Pancakes always seem to make an appearance at some point over our weekends. The boys would live on them if they could. This morning they decided to use up their weekly pancake allocation to start the weekend.
No one stirs in the compound until at least midday over weekends so we are the only souls outside in the early mornings. With all the mom’s and kids away for the summer, we have the whole place to ourselves. With a busy toddler running up and down in front of the houses I often worry that we are getting people up way before they may have planned to be up. They say that the hum of the aircon in the bedrooms keeps the outside noises from being heard indoors. We wouldn’t know, sleeping in is a thing of the past in the Brinkmann household. We’re all about seizing the day here!
dustbusting
News from the Land of Sand 
i’ve got to get that patio in at our house. this looks like so much fun.
[oh, and i think you mentioned the other day ‘professional sport’ — what did that mean?]
Oh it is, being outdoors definately feeds the soul.
Sorry, I never got back to you about the sport. Back in the day, when I was young and fit and just finishing school, I decided that I wanted to go to university. My single mom was not in a position to fund the high costs of tertiary education and so due to a fairly high standard of sporting achievement during my school years I managed to get a good sports bursury from a university that helped in covering some of my tuition fees. Although I did a wide variety of sport at school, my strongest discipline on the track was high jump.
I managed to get into a training group with a world class sprinter. With loads of hard work and 2 great coaches I managed to pay my way through 4 years of university through my bursery but also through prize money and sponsorship from competing at national and some international competitions. So I got to represent my club, province and eventually South Africa for a few years before taking an extended break due to encephalitis. I never really got back into it after the illness although I recovered completely eventually. It is tough to come back after a long break. I really struggled with injuries and started missing out on breaking into serious international competition so I eventually gave up.
So there you have it, a brief sporting history in a nutshell.
[i don’t know how i missed this comment until today. sorry.]
so, did the world class sprinter help you improve in sprinting, or did you stick with the high jump, or what?
and wow, i’m so incredibly impressed. that’s awesome. it’s like one of my dreams that never worked out…
She most certainly did! I have always been naturally athletic(I can take no credit for it, it is how I was born) so could always sprint, jump, swim well, play hockey etc. I actually did quite alot of heptathlon (100m hurdles, highjump, shotput, 200m, longjump, javelin and 800m) but it is an event that is only offered at big championships as it takes 2 days to complete so I mostly did highjump at one day events. Although I would sometimes be invited to compete in another events like a sprint, longjump, or a relay depending on the number of top athletes available for the event.
wow. and you sometimes read my blog. a world-class athlete reads my blog.
i ran track in high school, and probably should have continued so it would have paid for college. but i quit to play soccer instead. it was a fun choice, but probably the wrong one…
but all the things you are/were good at were those i would be worst at, i think.
Hello James
What my wife fails to add is that she won a Silver Medal at the All Africa Games. She was really really good 🙂
wow. thanks for telling me the truth, olaf, while your wife is too busy being humble. man, that’s incredible.
I would have sworn “aircon” was a Konglish word (Korean English). Who would have thought it’s being used in the Land of Sand and/or South Africa as well?
I also had no idea I’ve been reading (and very much enjoying) the blog of an All Africa Games silver medalist! Thanks, Olaf, for pointing it out.
I had no idea the rest of the world didn’t use “aircon”, what is wrong with you people? I’m just kidding but what do you say then, AC (aay-cee)? The athletics days have faded into a vague memory, as has the memory of knees that didn’t need anti inflammatories after a long run!
Do you deliver? I’ll go for a scrambled egg, ham and cream cheese pancake please. The kids will go for straight scrambled egg and cheese, two straight-up, one with tomato sauce. Oh, and Olaf, would you do us all a favour and start ageing – you look exactly the same as you did 15 years ago (if not bloody younger!)
Ham? Are you kidding me, Warrie? We live in Saudi Arabia dude, we dream of ham! Oh and bacon, roast pork belly, real wine and, and, and…
Oh and Olaf is gonna love you forever. Not ageing, SHUT UP! He is so gonna come home from work this afternoon and remind me of your comment. THANKS ALOT!