c'est la vie

So what makes a best friend just that .... A best friend? Now for me it is pretty simple .... Elm is just that all encompassing, always there, can call her from jail at 2am kind of friend... We always joke that her and I should be married and Franco and Eug married .... Her and I would go to movies and supper and shows several times a week if we could, but our hubby's work long hours and once dinner is eaten tend to hit the proverbial sack (or couch). Elm and I are movie-holics and I have even dragged her to a couple of scary ones.  No movie is complete without a bite to eat before and a cappuccino after.  Live theatre is just as popular and we see a huge variety of stuff from music to drama to comedy.  Juicy Lucy was an addiction for us until they late last year decided to re-brand themselves and their menu .. Taking away our favourites and losing lifelong customers. Fun to us is during time off .... At one of our houses with a good DVD or box office and killer c...

Someday I'll wish upon a star .......... the words of this song have always been beautiful to me and I often sang it to Jessie when she was little and battling to sleep ........ and now I was wondering ..... if we could simply wish upon a star and find all the clouds and sadness in our lives behind us, our troubles melted ....... what would you wish for? I know what I won't wish for ....... a different house, other friends and family, to have loved less or cared less, to have worried more or cried less, pots of money, movie star looks and all the other things that seem so unimportant in the big scheme of things ... But what I would wish for?  A faster cure for cancer, a faster solution to the poverty in our country, longer days for Jess to finish all her school work in, the study light to stop buzzing, happiness and health always for my family, huge donations for Irene Homes, a way to ensure that no-one i care about ever stops being happy around me, the answer to where sock...

sjoe. That number is lying there waiting for me to reach it on Sunday.  47?  Certainly don't feel it and hopefully don't look it, but right after Jess turns 18 on Saturday I reaching that other number on Sunday.  Wondered what else 47 is relevant about and found out the following crazy things: 47 is the most commonly ocurring two digit random number  The Geneva Convention protecting prisoners of war was signed by 47 nations The world's first inflatible wedding chapel is 47 feet high (ok that has got to be a pretty rocking wedding) The Barnum and Bailey circus train is on the road 47 weeks of the year (in our country it is currently a circus 52 weeks of the year) *tongue in cheek* In the movie Monsters Inc the factory floor had 47 days without incident before someone stuffed it up The exit door on a Boeing 737 weighs 47 pounds (bet you were dying to know that hey) Dr Seuss published 47 books in his lifetime There are 47 voting members for the Academy...

Now men have this weird thing about TV.     For them the only channels on DSTV that seem to exist are those between 203 and 207.  With particular emphasise on 203.  DSTV should have special rates for people wanting to receive only those channels.  Now we do have 2 decoders .... one upstairs and one downstairs which means we can watch 2 different channels at a time whilst also taping one.  3 channels all the time at our fingertips so this works well in our house ..... but for hubby it is 203.  At least Nic has a slighter wider channel view, but 203 is pretty addictive for him too. Now following Liverpool ... every match, every time slot is a matter of life and death in our house for the male species.  Anyone even daring to attempt to get near the TV at that stage does so at their own peril.  Now as Jess and I are  Man U supporters I have issues with this.  These LPool matches come with so many in-house rules.  Firstly no tal...

On Saturday Jess will be 18.  Eighteen.  And snip goes another one of those damn apron strings.  Our excitement at it being on a Saturday and thus we spend all day together was shortlived as the 2 day Matric Focus programme of the school is Friday and Saturday and so she will spend 7am to 5pm on her 18th with her matric friends at Goodlands .... getting their heads, spirits, attitudes etc ready for Matric.  It is a wonderful initiative by the school and very good for them ..... but I would have loved to have her all to ourselves for the day.  18.  Suddenly she could sign her own form for Saturday for the Adventure organisers, only had to co-sign if she was not 18 on the day of the outing.  18.  She can go for her driver's licence (that won't be happening in our house as driver's ed 101 is still very much in progress and the about to be 18 year old seems quite happy to be carted around by good 'ole mom).  18. she can legally drink alcohol (o...

So let's talk about this insulin resistant thing.  Oh yes, there I can see it, my family are rolling their eyes, muttering under their breath, counting my pills to make sure I taking them (ok I forgot some, ok more than some, but do we have to talk about it ALL the time).  Now it seems that every 3rd person I interact with has insulin resistance.  Maybe there were always so many people, but if you don't have it yourself you won't know this.  Kind of scary, it seems to be an illness / condition that is growing at alarming speed amongst people ..... a sign of the fast lives we live, fast food, quick fixes and we move further and further from decent, regular and correct eating .... ugh decent, regular and correct eating ...... does not really sound like "party party".  When I first found out I got such a big "skrik" that I immediately did EVERYTHING I was told ... followed the eating plan, cut out sugar and the things on the no list (ever noticed that a...

be a person of your word.  you don't have to be rich, or powerful, or the best at everything, but always, always be a person of your word remember God.  He led you to where you are.  He will lead you further.  and He will never leave your side or betray you never wear the same underwear two days in a row be wary of people who start sentences with "i always" and "i never"  because they don't and they do you can stretch the amount of cooked mince in a pot if you add a small handful of jungle oats if you want true loyalty, buy a dog brush your teeth at least twice a day don't make promises you don't intend to keep.  to anyone  long socks and short shorts look daft on guys.  i promise make every day count at school.  because it does in the long run don't let anyone tell you that you have to like olives.  you don't big or small.  lies are lies.  when a young guy starts a sentence with "but if you loved me" .....

so my daughter has hit the ground running with this matric thing!  one minute i took her there in gr R with huge pigtails and a gap-toothed smile, and now as she enters her 13th year in this school, the big M has arrived.   the first morning she left, prefect badge shiny, hair shiny, shoes shiny, honours blazer shiny, i looked at her and could almost not believe that she is just mere weeks from 18 and at such an important time of her life.  this first week has been a blur of new rosters, swimming training (highly important to her), english olympiad and of course the week long orientation programme for gr 8 scholars, which she and other prefects are running.  last night by the time we got home it was 8pm.  by 830pm she was sleeping and at 1130pm she was back up to finish her homework.  this morning as she dashed out the door i reminded her that this is what it is, a 100 % commitment literally 24/7 because by September it is literally nearly all done bar ...

Last night got to meet my all time favourite author, Jodi Picoult.  She is in SA on a book tour promoting her latest work, Lone Wolf.  I have read every book she ever wrote and like every avid fan of hers knew that when My Sister's Keeper was filmed, the director or producer deemed it fit to change the ending.  Last night on stage we learnt of her anger towards her work being changed like that without even the courtesy of telling her.  BFF and I were together at the book event and needed a memory jolt as to how the book ended ..... so I am going to haul mine out to double check.  Jodi is everything I had imagined ..... she leapt up onto the stage dressed in a black top and a silver blue knee length net tutu which she had seen in a shop in Sandton, loved, decided she had to own, did not know where one wears a tutu .... so she wore it to the YOU book event.  Long hair in beautiful squiggles, vibrant eyes, she drew us into her world in such a way that the ...

last week as I sat on the beach in Umdloti, a lady arrived there and sat down near to us with her two small kids.  now that in itself was not a big deal, but what really interested me was the fact that this lady was so self confident.  she was a big lady.  a really big lady.  and she had on the most gorgeous turquoise costume.  well fitted and perfect for her.   now i watch young girls with fascination on the beach.  and here i mean the 17 - 19 ish category.  they have the loveliest bodies.  pretty bikinis and then they have this cover up issue.  they arrive at the beach in their bikinis with tiny shorts and a T or else some sort of something over their bikini.  when they get to the beach it only gets removed when a) they are sure no-one on the beach is looking b) they are sure the lifeguard is otherwise occupied and c) they are close to their towels .... preferably removing this whilst on their towels.  society has caused th...

So now here is the thing.  Men (generally) don't want to do the mall thing.  Now please this is not ALL men but in my list it does include my hubby, my best friend's hubby, my friend the book supplier, my friend the school teacher, literally all the soccer dad's I know and ... well pretty much every guy I know. I think my dad and bro-in-law are excluded.  Kudos to you.  My friend Mike and my hubby agree.  The function of a mall is to provide goods needed for purchasing.  You decide AT HOME what it is exactly that you want.  You drive there.  You go in, make a purchase, walk out and drive away.  No added impulse buys.  No added window shopping, browsing, uhming and ahing.  Always qualify for free under 15 min parking.  I do however wonder what would happen if there was free beer in the passages of the mall :) Now for chicks it's a whole other thing.  Malls = shopping, browsing, wandering, looking and definately coffee!!...

So after 25 000 reads on my previous blog forum I finally decided after a trial seperation that me and that forum had to get divorced ... sad, but such a reality.  I hope to find a following here now. So here I am, sitting at Circus Circus cafe in Gateway simultaneously creating a blog, drinking cappuccinos, calling kids to remind them to be back here by 630pm and watching the passers-by.  And boy are the passers-by and others entertaining! I have witnessed a table of five that spoke so loudly that it started to sound .... as my friend Lloyd Mtuwa would say..... like a political gathering. It was actually just them.  Speaking to each other.   Now opposite me are a family of 4 at a table for 2.  There are plenty of open tables. So he is standing.  She is sitting with a girl of about 12 on her lap. The other daughter of about 15 on the other chair.  Their drinks arrived ... he is standing having his.  Perhaps they charge less if you don't occu...