Day 38: Weekend Summary

I’ve been a bit quiet, I know. I’ve not felt much like anything save for drinking copious amounts of coffee and sleeping.

Level 5 is over (for now). Friday morning saw the majority of the population out in the streets to exercise between the 06h00 and 09h00. I’m not sure if the virus is on a sabbatical between those hours, or if it is the COVID-19 happy hour. Photos on social media show that the social distancing that we worked so hard to maintain literally walked, jogged and cycled right out the window.

Rain, Soup and Handcuffs

Just before the annual arrival of the Northerners to our little town last December, the municipality imposed water restrictions due to continuously lowering dam levels.  For me, it isn’t such a serious thing, because I’m at work during the day and the most water I use is to shower daily

Yearning

I woke up on Sunday morning, opened the blinds and smiled with relief when I saw the blue skies because I wanted to take a solitary nature walk, to connect with a part of myself that I miss.

(Photo from saidaonline)

Alas, the weather has turned foul, so my plans were shelved for the moment.

I had had some friends round the night before for a small get together.  We had a few laughs and when everyone had left and I was doing the last of the dishes, I suddenly felt like someone had ripped my heart out.  Just.  Like.  That.  I waited until everyone had let me know they’d arrived home safely and I crawled into bed.  Horrid dreams plagued me all night.  I was awake at five am again…

I had my morning shower and put on some Lady Antebellum – it’s great Sunday music.  The strangest thing happened when All We’d Ever Needed started playing – I was overwhelmed by a flood of tears and a gut-wrenching yearning…for someone.  The question is who?  Some days being alone really gets to me; it makes my heart ache so badly. My folks got home from a weekend away and we went out for lunch to a local steak house called Cattle Baron.  Elizabeth joined us, as did Aunty Carol and Uncle Barry.  Lunch was divine, as were some shooters…but even more scrumptious was our waiter, a tall, dark haired, blue eyed god called G.T.  The old folks left and Elizabeth and I stayed behind, drinking coffee – but G.T I’m sure knew we stuck around to just perv over him.

After I got home, the Sunday blues grabbed me again, so I forced myself to write something – I have had no inspiration for quite a while now and many people notice that I’m devouring books.  What they don’t know is that as long as I’m reading, I’m not writing much.  I read three novels last week…

Yearning

A simple tune drowns out the white noise

But it doesn’t stop the raging storm

Waves of emotion crash over my rocky heart

Changing its exterior with each swell

A deep, insatiable yearning sets in

Tears blur my vision

The melody continues to taunt me

Rubbing my solitude in my face

Taking pleasure in my heartache

Evil voices laugh in my head

Making me doubt my worthiness

I wonder if you see what I see

Is that why you keep your distance?

I know you’ve noticed me

Yet you keep me at arm’s length

Or do I just blend into the background?

The yearning to be part of your life

Devours my mind

Day and Night

Dawn and Dusk

Through my soft sobs

I wipe my tears

The yearning isn’t gone, but the ditty is finished

I have to carry on, face the day…and not lose hope.

Sunday Ramblings

The wheel is finally turning and it looks like things are looking up.

I got a call from the recruitment agency regarding the position I applied for with them a while back.  I have a formal interview with the employer on Wednesday at 10:00.  I am so glad because I really was beginning to lose hope.  I also applied for another position at a well-know insurance brokerage which was advertised in our local rag on Friday and was called for a direct interview on Friday at 11:00.  I am hoping for the one that I am interviewing for on Wednesday because it has to do with imports and exports, which is what I spent seven years studying through correspondence for, but I am keen to hear what the insurance company is willing to offer so that I may have some salary negotiation leverage.

Elizabeth, Liza, Rachel, Kyle, myself and two other friends went out dancing on Saturday night.  Elizabeth’s brother, Patrick was supposed to join us, but he never pitched up, leaving all of us without a dance partner.  Fortunately some lonely chap took pity on us and we at least had a few turns on the dance floor.  My feet were a tad sore this morning, but well worth it.  I haven’t been out of the house at all this entire week, because job hunting and applying for anything I might qualify for has been top priority.  It was good to get out, but I didn’t tell my parents about our plans, because they may feel the little bit of cash I do have may have been better spent elsewhere.

Today was a quiet day at home.  Elizabeth joined us for lunch, but the poor woman is all bunged up with the onset of a cold that she ended up napping on the couch.  While she was napping on the couch I did something constructive and baked some biscuits, but before you all burst into deafening applause, the biscuit mix is ready made, i.e. out of a B-O-X.

I don’t mind baking a cake from scratch, but past experience has taught me that biscuits are not something I am ready to attempt quite just yet.  Anyhow, my “unreal” biscuit didn’t come out too badly, so this is a step in the right direction.

The first batch was Ina Paarman’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, and boy – they a choc-a-block with those chocolate chips.

The second batch were Madagascan Vanilla Biscuits from Woolies.  They are lovely with a cuppa tea or a glass of milk because they are not sweet biscuits.

My hand was a bit heavy on the icing sugar, but they still taste good.

Dad called Mom and I onto the balcony about an hour ago to look at the sunset.  My camera didn’t do the beauty of the blazing ball of fire in the sky justice, but at least I got a pic.

My folks are going to watch the eight o’ clock movie on M-Net tonight, so I will be curled up in my bed with another James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club novel, 8th Confession.  I don’t know why, but I seem to be reading the series backwards…

…but then again, as my blog tagline says, “I’m the Piece of the Puzzle that doesn’t quite fit…”

Seven Days and Counting

…and we will be in Durban, the night before our cruise.  While I’m excited about that, I am even more excited about seeing Geri and Dan, two very special friends of mine, as well as their two kids, James and Lulu.  I will be staying over with them on Sunday evening as well as the weekend after the cruise.  It is going to be great fun!  I am busy sharpening my wit to be a match for Dan who manages to cut me down to size without too much effort.

I have already started packing!  Only because Dad has rationed me to a single (super small) suitcase and I need to make sure everything can fit into it – particularly my hair dryer, straightener and my silver shoes.  I have packed a dress for every evening to wear to dinner (I have some beautiful clothes, but no real occassions to wear them to) and some nice sexy tops and jeans to go clubbing or gambling in.  I hope that the latter will be as good to me as it was on my first cruise.  Shorts and strappy tops have been allocated for the Maputo and Barra Lodge shore excursions. 

There is lots to do this week still – Mom is going to wash all the clothes that we want to take with tomorrow and on Tuesday it is off to Carmen to pick up our tickets and convert our Rands into US Dollars – once we have the tickets in hand I think Aunty Carol is going to uncork a bottle of champagne as the trip becomes a “true” reality.  She and Uncle Barry are going shopping for something to wear to the Captain’s Gala Cocktail evening too.

Thursday Mom and Aunty Carol are getting their hair done (I threw broad hints to get mine done too, but my cries fell on very deaf ears), while I will be fetching Dad at the airport and getting him and his paperwork sorted out for a Ghanaian Visa Application as this is where he will be working during his next stint.  The bad thing about this is that I won’t be able to go with Mary to her scan appointment, something which I was really looking so forward to 😦  Ah well, maybe next time.

Friday it is off to the dentist for me to get my knashers all pearly white and chip-free.  Mom and Aunty Carol are going to get their nails done and I have arranged with my Sh’zen Team Leader, Jennifer, (who is a qualified beauty therapist) to give the two old ducks a pampering pedi and a facial for me in the comfort of our home.

Anyhow, enough about that…

Last night Elizabeth and Candice (who is my “older sister”) were here to visit.  We didn’t have the energy to do much – even opening a bottle of wine was too much effort – so we sat round catching up.  By ten we were all tuckered out.  Candice is in the hospitality industry and has been working like a lunatic the past six weeks, and Elizabeth has been relieving in her boss’s position, so she too is dead on her feet.  So much so that this morning she was up just after five, sick as a dog with a migraine headache.  She went home soon after.  I tried phoning to find out she is doing, but her phone is off. 

This afternoon we are taking Candice back to Wilderness, but before that we are going to stop off at Mary and Mark for tea and cake as it is Mary’s birthday tomorrow.  Mark bought her a Chev Spark for her birthday – and when I asked him what we could get her, he said he didn’t know, but a bottle of red wine would be welcome because he would drink it on her behalf.  So, Mom and I are still presentless.  Maybe we’ll see something special on our travels that we can get for her…

My Spanish Hot Chocolate appears to be quite a hit – I gave Jay a bottle to take back to Cape Town, as well as a bottle for Carmen and Ewan (who I understand hasn’t had any as Carmen has been squirrerling it away at her office) and my personal bottle is empty, so I will have to make some more.  I also feel like baking again, which I will consider doing when I get back this afternoon, if I feel like it.

I still haven’t made any progress with Don’t Blink, but I will definitely finish it by the time we hit the road.  Before I forget, here is the bookmark that Rachel gave me the other night.  I think it is lovely, don’t you?

There isn’t much more to tell at the moment…

Have a Super Sunday folks!  ‘Til later 🙂

Rain, Rain, Glorious Rain…

…some time ago I mentioned that we have serious water restrictions here.  The dam that supplies our town with water has been hovering at 10% or less for a bitterly long time, but…

it started raining softly during the night and it hasn’t let up since.  It is pouring down and I AM LOVING IT!  I am going to make Mom and I a hot pud (chocolate I think) and custard and we are going to crawl under the covers and watch DVD’s. 

Am waiting for some pics from yesterday’s early Halloween party, which I will write a decent post about.

On other things…

On the Seven Deadly Sins challenge that was doing the rounds:

I am lusting for a hot, passionate man in my bed.  One that will do exactly what I want him to do, without any protest. 

Sloth is what rainy Sundays like today are made for, but I had to work.  Fortunately I have some time to be sloth-ful (is that even a real word?) now.

I am filled with envy at some peoples’ success; particularly when I work harder than they do, and I still continue to tread water.

I am a glutton for punishment.  At work today I asked Sandra if there was anything I could help her with and ended up staying at the office two hours longer than I would have!

I am greedy for attention from certain people sometimes.  It stems from my childhood, but I’m working on those issues.  I hope I don’t become greedy for food – I’ll be as big as a house then.

The biggest (not that sins have sizes) one I have to deal with is pride.    I am extremely proud and generally will not ask for help from anybody.  It is not something I can “put in my pocket” as the saying says. 

My wrath is seldom released, but when it is, may the god you pray to be around to protect you, because I will not be responsible for my actions. 

Right, enough of me and my ramblings – I am going to get busy with that pud.

Enjoy what’s left of your Sunday!

Sunday Quiz

I am at work!  Yes people, on a SUNDAY!  And I am not amused.  I pinched  this off Only Cin’s Blog because I don’t feel like working and quizzes are FUN.

Soundtrack in your car?

My 8GB flash stick, loaded with all sorts of music.

Have you ever lived alone?

Yes

 What is the length of your longest relationship?

A year and six months.

 What do you do for a living?

I am the Harvest Administrator on a strawberry farm.  It’s challenging, but it is so not me.

 Are you a good speller?

Walking dictionary, I am…

 Do you get up to pee in the middle of the night?

Sometimes…

How long is your lunch break?

Lunch?  What’s that?  Oh, you mean that 3 minute break I get to shove something edible down my throat…

What was your last dirty thought?

*Censored*

Do your parents have a will?

Yes

Are you close with your sibling(s)?

I only have step siblings and we get on okay. 

Do you think you have to be initially sexually attracted to a person to fall in love?

I don’t think you have to be sexually attracted, but there must be some kind of chemistry.

Do you have more same sex friends or opposite?

More same sex.

If you could retire (not quit) today, would you? Why or why not? 

I would – and pursue my dream of writing full-time.

Is your life at all what you thought it would be like when you were a kid?

Hell no! 

Have you ever stood someone up? If yes, why?

A friend, yes – because I was so exhausted from work – I clean forgot we had an appointment.  She understood though…

What’s the worst thing someone said to you?

“I don’t love you anymore…go back to your parents…”

Do you cry often?

Only when I’m really angry, or really sad.

Are you having a good hair day?

No…wind is blowing it all over the show

What is your favorite fruit?

Don’t eat fruit…

Are you afraid to fly?

Not at all!

Do you own any guns?

No – probably a good thing considering my temper of late…

Are you shy or outgoing?

Outgoing

Do you put off doing things because you are afraid of what will happen?

Not because of what will happen, but because I’d much rather be doing something else.

Do you long for someone you can’t have?

Every day…

Do you spend more time naked or clothed?

Clothed…

What is your favorite board game?

Trivial Pursuit or 30 Seconds