As I've matured, I've learnt .....

I've learnt that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I've learnt that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes.

I've learnt that it takes years to build up trust, and it only takes suspicion (not proof) to destroy it.

I've learnt that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better have a big willy or huge boobs.

I've learnt that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.

I've learnt that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.

I've learnt that we are responsible for what we do ... unless we're celebrities.

I've learnt that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be a lot of money to take its place.

I've learnt that 99% of the time when something isn't' working in your house, one of your kids did it.

I've learnt that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away.

(Thanks to Marlese for these gems!)

Its been a while!

No, I promise I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I be alive! I be alive!

It has been just over a month since my last post. I've been working hard and settling into my job - which I am loving to bits!!! What an awesome bunch of people to be working with! I've set myself up in a cozy space and have made myself very at home - yeah yeah, as only I can.

A lot has happened over the last month. Besides the job. I've been enjoying my relationship with Gareth even more ... its been such an amazing experience for me. We sat down with the kids last week Thursday and spoke to them about him moving in. It was the cutest thing to see their spontaneous responses. Raechel bounced up and down and said "Yay! Uncle Gareth is moving in forever!" Danielle was telling us how she's so "cool" with it. Ethan's only concern was that he wouldn't find a space in the bed if Uncle Gareth was there, after which we both assured him there would always be plenty of for him AND his sisters. Famous last words! G and I were lying down - me reading and him faffing on his laptop when the next moment we had all three of them tackling us on the bed for a rather large cuddle session filled with loads of tickling and laughter! LOL! What fun!

Life is great all around at the moment - I've been so happy, content and blessed over the last few months. I couldn't have wished for more! The only downer I encountered recently was news that my friend had to deliver her stillborn daughter. My heart truly breaks for her. She is such an amazing, wonderful and loving person, that for something like this to happen to her and her husband is unspeakable. It really makes you sit back and take stock of your life. Where you are and what you have. Makes you value every moment. Life is so unpredictable and most times its very unfair. My new friend Alison said it quite beautifully one evening: "Life's a bitch because if it was a slut it would be easy."

So what have I learnt over this last month? I've learnt that terrible things happen to really amazing people, but that those people will survive and continue to push through because the ones they've lost wouldn't want them to stop for anything. I've learnt that I love doing what I do in the work place. I love making people laugh. I've learnt that feeling love, affection, adoration, tenderness, friendship and all those wonderful things are mine for the taking in an unconditional way. I've been shown again how resilient children really are. I've been made even more aware of how amazing, caring, loving and awesome my friends are.

So all around, life is moving forward swiftly. Its being very good to me right now and I'm loving it. I'm just taking it day by day and enjoying the ride so far. I'm hoping that good times will not end and I will continue to make decisions that, at times are not particularly comfortable to make, but will take me to a place that I want to be. The "big picture". It might not be what other people "envisioned" for my life, but thankfully its not about them (since its my life to live). Its about what I need to do to gain the happiness that I deserve. Its about what I need to do to be the example I feel my children need to have.

So, I'll raise my glass of pink bubbles to the powers that be and be grateful for all I have, all I've gained and all I will achieve in the future. And to all of you along for the ride .... buckle up, keep your hands in the vehicle at all times and if you need to use the barf bag, its a little to your left ... no ... your other left ...

xxx

Hi ho hi ho its off to work we go :)

What can I say about the new job..... well ..... I'm LOVING it so far. I started on Tuesday (due to Monday being a public holiday). Yes there are nerves involved, but seriously ... this is going to be a great place to work and a great company to grow with. What it involves is me doing admin, book keeping and some HR things. Its a very challenging and exciting place to be.

My life has definitely taken a new direction and I'm very excited about it!

Yes yes yes, I'll keep you posted!
xxx

Ok you can release your thumbs now :)

Thanks to everyone who sent me all the good luck. I got the job :) :) :)

I am now officially a working lass again. Keep me in your thoughts for the first few weeks so that I get into the hang of things quickly :)

Holding thumbs update

Thanks to all those who have been holding their thumbs for me ... I know it makes it difficult to do those odd things around the house and office that one generally needs thumbs for, but hopefully its going to be for a really good cause :)

I heard today that I need to go for a second interview for that job I'm gunning for - now I'm going to meet with the other director/partner in the business. God willing I will wow him with my awesomeness and all will be well .... who knows, I might even be an official working girl by Monday next week! (From my lips to God's ears)

So, if you wouldn't mind still holding those thumbs for me I'd be ever so grateful and will let you know as soon as you can let go again so that you may return to a life with fully functioning thumbs. In the mean time keep using the other digits on your hands ;)

Restaurant Review: Bukhara, Primi Piatti and Panarotti's

It’s been a while since I’ve done a restaurant review, so I’d better catch up a bit!

I’ll start with this one: Bukhara in Stellenbosch

What fun this night was! We went to surprise a friend for his 50^th birthday. I like this restaurant a lot. They always present you with top class food and the service is generally exceptional. Yes, it is a bit pricey, but it’s well worth the money you pay out to have a decent plate of curry. Their portions are also a wonderful size.

So last time we ate there, the birthday boy had a Vindaloo … needless to say it’s HOT HOT HOT!!! His poor wife had to deal with him blasting the roof off of their house for a few days after that and had to keep freezing the toilet paper. For those carnivores out there, this is a great place to eat because the curry they serve you has copious amounts of succulent meat in it. I, on the other hand, like meat but don’t always want that much of it. So this time around I ordered a vegetable curry. I just added some of my dates meat to it when I felt like some (lucky for me he was eating the lamb which was very yummy indeed). I was very impressed with this vegetable curry … it was delicious … although certain people were not as impressed with it. Some at the table said it made the burn of their curry come out even more. Well, I didn’t feel a thing so it couldn’t have been that bad! ;)

The only crap thing about their menu is their desserts. Personally I am not a fan of them at all. Some had the ice-cream … which is actually horrid in my opinion … some had the bread and butter pudding (an Indian take on an old favourite) – which isn’t half bad actually … could use a bit more “sweet” though. I stuck to my old favourite, Dom Pedro … he has always worked wonders for me … especially when he is loaded with a double tot of my favourite liqueur!

It was a fun night and we didn’t get kicked out for being too raucous either – which was nice for a change ;)

Bukhara gets 5 stars from me – just because I love it!

Ok, next on the list is: Primi Piatti, Somerset West

Yes people, they’re actually still around and haven’t closed down. They’ve moved to the Vodacom Golf Park near Somerset Mall. Sadly. To be honest, it’s a bit of a crap venue to have such a cool restaurant. I think it would be better to have them move to where Cape Town Fish Market is (you know … right there by Ster Kinekor in Somerset Mall) … I’m sure that CTFM wouldn’t mind since they are always empty anyway and should probably just close shop.

Anyway, as always the food at Primi was great. I had really delicious pasta as a main meal, and we started with a garlic pita with caramelized onions. All in all it was a good meal. The only problem with Primi now is the venue … they could have done so much better with the choice. It just seems so out of the way now. Surely they would have made more money staying in the mall. Although, I’m sure that the mall has higher rental prices, hence the move (???) …

Oh and by the way, WHEN did they stop serving that awesome bread basket before the meal … you know the one … you could slop a whole lot of balsamic vinegar and olive oil onto your side plate and dip the bread into it and munch away while enjoying the (hopefully) great company and good conversation. I felt a little robbed by the fact that there was no bread … just olive oil and balsamic vinegar … and to be quite frank, that doesn’t go down well without the bread.

Oh well, I still love the food though and would still recommend it.

Primi Piatti gets 3 stars from me – nice food, crap venue

Ok, let’s see … next on the list is: Panarotti’s, Somerset Mall

We took the kids to go eat there on a Wednesday … why specifically a Wednesday??? Well, it’s “Kids Eat Free” on a Wednesday. This of course only works if you don’t have kids like mine who prefer eating more than the little bits they give and love the adult menu. I felt very sorry for our poor waiter, Effort (I kid you not). He was very polite, well mannered and very helpful. Unfortunately Effort was not having a very good night. His orders where a little messed up on the timing side of things. Poor guy. I will assume the kitchen had something to do with that though. And I will also assume that it might have been Effort’s first night as a waiter. Bad timing on Efforts part, as Wednesday’s happen to be a busy night in this establishment … with lots of grumpy parents and hungry children racing against the bed-time clock.

The kids did get a free meal, but we had them put straight into doggy-bags to bring home while they ate their adult meals instead. It’s a shame that the dessert is also not free though … just the main meal … although, that can save money … if you have kids that eat like birds. My youngest eats like a bird, so she ate free. Everyone really enjoyed their meals. I really enjoyed my very large portion of tequila flamed chicken pasta, even though my mouth did catch fire from all the chilli in it … or it could have been from the pepper in it … although it felt like chilli. I was looking very flushed … as if my inner tomato had decided to show itself. It was delicious :)

I did note (to my horror) that they have a chicken and mayo pizza available now. That is just disgusting! I’m sure one could generally enjoy something like that, but have you ever had anything with chicken and mayo at Panarotti’s??? Unless you like excessive amounts of mayo, you will not enjoy it. I had a meal (the name of it I forget) that consists of garlic pita bread, served with sliced avo and then chicken and mayo on a bed of lettuce. The avo and the pita was awesome … the chicken was floating in mayo, but after picking the pieces of chicken cartilage out from the mix and removing some of the mayo it was quite tasty. Yes, I did tell the waiter to tell them to perhaps shred their chicken better (perhaps ask someone who has feeling in their fingertips and can see to do it) and perhaps hold off of being so heavy handed with the mayo when he asked if I enjoyed the meal. One shouldn’t lie when one is paying for something … right??? (I promise I used way more tact and was very nice about it though). I used to love that dish, but I won’t be ordering that again anytime soon.

The other problem I have with this place is that they’ve renovated it to make more space perhaps for the tons of people they need to cram in there for all their fab specials. I don’t have a problem with renovating – it looks nice and all … the problem I have is that they sacrificed the toilets for the space. That’s a bit of a problem. ESPECIALLY if you are sitting there on your own with your child and your child then needs the toilet. You have to walk out of the restaurant and go to the mall toilets opposite the entrance to the Spur, which are the closest ones available. This is an idiotic thing to do people. As a mother who is always concerned for her child’s well being, you cannot in this day and age let your kid go toddling off to the toilet by themselves while you are sitting there waiting for them to come back. You can’t leave your bag and shopping at the table either because some knob might decide to do some affirmative shopping at your table. So what do you do? Personally I would call the manager over and tell them it’s a stupid arrangement and was not very thoughtful and they will now either sit at my table and keep an eye on my stuff (and God help them if they move) or they will take my child to the toilet themselves and bring them back safely or lose a limb. Luckily for the manager that hasn’t had to happen yet.

Panarotti’s gets 3 stars from me – it’s so much better than going to the Spur, but that chicken mayo thing and toilet issue is a bit much. Otherwise its great food and can be good family time :)

So there it is … three reviews in one post … aren’t I a clever munchkin!!!

Holding thumbs...

Yes, not as nice as holding hands, but this is what I need from you all for now ;)

I've got a job interview next week Wednesday for a half day position ... so I'm holding thumbs for me too because it would be PERFECT if I get this job!!! I'd be able to go to work (which I do miss) and then still have time to focus on my photography too! AND I'll be able to pay the bills too! Whoohoo!!!

So, please please please hold thumbs for me and I'll keep you posted as to what happens :)

xxx
M

PS. Caz ... I'll try post more often just for you ;)