Drama Cow January 20, 2010
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: cartoon, laugh
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A very belated Happy New Year to you all! It’s been madness so far, but I promise there shall be a proper post soon. For now, enjoy this from my favourite cartoon, Pearls Before Swine:
I did it! December 22, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: holiday, mood, movies, new beginnings, smile, The Older Sibling
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Against all odds, I have made it fairly unscathed to the end of the year. I’m sitting at the airport, enjoying a glass of wine, waiting to board my flight to take me to the land of The Older Sibling, feeling slightly shattered that it’s finally over! I intend to spend the last few days of 2009 relaxing, spending time with my family, drinking at 10 in the morning if I feel like it, and generally letting people take care of me.
I know I need to spend this time recharging my batteries, reflecting on what has passed this year, think of how to tackle next year, but not today. Probably not tomorrow either. But soon. I already have many thoughts swirling round my head but for now I shall ignore them and simply relax!
If I don’t get a chance (or inspiration) to post before Christmas, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a HAPPY new year. This year has been a disaster for many of us, but I know it can only get better from here. Thanks for reading and spreading your awesomeness!
xxx
Friday Cartoon December 18, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: TGIF
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From Pearls Before Swine
Festive feelings December 13, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: food, happiness, holiday, mood, new beginnings, smile
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I went to my first Christmas party of the season this afternoon and had an awesome lunch with all the trimmings – turkey, cranberry sauce, gammon, champagne, Quality Street chocolates, crackers…
I really love this time of the year – the countdown until you’re on leave (8 days!), winding things down at work, putting up Christmas decorations, wrapping presents. The excitement is in the air! This is a strange Christmas for me – for obvious reasons I’m feeling a bit sad, but I’m also super excited. The clans are gathering this year, which always turns out to be a party of note. It’s been a good few years since I’ve joined the rest of the family, and I’m so looking forward to seeing all the mad folk that make our Christmases so memorable. I am also so excited to kick this year out the door – I know one shouldn’t wish time away, but really, I can’t wait for it to be over.
What is your favourite part of this time of the year?
PS – it’s snowing on my blog, check it out if you read this through Google Reader or similar
A very significant day December 11, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: love, marriage, missing
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A year ago at about this time, I was on Facebook changing my relationship status to “married”. Despite all the warnings to me that you were too much of a “free spirit” to settle down and I should never expect any kind of commitment from you, after two months of dating you asked me to marry you. And today, just a year ago, you put that beautiful ring on my finger, with “forever” inscribed on the inside.
Even though the whole way there you asked me to stop the car so you could run away, when the official said “sign here brother, that you take this woman to be your wife”, there was no hesitation. Husband and wife. Mr and Mrs. Forever.
Just Married
Surrounded by the people that meant the most to us, we legally bound ourselves together, completing what had already been bound emotionally and physically. It was a simple affair, but perfect for us. That day you gave me all I ever wanted – you, completely.
“Til death do us part” became a reality far, far to soon, and so I sit here today on this very significant day and hope you are remembering too. Today a year ago I promised you forever, and I know that whatever path my life follows, I will love you forever. I will always be your “Vrou”.
Hey where did it go?! December 10, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: blogging, conversation, missing, random, The Older Sibling, thoughts
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I realised today that it’s been almost a month since I last posted. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned that in that time nothing of huge significance has happened (at any rate, nothing that has inspired me to share) but then I thought, uneventful is good. I’m glad for uneventful. Uneventful doesn’t hurt. Uneventful allows me to drift along in a sort of daze, not really having to deal with much of anything. I can live with uneventful.
Actually, once I had a good think as to what I have been up to over the last few weeks, I suppose by some people’s standards I’ve been quite busy, but by my standards I’ve been blissfully free of drama. Long may it stay this way! For those that may be interested, a few highlights of the past few weeks:
- I completely winged it through my exams, relying entirely on general knowledge. Not ideal I know, and probably not something I should be proud of, but in some cases it paid off. In others, not so much.
- I attempted to walk up Lion’s Head with a group of friends. I made it about three-quarters of the way up before I had visions of slipping and falling to my death and I had to stop. The view from up there is spectacular though. I am truly blessed to live where I do.
- I treated myself to a ticket to the theatre and went to the opening night of Cats at the Artscape. What an amazing show, despite being in the semi-cheap seats and sitting behind the guy with the world’s largest head. After the show I felt very cultured and really wished I had someone to share the experience with.
- I decided it was time to finally buy an iron and ironing board. After 4 and a half years of the perma-creased look, I decided I couldn’t do without an iron any longer and clothes really won’t iron themselves or hang out. I ironed everything I could in my basket and had so much fun I was looking for things to iron just because. I’m such a nerd.
- I realised that for the first time in my life I’m old enough to say I’ve known a certain person for twenty years. I’m feeling ancient. The next logical step is definitely the retirement home.
- I saw the Killers live!! Yes the traffic was a nightmare, but it was all part of the experience. And Brandon Flowers is hot enough to make up for all the discomfort.
- I have bought a bunch of awesome Christmas presents and I’m more excited to give them out than to get presents in return*
- This evening I signed the acceptance documents to become a trustee of a fund that aims to do a lot of work in an area that is very close to my heart. The papers are being submitted to the Master tomorrow – may this be the start of something great!
So what have you all been up to? What did I miss?!
* Dear Older Sibling, I know how your mind works. This does not mean you no longer have to buy me anything. It actually means you have to get me something extra due to the combined awesomeness of your and Chef’s gifts…
Enough November 14, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: crap, crisis, FML, rant, thoughts, tired
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Thankfully, I’m coming to the end of a particularly trying week. The pattern of my life over the past few years goes something like this – good things, happiness, smooth sailing and just when I’m getting settled and comfortable, drama in varying degrees of intensity. This week was no exception and just proved to me that the cycle continues.
It started with my phone breaking in the middle of a conversation with my mother. I can now only hear people if I put the phone on loudspeaker or if I use the headset. I have just recently sent my spare phone to my mother in Nelspruit for her to use while her phone is in for repairs as I didn’t need it. Monday morning I left the house to head off to an early exam, only to discover that my car had been broken into at some point over the weekend and the radio stolen. The door had been bent open and left open, so the car had also been rained into, I’m not sure for how long exactly. While they left behind a portable radio/cd player that was in the boot, they stole a cap that belonged to S that I kept in the car. I ended up missing the exam to report it to the police, go for the insurance assessment and all the rest of the admin that is involved. I will now have to pay into my student account to apply for permission to write the exam on another date. Because of my extreme anger and frustration, I ended up in tears in front of my bosses, which is something I hate as it makes me feel pathetic and out of control. Add to this general exam and work stress and it hasn’t been fun. My bosses who are so kind and supportive of me are so confident that I’m going to do well in these exams as I’ve been working so hard, I don’t know how to tell them that actually I’ve been screwing around the whole year because I just don;t have the focus to sit down and study, so it’ll be a miracle if I pass anything.
I’ve been trying very hard to out this all into perspective and see the “good” side of things – the phone can be fixed and as it is still under warranty, it won’t cost me anything. I’ll have to wait until I see my mom in December to get my old phone back before I can take it in for repair, and while it is mildly annoying to have to use the headset the whole time, it’s not the end of the world. Similarly, with the car, while it’s a lot of admin, it’s not the hugest crisis. The radio and damage can be claimed under the same excess which was luckily reduced by almost half earlier this year. And the old radio wasn’t working properly anyway, so it’s a score to have it replaced. I have a car hire option, so transport won’t be a problem while it’s in for repair. Writing the exam on another day gives me time to prepare more, so I might actually be more likely to pass.
Despite my best efforts to think positively about this and realise that in the grand scheme of things it’s not as much of a drama as I’m imagining, on Monday I felt really down and defeated. I couldn’t help thinking that it’s enough now. I truly don’t understand why drama seems to follow me around. Why is it that just when things start picking up, something bad has to happen? And why is this pattern repeating itself time and time again? What have I done that I don’t get to have the easy-going, smooth sailing life that some people seem to be blessed with? Enough is enough. How much more am I expected to deal with? Everyone has their limit, and I am fast approaching mine. I wish I had some answers to these questions. I guess until it starts to make some sense, all I can do is go with the flow and hope I don’t snap and turn into an axe murder.
On a slightly lighter note, there is funny story to come out of this that even I had to laugh at. Over the weekend I had been listening to music on my phone as I had to use the headset anyway. I paused the song I was listening to and forgot about it. When the song is paused, the name is displayed on the phone’s standby screen. After all of the drama on Monday had subsided, I picked up my phone to do whatever I needed it for. My eye caught the name of the song I had last been listening to – “Better Luck Next Time” by Lifehouse… It’s official – the universe hates me, because you can’t make shit like that up if you try!
Friday Cartoon November 6, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: TGIF
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From Pearls Before Swine
You were looking for… November 5, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: advice, blogging
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…something completely different, but you found me! Hooray! I’m sure you’re day was greatly enriched. I am aware though, that you had some questions/problems you were searching for answers to, so because you go side-tracked, I thought I would answer them for you. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, as they say.
My lazy sibling
Those siblings are a problem aren’t they? Unfortunately, unless you’re an axe-murderer, there’s not much you can do about them – they are here to stay, especially the lazy ones! Just be glad your parents saved the best of the gene pool for you.
It’s the people around me that make it worst
Perhaps it’s time to find a new circle of friends? Unless you’re hanging out with yourself, in which case you have a number of problems – seek professional help.
Why is the moon moving in the wrong direction?
I suspect because it wants to? It must be super boring to go round and round in one direction – like a goldfish going round and round the universal fish tank. I would also change direction every now and the, and remember that “different” is not necessarily “wrong”. Another theory is that the moon and the sun are stuck in a perpetual game of tag. The moon decided to shake things up a little and catch the sun unaware. I’m not convinced this is such a good thing. It might result in something known as “The Apocalypse”. We’ll just have to see what happens.
I hope this helped you. Please feel free to pop by the next time you have a pressing question, or just need to get something off your chest. This door is always open!
Gourmet Grand Prix November 4, 2009
Posted by quartercenturycrisis in Uncategorized.Tags: challenge, food, friend, new beginnings
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I can’t recall when or how it started, but for as far back as I can remember, I have been a fan of Formula One racing. I used to watch it religiously until SABC3 lost the broadcast rights to Supersport. Bastards. Earlier this year I was walking past one of the restaurants at my local shopping centre and saw an advert for the Gourmet Grand Prix club which I decided to give try. This turned out to be of the the best ideas I’ve had this year.
The Gourmet part of the club is a buffet lunch of dishes from the host nation of that particular race. Some of the dishes were pretty obvious (pizza for Italy, sushi for Japan for example) but I think some of them were made up – once we had eaten Monaco Chicken, Belgium Chicken and Spanish Chicken I began to get suspicious… I was actually expecting Abu Dhabi Camel for the last race, but fortunately we were spared that. There were also prizes for correctly predicting the podium finishers. I was the Jensen Button of the club – I cleaned out the prizes at the beginning of the season, hit a serious dry spell in the middle, and then ended the season with a win.
It took a lot of effort and guts to go to that first race. It was only a few months after I lost S and it was the first time I was venturing out somewhere by myself. I felt so awkward and self conscious sitting at a table by myself. But I persevered and went the next time. And the next time. Soon I was invited to join the managers at their table and slowly made friends with them. They are not people that I ever would have imagined myself being friends with, but they seem to enjoy my company as well and are so much fun, as well as really caring people. They are in the process of setting up a trust fund in the name of a close friend of theirs who also passed away from cancer earlier this year. I am truly touched and honoured that this weekend they asked me to be one of the trustees and to speak at their first fund-raiser, which will be aiming to raise awareness of cancers that specifically affect men. I always thought that if I could help just one person through my experience, some good could come of it after all. And it seems that I might get that chance after all. That means more to me than I can put into words.
There’s a lesson I’m learning more and more this year – challenge yourself. Step out of your comfort zone. You never know what is waiting for you there.
