Proudly South African?

I've touched on this before, but recently I got a email thats doing the rounds and it had me giggling quite a bit, so I thought I would share it with you all (plus adding my own thoughts on the subject!) :) For those of you who are Saff-African, hope you have a good laff - for those of you who aint a Saffer... here's hoping you understand us a bit more :)

You know you are proudly South African when....

* you call a bathing suit a "cozzie"

* you call a traffic light a "robot"

* you call a round-a-bout a "circle"

* you call an elevator a "lift"

* you call a hood a "bonnet"

* you call a trunk a "boot"

* you call a glove compartment a "cubby hole"

* you call a pick up a "bakkie"

* you dont Barbeque you "Braai"

* you live in a "flat" not an apartment.

* you know what Rooibos Tea is and all the relevant nutritional values there of - even if you cant stand to drink the stuff yourself.

* you know what Biltong and Droe-Wors is - but you learn to call it Jerky and Dried Sausage anyway :)

* you can sing your national anthem in many different languages - even if you only understand it in 2 of them.

* you know the rules to rugby better than any referee.

* "just now" does not mean right at this minute - it means any time from "now now" till next month.

* you never eat sausage - you only eat wors.

* you don't play football you play "soccer"

* you never get an ouchie - you only ever get "EINA's"

* "howzit" is not just used in cricket.

* you will never see people later - you will alway "check" 'em later

* it's not a felt-tip pen its a "koki"

* you dont wear trainers you wear "takkies"

* your food is never rotten it's "vrot"

* you never gossip about anyone - you only "skinner"

* you dont eat crisps you eat "chips"

* and finally - if you're talking about "slap chips" - you're either talking about rugby ;) or eathing french fries.




You know what - until you've actually lived outside of South Africa, and had conversations with other nationalities, you dont realise how many of the above words have become part of your every day language and people just dont have a clue what you're talking about... :)Us Saffer's - we just dont speak da English... :)

Anyways till next time - I'll check you just now :)

Seriously - that long?

Wow - it seems like it was just the other day I did the WC Blog, and then shot off to South Africa for a holiday - but it turns out it was actually 5 months ago... just shameful really.

To be honest - one of the reasons I didn't blog was I forgot how to log on :) hee hee damn thats blonde - but it finally dawned on me to post a comment on someone elses blog and the log in page comes up... soooo if you get a random unrelated comment from me... sorry I abused you :)

Another reason why I haven't blogged for so long was because well - I didn't find my stories or life or anything I had to say to be very cheerful nor interesting - it probably still isn't - but I did enjoy getting some things off my chest and I found that once I had typed up my rant or whatever and clicked post - VOILA - I felt like a weight had been lifted - so yip - you're all gonna be subjected to more random crap from me... :)

Lets see - whats been happening over the last 5 months (seriously that long???)

* Went to Cape Town for a 2 month "holiday" - and I say holiday in inverted comma's cause it was touch and go if I was gonna come back to Oman :) But I did - I'm back and loving it still :)


The WC Stadium in Green Point

* Went to Green Point WC Football Stadium - did the whole fan walk, waterfront, drinking in the atmosphere kinda thing - all I can say is - it was AWESOME! I am truly impressed with the way South Africa presented the WC - I really did not believe that we would be able to host such an event without some major mishaps - but I think I can proudly say - we did it! Okay well I cant say the Bafana Bafana did it - but I think SA can be proud none the less! :) And as a side note - if it wasn't for my brother I think I would have landed up in jail for GBH - there we were watching RSA vs France in a pub (as you do...) when some really drunken idiot decided to blow his Vuvuzela RIGHT IN MY BLOODY EAR - After the 4th time of me telling him to go blow it outside or away from my ear - I was ready to lay into him - but thankfully my brother held me back... Damn those things are irriating... esp. at 5 in the morning :)


The Vuvuzela that was blown in my ear a few times ;)

* Fatty - well in reality I can no longer call him that - it's more like a teeny bit tubby now - is back in School - Thank goodness - granted we had to sell our last asset to pay off last semester and this semester - but honestly - whilst we did manage to make progress in home schooling - it wasn't easy and then of course I couldn't go out there and get employment cause I was home bound... but he's back at school and loving it - and I am doing all in my power to ensure he stays there. :) fingers, toes, legs, arms crossed!!

* Seems whilst I was away I lost a few friends... it saddens me - but what can you do? There's a long complicated story around this issue - but I decided that I would play ostrich and bury my head in the sand - then I don't have to know the sorbid details - nor do I have to take sides. Not sure if thats the best thing to do - but the alternative would be to sit all parties down and try to hammer out the problems - I'm not sure if I have the guts... oh well will see what happens...

* Tubby has decided on his first after school activity - a team sport - FOOTBALL - it's the first thing he has really wanted to do and he is so enthusiastic it's cute! I wanted him to play rugby - because it's not a sport I played - well okay I played a match or two - but it wasnt for me - those other woman WERE MASSIVE! - but I thought if he picked a sport I didn't play I wouldn't become one of THOSE mom's shouting from the sidelines, because I didn't really know the sport - but NO he didn't want to - he wanted football - and now I have realised I AM one of those mom's - but football is in our family - my mom managed the western province team for a season and my sister-in-law is a springbok player and a qualified ref - so just standing on the sidelines and looking good is not for me - after lasts weekends match I think it wont be long before I get banned tho' :) But it is cute to watch all these youngster being so enthusiastic and them all believing they are the next Rooney or Beckham or Pienaar (he's a Bafana Player - geez why is it no one knows the Bafana players... hee hee!)

And thats about it really,
guess I better get back to work...
but now that I've broken the fast - here's hoping it wont be 5 months before my next post...
Anyway till next time...
xx

SO! Who's it gonna be??

Well now - lets see as of today there are 12 days to go - until it's FIFA World Cup RSA.... :)



Now normally I'd be HEAD OVER HEELS with the thought of something SO MASSIVE hitting Cape Town - I mean I went to the Rugby World Cup in '95 - WOW - that was amazing - and of course did my part dressing up and face painting - of course all for England - just to cause a few family fights.... And then when I was pregant with fatty - I went to all the matches played at Newlands for the Cricket ODI's World Cup - AGAIN - all decked out and screaming my lungs out for England - one cannot begin to describe the atmosphere that surrounds these type of World Cup Events... However - it's nothing like how other country's support and cheer on their team... especially not in such a big sport as...

FOOTBALL - now that is in a whole league on it's own - I happened to be visiting family in England during the last FIFA world cup (Germany if I am not mistaken) and WOW - I could NOT BELIEVE the amount of support with flags and things flying off buildings and cars and whatnot... WOW!!! I also happened to be in Portsmouth (my home town) for CCS's wedding - the week leading up to them winning the FA Cup Final - yes yes - so it was 2 years ago - and maybe a once off - but my point is the atmosphere that surrounds these types of events is amazing - I have not seen RSA decked out like that at all - and I assume that is isn't decked out like that now either...

I am of course miles away so really cannot comment - but I can safely assume that there is not much hype happening right now in RSA and with all the hoo haa thats been happening in my life at the moment - I haven't really given it much thought....

I also cannot honestly say with 100% conviction that I would even bother to go to any of the matches if I was in RSA - the whole building of the stadiums and supporting services such as trains, hotels, etc etc was under such contravorsy when I was there - I WOULD hate to think of how that has grown out of proportion since then - and of course all newspaper reports that I have read now-a-days state that not all the tickets have been sold any way - so who knows if the whole event is going to be a failure or a success....

I certainly hope RSA can hold it's head up high and not let us down... :)

SO NOW my train of thought turns to my 2 main worries with the whole World Cup that is about to happen...

WHO do I SUPPORT and WHEN are they gonna BAN the VUVUZELA!!!! :)

Below is a wee video that shows you what it is - as well as what it sounds like - I have of course not picked an irritating noise level videao - for obvious reason - but am sure if you are THAT interested you can youtube them!!! It HAS TO BE the MOST IRRITATING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT I have ever heard - if any of you watched the recent Super 14 Rugby Final between Blue Bulls and Stormers - you will "know what I'm talking 'bout"!!!! DAMN those things are irritating... :) and I'm no where near the stadium - what is the noise level like in the stadiums... :O!!! they should limit the numbers or ban them outright!!! haha

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With regards to who am I gonna support - I'm sitting on the fence here... out of loyality it's got to be either the Bafana Bafana or England - but lets face it not one of those two have a chance to hit the final's do they???

OH decisions decisions...

So - who are you gonna shout for??? Are you even gonna follow the World Cup??

Anyways till next time !
xx

Where has all my inspiration gone?

* with apologises to the original author... :)

Where has all my inspiration gone?
Long time passing
Where has all my inspiration gone?
(I posted)long time ago
Where has all my inspiration gone?
I have lost them every one
When will I get it back?
When will I get it back?

WOW 2 months almost huh?? that is just DISGUSTING... and not that I have many dedicated readers - but to those few who actually read and enjoy my blog - I am on my knees apologising... :)

Lets see brief run down on whats happened to the make me EVEN more GATVOL in the past 2 months... :)
* I had two sets of overseas visitors
* I had (and am still having?) a mental breakdown and seem to have lost all my sense of humour with the world
* I went camping
* I eventually learnt how to keep the house cooler in summer (only took me 10 months!)
* I had to start homeschooling fatty
* there was a death in Hubby's family - may they rest in piece - I think of you often
* A school friend passed away - and I miss his humour... :(
* Hubby landed up in Critical Care at Muscat Private - TOTALLY impressed with the medical care he received - and TOTALLY surprised at the amount of Saffers working there!!! haha - lets not mention the bill... :(
* A close friend returned to her home country - and left a huge gapping hole in my life... :(
* As mentioned - I had visitors - so I can now say I have seen a WHOLE lot more of Muscat... WOW - the more I see I more I LIKE! :)

OH - there is much more to list - but I didn't want to depress you too much ... :)

Now - if I could just find something interesting to write about... :)

Anyways - here's hoping I get something interesting to write about...
xx

Dont forget to read the small print...

Erm - sorry this actually turned into quite a long winded rant... :)

Some times I lay awake at night and wonder if I'm the worlds worst mother - I am so NOT cut out for motherhood.

When you are married and childless - all you hear from EVERYONE is "oh motherhood is great, you'll love it", "oh you must have a child - it's magical". When you happen to wipe the nose of a snotty nosed kid that belongs to one of your friends - everyone breaths deeply, sighs and says "ah - you will make such a good mother". (ERM - were you not only wiping her nose so she wouldn't wipe it on your brand new name branded Jeans???)

OR you just happen to be walking through a mall with your shopping buddies when you spot the CUTEST barbie dress in the kiddies section... you stop - you pick it up and all your friends start gushing at you... "AH you are so ready for motherhood...." BUT all you were thinking was "WOW do they make that in my size?" (you can take the body outta childhood but never the mind!)

Then of course - they will start telling you about how you glow when you are pregnant, you will fall in love with your body, you will love everything about pregnancy, including the large protuding belly. Its the best feeling in the world, as soon as you see your child for the first time - you will fall in love and you will realise that you should have done this ages ago.

Everyone talks about pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood in glowing terms - everyone loves it (well - thinking about it they must do - everyone is doing it) - how its a life changing moment and you will not regret it...

WELL time to read the small print I'm afraid...

NO ONE TELLS YOU.....

* the loving husband who promises to help you 50/50... never does... their excuses are numerous - but the two that got on my goat the most were - sorry I have work tomorrow I cant get up in the middle of the night (never mind you haven't slept a full night in months!) and my personal favorite (okay so this would only work if your husband had children from a previous marriage) "sorry honey - I had to do this with my first three children - I'm not gonna do it for my fouth"

* Children ARE EXPENSIVE - do yourself a favour... please - before you have children - do this little excersise... work out how much you would need to spend on the basics:- cot, car seat, pram, bedding, clothing, and general baby paraphanalia, then work out how many nappies you will be using (after you've had the fight about disposibles or re-usables) Bear in mind tho - if the hubby insists on re-usable - he will be washing them!!!! so really can you see him leaning over the bath scrubbing "s****ty" nappies??? naw me neither... so calculate the disposibles - lets say erm 5 per 24 hours so 5 x 365 x 2 (in two years you gotta potty train!) Oh and of course I cant list everything - but just sit back and take the time to do this excersie - you will soon realise there's not much left for any of the spur of the moment luxuries you so enjoy... :)

* Pregancy is NOT as easy as people make it out to be - seriously - its NOT... Fatty was such a LARGE baby - that for the last month of my pregnancy I had to go to the Obs/Gyne daily to be put on a machine to see if the kid was okay... there was no room for him to move... I was so uncomfortable from about 6 months it was AWFUL, I needed to pee 5 times a night and had to wake hubby up EACH and EVERY time cause I couldn't move - did I mention I was HUGE. Let me tell you after 3 months of me waking hubby up 5 times a night cause I needed help getting off the bed - HE was NOT AMUSED!!

* Oh then there was the hormones and bad moods... HAHA - looking back at how horrid I was to my poor hubby... NAW I dont feel bad about it... - he deserved it - it was his fault I was in this condition after all wasn't it??? ;) There was this day - my hormones were really playing hell with me - we had a huge tiff and he said fine - he's going to the office "till I calm down"... Schweet - I grabbed a snack, got comfortable on my recliner / lazy boy (whatever you call them - those lounge chairs that go back with foot rests) and that is where I HAD TO STAY FOR 4 HOURS TILL HE GOT BACK... haha - I couldnt move!!! Okay - so I can laugh at it now - but at the time - being extremely big and pregnant - it wasn't funny not being able to get off a simple chair FFS!!! boy oh boy did he get it from me when he got back...

* What about the partying?? Man - how I miss the parties... sure you still go out and have a good time - but you have to take turns now - cant have both parents being drunk - someone has to be responsible - you never know what will happen?? Little Fatty has croup - it can strike any night, any time, and you've got to be quick on the draw - they need to get on the nebuliser ASAP and if you dont catch it in time - or if you are too scared to administer the medication yourself - you gotta rush them to the hospital. Even now - at 6 years old - we still dont "party" together anymore - we take turns... :(

* Sleeping... Now here's a touchy subject for me... I L I K E M Y S L E E P.. I do... And do you know in the past 6 years I think I can count on my one hand the number of times I have slept passed 6 in the morning... honestly - I have been blessed with an early riser... :) WHAT bliss is that??? OH of course the best times is when it's "your turn" to party... and they wake you up by banging their favorite car on your head yelling... "Wake up Mommy the sun is shining" and then proceeding to open the curtain FULL so the sun shines pleasantly on your hungover face... definetely pure bliss what can I say... (actually I mumble a few choice swear words... :)

* Your time, me time, our time - sorry - AINT GONNA HAPPEN - it's gone, it's over - its no more. Just forget it honestly, kiss it good bye.. I've forgotten what me time is honestly. Seriously - it's taken us 6 years to train fatty NOT to enter the bath room at the same time as us... Yes that's right - just forget about going to "your quiet zone and have a little read..." FORGET IT!!! :)



Seriously - the bathroom used to be my one special room in the house, where NO ONE would bother me... needed half an hour to calm down, have a little me time?? grab a book, a cuppa coffee, go into the bathroom and sit on the floor reading... get a knock on the door - "sorry busy, will be out soon" HA!! have a kid mate... that time is over!!

* And of Course DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON MY SEX LIFE ;) what's that? where's it gone?? I know I did it at least once... cause I got 1 kid... :)

* Your neat house??? GONE! kiss that good bye too.. seriously - who has time to clean up all the time?? To pull out half eaten cookies from the dvd machine? To stop sticky hands going all over your cd collection! OH what about the time he decided to help you alphabetize your DVD/CD collection (yes my collection were once in alphbetical order...) the last time they were that neat was around 4 years ago I think... Fatty helped... honestly he did... he pulled them all out and spread them all over the floor - he did this while I was cleaning up the flour he had thrown all over the kitchen floor, which he did while I was trying to get the save his dad's plants which he had pulled out while I.... well you get the picture... you only stop when they fall asleep trust me on this... :)

* Your expensive computers, playstations, Wii Band equipment, DVD players - whatever you are into... GONE - packed away out of reach.... NEVER mind you never get a chance to play them anymore - you've got to protect them from sticky fingers, half eaten food and - THE WORST - as they get older... them getting hold of Daddy's tool kit and "helping to FIX IT!"

* Travelling with you wee one... AH! my favorite topic... what can I say - DONT DO IT EVER!!!!! :) Here's something you can do to see if you are ready to have a child - Drive from Cape Town to Windhoek - its only about 1400 kilometers... Get 1 Telly Tubbie DVD - play it non-stop for that full journey and then have your partner sit in the back seat and every now and then throw something at your head, be it a toy, a milk bottle or what ever else they can get their hands on... Or - you can practise international flying.... borrow a friends baby - go sit in the transit hall for a period of 10 hours waiting for your connection - as an adult you get bored out of your mind - now try it with a two year old... :) Even better - try and take a two year old into those tiny toilets they have on a plane and change his poo nappy... FUN! FUN! FUN!

Oh I have so many other things I want to warn you about - things like your seats in your car, or temper tantrums in shopping malls, or the time you pack the baby in the car, but leave the pram and the shopping in the parking lot and drive off, watching the same episode of Barney over and over and over again until you want to crawl into the tv and smash that purple dinasors head in... but I wont - I think I've ranted enough for one night... I just wanted you to be sure you read the small print - kids dont come with instruction manuals you know!

But you know what - as much as I lay awake at night worrying that I am the worst mother, because sometimes I dream about how my life might have been if I didn't have fatty - I love him to bits, and I wouldn't trade him in for the world... (okay so there are some days when I wanted to send him back - convinced there was a return clause)

But when you look at him sleeping staring at a wee mini-me, or hearing his belly laugh when he makes a joke, or hearing your sarcastic random humour being flung back at you - there are some times when it's all worth it - last night I had a worth it moment... (side note - have I mentioned my mother and my 10 year old niece are here visiting??) Driving along the free way playing I spy with my little eye... my niece says "something begining with P" and little fatty screams on top of his lungs P*nis!!! the look on my mothers face just screamed "WORTH IT".

Anyways till next time - make sure you read the small print... LOLZ
xx

Is your kid too sexy??

Want to determine if your kid is Sexy HOT???

Take them along to the Fun Fair at Qurum Park (Marah I think it's called).. :)

if they are not allowed on the adult rides - sorry they are just not HOT enough... :)






I can quite confidently say - my little kid is apparently way tooo sexy hot for these rides... :) (He's also unfortunately too short for them... :))


Anyways till next time... :) gotta go play tour guide to me mother ;)
xxx

Roald Dahl I'm not... :)

They were only a hundred meters away, but she wasn't sure that she could make it.

She couldn't remember why she was standing here or how she got here, it was like waking up and finding yourself in a weird place. All she could remember was that she had to get to that person standing in front of her.

Somebody suddenly appeared at her side. She tried to focus but couldn't, so she looked away. Why were all these strangers looking at her as if they expected her to do something?

The person next to her took her arm and started leading her forward, she resisted, but was not strong enough. For some reason, she did not know what, she wanted to go there by herself.

As they drew nearer, she started to hestitate. What am I doing? She didn't have much time to think about it as they had reached their destination. The person let go of her arm and smiled at her. Only then did she see the doctor all in white smiling.

The person who had been waiting for her took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. The doctor started to speak but she couldn't hear him. Only then did she realise why the two people who had helped her were dressed in black. They must have been the nurses, the people who fetch you when you get locked away.

She tried to listen to what the doctor was saying, but she couldn't. She didn't know when she went deaf, she just was.

For all she knew they were telling her the rules of the asylum. It looked as if they were finishing, for the person next to her said something. But they hadn't finished, they were looking at her, waiting, anticipating.

She started to feel nervous, what should she do? She did the first thing she could think of, she nodded her head. That must have been the best thing to do for the doctor started to smile. The person standing next to her, kissed her.

They lead her away, placed a pen in her hand and made her sign a document. She had committed herself. As they were leading her away she noticed that everyone was smiling. She couldn't understand why, she wanted to scream, "This is no laughing matter, this is very serious."

As they got out of the building there was a crowd of people all throwing things at her. She wanted to cry, but couldn't let people see just how weak she really was.

They opened a car door for her and she climbed in. As they were pulling away she looked back and saw all the people waving, smiling, laughing.

Why are they so happy? What am I doing here? She started screaming, "NO! NO! I don't want to go through with this, this was just a game! You can't make me stay with you! I will NOT stay here with you!"

Her screaming woke her. She looked at the clock and realised, she had less than 12 hours before her wedding.


When I was younger (much younger) there was only 2 things I ever wanted to be - one was a teacher and the other was to be a published author - and seeing as not one of those dreams materialized - I thought I would subject with you a story I wrote many, many, many moons ago, when I was young and naive! :) hope you liked it... :) Let me know either way.... haha but remember I dont take bad press well... :)




Just one other small thing I wanted to mention in this post... :)

This place sucks... :( -> you just get to meet really great people - and then BAM their contract is up and they move on to the next big thing... :( it saddens me... SAMS... it was great knowing you even if it was for such a short time... here's hoping you have a blast where ever you land up in the world... and here's hoping you will never forget that crazy woman who accosted you in a parking lot at 2 in the morning... ;) Dont blame me - its not my fault you're famous ;)


Anyway - till next time - give all your friends a hug - you never know when they might move on to the next big thing... :)
xx