My fake family

So I was feeling fine about Kendra being in the hospital until I got there this afternoon and ... D and his mom are gabbing away. I took one look at Kendra and told the nurse to take her temp. Yes, 39.2. Way too high because she is in HOSPITAL. Then they moved it and put something new in her drip and 40 minutes later, she was looking better. I didn't even feel like I could fight properly with the nurses because D was supposed to be looking after her.

Of course, things went downhill from there. Tense me spoiled the mood. MIL left and Connor was crazy.

Connor had been BEGGING to go to the hospital the whole day (poor thing!) and was SO excited to see Kendra so I brought supper with us so we could all eat together.

Disaster.

Connor was too excited to see Kendra and understandably, wanted to see and touch her and the machines (with one finger!) and we kept having to say, "Connor, be gentle" and Kendra was doing the whining thing, "noooo, Connor, nooo. Only want Daddy" and so on.

And so my nice supper went to pot.


Here's where I need to stop and tell you about my fake family.

You all know my one friend calls me a Pollyanna which I am totally cool about. I do try to always look on the bright side.

Even with this hospital thing, K and I had a lovely day yesterday (as lovely as you can have in a hospital), talking, reading, looking at photos, eating, etc. and then when I got home, Connor said, "Connor MISSED Mummy!" with such passion my heart nearly burst from pure happiness.

So I've been thinking at least the 1:1 time is good.

And tonight I had visions of the four of us at least having a nice supper together, sitting on two beds, talking nicely, laughing together, not messing, saying goodnight and then switching roles - D going home with C and me overnighting with K.

You know, my fake family.

What actually happened was craziness, whining, screaming, 1, 2, 3-ing and not enjoying a single minute of it after the first, "HELLO CONNOR!" from Kendra.

That photo shoot last month was another example of me wanting my fake family to behave beautifully when of course, they've not at their best when it's that close to supper, baths and bedtime.

I saw this term "fake family" on a blog somewhere about 6 weeks ago and filed it away in the depths of my mental drafts folder.

It just describes perfectly the mismatch of my expectations vs reality.

I'm also posting this as a reminder to myself that I don't have a fake family and to have no or low expectations this Christmas weekend.

Really, if I emerge in one piece after all the to-ing and fro-ing which is a logistical nightmare when it's just the two of you plus a sick baby, I'll consider it success :)

I love Connor's funny face

I know this is a bad pic but I love it anyway

don't ask - these hands are a new thing

giving Friday a nice, big hug

Do you also have a fake family?

Kendra

Last week Dr S took a urine sample which they sent away to cultivate for a few days.

They phoned on Monday to say everything was fine and I said, "she's still got the fever though".

On Wed they phoned again and this time said, if she has another fever to bring her in on Thurs.

She had three.

So in we went yesterday and it was HELL.

He drew blood, sent us for x-rays and scans of her bladder/ kidney area and all that showed was enlarged tubes or something like that.

I get very vague with the details...

We went back to him and he ordered more scans - similar to an HSG where they squirt dye into your body.

This time to squirt dye into Kendra's bladder to see where it went - up into the tubes properly or if it was blocked somewhere.

We just finished that one (another horrible experience for both K and me) when they told us to go straight up to Dr S's rooms.

Uh oh.

Yes. He had the blood results back and it was "not good" (his words, not mine).

3 things were out of whack.

Leucocytes, _____ and _____ :) The last one's normal range is between 1 and 4. Hers was 211.

Yes.

So he had her admitted to the hospital immediately.

We had a chance to go home to fetch her stuff and say good-bye to Connor who told us he "missed Daddy, missed Kendra, missed Mummy".

Of course I've been crying too, imagining the worst, but also just because she is so traumatised when they do anything to her.

And I get it!

I am exactly the same with all these needles, pushing and shoving.

Thank goodness for D.

So K's laying on her bed and I'm squashed into a tiny corner (it's going to be fun when D sleeps here tonight!)

Oh, yes. We both left work before 2 yesterday so we still have a good half a week left before we can go on holiday.

We've had to compromise because someone's got to be here with her at all times.

He's gone in to do everything he needs to so he can be off properly tomorrow, a day early, and I'll do what I can from here (emails and such) but the real work I will have to do tomorrow, at work. I need access to some of our systems.

So that's where we're at.

We're going to be here for 5 long days.

Christmas in hospital!

Who would have thought?!

Especially since I read that post you linked to, Ginger, on Melissa's blog?

Here's another video of Kendra telling me she wants to go in my bag to work. Background - when they're being particularly cute, I say, "K, you're so cute, can I take you to work in my handbag?"

Anyway, all prayers (for her and me!) are very welcome.

Virtual Craft Day linky - Christmas edition

This month my goal was to make two different projects involving cards.

Let's do the easy one first.

Happy Birthday card

You know how much I love sending cards to people? I've started to rope in the kids so they get trained at a young age.

I got each child to sit on my lap and scribble ("write") in each of the Christmas cards. I did miss a few here and there because those were hectic days in the evenings.

Then we were invited to Nicola's birthday party.

I don't normally do birthday cards for the littles but this time I thought we would, seeing as they were used to doing cards.

As an aside, it is super adorable to see them writing :)

I took an A4 sheet of white project board, folded it in half, pasted a pink strip of paper on the inside and used my Happy Birthday punch for the cover.

I then pasted two, two-inch circles (free printables from somewhere on the internet - I print things regularly and punch them so they're ready to use) on the cover.

I asked V to let them decorate the inside as a craft one day last week (another bonus - keeps them busy for 10 minutes too) and they did a great job of putting their handprints on the inside.

Sorry, no pics - I took these before they did their craft.

 

And that was that - an easy card that we could all contribute towards.

Next up, mini notecards

I've been making 6 X 6 mini notebooks with binder rings (pics to come soonish).

When I cut out the squares from the A4 project board, there were all these edges left.

I just hate to waste anything (especially paper) so I kept them with a binder clip til inspiration struck.

One day I was looking for something in my craft drawer (hey, I need to show you pics), saw my stash of stickers and inspiration struck.

I folded the card in half, stuck on a sticker and that was that.

I was really tempted to get out the washi tape and go wild but that's when I realised my style is much simpler. If you don't like them so plain (some of you will be getting some of these), have at it and go wild. I will not be offended.

I had 42 cards so I made 7 sets of six notecards each with birds, crowns or dragonflies on them.


I then tied some of my Christmas doodle twine on it and voila, a cute little gift :)

I also made some M ones for me and some more with my Moo stickers (separate post because the Moo stuff deserves lots of words).

Christmas doodle twine

a few sets ready to go - I did these 4 in a meeting :) (the folding and sticking, not the making pretty)

some more Christmas twine

crowns

Bon-bon Doodle twine

I may be biased but I think they're gorgeous. They make me very, very happy when I look at them.

If I got some of these in the mail I would SQUEAL :)))))

What do you think? 

And now, link up your Christmas or other stuff - cooking/ baking, cards, crafts, decorations, etc.

Sweet & Savoury Snacks - easy Christmas gifts

this is what they looked like

This is a long post - get ready with your cup of tea.

I made two versions: Savoury and Sweet

Here’s the Savoury version:

• 9 cups of cereal (I used O-Tees, Popped Rice and Corn Flakes – the cheapest house brand version in some cases, otherwise I think it was the Bokomo brand)
• 1 cup nuts (peanuts)
• 1 cup pretzels
• 1 cup bagel chips (I used cream crackers because I had half a packet left – basically any savoury biscuit will do)

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a huge bowl, one where you can stir the ingredients and they won’t fall out

In another smaller bowl, melt in the microwave and cover the bowl with paper towel to avoid splats:

• 6 Tablespoons butter (I used margarine)
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoons flavoured salt (I only use 1 teaspoon since I don’t like very salty things and I did a cheesy version at first and the next time I did a garlic and herb version)
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder (I used flakes)
• ½ teaspoon onion powder

·        A note on the seasonings – do one batch exactly as is and then you’ll know if it’s salty enough for your taste.

1. When the butter mix is melted, pour half into your bowl, stir well and then pour the other half and finish stirring.
2. Put the bowl in the microwave for one minute, take out and stir, and then do another minute and stir. Don’t do two minutes all at once – you don’t want it to burn. My microwave is 1000W so adjust accordingly.
3. The smell of the Worcestershire sauce is quite strong at this point. Don’t worry,  that’s normal.
4. Empty  your mix onto 3 cookie sheets lined with wax paper to absorb the excess oil and cool down.
5. I left mine out for about 20 – 30 minutes to cool down and then packaged it all up.
6. While the mix is cooling, prepare the containers.

I used scrapbook paper on clean formula cans. I put the mixes in plastic snack bags inside the cans so people could re-use my pretty cans. 

Then I made the top pretty, tied a ribbon, a tag and a little ornament and voila – a pretty, frugal gift straight from my heart.

I had a pack of 20 ornaments and I have about 4 – 5 left. 

It’s hard to say how much this makes because both D and I snacked before I packed it all AND I kept a tin for us.

At a guess, I’d say about 6 small formula tins.

Sweet Snack Mix

• 5 cups of cereal (I used 6)
• 1 cup biscuits (I used Marie biscuits the first time, Tennis biscuits the next time) The one is a plain, buttery biscuit and the other has coconut in it.
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chocolate chips (let me tell you my trick – you will pay about R20 for a small bag of choc chips but only R13 – R14 for a large 200 g Cadbury’s slab. Get the slab and a big butcher’s knife and have at it. I go on the diagonal, swivel my chopping board  and chop on the diagonal again. It seems to be quicker that way. Within minutes you’ve got nice chocolate chunks in your favourite chocolate instead of the boring choc chips, and you’ve saved R7)
• If you don't like raisins or chocolate, add 2 cups of anything - dried fruit, sweet nuts, etc.

Mix the cereal (not the choc or raisins) in a huge bowl.

In another smaller bowl, meltthe following in the microwave and cover the bowl with paper towel to avoid splats.

• ¼ cup butter (I used margarine) – this is 55 g margarine (I feel all clever but meanwhile I’ve just made a LOT of this stuff)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Pour half into your bowl, stir well and then pour the other half and finish stirring.
2. Put the bowl in the microwave for one minute, take out and stir thoroughly.
3. Add raisins and chocolates and stir again.
4. Lay out on wax papered cookie sheets for 20 – 30 minutes, package nicely and enjoy.

When I handed these out at work, they were a huge hit.

Now here’s the beauty of these snack mixes.

You can adjust the recipe according to taste.

I also made a healthy version for the babies

• Cereal
• Raisins
• Dried fruit, chopped up

(no butter, no sugar)

They eat theirs when we eat ours.

The family that snacks together stays together? :)

These are sweet mixes I keep ready to combine. I forgot to keep the chocolate (and I threw in some Smarties too - candy-coated chocolate buttons) separate so I won't microwave for that extra minute. It will still be fine because I made that mistake once before. 

This is another one of my tricks because I hate messing up the kitchen so I do it once, measure dry ingredients for at least 2 more batches and then it's easy to quickly whip up something :)

this one has raisins, smarties and chocolate chunks

and Marie biscuits

I did two cans each for some friends - a savoury and a sweet

And once more...

I hope it was worth the wait. Please let me know if you make it, if you try different ingredients and if your recipients LOVE it like I do :)

What are your quick and easy gift ideas? (not necessarily in the kitchen or handmade)

It happens in threes, right?

Long story short but I ordered six photo books.

Four copies of one style, and two of another.

After huge problems with the system uploading, I copied two files (one of each) onto a disc and dropped it off more than two weeks ago.

I phoned and phoned because I kept getting messages like they hadn't received my files, and they just don't return my calls.

Finally I get a message that my order has been dispatched, I phone back and ONE photo book has been sent.

After two weeks, mind.

So I phone again. Can't get through.

Finally I go onto their FB page and write some rude things there. I get a response and I emailed to the address given.

No response on the Friday but Monday morning someone phones.

Shame, she asked some really stupid questions and I let her have it.

However, she was great because she fixed my problems (I think) and my photo books should be with me this week.

Just in time for the MIL but not to post to the THREE other addresses for Christmas.

So that's number 1.


Then my medical aid cancels my gym membership because they told me to go 4 times in November and I went 4 times.

When I phone to query they tell me they sent the email on 15th and it meant I had to go 4 MORE times.

My point? Then they should say, "as at 15th, you've only been once and need to go 4 more times" OR "you need to go 5 times in November". Straight forward and to the point.

They tell me "4 times by the end of November means 4 times after the 15th".

Sorry buddies. And the manager person (3rd one I spoke to) was horrendous - I would have fired her.

I flip and tell them you are supposed to be keeping me HEALTHY not increasing my blood pressure. I will have to put this down on hellopeter.com.

I wasn't even joking. I was SO furious.

You know what I can't stand?

Condescending customer service people.

Ugghhhhh - makes me spitting mad.

A guy on the emotional intelligence course I was on described his "spitting mad" like a red mist descending. Mine is like a heavy red thundershower - it's that quick.

Anyway, no reply by the time I left work at 4:10.

That's number two.

Then I've been selling the baby stuff.

My friend very kindly put it on their junk mail list and I had 3 takers. First two no problems.

This one?

She comes today, unpacks everything in our reception area and when I got back from getting her change, shows me a 2cm tear in the cot bumper (stitching came loose, probably from the laundering, nothing 2 minutes with a needle and thread wouldn't fix).

I apologise and when I saw her face, said it is still way less than half for the stuff.

Well, she seemed fine but I got a nasty email from her this afternoon, questioning my personal integrity, etc.

Oy vey! I am soooo cross.

I've only just calmed down - three hours later - and have sent her an email honestly saying that I'm hurt by her questioning my integrity but I do apologise for her frustrations. And if I had seen it I would have fixed the stitching.

If she'd said whatever at the time, I would have given her money back but I don't have time for the whole schlep.

And that, dear friends, is number 3.

What would you have done?

Of course a bonus number 4 is that my Kendra is still not well. Her urine was fine when the doctor's office phoned yesterday but I told them she was still spiking fevers. They phoned today to check on her and we agreed if there were fevers tonight, tomorrow I'll bring her in. Well, 2 fevers so far and it's only 8pm, so we are going back tomorrow. I hope it's nothing serious? Please pray for her.

P.S. Coming up...
I promise tomorrow is recipe day. I'll even do the post now so it's ready to post as my boss is working me til the very last - no time to slack a little at work, something I was quite looking forward to :)

A post about Connor that reminds me very much of those early days...

Parties and party favours...

And then it's practically Christmas.

Do you know I've already posted more than 365 times for the year? No? I was horrified too!

THANK YOU for your comments. She's just not that into me is not about any of you - I'm 95% sure those 3 bloggers don't even read here. But StrongBlonde, yesssssss, let's be blog buddies :)

PPS MFW Seeking BFF is out today! I was 15 mins late to work because I had to start reading once it delivered to my Kindle. I intend to go cozy up and get stuck in shortly :)

A thank-you video for Jess

Sorry, I don't know how to put them the right way up.

Excuse the big bump on her forehead - she'd just fallen that day :)

I have a love-hate relationship with fudge

I love it.

It hates me.

I've tried to make fudge over the years and I keep thinking, "this is it. This time it's going to set and be okay" and it's not.

So I was inspired by Dollimama's recipe ...and then I saw links to fudge all over the internet (as you do when your focus is on something).

This one in particular caught my eye.

Source: motherthyme.com via Marcia on Pinterest

It's cinnamon fudge.

Oh my heart :)

I checked all the recipes and they all seemed to ask for 3 standard ingredients - condensed milk, chocolate (2 cups) and butter.

Well, I made this version but I threw in some nuts too.

It didn't set.

Disclaimer

I didn't do mine on the stove - I used the microwave directions.

The other recipes said to cook until all the chocolate melted - I did that.

It tastes delicious BUT it doesn't set. It's like a very gooey toffee at the moment.

So is there any way for me to make it set?

Shall I scrape it all off, put back in the microwave and maybe add another cup of chocolate?

Have you ever rescued fudge successfully?

Also, a PS, what does 1 bag of chocolate chips weigh? Tell me in cups or in grams please!

She's just not that into you

I've stumbled upon numerous blogs over the years and with some bloggers, I feel an instant connection.

You know what I mean.

It can be over something silly like a love for Seinfeld (seriously, if you love Seinfeld, chances are you and I will be good friends :)) or a really heartfelt post (Claudia writes these all the time so they are too numerous to list, but I do love that one about the islands).

Sometimes it's not even their own blog where we meet but in the comments on another blog.

I remember MandyE commenting here ages ago and saying something like, "I see your name in the comments on a number of blogs we have in common so I thought it's time we met" - I LOVED THAT, and it was true :)

And again with Claudia, I saw a really insightful comment on ONE blog we have in common, went over to meet this cool person, found that we have boy/ girl twins in common, left a comment and that was that.

Anyway, when I feel that connection, I obviously reach out to the person and hope they'll reciprocate.

But what happens when they don't?

Sometimes I leave numerous comments over a week or two but short of saying, "HEY! I think we could be really good blog friends", what can you do when they either ignore you or are saying, "I'm not into you".

I don't really question it too much because I forget, am good at denial and know it's a waste of energy.

I do realise that I've done this to other people too but I promise, it's not from a mean heart. Sometimes a flood of comments arrive on my blog at a really busy time and I just don't have the time to browse, read and leave nice comments back. I do try though.


:)

I can think of at least three bloggers right now who I think will get along really well with me but they're obviously not that into me LOL

What about you?

What do you do when you think you gel with a blogger?

Do they always reciprocate? How do you deal with that?

********************************

Here's how I know I've tipped over the crafty edge.


Behold, watches for my children.


I had to occupy them quickly while I was making washi tape notebooks so I took some ribbon (please note pink and blue), used some double-sided tape and attached 1-inch circles to the watch straps.


They were OVER THE MOON!


Poor things - at least they're flexing their creative muscles, right?


They also think my washi tape serves the same function as a plaster (band aid) and when I'm doing anything washi tape, they want a plaster somewhere on their body. This plaster fixation is since I had the gall bladder op when I had four plasters on my tummy :)

This one is Kendra

and this one is Connor.

I have a funny feeling

that my holiday is not going to be as wonderful as I imagined.

That's if today was any indication.

Who would think that two two-year-olds could run two mature, intelligent adults as ragged as they do?!

Connor didn't sleep today at all and Kendra only slept about 40 minutes.

So it was "fun" and to think we have another two days of this weekend left.

On the bright side, we're going to a party tomorrow and even though I've been warned we won't know anyone, we're looking forward to getting out and seeing our friends :) The kids even contributed towards the present (all to be blogged next week as the mother reads this blog :)).

**********************************************************

In other news, we're still going to have our virtual craft day this month - I thought we should do it this Thursday so we can catch some last-minute bright ideas.

Sound good?

I'll be sharing my savoury and sweet snack mix recipes and how I presented them - they're looking good - should be because I have made TONS, so much so I'm all out of formula cans (I had 16).

I also did some really, really cute mini gifts for people all over the world. Some of you will be getting them in your mailboxes soon :)

The best part? They're totally repurposed things too.

I don't mean to be mysterious but I will show you everything on Thursday.

And hopefully this week I'll also take some pics of my Christmas decorations and post them.

I've already done my two card crafts for the month and I've also done some mini-book journals which I'm super stoked about. Can you believe someone is PAYING me to make them one? (no? neither can I! but they are turning out beautifully these days)

**********************************************************

This is the present I got at our team year-end lunch.

I love it :)

D got a cr*ppy mug at their team lunch - seriously, an oversized mug - I want it out of the house asap LOL And we put together a really, lovely present for his person.

*sigh*

**********************************************************

Speaking of crafts, I'm finding my style.

I think I felt a bit weird at first that I like a very simple, minimalistic look but I'm over that now. I am HUGELY inspired by Allison's crafts because of the clean, uncluttered look and feel about them.

You'll see what I mean when I post the pics of my mini gifts. I was so tempted to want to do more but actually I like them very simple.

I'm going to do a to make list of all the stuff I want to attempt next year - I have 3 punches I haven't used, lots of mini-book ideas (let me know if you want to buy one - hahaha), and now, twine.

Yes people, I've bought bakers twine. Two lovely fat rolls of divine twine and two small rolls of doodlebug twine. I'm loving it already.

So how has your Friday been?

What are you up to this weekend?

P.S. Notice I'm in total denial about V's four weeks of leave story. D said to me what if she doesn't want to accept our proposal and I said, "I'm not thinking about it". I'm really not  because I can't take off four weeks off work. I may have one family day left for this calendar year but that's it.

PPS Mandy, South Africans love holidays. We live for our public holidays and the deputy president is giving us another free holiday on 27th - yay! April and December is crazy with all the holidays - we hardly work :)

Ten on Thursday and the toddlers talking

although it does feel like Friday because tomorrow is a public holiday in South Africa.

1. I worked out this morning at the ungodly hour of 9 am. It was terrible as I'm hardly awake then... but felt awesome straight afterwards because I was DONE for the day :)
2. I have been eyeing a particular lilac-y shade of nail polish (Roz, yours and a colleague's nails) so I bought a similar shade but still not quite right last weekend. Two coats look good enough but I'm still searching for the exact elusive shade :)
3. My Kendra has been a little bit sick for a week. We took her to our GP's replacement last week and she's been on an antibiotic. However, every night at 12:30 - 1 am she wakes and wants water. That's my cue to 1) get her water 2) check her temperature (always around 38,5) and 3) give her an empaped which she hates so screams D awake. Oy. 
4. I am so knackered from all this night-time drama that I literally fell asleep a couple of times in an afternoon meeting this week.
5. I phoned the GP yesterday to say that K is still not well and she suggested we now go to the paed. Off we trotted this afternoon where the lovely Dr S was treated to K WAILING (and how!) before he even touched her ears or whatever. She had to be cathed to get a urine sample (unpleasant but very efficient, much better than those annoying bags they want girl babies to pee into) and she has a bladder infection so she is on a better AB and "should be better in 24 hours".
6. K and I then had some girl time (as we were both fairly traumatised) and went shopping for necessary items like the AB and my birth control, and then for fun things like a Michael Buble Christmas CD. I shocked myself - I also bought Celine Dion (and I'm not into girl voices!) because I like the way she sings O Holy Night. Gives me cold shivers it's so beautiful.
7. I got the most STUNNING blue glass water bottle from my work colleague (the same one with the nice nail polish) as a present. I love it. So much so I get a little frisson of joy every time I pour water. She laughed today when I told her again how much I LOVE MY GIFT.
8. This same colleague is an even stricter mother than I am (I want to be her when I grow up!) but is such a P it makes me laugh. She is unstructured and totally spontaneous. It's really nice to see that not only J mothers like me can be strict.
9. V announced today that she wants to take FOUR weeks leave (she only has 11 days due to her - actually 10.87 if we're being specific) and I flipped. Much like my friend did with her nanny. We don't even have enough leave to take four weeks. I told her D and I will have to discuss as I am not sure what I will do with my children for one of those weeks. I understand she has to sort her son out in Zim with schooling but 4 weeks?! D and I have now discussed it - I drew calendars, different highlights (ideal vs compromise scenarios), etc - and we will discuss with her on Sat.
10. My study is a mess - I get a bee in my bonnet every December to "beautify the house" so there are 9 photo frames (most with multiple photos) all spread out with photos in position. D's job is to put them into the frames and mine is to use my trusty hammer (yes, the hammer is mine - I seriously love my hammer - so satisfying to pound away at a wall) to put them up on the walls. I'm going to use all the command hooks that are left and then just have at it.... can't wait. This weekend it is all happening.

and one more...

Tonight D went to gym.

Connor runs out of their bedroom and says to me, "Mummy, Connor NEEDs Daddy".

How sweet is that?!

I said, "Connor, we all NEED Daddy but now you NEED to sleep" and marched him back to bed.

His sister was out for the count - I'm sure the day was way too full of excitement for her.

How has your week been?

Don't forget to take a pic of your flip flops and link up. I only have ONE proper link - I don't get these other people who just link to anything... what for?

PS Kendra's just done her nightly wake-up (temp = 38.7) and I changed her nappy. I accidentally stuck the sticky part onto her skin so when I took it off, I ripped it and she said it was sore. So I go, "sorry, Baby, it was an accident". Do you know what she said? "Mummy, be careful!" LOL

Show me your flip flops - a LINKY

Take a pic of your flip flops, put it on your blog, talk about them if you want and link to this post.

1. D calls the red ones on the bottom left my Christmas sandals :)
2. My current favourites are those brown and pink ones right in the middle - sooo comfortable
3. The brown ones with the blue beads have long been favourites - I love them. Sooo comfortable and the kids also like them because of the beads
4. I love those yellow ones so much. I bought them on my first trip to Century City in Cape Town (the trip where D and I stayed in the mall so long we paid R20 for parking (I think 8 hours!!!) about 10 years ago. They cost R99. Only thing is the bits are flaking off now but there is nothing wrong with the shoe. Hey! Maybe I should try to cover them with fabric and fabric glue? Jess, any ideas?
5. Since this pic was taken, I've decluttered the brown and green pair at the end of the top row ... because I bought another pair (cream with pink straps, picked by Kendra)
6. When we went to Sun City for the work thing, they gave us a pair of Havianas (white in the pic).
7. There are 3 pairs from Pick and Pay, 2 from Mr Price and 2 from Pep. Can you guess which?

These are my new ones for when we go to the beach :)

Do you like wearing flip flops? How many pairs do you have?

Okay, okay, okay - lots of randomness

I thought it would be a good idea to write a quick post answering questions from the comments on the last couple of posts.

Hope you enjoy :)

On the necklace

It's not finished!!! I'm waiting for inspiration. Either that or I'll cut up my headband and do it properly because I don't have that colour t-shirt anymore.

On the kissing

No, not everyone kisses!

I will say this - this company is by far the kissiest I've worked at :) And especially for clients/ partners you see a lot - after a couple of meetings they're like friends, right?

But yes, at my previous companies, we'd kiss each other (colleagues) for birthdays, when you go on holiday and when you get back.

E.g. In South Africa, things kind-of shut down over Dec/ Jan. Kind of like the northern hemisphere's summer holidays. Except we only have 3 - 4 weeks whereas you lucky guys take MONTHS off.

When people start going on holidays (the old boss and colleague A left on Friday, another two go this Friday, and then the rest of us go next week. So we all go around kissing each other good-bye.

And then when everyone gets back, you do the same thing in reverse. Go around kissing each other hello and Happy New Year, and so on.

Come on, South Africans, it is surely more common??? Not?

Granted, there are some people who have a clear hands-off policy. In our team that's only one person and she's Muslim.

By the way, I have one week in the office when everyone except one person is on leave and I can't WAIT to use that time to clear out my junk.

On my meeting today

I kissed 1, hugged 3 (!) - initiated by him and said a very friendly "hi, did you find your way okay this morning?" to 2? (he came up yesterday and stayed at a nearby hotel)

You'll be so proud of me - I was verrrry tempted to say something like "should we hug?" to 2 but I remembered TACT and shut my mouth.

We had an AWESOME workshop - I LOVE working with people who know what they're doing and don't make excuses.

On the peppermint bark and baking

It is delicious! I packaged them all in old Purity & Peck's Anchovette jars, stuck a circle on the lid, tied a ribbon and called it a day.

And I polished off a jar all by myself!

Next up - Dollimama's fudge...

I would LOVE to do a cookie exchange thing like you US ladies do - anyone keen in Jhb? To be clear, the way I understand it is you each bake a ton of stuff, take it with you, and you eat and then take some of each of the other baked things. So you get lots of variety all in one evening.

Louisa and I are going to have a baking date next year - I hope you haven't forgotten :)

On the personal trainer

yes, she's still killing me but I'm focussing on the super-awesome abs I'll soon have as long as I stop eating my peppermint bark.

I keep forgetting what a hive of networking activity the gym is at work.

Except... I don't dress cute or even wear make-up when I go so I find myself waving sheepishly at every 2nd person.

Today, I was in a meeting with 5 other people. An hour later THREE of us from that meeting were in the gym together. Too close for my comfort :)

How are you doing? How's your week shaping up thus far?

PS Don't forget to link up your flip flops tomorrow!
PPS only 6 days before this book delivers to my Kindle - I can't WAIT!

How do you know when to kiss?

I was thinking about something this evening.

I have a long, three-hour workshop tomorrow morning talking about creative stuff on one of my products.

We're working with 3 external people:

1. a guy who designed the brand look and feel 
2. a guy who's building the website
3. a copywriter 

Let's call them 1, 2 and 3 just to keep things consistent around here :)

We know 1 very well. We've worked together for over a year and we're such good work friends we kiss and hug hello and good-bye after every meeting. It does help that he and I both have two-year-old children (and he loved my Newtown photo shoot).

We've worked with 2 for about two months now. We are good work friends (he is outstanding at delivering exactly what I want and most times more, and fast - this always impresses me to no end) but not as good as 1. He's Afrikaans and from Bfn (one of the smaller cities in SA), not that that matters but to talk stereotypes, he is quite conservative.

And then 3.

3 is from CT and has only recently been appointed. He's been up for one meeting and we've chatted on the phone about three times. He's South African but very English. Says "Marcia, that's super!" to me when I phone to chat about various elements.

The word super is not something South Africans typically say on a daily basis and seems to me to be very British.

Right, so there are the 3 people.

Tomorrow they will all be in one place with me and my colleague. She is very kissy and huggy, and calls people Sweetie and Honeybun. Yes, I make fun of her but I really should stop.

I said to D tonight, "what do I do about the kissing?" I can't not kiss 1 because we are all used to it (!).

But if 2 and 3 see all this kissing and hugging going on, will they feel left out? LOL

And how will I know when or if it's safe to progress to the next (business) stage of our relationship with 2 and 3?

In an aside, I once went to visit one of our partners and we were talking rubbish as you do when you're breaking the ice.

He then said, "I don't quite know what to make of people who don't want to hug. I think they must have issues".

Well, of course after I heard that, I've been sure to kiss and hug him EVERY time I see him. Wouldn't want him to think I have issues :)

These things don't just happen at work, of course. D was telling me how uncomfortable he is in these work situations as he is introverted AND a boy :)

So how do you know when to kiss, when to hug, when to do both, when to do neither? Have you ever gone in for a kiss and the person doesn't reciprocate? 


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Here is the (ugly) necklace - pics by D. (Robynne, these were taken yesterday - I'm not STILL wearing your t-shirt)

Okay, so you get the idea - obviously there needs to be a bit more to create that lovely full effect.


Have any of you made that necklace yet?

PS On Wednesday, I'm going to post a picture of ALL my flip flops. Get ready............ because there will be a link-up. I want to see them all - one pair, fifty pairs, I want to see :)

Christmas = kitchen time

I've been thinking about what Christmas means to me, tradition-wise.

Of course, the reason for the season is Jesus.

Aside from that, what makes it feel like Christmas for me?

Cards, music, gifts of FOOD!

I love the idea of baking things in my kitchen and giving them as gifts.

It;s an act of love for me and hopefully, a bit of pleasure for the people receiving it too.

Last year I read on a blog (Sadia's) about peppermint bark and I was hooked - it looked so easy and I had to try it.

Mine flopped big-time.

My chocolate wouldn't melt and I eventually added some milk and the result was better but not great.

Well, let me rephrase - it still TASTED delicious but was not presentable enough to hand out as gifts.

So D and I enjoyed my un-presentable peppermint bark for about two months!

This year I started seeing things again and went out to get chocolate. And I messed up two bars of my favourite chocolate, Cadbury's, before I decided to ask on FB.

A Canadian friend (that's a story for another day - remind me to tell you how we met!) who lives in Jhb told me Cadbury's is not meant to melt. And many others told me about low, low heat and to do it slowly.

Do you guys know me? I don't do things slowly!!! D even said he doesn't think this "peppermint bark suits my style". Very true.

So I went back and got some Beacon and Nestle - those melted perfectly. Amazing to me - in literally one minute both slabs had melted beautifully in the microwave.

But ... I can't let go of my beloved Cadbury's.

I bought a couple of slabs again because I'm a glutton for punishment and I did it exactly as Ginger said to do and it worked. Not as well as the other chocolate, but it worked.

I used some candy canes and some endearmints (I squished them flat with my thumbs and then cut into little squares with my kitchen scissors - worked beautifully) to put on the top.

I used glass jars to package them so now all I have to do is put little labels and tie a ribbon around the rim.

The only problem is... it is summer here and hellishly hot so these things start melting in my hot kitchen.

At the moment I have about 10 glass jars of peppermint bark in my fridge!

By the way, I only used glass jars because I had them. They would also look very pretty in those little cellophane bags with a nice red ribbon.

So far my Christmas baking includes:

1. peanut butter chocolate oats cookies
2. oats and raisin cookies
3. savoury chex mix, South African style
4. sweet chex mix............ I will post all these recipes - promise. I've even taken the pics so I'm halfway there :)
5. peppermint bark

What are your favourite things to bake at Christmas?

What are your favourite parts of Christmas?

PS Kendra says her favourite Christmas song is Jingle Bells. They have a baby CD and she asks for Jingle Bells all the time.