And Finally, an Update ...

That's right, the time of this post is completely correct ... it is 3:30 in the morning and I'm up online. Why you might ask? Because I am on Standby Support for our projects this week, which means I'm the one who get's woken in the early hours if something goes wrong in Production. And although this morning at 3am when I got my usual call, there was nothing to suggest anything amiss, I still dialed in ... I'm still nervous about this whole Standby thing and just needed to make certain before I could get back to sleep. Needless to say that there is currently a very minor issue after and implementation that was done by my team-mate on Saturday ... and that is how I happen to be blogging at all hours of the morning ;) No doubt I'll still be up for the next hour or so :(

Righto, herewith the full feedback of the last few days ... All the way back on Thursday evening, Varen & I enjoyed dinner from my favourite Jhb Indian restaurant, Ghazal in Bryanston. Admitedly I still prefer the Dhal Makhnie from Karma, but you can't beat Ghazal's Chicken Makhnie.

On Friday we had dinner at Sides, the hotel restaurant attched to 10 Bompas. Yes, I eat out a lot. Bean and I always used to and it's always been a favourite pasttime of mine. I love the variety of food eaten out, it's far more exciting than what I am capable of cooking at home :) Sides is fabulous if you're looking for a fancy, cosy, romantic dinner for two or something to impress the boss and colleagues on a business dinner.

Ooh, and before dinner we pop by Jhb Internation Or Tambo to see the little sis and her man on their trip home from the States. Got to spend a lovely hour with them eating coffee beans. Got my new sexy little 8Gb red iPod and tried to steal Peeb's funky new red jacket ... and then us girls spent a fair amount of time being laughed at by our boys. Since although we are, without doubt, at complete opposite ends of the gene pool of our folks there are apparently a fair number of personality traits that are inescapable. Technically the frog was NOT pink, okay?

I spent Saturday day spent between a kajillion (okay, four) different shopping malls trying to track down a birthday present for Varen who turns a youthful 25 on Wednesday the 17th. While he did the first of his pool sessions for his scuba course. My day entailed a visit to Fourways, Rosebank, Hyde Park and then finally to Cresta and even after all that, I hadn't bought everything. Although I'd spent an awful lot of cash on myself before even buying a single thing for him - got a lovely new top (for his bday dinner) and a spanking new metal fan for my bedroom, which being on the second floor gets terrifically heated in the Joburg Summer.

Note must now be made that Saturday was Daddio's 52nd birthday: Happy, Happy old man :) Unfortunately he went giftless (from me) as the perfect present I'd ordered well in advance for him back on the 28th of Dec has not yet arrived. When have I ever been this organised for Dad's bday? But it typically still didn't pay off. Apparently they're re-sending it so maybe he'll get two :) It's a pretty cool gift and something I know he wants ... more once it arrives so as not to ruin his surprise ;)

Saturday was also a month since Bean and I broke up. Weird. Who can believe a whole month has gone past since I changed my life. Look at how much has happened since that fateful day. And I think of him often and still hold him dear, but I'm still pretty sure I made the right decision for us both. And I do enjoy the time I've been spending with Varen .. although I refuse to think too closely about what's really going on with us. I figure eventually it'll all sort itself out.

Anyway, that evening we braaied with Varen's whole family. Yes, I finally met them all. And Afrikaans families don't seem that different from English ones ... admitedly, it was only one braai ;) But they're great people and the conversation was always entertaining. His dad is still frantically trying to figure out where my family fit's into the war, that's the Anglo-Boer war for those of you who thought there might be any other significant war :)

Sunday I was left to fend for myself with Varen's family at breakfast since he was off on his second pool session. Fairly intimidating but I survived :) Then it was off to Eastgate where I thankfully finished the birthday shop ... without spending any more on myself, yay. Sunday afternoon we headed off to Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens for a relaxing laze on the grass with our books - I love that place! And we over-catered for our picnic snacks, seems to be a trend.

This evening, I spent at home frantically wrapping :) Although I did sneak in all the sushi I could eat at Sakura. And I watched House - hectic! And enjoying a well-deserved candlelit bath with my book. And testing out my shiny new fan. Oh, and I still haven't found music software for the iPod that I like yet ... working on it and trying out all sorts - any suggestions are welcome!