The Stuff Weeks Are Made Of

I know, I know, you'd think with how busy I am lately I'd be blogging more than twice or three times a week. But life is life and there's not always so much to say.

Don;t get me wrong, this week was as busy as they've all been with SCM Dinner on Monday night, a movie with CollegeInstructor on Tuesday, Poker with the girls on Wednesday night (where I had yet another shocking game, I think I have lost my poker mojo :( ) and then finally I got to spend a night of nothing last night. Well, not a night of nothing, rather a night of not-going-out. Beukes & I ended up spending the evening making dinner (a variety of hamburgers, vegetarian with cream cheese and avo from my ingredients and crumbed chicken breast on whole wheat rolls from his - it was yummy!) and then lay outside smoking my new hubbly for the very first time.

I'm sure I've said before that as much as I despise the smoking of cigarettes, I definitely enjoy a good hubbly every so often (folks, don't get worried, it's not even something that happens weekly!). And Bean and I brought one back from Egypt ... but he kept it when we broke up. And Varen and I bought one too, but it was chipped and so I just left it behind when I left there too. And now, I've gone all independent and bought my own one. And I love it. It's all black, with a screw in base (I could never get those rubber stopper ones in properly!) and has two red pipes. Freaking awesome. So yeah, we lit it up, sat on a blanket outside (there'll be no smoking of any sort inside the house) chatting and relaxing until it became unbearably cold (I tell you, by 9pm there was a thin sheen of dew on everything already!).

And although I didn't get to watch any series, it was still a very awesome weekend :)

And this weekend is no less busy than usual either! I have after-work drinks (which I'm hoping will be tamer than the last few weeks) and then I'm off to Movida for the first time with some of the Bookclub girls. Tomorrow I am doing a Dream Mapping and Goal Setting Workshop with my Poker-buddy, The Fairy Godmother - I am so excited about this! And then am off to a braai at MissB's with CollegeInstructor and Beukes.

On Sunday I have to collect some specially ordered cupcakes from Angel because Monday is my Cake-Day at the Office. This year we're not bringing cake for our birthdays, instead we've got to pick a day to celebrate during the year and bring cake for that ... and then send an email out to everyone with more information on why the day is important to us. I chose International Polar Bear Day (which is on Saturday 27th Feb).

Hope you all have a fabulous 2 days break and see y'all back here again on Monday :)

The Bad and The Ugly

So, I know it probably reads like my life is all happiness and roses these days ... and to be fair it mostly is, certainly in comparison to last year, in my opinion. But then you get days like yesterday :(

You know what kills me, relying on other people. And it's not that I'm some super feminist or out to prove anything by being self-reliant or anything like that. It's mostly the incompetence of other people and the stress and frustration that having to rely on other people brings me.

One word for you, Telkom. and to be fair, they screwed up my Monday, not my Tuesday. But they certainly frustrate me to the point of tears. Because there's nothing I find more frustrating than not being able to do anything to fix a situation. I want internet at home. Not such a tall order, I would've thought. But here's the thing. I placed my order telephonically with Telkom on the 1st of February. And I must say that on majority thruout this process their call-center staff have been friendly and helpful (let me rather say I have perceived them as helpful because they honestly haven't really done anything helpful!). I specifically asked that they write a note on my order saying I lived 3 minutes away from work so could the technician please phone me when he got to my house and I'd be right there to let him in.

A few days later I got an sms saying that the technician would be coming round on Friday the 12th. 2 weeks after ordering, but who's counting. After not another word from Telkom (I was told I'd be called to confirm my appointment) I called them on the 11th to find out if they were indeed coming the next day. Yes ma'am they will. Okay fab, could you also please confirm that it says they should phone me because I live 3 minutes away from work and will come home and let them in. Yes it does. Awesome.

On that Friday, around midday I called to find out what sort of time I could expect the technician (having not heard a word yet). And I was told he'd be there after 12h30. Fab. And he has the instructions I left to call me when he arrives. Yes he does. A little later, I got a call from my land-lady's home-office saying that Telkom was there for me. Fuming I went home, demanding why I hadn't been called directly "Oh no, I don't have your phone number". The dude checks everything out and tells me the cable guys need to connect me up to the exchange before he can do anything more. Biggest fattest waste of 10 minutes of my life :P Apparently this shoudl take the cable guys 2-3 days. And yes, next time he'll call me when he arrives.

So the following Wednesday (last Wednesday to be exact and 3 working days later) I call Telkom to say well now, what on earth is the progress (if any?). Oh yes, ma'am, they'll be round your place on Monday (22nd). Perfect. And this time they will call me, right? Yes ma'am they will.

Well on Monday I eventually called them around midday again ... to find out what was potting. Oh no, the technician has already been round and nobody was home. EXCUSE ME?!?!

So now, I shoot to the back of the queue again and wait my turn for their technician to visit again. I'm sure you can feel my mounting frustration? And this new call-center lady tells me I have to tell the technicians, when they call to confirm their appointment, to phone me. I've yet to ever be called by their technicians to confirm an appointment (so this time I'm not calling back because apparently if I do and am told by the call-center when they're coming that counts as a confirmation and then they don't bother to call you). She's also put some kind of "escalation" into effect about calling me when they arrive. Lawd know what this'll do and she got very flustered when I tried to press her about what the process would be when they yet again didn't follow simple instructions, apparently only then can I speak to a supervisor :P

So you see, I'm frustrated because I have taken every possible measure to ensure this happens smoothly and it hasn't. I've now gone so far as to investigate the possibility of Neotel (erm no, because I don't want a 24-month contract nor can I FICA myself ... yet another rant) and iBurst (which you need an existing Phone and ADSL line for their ADSL service and their wireless service is only one step up from poor in my area). There is nothing I can do to advance my internet-less-ness, but wait until Telkom deigns to come to the party. Talk about feeling completely powerless.

And on that topic, I don't understand Telkom. I mean sure, I could understand if their after sales service was crap, they have the monopoly and you'd already be paying them monthly so why bother. But seriously folks, here I am, desperate to give you money every month. And you just don't seem to want it. Which brings me back to my house-hunt. As I've said, I've found the place I plan to buy. I'm all ready set to go, sign papers and pay in a sizeable deposit on the place. But do you think I've heard from the Estate Agent, or that she has managed to get me an appointment to see the actual unit I want to buy? She can't get hold of the tenant. Lady, it's been just over a week since I told you I wish to purchase, do you want to make a sale or not. What irritates me is that if this is in fact the unit I wish to buy, what am I going to do, go and find another place? Just to show her? She'll no doubt eventually sell the place to someone else anyway, and I'll be missing out on a good deal. It is driving me batty with frustration. Where is the incentive to do your job? Again, another situation where all I want to do is hand over my hard earned cash and they're not letting me, and I can do nothing about it ....

And then folks, yesterday was supposed to be dining-room table delivery day. Which I'd all but lost hope of happening by 3pm when they eventually phoned. And they dutifully arrived and called me (10 points!) and proceeded to unpack my table. At which I stared at with exhaustion because inside the box was a black table, not the gorgeous light mango-wood table I'd ordered and paid for. Sigh. Do you see the kind of week I've been having?!? On the plus side they were very friendly about it and *hopefully* the correct table will be arriving later today ... hopefully.

Yesterday afternoon CollegeInstructor and I went to see The Lovely Bones. It's the first time I've been to a big-screen movie since Sherlock Holmes with Varen!

I'm absolutely positive I've read the book ... although it must've been pre-blog days. It's a decent enough movie, but helluva drawn out and more like a meandering story than something twisty-turny with a definitive outcome. On the plus side I did see some awesome trailers so am keen to get back into the movie-going spirit ... especially now that I have someone to go to the early shows with :) Nothing better than the quiet of 5 people in a 5pm cinema!

Another Crazy Weekend

Yawn. Another busy weekend. Actually it's not so much the weekend that's making me yawn this morning as the lack of a good night's sleep last night.

Friday started with yet more after-work drinks. This time it was a select few of us from my current project along with our counterparts from another company who we are working with, in an effort to get to know them better.

It went well, and 4hrs later I headed off to Mythos in the Design Quarter for Vix's birthday dinner where I ate yummy spanakopita (probably my best greek food ever) and squid heads.

Saturday morning saw Beukes, CollegeInstructor and I heading off to Cats Digital for their sale. Although I'm not urgently looking for a tv (there are plenty of other things that need buying first) I figured if there's a sale on I should at least go and consider bumping it up a position or two on my list ... Well Cats Digital was not the place for that. To say it was chaos would be an understatement. I'm not really sure what was actually on sale there either (from all the empty shelves) and there were people queuing around two sides of the place. It is not the sort of shopping environment I thrive in ... I walked in, struggled my way around the place and walked straight out.

And then we went for a nice breakfast at Doppio Zero. Well "nice". Their breakfast food is fast losing appeal for me, although I still like the restaurant. And after that, I went for a wander around a few of the shops nearby (while Beukes and CollegeInstructor watched rugby highlights) and ended up buying myself a dining room table :) Paha, talk about spur of the moment ... well I guess it was *really*. I've known I wanted a square dining room table since I tried to buy the old one from Varen. And while I've been out couch hunting, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for one that actually appeals (I must admit that I wasn't really sure I'd find one anytime soon since I'd had my heart set on the one Varen had owned ... and that I'd chosen!).

But I walked into Madison's and I saw the most unlikely table (it's a light wood, so not what would usually take my fancy) made from Mango wood. It's not light like pine, and it's got an amazing texture ... I think it's actually the texture that sold it for me! Oh, that and the fact that all the other square 8-seater tables I've seen so far are in the R7000+ range ... and this was a mere R3000 :) I think it's going to look great and now I have my heart set on these white floral cut-out chairs to go with it :) It arrives on Tuesday :)

I had to pop into work for a bit on Saturday afternoon and then later Beukes, CollegeInstructor, MissB and I headed off to O'Hagans to watch the rugby. Honestly I don't think I've actually watched a rugby game since I was dating Bean (although Varen claimed Supersport was a channel he missed out on by not having DSTv, he never once made any effort to actually watch any sport). We had great fun, most especially since the Stormer's were playing (which to be fair is why we actually went to watch) and we're all from Cape Town ... and they won :)

Sunday was a little more crazy busy. Beukes and I headed off early to drop off the recycling (I think I'm slowly converting him ;) ) and to buy more grass for the bunny hutch. And then to PicknPay for some admin shopping. And then we had a browse around at Dion Wired and HiFi Corporation looking at TVs. I think I'm definitely waiting at least a month before I buy a TV. Varen definitely spoilt me with a 42" and now I'm not sure I could buy a mere 32" for myself. And jees but TVs are expensive ... I'd have to be looking at around 10K for a decent 42" :P Yes, I'm definitely waiting a bit before I make that decision.

Later (after cleaning the bunny hutch) Beukes and I popped by the Rosebank Market and then went to look at a few more houses ... and I took him to see the place I'm planning to buy, although I still have yet to see the actual unit :P Finger's crossed for this week because I'm now dead set on the idea.

And after that I headed off to Tony's Bar and Grill for @clairam's SingSong Sunday Sundowner Celebration. It was a blast.

> Follow @clairam on Twitter:

A Quiet Week?

Seriously, on a week with absolutely not a single evening out planned, I finally got to spend and evening in my pjs at home watching series ... last night!

Monday was SCM Dinner, which was lovely as always :) Tuesday night (as I already mentioned) DJMike came to visit Beukes and I. Wednesday night I ended up going out for an early dinner at Royal Thai with CollegeInstructor and MissB (she's on a mission to try all the Thai places so she can find her favourite!). and after that I headed over to Capello's to have a drink or two with Louisa, Sparrow and a friend of his who's recently moved up from Cape Town.

> Follow Louisa on Twitter:

I wasn't exactly planning dinner out on Wednesday evening, but CollegeInstructor twisted my rubber arm. And I wasn't too excited by the prospect of Royal Thai either. I have my Thai place, Cranks. I already know I prefer authentic Thai curry to Westernised Thai curry (you know, the stuff that's basically coconut milk soup). But I went along with an open mind and although the venue is not nearly as funky as Cranks, we had a beautiful view of the sunset while sitting outside on a warm Joburg summer evening.

CollegeInstructor ordered a Chicken Satay to start, which was very impressive. Often Chicken Satay can be awful because it ends up being a pathetic amount of not very tender chicken on a stick. This was perfect. The chicken was soft and there was a decent sized portion. I ended up eating alone tho because MissB was running late and I had my drinks plans to get to but, I had their Peanut Butter curry which was divine and more than made up for it. CollegeInstructor ended up ordering the same thing after tasting mine :)

This weekend is looking well-balanced so far with one of the Bookclub Girls' birthday dinners tonight and then @clairam's birthday bash on Sunday. Hopefully there'll be some house shopping as well (I have decided my next purchase will be towels, bathmats and hand towels for the bathroom, now if only I could pick a colour!).

> Follow @clairam on Twitter:

And *hopefully* the freaking Estate Agent who finally phoned me back on Tuesday will actually get back to me with an appointment to see the place I want to buy. I seriously do not get how they fell no rush to close a deal ... well, the places you're actually interested in. I am getting plenty of calls from people at places I'm not interested in :P Typical.

Oh, and Telkom should be coming round on Monday for installation attempt number 2. Wonder how long after that I'll be able to upgrade to ADSL. Seriously, it annoys me that if you do a self-installation, they can't give you a phone and ADSL line at the same time, you have to get a voice line first and then only apply for an ADSL line once that's in.

ps. It is The Mom's birthday today ... am thinking of you, lovely Mommy :)

Quiet Evenings Are Just As Fun

Although I didn't go for lunch with my ex-colleagues yesterday (we're onto our 4th postponement now, I think?) and because of such late notice, I didn't have dinner with PerfectOnPaper either (we had a tentative arrangement in the likely event that my lunch got postponed, but by the time I found out he had other plans for the evening ... but we're on for dinner next Tuesday instead), it still turned out to be a pretty awesome day (after work, as mentioned in yesterday's post, it wasn't the ideal work-day).

I finally got hold of the Estate Agent at my *new* Number 1 property (since I have decided I don't want the one I saw on Monday). She's making an arrangement with the tenant so that I can go see the actual unit I'm interested in buying (will hopefully be sometime this week!). Is very exciting, I could very shortly be a home owner. In fact I know I will. I've pretty much decided that I'm buying one of these units, it's now just about picking which one. I am hoping for the last ground floor garden (not really a garden more like a little courtyard where you can have some pot plants, a braai etc. which obviously makes it infinitely more appealing than one with a teeny balcony) unit. But will happily settle on a 1st floor unit if it doesn't meet my standards ... I don't have to live there and as we've already established, not everyone has the same requirements of a home as I do.

And then since Beukes and I were both going to be home last night we invited DJMike around to see our new place (he's been in the UK pretty much since the weekend I moved). We had Nando's for dinner and then sat around on the blue lounge floor drinking wine and catching up :) Good times.

For those of you not up to speed on the story, DJMike and The Peeb were in pre-school together and thru that our family's became friends. Then DJMike and Beukes met and became best friends in primary school ... and that's how we three all fit together :)

Exciting Times

So I really wanted to blog this morning ... but work got in the way. Blegh, this turned out to be one of those days when you have a whole bunch of stuff to do and although you left everything completely functional the afternoon before, the gremlins got in overnight and now the strangest things are happening and you end up spending most of your day solving issues that aren't really there :P

And that's how the rest of the day has gone too, and it's not ended on a good note either this afternoon. I'm at that point where it's best to just step away from the computer (or blog, hee hee) to ensure that I don't throw the screen across the room in frustration.

Hmmm, there was so much I had to say this morning. Ah yes, I went to see another house yesterday during lunch. I had high hopes for this place, it was like Number 1 on my list. Gorgeous complex, good suburb and an acceptable price. I'll admit I was warned before the viewing ... and it's not what put me off the place (it's more the layout / design of the unit) but I arrive to find a family of five (the 3 kids must've all been under 6 or so) living in this little one-bedroomed unit. Seriously. It's quite insane and really made me think about our individual standards.

I can't help thinking about the poor (in my opinion) wife and mother, she must be around my age and a prime example of what I'd call cultural brain-washing. She spends her days at home in this tiny space with her 3 kids cooking and what not. The Estate Agent had to call her husband to get permission to take me to the place. Is this what she expected of her life? Is she happy with her lot? Does she think it will improve? What are these people working towards or is this enough for them? Me, I get annoyed if it looks like I can't go on an annual international holiday!

It's about perspective I guess. I can't imagine how kiddie 2 and 3 arrived in the first place if they're all there sleeping on one extra large bed (seriously, they had at least 2 beds pushed together in the one bedroom, I dunno how they even got them in there in the first place). Their lounge was completely empty but for metal (almost like filing cabinets) cupboards. Just about every curtain in the house was closed and thick and dark. What are these kids growing up thinking?

And what did this poor woman think having me (I guess there's a little gender-stereotyping here but comparing myself to her) coming in looking to potentially buy the place they can only rent. Sheesh.

*shiver* enough about that now. I have some very exciting (to me) news :) I have started noticing boys again. Okay, I realise that that probably sounds ridiculous, but, for me, when I've been in a long relationship, my brain is not conditioned to weigh up every guy that passes within view (evaluating his looks, asking yourself if he's single and hell, perhaps even flirting a little). I'm not saying I don't notice anyone, but it sort of takes on a different meaning and it takes a little while for this to all come back after a break-up. My personal estimate is around 3 months (and I was pretty spot on actually).

So yeah, it's an exciting time :)

Oh, and I have sort of decided on the unit I'm probably going to buy ... if only the freaking Estate Agent would return my calls :P *potentially more excitement*

A Busy Little Bee

I've been a busy busy little bee.

Last Thursday evening was book club. Always awesome to see those lovely ladies :)

On Friday Telkom came round to install my phone line, well not really. So far I've been very impressed with Telkom's call-center, even if you can barely hear them even after adjusting the volume on my work line (Telkom's call-center is the only place I've called that I've ever had to use the little volume button, what on earth is wrong with them, they are the telephone people?!?). Anyway. I had called the Call-Center ton Thursday to confirm that they were indeed coming on Friday and made sure there was a note there for their technician to call me when he arrived since I live about 3 mins from work, so that I could pop home and let him in. I called again at around midday on Friday when I had yet to hear from them.

At 1pm, when the technician arrived at my house, do you think he called me? No. I had to get another call from my land-lady's business saying that people were there for me (it happened before when the bed got delivered because the delivery guy's phone didn't work - I'm sure she thinks I'm not even specifically requesting that these people call me when they arrive :P Oh well, what can you do really). So after giving the technician a piece of my mind for not following what I know was specifically on file, he proceeded to check my line and it turns out it's not connected to the exchange :P So now I have to wait for the cable guys to connect it or something. Who knows when that'll be? So I'm not really feeling that much closer to getting internet at home yet :(

On Friday evening I was considering going to an Anti-Valentine's Party, but no one else ended up being keen so instead I went for after-work drinks at Capello's ... from 5pm - 9pm! It was a very cool start to the weekend :)

Now I know you're going to be a little surprised here, but I didn't buy one single thing for the house this whole weekend! This weekend was more about me.

I did a Camera Course on Saturday with Jo Fonesca and Doug Place. It was a whole day (a very hot day too) but totally worth it. I learnt all about F-stops and shutter speed and ISO settings and exposure settings. It was exactly what I needed to feel more confident with my SLR camera. Although I do sorta wish I'd known this stuff before I went to Canada, I am still very slow and experimental with the settings so I'm not sure how much it would've really helped. I plan to experiment a lot with it now that I know how to control all these setting tho :)

I was exhausted by the end of the day and had a very quiet evening at home. Mostly tho I was going thru the property paper looking for possible houses ;)

So yes, those of you watching on Twitter will know I spent a large portion of yesterday (4hours!) house-hunting. Well, first there was breakfast at Papachino's with CollegeInstructor for some couch-hunting (at Sevens). Mostly all the couch-hunting did was to reassure me that the couch I've chosen (but not yet bought) is exactly the one I want, I haven't seen anything else around that grabs my eye. Which is how I actually like to shop :) It's the same going to all these furniture places now looking at the few 4-poster bed's they have for sale. It's been so reassuring me that mine is my favourite one and makes me more thrilled with my purchase. Nothing like a little self-patting on the back!

So, the house-hunting. I've sort of decided that I should get into the property market. I'm not looking for a place for me to live (which makes the house-hunting that little bit easier), I'm looking for somewhere I can buy and rent out and that way, although I'm renting and contributing to someone else's income or bond, I won't feel like it's a total drain on myself because someone else will be contributing to my bond and I'll still have an investment at the end of it. So CollegeInstructor, Miss B and I set off at 12pm with a list of 11 properties to look at (I can't tell you how I had to narrow them down after cutting all the ones in my price range out of the newspaper - it does make it easier now that I'm not as constrained by area as I would be if I had to live there). We ended up seeing 9 properties in 4 hours (not too shabby!). So far I have one I'm really interested in, although I didn't actually see it, I saw it's big sister (a 2 bed, 2 bath in the same complex), but am hoping to make an appointment with the agent to see it this week. And then there are 2 studio's I'm quite interested in just because they are so much cheaper and I could pay them off far quicker and therefore start earning an income from their rental (to hopefully contribute to paying off another place). So yeah, not too bad for the first day of hunting!

I will say tho that out of the 9 we did see one truly shocking place. In the right area and earning more rental income that any other studio we saw ... but revolting, truly hideous. And another where the place inside was great bu the complex itself looked dreadfully run down. I personally love the ones that are already empty on show.

And then we headed to Cranks (which neither CollegeInstructor or Miss B had tried, they haven't really been in Joburg that long and Rosebank is a bit out of their local area) for a late lunch. It was delish, as always and lovely to be back, I can't remember the last time I ate there (since Varen wasn't really a fan).

Again, another day I ended exhausted. And now there's a brand new week ahead :)

It's the Little Things

So it has been a quiet week by recent standards, and I'm not complaining one bit!

I skipped SCM Dinner on Monday night cause I had a headache ... unusual for me but I guess it was just my body slowing me down and telling me to take an easy night at home :)

On Tuesday evening Beukes and I were both going to be home so decided to have our inaugural house-mate dinner :) I made Mexican mince and we had tortilla's. It was delish ... although my mince wasn't quite up to standard since I forget that I don't have a cupboard full of basics these days :) But this is the way we figure stuff out ... I need a cutting board and some decent knives and a few tomato paste sashays.

On Wednesday I had booked myself a Full Body Swedish Massage ... we'd got a voucher from work about a million months ago and it had been lying around in my bag (I know, the sacrilege). It was pretty damn awesome but this morning I'm feeling a little tender around the shoulders ...

I was supposed to have dinner with some friends last night but it got canceled so instead I ended up watching 5 new episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Brilliant :)

And this is where the week stops being quiet and relaxed. I have a lunch with some old colleagues (I think, depends if we can finally get ourselves organised), book club this evening, a possible party on Friday night and then a Camera course the whole day Saturday. Shoo.

Oh, and *hopefully* Telkom will show up as scheduled tomorrow and install my voice line and then I'll also be buying my couch this weekend. Yes, life is still very, very good :)

The Rapture by Liz Jensen

In a merciless summer of biblical heat and destructive winds, Gabrielle Fox's main concern is a personal one: to rebuild her career as a psychologist after a shattering car accident. But when she is assigned Bethany Krall, one of the most dangerous teenagers in the country, she begins to fear she has made a terrible mistake. Raised on a diet of evangelistic hellfire, Bethany is violent, delusional, cruelly intuitive and insistent that she can foresee natural disasters - a claim which Gabrielle interprets as a symptom of doomsday delusion. But when catastrophes begin to occur on the very dates Bethany has predicted, and a brilliant, gentle physicist enters the equation, the apocalyptic puzzle intensifies and the stakes multiply. Is the self-proclaimed Nostradamus of the psych ward the ultimate manipulator, or could she be the harbinger of imminent global cataclysm on a scale never seen before? And what can love mean in 'interesting times'? A haunting story of human passion and burning faith set against an adventure of tectonic proportions, The Rapture is an electrifying psychological thriller that explores the dark extremes of mankind's self-destruction in a world on the brink.

Hmmm. I dunno about this one. It didn't really come together for me in the end. I'm not really sure exactly what the book was supposed to be about in the end either. It's got some interesting characters and some nice descriptions but I still wouldn't recommend it.

Welcome Roomie

Friday evening started the weekend out slowly. I spent ages in traffic trying to get from my new home to my lovely vet so that he could inspect Rex's sore feet again (although, as I mentioned, this time he seemed to have an irritation on both his front paws that he was chewing at and making worse). It wasn't as bad as it looked to me (I couldn't really get a good look tho). It's not an open wound as I thought it was, it's just a callous forming that he's irritating.

But I did get his very long nails clipped, which I think I will do (well, not me personally, I will keep taking him to the vet for that, he squirms wa-ay too much for me to try attempting it!) every 3 months or so from now on.

And then I went home to make myself some dinner and clear out my spare room.

On Friday morning I'd got an sms from my friend Beukes, who I'd offered my spare room to way back when I first moved in. I figured he must've found himself another place by now and had thought nothing more of it ... being quite happy with living on my lonesome at this stage, actually. In truth, I don't mind either way and did rather leave it up to fate to decide if I lived alone or not. Beukes is the only person I offered the room to (it's not like I'm on the desperate hunt for a house-mate and put it on gumtree or anything!!). So anyway, he wanted to know if my room was still available.

So, yeah, I had to clear out my spare room (which had basically turned itself into a laundry room in the last few weeks of rain ;) ) and he moved in on Saturday. Has been kinda weird getting used to someone else "wandering the halls" and what not, but I don't forsee any problems with the two of us co-habiting. Hell, our mom's are even planning a trip up here to visit together apparently ;) (Did I mention I've known Beukes since he was about in Standard 2/Grade 4?)

Saturday I was up early doing admin type stuff, getting keys cut and remotes set for his impending move and I bought myself a new shower-head. Can I just say I think it's the best R250 I've spent during this entire move? I *love* it!

I can't remember what else I did on Saturday, I did laze around watching more Eddie Izzard dvds :) And later, @saulkza & @nadgia came over to see my new place and we went off to Yamada for some sushi (yum!). They gave me a beautiful orchid as a house-warming gift ... which I promise to try and keep alive :)

> Follow @saulkza on Twitter:

> Follow @nadgia on Twitter:

Sunday was made up of equal parts productive and laziness :) The morning started early-ish with a trip to Builder's Warehouse to buy some more bricks to finish off the bunny-hutch area. And I decided to buy some of those "sheets" of grass you see them selling on the side of the road to try out in the hutch as a possible solution to Rex's sore feet (it's that they need cushioning, which is why we originally tried the yoga mats, but grass is obviously ideal for them). I love it so far, I only needed 3 sheets (at R8 a sheet, hell if I have to buy replacements every 2 weeks, I'm happy to do that!). It makes the hutch looks so much nicer inside and they seem to like it so far - although they seemed a little confused by it initially.

And then CollegeInstructor and I headed off to Miss B's and the three of us went for (what turned into) a long lazy boozy lunch at Piatto. A truly perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We shared a delish garlic & mozarella focaccia. I had the butternut panzerotti as my main (very nice! I was expecting to have a few left-overs for today, but there were none) and then we ordered 3 different desserts to taste.

The Izzard Report Back

So on Tuesday afternoon @clairam came round to see my new place after work and then we headed off to The Bowling Club at Zoo Lake for a pre-Eddie Izzard dinner and drink.

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Was pretty cool since I've never been there properly before (only in November when we were actually there to play bowls ... which some might argue is a more proper reason to be there actually ;) haha). Is unbelievable how cheap the food is, we each paid R27.50 for our dinner and under R10 a drink. And the food definitely hit the spot.

And then it was off to The Civic. I was quite surprised (and a little worried) when we arrived and there wasn't a single mention of Mr Izzard's performance. The only thing they seemed to be advertising was four-six-six-six-four. I really did have a moment of panic wondering if we were at the right place! We had another drink there while we waited for @tfrayne and Maroon to arrive and then headed into our seats when the bell rang.

Oh my word, you could feel the excitement in the air :) And add to that the fact that we were sitting behind John Vlismas, Trevor Noah and Chris Forrest (oh, and we saw Alex Jay there too), and you must know how tingly I was feeling :)

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Eddie came on stage with sadly not a spot of make-up in sight, which was about the only disappointing thing I can say about the evening. He was amazing. And he performed for a good three hours (with a half hour interval in the middle) and I know he'd only just flown into Joburg mere hours before! To say it was worth every cent would be an understatement, I will say that I did go and check if the Sunday night show had any seats available the next day tho ;) Sadly, it was already sold out, otherwise I seriously might've been in danger of going again! I'm even wondering if Izzard is an appropriate name for my possible future son ;)

✓ Tick.

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To say it was a late night would be an understatement. The show ended at about 23h30, we got out of the parking around midnight and then headed home. And then I coudn't sleep because my head was buzzing. I think I probably dozed off around 02h30. I was pretty buggered on Wednesday.

But that didn't stop me from heading over to Bert's new place (one of the book club girls who has just moved into a place literally about 2mins from my new place :) ) and then we went out for a celebratory dinner at our local O'Hagans (only because it's literally within walking distance from her place and so, walk we did). I can't even remember when last I was at an O'Hagans, and the last time I was probably at any similar sort of pub would've been for some rugby-game while I was dating Bean. So long ago. But I tried their Rib Burger and it was quite delish (it had nacho's on it too!) ... aside from the fact that even de-boned ribs are not the right shape for a hamburger-roll. Was great catching up with her outside of book club :)

And tonight, I'm looking forward to spending a quiet one on my own at home :) I'm exhausted!

ps. Apparently Telkom will be installing my phone line next Friday ... damn, I really did think it'd be sooner.

It's Eddie Izzard Day

Yay, yay, it's Eddie Izzard day :)

Yesterday feels like it was a very productive day. Funny how since I moved out Monday evenings are just so much more fun, even when I skip @clairam's Slow-Cooker-Monday Dinners.

Last night I skipped gym too (naughty), but after being a beautifully sunny day, the rain was back and I just wasn't in the mood. Also, I spent some of the time I should've been at gym a little more productively, I was on the phone with Telkom ordering my voice line (which they have to install and then I can upgrade to an ADSL line ... since I want to do a "self-installation" ... whatever that is, but the guys at work assure me it's the way to go :) ) So yes, there will be a purchase of a wireless router at some point in my future too. And I'm looking forward to signing up with Afrihost as well, I can't pass up their amazing R29/Gb offer!

And once that's all done I'll buy myself one of those cool Ladder Desk's from Mr Price Home. And I figure at the same time they're delivering that I might as well get them to deliver my Brooklyn 3-seater couch ... I've looked around at other couches, but I really can't find anything that grabs me more than that one, so I think I will have to take the plunge :) But the way I figure it I may as well get both delivered at once ... so not sure when exactly it'll all come together.

Perhaps I should be taking bets on when you all think Telkom will show up to install my line. I have my heart set on before the end of the week. I have faith ;) Haha.

Also last night CollegeInstructor came round to say hi and I ended up cooking us dinner ... nothing too fancy, just some scrambled eggs (I was desperate to use my new pan! Which I love, by the way) and I introduced him to the comedy genius of Eddie Izzard. As if I couldn't be excited enough about today's impending performance :)

More More More

Sho, time seems to be flying past, it's February already! And what a year 2010 is turning out to be :)

On Friday night we went for after-work drinks at Capello's (yay, more Watermelon & Chili Mojito's for me!) and while we were enjoying ourselves there, the grandmother of all rainstorms descended on us!

I got home to be very grateful that the bunny-hutch is on *two* bricks instead of just one ... it looked like they were surrounded by a swimming pool of water! But they survived and have immensely enjoyed the recent spate of sunshine we've been having :)

After drinks, I headed off to Bangkok Wok at Cedar Square for dinner with @NoaNeo1, BrotherSwoop's ex girlf (and yes, a mere 3 weeks after their 6 yr relationship ended and apparently he too has a new girlf ... definitely something genetic about not being alone in this family me thinks!). But we had an absolute blast catching up and swapping break-up stories ... surprising how alike the brothers turned out to be, actually ;) She recommended the Golden Noodle Duck and I can say that it is sublime :) yumyum.

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On Saturday I had a morning of more retail therapy planned, but the handyman arrived knocking at my door at 8:30am to finish with my snag list (which actually I was thrilled about once everything was done :) ) So I got started on my day's mission a little late, but had a *most* productive day :)

It started with a call to Bree Produce ... and *yes*, they had a bale of Erogros Hay for me & the bunnies. Thrilled! So that was a major top-priority on my list, and one I wasn't sure I'd managed to get ticked off this weekend ... but I am so glad to have been able to clean their hutch and give them fresh hay! They are so much happier :)

Oh, and I took this awesome picture of Lily on Sunday. She was posing so nicely ... but my Blackberry camera has a bit of a delay and this, instead, is what I got. I love it cause everything is perfectly in focus ... except her, obviously ;)

And then it was on to Mr Price Home to spend some of my house-warming vouchers (Thanks RubyLetters & Doodles!). I had already seen exactly what I wanted, a set of drawers for the bathroom so that I could finally unpack all my bathroom clutter :) And I'm thrilled with the result! (I even assembled it myself!)



And then I headed off to spend the rest of my house-warming gifts (Thanks Jackson's Mom and Arkwife!) on new linen for my new bed. I *love* it! Luckily when I bought it I completely forgot to get a fitted sheet ... so I went to get one on Sunday, by which time I'd decided that a white one would just be too boring (and I could get one at any old time if I changed my mind) and decided to get a cerise one instead :) I love that it looks all pure white one top with just the embroidered flower detail and then when you climb in it's bright and funky. I am definitely loving shopping with only myself in mind ... I can choose whatever zany thing pops into my head :)

Okay, so that seems like a *lot* of pink all in one weekend ... but you gotta make do with what's available and what catches your eye ... Besides, it's not like it's all in the same room. And I love all my new stuffs :)

On Saturday evening I met J9-double0blonde for dinner at Melrose Arch and we decided to give Piza e Vino a try. Was awesome, I had a very delish half-and-half pizza with half their Pizza Very Verde (Pomodoro, mozzarella, spinach, zucchini ribbons, mascarpone, basil oil) and half their La Greca (Pomodoro, mozzarella, Dargle valley bacon, feta and avo). Their pizza base is nice and thin too. I would definitely go back! And we had shared a good bottle of red too ;) Was an awesome evening of catching up :)

On Sunday I did a little more shopping, more mundane stuff tho, like pots and pans, my fitted sheet and more cooking utensils. but every weekend the house comes together a little more and slowly slowly it's becoming a home :) I'm very happy. Although I did have some twinges of missing a person to be sharing it all with late last night ... I know, how is t hat even possible considering how much time I spent out and about with people this weekend but, it's the sharing the quiet time that makes it different, I guess?

I went for Sunday lunch at Co.fi (also at Cedar Square, I'm becoming a local, haha ;) ) with the Bookclub Mommies, babies, hubbies and all :) It was lovely to catch up and see the growing babes. The lunch was yummy too, I had one of their gourmet sandwiches and a Co.fi shake ... and anywhere that offers a coffee-flavoured milkshake for a mere R15 is awesome in my book!

So yeah, another all-round awesome weekend. Filled with even more friends and shopping :) I am a lucky lucky girl.

Oh and ps. I'm going to Eddie Izzard tomorrow night and I simply can NOT wait! *more awesomeness*