Hello Tuesday.

I'm so glad it's you and that Monday's gone for this week.

Especially seeing Monday started with a fight with Honda about my car's service plan, which ended in a draw. Well, that's how I'm choosing to see it. Then I got told by their service department that I need new tyres. Joy. More money spent on something that's fallen apart. It appears my car and my house are in collusion. I feel betrayed.

Not really.

Anyhoo... The weekend was at least good. Crazy busy, but good. We took our neighbours out for dinner on Friday and went to a morning wedding on Saturday (which we thought would suck,but actually turned out to be lovely, despite running horribly late). Then we managed to pop over to a birthday party, although not for long because Isak stayed with us Saturday and Sunday evening seeing his company has not paid him again and he needs money desperately. TSC had organised an odd-job for the two of them on Sunday at a mine, "pulling cables", whatever that means.

I was left to my own devices, so I did my usual Pilates class, then met a friend for lunch and then visited another friend for a tea party. It was great, but I didn't get any alone time with TSC the whole weekend, so we'll have to plan some this week.

I saw my friend who's moving to the Cape yesterday for a catch-up before she goes. I'm going to miss her so much :-(

The high point of the day was picking up my photos that I've had printed onto canvas for display in our lounge. I was given vouchers to do so for my wedding anniversary by my folks and I am so chuffed with the results. Now we just need to give the skirtings the final lick of sealant and I'll show you pics of the whole effect.

Today started out far better than Monday - with a much-needed haircut. Yay! Then my mom dropped my granddad off with us while she went to China Mall. He was up here visiting a sick friend and we didn't think we'd get to see him, so it was nice to have him and get to catch up with him too.

Of course, that means I haven't had much time to work (although I've got a lot done in the last two hours), so I'll probably have to do some this evening. Damn. I was hoping to go out for a sushi dinner (something a girl should always do when she has salon-fabulous hair). But finances and time will not allow it. Blergh.

So it's off to write about battery power monitoring devices. Woo hoo. Wish me luck. Or sushi. Preferably the latter.

PS: I'm considering finally ditching Telkom as my ISP and going with Afrihost. Anyone had experience with them?

Photo post

Some pics of our Casino Royale themed games night a few weeks back...


Window decor...


The sign above the blackjack table, before it got dark...



The blackjack table outside (in our newly tiled braai area) with the fairy lights up, before everyone arrived...




The lounge, with our brand new natural stone finish around the fire place, TSC's clever hanging cards on the light fitting and a pair of my handmade dice (used polystyrene cubes) and some giant cards strung on the mantlepiece...




Some more of my dice, this time in purple for the roulette table (we also had some on the veranda, hanging from the lights). Had to laugh... our roulette wheel is about the size of a side plate - so cute!



It was such a fun evening. Everyone looked gorgeous in their formal wear and we had prizes for the person who won the most money (we printed play money with pictures of us on it) and whomever lost their money the fastest. We also played some Bingo and had to frantically change numbers on the cards that I'd photocopied because (genius that I am), I made copies of the same four sets of cards! It was a good laugh, although some of our poker players took the evening a bit seriously ;-)

And here are some pics from our Gautrain outing, which was my early bday surprise for TSC...

The train, at the airport...



Our sushi at the airport (not the best sushi - the chef was about 20 years old and quite sloppy, but at least the fish was fresh)...




TSC having a beer at Punchinello's at Montecasino. I took him for a drink at the new hotel at The Pivot after our bus dropped us off at Montecasino. It was lovely to sit in the sun and enjoy watching the swans swimming around the pond, with water cascading over the mosaic in the fountain. Lovely!

Cop out

I actually have very little desire to post today. Too much nonsense going on with the in-laws.
Here are some photos instead, taken at our sushi course.

Hello Monday

What a weekend!

Friday night we had some friends around for supper. Sadly, the vegetarian and partner couldn't make it as they were both feeling sick, but everyone else seemed to enjoy the roast veggie lasagne and warm chocolate pudding.

On Saturday morning, we went for our sushi-making adventure. My folks gave me a voucher for two for my birthday, and this is the first chance I've had to use it.

Can I just say that if you live in Joburg, like sushi and ever get the chance, you should do a course at Miya's. It is awesome! Chef Miyamoto is a fully qualified sushi chef (that means five years of training). After he'd explained how year one is spent just training in hygiene and cleaning, and year two is solely about how to cook the rice, I felt a bit bad that here was this group of South Africans all expecting to learn how to make sushi in just a few hours.

But he was really patient with us and his wicked sense of humour made it very entertaining. He was full of fascinating info about the differences between Japanese and South African sushi, how using a different type of rice affects the way you cook it, where the names of the sushi types come from and where to buy the best fish in Joburg. I was astounded to learn that there are only a handful of properly qualified sushi chefs in the country and that in Japan, you don't get wasabi to mix with your soy sauce - the chef just grates the horseradish into the sushi as he makes it.

It was a long morning (9.30am until just after 2pm), but we both had such a great time and really enjoyed eating the sushi we'd made (even though it didn't look as professional as Chef Miya's). Maybe I'll post some pics tomorrow.

After that, we rushed home, did a quick clean-up of the previous night's dishes and then our Zimbabwean mates Sarah and Phil arrived for a visit. I met Phil through my best friend, Nic, at varsity and then TSC became friends with him when he too moved to Cape Town. He was the MC at our wedding and is one of the most lively and entertaining people I know.

Phil introduced us to his sister Sarah and she became a friend too. When we moved to Johannesburg, we got in touch with their parents and now we are friendly with the whole family, bar one sibling (who lives in Australia. We may meet her for the first time in Dec).

We had a good catch-up with the two while we watched rugby as Phil told us some of his bush adventures (he's a professional hunter and photographer) and Sarah told us where she'd been placed for her physiotherapy community service year. It was great fun.

Yesterday we went to the Rosebank craft market again to pick up some stuff my mom wants and then I spent the afternoon making a Christmas wreath and bottles of mint jelly before church.

Tonight we have our church's annual Christmas carols concert at the Barnyard, which is more like a dinner theatre production, actually. I'm lookinf forward to it, although our neighbours who were supposed to be coming with us knocked on the door to tell us they're sick this morning and can't make it tonight, so we now have four empty seats at our table of 12. Anyone keen to come?

Have a good week.

Overshare and other stuff

Forgot the camera again. Pics of hail tomorrow, k? Have set a reminder on my phone. Also, am guest posting over at Damaria's blog, STORYPOT, today. My topic is how to stay professional while working from home. So feel free to have a read.

Feeling slightly green around the gills this morning. We went to our favourite sushi joint last night for their Tuesday night special. The sushi was fab, as usual. Except for this one piece of nigiri. I don't even know what kind of fish it was. It looked kind of like tuna, but it was not. It tasted really fishy and had a revolting aftertaste. TSC and I both had a piece and nearly hurled. We quickly washed it down with our drinks and one of the yummier pieces of sushi. But you know when you've eaten something that makes you feel sick to your stomach and there's just no feeling better until it's out of there?

I felt so nauseous, even long after we arrived home. Eventually I decided better out than in and up it came. The thing is, I didn't even have to stick my finger down my throat or anything. I had a lot of practise throwing up during my eating disorder days and this seems to be a skill I have retained. Charming, hey?

My stomach felt instantly better, but my mind was turning. I instantly began lecturing myself in my head, telling myself that just because it's so easy doesn't mean that it's a good idea and that those were awful years that I don't want to revisit.

And it's true. Those destructive habits were hellishly hard to break and took years of therapy, prayer (thanks, Mom) and all sorts of treatment, but they're gone now and I don't miss them.

I think though that there will always be a part of me that looks for the easy way to look how I'd like to. Jenty recently wrote a post about a new slimming drug on the market and it made me realise that this problem affects so many women.

There's such a drive to be thinner, have no cellulite and to never look old that women will try almost anything to get there - no matter the consequences. It's tragic.

Yes, it's great to try to be healthy. If that means losing weight through healthy eating and targeted exercise, awesome. But trust me - it's not worth compromising your health to be slimmer. Bulimia left me some scars, and I got off lucky. It could have been far worse. Anorexia with purging got me to my goal weight. But guess what? It didn't make me feel any better. And it still wasn't enough. Do you know that I was proud when someone pointed out to me that my spine was starting to stick out like a skeleton? That is not healthy. In any way.

Wow... this post got way more deep and ouchy than I was expecting it too. Sorry about that.

What I'm really trying to say is that we have to fight for balance. I don't know if we'll ever get there. I know despite my recovery, there are still days when I struggle. And I'm still not 100% happy with my body. But then, I don't know many people who are in that lucky place. I can say that it's a helluva lot better in this middleground than out there on the edge. So I plan to stay here.

Anyone going to come and camp with me?

Sushi and sunburn

What a cool weekend it was. Well, not literally. We finally had some sun, and of course I wasn't prepared for it and toasted my fair Irish skin to an alarming shade of pink.

But let me backtrack to the beginning of the weekend... Friday evening, TSC and I decided to try the Japanese restaurant down the road from us called Tsuyu for an early supper. It had been highly recommended to us and seeing we were both really hungry, we liked the fact that it was so close. At 6.30pm it was already packed, and we could only get a table on the sidewalk, which wasn't ideal, but we decided we'd put up with the nosy shoppers checking out our food as they passed for the sake of some good sushi.

They have some interesting things on the menu - proper Japanse dishes, not just the tame version South Africans are used to. TSC decided he'd like a hot meal and went for a rice dish topped with pork and egg. I thought it was really good, except that it arrived 30 minutes before my sushi did!

By the time my food arrived, TSC had tired of trying to be polite and had stopped waiting for me. He'd long polished off his rapidly-cooling food when my sushi eventually appeared. And it was the wrong order, so back it went.

When the correct order eventually made it to the table, I was so hungry it probably would've tasted like heaven-sent manna even if it had been old and soggy. But that said, it wasn't. My tuna nigiri was fresh and super-yummy. The crab California rolls were average, but my deep-fried-chicken California rolls (apprently for those who want to try sushi without the "eww" factor of raw fish) were a delicious surprise.

But all in all, I think we'll stick to the other Pinslopes sushi restaurant. I can't remember it's name, but it's next to Billy the BUM's and it's the best sushi I've had in Joburg. Plus, Tuesdays are buy two plates get one free. Yum!

Saturday was a spontaneous day - we had promised to entertain our British friend Ephraim from church, who has been in SA since Nov 08 and has yet to see any of the sights. He doesn't have transport and hadn't told us that he had been spending weekends and evenings sitting home alone. So we took him to the Joburg Zoo along with our friends A and R. Off we went, with a picnic packed for afterwards.

We had a cool time walking around, eating snow cones and trying to spot the animals (most of which were hiding in dark corners from the hot noon sun). But I must say, the zoo was way cooler when I was a kid. We had a picnic at zoo lake afterwards and I realised I'd once agian managed to get a weird-shaped sunburn. It looks like someone drew a semi-circle on my shoulder in sunblock, coz I'm burnt everywhere but there. Bizarre!

Then it was off to my boss's birthday drinks with Ephraim (poor boy) in tow, where we were accosted by several hammered people who each tried to convince us to do Jager-bombs with them. No thanks - hate Red Bull, hate Jagermeister. Not going to happen!

And then we went to see Rock n Roller, Guy Ritchie's latest film. It's not up to the standards of Snatch (one of my favourite movies ever). But since divorcing Madonna, it does seem like Ritchie is back on track and this flick way infinitely better than Revolver.

Anyone else seen it? It so, I'd love to hear what you thought. And your favourite quote form the film. Mine must be Johnny Quid: "Don't worry. He can't defend himself - he's got no head."

Still giggling over that one.