Good stuff. And pics.

I do not feel like being back behind this screen, hard at work. The past few days have been such a good break that I don't want them to end.

I survived the farm in Namibia, with all its millions of mosquitoes and its one loo that doesn't work properly. TSC went off hunting and then spent much time cutting up all the meat (three springbok) to make biltong, mince etc, while I ploughed through several library books. I must say, despite the fact that it's really not my cup of tea, the farm was beautifully green. They've had good rains this year, so instead of just bone-dry red dirt, there was lots of grass and many fat dassies, happy sheep, tiny wild flowers and, of course, thousands of bugs. And the weather was great. Sunny and warm during the day and not too cold at night.

TSC enjoyed it. I would've liked to be with my whole family who were in Durban for Easter (especially my borther, whom I haven't seen in the past few weeks), but it was good to see him happy and I'm glad he got to spend quality time with his folks, without a million other people around for a change. Also, there were kittens, so that kept a smile on my face. I managed a few firsts too: first time eating !nabas (Kalahari truffles, which we dug out of the sand) and first time eating melkkos (not a fan. I'm not big on milk, so it was wasted on me. Lumpy milky stuff).

Anyway, here are some pics...

Horses, enjoying the short, sweet, green grass at the dam...

Somewhere, over the rainbow...

Kittens!!!!! *Squee*

We got back last Tuesday. Wednesday, being Freedom Day, was spent at the Rand Show. I haven't been since I was about eight years old and TSC has never been. We had such a good day out, although we spent far too much money (we each came home with a leather jacket).

Pics...

Thursday we both worked. And then, on Friday... SONDELA! I'd been looking forward to our weekend getaway since we booked. And once again, Sondela didn't let us down. I *love* that place (wrote about it last time here). We were only there for two nights, but we enjoyed every minute of it. We played tennis, rode our bikes through the bush spotting game, swam, read, napped, watched the stars from our private outdoor victorian bath, took photos, fed a giraffe at the wildlife centre, enjoyed good food and a private dinner at the poolside with candles and a fire, did a game drive and generally had a ball.

Pics...

Our private lunch table in the garden...

Zebra crossing...

The view looking up from our outdoor bath - a giant Kapok tree...

A Kapok blossom that landed in the empty bath...

All of this wonderfulness. I feel very lucky indeed.

Quick post

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. It was a typical Monday - lots of activity and stress, not so much result ;-)

Whew... Still feel like I'm in recovery from the weekend. Who knew a church conference could take so much out of you! We were on ushering duty on Friday night and Sunday late service, saw my mother in law on Saturday for lunch between the morning and evening conference sessions and had people over for lunch on Sunday after conference. Busy, busy, busy... i didn't get a chance to go to Taste of Joburg, but I had a great weekend anyway. Even lunch with my MIL was pleasant. Will wonders never cease?

I'm heading off to the bush on Thursday evening for a weekend away with our awesome friends (the ones who have just discovered they're pregnant). Can't wait! It will be like a mini holiday. It just means I need to get this week's work done pronto, so off I go again to try and be diligent!

Two Mondays

Thanks to yesterday's public holiday, today feels like a Monday. So two Mondays in one week! Eep. But tomorrow's Friday, so it's all good.

And I just realised that we're nearly into October, which means I need to start on Christmas presents now in order not to be broke in December. I tell myself that I'm going to do this every year, and I don't. But this year will be different.

Hmmm... de ja vu.

But seriously... I want to go on a kick-ass holiday at the end of the year, so I will need to have some cash then. Which means I will need to either:

a) Win the lotto (unlikely, seeing I don't play)
b) Get in some more freelance jobs ASAP
c) Convince people to order their corporate gifts through me or let my company do their PR (coz I'd get commission)
d) Cut down on my spending (also unlikely given the current inflation rate. Ok, and my tendancy to buy random gifts for those I love)
e) Open a shebeen on my veranda (anything's possible in uor dodgey complex)
f) Take up a new line of work that pays better (politics, maybe? Or law. I'm argumentative enough to be a lawyer.)

This cash injection is absolutely necessary to my well-being. See, I need to unwind as fully as possible during the first week of holiday because my in-laws are taking TSC and I to a lovely resort just after Christmas for a week, which will be... stressful to put it politely.

There are not many people I would choose to go on holiday with, I prefer to just get away from everything and everyone. And my in-laws, although they are very kind-hearted people who don't mean to make things difficult, are experts at stressing me out. Firstly, we don't speak the same language. Secondly, they live in a different world to me. Theirs is populated with their family, their sheep, farm life and red wine that's been stored overnight in the fridge. Mine is inhabited by lunatics, irrational clients, my mental cats and "room-temperature" red wine. So we battle to relate to each other.

Thirdly, their idea of a holiday is to go shopping. This makes sense, if you think that they live in a small town where there aren't many stores. But my idea of a holiday is to escape to a quiet cabin in the mountains or on a beach and retreat from the madding crowds. They like to spend every single minute surrounded by people. I like to hide from the world with just TSC by my side.

So I worry that the week will be claustrophobic for me. I can handle that for a few days, and I just want TSC to enjoy his time with his folks as much as possible seeing he doesn't see them often. But I do plan on relaxing as much as is humanly possible before then. And seeing it's TSC and my second wedding anniversary on 16 Dec, I'm thinking spa treatments, romantic dinners and adventures together are in order.

So... any advice on making money in a hurry (legally, please)?