Secret Santa

Well, I think I'll give Secret Santa a skip next time, waaayyy too stressful!!  Many thanks to Stiletto Mum for all her hard work and planning but I am sure she found it stressful as well as you can't control the fact that some people did not send gifts and then of course, there is the postal service to deal with!

I had to send to someone who has emigrated and was back in SA on holiday so I needed to get the gift to her while she was here.  So I dutifully read her blog and decided to give her a bracelet with some meaningful links from Link for Link.  So I got the bracelet and some other odds and ends which she had asked for and popped down to Postnet and the lady there basically ripped open the package to check it and sellotaped it shut again.  I was given the wrong tracking number so when I checked after Christmas if she had received the gift, she said no and it took a while to finally track it down.  I eventually got the right number and she went and fetched it from the post office.  She did not sound terribly enthusiastic when I asked if she had the gift so I asked if she got the bracelet and the answer was no.

So if your secret santa gift was some elastic bands and a shower cap you would also not be very excited!!  They (somewhere between Cape Town and Jhb) opened the gift, removed the bracelet and biltong and closed it up again!!!  Miserable F^&(%^&*(tards!!   I hope their underwear is infested by lice!!  And now the lady in question has gone back overseas and there was not time to get a new bracelet and get it to her.  Well, I already ordered the bracelet and will keep it till she comes back to SA whenever that may be.

Oh and I never received my Secret Santa gift either, apparently it was sent back by the post office for some reason.  Oh well, such is life I suppose.

In other news, I went for my mammogram the other day and all is clear.  Yippee!

Kids are back at school, Mitchell seems to be getting used to going again.  He is not screaming every time he is dropped off now.  Phew!  Branston is slowly getting back into the swing of things.  Can you believe his school shoes are a size 11!!!!  ELEVEN!!!! Gathry wants to know who the father is.  This child is towering above me now and is very soon going to be taller than his dad too. Oy!

Christmas is upon us

Where has the time gone??  Just the other day I was getting ready for Mitchell's 3rd birthday party, then suddenly Branston turned 14 and now it is the middle of November!!  Time is just moving too fast.  SLOW DOWN!!

Anyway, I am taking part in the blogger secret santa gift thingy organised by Stiletto Mom.  I don't know if I really qualify to be a blogger, maybe a blogger's left toe, since I hardly ever post anything.  So now I am supposed to tell my secret Santa what kind of things I like.  Oy, this is soooo difficult, I really am useless at this kind of thing.  Let me start with what I don't like, though it may not be very useful.

I DON'T LIKE:

• Bath goodies eg bath salts, foams, oil etc.  It disagrees with me.  Though a nice smelling body lotion is ok.
• Earrings and rings.  My ears get sore even with gold earrings and I only ever wear the rings my hubby gave me. 
• I am not a floral or frilly kind of person.
• Chocolates or sweets.  Well, I do like them but am on a major mission to lose weight right now.
• Photo frames.  I like them, I just have too many waiting for photos right now.

I LIKE:

• Bracelets and necklaces.  Anything modernish.  I quite like costume jewellery but usually only wear it for special occasions, otherwise I forget to put it on.
• But I do need a decent jewellery box/holder (not those figurines that go on the dressing table though) as mine is broken and in the cupboard which is probably why I never wear jewellery as it is a mission to get out.  I like those that hang inside the cupboard.
• I like books.  I read a lot, but not as much as I used to as the family keeps me quite busy.  I like a good murder mystery or action book or a Jodi Picoult type of book.  I am busy reading the Game of Thrones series, that kind of fantasy story is also fun to read.  I read 50 Shades, was not particularly enthralled.
• I scrapbook or should I say I used to, I haven't had time to do it in a while but really want to get back into it.
• I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 which needs a cover but those are a bit on the pricy side!!  I'll have to hint to the hubby and kids to get me one for Christmas.  But any accessories will do.
• Anything gimmicky but am not much of a cook so probably nothing for the kitchen.
• Hmmm, running out of ideas here but I suppose I have done better than I thought I would.  I suppose my blog doesn't give too many clues, given that I am not very good at blogging these days.
• Oh, maybe a good low kilojoule recipe book - but easy recipes, as I said I am not good in the kitchen.

Ok, that was that, hope it helped!

NaBloPoMo

Ok, so I found the correct term I was trying to find in the last post and it means National Blog Posting Month.  Apparently that month is November and you are supposed to do 1 post a day for the entire month!  Clearly I suck at it! 

In other news, I am participating in a bloggers Secret Santa organised by Stiletto Mum so will be needing to do a post on my likes and dislikes.  I don't know why I do these things, maybe I just like getting and giving presents!  Oh my dear husband is going to complain......       Anyway, post to follow...

We are organising a Biggest Loser competition at work and I am SO entering!!  We get weighed in next week and have until 14 Feb to lose as much as possible.  The whole thing is for charity and each contestant has to find sponsors who will pay Rx per kg lost.  There are prizes for the most kg lost, most % BMI lost and most money raised.  Woohoo!!  Motivation!!  Hmmm, we still need to find some prizes for the winners but I am sure we will get there.  Anybody want to sponsor me or donate prizes??

PS:  Mitchell's latest: 'If you say so!' but said in such a cute way you just have to laugh!

Gotta blog

This stands as formal notification that I will be better at blogging from now on!!  Gotta Blog!!!!!!   A bit late for the post a day for November thingy that's going around NoBloPro  no, it's BloNoMo   no it's MoBloNoPro  whatever!  It means a blog post a day.  Since it's already the 6th I think I have failed on that one BUT let's see what we can do from here on out......

Watch this space......

The roof is up!!!!!!

Yay!!!! Victoria's roof is finally up!  I am really happy that we managed to pull this off. 

Just so you can see what made up the funds but keeping the donors anonymous.  The amount of R1100 above is what I transferred from my account.  This is donations received directly into my account or cash donations.  

I transferred R1000 to Victoria's account so that she could pay the builder and then I had a bank cheque made out for R3900 to Cashbuild to cover the cost of the materials.

I just want to say a HUUUUUGE big thank you to everyone that donated.  Victoria is over the moon.  She says yesterday when it started raining her son wanted to run and fetch buckets to put under the leaky spots but then he remembered there were none any more.  They are really happy.  I am waiting for some pictures.

YOU ARE ALL AWESOME!!!!!!!!

BRRRRRRRRR

It is FREEZING cold in Cape Town right now.  Young mister Mitchell is sick at home and now Branston has a tummy bug too.  They are enjoying sitting and watching TV all day while I sit here and try and get some work done.  Lucky I can log in to work from home (or maybe not so lucky!). 

A looooot of rain is predicted for this weekend which is not good news for Victoria and her family.  We are getting closer now with the roof fund.  I think I will get her to organise the builder for the first sunny day we get next week, though it may mean time off work for her.   If we are still short by then I will make up the difference myself.  We are now at R3800.  I may be able to get the materials for slightly less money and then it is just the labour to cover.  I have had such a great response, I have such awesome friends!!!

Roof fund still short

Wowie!  I asked Victoria to get a quote on the materials required for the roof and the total came to R4165.  A bit more than I was expecting!  We have raised R3400 so far but still need to cover the labour and transport in addition to the above so that will be at least another R1500.  Keep those donations coming!!  Remember, however cold you are feeling at the moment, they are feeling 10x colder.

See here for original post and here for an update.

PS: Anybody got any contacts in the building industry that could help out here?  Would be most appreciated.