Why Me? (and, How to finish off a Birthday in Style)
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 10 March 2010 at 3/10/2010 01:52:00 pm.
So basically I'm down in the dumps today because
a) I'm exhausted
b) I haven't had any humor therapy in weeks
c) My tutor hates my thesis proposal (thanks for telling me 1 week before I'm supposed to hand in a pre-draft)
d) I'm behind on work
e) I'm behind on my last ditch effort at Animal Peeps magazine
f) I haven't been to the gym in weeks thanks to tendonitis
However, at least the cops haven't come after me.
"The COPS?" you ask.... "Why would the cops come after you?" Well! Allow me to explain!
So it's my birthday, and we're at the hash, and it turns into a first-class SNAFU and general adventure into WTF-Land. First of all, the hares of the day set a horrible trail, which resulted in the absolute worst-case-Hash-scenario of the sun going down so that the trail can't be seen and people getting lost. There's Major Feckup 1.
Enter Major Feckup 2. Said lost people leave angry, once they get "un-lost". All this on my watch as Grand Mattress. Nobody blaming me, however, since I wasn't the hare for the day. Whew.
On to Major Feckup 3. Said run had been set from the start point of empty public car park. Making our after-run socializing just a wee bit illegally located. Now, mind you, this is a commonplace and everyday occurrence with the Hash (most of our runs are set from public places), not to mention the fact that half of G-city is ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, 100% of the time, creating general drunken chaos out on the streets and public spaces of the city until the wee hours of the morning, and generally disturb the peace at all costs. What *we* do is have one bottle of water or a light beer and some social chatter, and go home. So naturally you can understand why 30 cops roll up in about 10 vehicles and bust us before any drinks are even consumed???? NOT! Whatever. I'm not one to condone breaking the law, and yes, we were in an abandoned parking lot - technically public space. So whatever. What gets the RETARDO OF THE YEAR award however, is that they rolled up, confiscated our very expensive coolerboxes full of soft drinks, water, and beer, and "asked" everyone to come down to the cop shop. And I am not sarcastically using the word "asked". Literally. ASKED. So obviously as part of the Mismanagement team, The Mr. and I decided (felt obligated) that we better accompany the 10 or so devout members that decided to round up a posse and head down to the cop shop to get our cooler boxes back. Obviously no one was concerned about getting the book thrown at us BECAUSE NO ONE HAD EVEN BEGUN DRINKING YET when the fuzz arrived! Therefore obviously no one could get in trouble for drinking. (In BW law, it is not illegal to have a coolerbox full of beer sitting out in a parking lot. The illegal part is when you drink it. If these fools were at least 10% smart they would've at least waited til someone cracked a damn beer open! Nevermind the fact that 10metres away there was some sort of drunken brawl going on in another parking lot between CLEARLY DRUNKEN, BEER-DRINKING LOCAL GUYS). Whatever. Knowing we were all 100% innocent, a gaggle of us decided there was a better chance of getting our stuff back if a large number of us showed up at the cop shop OF OUR OWN VOILITION to sort the shizzle out.
Not to be. They wanted our personal details (why?) and wanted us to all sign guilty forms (why?) and wanted us to all cooperate in a full-scale investigation (of WHAT?) blah blah blah. Obviously none of us were going to do that crap, and spent the rest of the night in the station arguing with people who didn't have a damn clue about the law or how to do their copping. What they WANTED was to bust a bunch of white folk and confiscate a bunch of drinks so they could have a full blown piss-up after they knocked off for the evening. Welcome to the 3rd world. Feckers.
Finally we all just gave them some random personal info (you can guess yourself if any of it was factual or not) and signed a bunch of benign crap and left. Happy freakin b-day to me! Not to mention I've got LJJ here the whole time and now it's what - 2 hours past her bedtime? And a freakin wet diaper? Anyway. Apparently no one has been followed up on, to date, so I guess someone from the actual super-ranks finally talked some sense into the 14-year-old officers in question the next day. What I imagine went something like "was anyone ACTUALLY drinking?" and "do you have any PROOF?" and "you realize there are robberies and domestic assaults going on right now?" or whatever to that effect, and hopefully that's the end of it.
Freakin circus.
In other (positive) news, I didn't hear anything else from the Australian Immigration Nazis, which I take as a good sign that LJJ will most likely get her 2-week-visitors visa. Simple friggin pleasures, like.
a) I'm exhausted
b) I haven't had any humor therapy in weeks
c) My tutor hates my thesis proposal (thanks for telling me 1 week before I'm supposed to hand in a pre-draft)
d) I'm behind on work
e) I'm behind on my last ditch effort at Animal Peeps magazine
f) I haven't been to the gym in weeks thanks to tendonitis
However, at least the cops haven't come after me.
"The COPS?" you ask.... "Why would the cops come after you?" Well! Allow me to explain!
So it's my birthday, and we're at the hash, and it turns into a first-class SNAFU and general adventure into WTF-Land. First of all, the hares of the day set a horrible trail, which resulted in the absolute worst-case-Hash-scenario of the sun going down so that the trail can't be seen and people getting lost. There's Major Feckup 1.
Enter Major Feckup 2. Said lost people leave angry, once they get "un-lost". All this on my watch as Grand Mattress. Nobody blaming me, however, since I wasn't the hare for the day. Whew.
On to Major Feckup 3. Said run had been set from the start point of empty public car park. Making our after-run socializing just a wee bit illegally located. Now, mind you, this is a commonplace and everyday occurrence with the Hash (most of our runs are set from public places), not to mention the fact that half of G-city is ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL, 100% of the time, creating general drunken chaos out on the streets and public spaces of the city until the wee hours of the morning, and generally disturb the peace at all costs. What *we* do is have one bottle of water or a light beer and some social chatter, and go home. So naturally you can understand why 30 cops roll up in about 10 vehicles and bust us before any drinks are even consumed???? NOT! Whatever. I'm not one to condone breaking the law, and yes, we were in an abandoned parking lot - technically public space. So whatever. What gets the RETARDO OF THE YEAR award however, is that they rolled up, confiscated our very expensive coolerboxes full of soft drinks, water, and beer, and "asked" everyone to come down to the cop shop. And I am not sarcastically using the word "asked". Literally. ASKED. So obviously as part of the Mismanagement team, The Mr. and I decided (felt obligated) that we better accompany the 10 or so devout members that decided to round up a posse and head down to the cop shop to get our cooler boxes back. Obviously no one was concerned about getting the book thrown at us BECAUSE NO ONE HAD EVEN BEGUN DRINKING YET when the fuzz arrived! Therefore obviously no one could get in trouble for drinking. (In BW law, it is not illegal to have a coolerbox full of beer sitting out in a parking lot. The illegal part is when you drink it. If these fools were at least 10% smart they would've at least waited til someone cracked a damn beer open! Nevermind the fact that 10metres away there was some sort of drunken brawl going on in another parking lot between CLEARLY DRUNKEN, BEER-DRINKING LOCAL GUYS). Whatever. Knowing we were all 100% innocent, a gaggle of us decided there was a better chance of getting our stuff back if a large number of us showed up at the cop shop OF OUR OWN VOILITION to sort the shizzle out.
Not to be. They wanted our personal details (why?) and wanted us to all sign guilty forms (why?) and wanted us to all cooperate in a full-scale investigation (of WHAT?) blah blah blah. Obviously none of us were going to do that crap, and spent the rest of the night in the station arguing with people who didn't have a damn clue about the law or how to do their copping. What they WANTED was to bust a bunch of white folk and confiscate a bunch of drinks so they could have a full blown piss-up after they knocked off for the evening. Welcome to the 3rd world. Feckers.
Finally we all just gave them some random personal info (you can guess yourself if any of it was factual or not) and signed a bunch of benign crap and left. Happy freakin b-day to me! Not to mention I've got LJJ here the whole time and now it's what - 2 hours past her bedtime? And a freakin wet diaper? Anyway. Apparently no one has been followed up on, to date, so I guess someone from the actual super-ranks finally talked some sense into the 14-year-old officers in question the next day. What I imagine went something like "was anyone ACTUALLY drinking?" and "do you have any PROOF?" and "you realize there are robberies and domestic assaults going on right now?" or whatever to that effect, and hopefully that's the end of it.
Freakin circus.
In other (positive) news, I didn't hear anything else from the Australian Immigration Nazis, which I take as a good sign that LJJ will most likely get her 2-week-visitors visa. Simple friggin pleasures, like.
It is I, the Grand Mattress! (And, What I REALLY meant was...)
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 24 February 2010 at 2/24/2010 10:45:00 am.
Well, the inevitable happened and lo and behold The Mr. and I have found ourselves on another committee!! Although this time I can live with the committee, being that there are no monthly meetings, no fund raisers, no PR events.... altogether a relatively obligation-free responsibility. While I feel honored to have been "elected" into what is apparently the bigwig position of the Hash, I'm just nervous that I will suck at it, and what were these people thinking?!?! Pete was soooooooo good as Grand Master.... he's funny, witty, can command respect, and is one of those outgoing types who makes people just WANT to do what he says. And at that hash that usually means sitting on a block of ice while you get serenaded with drinking songs due to some transgression or another that you've been found guilty of.... or hanging a big piece of rhino shit on a rope, around your neck for some other reason, etc. At any rate, here goes. I just need to learn to throw my voice because
The Mr., on the other hand, has a great job. He got elected Braumeister, and is now in charge of mixing the most horrific, nasty-tasting, nuclear-colored drinks he can dream up, for those guilty of their hash crimes. And he has to house the hash beer fridge for the duration of his tenure, and ensure that all hash beverages make it from point A to point B on time and in an icy cold manner.
Otherwise, the last couple weeks have been interesting, as it just so happened that I got in touch with more than one "long-losty" as seems to be happening more and more in the day and age of FB. Anyway, that was really great. Especially one in particular, someone who was my real BFF during one of the major parts of my most life-changing years. In the spirit of 2010, I'm not going to complain about it, but may I just say it is WORTH NOTING that I have had to have the same conversation at least 3 times during all these cyber reunions and that is: "but you SWORE that you were NEVER going to have KIDS!" Since the arrival of LJJ on the scene, I've had this conv. about a bizillion times now, and it just goes to show that what you SAY and what people HEAR can be completely confounded by the likes of one or two little words that can go either way.
Let's start with the facts:
1. I may not be a lot of things, but one thing I definitely AM, is a gal of the "never say never" mind. You tell me you'll "never" go back to smoking or that girl or that job or eating death by chocolate for breakfast, and I'll say "HEY watch it, stranger things have happened!" or "HEY never say never!" I know, because it's true!
2. I have said a lot of things in the anti-offspring department, absolutely. Yes. 100% correct. But ALWAYS in the back of my mind there was a door open somewhere, I just had to figure out down which corridor it was located. Therefore.... "never say never!"
So as I have recently found myself explaining (x 10), I would like to clear up the things that could easily have been interpreted as me saying something as CATAGORICAL and BLACK AND WHITE as "Me. Child. Never. Forever."
10 Things I probably said:
1. Kids? Not a fan. (as in.... "of other peoples!" or, "poorly behaved ones!")
2. Us? Kids? I don't see it happening any time soon (as in.... "soon could be anywhere between 2 days and 10 years")
3. Not really interested at the moment (as in, see above)
4. "Eeeewwww!!!" (as in, "eeewww! child birth!!!"... again, strictly related to child-getting methodology)
5. Not even on the radar right now (see No.s 2, 3)
6. Why don't you go and have yours first and then we'll see (as in.... I'm not in a hurry, k?)
7. My husband's & my outrageous, radical enviro-nazi, anti-populationist beliefs prevent us from breeding more humans for the earth to absorb when there's already clearly a population crisis stemming from 18 year old poverty stricken African mothers of 5 in this country to wealthy high-impact, high-CO2 footprint mormon families in Utah or Catholics in Ireland thumbing their noses at the concept of Replacement Rate, overall resulting in too many babies that already exist (as in.... I still don't believe in personally contributing to population issues).
8. Uhhhhh.... I dunno.... (as in.... "I. Don't. Know." but anything's possible!)
9. I've got dogs. Aren't my dogs GREAT???!!! (as in.... "not ready yet!!"... but still, anything's possible!!), and finally,
10. But I love The Mr. sooo much, I don't think I would want to share him with anyone else!! (absolutely, totally true! But not a categorical denial of 100% of any possibility for eternity!!)
And yes, there's probably a wealth of others - I'm sure I'll be reminded of 4,000 of them after writing this, but still.... I know in my own BRAIN that I never believed it would be smart to say "uh-uh, NEVER!", because hey, it was always a possibility. Hell, I'm the one who never wanted to put my old copy of "Goodnight Moon" in our family's numerous garage sales because I always wanted to hand it down! But ultimately The Mr. & I both just had to get to a point where we could figure out how and when we could both live with doing it. Sure I'm probably writing all this now because my BUDDIES out there try to make me feel guilty for alluding to one thing and doing another, especially b/c LJJ is such a cutie pants and they get a kick out of saying "now see, aren't you glad you CHANGED YOUR MIND??" but I still firmly believe it comes down to splitting hairs semantically. Because I know what was, and wasn't, actually on my/our life-and-family-planning agenda, regardless of what other people want to hear when I utter the nonsense that comes out of my mouth!!
Anyhoo, if nothing else the lesson learned from all this, here, is still that I stand by my conviction that it's silly to make black and white statements that use the word "never" in them, and I still maintain that I try not to do it! (see how I said that without using the words "I never do it"??) And! even when you are creative with your sematics (like I try to be!) to avoid making gross generalizations or statements of concrete... be careful because people still read into the words you say and will ride your ass about what they heard, for years to come! And in the Spirit of 2010 it's just unhealthy to use qualifiers in the negative anyway, so there!
In other Year of Positivity news, I'm hitting this whole "relationship building" with the parents thing head-on. I resolved to say at least 10 supportive and positive things about the Ma & Pa last night at the hash, to everyone who will be meeting them next week, in preparation for not falling into that whole "uhhhhnnnnn, my parents are coming.... uhhhnnnnnn.... they're gonna drive me nuts & they're so annnoooyyyying" trap that I have been really bad at propogating over the last, what, 16 years of my life??? So now, everyone at the hash is looking forward to meeting them and has given me all sorts of positive vibes about how we are going to have such a nice time, and how special it will be for them to meet their first grand-offspring, etc etc etc and I really believe that it is genuinely helping get me in the right head space for their impending arrival. The power of this whole verbalizing-the-right-things-and-they-will-come-true is truly impressive! I heartily recommend it!
The Mr., on the other hand, has a great job. He got elected Braumeister, and is now in charge of mixing the most horrific, nasty-tasting, nuclear-colored drinks he can dream up, for those guilty of their hash crimes. And he has to house the hash beer fridge for the duration of his tenure, and ensure that all hash beverages make it from point A to point B on time and in an icy cold manner.
Otherwise, the last couple weeks have been interesting, as it just so happened that I got in touch with more than one "long-losty" as seems to be happening more and more in the day and age of FB. Anyway, that was really great. Especially one in particular, someone who was my real BFF during one of the major parts of my most life-changing years. In the spirit of 2010, I'm not going to complain about it, but may I just say it is WORTH NOTING that I have had to have the same conversation at least 3 times during all these cyber reunions and that is: "but you SWORE that you were NEVER going to have KIDS!" Since the arrival of LJJ on the scene, I've had this conv. about a bizillion times now, and it just goes to show that what you SAY and what people HEAR can be completely confounded by the likes of one or two little words that can go either way.
Let's start with the facts:
1. I may not be a lot of things, but one thing I definitely AM, is a gal of the "never say never" mind. You tell me you'll "never" go back to smoking or that girl or that job or eating death by chocolate for breakfast, and I'll say "HEY watch it, stranger things have happened!" or "HEY never say never!" I know, because it's true!
2. I have said a lot of things in the anti-offspring department, absolutely. Yes. 100% correct. But ALWAYS in the back of my mind there was a door open somewhere, I just had to figure out down which corridor it was located. Therefore.... "never say never!"
So as I have recently found myself explaining (x 10), I would like to clear up the things that could easily have been interpreted as me saying something as CATAGORICAL and BLACK AND WHITE as "Me. Child. Never. Forever."
10 Things I probably said:
1. Kids? Not a fan. (as in.... "of other peoples!" or, "poorly behaved ones!")
2. Us? Kids? I don't see it happening any time soon (as in.... "soon could be anywhere between 2 days and 10 years")
3. Not really interested at the moment (as in, see above)
4. "Eeeewwww!!!" (as in, "eeewww! child birth!!!"... again, strictly related to child-getting methodology)
5. Not even on the radar right now (see No.s 2, 3)
6. Why don't you go and have yours first and then we'll see (as in.... I'm not in a hurry, k?)
7. My husband's & my outrageous, radical enviro-nazi, anti-populationist beliefs prevent us from breeding more humans for the earth to absorb when there's already clearly a population crisis stemming from 18 year old poverty stricken African mothers of 5 in this country to wealthy high-impact, high-CO2 footprint mormon families in Utah or Catholics in Ireland thumbing their noses at the concept of Replacement Rate, overall resulting in too many babies that already exist (as in.... I still don't believe in personally contributing to population issues).
8. Uhhhhh.... I dunno.... (as in.... "I. Don't. Know." but anything's possible!)
9. I've got dogs. Aren't my dogs GREAT???!!! (as in.... "not ready yet!!"... but still, anything's possible!!), and finally,
10. But I love The Mr. sooo much, I don't think I would want to share him with anyone else!! (absolutely, totally true! But not a categorical denial of 100% of any possibility for eternity!!)
And yes, there's probably a wealth of others - I'm sure I'll be reminded of 4,000 of them after writing this, but still.... I know in my own BRAIN that I never believed it would be smart to say "uh-uh, NEVER!", because hey, it was always a possibility. Hell, I'm the one who never wanted to put my old copy of "Goodnight Moon" in our family's numerous garage sales because I always wanted to hand it down! But ultimately The Mr. & I both just had to get to a point where we could figure out how and when we could both live with doing it. Sure I'm probably writing all this now because my BUDDIES out there try to make me feel guilty for alluding to one thing and doing another, especially b/c LJJ is such a cutie pants and they get a kick out of saying "now see, aren't you glad you CHANGED YOUR MIND??" but I still firmly believe it comes down to splitting hairs semantically. Because I know what was, and wasn't, actually on my/our life-and-family-planning agenda, regardless of what other people want to hear when I utter the nonsense that comes out of my mouth!!
Anyhoo, if nothing else the lesson learned from all this, here, is still that I stand by my conviction that it's silly to make black and white statements that use the word "never" in them, and I still maintain that I try not to do it! (see how I said that without using the words "I never do it"??) And! even when you are creative with your sematics (like I try to be!) to avoid making gross generalizations or statements of concrete... be careful because people still read into the words you say and will ride your ass about what they heard, for years to come! And in the Spirit of 2010 it's just unhealthy to use qualifiers in the negative anyway, so there!
In other Year of Positivity news, I'm hitting this whole "relationship building" with the parents thing head-on. I resolved to say at least 10 supportive and positive things about the Ma & Pa last night at the hash, to everyone who will be meeting them next week, in preparation for not falling into that whole "uhhhhnnnnn, my parents are coming.... uhhhnnnnnn.... they're gonna drive me nuts & they're so annnoooyyyying" trap that I have been really bad at propogating over the last, what, 16 years of my life??? So now, everyone at the hash is looking forward to meeting them and has given me all sorts of positive vibes about how we are going to have such a nice time, and how special it will be for them to meet their first grand-offspring, etc etc etc and I really believe that it is genuinely helping get me in the right head space for their impending arrival. The power of this whole verbalizing-the-right-things-and-they-will-come-true is truly impressive! I heartily recommend it!
Labels: HHH, The Kid Files, The spirit of 2010
Delayed weekend + inlaw invasion report
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 26 January 2010 at 1/26/2010 04:30:00 pm.
So basically last week was filled with a lot of card games (it's what we do to maximize the old "inlaw-outlaw relationship management plan"), a lot of me speaking my bad Dutch, and a lot of grandparents lovin' on their chocolate grandkid.
Really, I have to say, even without the Spirit of 2010 factor in place, it was all quite survivable.
Thursday we came home late after Ye Olde Animal Peeps mtg, and MIL had dinner made which was nice because there is NO WAY I could've mustered it. I was sick.as.a.dog for nearly the whole duration of the week, but couldn't possibly stop to recover because there was too much work to do!! I didn't even work from home once last week because my presence was required inside the office - - not to mention those inlaws would've surely distracted me (and frustrated me?) too much if I had been at home.
Anyway, Friday came around and we braaied here at the house and chilled out and probably played cards. I don't even remember anymore. Saturday we spent the day in town and did some shopping and sightseeing and ate lunch at the tea garden and stuff and stuff and stuff. Saturday night we were all too full to do the original plan which was to go out and eat, plus had been back and forth out of town already, so we stayed home and again ate and played cards and stuff. I made Adelly's recipe for sausage balls, we drank some beers (even though I'm on antibiotics) and it was pretty low key.
Sunday we went out for lunch with the Swedes and again as always the inlaws refuse to be social with anyone who can't speak their language so that was a wee bit embarassing but on the other hand, the Swedes are so laid back they couldn't give a rats. It just really irks me, that's all. Especially knowing that my own parents would've eaten these friends of ours up, and gotten on like a house on fire. But therein lies the difference between the kiddo's sets of grandparents.
Sunday I was finally feeling healthy enough to do some exercise, so The Mr. and I went for a nice run (gotta love babysitters-on-tap when the grandparents are here!) and then we all went out for dinner at BWs finest chain of family friendly steakhouses (the only type of restaurant my FIL would possibly consider being suitable for him and his totally outrageously limited taste), and it all started to get a little sad around that time.
My MIL has fallen so deeply, totally, head-over-heels-edly in love with Lady JooJoo and was already getting like, terminally emotional around Sunday. (They left Monday night) I really do have compassion for her, I know I've mentioned this before, I feel like we have some sort of kindred spirit between us, but there's just this whole cultural boundary and THING called The FIL that prevents.... whatever.... from developing.
But I will say this, she is indeed a great granny. Although she totally broke our "one toy" rule with flying colors (ok maybe we should've made more of an issue about it before hand), but she did mitigate that by bringing a buttload of dutch books, which I did want. One of them is even a personalized book about this Dutch kiddie character who is a bunny called Nijntje, and in this book, Nijntje and The Joo (obviously her real moniker is used) have a sleepover, and the cutest thing is that The Joo is even illustrated as a little chocolate bunny in the book... it's so freakin cute! But basically she's totally respectful of everything we do & how we do it in terms of El Kiddo management & procedures..., followed The Schedule right down the line, didn't dish out any unsolicited "advice".... hell, she even spoke 100% Dutch to her the whole time! And as a fellow pisces, I can completely empathise with her in terms of her emotional roller coaster when it comes to flying in, meeting her new grandkid, falling in love with her, and then having to be whisked away again. I really felt for her and even almost kinda miss having her around and watching her & the wee pooper being so sweet to each other. There was a lot of laughs and love and cuddles between those two. Photos are on the 'bucket.
Now, I didn't catch this but even The Mr. was gob-smacked as we drove away from the Airport yesterday evening en route to the hash, due to some sort of emotional remarks made by The FIL that wound up passing me by because I was busy bidding adieu to the MIL at the time it happened. I can't really remember what it was that The Mr. said that he said, but it was something terribly uncharacteristically sappy and emotional so that was truly bizarre. Apparently the existance of grandchildren will really mess with people!!
So anyway, we went to the hash and I got to run this week (The Mr's turn on walking duty with the kid) and it was a big ass long run which was great because I'm feeling good again and DAMN I needed to blow off some stress. As we were having the routine Social Drinking after the run, Pete and Elaine both pounced on me and The Mr., begging us to throw our hats into the ring to join the Mis-management (the Hash's organisational committee, basically) this year, since so many positions will be opening up due to expats leaving. AGH! Just as we're getting rid of the Animal Peeps!! The good thing is, this is one committee that would actually be fun and low-maintenence. They don't even meet every month, and when they do meet, it's at the lowbrow bar in town, and they do it on rib night. I'm thinking we could do this. They want The Mr. to be the Brewmaster, and me to be the Grand Master (which, since I'm a girl, would actually be "The Grand Mattress"). We'll see. We said we'd consider it. I just want 2010 to be laid back and easy. But they assure me it would be. And I know since Pete is currently Grand Master, from what I've seen him have to do, it is pretty easy, and fun. You get to dish out the Hash Shit and lead the Circle and all sorts of funny stuff, with no homework or report writing involved. And hell, all the Brewmaster has to do is mix up outrageously disgusting punishment drinks during the circle.... how hard is that? Like I said, we'll see.
Really, I have to say, even without the Spirit of 2010 factor in place, it was all quite survivable.
Thursday we came home late after Ye Olde Animal Peeps mtg, and MIL had dinner made which was nice because there is NO WAY I could've mustered it. I was sick.as.a.dog for nearly the whole duration of the week, but couldn't possibly stop to recover because there was too much work to do!! I didn't even work from home once last week because my presence was required inside the office - - not to mention those inlaws would've surely distracted me (and frustrated me?) too much if I had been at home.
Anyway, Friday came around and we braaied here at the house and chilled out and probably played cards. I don't even remember anymore. Saturday we spent the day in town and did some shopping and sightseeing and ate lunch at the tea garden and stuff and stuff and stuff. Saturday night we were all too full to do the original plan which was to go out and eat, plus had been back and forth out of town already, so we stayed home and again ate and played cards and stuff. I made Adelly's recipe for sausage balls, we drank some beers (even though I'm on antibiotics) and it was pretty low key.
Sunday we went out for lunch with the Swedes and again as always the inlaws refuse to be social with anyone who can't speak their language so that was a wee bit embarassing but on the other hand, the Swedes are so laid back they couldn't give a rats. It just really irks me, that's all. Especially knowing that my own parents would've eaten these friends of ours up, and gotten on like a house on fire. But therein lies the difference between the kiddo's sets of grandparents.
Sunday I was finally feeling healthy enough to do some exercise, so The Mr. and I went for a nice run (gotta love babysitters-on-tap when the grandparents are here!) and then we all went out for dinner at BWs finest chain of family friendly steakhouses (the only type of restaurant my FIL would possibly consider being suitable for him and his totally outrageously limited taste), and it all started to get a little sad around that time.
My MIL has fallen so deeply, totally, head-over-heels-edly in love with Lady JooJoo and was already getting like, terminally emotional around Sunday. (They left Monday night) I really do have compassion for her, I know I've mentioned this before, I feel like we have some sort of kindred spirit between us, but there's just this whole cultural boundary and THING called The FIL that prevents.... whatever.... from developing.
But I will say this, she is indeed a great granny. Although she totally broke our "one toy" rule with flying colors (ok maybe we should've made more of an issue about it before hand), but she did mitigate that by bringing a buttload of dutch books, which I did want. One of them is even a personalized book about this Dutch kiddie character who is a bunny called Nijntje, and in this book, Nijntje and The Joo (obviously her real moniker is used) have a sleepover, and the cutest thing is that The Joo is even illustrated as a little chocolate bunny in the book... it's so freakin cute! But basically she's totally respectful of everything we do & how we do it in terms of El Kiddo management & procedures..., followed The Schedule right down the line, didn't dish out any unsolicited "advice".... hell, she even spoke 100% Dutch to her the whole time! And as a fellow pisces, I can completely empathise with her in terms of her emotional roller coaster when it comes to flying in, meeting her new grandkid, falling in love with her, and then having to be whisked away again. I really felt for her and even almost kinda miss having her around and watching her & the wee pooper being so sweet to each other. There was a lot of laughs and love and cuddles between those two. Photos are on the 'bucket.
Now, I didn't catch this but even The Mr. was gob-smacked as we drove away from the Airport yesterday evening en route to the hash, due to some sort of emotional remarks made by The FIL that wound up passing me by because I was busy bidding adieu to the MIL at the time it happened. I can't really remember what it was that The Mr. said that he said, but it was something terribly uncharacteristically sappy and emotional so that was truly bizarre. Apparently the existance of grandchildren will really mess with people!!
So anyway, we went to the hash and I got to run this week (The Mr's turn on walking duty with the kid) and it was a big ass long run which was great because I'm feeling good again and DAMN I needed to blow off some stress. As we were having the routine Social Drinking after the run, Pete and Elaine both pounced on me and The Mr., begging us to throw our hats into the ring to join the Mis-management (the Hash's organisational committee, basically) this year, since so many positions will be opening up due to expats leaving. AGH! Just as we're getting rid of the Animal Peeps!! The good thing is, this is one committee that would actually be fun and low-maintenence. They don't even meet every month, and when they do meet, it's at the lowbrow bar in town, and they do it on rib night. I'm thinking we could do this. They want The Mr. to be the Brewmaster, and me to be the Grand Master (which, since I'm a girl, would actually be "The Grand Mattress"). We'll see. We said we'd consider it. I just want 2010 to be laid back and easy. But they assure me it would be. And I know since Pete is currently Grand Master, from what I've seen him have to do, it is pretty easy, and fun. You get to dish out the Hash Shit and lead the Circle and all sorts of funny stuff, with no homework or report writing involved. And hell, all the Brewmaster has to do is mix up outrageously disgusting punishment drinks during the circle.... how hard is that? Like I said, we'll see.
Labels: HHH, mi familia
Oh 2010, there you are!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 01 January 2010 at 1/01/2010 12:22:00 pm.
I can't believe I haven't been writing in here for over a week - my goal for the xmas holidays was to spend a crap load of time online catching up with stuff like blogs and gchat and skype and email and what the hell.... it's almost over!
Anyway, it's been a pretty successful break, notwithstanding the fact that I sit here typing this with some sort of blood infection (at least it's not Malaria, which we were worried could be the culprit due to the fact I'd been stomping around in the jungle in Zambia where the little bastard mosquitos live) and on a few different kinds of meds and off any kind of alcohol for the next week or so :(
Christmas eve with the swedes was a big day of lotsa fun, it started out with a last minute phone call from our friends and fellow hashers P&E, who invited us over for a quick drink before we hit the nordic festivities, which worked out great since they were just around the corner from our swedish friends who were hosting the big hoo ha. I chose this moment to announce to rude-antisocial-houseguest/stand-in sibling "we are not 'dragging' you to these things so if you want to go, you're welcome but if you're going to refuse to talk to people and make it clear that our friends are not cool enough for you, then please dont feel obligated to come". I think that got the message accross because it was somewhat smooth sailing after. Swedish friends No.2 (the hosts) had their sons over from the homeland for the festivities who are round about A's age, anyway, so that helped a bit and he forced some small talk to ensure compliance with the newly laid-down law. Good.
P&E gave the Joolz her first present (I had refused to do presents for her this year since she doesn't need anything and doesn't understand anyway) but it turns out these little stacky-blocky things are a big hit in babyland so she's sorted. Anyway, we had our drink there and moved on to the scandinavian xmas eve dinner. Everyone was in a good mood, The Kid's stand-in-Swedish-grandfather took her for her first swim, we all ate big time, there was singing, etc, and we called it a night. Really fun. Even more fun was coming home and getting rescued from the kitchen preperation for the next day by the opportunity to phone Brandon and have a much-needed catch-up for over an hour (finally with good enough reception that we could actually HEAR each other). Now see THAT is the kinda stuff I wanted out of this break!! Honestly I really have this fascination, now that my course is over and I'm not at work, to lounge around and talk on the phone all day! It just sucks that my phone connection blows, and that no one is ever around when I can call them!!
Xmas day was bittersweet. The Mr. pulled one of these last-minute-grab-anything christmas shopping acts and I wound up with a bunch of bits & pieces including an ill-fitting shirt that makes me look as if I'm some sort of safari company employee, and a game of Rummikub. Riiiight. Let's not go there. Xmas isn't about presents but needless to say it still speaks volumes when someone says something like "oh I would really love the Tom Petty biography or Season 3 of 30 Rock on DVD", months in advance, and the xmas tree turns up things like "small garden trowel" and "grocery store impulse aisle paperback of CSI: The TV Show". WHATEVER!
It was good, however, because my giant turkey dinner which I stayed up til 1am preparing (blessed by the help of The Mr., so at least that's some redemption) the night before, turned out fantastic, and Swedish friends No.1 who were over to spend the day with us had the time of their lives (being totally unfamiliar with an English style xmas). We all swam and ate and drank and made merry, and the kiddos (they have 2 littlies) had a ball too. Only problem being I'd had a sore throat for a day or 2 prior, and was still feeling it.
Now, the problem here is that for the last week I've had no idea what day it is, ever, and nor do I care so I can't really give a day by day run down of what's happened but let's just say "in general" it's been like this: lots of drinking with The Mr. & A., lots of movies watched, a game of (blank stare) Rummikub played, runs run, meals skipped, loads of reading, and sleeping. All good elements of a do-nothing holiday.
So the day after Boxing Day, A's friends D&T came up from Jozi and we had a nice dinner of leftovers with them (I really like them - and they're very social and polite) and then inducted them into the dogsitting and housewatching and garden watering that they would be doing for us for the next 3 days that we would be off camping. A really late night with those guys, which was really fun (i have honestly never drank so much wine as has been consumed in the last 2 weeks before) although it culminated with The Kid having a horrible night full of screaming and waking everybody up because she had some sort of fever and Lord knows what else - good timing, Kid, right before camping. But the next day she seemed to be ok and we headed out to the bush for a few days up in the Southern T-block, to break in the new camping trailer. They let us bring Billy too, which was great.
Camping was a success with the new trailer - it's great to have the giant fold-out table, and to have the smaller roof tent as well as all that space in the truck now. Anyhoo we were on the banks of the L. River and had crocs and hippos and snakes and all sorts of game around us. Our spot was under a ginormous grove of shade trees where it was thankfully 10 degrees cooler than out in the sun. So again, lots of drinking and reading and laying around and poking fun at A and his new girlfriend back in SA whom he's been away from for several days now and made for good teasing fodder. On the 3rd day we looked in The Joo's mouth to find 4 gigantic swollen bumps in her gums that are clearly big fat teeth raring to burst through and lo and behold I think we found the answer to that horrible night before we left. Poor thing. But I don't think she really cares that much, she was enjoying being dirty and sitting by the fire and playing with Billy. Sleeping in the truck was even a success once we learned the key was making a bed for her in the back-back, not on the middle seat.
Voila. But I was still not feeling 100%, tired all the time, continued sore throat, and slowly deteriorating. Feeling generally bleh.
On the drive home yesterday (NYE), it all came crumbling down and I started hallucinating, feeling like someone was squeezing my head, and just generally dizzy as shit. However, I was not going to accept this, because we had a big NYE Hash event to go to, I had potluck dishes to make for it, and we were coming home to D&T the houseguests who I had to be social with. So I figured I would wait til today to have The Mr. take me to the hospital to get tested for the Big M. Until I broke a sweat walking up stairs and then the whole room started melting into some spinning psychedelia. Gave up, went to the sickyhouse, and got jabbed a couple times. Waited for the results while the early hours of NYE were passing us by, and just before all the drunk driving & fireworks victims started arriving, they told me I was clear for Malaria but had the whole infected blood thing and turned me loose.
So we went home and graciously (much to the pain and suffering of The Mr who was SOOoooo looking forward to the full moon hash) told the 3 guys that they were welcome to leave us and go off and party hearty wherever they pleased etc., but they insisted on staying and just having a wee house party at our place and making the traditional Dutch oil balls with the Mr. while I laid like a limp rag on the couch out on the veranda and tried my best to participate in the conversation. But I ended up drifting in and out of sleep all night and despite my efforts felt really guilty about being a lump of nuttin on the new years eve. Nevertheless at midnight everyone was good and liquored up and from our veranda you could see the whole city below and it turned out to be a brilliant view of the fireworks (which we didnt even know, bc we've never been here on NYE) which made the whole staying-at-home thing worth it. Well, except for me as I didnt even get a glass of bubbles. :(
So on to this year - I can't really be bothered making new years resolutions because I'm kinda draggin', but I've heard The Mr. say it several times over: the year of positivity, the year of happy, the year of casting negative vibes out the door. So with that I must pick up my ill and melancholy self, a little bit annoyed at some of the last days of 2009 and thoroughly annoyed with the last 3-4 months of 2009, and dust it off and do the C'mon Get Happy dance.
Good things to look forward to this year:
Cape in Feb.
Aus at Easter
World Cup Football 2010 South Africa
USA in July (?) - which, I've decided, with ample planning and effort CAN be as good as Xmas 2008!
Finishing my thesis and becoming Master Master
Being mindful
Being at peak fitness and finding a road race to train for
Being part of the Hash, a group of folks I have grown enamoured with & look forward to seeing each week
Seeing friends, seeing friends, seeing friends!!
Making time to talk to friends either online or on the phone
Harvesting the biggest buttload of home grown veggies out of my own garden, all year
Xmas 2010 in NL, which, with ample planning and effort CAN be *almost* as good as Xmas 2008!
Anyway, it's been a pretty successful break, notwithstanding the fact that I sit here typing this with some sort of blood infection (at least it's not Malaria, which we were worried could be the culprit due to the fact I'd been stomping around in the jungle in Zambia where the little bastard mosquitos live) and on a few different kinds of meds and off any kind of alcohol for the next week or so :(
Christmas eve with the swedes was a big day of lotsa fun, it started out with a last minute phone call from our friends and fellow hashers P&E, who invited us over for a quick drink before we hit the nordic festivities, which worked out great since they were just around the corner from our swedish friends who were hosting the big hoo ha. I chose this moment to announce to rude-antisocial-houseguest/stand-in sibling "we are not 'dragging' you to these things so if you want to go, you're welcome but if you're going to refuse to talk to people and make it clear that our friends are not cool enough for you, then please dont feel obligated to come". I think that got the message accross because it was somewhat smooth sailing after. Swedish friends No.2 (the hosts) had their sons over from the homeland for the festivities who are round about A's age, anyway, so that helped a bit and he forced some small talk to ensure compliance with the newly laid-down law. Good.
P&E gave the Joolz her first present (I had refused to do presents for her this year since she doesn't need anything and doesn't understand anyway) but it turns out these little stacky-blocky things are a big hit in babyland so she's sorted. Anyway, we had our drink there and moved on to the scandinavian xmas eve dinner. Everyone was in a good mood, The Kid's stand-in-Swedish-grandfather took her for her first swim, we all ate big time, there was singing, etc, and we called it a night. Really fun. Even more fun was coming home and getting rescued from the kitchen preperation for the next day by the opportunity to phone Brandon and have a much-needed catch-up for over an hour (finally with good enough reception that we could actually HEAR each other). Now see THAT is the kinda stuff I wanted out of this break!! Honestly I really have this fascination, now that my course is over and I'm not at work, to lounge around and talk on the phone all day! It just sucks that my phone connection blows, and that no one is ever around when I can call them!!
Xmas day was bittersweet. The Mr. pulled one of these last-minute-grab-anything christmas shopping acts and I wound up with a bunch of bits & pieces including an ill-fitting shirt that makes me look as if I'm some sort of safari company employee, and a game of Rummikub. Riiiight. Let's not go there. Xmas isn't about presents but needless to say it still speaks volumes when someone says something like "oh I would really love the Tom Petty biography or Season 3 of 30 Rock on DVD", months in advance, and the xmas tree turns up things like "small garden trowel" and "grocery store impulse aisle paperback of CSI: The TV Show". WHATEVER!
It was good, however, because my giant turkey dinner which I stayed up til 1am preparing (blessed by the help of The Mr., so at least that's some redemption) the night before, turned out fantastic, and Swedish friends No.1 who were over to spend the day with us had the time of their lives (being totally unfamiliar with an English style xmas). We all swam and ate and drank and made merry, and the kiddos (they have 2 littlies) had a ball too. Only problem being I'd had a sore throat for a day or 2 prior, and was still feeling it.
Now, the problem here is that for the last week I've had no idea what day it is, ever, and nor do I care so I can't really give a day by day run down of what's happened but let's just say "in general" it's been like this: lots of drinking with The Mr. & A., lots of movies watched, a game of (blank stare) Rummikub played, runs run, meals skipped, loads of reading, and sleeping. All good elements of a do-nothing holiday.
So the day after Boxing Day, A's friends D&T came up from Jozi and we had a nice dinner of leftovers with them (I really like them - and they're very social and polite) and then inducted them into the dogsitting and housewatching and garden watering that they would be doing for us for the next 3 days that we would be off camping. A really late night with those guys, which was really fun (i have honestly never drank so much wine as has been consumed in the last 2 weeks before) although it culminated with The Kid having a horrible night full of screaming and waking everybody up because she had some sort of fever and Lord knows what else - good timing, Kid, right before camping. But the next day she seemed to be ok and we headed out to the bush for a few days up in the Southern T-block, to break in the new camping trailer. They let us bring Billy too, which was great.
Camping was a success with the new trailer - it's great to have the giant fold-out table, and to have the smaller roof tent as well as all that space in the truck now. Anyhoo we were on the banks of the L. River and had crocs and hippos and snakes and all sorts of game around us. Our spot was under a ginormous grove of shade trees where it was thankfully 10 degrees cooler than out in the sun. So again, lots of drinking and reading and laying around and poking fun at A and his new girlfriend back in SA whom he's been away from for several days now and made for good teasing fodder. On the 3rd day we looked in The Joo's mouth to find 4 gigantic swollen bumps in her gums that are clearly big fat teeth raring to burst through and lo and behold I think we found the answer to that horrible night before we left. Poor thing. But I don't think she really cares that much, she was enjoying being dirty and sitting by the fire and playing with Billy. Sleeping in the truck was even a success once we learned the key was making a bed for her in the back-back, not on the middle seat.
Voila. But I was still not feeling 100%, tired all the time, continued sore throat, and slowly deteriorating. Feeling generally bleh.
On the drive home yesterday (NYE), it all came crumbling down and I started hallucinating, feeling like someone was squeezing my head, and just generally dizzy as shit. However, I was not going to accept this, because we had a big NYE Hash event to go to, I had potluck dishes to make for it, and we were coming home to D&T the houseguests who I had to be social with. So I figured I would wait til today to have The Mr. take me to the hospital to get tested for the Big M. Until I broke a sweat walking up stairs and then the whole room started melting into some spinning psychedelia. Gave up, went to the sickyhouse, and got jabbed a couple times. Waited for the results while the early hours of NYE were passing us by, and just before all the drunk driving & fireworks victims started arriving, they told me I was clear for Malaria but had the whole infected blood thing and turned me loose.
So we went home and graciously (much to the pain and suffering of The Mr who was SOOoooo looking forward to the full moon hash) told the 3 guys that they were welcome to leave us and go off and party hearty wherever they pleased etc., but they insisted on staying and just having a wee house party at our place and making the traditional Dutch oil balls with the Mr. while I laid like a limp rag on the couch out on the veranda and tried my best to participate in the conversation. But I ended up drifting in and out of sleep all night and despite my efforts felt really guilty about being a lump of nuttin on the new years eve. Nevertheless at midnight everyone was good and liquored up and from our veranda you could see the whole city below and it turned out to be a brilliant view of the fireworks (which we didnt even know, bc we've never been here on NYE) which made the whole staying-at-home thing worth it. Well, except for me as I didnt even get a glass of bubbles. :(
So on to this year - I can't really be bothered making new years resolutions because I'm kinda draggin', but I've heard The Mr. say it several times over: the year of positivity, the year of happy, the year of casting negative vibes out the door. So with that I must pick up my ill and melancholy self, a little bit annoyed at some of the last days of 2009 and thoroughly annoyed with the last 3-4 months of 2009, and dust it off and do the C'mon Get Happy dance.
Good things to look forward to this year:
Cape in Feb.
Aus at Easter
World Cup Football 2010 South Africa
USA in July (?) - which, I've decided, with ample planning and effort CAN be as good as Xmas 2008!
Finishing my thesis and becoming Master Master
Being mindful
Being at peak fitness and finding a road race to train for
Being part of the Hash, a group of folks I have grown enamoured with & look forward to seeing each week
Seeing friends, seeing friends, seeing friends!!
Making time to talk to friends either online or on the phone
Harvesting the biggest buttload of home grown veggies out of my own garden, all year
Xmas 2010 in NL, which, with ample planning and effort CAN be *almost* as good as Xmas 2008!
Konkin' heads together like coconuts
4 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 03 July 2009 at 7/03/2009 10:29:00 am.
I just sat through the most un-necessary, waste-of-time, piss-me-off meeting ever! Of course it stems from the presentation I had to make last week, where a bunch of people who didn't read my giant document from hell asked a bunch of ignorant, dumb-ass questions that dialed the WTF factor up to 11....
so without telling a boring government-work-related story of no interest to me nor the fly on the wall, the essence is that the (Department) moderator of that meeting MADE me hold this 2nd meeting at our office, where Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Fancy-pants McGee could come over here and ask our groundwater specialist all their assenine questions, in a seperate forum, away from all the non-interested people. So that's what I just had to sit through. The problem being, it WASNT Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Fancy-pants McGee that showed up, it was their BOSSES. Who are clearly more intelligent, and weren't even AT the first meeting asking questions. So these big gov't bosses are all sittin here in my office goin "Why TF are we here? We understand all this crap... Why did we have to come?" USELESS!! TOTALLY USELESS!!
I just wanted to konk all their heads together and go "well GREAT if you understand it, so Why TF are you sending your idiot bastard juvenile henchmen to the meetings where they have to be seen to critique expert work!?!?!?" AGGGGGGGGH!
Slappin' faces, man. Slappin' faces.
I am treading thin ice though. I have a terminal disorder where I can NOT look people in the eye whose face I want to slap. And so all these big shots are here in my office and I'm talking at them through clenched teeth and dagger eyes. I know it's bad, but I can't help it. This is why The Mr. has to be the P.R. side of our business. Unfortunately though he was already triple-booked at a bunch of other meetings. Regardless, I know they felt my wrath. But that doesn't help - it probably only makes them want to eat me alive the next time they see me. I need to go to "sensitivity training for normal people who have to deal with government people". Does that exist?
Two of them had to go to the bathroom while they were here, where I just posted my bitchy sign about "if you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat", and my amazingly detailed graphic of a toilet seat with drips on it, that I just made yesterday. I noted that after the meeting was over, the toilet seat was left up and the toilet left UN FLUSHED!!! AGGGGGGH!
I have had it with work. Or mainly, i've had it with people. People pissing on my toilet AND my mojo!!
I am also having it *up to here* with the Animal Peeps. This is SO my last year on the committee. I won't even explain farther - but there, grievance aired.
And ending on a positive note, I'm looking forward to this weekend where the one organization I'm a part of that I actually LOVE, the Harriers, are having the weekly run at our place. So that means the Mr. and I will be setting out the track on Saturday and hopefully everyone will be pleased with it on sunday. Yay.
so without telling a boring government-work-related story of no interest to me nor the fly on the wall, the essence is that the (Department) moderator of that meeting MADE me hold this 2nd meeting at our office, where Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Fancy-pants McGee could come over here and ask our groundwater specialist all their assenine questions, in a seperate forum, away from all the non-interested people. So that's what I just had to sit through. The problem being, it WASNT Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Fancy-pants McGee that showed up, it was their BOSSES. Who are clearly more intelligent, and weren't even AT the first meeting asking questions. So these big gov't bosses are all sittin here in my office goin "Why TF are we here? We understand all this crap... Why did we have to come?" USELESS!! TOTALLY USELESS!!
I just wanted to konk all their heads together and go "well GREAT if you understand it, so Why TF are you sending your idiot bastard juvenile henchmen to the meetings where they have to be seen to critique expert work!?!?!?" AGGGGGGGGH!
Slappin' faces, man. Slappin' faces.
I am treading thin ice though. I have a terminal disorder where I can NOT look people in the eye whose face I want to slap. And so all these big shots are here in my office and I'm talking at them through clenched teeth and dagger eyes. I know it's bad, but I can't help it. This is why The Mr. has to be the P.R. side of our business. Unfortunately though he was already triple-booked at a bunch of other meetings. Regardless, I know they felt my wrath. But that doesn't help - it probably only makes them want to eat me alive the next time they see me. I need to go to "sensitivity training for normal people who have to deal with government people". Does that exist?
Two of them had to go to the bathroom while they were here, where I just posted my bitchy sign about "if you sprinkle when you tinkle, please be neat and wipe the seat", and my amazingly detailed graphic of a toilet seat with drips on it, that I just made yesterday. I noted that after the meeting was over, the toilet seat was left up and the toilet left UN FLUSHED!!! AGGGGGGH!
I have had it with work. Or mainly, i've had it with people. People pissing on my toilet AND my mojo!!
I am also having it *up to here* with the Animal Peeps. This is SO my last year on the committee. I won't even explain farther - but there, grievance aired.
And ending on a positive note, I'm looking forward to this weekend where the one organization I'm a part of that I actually LOVE, the Harriers, are having the weekly run at our place. So that means the Mr. and I will be setting out the track on Saturday and hopefully everyone will be pleased with it on sunday. Yay.
Labels: BW-general, HHH, work
Bodily bodily bodily!
2 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 19 June 2009 at 6/19/2009 09:29:00 am.
It is friday and by gid it feels like friday.
My gym burned down so I won't be going to gym after work, which means I can get home super-early and finish my preparations for the dinner party with the Cs tonight. I am going with a WHEAT FREE GREEK/MEDITERRANEAN menu (crikey!), as follows:
A trio of appetizers including:
- Baba ghanouj, Tzaziki, and a variety of olives (with pita bread for dipping for those of us wheat-eaters, and gluten-free crackers + wheat-free rye bread for Ms. Celiac, for dipping)
Main course of:
Kleftiko (aka "stolen lamb") slow cooked with potatoes and carrots in individual foil parcels - heavy on garlic, heavy on rosemary, heavy on HELL YEAH
Supported by a greek salad.
And for dessert:
- Flourless cheesecake on a wheat-free crunchy cookie base, drizzled with a very greeky lemon/honey sauce.
I put the kleftiko together over the course of last night and this morning, which means all I have to do when I get home tonight is whip up the Baba ghanouj and Tzaziki, and get some help from my very beautiful sous chef (the Mr., obviously) on the cheesecake. I'm thinking of cutting it into little squares to serve on the wheat-free crunchie cookie squares (which have already been purchased) because my cake mold is round, but the cookie squares are (obviously) not-round.
Last night was Wally's (fellow Animal Peeps committee member) birthday party which was pretty cool - a very weird mixture of Germans and Batswana. The most bizarre combination ever. But fun. I got to know the city's No. 1 local crazy-cat-lady picture framer very well. She's a trip. We may be on the verge of starting a book club. Wally had some caterer who specializes in only bruchetta, make the finger food trays. Who knew you could do so much with slices of french bread? There was a curry chicken one, some with blue cheese, some with brie, even a prosciutto & melon bruchetta. Great idea. I'm going to remember that one... seriously, you can make an entire 4-course meal out of just bruchettas, with all the food groups and everything. The caterer even had wheat-free ones (because the Cs were there too) all prepped as well!
Then saturday Soo & Mx are having us over for dinner at their place, so it will be a weekend of good eatins. Soo is like what, 7 months preggo now? So who knows how much longer she's going to be on the social radar, hopefully we can pull these things off at least a few more times before she drops a baldy on our lovely blossoming friendship!!
Sunday is the "neighbourhood bbq"... I put that in "quotes" due to the fact I am fairly certain that this thing will start at 1pm and end promptly at 2. If I were a gambling woman I would also probably head down to my local bookie and ask him to lay a few Pula on Me & the Mr. being the youngest couple at this shindig, but no bother. I'm extremely interested in sticking my nose into this business of "who lives in what house" because as yet we only know like 3 of our neighbours. There could very possibly be a cool cat lady or burned out hippie vegan or other such eccentric person of interest hiding out in any number of these funky little cottages in the trees on the mountain. We'll see. The fact that our landlords (the hosts) don't drink should also prove to make for an interesting spread and effect on the level of social-lubrication that gets reached.
In other news I realize I really need to get out of the EIA business. I think everything happens for a reason and the fact that I'm more than 1/2 way through this new Masters' degree now is probably just right on time for allowing me my way out. If I can start now just turning down the spigot on the EIA work, it should give me just enough time to gently transition me into the EHS side of things by the time I graduate at the end of next year. I have just SO HAD IT with the government crap and the idiot ass-hats in unwarranted positions of power who are just eternally out to get my goat and kill my buzz... these 23 year old kids who feel like they need to flex their muscles and have NO idea what they're talking about, but yet have the power to screw up every single project we work on and (more than anything) PISS ME OFF. I just need out. I can't deal with this aggro. The worst part is, it isn't just a BW problem - I hear from my old pops that he has to endure the exact same BS back in the states too. I guess assholes are just the same all over the globe.
So anyway, I'm going to miss the Hash this sunday b/c of the neighbourhood bbq, which sucks - 2 wks in a row now. And there's no gym to go to! So today at lunch we shall climb K-hill, and then I don't know but we'll have to be creative over the weekend, concerning the road to fitness. The Hashers are having our "Christmas in June" next weekend, and they asked none other than yours truly to be a slutty Mrs. Claus. This could truly be interesting. Long Tall Swedish Boy is going to be Santa. I think they probably thought the photos would make nice on a scale of irony (honestly, that guy is like 6'10"). I need to check into securing some fishnets, I reckon.
Ah weekend. I feel like celebrating. What, I don't know, but I may have to do something drastic like make some long distance phone calls or something - which reminds me - fathers day. agh! I best get on that too.
My gym burned down so I won't be going to gym after work, which means I can get home super-early and finish my preparations for the dinner party with the Cs tonight. I am going with a WHEAT FREE GREEK/MEDITERRANEAN menu (crikey!), as follows:
A trio of appetizers including:
- Baba ghanouj, Tzaziki, and a variety of olives (with pita bread for dipping for those of us wheat-eaters, and gluten-free crackers + wheat-free rye bread for Ms. Celiac, for dipping)
Main course of:
Kleftiko (aka "stolen lamb") slow cooked with potatoes and carrots in individual foil parcels - heavy on garlic, heavy on rosemary, heavy on HELL YEAH
Supported by a greek salad.
And for dessert:
- Flourless cheesecake on a wheat-free crunchy cookie base, drizzled with a very greeky lemon/honey sauce.
I put the kleftiko together over the course of last night and this morning, which means all I have to do when I get home tonight is whip up the Baba ghanouj and Tzaziki, and get some help from my very beautiful sous chef (the Mr., obviously) on the cheesecake. I'm thinking of cutting it into little squares to serve on the wheat-free crunchie cookie squares (which have already been purchased) because my cake mold is round, but the cookie squares are (obviously) not-round.
Last night was Wally's (fellow Animal Peeps committee member) birthday party which was pretty cool - a very weird mixture of Germans and Batswana. The most bizarre combination ever. But fun. I got to know the city's No. 1 local crazy-cat-lady picture framer very well. She's a trip. We may be on the verge of starting a book club. Wally had some caterer who specializes in only bruchetta, make the finger food trays. Who knew you could do so much with slices of french bread? There was a curry chicken one, some with blue cheese, some with brie, even a prosciutto & melon bruchetta. Great idea. I'm going to remember that one... seriously, you can make an entire 4-course meal out of just bruchettas, with all the food groups and everything. The caterer even had wheat-free ones (because the Cs were there too) all prepped as well!
Then saturday Soo & Mx are having us over for dinner at their place, so it will be a weekend of good eatins. Soo is like what, 7 months preggo now? So who knows how much longer she's going to be on the social radar, hopefully we can pull these things off at least a few more times before she drops a baldy on our lovely blossoming friendship!!
Sunday is the "neighbourhood bbq"... I put that in "quotes" due to the fact I am fairly certain that this thing will start at 1pm and end promptly at 2. If I were a gambling woman I would also probably head down to my local bookie and ask him to lay a few Pula on Me & the Mr. being the youngest couple at this shindig, but no bother. I'm extremely interested in sticking my nose into this business of "who lives in what house" because as yet we only know like 3 of our neighbours. There could very possibly be a cool cat lady or burned out hippie vegan or other such eccentric person of interest hiding out in any number of these funky little cottages in the trees on the mountain. We'll see. The fact that our landlords (the hosts) don't drink should also prove to make for an interesting spread and effect on the level of social-lubrication that gets reached.
In other news I realize I really need to get out of the EIA business. I think everything happens for a reason and the fact that I'm more than 1/2 way through this new Masters' degree now is probably just right on time for allowing me my way out. If I can start now just turning down the spigot on the EIA work, it should give me just enough time to gently transition me into the EHS side of things by the time I graduate at the end of next year. I have just SO HAD IT with the government crap and the idiot ass-hats in unwarranted positions of power who are just eternally out to get my goat and kill my buzz... these 23 year old kids who feel like they need to flex their muscles and have NO idea what they're talking about, but yet have the power to screw up every single project we work on and (more than anything) PISS ME OFF. I just need out. I can't deal with this aggro. The worst part is, it isn't just a BW problem - I hear from my old pops that he has to endure the exact same BS back in the states too. I guess assholes are just the same all over the globe.
So anyway, I'm going to miss the Hash this sunday b/c of the neighbourhood bbq, which sucks - 2 wks in a row now. And there's no gym to go to! So today at lunch we shall climb K-hill, and then I don't know but we'll have to be creative over the weekend, concerning the road to fitness. The Hashers are having our "Christmas in June" next weekend, and they asked none other than yours truly to be a slutty Mrs. Claus. This could truly be interesting. Long Tall Swedish Boy is going to be Santa. I think they probably thought the photos would make nice on a scale of irony (honestly, that guy is like 6'10"). I need to check into securing some fishnets, I reckon.
Ah weekend. I feel like celebrating. What, I don't know, but I may have to do something drastic like make some long distance phone calls or something - which reminds me - fathers day. agh! I best get on that too.
Labels: food, HHH, mis amigos, work
