Spring and Milestones

Spring is here! The flowers are blooming and the trees are coming back to life. Today was a good day - I took my first laps in the pool without a float - amazing!!! I must say swimming is going well, more than I anticipated. I am glad that I faced my fear of water - and I am looking forward to more swimming adventures. Big up to Chez my patient - very patient instructor.

Unexpected Loss

Last week I lost my uncle (my mother's brother). I was devastated because we were close. I am not always good with keeping in touch with people, so I would often go for long periods without communicating with him but he would always reach out to find out how I was. The last time I talked to him was on the 12th of July. He phoned and was so happy telling me that his grand daughter had just finished her last semester at university and she was going to graduate in September. Little did I know that that was the last time I was speaking to him.
A lot of my childhood memories are filled of going for holidays at his house and spending fun days with his family. One particular holiday I remember him playing a particular song almost everyday and encouraging us to dance. Oh how we would dance. I guess it was his song of the moment. This is the song, it has always and will remain to remind me of him:

I am going to miss you Uncle S. May your soul rest in peace.

So when we heard of his death, my brother and 2 other cousins made immediate plans to travel  the
2 560 km (back and forth) journey with a boarder to cross in between, road trip. It was not an easy trip since we encountered some delays along the way. It was worth it though. Here are a few pictures:

Imagine we got a flat Tyre. It just had to happen when it had just gotten dark.

The guys fixing the car.

I got to see my handsome awesome nephew. Love the way he looks right at the camera and smiles.

There  he is - learning to drive already?

Random picture on the way.

This is the place where Uncle S was buried.

Poor dog, it was so hot and he couldn't help  but sleep.

We left at 02.00 hrs on Tuesday early morning and where back by Thursday 14.00 hrs. This was a marathon journey and we were exhausted. But I am so glad that I was able to be there and bid Uncle S good bye. A summary of who my uncle was: he was a frank person who was not afraid to say what was on his mind. He was that kind of a person with whom you could have an argument with but within a short time he would have moved on, he did not keep grudges. He was a perfectionist and never accepted mediocrity. He loved people and loved God, the many testimonies given were proof of that. He is going to be greatly missed.

Facing My Fears

As a child I never learned how to swim and it has always been one of my regrets. I have  always wondered why I never go the opportunity to learn. I guess it was never considered a priority and hence I  never did. I love watching swimming (the sport) and have always admired swimmers and how good they are - they make it look so easy. But I have a fear of water.

Back in January a friend made a joke saying that if I was not careful I would be the girl to always pass the drinks to others whilst they are having fun in the water swimming. That joke awakened something in me and right then and then I made the decision I was going to learn how to swim.
One day I want to be able to swim with my children and not just wait by the pool side watching. I guess you know what I am going to say next ...right?
I started swimming lessons on the 5th of August and so far so good. The water is not so bad, I can do this.. it might take a bit of time but hey I am determined.

Changes

The whole of last year and part of this year on my side bar I had a list of things I wanted to do. Moving to a new place was one of the things on the list. Well...it finally happened. From the 1st of July I moved into a new place. I am now staying on my own. I love the space, the independence and just knowing that the place is mine. Makes me feel so grown up lol!

Old Place

New Place

The place is still very empty but that does nothing to diminish my excitement. I am always on alert for things that I can put in my new place. Being the picky person that I am I have not yet found a couch which I love - a couch is number one on my list. I have so many ideas running in my head and I have been doing my research. Pinterest is such a good place to get ideas and inspiration.
In my search for home ware I went to the Decorex Expo last week and I am glad I did. Here are a few pictures.

Looks too good to take a bath in.

For my garden or veranda some day.

Love love the burst of colors

These hand made flowers caught my eye.

I have never been a pink person but this got me.

More lounge ideas. Red/maroon doesn't look too bad for the couch.

The more I see home ideas the more I realize that the choices are many. It can be a bit confusing but at the end of the day it is down to one's budget. At the Decorex Expo I saw a lot of lovely stuff but on asking the prices I found myself cringing more than thrice.
I see exciting times ahead as I furnish and decorate my place. It's a dream come true for sure.

My One Thing

A few days ago I had a conversation with my friend Fay about singlehood and she was encouraging me not to lose hope. She gave me the scripture of Luke 18: 1-8 where Jesus told the parable about the persistent widow. I have always loved that parable and on many occasions that particular scripture has kept me going and I must admit pesistance in prayer has paid off. However, when it comes to being single and struggling with it I have found it hard to be consistently relentless. There are times when I feel hopeless and discouraged and I feel as if God is simply not hearing me and that I might as well accept that I am going to be single for life. Friends like Fay are a blessing because they remind me that giving up is not an option and that there is always hope.

Anyway, as with most single ladies I have a list of things that I would love to have in a husband. I know that people have different views on this and my view is that there is nothing wrong with having a list. Well, I am a dreamer and believe that anything is possible so I am not afarid to dream big and act outside the box. Having said that if some one where to ask me if I had to chose just 1 quality in my future spouse what would it be. The answer would be that I want my future spouse to be able to love me the way God does. I mean I have experienced the highest kind of love there is and I don't want to experience any less. Plus if he loves me the way God loves me then all other things like faithfulness, kindness, forgiving etc will be part of the package. Just my thoughts! That would be my one thing from my 'crazy' list (smiley face).

My All Time Idée Fixe

I have been feeling rather lazy of late. Posting on this blog has been on my to do list  for a while now but it has taken me this long to finally post.
Last month I took a trip home to see my family. I wasn't able to go in December and so I wanted to make up for lost time and also see my nephew who I saw when he was just a baby. I was beyond excited and the days wouldn't move fast enough. Finally the day arrived and I was off. Here are a few pictures from my trip. My nephew has grown up I tell. These kids seem to grow over night and I am sure the next time I see him he will be a whole lot different.

Just after take off. I was able to take this picture as we flew over Joburg. I like taking pictures from the air. Its a different view up there altogether.

I love this picture. Can you that meandering pattern. It must be a dry river or something. Unfortunately, we are experiencing a drought in Southern Africa and hence our rivers are running dry.

Just after landing (whew!). That is the national airline which hasn't been doing so well for a while now.

Aaah there he is. My sister and nephew arrived the next day and we went to the airport to pick them up. This picture was taken just after they had come out of arrivals. He wasn't letting anybody take him from his mama :(

One of my friends has an office which has a great view of Harare. This is what she seeing everyday. Not bad neh?

There he is - my forever idee fix. He was just a tiny baby just yesterday. Not anymore. He is now a hyper and very busy toddler.  Kept all of us on our feet the whole time.

Look at that smile. Priceless.

 Little dude wanted his freedom and all aunt wanted was to have some pictures taken with him.

Do you remember these kind of radios? I love it so much and I am planning to convince my parents to give it to me. This is a gem and you don't see such these days. 

Hey little dude. What are you on about?

Finally warming up to me. We sure had fun together. Can't wait to see you again buddy. 

I miss baby AA already. I can't wait to see him again. I hope that the next time I see him he will remember me. I see him running towards me calling out my name... well one can only dream and hope.

Inspired by Johannesburg and Jewel (Singer)

Last year I entered a short story competition and my story was shortlisted in the 1st round and in the 2nd and final round it received honorable mention as a story which was well written and which the judges enjoyed reading. This year I have been suffering from writers block and haven't been able to write up anything as yet and so I dismissed the thought of entering the same competition again. Last minute, I decided to re-work an old story and enter the competition. I wasn't very hopeful but to my surprise my story was shortlisted again , this time in the top 25 out of about 677 entries. I was wowed and humbled by this.

What really touched me was that  the  5 or 6 judges read my story, really read my story, liked it and put me in the top 25 out of 677 entries. For me that is huge and it gave me a huge boost. Although I eventually did not win in the 2nd round I was ecstatic. My story was in the honors category which is actually higher than the honorable mention category my story for last year was in. The honors category is for stories that were well written, with great story lines and solid characters. This recognition has made me feel that I am going in the right direction with my story writing. 

God help me I really want to take my stories to next level by getting published. I just need to figure out how to go about. Yeah, I am a published author in the making :)

Oh by the way my story was inspired by Jewel's song Hands and my imagination of what living on the streets of Johannesburg could be like. I was in the in a taxi one day on my way to work when I saw some street kids sleeping on the pavements and the idea of a story hit me. Coincidentally Jewel's song Hands had been playing over and over in my head and a story came together. I was very emotional when I wrote that story I tell you. I usually carry a small notebook where I can jot down ideas and thoughts. A lot of times ideas hit me at the oddest of times so I need somewhere to write before I forget. For me writing stories is an adventure in itself. My prayer is that one day (soon) people will read my stories and enjoy them the same way I enjoy reading other people's stories - example I am talking about you Alexander McCall Smith.

The One That Challenged Me

I love writing stories. When I write I feel ...awesome and  myself. When I write I enter this amazing world where I am one with my characters. I have cried, laughed, celebrated and had many adventures through writing. Somehow I feel that I was born to be a writer. What that means I am still trying to figure it out. Anyways one of the things which I have tried to steer away from when writing my stories is weaving in my faith and beliefs too much. I have done so because I feel that people get put off when they read a story which talks too much about God, faith and like things. Yes, I have been a coward. Then I came across this book...

This book posed a challenge to me. This book has taught me that it is ok to write and include my beliefs and that doing so doesn't necessarily make stories boring. I like the way the authors had the main character Jane as a woman who loved God and even when she was at her lowest point she did not lose her faith but instead still confessed her confidence in God. She had just lost her job, been dumped by her boyfriend and the roof of her flat by some misfortune had caved in and she was temporaily homeless. Despite all this she had this to say  and I quote;
'He (God) has always been good to me. I have to trust Him even now that my life is in shambles. I have decided he's working on something big up there. I just don't know what it is yet.'

I enjoyed this book a lot. The way it was written - it wasn't too 'churchy' and yet it was clear the main character was a Christian, loved God and had faith in him without it being too much in your face. I made up my mind then and then that I was no longer going to restrain myself if when writing it was befitting to include my faith and believes to whatever extend befitting the story. I have just realized it is okay, there will people wo will still enjoy my stories as much as I enjoyed the Book of Jane. From now on I am just going to go with the flow of ideas. I am glad this is settled and I don't have to concern myself with the issue anymore.

Update on Story Competition

Remember this post , well the winners were announced at the end of April. I was not one of the winners :( but I received an Honorable Mention in that my story was one of the ones they enjoyed reading and was well written.
I feel very encouraged to keep on writing and I have been thinking of putting together a number of my stories and having someone/people read them. That way I will be able to consider if I could perhaps approach a publishing house. If you look at my side bar one of the things on my 2015 to do list is to have some of my work published. Let's see what happens.

Thank you SA Writers College you have helped ignite my desire to have one of my worked published. I hope it is soon.

The Story of My Story

In this post  I shared my love for reading, well... it doesn't end there I also have go a wild imagination which I use to write stories. So far I have written quite a number of stories which I have shared with just a few people because I have not been confident enough to share with a lot of people. When I come up with a story idea I write and write until I am all out. I get transported into the world of the story am writing and to be honest its one of the things I enjoy most about writing.

Anyway, a few months ago came across a story competition online and I decided to enter one of my stories. Last week I found out that I am one of the finalists. I am super excited. I don't know how it will all end, whether I win or not but I am so happy that someone read my story and liked it.

I hope, I hope, I hope. Let's see what happens end of month.

Its Party Time!!!!

December is a season for office parties and all sorts of parties. Last week on Friday (12 December) we had our office Christmas party. I would very much like to say it was awesome or fantastic but if I am to be honest it was ...ok. The food was rather disappointing and I did not enjoy it much but there where other things which were fun. Here goes...

The black and white theme was lovely. The tables were set up nicely.

 

When it came to the food I was not impressed at all. I ended up not eating much of it. And... I didn't even go for a second helping :)

The best dressed man and woman (as voted by everyone) opening the dance floor.

Now the dance floor is open to everyone. I later took to the dance floor with a collegue. Of course, I couldn't leave without dancing. 

Me at the photo booth (corner) trying to strike a nice pose.

Fun taking pictures - it included the bosses he he he. This was the best part of the evening.

 

 

Having fun with a friend - with me really starring and trying my best to look surprised. Look at how that wall paper goes with my dress.

So this was it. Hopefully next year will be even better wherever I will be. I have a strong feeling I will be elsewhere having an office party with different colleagues (get what I mean right?).