oodlesofnoodlesoffun

Seasons greetings

2007-12-24T10:47:00.000+02:00

It is that time of year again. Unfortunately it came way too quickly for me and caught me off guard. I have not made any preparations and it is going to be a quiet one this year. No big family gathering and the gifts will be small and only for the children. I can kick myself for not planning in advance like I normally do. I must admit that this has not been a normal year for me in any way. Life has changed and I didn't change with it. Trying to do 10 things at the same time used to be easy, but that was before. What do I mean by that?? I don't know myself anymore. I have decided to take the next couple of days off to sort myself out. I recently moved from the townhouse to a house again and I haven't found my feet in the new home yet. I feel like part of me is hanging in limbo somewhere and I happen to touch it every now and then but I just can't seem to manage to grab it and hold onto it.

Here's hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas. My Christmas is going to be filled with Christmas carols and family time. I am glad I don't have thousands to spend this Christmas because I think I need to celebrate the real meaning behind it for a change.

New Home

2006-10-11T14:13:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know that I am moving over to Wordpress. The site on the other side is still under construction, but it is working and usable. No Houdini acts as yet and even though I am missing my blinkies, I am sure there will be a way to get around it in Wordpress.

So, if you want to read some more about my ramblings, please jet on over to www.buddess.wordpress.com and pay my new home a visit. All forms of housewarming gifts will be accepted....hehehe

Revenge is mine. All MINE!!!!!

2006-10-10T10:30:00.000+02:00

Remember about 2 months ago I wrote about Houseguest #3
well yesterday afternoon said Houseguest came into our local pub where we were busy playing pool. I was on the table(not ON the table, but playing at the time) and he challenged myself and my partner. We normally play doubles because there are so many people who play there. We(my partner and I) beat the two of them and then he(HG#3) decided to get arrogant and actually challenged my partner to a game of singles. My partner refused and said that I must play. I have not been in the best of moods lately(being a crab, I am prone to moodswings), but I thought that there is just no way that I will let this guy beat me. He stacked the balls and insisted that I play first, but seeing that he was challenging me, I said that I would give him the honour. Well, the pool gods must have been with me, because I gave him a whitewash!!!!! You don't know the term??? For those who don't know the game, each player has 7 balls on the table, either solid in colour or with stripes and the last ball is the black ball. Now a whitewash means that one player sinks all his balls and the black leaving his opponent with all seven of his balls still on the table. Let's just say that I have now had my revenge and I am closing my book on Houseguest #3. He sheepishly retreated to his pozzy across the street from the pub and was not seen again. Aaaahhhh Revenge is sweet!!!

Lost????

2006-10-09T11:53:00.000+02:00

I am experiencing a very strange thing. My blog is pulling a Houdini on me. One minute I can see it and then "poof" it is gone. I have worked through all possible reasons as per Blogger Support instructions. I have even republished my entire blog several times, but still the phenomena continues.

I read on the blogger.com home page that they are in the process of blocking out spammers. Am I being seen as a spammer? Don't think so?

A number of my regular reads have moved over to wordpress and I have even looked at other solutions, but I am such a loyal person. I don't want to move my blog because that is just such a nightmare. The thought of it gives me the chills.

If this problem isn't resolved soon, I'll have to find another solution......here's hoping that it won't be necessary.

Some more beautiful people

2006-10-04T11:02:00.000+02:00

One of my classmates sent me these pictures. Proof that 38 year olds can still be spunky!!!!

Thank you Ann!!!

You're only as old as you feel

2006-10-02T10:10:00.000+02:00

I don't want to start boring you with all the reunion stories, but I had so much fun. Another amazing aspect of the reunion made me realize that when I was 18, I considered a 38 year old as an old person. But, now here I am. THIRTY EIGHT YEARS OLD, but I don't feel old. I still feel 18. Ok, maybe not 18, but closer to 28!!!

I had the perfect opportunity to just snap away and what I found amazing was the fact that the ladies at the reunion looked so smashing. I am not saying the guys didn't look good, but let's just say that Father Time looked after some of the ladies very well!!!!

Maybe I was just lucky to be in a class full of beautiful people, let me show you what I mean...

oh, and then of course, I shouldn't forget about Mr Lesotho and Mr Brut(in the middle - dancing)

The best part of the weekend happened on Saturday night when almost everyone went onto the dancefloor and made a big circle and everyone danced together. That was when I knew this was a huge success!!!

Thank you to all who attended. Thank you for traveling so far to spend a weekend with us. Thank you for all your kind words and thank you for coming with such a positive attitude. It made all the nights of little sleep worth it.

See you at the next one!!!!

Reunion update

2006-09-29T10:41:00.000+02:00

Let the saga continue.

We got the evening started off by the current Principal(flanked here by myself and Mr Lesotho) who gave us a brief welcome etc which happened in the bar area. He was about to run off to another function when I hawled him into the main hall for a quick pick. What a pleasant gentleman???

Hope this picture of Mr Lesotho will make my dear Katt happy?

The rest of Friday evening was spent catching up. We were lucky that a few of our old teachers joined us. I did manage a pick or two.

We did have loads of laughs though. At one stage one of the guys grabbed my camera and said he wants to take a couple of pictures. Surprise surprise!! I found these three pictures amongst the ones he took....

There's another Black Label for you Dawn!!

What followed was a lot of drinking and laughing. We had 102 people there on Friday night and most of them were still there by midnight. I took close on 200 pictures so there is no way that I can publish them all here. I will share a couple of good ones with you.

I have hit a glitch. Unfortunately the end of Part 2 has arrived due to internet access problems!!

Watch this space because I have some more funnies coming shortly!!!!

It happened!!!!

2006-09-27T13:06:00.000+02:00

What a blast!!! The reunion was a huge success. All the months of hard work, planning, organizing, phone calls, e-mails and meetings finally paid off. The turnout was fabulous. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. I didn't experience any awkward moments. People walked in and got stuck in the entrance and I eventually had to ask people to move through into the hall so that we could start our programme.

We had to decorate the venue on Friday morning. Drapes were hung by ourselves and tables carried around and arranged etc. Thankfully Mr B was there to help. By 16h00 I rushed home to shower and change and was back at the hall in record time. I almost panicked because the snacks for the evening should have arrived at 16h00 and they only got there at almost 17h00. Thankfully everyone stuck to the arranged time of 18h30 and we could get everything in place before the first guests arrived.

This is what the bar area, hall and some of the snacks looked like. I couldn't get to the other snack table as it was always surrounded by hungry guys. It had pastries and so forth on it.

We eventually dragged everyone into the hall and quickly got the formalities finalized. We have two couples who were at school together and are still married today. What an amazing feat don't you think?

We also handed champagne to all the parents who have children in our old high school at the moment (Mr Brut being one of them). Two ladies and two gentlemen made us proud. What astonished me though was how many people are raising their offspring as English and not Afrikaans.

I was honored to receive the Build a Nation trophy seeing that I have 4 children. I just don't think that anyone else would own up(heeheehee). What was my prize? A shining trophy. Definitely not - I received two stress balls!!!!

After we completed all the formalities, we attempted to get people to get onto the dancefloor, but to no avail. Everyone found a group and they were all just chatting away. I saw people moving from group to group and I have never experienced such an awesome atmosphere. People were genuinely happy to be there and to be around each other. I heard so many "remember that" and "remember when" and "wasn't that the girl that....". I found myself sitting in a corner at one stage and took pictures of all these little discussions going on.

I think I will have to end it here. Let's make this the end of part 1. I am sure there will be a few more to follow.

Almost there.....

2006-09-19T10:01:00.000+02:00

The long anticipated reunion is this weekend. Friday all the fun will start. Everything is in place. Caterers have been paid. The music(caused a couple of headaches) has been sorted. All that is left to do, is to decorate the venue on Friday and then the party can begin. I know it is going to go well. I have put so much time and effort into it. Most importantly, I put a lot of myself into it and I just want everyone to have a good time.

Please hold thumbs for me.

I'll resume normal posting as soon as this weekend is over. Prepare yourselves for some pictures of the event. There will be Mr Lesotho pics in there too. I know he has a couple of fans on my blog!!!!

Body painting follow up!!!

2006-09-13T10:20:00.000+02:00

Three posts ago, I published a bodypainting picture that I have had on my computer for ages. I received it in a mail and I found the site where it came from. My friend Katt was eager to see what Virgo would look like. I took the liberty and added the picture for you to see Katt.

Isn't it amazing what this artist can do?

You can go here to find your own starsign. Have a look at the Leo and Aries.

I am Cancer and this is the artist's impression thereof.

Ok, so I said I was tired and felt stressed in my previous post, so now I ask myself, how did I manage 2 posts on one day???

Priorities, priorities.........

Now to get back to work!!!

Have a great day and I'll be back soon(I hope).

Roses are red........

2006-09-13T09:52:00.000+02:00

I feel exhausted. I am running around with work and the upcoming reunion has got my stomach in knots!!! It is only 2 weeks away and I thought I had worked hard up to this point, but boy was I wrong. Now it is really beginning to take it's toll. I have sent out invitations months ago, organized the venue, caterers, bar, music, attendees, collected photos, babysitters, games and jumping castles. Now I have to start collecting money from those who will be attending. Half of the money is in and now to get the other half to pay!! I am not sleeping well and I am not eating right either. I haven't been to gym in over a month because I am simply too exhausted to even think about it. I am battling to get to all the blogs I enjoy reading and that is also very frustrating. I haven't been able to sit down and just browse because work has suddenly picked up at a frantic pace. I have demos scheduled and training and product upgrades and I just don't know where I am going to find the time. Thankfully, I can stop over at the pub for a couple of games of pool before I go home in the evening. I destress and by the time I get home, I can love and cuddle the little ones while preparing supper and doing all the motherly things required. I normally fall asleep infront of the telly, but then can't sleep again when we go to bed. I find myself tossing and turning and keeping Mr B awake. I keep telling myself, just two more weeks and it will all be over. Well, some of it anyway!! So today, I am sending myself a bunch of roses.
If you feel like I do, enjoy them with me.........

In remembrance

2006-09-08T11:32:00.000+02:00

This will be a sad day in world history for many more years to come. I am not an American. I didn't know anyone who lost a life on this sad day. The actions of a certain group of people on this day horrified me. I remember being in my office at work and one of my colleagues screaming that we must turn on our radio's. We couldn't believe what we were hearing. I was a member of a motorbike club and we used to meet Tuesday evenings at a local pub. I have never seen a more somber pub. People weren't drinking. There was a stunned silence as we watched the broadcast as the towers collapsed. I cried when I saw the people trying to jump to get out of the burning building. I shot a prayer up thanking God that I was safe.

A very special person started a very special project and I feel that this is a small thing that I can do to help his cause. He started the 2996 Project. If you haven't read about it by now, please visit 2996 Project . I did just that and here is my contribution. I am not a writer, but I feel I have a story to tell and I try to do it to the best of my ability.

James D Halvorson(Jim) was a husband and a father. He worked as Head of Global Infrastructure Group, Marsh & Mclennan Cos Inc. He worked there for 30 years. He was an insurance broker who traveled the world and worked on many large overseas construction projects. He visited Russia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and many other places according to http://1cf.newsday.com/911/victimsearch.cfm?id=2075.

He grew up in Devils Lake, N.D. There he attended North Dakota State University and the University of Montana from where he graduated in 1967. He then moved to Long Island, New York. He must have met his wife during this time because they had been married for 31 years and they have a son named Doug. He was also an accomplished skier and runner. He completed the New York marathon in 1991. From the little snippets that I found on the net, I could clearly see that he was a well loved man. He was someone that others looked up to and yet he had a personality that endeared him to all he met.

When disaster struck, he was in his office situated on the 99th and 100th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre. It is believed that that was were Flight 11 hit. He lost his life together with 295 of Marsh & Mclennan Cos Inc's employees on that day. But not just that, he lost his life together with 2995 other people on that day. I shall always remember 911 and the aftermath thereof. I shall always remember the fear it has instilled in all our lives. I shall always remember this special person assigned to me through this project.

I shall always remember Jim.

If a member of Jim's family ever gets to read this, I want to ask them to contact me as I would love to learn more about him. I would love to be able to tell a story about a man whom I believe has a beautiful story to tell!!!!

I know I am bending the rules, but I won't have internet access tomorrow so forgive me for posting this a couple of hours early!!!

Body paint

2006-09-08T11:26:00.000+02:00

I feel that I have to somehow get rid of the bad taste the tattoo in my previous post left. I have had this picture on my computer for ages and it is an amazing work of art. So in an effort to redeem myself for the nasty, I offer you one of my favourite pictures. I have no idea where I got it from and therefor categorically state that it is not my work and all honour to the original artist!!!!!

You have a great weekend and don't forget about the 2996 project!!!!!!

Is this for real???

2006-09-06T08:57:00.000+02:00

Now, I am not a tattoo person. I don't have any on my body, but I do appreciate a good tattoo when I see one. I have a friend who has the most beautiful tattoo on his back. It is a lady sitting on a rock with her reflection in the water underneath her. Fantastic!! It is not completed yet, but it already looks awesome.

Now, I have seen some clever tattoos. You know the ones you get on e-mail, that leaves you looking over your shoulder to see if someone else saw you looking at it???? Well, I got one of those today, but it wasn't as bad as it is clever. Now, this leaves me wondering if this is for real??

You have a look and let me know what you think....

I just noticed that this was post #100!!!! woohoo!!!!!
I know they weren't all good, but I have enjoyed writing each and every one of them!!!!

8 Below

2006-09-05T11:53:00.000+02:00

I have wanted to see this movie for such a long time. I read good and bad reviews about it, but being the individual that I am, I thought it best to judge for myself. I must admit that I was skeptical after some of the reviews, but I enjoyed it!!! I am not looking for Oscar winning performance or anything like that. I want pure enjoyment from a movie. That is my main criteria when watching a movie. This movie has breathtaking scenes. Yes, there is the predictable love story but who cares. This movie is about the love between a man and his dogs. The evidence of the bond between Paul Walker and the dogs are there. I cried like a baby. I actually left the lounge and stood outside. I couldn't bare to think or even try to understand what those dogs had to endure. Paul Walker isn't the best actor but I believe that he was the right guy for this film. I give this movie a total thumbs up because I felt like I was there with them. I felt the cold and when the ice cracked, I quickly looked to see if I was in a safe spot. So, call me a softie or call me a bleeding heart, but I will watch this movie again. If you still want to see the movie, don't read further!!!!

One of my favorite scenes in the movie was where the lead dog Maya said goodbye to Old Jack who was busy dying after being tied up for 15 days. He didn't have the strength to break the chains like the others did. She gingerly licked him and then walked away...

The character that stole my heart was Max. He was the one that lead all the surviving dogs back to their base after Maya was injured and in so doing ensuring their rescue. He is a beautiful animal. Even though this was a Disney production, it is a movie that families will enjoy. It was wonderful being able to watch a movie without profanity, sex, violence or any of the normal "Blockbuster" ingredients.

HAVE A SIXPACK!!!

2006-09-04T14:02:00.000+02:00

Here's a little something I dug out for my fellow bloggers who love to open a sixpack every now and then!!!!

or if you would prefer another brand.....

So, you have loads to "drink".

Have a great week!!!!!

I feel happy

2006-08-31T14:09:00.000+02:00

I feel happy, oh so happy!!! I have recently started playing something I really enjoy. No, it isn't a musical instrument (I wish). I started playing pool again. Good old pub style pool and I am kicking ass!!! Mr B shouts at me about my (??)technique, but it still helps me win the games. Why does everything have to be technically correct? If I can sink the balls using my own technique, who cares about the "proper" technique. We (Mr B and I) play at our local pub and I must admit that there are about 30 regular players and I am the only one that has beaten all of the others!!!! Not bad for the only female player!!!! I played against the best guy I have ever come across and I am sad to say that I could have beaten him. The moment just got too big and I choked. Sis on myself. He told me afterwards that that was the best game of pool he has played in a very long time. Rematch time today!!! He promised to be there. I am wearing a low cut blouse and hopefully my natural talents will help me distract my opponents!!! heeheehee, I'm so wicked!!!

Houseguest #3

2006-08-28T10:07:00.000+02:00

Ok, sit tight. I have no idea how long this is going to get. I need to get this off my chest. Either that or I am going to climb the walls. Mr B has the ability to take in strays. Now, I don't mind the animal kind, but he attracks the human kind. Way back in September of last year I posted about Houseguest #1 here . Then in January, I wrote about Houseguest # 2 here. It has happened again. We have another houseguest and he has been there for the past 2 months. He is a long lost military friend who had to undergo a shoulder op and needless to say, his stay seems to be more of the permanent nature, yet again!!! This man is 44 years old, ex military, ex policeman, ex farm foreman and now looking for gainful employment. He receives a pension from the police force, but that basically covers the maintenance he has to pay for his 3 boys. Now you are probably wondering what the problem is??? Let me put it this way. He has no manners. He farts and burps when and where he pleases. He snores so badly that he is keeping me awake at night. Further to that, he is selfish beyond belief. If you are a regular reader, you will know that I have a pretty full household. What with 6 children, Mr B's cousin(who now has a girlfriend who visits weekends), the 2 of us and Mr Selfish Fart Burp Eat a lot? I normally cook for at least 8 to 10 people at any given meal. Now, my problem is this. For example, Mr SFBE spent the weekend at his girlfriends'. Out of the blue, he arrives yesterday just as we were about to have lunch. Not just him, but he had his 3 boys in tow!!! Not a word of warning that he might be here for lunch. I am ashamed to admit this, but we postponed lunch. We put everything away and carried on watching the Grand Prix. He had to take the children back to their mom and I promise the minute he was out the door, we all ran for the kitchen. Mr B recently went hunting and shot a Springbok and we smoked both the legs of the springbok in our smoker. Now if you know meat, you will know that a Springbok isn't known for its quantity of meat. We carved the meat and all had a fair share and then Mr SFBE returned and served himself a plate of food that would have fed 4 Ethiopian children for at least a week. Not a please or do we mind or has everyone had something to eat, because he put everything that was left over in his plate. We didn't make a big lunch. I made a green salad and potato salad and the smoked meat. I lost it completely. I blasted this man for his selfishness and he just gave me a blank look and said "but I thought you all had finished eating" - So what if we all had, so what if there was still enough meat left for samies!!!! So what if that was going to be supper or toasted samies for breakfast!!!!

That isn't all. He is so untidy. I cleaned his bedroom(actually the cousins's - who is now sharing with the 16 year old) last weekend and packed the wardrobe neat and tidy. It is a mess. It looks worse than the kids' room. Sis man!!! He is careless too. He leaves his painkillers on the bed and we have two toddlers in the house. We have asked him to keep the bedroom door closed but no!!!!! He uses the bathroom and does a number 2. Man o man o man!!!! Then he leaves the door open and the whole house smells so bad that we have to sit outside. He walked into our bedroom the other morning and well, we were sort of busy with something and he just walked right in. No knocking, no asking if he may enter - he just walked right in!!! I thought I was going to die. How can people be so ignorant? I thought Mr B was going to kill him. He blasted him out of the room and mind you that was that for our little bit of privacy.

Their is an upside to this story. He met a girl 17 years younger than him a month ago. They have fallen in love and are moving into a flat this coming weekend. Isn't that wonderful? Love at first sight!!! Who else believes in love at first sight? Come on, don't be shy. Put up your hands. Anyone??? I kinda know this girl and therefore felt it my duty to warn her about some of his antics and that just turned her on more!!! Match made in heaven, don't ya think?

Question????

2006-08-25T13:40:00.000+02:00

Didn't you like my pick of the week? I haven't had any comments for him. Did you perhaps miss it, if so here is the link.

TGIF

2006-08-25T09:17:00.000+02:00

Some fun!!!

2006-08-24T12:38:00.000+02:00

Pick the month you were born:
January--I kicked
February--I loved
March--I smoked
April--I dry humped
May--I choked on
June--I murdered
July--I did the Macarena with
August--I had lunch with
September--I danced with
October--I sang to
November--I yelled at
December--I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White----------because I'm cool like that
Black-----------because that's how I roll.
Pink------------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red------------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I hate myself.
Purple---------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange-------because I hate my family.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other-------because I'm a ninja.
None--------because I cant control myself

Now type out the sentence you made in the subject line and enter in the comments field. I got I danced the Macarena with a fireman (wasn’t Dan Dan) because I’m cool like that.

If I was wearing a blue shirt it would have said I danced the Macarena with a fireman because I’m sexy and I do what I want.

Let me know what you get.

Sofi's Grandmother

2006-08-23T12:53:00.000+02:00

I was cleaning out my mailbox today and came across this joke. I have completely forgotten about it and I laughed so hard, I almost fell of my chair.

Sofi was a prostitute, but she did not want her grandmother to know about it.

One day the police raided the whole group of prostitutes at a sex party in a hotel and Sofi was among them. The police took them outside and had all the prostitutes line up along the drive way. Suddenly Sofi's grandma came by and saw her granddaughter.

Gogo asked. "Why are you standing in line here dear?"

Not willing to let her grandma know the truth. Sofi told her grandmother that the policemen were passing out free oranges and she was just lining up for some.
"That's very nice of them. I think I'll get some for myself" said grandma and went to stand at the back of the line. A policeman was going down the line asking for information from all the prostitutes.

When he got to grandma, he exclaimed, "Eish, Still going at it at your age? How do you do it?"

Grandma replied, "It is easy dear. I just take my false teeth out, rip the skin back and suck them dry".

The cop fainted!!!!!! and everybody dispersed.

Flags of the world

2006-08-22T12:19:00.001+02:00

I just spotted that my flag counter has hit 20 countries!!! Some one in Spain and Mexico must have accidentally come across my blog.

I will have to go and check my stats to see if I can identify them. Amazing little tool that!!! I have also noticed that I haven't had any visits from anywhere in South America!! Interesting!!!

Pick of the week

2006-08-22T11:58:00.000+02:00

Sorry that you are only getting this today, but I had a mishap and missed work yesterday. But that is for a future post.

Have to get this one out to you though!!!!

Here is your candy for the week!!!

and another one of Anthony Catanzaro

Doesn't that make you want to get into bed....????

And my favourite because this is what he would look like

if you bump into him in the street and I must admit, I would stare!!!

Is that better than last week?

I give this guy a 9!!!!

So off you go and have a great week!!!!

Photos courtesy of www.anthonycatanzaro.com

What month are you?

2006-08-18T10:07:00.000+02:00

Pick the MONTH that you were born in & put it in the comments and then you tell me if you think this is accurate. You don't have to read all of it. Unless you want to check the accuracy of the other months.

JANUARY:
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts.Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Ratherreserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds.Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very Stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY:
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent andclever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honestand loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious whenrestricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but thoes not show it. Dislike unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizing dreams and hopes. Sharp.Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside........Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH:
Attractive personality.sexy. Affectionate.Shy and reserved. Secretive.Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity.Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy.Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others.Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention.Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented.Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL:
Active and dynamic. Decisive and haste but tends to regret.Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention.Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people's problems. Brave andfearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional.Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory........ Moving Motivates oneself and others.Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their luver can see.

MAY:
Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharpthoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deepfeelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs nomotivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strongclairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Goodimagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts.Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children.Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE:
Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite andsoft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tendsto delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny andhumorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer.Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. Easilyhurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up Easily bored. Fussy. Seldomshows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive........Stubborn.

JULY:
Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood.Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation.Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people's feelings. Tactful.Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody andeasily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets.Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically andmentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving.Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judgespeople through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Lovesto be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to bequiet. Homely person. Waits for friends Never looks for friends. Notaggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems.Loves to be loved.

AUGUST:
Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless.Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generousand egoistic. Takes high pride of oneself. Thirsty for praises.Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous.Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Lovesto lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music anddefense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learnsto relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to makefriends .

SEPTEMBER:
Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes topoint out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talkwell. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed.Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive.Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look forinformation. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivateoneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves sports, leisureand traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings........ Verychoosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER:
Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to takes things atthe center. Inner and physical beauty. Doesn't pretend. Gets angry often.
Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care ofwhat others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves totravel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair.Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER:
Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Uniqueand brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strongclairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive.Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative butamiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there isa will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angryunless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others.Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciates praises.High-spirited........ Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic.Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities.Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions.Unpredictable.

DECEMBER:
Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions.Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to bewith. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved.Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changingpersonality. Not egoistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions.Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

So, what does your birthday month say about you. Let me know. By the way, I'm JULY!!!

Dogmor Diet

2006-08-16T13:33:00.000+02:00

I received the following by e-mail and it is just too good and felt I had to share it.

A friend of mine has a big Labrador retriever. While I was buying a large bag of Dogmor at Pick 'n Pay for him, a woman behind me in the check out queue asked if it was for a dog (what a question)

On impulse, I told her no, I was starting The Dogmor Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I'd ended up in the hospital last time.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet. The way that it works is you load all your pockets with Dogmor nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.

I have to mention here that practically everyone in the queue was by now enthralled with my story.

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in the hospital last time because I'd been poisoned.

I told her no; I was sitting in the street licking my balls when a car hit me.

Pick of the week: for the guys

2006-08-15T14:05:00.000+02:00

I think I am upsetting some of my readers. I received an email asking how can I only have a pick of the week for the girls. Now seeing that I aim to please all my regular readers and I do have a lot of male readers, this one is for you. I must admit it wasn't as much fun as searching for a sexy hunk, because the net literally threw thousands of pics at me when I ran this search.

So to get you guys started, I thought I would keep this very simple. She is pretty, she is blond, she has everything most woman would aspire to have... here is your pick of the week..

Her name is Cheryl Maxfield. She is a well know presenter in America and has appeared in numerous photo shoots and advertising campaigns. She was even in Silk Stalkings and other tv shows.

photos courtesy of www.lenztalent.com

South African Blog Directory: oodlesofnoodlesoffun is the “Blog of the Week” (30 July 2006)

2006-08-15T10:02:00.000+02:00

I am sure you have seen the South African Blog Directory site. If you are in South Africa and have a blog, you should send your name to Michael and he will visit your site and write a short expose on your site. He will send you a link that you can put on your blog. I think this is a brilliant idea and damn I should have thought about it myself. All credit to him.

This is the article he wrote about my blog and I was the second blog of the week. Read it here.

http://south-african-blog-directory.blogspot.com/

Pick of the week

2006-08-14T10:02:00.000+02:00

It is that time of the week again. Ladies and gents, here is my pick of the week. He is very famous as a fitness and fashion model and is also an accomplished actor. Without any further ado, he is most definitely my pick of the week.

Have yourselves a great one!!!!

This is of course Rusty Joiner. Photo courtesy of his website www.rustyjoiner.com. He is currently one of the Iconmen models and you can read all about him on his site. And if you click into his photo gallery, you can see more of him too!!!!

I hope this one meets with your approval Katt?

2996 Project

2006-08-11T12:41:00.000+02:00

I paid Hannelie a visit this morning and noticed her post on the 2996 project started by D.Channeler Roe. The aim is to get 2996 bloggers to publish a post ON 9/11 remembering one of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

I followed the link and found an interesting site and a lot of hype about people complaining about the reasons behind the project and such nonsense. You can read it for yourself and then draw your own conclusion whether you want to do it or not. I decided to do it. I don't live in America. I don't know anyone who died that day. I didn't loose a loved one in any of the attacks, but I am human. I am thankful, like Hannelie that it didn't happen in my town. I am thankful that despite all the violence in our own country, I have not been affected by it. I am thankful that I have a heart and I am thankful that I can now go and google for some information on the name that was assigned to me. I am hoping that I will be able to pay honest tribute to him and therefore I placed a thingy in my sidebar proving that I have joined the march. I couldn't think of a more fitting way to remember those who lost their lives on that day, than exactly this!!

I was number 1607 to sign up so there are still lots of names available. So, I have started preparing my post for 9/11. Are you going to do it? Go for it and click here to sign up.

Water water water.......

2006-08-10T09:44:00.000+02:00

We had a public holiday yesterday and this gave us the chance to drive around PE and investigate the flood damage. I am going to post a few of the pictures that I took and bear in mind that it is now a week since the flood.

I was shocked at how much water was still present in certain areas.

In this picture you will notice a pump that is busy pumping the water to try and clear the road. This was taken in Boundary Lane that is between Lovemore Park and Mount Pleasant. Also take note of a youngster walking in the water. There are three houses where the inhabitants can't leave their homes because there is no way out for them. Spare a thought...

This was taken on the main road to Seaview and as you can see the road isn't passable. This area is Bushy Park. There are loads of small holdings in this area. The next picture was taken at the same place. We parked almost at the water's edge. To the right is the only access road for people who live on the small holdings. This man had his family in the car and they must have been desperate to get out and tried to cross the water. They got stuck halfway through.

Fortunately for the family, there was a helping hand and the bakkie in the background was able to pull the vehicle out of the water. With a lot of cheers from the spectators that had gathered on our side of the road.

I have more pictures that I will post later. Please remember the people obviously still suffering in you prayers.

Pick of the week

2006-08-07T11:42:00.000+02:00

Last Monday I posted a picture of a very sexy stud. Today I am going to post a picture of someone who I totally admire. He is an amazing person. Brings joy and happiness to everyone he comes in contact with. Men and women drool at the sight of him.

Personally I don't find him all that sexy, but yet he has that special something that you just can't miss. If you are not an Extreme Makeover Home Edition fan, you won't have a clue who I am referring to, but seeing that I am exactly that and a couple of my other regular readers are too, here is my pick of the week.

So, off you go and have a wonderful week!!!!!

Yet another flood

2006-08-04T11:06:00.001+02:00

What utter chaos and devestation. It started raining on Wednesday, 2 August and by Thursday morning there were chaos. Saddest thing in all this can be read at the following address.
http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n03_04082006.htm.

People are running around professing that the end is near. Are they just running scared or is there truth in it? What with floods, heatwaves, war, tsunamis etc all happening around us, I am asking myself if we are missing something. I would like you views on that.

While you ponder my question, have a look at some of the devastation I saw.

While all this rain was falling here around us, it was snowing elsewhere and not very far away either. A friend sent me these pictures. They were taken about 20 kilometers outside of Beaufort West.

Nature can be just as beautiful as she can be ugly!!!! We need to respect her more.......

Photo tag

2006-07-31T14:58:00.000+02:00

Well, I think this guy is amazing. I saw this tag on my Buddy's and Celeste's sites yesterday and wandered on over to the source and found it to be Chuck.

The aim is to find a picture of a point in your life when you were "bright eyed and clueless" as to what the future will hold for you. I have seen some of the reactions to the tag like Frog with a blog and it inspired me to dig into my pics as well. This is a scan of a picture taken while I was in High School. I might add that it is a good 21 years ago and boy was I bright eyed and clueless back then. Can't say I am better off now, but at least I am still bright eyed!!!!

Have a laugh at my expense, it is ok, I have left myself open for it....

You might want to pay Chuck a visit to see what else he published of me.

Ok, well there you have it a before and after pic of myself within a couple of days. So much for staying somewhat anonymous.

Have a great week!!!

2006-07-31T11:12:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to wish all my readers a wonderful week. Compliments of my friend A.... Enjoy!!!!

Flags...

2006-07-28T12:12:00.000+02:00

Since I put the neocounter in my sidebar, I have been watching with anticipation to see the flag count grow. I am pleased to see that it has hit 15. I happen to know who the 15th country is and who the visitor was. Remember the post about Mr Brut and the speculation about Mr Right? Well, the guy you all thought must be Mr Right lives in Lesotho and I enticed him to have a look at the post and the comments!!! Clearly he did. And he enjoyed it!!! I am sure he is flattered and appreciate the fans out there. I wonder what Mr Brut will think if he got to read it.

Here is something nice that I got by email today. Thoughts to ponder on:

or this one......

Testing testing

2006-07-27T09:56:00.000+02:00

Our friend whatalotoffun wants to blog and she is having endless problems. This is me testing her computer and I have come to the conclusion that blogging from a normal Telkom line is the pits. Everything is working fine when I use her computer on a normal Telkom line in our office but the minute she tries at home, she gets disconnected and the poor girl is climbing walls!!!

She hasn't left the blogworld and I promise that she will be back once we get her Telkom line sorted out at home.

Mr Brut revealed!!!!!

2006-07-26T10:41:00.000+02:00

Ok, so you didn't get it right. Does it mean I got it wrong? This picture should clarify everything!! I am crossing the line here. I don't often publish pics of myself, but I have to to make a point. You'll see what I mean.

drumroll........

some more drumrolls....... .......... ..........

gosh, I'm not sure if I should do this............

Oh, what the hec.....

Mr Brut

2006-07-24T11:06:00.000+02:00

I have mentioned several times that I am busy organizing a reunion for my matric class and we had another meeting this weekend. D-day is only 2 months away and I am now beginning to panic. Everything is under control however I can't help but feel that something is going to come unstuck somewhere down the line.

But, that is not what I want to talk about. I saw him. My Brut guy that I blogged about a couple of months ago. We were at school together. We used to sit in the same desk during Maths for 2 years. Our teacher didn't mind because his results improved drastically. His girlfriend however did mind. But that still didn't stop us. We only got to kiss once and it was one of those mindblowing kisses that you wish would never stop. Mainly because we were in one of the classrooms and could get caught.

He was at our meeting on Saturday. Just as handsome as I remembered him. I tried to smell him(don't laugh!!!). All I could smell was tobacco and cigarettes. It is amazing how you can have a picture in your mind and then when you stand in front of the person, it isn't what you were remembering. I still remember him as 17/18. Let's just say that the updated version is not bad at all. I am contemplating whether I should add his picture here or not. Ok, he is in the following picture. You tell me who I am referring to. Prizes will be awarded for correct entries!!!!

Ok, now I have you guessing. Let me narrow down the field, he is also on this picture...

Another hint, he is wearing a ...no, can't make it that easy for you.

Ok, now this doesn't mean that I am ready to abandon home and kids to run into the sunset with Mr Brut. It was just a happy reunion. We laughed and remembered and had lots of what-if? moments, but that is all that it was. Just glad to see that he turned out ok. He has had a rough time lately. Getting divorced for the second time. He has 3 children and they live with him. In my heart he will always be my Mr Brut. Nothing can change that....

Back in the real world, I am very happy with Mr B and the kids. I wouldn't change them for anything.

I want to moon you

2006-07-19T13:43:00.000+02:00

After about 30 efforts, changing settings and now not remembering how, I finally get to moon you!

What is a parent to do?

2006-07-18T10:49:00.000+02:00

Ah!! At last!! School holidays are over. Three weeks of what are we doing today? Where can we go? Give us some money!! I need to buy... Mommy, I'm soooooooo bored!!! But alas, that also means that my two older children returned home to their dad. Not without some complications I might add. My 12 year old daughter refused to return. She wants to stay with me. Again. She is unfortunately in Grade 7. Here is SA, that is the grade before the start of High School. I couldn't allow her to remain here and then try to find a school where she can complete her Grade and still be accepted in a High School next year. Very very very reluctantly and crying profusely, I escorted her to the security check point at the airport and her brother helped her further along onto the plane. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. To stand there and watch my child sobbing, begging and pleading. I got an sms from her saying that she is not strong enough to last until the end of the year. That was the compromise. She may return, but only after she completed her grade. She is a very clever girl. She has worked so hard this year and I didn't want her to give that up. I feel so helpless. I wanted to call her back from the plane. I wanted to hold her and tell her that she may stay. When I reached my car in the parking area, I sobbed. I cried all the way home and then I received a message from her saying that she just can't do it. That 5 months is too long. That she doesn't have the strength to see it through. What to do? What to do? Do I just leave her there and tell her to buck up and chin up and just be strong or do I fetch her? What about her brother? Although he is older than her, what would it do to him to have her living here again and him in Pretoria? What if she is here again and after 6 months decides she misses her dad and wants to go back to him again? Why do I say again? She has done this before. In the end, I want to do what is in her best interest. She is reaching the age where a girl should have her mother around.

Happy birthday to me!!!

2006-07-13T09:54:00.000+02:00

Hip hip hooray!!! My favourite day of the year!!! Why, its my birthday, its my birthday!!! Best of all, Mr B remembered and he even put some effort into it. We plan on having a little celebration at home tonight and he fixed our braai area yesterday. New bricks layed, plastered AND tiling today. Wow!!!! That is a stretch for the man who totally isn't into any special days like Mothers Day, Birthdays or even Christmas for that matter. I must have done something right.

Needless to say, I am having a great day so far. Lots of phone calls, lots of messages and even one from the ex husband. It is raining and cold, but my heart is full of joy.

It would appear that I share my birthday with some spectacular people. Harrison Ford, Patrick Stewart, Julius Caesar and Erno Rubik(he invented puzzles). Nothing too spectacular in world events on this day, except for Live Aid concert in 1985. Some famous polititians and playwrights however died on this day. How do I know this? I Googled of course.

Ladies, check out this card from one of my male friends........

So, happy birthday to me!!!

Thank you mom and dad for doing the dirty because without you, I wouldn't be here!!!!!

Death of a beauty

2006-07-12T13:42:00.000+02:00

I published a pic of a rose in my garden a couple of days ago. Last night, I took a picture of that same flower and this is what it looks like now.

Why should it have such fleeting beauty? It is so sad that something so beautiful has to die. The circle of life is often a strange path.

Happy birthday Gilly!!!!

2006-07-12T13:30:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday to my bestest friend!!!! I hope you have a fantabulous day and that all your wishes come true today.

Do you still remember how to make a Schumie??? Should we have some?

It has been a great year so far for you and may it only get better.

Love you lots.

World Cup 2006

2006-07-10T13:59:00.001+02:00

Ok, I am not a soccer fanatic, but I have to say well done to Italy!!!!! You guys rock!!!! I am so happy that you won the tournament because from what I saw, you deserved it. picture courtesy of http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

France, I am sorry that it didn't work out for you. You have to admit that they were just the better team on the day!!!

I actually watched it. I sat for the whole 90 minutes, the 30 minutes extra time and the very exciting penalty shootout. I just thought that if I had nothing better to do, I might as well watch history in the making. Glad I did, because I enjoyed every minute of it. Not enough to convert me to becoming a soccer fan, but enough for a very enjoyable Sunday evening. Couple that with the Wimbledon tennis final and you could say that I had enough of sport this weekend. My rugby team was sadly beaten on Saturday, but then the ladies Wimbledon final cheered me up after a very good match between Amelie Mauresmo(go here for a very interesting biography) and Justine Henin-Hardenne.

As it appears, I spent most of the weekend on the couch engrossed in sporting events. Sad life of an almost 40 year old woman. I should be out partying with my friends. Dancing up a storm. I love to dance, but I can't remember when last I did it. Oops sorry, us oldies shouldn't be partying anymore as per my kids. They reckon that once you hit 25, you are old!!! They are the only ones allowed to have fun. Imagine that!!!

What is the point of this? I have come to the conclusion that I am in need of some fun. Good clean adult fun. No children involved, no time constraints, just some fun. Pitty I can't go with my buddy Bosbefok on his trip this weekend. Now that would be just what the doctor ordered.

Some more photo efforts

2006-07-10T13:05:00.000+02:00

I am still trying to master my digital camera. I have actually enrolled in an online course to help me figure out what all the different functions means!! Four lessons has been published so far and I haven't even done the first one. Ok, I lied, I attempted the first one. Subject was close ups.

I tried my hand and this is the best I could do. Still not what I was hoping for, but with practice and playing around with shutter speeds etc, I am sure I will get there.

And then I had to try my hand at a sunrise......

Back to the online-lessons and maybe this time, I should pay attention...

some fun with blogthings

2006-06-30T10:38:00.000+02:00

I had some fun on this site. Here are some of the results. There are so many to choose from and I will have to visit there again.

What Your Underwear Says About You

When you're bad, you're very bad. And when you're good, you're still trouble!

You're sexy, in that pinup girl, tease sort of way.

The Underwear Oracle

You Are Most Like Samantha!

For you, dating is the ultimate sport
You're into guys with power, looks, or a lot of money.
You rather have a great two weeks than a great forever.
But even you fall victim to love from time to time. :-)
Romantic prediction: You'll find love in the next few months...

But you'll be the last one to realize it.

You Are a Natural Beauty!

You're the kind of beauty that every guy dreams about...
One that looks good in the morning - without a stich of makeup
That's doesn't mean you're a total hippie chic though
You have style, but for you, style is effortless

What Type of Beauty Are You?

You Are a Normal Girl

You are 40% Good and 60% Bad
Sure you've pulled some bad girl stunts in your past.
But these days, you're (mostly) a good girl.

Are You a Good Girl or a Bad Girl?

You Are a Coy Flirt!
You're not so much a flirt as the type of girl who draws flirts in
While you look like you're just relaxing, secretly you've got your game on
A little look here, a little wink there... you give men the encouragement they crave
And in return, they flirt up a storm with you - while you just sit and smile

What Kind of Flirt Are You?

Men See You As Playful

Men want a challenge and you are the perfect playmate
You know how to push men's buttons and attract a wide range of guys
You enjoy living and loving - it's one of your most attractive qualities
Men are often consumed with desire for you, and you love that!

How Do Men See You?

and the most interesting one so far

You Have Your PhD in Men

You understand men almost better than anyone.
You accept that guys are very different, and you read signals well.
Work what you know about men, and your relationships will be blissful.

How Well Do You Understand Men?

Where has all my visitors gone?

2006-06-30T10:12:00.000+02:00

Your Blogging Type Is Clever and Witty

Of all blogging types, you're the best with words.Almost every blog post you write has legendary quality.You have a perverse sense of humor and often play devil's advocate.Impatient and picky, you tend to go off on funny rants from time to time.

What's" Your Blogging Personality?

I did this little fun survey and if what it says is true, why am I not being read anymore?

Maybe I need to blog more regularly. Maybe I should think about something useful to blog about. Life is in overdrive at the moment. I need some time to sit down again and just let some of this pent up energy flow into something creative.

I'll be back.

Thank you Chitty

2006-06-23T10:25:00.000+02:00

I saw this on Chitty's blog who saw it on Blackcrag's blog. Chitty tagged me with the letter “G”

The rules are simple: Write 10 words beginning with that letter in your journal, including an explanation what the word means to you and why, and then pass out letters to those who want to play along.

Now, I don’t want to be a spoil sport and this has actually caused some serious thinking on my part and that doesn’t happen too often, so here goes.

George –for George Clooney – has to be #1 – beauty, style, charisma, charm & Sexy. He makes me dream the most beautiful dreams and let me leave it at that.

Gold – makes me feel all warm when I see this word or colour. Nothing says I love you as much as a beautiful piece of gold jewellery. Gold is also one of the major mining industries in South Africa and we produce 20% of the worlds gold. One of our provinces, Gauteng, was named after all the gold mines situated in it. This also reminds me of the Olympic Games and the search for Olympic Gold. I truly admire all participants in the Olympic Games. Gold is reserved for first place. Gold is for those who are truly the best at what they do.

Ground – A place I have my feet firmly placed on. Ground can mean so many things for so many different reasons. You have ground as in soil – most amazing smell after rains. You have ground as in where your home is situated. A place where you normally feel safe and secure. You have ground as in minced beef or spices. Another fantastic smell is ground peppercorns. Seems to me that the word ground affects my sense of smell mostly.

Gorilla - They are the most stunning animals and I can fully understand why Dian Fossey dedicated her life to them. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is dedicated to the conservation and protection of the endangered mountain gorilla. They are so strong, yet they can look so sensitive and sincere if you look into their eyes. Gorillas in the Mist happens to be one of my favourite movies.

Garfield – The cutest cat you will find. Who hasn’t seen the Garfield cartoons and who at one stage didn’t buy the love of their life(albeit at age 12) a Garfield stuffed toy as token of your love and devotion. Ok, I am sure it didn’t only happen to me. Garfield makes me laugh and will always be special in my heart. In 1978 the Garfield comic strips by Jim Davies debuts in 41 US newspapers on the same day that the first test tube baby was born. By 1983 Garfield appears in 1400 papers in 22 countries and was translated into 7 languages. Want to have some fun with Garfield then visit here.

Gandhi - The Gandhian notion of “passive resistance” or satyagraha, the strategy that won independence for India in 1948, had earlier roots in South Africa. Mahatma Gandhi lived in South Africa for 21 years from 1893. He arrived as the lawyer for an Indian trading company, but, appalled by the racism and discrimination he encountered, he founded an Indian political movement, the Natal Indian Congress. He conceived his ideas of “passive resistance” during protests in 1906 when he made a speech warning that “violence begets violence” and that love and truth must eventually prevail. Several movies has been produced portraying the life of Gandhi.

Gogga – Afrikaans word for creepy crawlies – pronounced Go-ga. Strangely enough it is also a very popular term of endearment. I for one call my little ones “My gogga” when I speak to them. They are definitely not little spiders or insects in my eyes, yet the word Gogga is often associated with affection. Little children will be terrified because then to them, Gogga is the Boogie Man. As they grow older, they will realize that it is just a general term for all little creepy crawlies and they will start catching them and bringing them to show you. A couple of years later, they will rather die than touch any of them. It is amazing how such a little word, can have so many connotations to it. I once acted in a school play and my character(lead mind you) was a girl named Gogga. She was a tomboy, I had to do tricks on a bicycle on stage. It was a very plain, very ordinary story written by a student but it was a laugh a minute. I still have the script in my memories box.

Green – As in the colour of our lawn, the colour of the trees and shrubs outside my office window, the colour of my eyes and I have actually never considered green a favourite colour until now. I realized that green brings peace to me. It makes me feel relaxed and tranquil. I have also realized that I have never used green as a decorative colour in my home. I wonder why that is. If it makes me feel all the aforementioned feelings, why don’t I use it at home? Will have to ponder that for a while.

Grey’s Anatomy – We are currently seeing the first season of this show and I am hooked on it. Yes, it is just another hospital soap but yet it has something different about it. I think it has a lot to do with two of the actors. I love Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo. Every episode brings new medical cases and a mystery to solve. It sort of reminds me of House.

Gregory House – Sorry Chitty, I have to use this one too. If you visit here you will see what his critics wrote about him and Chitty is 100% correct in describing him. The New York Times reckons he is “As addictive as Vicodin”. So, when are we getting to see the next show???? Why do I think of him? Because he stands by what he believes in. He doesn’t back down and he is simply who he is. He is not trying to change to fit in with others, but he is himself and that is how I am too. I am who I am and that is Gregory House, no no just kidding. He is just inspiring and yes, he is just another character in another movie, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be like him. I will of course just strip away the rudeness, ego and cranckiness or would I?
Ok, I have many more that I am thinking about ie g-strings, gay, gasoline, gastro, golf, games but if I don’t stop now, I will go on forever. So, if you want to try your hand at this and have nothing better to blog about, leave a comment indicating your wish and I will give you a letter. Maybe I must just through the letter Y back at Chitty just because I can.

For some or other reason, I can't add any pictures to this, but will do it at a later stage. For now, this will have to do.

Visiting hours....

2006-06-19T11:07:00.000+02:00

I have several big loves in my life. I was so lucky to be able to visit one of those this past weekend. I missed her. When I opened my eyes, she was there. In all her glory. I was fortunate to be able to see all of her because sometimes she hides behind a veil.

Where did I happen to find myself?

I am talking about Table Mountain in Cape Town of course. Apart from the mountain, I also got to visit my second big love in Cape Town. One day when I grow up, I want to live here.....

Beautiful Hout Bay!!!! It has everything you could want. Left in the picture is the harbor, just right of the centre of the picture, is the most beautiful beach. The whole area is green with trees and shrubs and you constantly have birds flying overhead and making themselves heard. We had lunch at Look Out where our waiter was awesome. Even though it was packed, he made time to pay attention to every table he served and laughed and joked with the kids all the time. Food looked fantastic, everyone only had praise for it. I was feeling a bit under the weather after a stomach bug and a bout of flu, but Look Out got our parties' definite visit again mark!!! After the latish lunch, we took a drive along the restored Chapmans Peak. Due to the heavy traffic, I couldn't take pictures of the preventive measures that has been taken to curb rockfalls. Enormous wire cables and safety nets have been erected. The one single spot where you can stop, didn't give me a clear shot of the safety nets. I noticed a flare going off just outside the mouth of the bay and this was shortly followed by another. We phoned the emergency number and reported it. Another car stopped and asked what was going on. They were going in the direction of Hout Bay and quickly sped off to make sure that the harbor Master had been informed of the distress. We later heard that a yacht had sunk and six people nearly drowned.

That wasn't our first accidental contact. On route to Cape Town, we got stuck in a traffic jam, caused by a horrific head on collision. We were fortunately about 1 kilometer from the accident scene and the kids didn't have to witness any of the gruesome details. I tried to take pictures, but couldn't get close enough and thankfully so, because we counted 6 ambulances that came screaming past us in the direction of Knysna. One of the passengers was airlifted to George Hospital by helicopter. I took a shot of the traffic behind us and in front of us.

The accident site is at the top centre of the second picture. Four cars were involved. By the time we passed the scene, everything had been cleared and a severely smashed Uno at the side of the road was all we could see. By the time we reached Sedgefield about 10 kilometers from the accident site, people were still sitting outside their cars in backed up traffic waiting to continue on their journeys.

We, however reached Cape Town safely and also returned home safely without any incidents. I was just so glad to be able to visit her again even if it was only for a short time. Her beauty will always be with me.

Friends forever.....

2006-06-14T09:38:00.000+02:00

I recently often spoke about my friend that lives in NZ. Well, she phoned me yesterday!!! Yippeee!!! Can you believe, I was at work and she was at home getting ready to go to bed? She had some wonderful news for me. She got married. She tied the knot with her man and she sent me some pictures of the wonderful occasion. I would love to publish them, but not without her permission. So, instead I give you this Bokkie and Mr Bokkie.......

Hold on to your love and may it hold onto you. I wish you every happiness and may you fall asleep every evening with a smile on your lips.

Love you my friend.

Time....Friend to some, enemy to others

2006-06-07T11:35:00.000+02:00

On Saturday we had another one of our planning sessions for our reunion. I thought it went rather well considering the amount of planning we got done. Here is a picture of all of us at the event.

Considering that we are all 37 or 38 year olds, I think time has been pretty good to us!!!! Apart from some weight issues, we haven't done too badly.

The lady in the sleeveless dress has been living in Israel for the last 14 years and recently returned to South Africa. She has the most beautiful accent now as she has been speaking hebrew for a good 12 years. She has learned to speak it fluently after marrying her obviously hebrew speaking husband. She laughingly told us that she was late in arriving because she helped a cow deliver its calf. Sure, no problem, we are soooooooo used to that. We live in Africa, don't we!?

SEX!!!!

2006-06-05T14:55:00.001+02:00

Ok, now that I have your attention, what would your idea of a perfect reunion be? Now, as you may be aware, I am busy planning a 20 year reunion for our Matric class and I am stumped as to what to do to ensure a successful unforgetable weekend. I have heard and considered all the normal activities, but I want to do something different. What do you guys think? A lot of people couldn't care less about such events, but seeing that people are going to spend good money on this weekend, I would like to make it worth their while. About half of the people will be coming from far and I don't want them to make the trip back home on Sunday or Monday and think "What a waste of money". I want them to drive away and think "Shame on the guys who didn't attend. They really missed out big time!"

Any ideas, suggestions, clues, all above board obviously and no skinny dipping allowed in the school swimming pool!!

Robbie Williams as entertainment wouldn't be too bad, so use your contacts and see what you can do for me.

My flood pictures

2006-05-26T09:19:00.000+02:00

Yes, I also took some pictures of the flood. It was incredible and I think the last time I saw so much water was in 1981 when I was still in primary school. We have had big rains since, but not as bad as this. I took these photos from inside my car and the rain still got me as you can see from the drops on the lens. The first is the road I normally travel on to work. It was just mud and water.

Then the day after the flood, the Swartkopsriver came down. Mr B phoned me to bring my camera and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Ok, maybe not what you would have expected when I said the river came down. It is actually what came down the river that was so interesting. You see all those weird green patches, well it isn't land or grassland but this....
it came down the river in hundreds and thousands and was so bad that a fisherman got stuck and had to get off his boat and push himself to safety...

Winter equals warmth in my heart......

2006-05-22T14:55:00.000+02:00

What a weekend we had? We have been slapped with water restrictions in our city due to an obvious shortage. People all over has been praying for our region to be blessed with rain. Well, it happened. The heavens opened this weekend and we had two days of glorious rain. But jeepers, creepers, we weren't ready for the cold that came along with it. On Saturday, our temperature peaked at 12 degrees. Now, we are used to 20 plus temperatures and have been experiencing days in the late 30's during the last couple of weeks. All of a sudden, it got COLD!!! We spent the weekend indoors, under duvets and watching dvd's. On Saturday, I ventured to the store and bought ready made dough. I made curry bunnies for supper. I bought enough dough to bake 2 loaves of bread, so I ended up with about 24 vetkoeke. When I went to bed on Saturday evening, there was only 1 left. I am not a big soup eater, but due to the cold, I decided to have my first attempt at making a pot of soup from scratch. It is always much easier to just open a packet and whip in some hot water and there you have a steaming cup of soup. But I had to be different yesterday. I cooked up a chicken, then painfully deboned it. Using the stock as a base, I grated some carrots into the pot, some onions, added the chicken and some pasta rice(just for something different), added some herbs and spices and voila!!! Delicious!! Served with some fresh hot bread from the bakery, it was a winner. I went back for seconds, but alas the pot was empty!!! I could have fed a small country with the amount of soup I made, but maybe the kids were hungry because along with the pot of soup, 2 loaves of hot bread was polished off.

The weather seems to be clearing, it is not raining today, but the chill is definitely still in the air. I am dressed in winter woollies. We don't often get the opportunity to dress so warm here, so I am taking full advantage of it. From spencer to long sleeve t-shirt, to long sleeve shirt, to warm wooly jacket, to tights, black pants and knee length boots. I used to be a summer person, but boy do I enjoy winter days like the weekend we just had. I think it must be the coziness of the whole family being together. Summer is spent outdoors with everyone doing their own thing. It was wonderfull being together like that. Go on, call me sentimental or call me a romantic, I don't care. I hope winter stays for a while!!!!!

The days of our lives...

2006-05-17T09:40:00.000+02:00

As an answer to a comment left by my good old(sorry YOUNG!!) pal Reluctant Nomad, I am still here. I looked back this morning and saw that I hadn't posted anything in a while. No wonder people think I have left the blogworld!!! No way!!! I am alive and almost well. My other blogfriend Whatalotoffun mentioned a new hairdo a while ago. It almost looks like the attached picture. Ha ha ha no no not at all. Just kidding.

Yes, I have been naughty. I have ignored my blog duties. I have been so busy being absolutely miserable and sick, that I completely forgot the one thing that makes me feel better immediately. The flu is very bad this year. It just doesn't let you get any better. Add me being sick to my hubby being sick and both our babies as well. You have a house full of coughing, sneezing and vomiting(yes even that) bodies. I had to take my little 14 month old to the doctor yesterday. Her body just couldn't fight the virus on its own. She is now on antibiotics and hopefully she will start getting better. I haven't slept in more than a week and little Jessi is permanently attached to my body. I feel sorry for the nanny at home, because I have to be at work and now she is carrying Jessi on her back. Fortunately I know that this is just a temporary setback and we will all be well again soon.

Apart from the illness, I am still busy searching for old school class mates. I googled some and found them on the net. Isn't that awesome. Putting the net to good use!!! So, I haven't been completely away from the internet. I even had time to browse some of my regular reads, but I am afraid I didn't leave any comments on any of your pages.

I let myself out about how I felt and what I thought about the Zuma happenings, but the blogmonster ate that paragraph, so I decided to just not say it!!!

So, be good and if you can't be good, be good at it!!!!

Post 2 for today!!! This is funny...

2006-05-05T10:26:00.000+02:00

My friend sent me this this morning and it gave me a good chuckle.

Ever spoken and wished that you could take the words back...or that you could crawl into a hole? Here are a few people who do....

I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow and asked loudly, "How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?" I turned around and walked back out and never went back. My husband didn't say a word... he knew better. Melinda Lowe, 39, Seguin, TX

I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using. After browsing forseveral minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store. He asked if he could help me. Without thinking, I looked at him and said, "I think I like playing with men's balls."Colleen Collins, 31, Ferndale, MI

Nuts about You
My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold a variety of nuts. As we were looking at the display case, the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help. I replied, "No, I'm just looking at your nuts."My sister started to laugh hysterically, the boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away. To this day, my sister has never let meforget.Faye Emerick, 34, Ellerslie, MD

While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and ran amok. I was finally able to grab holdof her after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons.I told her that if she did not start behaving "right now" she would be punished. To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, "If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!"The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing. I mustered up the last of mydignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me were screams of laughter.Amy Richardson, Stafford, Virginia

A lady picked up several items at a discount store. When shefinally got up to the checker, she learned that one of her items had no price tag. Imagine her embarrassment when the checker got on the intercom and boomed out for all the store to hear, "PRICE CHECK ON LANE THIRTEEN, TAMPAX SUPER SIZE." That was bad enough, but somebody at the rear of the store apparently misunderstood the word "Tampax" for "THUMBTACKS." In a business-like tone, a voice boomed back over the intercom."DO YOU WANT THE KIND YOU PUSH IN WITH YOUR THUMB OR THE KIND YOU POUND IN WITH A HAMMER?"Diane E. Amov

Have you ever asked your child a question too many times? My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was onhim constantly. One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch in between errands. It was very busy, with a full dining room. While enjoying my taco, I smelled something funny, so of course I checked my seven-month-old daughter and she was clean. Then I realized that Danny had not asked to go potty in a while, so I asked him if he needed to go, and he said "No." I kept thinking, "Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don't have any clothes with me." Then I said, "Danny, are you SURE you didn't have an accident?""No," he replied. I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse. Soooooo! I asked one more time, "Danny, did you have an accident?"This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants, bent over and spread his cheeks and yelled. "SEE MOM, IT'S JUST FARTS!!"While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing, he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down.An old couple made me feel better by thanking me for the best laugh they'd ever had!

This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likelythink before she speaks. What happens when you predict snow but don't get any...a true story...We had a female news anchor that, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the weatherman and asked:"So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?" Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did toothey were laughing so hard!

What are we chasing after???

2006-05-05T09:57:00.000+02:00

These past 2 weeks have had me preoccupied with finding people who went to school with me. I found some of the people whom I had close friendships with at school. One in particular pulled at my heart quite severely. We were the best of best friends you would ever find amongst school kids. We spent weekends together and had pajama parties and did each other's hair and make up and then we got boyfriends and completely forgot about each other. How sad is that? I managed to find someone who still had contact with her. She gave me her phone number. This is how it went:

Z: Hello this is Z. How may I help you?

Me: Hi, is this ZJ?

Z: Yes, that was my maiden name.

Me: Well, we haven't spoken in 20 years. I have been trying to get hold of you for ages.

Z: Who is this?

Me: It's Jo

Z: No

Me: Yes, it's Jo

Z: NO!!!!!

Me: Would I lie to you?

Z: silence ( can hear little sobs)

Me: Should I rather put the phone down?(tears running down my own cheeks by now)

Z: silence (can hear muffled sounds of tissues and nose blowing and then I hear) but it can't be. How did you find me?

Me: Well, I called someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knows you!!!

Then we both started laughing and figuring out what has happened in our lives since last we saw each other. She is still married to the same guy who became her boyfriend at school and they have two beautiful children. She lives in the same neighbourhood in Pretoria as my two teenage children. We promised to stay in touch and we have been. She is away on study leave at the moment, but she has a few e-mails awaiting her return.

There were several more conversations like this one. Funny that the people I used to be friends with at school were the most difficult to find. I had an interesting one yesterday where the guy told me that he had a huge crush on me and was too shy to tell me at school. Damn and he was one of the hunks at school.

This experience has led me to realize how selfish us humans really are. Life is a chase. I'll be damned if I know what we are chasing after. We are so busy chasing ?????? that we have left the most important things behind. I'm no psychologist or doctor or shrink or whatever you want to call it, but I know that we(all us humans) have to take a serious look at where we are going and what we are giving up to get there.

Revealing oneself

2006-04-25T12:27:00.000+02:00

Hi guys. I am still around, I promise. I have been extremely busy at work. The two jobs have now changed into one full time position. I am also busy arranging a reunion for our high school class. I have been contacting and looking for classmates and have managed to find just over half of the class of 230. Believe me, the people are spread all over and many have relocated overseas. The people I have managed to find, is full of anticipation and I am surprised at the eagerness and interest. I am in for a busy couple of months until the reunion in September. I haven't even been able to play with my camera much. My laptop and phone and telephone directory have been receiving all the attention lately. I can hear my camera screaming at me from my handbag. It is always nearby, but I don't think it likes being pushed aside at all.

After the recent interview done by Reluctant Nomad, I haven't had too many readers. I think my honesty scared some people away. That is however the risk you take. Maybe there was a certain mystery that has now disappeared. I am what I am and having had a relatively tough life, I am happy to be who I am today. I am a happy several times divorced middle class white South African female who works hard at my job and even harder on my family. I love life and all it has to offer.

In a previous post, I mentioned a friend and I also published pics she sent to me. This friend has now outdone herself and she sent me the following picture. It is a collage of my life so to speak. Have fun and laugh your head off. Yes, I'm the one pulling the funny face.

I thought that this was so special and wanted to share it.

Sweet 16 & coincidences....

2006-04-20T13:09:00.000+02:00

Bazil's first born, Roche, turned 16 on 17 April. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCHE! He is such a tiny person and people often think he is only 12 or 13. He has to share the day with his little brother Jodi who turned 2 on this day also. How about that for planning? Mind you, we have another birthday on that date and it is also the birthday of Bazil's brother. So we have brother, son, son on the 17th and another big day in our family is 2 April. That is the birthday of my brother and my oldest son, Roche.

Here is a picture of firstly Roche on his 16th with his little sister and then Jodi on his second birthday doing his now favourite teasing of the cats. The third picture is of my two teenage children taken the day of my Roche's confirmation.

Oh, and did you spot the fact that both our sons are called Roche?

Biker bitches

2006-04-19T11:24:00.000+02:00

I phoned an old biker friend and asked her for some of our old biker pictures. She was only too happy to oblige. Now, I am reluctant to publish pictures of myself, but you won't know which one I am anyway. We also found a picture of our friend Terri and her husband Blairblog.

Those were special days and contrary to belief that bikers are bad people, we were actually overgrown teenagers having a blast of good clean fun. I am feeling nostalgic today and bear with me. This will pass.

Enjoy some of the fun we had. Don't we look like big, bad, biker bitches???

I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures. They are copies of copies of copies and therefore has lost some resolution. It still paints a pretty picture though. Makes me want to go to the pub and have a couple of tequila's!!!

Interview Questions for Terri

2006-04-13T12:42:00.000+02:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I asked Reluctantnomad to interview me and he did so beautifully. As the rules of the competition states, I left an invitation for someone to ask me to interview them in the same fashion. Terri asked me to interview her. Let's see if she remains my friend after all this is done...

Terri is a 30 something female living in Ireland with her husband, Dave and his 15 year old daughter, Cinderella(as she is lovingly called by her wicket stepmother). She is originally from South Africa and they have been living in Ireland for the last couple of years. Cinderella only recently joined them. She calls herself a Saffa in a strange country. She has no children of her own and seems to be a die hard when it comes to her resolution not to have children.

Terri comes across as a very serious workaholic on her blog. There is however a side to her that she reveals every now and then. That is her playful side that I have had the pleasure of getting to know during our biking days. She loves competing. She loves to dance and have fun. She has a great sense of humour. She is at her best next to a campfire with some OB's and good company. She is definitely someone who you can confide in. She is an honest, sincere, no nonsense type of gal. She loves to travel and has seen places most people one dream of visiting. I recall a recent ski holiday and an injury sustained. I must not forget to mention that Terri loves Frangipani's and the first person who can create a computerized scratch and smell technology, will be her hero forever!!!. Actually, there is a single word that describes her to the tee. FEISTY!

Buckle your seatbelt, put on your helmet, have another chocolate and fill your coffee mug because here goes!!!

Question 1: You have two creative abilities that comes across very strongly in your blog. You love to write and you love to take pictures. Have you considered or will you consider publishing your creative results? I know that you have dedicated a blogspot to your Terristories and have even won a prize in a competition for short stories, but would you take the plunge and sit and create a book and try to get it published, sold and actually make some good money out of it?

Question 2: It is obvious from your blog that you are very close to your mother and sisters. Your younger sister is also in Ireland, but your Mom and older sister is still in South Africa if I read correctly. If Dave had to tell you today that you are coming back to South Africa for good, what would your reaction be? You recently wrote about a position that you have acquired at work and that everything there is falling into place after all the time spent studying. Would it be an easy decision to make? Or would you prefer to stay there and fulfill another big favorite and that is to travel. There are still places on your list of places to see and would you like to first accomplish that?

Question 3: This one is very similar to a question that Allan asked me. Do you get sentimental and miss days gone by? I am particularly asking about the rallies. Just getting to the rally site was a rush of its own. Dave always had superfast bikes and I know that you loved speed. Getting there, pitching tents, drinking lots of whatever flows, sampling some "giggle-twak" and being with friends, was just so special. I know the weather isn't always too good in Ireland, but do they have rallies there? Enough OB's can sort out any foul weather, right?

Question 4: Has the fact that Cinderella(on the left) is living with you now, impacted on your life in a huge way? I must admit that she sounds like an angel. She seems to have slotted in so easily. What with cooking, baking and even watching sport with her dad? I know what it is like to have teenagers in the house, but I am used to it. I have 4 children and raised them from babies. You and Dave have been together since his children were little, but having spent a couple of years on your own, must have been cause for an adjustment. Ok, this isn't fair because this is now becoming a multipart question, but seeing that I am considering moving to a different country, how easily did she adapt to school and teenagers there? People have a tendency to consider South Africa a bit behind in what is actually happening in the world.

Question 5: You wrote a beautiful tribute to your father on the anniversary of his death. I will never forget it because I think that is the best piece I have read on any blog ever. You must be wondering where this is going? I know that you enjoy a lot of things considered male sports, ie shooting, pool, biking etc. Your father passed away when you were still very small. Where does your love for that come from? You don't talk about where you grew up or went to school etc on your blog and I am just curious to know how you got involved with it. You mentioned your shooting abilities in posts and I know that you can play pool better than most guys I know.

I have suddenly got hundreds more questions and I just read your last comment you left on my blog and I have decided to stop here and let you out of your misery. It was fun researching you and I hope I did you justice. You are a special person and there aren't many like you around.

Interview Answers

2006-04-11T10:49:00.000+02:00

A while ago I asked Reluctant Nomad to interview me like he was interviewed. He accepted and has posed some tough interview questions. He is quite accurate in his view of me as a person. He has caught on to what I have exposed of myself. A couple of mishits here and there, but that is only due to how I told a story and not his fault at all. You can wander on over to his site to see the questions he posed and here are my answers. Some of them were difficult to get into words, but let's see how it goes.

Answer Question 1: I am terribly sentimental. I cry if I see pictures of my friends that have left the country. I cried when I had the mishap with my new camera and lost the pictures I took for Terri in Ireland. My soulmate is my friend Gillian who has moved to New Zealand. I worked with her ex husband and it was them who introduced me to biking. I also met my third husband through them. Gillian and I shared everything. I think I somehow portrayed a picture of a bad biker chick who can drink with the boys and not be bothered. Instead I am the one who would be out on the dancefloor dancing up a storm and drinking just enough to keep myself mellow. I hate hangovers and I hate not being in control of myself. I however love to have fun. My then husband was a heavy drinker and I had to look after him and make sure he didn't make a complete fool of himself. I wasn't always successful at that and I sometimes think that I had a bigger laugh at him than most people. All in all, this was a happy period in my life and I think that is why I often refer back to it. My life up until that point wasn't very exciting.

Answer Question 2 - Yes, my first husband is the one that took me to my matric dance, but no, he isn't the one who hurt me. I in fact hurt him. We were married when I was 21 and soon after had 2 children, but when I was 27, life just didn't make sense anymore. I went into a severe depression and left my him. I think I blamed him for the state I was in. I met him when I was 16. We never went out. It is not that I wasn't allowed. He wasn't interested in pubs and clubs and so forth. I was madly in love and was happy to sit at home and watch videos or have a braai with his friends. I lost contact with all my schoolfriends. My whole life focussed on keeping him happy. I started working soon after leaving school and before I knew it, I was in a rut. My life consisted of work, home, work, home and church. We never played. Money was always an issue in our relationship. I had to please explain what I did with my salary. Nothing was mine. Not even the children. It was always his car, his house, his children, his, his, his. He was a very egotistical and selfish man. He didn't want to have children and was upset with me when I fell pregnant. He was/still is a pigeon fancier and that was Number One in his life. I just got tired of it. I made a decision and left. The kids stayed with me and thanks to them, I didn't commit suicide even though I was close to it on several occasions. I saw a doctor, got medication and started clawing back. I met a wonderful(??) man. We dated a while, got married and when I realized what a mistake I made, it was too late. Now followed a very dark period. It took 3 ½ years out of my life. If it wasn't for a colleague, I would probably still be stuck in that situation out of fear for husband number 2. I would prefer not to talk about it if you will forgive me. Maybe at a later stage, I will tell all. The one who hurt me, was the one that I trusted completely and that was husband number 3. From the day that we met, we were close. We just understood each other so well. Yes, he did drink too much, but when drunk he became a teddy bear. We had so many laughs together and my kids loved him. He helped me become myself again. He also helped me to get my children to visit me again and stay over for weekends and holidays. He had two children whom I adored and his son lived with us. He asked me to marry him 23 times and on the 24th occasion I said yes. Because of what happened before, I was terrified and he knew that. We got married in July and at the end of November that same year, he told me that he was seeing someone else and wanted to be with her. I was devastated. I begged and pleaded with him not to do this to me and the children. I even told him to have his affair and get it out of his system. How desperate does that sound? Things seemed to get better and we even bought a house together and just before we were about to move into the house, I realized that he was still seeing her. Next think I know, I got chucked out of our home and had to collect my clothes from the back of a bakkie parked in the driveway. He had the affair and still chucked me out of the house. We were divorced just after our first wedding anniversary. Re-reading this answer, I realized that I didn't completely answer your question.I dont speak about the other two because husband #2 was the biggest mistake of my life and husband #3 broke my trust. Even though we are on speaking terms with each other, I still haven't forgiven him for what he did. Husband #1 and I are on very good terms and we often talk and mail each other. He has realized that me leaving him was the biggest favor anyone has ever done for him. He has turned himself around and is a much better person now.

Answer Question 3: I met Bazil while all this commotion was happening with Husband #3. He was a shoulder to cry on, if I can put it that way. He allowed me to express my emotions. He saw me at my worst and he didn't take advantage of that. He built my confidence up again and made me feel sexy again. I lost almost 20 kg's while all this was happening. I was in fact looking better than I did it many years. I believe that God will forgive me for living in sin. If anybody should understand, it is Him. The idea of 'living in sin' would have bothered me when I was 18, but not anymore. I believe that if your heart and faith is in the right place, you are doing ok. Both Bazil and myself feel the same way about marriage. He was married for a very long time and in that time had several affairs and even a child with another woman. His ex-wife is part of our lives and even though it was difficult at first, I have accepted that. He is very involved with his children and therefore has daily contact with their mother. It is not that I have trust issues, boy because I should have. I believe that our relationship is stronger than any marriage can be. We have both been hurt before and we respect each other's feelings on the subject. Yes, we have two beautiful children together and I am very happy with him. We have more parties than I did in my biking days, but I now have a responsibility towards especially my two babies. They come first and that is just perfect with me.

Answer Question 4 - 'Cocaine Cowboy' is long gone. I threw him out. Whenever he comes to our house, the two of us ends up in an argument. He is the weakest person I have ever met. His own mother has disowned him. He still has an on/off relationship with the mother of his child. Even though I feel dreadfully sorry for that little boy, I have realized that I just can't save everyone. The boy has a granny who is looking after him now and even though the mother also lives there, he is under the care of his granny and that is good for him. I am not one to be messed with. Don't abuse my kindness and don't break my trust. That is what he did. He stole from us and I will never forgive him for buying drugs while Bazil's 15 year old son was with him in the car. As for taking him in in the first place, that wasn't my decision. Bazil has a kinder and more giving heart than me. We didn't even take him in. He just moved in on his own. But he is gone now and I am happy for that.

My teenage children live with their father in Pretoria. He was transferred there just over 3 years ago and we decided that it would be better for the children's education and sport activities, to go to school in Gauteng. They have more opportunities there and are both keen at sports. My son plays cricket and my daughter swims on provincial level. She does very well academically and is in a very good school. She stayed with me for almost a year, but decided to go back to her dad because she wasn't happy in school and missed swimming. She adjusted well to being back there and I see them school holidays. Not easy, but life isn't always easy and it is a price I have to pay for decisions I made earlier in my life.

Answer to Question 5 - I won't stop them. I believe that they know the dangers involved because that has been told to them many times. How can I tell them that they aren't allowed to ride a bike if I do it myself? I believe that they will all become bikers and I have to trust that I have taught them enough about the dangers involved. My son is getting a bike next year and he is very excited about it.

Answer Question 6: With the two little ones to contend with, we don't get time to go to the movies, but we often get DVD's. If a movie hasn't caught my attention in the first 10 minutes, I will turn it off. I don't particularly enjoy a lot of violence and blood. If it has sex in, I won't mind as long as it forms part of the storyline. I would totally walk out of a cinema if I didn't like the movie. I always try to find out something about a movie before I watch it anyway.

For those of you who may want to be interviewed in this fashion, here are the Official Interview Games Rules:

If you want to participate, leave a comment below saying, "interview me".

I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different.

You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.

You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.

When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

For my friend Terri...

2006-04-09T21:49:00.000+02:00

I promised Terri some pictures and it turned into a Sunday mystery trip. The whole family had to help with this one. Can you imagine how many times we heard "were are we going" and "why are we stopping here" today?

We took a drive to Schoenies and down Marine Drive. We ended up in Bluewater Bay where I took some lovely pictures of Algoa Bay with the skyline of PE in the background. I even tried to get close to the new Coega harbor wall to show you the progress being made. We were up in Fort Frederick and I took pictures of the Bakensriver Valley and the harbor.

Over excited me, got home, rushed to the computer to download the pictures and somehow messed the whole thing up. I shed some tears, uttered some unheard of profanities to myself, got back in the car and took the trip down the Marine Drive again and will attempt Bluewater Bay later in the week. I am so sorry about the mishap. Had some beautiful pics, but I hope these make up for it. See if you can recognize the spots I chose.

Then of course with this being PE and such a beautiful sunny Sunday, it was inevitable that this following pic had to be taken.

This last one has a story attached. We have often driven past and if you look at almost the centre of the picture you will see something red on the rock. Upon enlarging it, we found it to contain a rather special picture. Have a look at the enlargement of the rock. This picture was taken near a youth camp and I assume that it was painted by a bunch of youngsters who attended the youth camp.

I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.

Here's watching you!!

2006-04-06T14:45:00.000+02:00

Here's me watching you! Hope you didn't get a fright??

Happy snappy!!!!

2006-04-06T14:11:00.000+02:00

I did it. I have gone digital. I spoilt myself to a HP Photosmart R817. This is the first picture I took with my new camera. It was about time for me as I have always been a very avid photographer. I'm not saying that I would be able to make a career out of it, but I do enjoy it very much.

I can guarantee that this is the first of many to come and I will be off to the beach this evening to catch a sunset for my dear friend Terri. It is a beautiful sunny day and I might just help her remember how beautiful home is. It is not intended to make you homesick, my friend!!!

Might I share my second pic with Livewire?

He is simply beautiful, my Tom.

I can assure you of loads of pics suddenly appearing here.

Helllllooooooooooooooooohhh!

2006-03-30T11:20:00.000+02:00

Just so you know, I am still here. I have just been extremely busy. I am also very sad and my heart goes out to a family who lost a baby last week. The service is today and if you want you can have a loot at the site for little Kendra. Just a word of advice, keep a box of tissues nearby. I work with the brother-in-law of Kendra's parents and he has gone to Cape Town for the memorial service.

We often forget to sit back and take a good look around and say thank you. I went home on Monday after P told me about the little girl and held my two babies sooooo tight in my arms. I sobbed my heart out and they just lay with their heads on my shoulders not understanding what got into Mommy.

I wasn't sure if I should publish this, but after seeing how many people have left comments on Kendra's site and how much her mom appreciates it, I thought I should share it with my blog friends. She asked people to wear happy colours to the ceremony and you know what, I dressed myself in happy colors today because in my heart I am celebrating her little life with them. Just over 12 years ago, I also lost a little life. I never got the chance to see what he/she would have looked like.

In absentia...

2006-03-24T08:57:00.000+02:00

It feels as if the world has passed me by this last week. I have no idea what my blog buddies have been up to. I have no idea what the latest Chucky jokes are and by the way, what is that all about? I feel as if I have lost the plot somewhere. I have been so busy at work and work and home. I don’t think this thing with holding down 2 jobs is working for me. Tuesday was a public holiday and I didn’t even have the time to sit back and relax for a couple of hours. As I mentioned before, I have 2 jobs now and the second job is not paying as well as the first, but boy is this man keeping me busy. Out of the goodness of my heart and because I am always stupidly not wanting to hurt another’s feelings, I went ahead and told him I would help him. I even dropped my rate I normally charge. Now, just before some of you get the wrong idea, this “work” does not involve sex. I’m a pretty darn good accountant if I might say so myself. I have the ability to sort out other people’s messes and implement systems that work. I spent all of 2 days just trying to explain to him what his filing system should look like. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The staggering thing is that he is making an extreme amount of money and after finalizing his year end accounts, I have realized that he can afford to pay me more than I even asked. The problem is that I rush to work in the morning and finish at 13h00 and rush to his offices and rush home to get home in time for the nanny to leave. Then I have to make supper, bath the little ones, spend time with them and before I know it, I’m asleep on the couch in front of the television.

I have been to the gym all of 6 times this last month. It just isn’t worth it. I have been working out so well. I had my routine sorted and now it is all messed up. I have convinced the owners at the gym to open at 7 in the morning. I managed to get there 4 times this past 2 weeks. Either I will have to start taking drugs to get me awake and keep me awake to do all that is needed or I will have to quit something.

The good news is that I bought myself a little car and I am so happy with it. She drives like a dream and even though she is a 2000 model, she purrs like a kitten. I had an alarm and central locking installed yesterday. It is a Fiat Palio Weekend. She is officially the fourth car I have owned in my life. It is a wonderful feeling to be so mobile again.

I will be catching up on all your news over the weekend and hopefully next week won’t be so hectic and I can keep up to date again.

I'm 1 today!!!

2006-03-17T11:48:00.000+02:00

Guess who turns 1 today?

The prettiest little girl in the world is 1 today. You have brought so much love and happiness to our lives. I will endeavor to keep you happy and safe for always. I can't believe that I have had the priviledge of spending a whole year with you already. It still feels like yesterday when you were bouncing and kicking in my tummy. You are the sweetest, cutest, friendliest, happiest and most loving little girl ever.

Happy birthday my sweet!!!

Sporting weekend

2006-03-13T08:48:00.000+02:00

Look, if I was a guy, I would have been in absolute guy heaven this weekend. Friday, it was rugby and cricket. Saturday, rugby and the F1 qualifying. Sunday we watched F1 and the most amazing cricket match in history of cricket.

I love to watch sport. I am more of a rugby fan than Mr B. He often asks me to
identify players on the field. I am also a Blue Bulls fan and as luck would have it,
the only one in the house. Our provincial rugby team must still be born, because the guys playing currently can't do it. So, please forgive us for supporting other provinces. What happened this weekend. All the South African teams lost except for the Bulls. What a wonderful game they had! 23-16 win against the Hurricanes. Pedrie Wannenburg scored 2 tries to secure the win.
*photo courtesy of www.sarugby.co.za

As for the cricket, the game on Friday night in Durban, was a humdinger.
Close finish and if Smith didn't bowl and gave away 22 runs in one over, we would have clinched that game and the series. But no, he had to go and try be a hero. We narrowly lost that game and that leveled the series at 2 all. We then had to wait until Sunday in Johannesburg. We watched the start of the game. Ponting played a brilliant innings for Australia. He scored 164 of something like 106 balls(I stand corrected on the number of balls). They scored 434 and we had to come in and score 435 to win. We switched over and watched the F1. Mr B is an absolute F1 fan. Sakkie was watching cricket and F1 in his room. Switching between the two. Eventually we didn't know what to watch because it was so exciting. He came in while we were watching F1 and said that Dippenaar had gone out for 1. What a bummer! Mr B decided to stick to the F1. He knew his guy would win. I'm a Ferrari fan. Always have been and always will be. Sakkie came in about 30 minutes later saying that we better put the cricket back on because something is happening. Fortunately the Grand Prix was just about finished. Just as it finished, we crossed back over to the cricket. Smith & Gibbs were doing magic. So many sixes and fours!! To chase such a total seemed impossible at the start. However, the boys were doing it. Smith went out for 96. If he hit one more 4, he would have set a record for the fastest 100 ever scored. Gibbs continued his magic and after being dropped by Bracken(Thank you) scored 175 runs. Don't forget about Bouchers brilliant stand of 50 which included the winning runs. Before I get too long winded about this, I just want to say, that if you missed this game, you missed something special. I saw grown men crying in the stands. I saw grown men crying in my lounge. With 4 balls left, we had Andrew Hall facing Brett Lee. Hall connected the ball and it went straight to a fielder. OUT! With 3 balls left, Ntini was facing Brett Lee. We thought it was all over. He connected the ball. He ran a single which tied the game and which left Boucher facing Lee. We needed one more to win. Boucher connected the ball and we all held our breaths. It went for 4 runs. Jubilation!!!!

Proteas, we are proud of you. You can do it!!!
*photo courtesy of www.cricket.co.za

Let's talk about sex....

2006-03-09T11:35:00.000+02:00

"Let's Talk About Sex"

(Punch it, HurbYo,
I don't think we should talk about this
Come on, why not?People might misunderstand what
we're tryin' to say, you know?No, but that's a part of life)
Come on

[CHORUS]

Let's talk about sex, baby
Let's talk about you and me
Let's talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let's talk about sex…..

The above extract from the Salt'n'Pepper song keeps milling through my head today. Ask me why. No, please don’t ask me why. I have no idea. Maybe I heard the song playing somewhere in the background recently. I can’t for the life of me think why this would be. How often haven’t I realized that I have been singing a song all day and then can’t think why or don’t even know when it started. Because this is a family blog, you won’t often find me talking about sex. I am not saying that I am not doing it (having sex that is), but that is not the issue today. I did some googling when I realized that these lyrics kept milling through my mind. I came across this site and found the full lyrics there. It is the last part of the song that actually confirms something I have been thinking about for a long time.

“(Yo, Pep, I don't think they're gonna play this on the radio
And why not? Everybody has sexI mean,
everybody should be makin' love
Come on, how many guys you know make love?)

[CHORUS]”

Isn’t that the question we should be asking? I don’t just want to have sex. That is so easy. I want my lover to make love to me. I want him to take the time and forget about everything else and just make love to me. Isn’t that what all woman want?

Have you been paying attention?

2006-03-07T11:39:00.000+02:00

This one is definitely for the people who regularly visit my blog. I added a little feature just to the right here(just below my profile in the sidebar) and I came across it while googling quizzes. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea, but I think they are a lot of fun. This is a particularly interesting site as you can literally create your own set of questions and answers. So go on!! Click on the link and let's see what happens.
You never know, it might open a whole new can of worms for you! Listen to Nike and "Just do it!"

If you don't want to take the quiz you can always go here to have a look at what else they offer.

Back to the future or not?

2006-03-07T09:59:00.000+02:00

I feel like I am in a timewarp. If I open my blog, the last post I get to see, is the one for 27 Feb. I think the poor system is being overloaded by all us intellectuals poring our hearts and soles into our blogspaces every day. What to do when you can't do what you want to do? I have cleared my temporary files and even cleared the history, but still, no avail. I have blocked myself from myself and don't know how to undo it.

I think I should take a leave of absence and try again in a couple of hours.

Curves - Confession time

2006-03-06T11:40:00.000+02:00

I had my THIRD weigh in and measurements done on 28 Feb. How does the following sound?

Bust – 0.00
Waist - -1.00 cm
Abdomen - -3.00 cm
Hips - -1.00 cm
Thighs - 0.00
Arms - -1.00 cm
Weight - -1.00 kg's
Body fat - +0.50%

These measurements are a comparison between 28 Jan and 28 Feb’s measurements.

My problem is that I am extremely disappointed in myself. I set myself a 3 month goal and I am not anywhere near that. My weight is still 2 kg’s from the 3 month target. We won’t even talk about the other measurements. Due to the disappointment, I have been binge eating. Not helping matters at all. My life is just a bit upside down now. I have work commitments that are messing with home commitments and I am battling to balance the two out. The only thing that is suffering is the time I have to get to the gym. I missed 3 of 5 days last week. I missed one day due to Voting day, but the others simply because I couldn’t fit it into my hectic week. It was financial year end and clients climbed out of the woodwork and needed assistance with getting their year ends done. Amazing how bookkeepers know about errors, but won’t fix it until it screws up a year end. Then all hell breaks loose and everything comes to a standstill.

Yes, it is easy to find excuses. I have let myself fall into the trap. This after I have been so good. I haven’t gained any weight after the disaster of last week, but I am going to have to work extra hard over the next couple of weeks to sort out the damage caused to my self esteem.

Confession time: I am a binger and it can be very devastating. It is a vicious cycle to break and the slightest thing can trigger it. Actually, I don’t even always need an excuse. Then I hate myself as I do now. I am seriously considering brain surgery. I am sure a transplant will be a permanent solution. Can you imagine if it were that easy? I might be onto something here. It would be good to remember that for my next life. I want to return as a brain surgeon who will solve obesity and all dietary problems. Weight will not be an issue any more.

My pride and joy...

2006-02-27T13:00:00.000+02:00

In response to my "The week that has been" post of last week, I just want to show you all why I am so happy at home. I did a post on my other blog today, but wanted to share this with you, my regular readers.

So, if you are not into the whole baby and toddler thing, then don't continue any further. I will catch you on the next post again.

Love to all and all to love...

The week that has been

2006-02-23T10:00:00.000+02:00

What a strange week this has been. A week full of happiness, reassurances, reliving hurt burried very deep, uncertainty, helplessness, self-doubt, disappointment, excitement, relief. I don't even know how to start putting all this into words. Let's try it like this.

1. Happiness & reassurances

On Monday night myself, Mr B and the kids had to attend a Golden Tee function. Golden Tee is a hobby of ours. It is a golf game and if you want to know more you can go here to have a look at what it is all about. This finished at about eight. Mr B and I decided to do something we haven't done in a very long time. We got the little ones settled and arranged a babysitter and we went out for supper. Just the two of us. He took me to the Ocean Basket which is obviously a seafood restaurant. We are both very fond of seafood and over a seafood platter and a bottle of wine, he thanked me for everything that I do for him. He also thanked me for putting up with his family who forms an integral part of our daily living. He was under the impression that I don't get anything in return from him but yet I continue to love and support him in whatever he is doing. He called me the perfect wife for him. No, it wasn't a proposal and no, we are not getting married. All he did, was reassure me that we have a future together. It also confirmed that he is happy with our relationship and we even set some goals for the future. We never get the opportunity to discuss such matters at home. Mainly because we are never alone.

2. Reliving hurt buried very deep

Two blogs really got to me this past week. The first was ekapa and the other was a post by Reluctant Nomad. Both posts dealt with depression and suicide. It took me back to a very dark period in my life that I have hidden for a long time. Some people who know me might know snippets about it, but in general, I went through it alone. Not recommended. You shouldn't go through something like that on your own. I will blog about it when I have more confidence, but I am not ready yet.

3. Uncertainty

I missed an appointment with my boss and due to family reasons couldn't attend a launch with him. He was very upset with me and told me that he has invested a lot of money in me and is not happy about what I did. Needless to say, I have a sword hanging over my head and I am waiting for the sharp pain that is bound to come.

4. Helplessness

A very good friend lost her father yesterday. She is a single mother with a boy of 2 and her father was her only living relative apart from a sister who lives in England. She is in total despair. Apart from being extremely hung over today, she is dealing with a big loss and I don't know how to help her. She is not a very strong person. When she left her fathers' bed in the hospital,, she went straight to a pub and got sloshed. I am scared that it will become a vicious circle and that she won't get out of it easily.

5. Self-doubt

I left a comment on a blog which I prefer to leave anonymous for now. I am afraid that it could be taken in the wrong context and then misunderstood. It is so easy to read a post, leave a comment and not think twice about it. But the minute I pressed the publish button, I was hit by a wave of panic. Am I really as aware of others' feelings as I think I am? Have I turned into a non-thinking blabbing idiot? Please don't answer that one. Do I even have a clue? What gives me the right in the first place? Be careful and thoughtful, that is my motto from now on.

6. Disappointment

I didn't get nominated for the blog awards. I only felt disappointed today when I looked at some of the blogs that did get nominated. Maybe next time or maybe not. I still enjoy blogging and I ain't stopping yet.

7. Excitement

I can't be all bad. I went to a client this week to assist with a Pastel problem and after spending 2 hours with him, he offered me a job. Seeing that I had to fix almost a whole year's worth of errors by his bookkeeper, he thought it appropriate for me to rather just do his books for him from now on. This could be a solution with the problem with my boss therefore, I am excited about the project. Just 5 more clients like this and I can justify a full time position here and a hefty increase.

8. Relief

A few posts back I wrote about a friend whom I have been missing desperately. She called me on Saturday. We must have been on the phone for over an hour. I even spoke to her new man. He promised me that he is taking care of her and that she is happy. She even has pictures of myself and my little ones up on the walls in the house. He agrees that we need to see each other. So, hopefully we will have the oppertunity to see each other later this year.

Some of you might have noticed that I haven't published anything since 15 Feb. Sole reason for that, is my posts keep vanishing into cyberspace. Maybe someone is trying to tell me to stop. I am not ready to listen to that someone yet. I have too much I still want to say. So, stay tuned if you like and continue on the journey with me. Yes, it is a journey of self discovery and I am learning more and more about myself each day.

Call that #$%*&!!!

2006-02-15T09:53:00.000+02:00

I wrote my best post ever yesterday. What happened? Blogger dumped on me.
I couldn't publish it. I couldn't save it to draft. I couldn't even copy and paste
it to keep it elsewhere until Blogger was well again. I can't begin to describe my feelings. It is like when it is Valentines Day and you don't even get one e-mail wishing you happy Valentines Day or one little sms saying "Thinking of you" or
"I have always found you extremely sexy. Will you be my Valentine?"
I reckon it is the beginning of the end for me.

Who am I kidding? I have a wonderful partner and the only sad thing is that he is not romantic like me. So, instead of taking me out to dinner & dance on Feb 14th, he takes me out almost every day. He buys me flowers out of the blue or takes me for a drive to the beach. He will walk past me in the kitchen while I am busy at the stove and spank my bottom. So, who am I kidding. He could be more romantic than me. Who needs Valentines Day anyway if I've got him?

Do you play the dating game??

2006-02-10T10:20:00.000+02:00

I thought this was brilliant.

This has got to be one of the best singles ads ever printed. It appeared in The Otago Daily Times:

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE Seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good looking girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your Ute, hunting, camping and Duck shooting, cozy nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. Rub me the right way and watch me respond. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Kiss me and I'm yours. Call (031)475- 6420 and ask for Daisy.

Read on ........................

Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Otago branch of the SPCA about an 8-week old black Labrador retriever. Men are so easy !!!!!!

Could she do it???

2006-02-09T12:22:00.000+02:00

I know you have all been busy with your own lives, but I just wanted to say,
I DID IT!!! (no not that), I threw him out. My houseguest from hell is gone. He must still remove all his belongings, but he has not been here for 4 glorious days. He apparently phoned this morning to know if we can pick him up. I think if eyes could be lethal weapons, mine definitely were this morning. I gave Mr B one look and he told his father that he is busy today.
I think the man has run out of clean clothes to wear, but I DON'T CARE! It isn't my problem.

I approached him Friday afternoon last week after a week of hell and told him very politely that I do not wish for him to live in my house any longer and that he needs to find alternative dwellings. His first response was shock, then the "but why" question and when I answered that he obviously went into denial. When I further informed him that I overheard a conversation between him and Mr B's 15 year old son wherein I was called "the fat bitch", he resorted to tears and that is when I took him by the hand and told him that I don't want any hard feelings between us, that I respect him as Mr B's father, but "you are not welcome in my home anymore". About an hour later, he was dropped off at his girlfriends house. He arrived back on Monday dressed in a suit. Don't know what that was for, because he spent all day in the house. He avoided me and didn't even eat the food I made for supper. On Tuesday morning he had the audacity to ask Mr B for money because he wants to go shopping. That was when Mr B also finally lost it. He gave his father R1000.00 and told him that this is the last time and asked him where he wants to be dropped. That was the last I saw of the old man. Now, I think he has spent all that money and thinks he can come back because Mr B couldn't possibly have meant what he said. I have started moving furniture around and bedrooms have been cleaned and carpets washed. This weekend, the two little ones will get their room back. Or should I say Mommy and Daddy will finally get their room back?

mememe

2006-02-03T09:13:00.000+02:00

I have seen this meme going around with several slight variations and due to a lack of something useful to contribute today, I thought I would also answer this one.

4 jobs you have had:

1. Sales lady in shoe shop - It was a weekend and school holiday job
2. Finance clerk at local Chamber of Industries
3. PA to Marketing Manager at above mentioned company
4. Accountant at Textile company

4 movies you could watch over and over:
1. Braveheart
2. Ghost
3. There’s something about Mary
4. Dirty Dancing

4 places you have lived:

1. Port Elizabeth
have never wanted to live/move anywhere else4

TV shows you like to watch:

1. The Closer
2. All the CSI’s
3. Egoli – local soapy
4. House

4 favourite books:

Don’t get much reading done lately. When I do, I read John Grisham or Danielle Steel – can’t pick a favourite

4 places you have been on vacation:
1. Cape Town
2. Johannesburg
3. Sun City
4. Durban

Have never left the country - one day I will be able to.

4 websites you visit daily:

1. Terri
2. ...seeking Serenity
3. Chitty
4. Reluctant Nomad
Plus loads of other blogs...

4 favorite foods:

Seeing that I am on a strict watch-what-I-eat-plan at the moment, I will name the foods that is most difficult to have to avoid for now:
1. Pasta – like I make it, with lots of cream , mushrooms, garlic, etc,etc
2. Potato crisps
3. Bread
4. My cider drink – Hunters Dry

4 places you would rather be right now:

1. New Zealand
2. Ireland – just to say hi to my pals
3. Mauritius – would love to go there with Bazil(Mr B) to scuba-dive
4. Switzerland – want to go skiing

4 Bloggers you tag:

Consider yourself tagged if you want to do this. Maybe I will make an exception and tag a new blogger friend Celeste over at whatalotoffun

and for something funny to start off the weekend

It was a small town and the patrolman was making his evening rounds. As he was checking a used car lot, he came upon two little old ladies sitting in a used car. He stopped and asked them why they were sitting there in the car. Were they trying to steal it?
"Heavens no, we bought it."
"Then why don't you drive it away."
"We can't drive."
"Then why did you buy it?"
"We were told that if we bought a second hand car here we'd get screwed –

so we're just waiting.

Curves...Update

2006-01-30T09:59:00.000+02:00

I had my second weigh in and measurements done on Saturday. How does the following sound?

Bust - +1 cm
Waist - -8.00 cm
Abdomen - -3.00 cm
Hips - -3.50 cm
Arms - -3.00 cm
Weight - -2.50 kg's
Body fat - -2.5%

I think I will call it progress. Slow, but still progress. At least I am getting somewhere. Maybe I will take a picture of myself and publish the new look me. Then again, maybe I will wait a while. I have dropped a dress size already and that is award enough for me for now.

I miss...

2006-01-25T12:38:00.000+02:00

I miss my friend!!! I miss the way we used to talk. I miss the call saying "I'm on my way, let's do something". I miss the hours she spent giving me massages and leg waxes. I miss just lazing on the couch watching movies. I miss inventing shooters in the pub. I miss telling her my secrets. I miss sharing my children growing up with her. I miss crying with her. I miss laughing with her. I miss the rallies. I miss Tuesdays at the Owl with her. I miss my soulmate. I am coming to visit you this year. I don't know how, but I shall make a plan.

If you wish to make donations to the Help-Buddess-visit-her-friend-this-year-Fund, kindly leave a comment and I shall forward further instructions.

Houseguests ...

2006-01-19T10:13:00.000+02:00

I don't have a clue how long or intense this is going to get. If you don't want to listen to a good old rant then please stop reading now. I have this huge thing hanging over me and simply can't cope with it anymore.

We have had my partner's father living with us for almost a year now. We have supported him through all this time. He is a heavy smoker, drinker and he is not employed. Only one rule was laid down that merely requested him not to smoke in the house. He smokes in his bedroom and thinks we don't know. The pungent smell from the room could be a clue.

Ok, my problem is this. This old man is talking about me in a very non-flattering manner. Everywhere he goes, he is telling people horrible things about me and the other people who live in the house. He is manufacturing and creating stories faster than he can tell them. He spoiled my birthday last year by getting horribly drunk and took me on in a verbally abusive ranting session. Words like "you are to stupid to argue with", "you think you are better than others" and "I live with my son, not with you" and "my son pays for everything" were said. Because my parents taught me to respect older people, I told him that I don't want to argue with him. My partner tried to get him to stop, but the old man continued staring, no glaring at me for the rest of the evening until he eventually went to bed and passed out. The next day, he acted as if nothing had happened. For a while things calmed down, because my partner told him that he will not allow the old man to speak to me like that ever again but boy is he back with a vengeance. I think he is going insane. He is by no means old. I think he is only 58 or thereabouts. I am just thinking that if I am such a bitch to live with, why is he still here? If he is not being fed, like he says, why is he still alive? Why would I be wasting his son's money by shopping all the time, if I hate shopping? Who says a session at the gym should be longer than an hour. I go to Curves. A session around the circuit takes on average 30 minutes. The gym is around the corner and I am normally away from home for about 40 minutes. He doesn't understand that and reckons I am visiting a lover when I say that I am going to the gym and therefore lying to his son. Not a very good lover come to think if I am home so quickly again. I apparently don't pay attention to my babies and he has to look after them while I sit and watch tv all day or sit in the pub with my partner. The list goes on. And on!! Some of it I won't even mention here because it is not fit for public broadcast. Including allegations of me being a good old "Ho".

Why is he still living in our house I hear you scream? Wow, that is the question that I want answered. He is so stupid that he thinks that people believe him. He is stupid enough to think that they aren't coming straight to me and telling me what he is saying. He has caused such bad blood between my partner and his brother that they are not even talking to each other any more. His own grandchildren don't want him around, because they reckon that he looks and smells like a tramp. He uses offensive and obscene language as if it is a new official language. He can't put a sentence together without it containing profanity. They are embarrassed by him if they have friends visiting. He showers twice a day, but still smells heavily of smoke and alcohol. If he picks up one of the little ones, I change their clothes because they then smell like cigarette smoke. Nasty I know, but well within my rights as a parent. It is in their best interest. I stopped smoking for their sakes damnit!!! He was told to move out on Monday, but he is still here. I have given my partner an ultimatum. He has to be out tonight or I will pack his bags and throw him out myself. I honestly don't care what becomes of him. We took him in when he had nowhere to go. We clothed him, fed him and gave him a room of his own. This while 5 teenagers shared the other small bedroom and we have the two babies in our bedroom with us. The school holidays just finished. The teenagers used to sleep in the lounge on mattresses and the couches. We buy his smokes and beer for him and put money on his phone. We even found a job for him that he absconded from in the third week of being employed there. Not even his girlfriend wants him to stay with her.

I know this is all garbled and born out of frustration but I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel I need to bare my soul and maybe I just want someone to say that it is not that bad. Or that I can't possibly be that bad. I am all out of patience. I don't want to carry this hatred around any more. I am just not that type of a person. I just want peace restored in my home. I want to be able to entertain people like we did before and not have to worry if he is going to bare secrets to them like he does with everyone who visits our house. I understand that it is difficult for my partner because the man is still his father. Maybe I want him to put me first for a change? Maybe I want him to protect me from his father and his verbal abuse? Is that wrong? I just want this to stop.

Houseguest.

2006-01-17T12:10:00.000+02:00

Isn't it amazing what influence a houseguest can have on a family? I received this from one of my friends this morning.

THE STRANGER
Author Unknown

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our town.
From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon
invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up I never questioned his
place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and Dad taught me to
obey it, but the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole
family spellbound for hours each evening. He was like a friend to the whole family. He
took Dad, Bill and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always
encouraging us to see the movies, and he even made arrangements to introduce
us to several movie stars. The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind,
but sometimes Mom would quietly get up while the rest of us were enthralled with one of
his stories of faraway places, go to her room, read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if
she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them.
Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-not from us, from our friends,
or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four-letter words that burned
my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home, not even for cooking,
but the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life.
He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He talked freely (much too freely)
about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was because of the grace of God
that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. But if
I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?

We always just called him TV.

I have a situation at the moment with a houseguest but I will have to tell you about it at a later stage. I just had to share the above piece with you and when you read my next post, you will probably understand more.

She's b-a-c-k!!!!!!

2006-01-05T12:52:00.000+02:00

Hi all. As some of you might have noticed, I haven't been around here much lately. Well, I was on leave!!! Supposedly. Unsuccessfully. You see, seeing that I was going to be on holiday, my maid decided that it would be a good time for her to take holiday. Well, for the past 3 weeks, I have been working my butt off. Figuratively speaking. If only it was literally. Actually, almost literally. I have been very good with going to the gym. It was my only escape every day and boy, did I take advantage of it. In the last 5 weeks, I have lost 6 cm around my waist and 3cm around the abdomen and 4 cm around the hips. I have also lost 5 kilo's and lost 2% body fat. That is according to my measurement sheet from the gym. Yes, you actually get a print out and it stares you in the face if you haven't been good. I am impressed. So are my instructors.

Apart from the dishes, washing, house cleaning and looking after the babies, it wasn't too bad. Christmas came and went without too much fuss. I was the only one who fussed and spent a whole 16 hours cooking and preparing the best Christmas lunch ever and the family proceeded to stuff themselves and didn't even offer to help with the dishes. So much for Christmas spirit. I wonder if I will do that again this year. I don't like starting the New Year with a hangover, so we made a fire at home and had a good old South African braai. We all went to bed just after the stroke of midnight and after all the fireworks in the neighborhood had died down.

I hope and trust that all of my cyberfriends had a wonderful and blessed Christmas and that your New Year started well. May 2006 be the mother of all years!!!!!!!!

Thank you

2005-12-08T09:08:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you who regularly visit my blog.

Well done Autopage...

2005-12-02T12:00:00.000+02:00

On a previous post, I mentioned that I have had a problem with handsets I received from my service provider and that I was battling to get this sorted out. It is now exactly a year since I took out the contract which made me the proud(hahaha) owner of a Motorola C650. I have had 2 weeks use of said handset in this last year. For the last couple of months I have had to make use of loan phones and to my shock and horror, they(SP) charged me for the 2 loan phones that I was using. R1114.07 for the one and R1073.76 for the other. In my wisdom, I took out 2 contracts for myself and my partner and both our phones turned out to be duds. I promptly called the Sales Manager and told him how brilliant I think his staff has handled this matter. I made an arrangement with him 3 months ago. He would personally test the phones and tell me they are ready for collection if he is happy that they are in perfect working order. I received a letter from them last month stating that I must return their phones or they will charge me for it and then they will also keep my handsets. I phoned the department who sent the letter to me and informed her of my arrangement with her manager. She promised to take the matter up with him and that was the last I heard from her. Luckily for me, I checked my bank statement yesterday and realized that they haven't done anything but raise a charge to me for the above mentioned two amounts, added it to my call charges and took the total amount off my account. Hence the call to the sales manager, who promptly promised to do something about it. I wonder what he recognized in my voice.

He came back to me in the afternoon(very surprising because he didn't return any of my calls of the last 3 months) and said that I may keep the phones I currently have, they will keep my faulty handsets and he will pass a credit to my account. Now this is where I got really p...ed off. Now we are talking almost R2200.00 here. I asked him what good is a credit, if the money was taken off my bank account already. I would be able to talk for free for a couple of months to come, but is it really for free??? Didn't I inadvertently pay for it. Especially this time of the year. I demanded a refund and now I am still waiting for confirmation thereof. Let's hope the wait won't be too long.

And she's away....

2005-11-30T09:18:00.000+02:00

I have finally gone and done it. I am so proud of myself. Today is the beginning of new things. Watch this space and I will keep you posted.

Ok, are you watching? Here is your first update.

I joined a gym and had my first workout yesterday. So what is so fantastic about that? you ask. Hello! We are talking about me here. Mother of two teenagers and two babies who works half day as an accountant/consultant and always busy doing something with someone or taking kids somewhere. I couldn't believe my luck when I was given a flyer last week about a gym opening at the shopping centre just down the road. I go to said shopping centre practically every day for little essentials like bread and milk. If you read my previous posts, you would have noticed that I am not a shopaholic like most women.
What was even more astounding was that a workout takes 30 minutes. Truly, right up my alley. I was in and out of there in 40 minutes yesterday. Believe me, I can feel that my muscles had a workout. So let's hope that this works out for me. I will have the dreaded weigh-in again on 28 December and hopefully would have reached the goals we set for this first month.

Scrooge....

2005-11-23T09:43:00.000+02:00

Christmas used to be such a wonderful time. I remember as a child, that that was the time the whole family got together. My uncle and them used to leave Pretoria the day after school closed for the December holidays and they would stay with us until New Year. This meant lots of shopping trips and spending days at the beach. I remember having real Christmas trees in the lounge and there were so many presents under it, that it took hours for Santa to hand out all the goodies. Yes, we had a Santa every year and we all got a turn to be Santa's helper. I remember the smell of the pine needles and still finding needles stuck in the lounge carpet weeks after Christmas. I remember my uncle feverishly working in the kitchen. He was a fantastic chef and was always in charge of the meat preparations. My mom, aunt and Granny made all the salads and veggies and desserts. We used to wait until 24h00 on Christmas Eve and then Santa would arrive and we could open presents. Those were still the days that receiving a wristwatch was an ultimate gift. Granny always used to give us underwear. We were by no means wealthy, but I remember that everybody who attended the Christmas tree used to buy gifts for everybody else. We used to get pocketmoney and had to use that to buy our gifts. One year, my brother got clever and bought slabs of chocolate for everyone and put the rest of the money in his pocket. He showed signs back then of a budding entrepreneur. We used to sing carols and knew what the meaning of Christmas was.

Oh boy, how things have changed. I am sitting with lists as long as my arm as to what gifts the children all want. Never mind the fact that we have 4 birthdays in our immediate family between now and Christmas. It ranges from playstation games to clothes(all branded of course) to cellphones(they all have perfectly good phones) and it just gets worse after that. What to do, what to do? I don't suppose the children will be happy with new underwear and socks. Mind you, I pulled that trick on the 2 bigger boys last year. I gave them a parcel with 2 boxers in each and you should have seen their faces. I left them like that for a while and later on gave them the actual gifts. The relief was so apparent.

How do we uncommercialize Christmas again? How do we get it back to the beautiful time of sharing and giving? How do we get families around a table again feasting on goodies and popping Christmas Crackers and just remembering the true origins of the day? I won't even go the church question route, because that is a whole other subject on its own.

I want to smell the pine needles again. I want to watch my uncle busy in the kitchen. I want to see the delight on my Granny's face for receiving a little glass frog I gave her for Christmas. Do you know that when my Gran passed away 4 years ago, that little glass frog was returned to me? It is sitting on my desk staring at me. She had written all our names at the bottom of gifts we gave her over the years and upon her death, her instructions were for all to be returned to the person who originally gave it to her. She had kept every little thing we ever gave her. That is the Christmas I want to have again...

instead of feeling like Scrooge....

Firsts

2005-11-18T09:29:00.000+02:00

Terri didn't tag anyone with this one. I thought it would be a challenge to try and remember the answers to many of these questions and as I am not busy today, I thought I will give it a go.

FIRSTS:

First best friend: Suegnet. We were at school together. Met in primary school. Lost contact after high school.
First Car: Audi 500SE. I hated that car! Sold that and bought a Toyota Corolla - LOVED IT
First kiss: Was a girl, age 8. My brother was kissing her sister and we also wanted to kiss. We were playing House House after all.
First real kiss: Hein, age 11. He was also 11.
First makeout: Richard, age 14. I thought he was my first love. He was 17.
First big trip: My dad took us to Bloemfontein to visit his sick brother in hospital. I think I was about 10.
First time skiing/Snowboarding: Yeah right!!!
First concert: It was a Country show by all of the then big country singers in SA. It was in the 70's and my parents went, so I had to go along. I did enjoy the music then.
First Alcoholic Drink: Esprit - when I was 17. I was a good girl back then.
First ticket violation: I was caught driving without a license when I was (wait for it) 21
First job: Working weekends and school holidays in a shoe store. Loved it. Not the feet part, but enjoyed the shoes. Terri would have been in heaven there!!!
First date: I was 16, he was 21(Christo) and he took me to dinner and dancing at a hotel close to where we lived. It was his 21st birthday and my parents didn't know that it would only be the two of us. I almost did something silly that night. He broke up with me soon after because I wouldn't do the silly thing with him. Told you, I was a good girl then.

LASTS:

Last car ride: Drove to work this morning.
Last kiss: My other half.
Last time you cried: Last night. It wasn't because I was upset or anything bad.
Last movie watched: Spanglish/Red dust/Duma - watched dvd's last Sunday
Last food you ate: Apple and juice - breakfast - part of my new diet - Fit for Life
Last love: I thought it was my ex-husband, Robert.
Last temptation: I don't get tempted easily(unless sex is involved)(and then if it is my B/f tempting me) now now, get your minds out the gutter and come back here
Last item bought: I spoiled myself with 2 pairs of shoes, a gypsy skirt in icecream pink and a white kaftan like top.
Last annoyance: Taxi that just went past our offices with doef-doef music so loud my laptop vibrated on my desk.
Last time wanting to die: Honestly - prolly when my ex husband told me he was having an affair. That was a long time ago. I enjoy life every day and promised myself never to feel like that ever again.
Last alcoholic drink: Savanna lite last Friday. If cyberdrinks count, I had some champers with Terri this week.
Last concert: Most of you won't even know who I am talking about - I went to see a show of theb Soft Shoes, they were a local band in the 80's. Don't know what ever happened to them. I haven't been to any other shows since then - I forgot to mention on my Quirk list that I don't like crowds.
Last phone call: My sister
Last friend you added on MYSPACE: uh??

CURRENTS:

Current Best Friend(s): I have a few, but my best friend lives in New Zealand. I don't have someone like her in my life now, but Natasha, Tiekie and Celeste is close enough to me to be called best friends.
Current Car: I don't have one - I am driving b/f's Jetta
Current love: My other half, my boyfriend, my mate, my lover, my Bazil - love him dearly
Current drink: Pure fruit juice or Rooibos tea(black, no sugar) taking this diet seriously!! No alcohol for now - but if you asked me this a month ago, I would have said Hunters Dry, Savanna Lite or Tequila!!
Current activity: Stupid question seeing that I am busy completing this questionnaire while I am busy compiling a demo for a new software package and downloading Accpac Updates off the internet in the other office and all this while helping a client with a problem over the phone.
Current annoyance: Can't access my email and the techie is not here to sort it out. Damn!
Current mood: pretty relaxed, feeling raunchy(oops that one slipped out, just make as if you didn't read it)actually sitting here with a stupid little smile on my face. If someone had to walk past now, they would surely think I am talking to my imaginary friend again.

Ok, that wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I did have some trouble remembering the boys I kissed. There were so many of them and I don't remember half of their names. Ok, ok, just kidding. I did kiss a few. I would say it was my favourite past time back then.

Quirks.....

2005-11-17T10:42:00.000+02:00

I have been tagged by Delboy to reveal my quirks. I have to give this one some thought because I don't know if I should reveal any or just let you have the honest truth. Hold on to your seats, I don't know how rough this will get:

Don't ever use my towel, my hairbrush, my toothbrush or anything that is considered personal hygiene use. I am just that way. I have 4 towels in the house that is for my use only. Enough said about that one.

I don't like backseat drivers. If I am driving and someone keeps shouting instructions, I will stop and tell the other person to either shut up or drive themselves.

I don't like constant sniffing - go blow your nose and get it over with. It drives me insane and makes me loose my appetite and cool completely.

If at a dinner party, I see someone take food out of any of the dishes by hand or eating off the spoon, I will not touch the food.

I expect people to respect my privacy and space. Living in a big family is not always easy.

I leave my meat for last on my plate.

I never pour the last bit of my drink into my glass, but rather drink it from the bottle. (I normally drink a cider)

When I shower, I always wash my left arm first.

I never wear strappy sandals.

I have 2 pairs of sunglasses. One is used as an aliceband and the other is on my face. I know that is totally unfashionable, but that is me.

Party trick - Apart from the trick with the Hunters Dry bottle, I can shoot shooter glasses a very long distance from my mouth.

I don't like shopping. I have to force myself to do it.

Ok, that is enough for now. I am way too full of quirks. No wonder people can't live with me for long periods. I can't believe that my ex husband called me boring.

Blast from the past

2005-11-15T10:37:00.000+02:00

I know this happened to a couple of bloggers recently. I received a phone call this morning that has done some strange things to my head. A couple of months ago, I registered on SA Reunited and blogged about someone contacting me that used to go to school with me. We have been emailing each other every now and then and sharing jokes and annecdotes etc. This morning was different though. I received a phone call from him. I knew it was him, but was too stunned to acknowledge that. He knew he took the wind out of my sails. I was stunned. Didn't know what to say. Damn, I hate when that happens. I am normally quick to make a witty remark or come up with a joke, but oh my gosh, I didn't have a clue.

Can you believe that 20 years on, I remember how it felt the first time we kissed? Tall, dark and handsome he was. Well, apparantly still is. I just saw a picture of him and I must be honest, not bad. It is amazing what a wonderful thing the mind is. My mind stored memories and he just unlocked some of them this morning.

Let's just say that my point is that I wish I could kick myself. I want to kick myself for being so stupid back then. I wish I could warn all 16, 17 & 18 year olds out there to be careful with the choices they make. An older guy, driving his own car and holding down a job is not always the better choice. It might look like that at the time, but it mostly turns out to be the wrong one. Yes, I ended it. I dumped him because along came a guy who impressed me with a car and a motorbike and lots of gifts and money. See, he was 4 years older than me, already working and seemed very cool at the time. Most of all, my folks didn't like him(the new guy) and back then, it played a big factor in the choices I made.

So today, I drink a toast to S. Thank you for bringing back the beautiful memories.

Just a thought

2005-11-11T09:26:00.000+02:00

Thought for the day

Never hold your farts in....

Otherwise, they travel up your spine into your brain, and that's where you get kak* ideas from!

*word verification: kak - Afrikaans for Crap, Shit, bad, stupid, etc.

Update & laugh

2005-11-07T10:37:00.000+02:00

Laugh of the day:

An old man woke up in the middle of the night and found, to his utterastonishment, that his pecker was as hard as a rock for the first time intwo years.He shook his wife by the shoulder until she woke up and showed her hisenormous boner."You see that thing, woman?" he happily exclaimed. "What do you think weought to do with it?"With one eye open, his wife replied, "Well, now that you've got all thewrinkles out, this might be a good time to wash it."

Now you all be good and have a wonderful week.

I updated my other page if anyone wants to have a look at what my angels are getting up to.

When will guys learn?

2005-11-04T09:38:00.000+02:00

For the lack of having anything useful to contribute today, I am placing this joke I received from a friend this morning. I thought you guys might enjoy it.

A man traveling by plane was in urgent need of using the restroom. Each time he tried to use it, it was occupied. The flight attendant aware of his predicament, suggested he use the ladies room but she cautioned him against pressing any of the buttons. The buttons were marked "WW", "WA","PP" and "ATR".

Making a fateful mistake many men make in disregarding what a woman says, he allowed his curiosity to get the best of him and decided to try the buttons anyway. He carefully pressed the first button, marked "WW", and immediately warm water sprayed his entire bottom. He thought, "Golly, the gals really got it made....."

Still curious, he pressed the second button, marked "WA", and warm air dried his bottom off gently and quickly. He thought that was out of this world. The button marked "PP" caused a large powder puff to powder his bottom with a sweet smelling silky powder.Well naturally he could not resist the last button marked "ATR".

When he woke up in the hospital, he panicked and buzzed the nurse. When she appeared, he cried out, "What happened? The last thing I remember I was in the ladies room aboard a plane." The nurse replied "Yes, you were having a great time until you pressed the last button marked "ATR" which stands for Automatic Tampon Remover. Your...thing is under your pillow."

I feel depressed today. The weather has turned. It is raining. It is simply miserable and that is exactly how I feel. We have had raging bushfires all around us the last couple of days and yes, I am happy that it is raining because that has killed the fires. I feel so sad for all the animals that died in the fires. Friends of ours have lost everything they ever possessed and don't know where to go from here. Our world is upside down. Devastating floods on the one side and hellish fires on the other side of the world. Don't forget about the earthquakes. Spare a thought for all affected by all these random happenings. Ok, rant over. Don't feel better now, but let's see if I can find another joke just to lift my spirits.

In a tiny village on the Irish coast lived an old

In a tiny village on the Irish coast lived an old lady, a virgin, and very
proud of it. Sensing that her final days were rapidly approaching, and
desiring to make sure everything was in proper order when she dies, she
went to the town's undertaker (who also happened to be the local postal
clerk) to make the proper "final" arrangements. As a last wish, she
informed the undertaker that she wanted the following inscription engraved
on her tombstone: "BORN A VIRGIN, LIVED AS A VIRGIN, DIED A VIRGIN"

Not long after, the old maid died peacefully. A few days after the funeral,
as the undertaker--postal clerk went to prepare the tombstone that the lady
had requested, it became quite apparent that the tombstone that she had
selected was much too small for the wording that she had chosen. He thought
long and hard about how he could fulfill the old maid's final request,
considering the very limited space available on the small piece of stone.

For days, he agonized over the dilemma. But finally his experience as a
postal worker allowed him to come up with what he thought was the
appropriate solution to the problem.

The virgin's tombstone was finally completed and duly engraved, and it read
as follows: "RETURNED UNOPENED"

For those of you who would like to have a look, I am going to do a post on the progress of my little ones. I have some beautiful new pictures and will post it to my other page. To those who haven't read my Scary movie post, please have a look.

Try this out.

2005-11-03T11:48:00.000+02:00

Terri mentioned that she enjoys taking quizzes. I somehow also got to the specific page a couple of days ago and it is really very exciting if you are in to that kind of thing. I tried the one Terri mentioned and this was my answer. Not sure if I completely agree with it, but it does have some interesting truths.

COMMONER

You are the Commoner, often
put down and yet surprisingly one of the most
valiant and true characters in fantasy. The
Commoner may be average or plain in appearance,
and yet they are the most likely to possess
noble and unique characteristics such as a
sense of honor, honesty, and deep loyalty. They
are also very loving and dedicated. If they
take up a cause you can bet they will see it
through the very end.

Color:Orange
Animal: Dog
Gem: Onyx
Symbol:Farmer's Scythe

Image:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/16757273/

Who would you be if you were a character in an epic fantasy? (beautiful pictures)

I was tempted and did another one. Here are the results for that one:

TIGER EYES

You have Tiger Eyes
Positive Traits:
Determined, Passionate, Loyal, Strong,
Courageous
Negative Traits:
Aggressive, Ambitious, Domineering, Possessive,
Vengeful

Your eyes are the windows to your soul. What type of eyes do you have?

What does that tell you about me? Only that I have way too much time on my hands....

Scary movies...

2005-11-02T11:32:00.000+02:00

Picture this.

It is 1983. I am 15 years old. It is Friday night and we are all going to the drive-in. We have been looking forward to this the whole week. My mom and the best neighbour lady ever, will be taking us(myself, my brother and sister and the 2 girls from next door)to the drive-in to watch Poltergeist. She drove a little beatle and with the two mothers in the front seat, we decided to take blankets and pillows with to make a bed infront of the car.

On the way to the drive-in, we got stuck behind a bus. Now bear in mind that this was before 1994 and we were terrified of black people. Especially a whole mob of them and they were all drunk. En route, a fight ensued in the bus and we could see people stabbing at each other with these huge dagger like knives. We saw people jumping out of the windows of the moving bus to avoid being stabbed. I remember my mother almost going histerical in the front as we narrowly missed a jumper. It was dark and pre-cellphone days and we couldn't be much help anyway. We were so happy that the bus took a left turn where we had to go right at a crossroads. We finally reached the entrance to the drive-in. We were already shaken up and were contemplating rather abandoning the movie and go home. I heard "Aunty Leonie" telling my mom that maybe they should rather take us to the roadhouse for icecream. As this was said, we heard a crash and scream and a thud sound next to the car. When I looked out the window, I saw the bottom half of what I assumed was a woman, (it was wearing a skirt)lying next to our car in the road. A bus had hit a woman while she attempted to cross the street. She was completely severed in half. The top half of her body lay a couple of meters down the road. All we wanted to do, was get away from there. Fortunately the gates of the drive-in opened and we could go inside. All thoughts of camping outside the car were lost. We stayed and watched the movie. The adults must have thought that would make us forget what we saw outside, but I must admit that I don't remember much about the movie.

I got to watch the movie last night as a matter of fact. I was alone at home with the two babies and couldn't sleep. Due to it being Halloween, almost all the TV channels were showing scary movies. Poltergeist was on TCM. I must admit that it wasn't scary at all. I wrote this post after reading what Ben O wrote and a question he posed on Friday.

How to insult an Afrikaner...

2005-10-28T09:16:00.000+02:00

If you want to insult an Afrikaner, you simply call him a Dutchman and watch the blood rush to his face. Ben O posted a comment recently on my blog questioning a term I used while answering a tag from Chitty and Michelle. My last comment was that I hate the word Dutchman and the incorrect use thereof. Let me explain ….

I am an Afrikaans speaking South African. As a result of a constant English versus Afrikaans struggle, several derogatory terms have been used to refer to either Afrikaans or English speaking people. I did a google search and came across the following explanations:

Dutchman: (Not a Hollander). Slang for an Afrikaaner. Warning: Don’t call anyone this to their face, particularly if they love red meat, drink Klippies (brandy) and Coke and wear socks up to their knees.
http://student.sun.ac.za/usdv/review/new/fun.asp

Rockspider/Dutchman: A derogatory term for an Afrikaner.
http://www.allatsea.co.za/army/glossary.htm

Rooineck

Afrikaner name for an Englishman, or an english speaking South African.

Rockspider

An english speaking South African term for an Afrikaner - Hey, you rock spider! Who you calling a 'soutpiel'? Come here and I'll klap your lights out!"
http://www.rsa-overseas.com/features/slang.htm

Now, I know all countries have something similar to this. For instance in America you have trailer trash.

Trash is appropriate vocabulary for Springer’s show, since the word can also be used to describe most of his guests. As a noun, it means a person of low behavior, usually from a “bad” family. An interesting subgroup is trailer trash: poor, trashy people who live in prefabricated homes (trailers) in trailer parks. Though you can find trailer trash anywhere in the US, they are usually stereotyped as ignorant Southerners
http://slangcity.com/email_archive/6_12_03.htm

And in America a Redneck means something completely different

Redneck, a related term, describes a bigoted rural Southerner. According to southern comedian Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a redneck if you have more tattoos than teeth, shave your legs with your husband's fishing knife, have a Jack Daniel's poster in your living room, answer the door carrying a shotgun, and have at least once thoughtfully placed a six-pack of beer into your friend’s casket before he was buried. While rednecks are not identical to trailer trash, it is entirely possible to belong to both groups at the same time.
http://slangcity.com/email_archive/6_12_03.htm

So, in other words, a Dutchman=Rockspider=Redneck=Trailer Trash and I am definitely not one of those and you can therefore understand my hate (yes Hate) of the word. Two other prime examples are the use of the word Nigger(African Americans) and Kaffir(Black South Africans). If you call someone a kaffir in South Africa, said person can sue you. Can I sue someone for calling me a Dutchman? Now that will open up a whole new can of worms. If you have any more of these offensive words out there, please let me know about them.

Please feel free to visit here for some more interesting South African words and sayings.

Blog story

2005-10-25T12:51:00.000+02:00

The first chapter of this story was started by my friend on his blog Blairblogg. This is my continuance thereof. Let us see how far the story goes.

By the time I reached the table, Toby had seen me and made space for me next to him at the table. This placed him very close to Jessy. I had to smile at his sharpness. She was even more beautiful from up close. I couldn’t help thinking that she doesn’t belong. What brought her to this place? Even more, why would she come back here? There was nothing spectacular about the place.

I decided to introduce myself as no one else made an attempt to make any introductions. “Hi, I’m Dave and you must be Jessy. I have heard so much about you”. When she looked directly at me, I almost got lost in the clarity of her blue eyes. I immediately understood what the fuzz was all about. I felt like I was drowning. The feel of her hand taking my outstretched hand brought me back to reality. Like a lifeline thrown to a drowning sailor. “Hi Dave. It is very nice to meet you. The guys were telling me about you earlier. I believe that you travel a lot. That would mean that we have a lot in common. “I started thinking if I was the cause of all the laughter coming from the table earlier. Were the guys telling her some of my travel stories? I suddenly regret some of the tales I told them. I thought it was supposed to stay between us. I realized that I was still holding her soft hand in mine. “You will have to tell me more.” I said and grudgingly let go of her hand.

I took the seat next to Toby and silently sipped my beer. A strange feeling came over me. I was still trying to identify the turmoil inside when Toby asked how my trip was. I had been on a scouting trip to a University just south of here. “It turned out to be a total waste of time. The prospect played a game three days ago and did serious damage to his knee. I doubt if the poor boy will ever be able to play again. I met his parents and they showed me some footage taken over the past few years. He showed real talent”. From the corner of my eye, I saw Andy at the other end of the table. Andy is a good looking guy, tall, blonde, green eyes. He is normally the guy in the group that women tend to talk to first. He has this innocent look about him. For some reason, he was at a loss for words. He just sat there and stared. I got the feeling that there was something more to Jessy suddenly appearing here.

“Would you like another drink Jessy?” I offered. As I got up to go to the bar, she put her hand on my arm and said that she would walk with me.

To tag or not to tag...

2005-10-22T10:22:00.000+02:00

I have been tagged by both Chitty and Michelle. Seeing that I am in a joyful and playful mood today, I will attempt to do this in record time. Actually, I am not going to tag anyone except Allan , but if you wish to do it just to play along, I'll be waiting at the swings.

20 Random things about me plus a bonus answer

1. I am a serious rugby fan - Blue Bulls.
2. I have never been out of South Africa.
3. I can play pool, cricket, tenpin bowling - good at all ballgames.
4. Don't challenge me to a game of darts, because you WILL loose.
5. I LOVE Tequila even though I haven't had any recently.
6. My friends call me Jo.
7. I love to sleep and seldom suffer from insomnia.
8. I don't answer a phone call if it says private number.
9. I once had a famous SA actor begging me for my number and once he got it, he phoned me non stop. My parents wouldn't allow him to take me out. I was 17 at the time.
10. I have beautiful eyes.
11. I am scared of heights, but one of my life goals is to bungee jump.
12. I am mad about motorbikes and used to ride my own - Suzuki Bandit 600 - Bloodred!
13. My b/f's friends won't look for trouble with me again, because one used to have a habit of slapping all the girls on the backside, until I slapped him back and he has never done it again.
14. I am a good fisherman.
15. I married the guy that took me to my matric farewell.
16. I recently learnt that I was apparently considered a good kisser at school.
17. I have never been on a train ride.
18. I have never broken any of my bones.
19. I can stick the neck of a Hunters Dry bottle down my throat without gagging - party trick discovered once while drunk - jaw dropper!!
20. I hate the word Dutchman and what it implies and the incorrect use of it!!!

Bonus answer

Something I have always tried to hide from everyone and have finally made peace with
I only have 9 1/2 toes.

There you have it, most of it is true!!! So, read them, love or hate my answers, hope to have fulfilled some of your curiosity Chitty & Michelle.