Dinner with Friends and Family

The morning was spent wrapping up business for the week. Checking to make sure all of the "t"s were crossed and all of the "i"s dotted. Isn't it always that administrative work that bogs down the creative side? There was a point where I thought that the girls sat around all day long digitizing! Pffftttt! I suppose as this industry goes, this is a mid size company, by far not a "digitizing" factory. It's kind of surprising to know how many people Hatched/AS has working for them really. Eventually I'll box them all in a corner and get photos up! There are a few that work from home but do pop in.

The team is constantly looking for artwork that is appealing, not only to them but for the customers as well. It's always more difficult to work on something that doesn't make you happy if you're not happy with the art work it becomes something you battle with to get done. I think that shows in the designs when that happens. They spend time, together, looking for artwork for each other so clip art is constantly on their minds.

I think I've said before that Santi has Peter on Fridays. For her, that's the best day to have him with all of the administrative work that goes on. Most days for Santi, the phone starts to ring early. Declan arrived at 8 am with Liese in tow. Liese lives around the block from Santi, an easy 5 minute walk, so when Declan arrives the Oma time begins as well. Liese made him breakfast and set him up on the counter to eat, Declan has a lot of things here at Oma and Opa's house but not a high chair or booster chair. Liese tries to feed him but Declan shakes his head and grabs for the spoon. For only being 18 months old I'm impressed with his skills with a spoon, he manages to get 90% in his mouth and not on himself! He's going to be a handful for Liese and Dylan as he grows up.

Once things slowed down, Santi and I ran errands for "Seafood Night at the Brauwer's". They had invited family and friends for a BBQ, known here as a "bri". You always think you're ready for those kinds of events, but there is that last minute shopping as we all know! We grabbed the shopping list and headed off to the "Woolworth's" to pick up a few things. About the only way I can describe it is a mini-WalMart. You wander from department to department, filling your trolley as you go and then hit the check out stand with all of the other shoppers. Outside of Woolworth's (and other shopping type centers) you'll find vendors with fresh fruit and veggies. I found that interesting, as in the States that would not only be frowned upon, but outright not allowed!

One thing that I did notice here is that the people walk fast! Not the leisurely pace most American's are used to. When Santi says she is going to fly though a grocery store that's exactly what she means! But even the people on the street are moving pretty fast. Percentage wise, there just aren't that many drivers/cars as there is at home, so I guess when you walk a lot to get around you get into the habit of not wasting time.

We got home and Cara was cleaning the shrimp and prawns. She was almost done so I asked her if I could help! She said she was fine and almost done. Liese later told me that Cara just didn't want to sit behind the computer yesterday so she had volunteered. Generally Santi's rule on Seafood Night is that if you don't clean, you don't eat! But since Cara volunteered, that rule went out the window last night!

Santi had just about everything ready when the guests started to arrive, there was a beautiful salad and rice. Santi also made a curry dish. I'm not a curry kind of person and Santi said it's an acquired taste. I believe her! There was a pot of rice as well. Santi's nephew and his wife brought some lovely fish that was put on the grill. I'm not much of a fish person but this was wonderful. The shrimp and prawns were not exactly like the ones at home, they were a tad bit sweeter and being cooked on the grill just made them that much better.

Unfortunately for me my camera didn't want to come out and play last night, but Liese's did. She'll be sharing her photos with me later so I can upload them. The festivities went on until well after midnight when I turned into a pumpkin. Cara will be here shortly and we're off on a photo safari to a local preserve. That should be fun and many pictures to take for me!