in KZN (Kwazulu Natal). Initially, we thought this would be a cost-saving year, as school fees and extra-murals will be excluded from our budget and the rental income received for our house will cover the bond, etc. And anyways, camping is cheap - isn't it? We have been working through this book: We bought it a few years ago (around 2012) and the camping spots are rated from cheap (R50 - R150 per night) to expensive (R400 and up). So we thought we could get away with spending WAAAYYY less (i.e R50 per night) on accomodation each month (when compared to our bonds and municipal rates etc.) Unfortunately it seems that camping has become quite expensive in most places. They are no longer just...

Introduction to our adventure 2017 was not an easy year. Our son went to Grade 4, which meant that there was no longer one loving teacher who got to know each little person in her class and build a relationship with them.. instead there were MANY different teachers and new subjects and ...EXAMS!! All of a sudden he was forced into growing up a little faster and learning about hard work and doing things because you HAVE to and not because you WANT to. This was challenging. Mr Cloete turned 40. I am not saying that there were any signs of a mid-life crisis... I am just saying it was as if something  was different. Frustrations grew from little nothings into mountains. Also a challenge. My little girl started school (Grade R) and she quickly became aware of a bigger badder world out there and that was also challenging. I started feeling a little less excited about my job (my own business - we do payroll - check out our website here ). Having done the same work for ...