My Sucky Weekend

On Friday night we went to my grandparents to have some soup. Whenever they want us to visit my grandfather phones with promises of soup. He knows food lures Rudi...and well I don't really need luring. I'm blogging from home since I anticipate work is going to suck again tomorrow. Every day they take at least half our team to help out that portfolio I hate, saying we're 'overstaffed'. Meanwhile, this just puts more pressure on us to work harder and I feel like we're working at a pace we cannot maintain without burning out.

On Saturday we drove all the way to Somerset West to have a braai with Lindor. It was his 41st birthday. Of course I was bored out of my mind the ENTIRE time and more than annoyed. I didn't really want to go in the first place...but again didn't want to be the bad guy. Of course everyone else got shitfaced and I stayed sober since it was a very long drive home on a road riddled with roadworks.

The whole day Rudi was threatening to throw people in the pool. Predictably, he got shoved into the pool. With his phone in his pocket. I was SO freaking angry! Such an expensive childish prank! PLUS all his clothes were drenched and it's not like he brought extra clothes with him. He couldn't understand why I was mad at him. If he had kept his trap shut, nobody would have considered throwing anyone in the pool, it is winter after all! Needless to say his phone is completely screwed. It also turns out he sold the spare phone he had. So now he has NO phone. No way for me to contact him. No way for him to contact me and tell me whether he will be on time or late to pick me up at work. In my panic to get his battery out of his phone (the first thing you should do if your phone falls into water) I walked into a thatch lapa. The specific corner of the thatch has chicken wire over it and I now have a lovely gash in my forehead. It's not huge, but it's there and very obvious. I was asked a million times today what happened to my head. Rudi thinks I'm completely irrational...whereas I feel I have good reason to be completely annoyed! To crown it all we got lost on the way home. I HATE being lost. I never drive out that way so I had no idea where we were and Rudi was very much so 'under the weather' so he wasn't of much help. He directed us to Gordon's Bay...luckily I picked it up before we got all the way there. So my Saturday sucked crack.

Next weekend will also suck crack since I'm working the entire weekend. Then I'm working alone on the public holiday on the 16th of June. No chance of getting out of work early like in the good old days.

Today wasn't too bad. Rudi went with me to church (a miracle in itself) and we had lunch with his parents after. A relaxed day all in all. I can't believe I had to go to work again tomorrow...and the day after that and the next 10 days after that. Farg.

I saw the sign

It was amazing. It was like a sign.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time thinking about and planning getting my tattoo. I worked out my budget, decided where I wanted it and how big I wanted it to be. I saved it on a memory stick and planned to get a quote for it as soon as possible. I even decided I'd have it done soon after we come back from George.

Yesterday around two the doctor called and advised me that I could pick up my prescription, he had left it at his practice for me. I was hoping they'd fax it to the pharmacy near my house, but they didn't. Rudi picked Lindor up from work and we went on our way to fetch my sleeping tablets. Lindor usually insists on stopping at a bottle store very close to where I work so they can have a beer - yes, in the car. It irritates me to no end, but for some reason he didn't say anything yesterday. It just annoys me that having a beer is *that* urgent. It can freaking wait as far as I'm concerned. It's also not as if it only happens on a Friday. Any day we give him a lift home a stop at the first bottle store is mandatory. Anyway, since we had to go to the doctor's office I suggested we stop at a small bottle store on the way there.

Low and behold, at the very same bottle store at the very same time was the guy who had re-done my current tattoo. I haven't seen him since he re-inked me and that was at least 4 years ago. He had a look at my tattoo and said he wants to do the purple over. You can see the photo of my current tattoo here. Tristan added the flowing 'tails' to the wings as well. He gave me his number and said he'd be happy to do it for me. Suddenly I am super excited. I would have done it yesterday if I could!

Sherbet. I haven't touched my work yet. I guess I better get going if I want to get out of here at a reasonable hour!

-1kg

The weeked turned out to be pretty cool. On Friday we went to braai (BBQ) at Lindor's house. I went to make a turn at Sarah's house as they were also having a party to which were invited. After returning to Lindor and having a bite I convinced Rudi that we should go to Sarah's house to their party too. We ended up being the last people there (that rarely happens) and only got home around 2am.

The next morning...not so much fun. Tequila is the devil. I am *really* one of those people that the following saying applies to: One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, floor. I only had four shots of tequila and one bottle of wine stretched and shared over the entire evening, but that last Tequila...hit me between the eyes. I had a hangover of note on Saturday. I don't think I've ever been so thirsty in my life! For some daft reason we decided to go and do grocery shopping on Saturday. What a freaking nightmare! We stood in a queue at Checkers for almost an hour just to pay! I was really grumpy! We did, however, also go and cash in the vouchers I won from @Dulcecafe on Twitter. They have competitions once a week on Twitter, sort of like a viral campaign and I won a R50 meal voucher and a 25MB wi-fi voucher. Pretty cool.

On Sunday it was our anniversary. Married for 2 years, together for 8. To think I was worried about beating Rudi's record of 2 years with his ex (yeah I don't know why I'm like that). She can suck it. WA HA HA HA. Rudi wished me just after I got up and I made him some breakfast. After church we went shopping for some fruit and veg and Beauty Queen and SLK invited us for lunch. Rudi was going to take me out to lunch anyway, so we went with them. After that we went to camera_obscura's house and chilled there for a while.

We had an Apostle service on Sunday morning and the strangest thing happened. I heard a message for Sarah. It was quite weird because I often hear messages for myself and for Nellie (because Nellie and I talk about our faith and often hear things for each other), but for Sarah? The company Sarah is working for are liquidating and she had to go in on Monday to find out if she still has a job. The Apostle prayed for those who were on the verge of losing their jobs. I called Sarah and told her about it. The outcome? She kept her job AND got an increase. Yay for her! Speaking of Sarah, we're hopefully going to pick out my new hair colour this evening and make it happen. Don't worry...I'll post photos.

Yesterday was a day of complete relaxation. We didn't even leave the house. We lay on the couch and watched movies ALL DAY. We tried to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies, but only managed two. Probably because we stopped to cook and watch our regular programming on a Monday. I'm watching the last one now.

How I managed to lose a kilo through all of this eating and vegging is beyond me, but I will not complain.

Oh. I'm not pregnant.

Weekend and Politics

Our weekend wasn't too bad. Had a braai on Friday night. Everyone had a good time it seemed. I drank an entire bottle of red wine, but seemed to be the only sober person there.

On Saturday we had a nice lie in. Slept till 10am - something we're almost incapable of doing under normal circumstances. I'm sure the late night on Saturday night contributed. Saturday was quite a relaxed day, until my grandfather called and asked us to come over. So we had to peel ourselves off the couch, shower, get dressed and everything. What a mission. Especially since winter seemed to arrive this weekend and it was quite chilly.

Sunday morning was church as usual. Rudi couldn't be bothered and was still under the covers when I got home. I decided to take off my fancy clothes and creep in with him. What a pleasure. Yesterday was Rudi's parents 40th wedding anniversary so we went to a restaurant called The Quarter Deck in Grand West Casino. The outside of the restaurant is shaped like the deck of a ship - hence the name. They have a buffet lunch for R150.00 a head. I don't think it's really worth the money for me, but Rudi makes up for it. He had quite a few plates of mussels and prawns. I cannot tell you whether or not the seafood is nice (as I don't eat seafood), but you could definitely get your money's worth. As we didn't have any money to go Rudi's parents paid for us. That was very sweet of them.

Turns out my overtime worked has not been approved since March. I have over 20 hours worth of overtime that I should have gotten the end of April. Fail. Now I'll have to wait for it till the end of May. I was really looking forward to having some extra money at the end of this month, perhaps to have my hair done, but it seems that is not going to happen. May is a bonus month for us, so I will have over enough money next month anyway - and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get screwed on tax. Fortunately we receive our annual increase this month and that might just help a little bit (I hope).

Wednesday this week is election day in South Africa. I can't wait to go and make my X. It's the first time I have ever registered to vote (yeah, I'm bad, I know) and it's going to be a very exciting election. I am normally apathetic towards politics, but South African citizens have an opportunity in this election to change the country. I certainly hope that the result of this election will be positive for South Africa and that a new era of politics will begin...

I can't even pee in cups

So in case you were wondering, Rudi did come home on time on Saturday. Only problem is he came with Lindor and family in tow. He did what men usually do. Told his friends he is game for a braai and then said 'I'll just check with the wife'. Doesn't leave me much choice does it? If I say no, I look like the bad guy. If I agree then everyone is happy but me. With much groaning I gave in. I knew he would not stop nagging until I said yes (he had already had enough beer to make him whiney). The condition was that he needed to clean up after they left.

The braai wasn't too bad. Lindor and Rudi were sufficiently drunk leaving Lindor's wife and I rolling our eyes and sighing at the idiotic conversations we were forced to listen to. Lindor was extremely unhappy that their fishing trip had yielded no fish. He is convinced Rudi jinxed him because he would not let him pee on his new Shimano reel. Wait. What?! Apparently it is tradition to initiate your new reel by peeing on it and if you don't (or someone doesn't) you will have bad luck fishing. Rudi says I may pee on his reel. He seems to forget that I'm a girl and I actually cannot aim when I pee. Um. I meant ewwww. Perhaps we can just tell Lindor that Rudi and I peed on the reel in some kinky way and he would no longer believe the reel is jinxed. Or we could pee on the reel.

I undressed, changed and dressed Lindor's six month old baby before she was put to bed. Sjoe. It's a lot harder than one would think. It didn't help that she was kicking as if her life depended on it! I think I need a lot more practice! I'm pretty sure it's something you get better at. Rudi also kept to his word and cleaned up on Sunday morning before I got home from church. Bless.

I think I'm feeling better this morning. I might just be imagining this slight nausea and random heartburn. Perhaps I'm just crazy. Still have to wait all the way to Saturday before anything is revealed. I spoke to Rudi about taking a blood test. He said he thinks we should wait till Saturday at least. If nothing happens on Saturday I'm going to go for a blood test on Monday. No doubt. Everyone keep your fingers crossed, OK?

Nellie is on maternity leave from today. Lucky cow! I'm going to miss talking to her. We're kind of cut off from each other right now as my phone bill is already sky high and she doesn't have funds to recharge either. We'll manage though. I think I'll type her a very long e-mail to keep her busy a bit later.

Oh. The finalists of the SA Blog Awards have been announced. Go vote here. Don't worry about looking for my blog amongst them, it's not there, but I would recommend you read some of the finalists as they definitely deserve their spots.

Saturday Business

So I finally got my ass into gear and walked today. I didn't walk particularly far and the walk wasn't more strenuous than usual, but when I got home I felt sick to my stomach. As if I could throw up because of the exertion. Strange that. I actually still feel a little queasy. Didn't stop me from eating two hot dogs for lunch though. Bah.

I also did my filing. I didn't have nearly as much as I thought I would have, but I clearly haven't filed since November. I also haven't collecte post from my P.O. Box since January, in other words I STILL have catching up to do *sigh* At least I've gotten my new files in working order and all the loose papers lying around into one place.

I also cleaned the house and even took the bin out. That's usually Rudi's job. Rudi has gone fishing with Lindor. He left around 10:00 this morning and will *probably* be home by 18:00. He says he'll be home by that time...but we'll have to see. He's not great at coming home when he says he's going to.

Anyway. I'm at my grandparents house which has broadband. You'd think I'd be less bored. They've both nodded off leaving me without any company and rugby on the TV. My grandfather won't admit to his nap if he catches me changing the channels.

I had a nice hour long conversation with Nellie earlier. I'm hoping to call her back a little later. Pffft. So bored and wondering why on earth I'm nauseous when I'm not sick. I'll give you three guesses what I'm thinking and the first two don't count...

One tube, one test?

I was feeling sick yesterday morning...and the evening before after having a Savannah (or half of one) and a ton of garlic. When Rudi opened his eyes this morning the first thing he said to me was 'Are you naar?' (naar = nauseous) Shame. We Poor chap has his hopes up for this month.

We had a lady come to our house to draw our blood for the life insurance tests. I asked her if she could draw some extra blood and do a pregnancy test as well, but unfortunately she didn't have the correct tube with her. She said if I had asked her earlier she could have brought a tube with. Darn. Maybe it's a sign that I should just freaking wait and quit being so impatient. My cycle is due in 8 days. It's a long time to wait. I'll still have to wait another week after that anyway to be sure it's really late and not just irregular. I hate this.

On the upside, although she struggled to find my vein as they inevitably always do, she only stuck me once and managed to get all the blood she needed. Only one vial. She said they are only doing an HIV test though, so I'm not sure what the nicotine racket is all about. Is that a scam? Do they just call you up and say 'We found nicotine' to increase your premium? She did say that they may use the same kind of tube for the nicotine test...but she couldn't say for sure. Interesting that. We'll see what the results say.

Was a little peeved with Rudi yesterday. When he came to pick me up Lindor was in the car with him and they were both smoking. Are you freaking kidding me?! I was about to go for this nicotine test and both of them are smoking with me in the car. Idiots. Rudi didn't seem to think it would make a difference. He clearly doesn't acknowledge the dangers of second hand smoke.

Anyway. I'm really happy I'm off this weekend. I plan to go for a very long walk this evening. To make up for almost two weeks of no exercise. I swear I'll do it. I have to with all the junk I've eaten this week. Back on the bandwagon from today. From immediately. No more excuses!

Weekend Update

On Friday Rudi spent most of the evening with Lindor and Fence finalising plans for Saturday's fishing trip. I saw him for the first time after 20:00 (despite him saying he would be home around 18:00). I decided to let it slide since I had busied myself washing all the pink spray out of my hair.




I participated in the CANSA Shavathon this year. I didn't have money this year, but Leebeesa didn't want her hair sprayed, but wanted to contribute, so she paid for me to have my hair sprayed. I got a lot of attention, I must say. Luckily this year the pink actually washed out of my hair. I washed it around 4 times and it all came out. Last year the purple stayed in my hair for quite some time.

Anyway...on Saturday we went on this fishing trip. Rudi was arguing with me over nonsense in the morning - almost as if he didn't want me to go, but I stuck to my guns and went anyway. It wasn't as unpleasant as I thought it would be. Fence and Caregiver pretended that nothing happened. Nobody mentioned the incident and I didn't bring it up either. It was very hot and eventually very windy. I spent most of the day with Caregiver in a tent on the beach. We read, had a nap and made some food for the guys. Not one fish was caught the entire day.

We then went for a braai at Lindor's house. That wasn't too bad either. We tried to play games, but Lindor kept changing the rules. Eventually Rudi and Fence wanted to go and buy another bottle of brandy and for Lindor's wife didn't want him to go with. Lindor went to bed while they were away. When they got back Lindor came back down, but was upset that he could not go with them to buy the bottle. I have a feeling there's more to it than that (perhaps he wanted to get something else as well, but lacked opportunity to leave)...I started feeling horrible and went to lie down on the couch. I passed out fell asleep and Rudi woke me up when it was time to leave. I felt awful. I felt nauseous, had heartburn and was still half asleep. So I survived Saturday.

Sunday we had a braai with the in-laws, which was uneventful as it normally is.

My ovulation microscope is confusing me! From around Thursday is started showing signs on ferning. That is supposed to be the transitional phase that leads up to ovulation. On Saturday my microscope showed NOTHING. We through it odd, so we took another sample and sure enough...it was like fern city. The entire lens was covered in ferns. It was all very exciting! So we started trying then. On Sunday - nothing. No ferns. Not one. I tested 4 times. This morning, no ferns. Nothing. My hopes of success are therefore not high for this month.

Next month we will try from the day the ferning starts to show until it disappears. As far as I understood the microscope should show transitional ferning, then full ferning and then back to transitional once ovulation tapers off.

Weird. At least it ferned though, which means I am ovulating. That is a good thing.

Sick

I'm not feeling so well today. I didn't go in to work. I think I'm coming down with something. I feel all congested at night and nauseous during the day. No...I'm not pregnant. My readers would be amongst the first to know. I got up this morning and prepared breakfast and lunch for Rudi and I, like I do every morning...but I just didn't feel right. I bit the bullet and phoned Jubba (something I loathe to do, although he has always been reasonable when I've been ill) and took a sick day.

It's very hot today...I've already gone and cleaned the kitchen and put things straight and all sorts of things I should rather just leave because I'm not feeling well. Now that everything is done though I'm going to rest. Maybe it's just all the stress at work lately. There's been tension in the air at work for the past two weeks. For a change it's not Jubba that's driving me crazy. The whole department has been in shambles and trying to bail out one of the portfolios and I think everyone is feeling a little thinly spread. Management doesn't think we're performing at our optimum levels and decided to just pile more work on and shuffle us around. It makes complete sense from a business perspective, but we are people and sometimes companies forget about people. I must say The Company isn't heartless and doesn't treat us badly and pays us well. I don't blame The Company...I just think there are some structuring issues and perhaps some strategies need to be put in place to prevent the portfolio in question from falling behind like they have again. It's not the first time it has happened, but it always seems like it gets left till the last minute and then everyone panics.

So. I'm resting today.

I bought myself a very pretty dress yesterday. It's officially the only one I own. I own skirts that I rarely wear, but I have no dresses. Just this one. I saw it in a mall close by quite a while ago, but they didn't have my size. Yesterday I saw it in a different mall, in my size AND on sale. I had to get it. Rarely does a dress catch my eye, but this one did.



So last night I put on my new dress and my heels and I went to church. I felt so feminine and pretty. It's the perfect dress for special occasions and I received lots of compliments last night.

Check out Amber's battle scar:






Silly cat.

I just finished watching P.S. I love you. Very good movie. It just brings me back to that place where I remember that I need to appreciate what I have. It's a beautiful movie and I would recommend you see it if you haven't yet.

I looked at my microscope long and hard this morning and I just checked it again. I think I'm starting to see signs of ferning. Very slight, but it's starting to show up. Rudi reckons it still looks the same, but I don't agree. Maybe tomorrow it will be clearer and he can see.

I might have gotten myself out of fishing on Saturday with Fence and Lindor. It all depends on whether or not their partners are going with. Even if I don't go fishing, there's no escaping the braai (BBQ) afterwards. On Sunday apparently we're going to Franshoek. Rudi's brother, Derick, wants to do something for their mom and we've been invited, but it's not yet confirmed. I must take my camera if we go. It's beautiful there. I hope I'm not still feeling ill this weekend.

Renamed

Jane had a good point in the comment she left the other day. She said the names that I have for Rudi's friends are very negative. It's true, I can't deny it. Perhaps this assists in the perpetuation of my negative attitude towards them. So I have decided to rename them.

Crack Head scored MAJOR brownie points with me last night. He came to visit Rudi while I was at choir practice and when I got home I discovered a gift for me in the fridge. Lindor Chocolate balls. Absolutely my favourite and for some reason Rudi never got them for me on Valentine's Day as I requested. Now I have some. Don't worry, I didn't eat them. I'm saving them for a special occasion. Crack Head will hence forth be known as Lindor. He also bought me a tiny little cactus last time he visited. I'm not sure exactly why he comes bearing gifts since he seems to know now I have put my grudge aside, but I'm not going to question this practice or complain!

Now on to Boring Person (Male) and Boring Person (Female). This took me a long time to mull over in my head. Trying to come up with something creative and positive has proved to be quite a challenge. I thought about calling Boring Person (Male) Older Guy, but Lindor is around the same age so it just doesn't make sense. This isn't awfully creative, but I'm going to call him Fence. He has an Afrikaans name and the name kind of reminds me of the word 'fence' (translated). I think that is quite a neutral name. I neither love nor hate fences. Boring Person (Female) will now be known as Caregiver. She runs a creche and cares for quite a few children on a daily basis so I think the name is apt.

So now that nobody on my blog has a negative name anymore, other than My Evil Mother who I reserve the right to keep that way until she is no longer evil, I feel a little lighter.

Speaking of My Evil Mother. On Wednesday after church she called me aside, asked me to hold her hand and said something like 'No matter what happens and no matter what you or I say, I will always be your mother and these shoulders are always here for you'. RANDOM! Last night she called me at the last minute and asked to be picked up for choir practice. We had a little time to chat and I asked her why she made this random little speech. She then said 'I am your mother, I can sense things and I will always be there for you despite the fact that you aren't there for me'
'Like when?'
'Like when I went through my divorce, but it's fine.'
I didn't even get into it with her. I kind of feel like one is asking for divorce when you are cheating on your spouse. I don't know why you would expect a different result and I don't recall her being there for me all that much after we lost our son. Sure she came to the hospital and was there the day he was born and died and she went to look at him for me and take photos, but she wasn't there after that or before that when I was going through a very hard time. Being there for one day while all the drama of the weeks before come to a head and then not being there afterwards doesn't cut it in my book. But I didn't get into it with her. She says she's divorcing her current husband. This is not the first time she has said this. They've been married for four months. I am not sure if she will divorce him, although I don't see any benefit to staying with him.

I called my grandparents and found out that my grandmother had told her that Rudi and I were having problems (this is obviously how she 'senses things' as my mother). I kind of knew that would have been her source. I wish she would learn that I am not as gullible as she thinks.