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!
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