So on Wednesday the girls came round for our monthly Poker night and I had the most rubbish poker evening ever :P Thank goodness the company was good so it wasn't a total waste ;) Honestly, I think I only had one hand where both my cards were over 10 ... makes for very dull poker when you justifiably fold every hand!!
Anyway, and then yesterday I got the most amazing news, that little Studio Apartment I bought *finally* transferred into my name. I am now officially a home-owner again :) And I'm panic-ing just a little about what I need to figure out before I go, but other than getting the tenant's contact details from the now-previous owner, it should all be fine. Shoo. It actually happened, seems a little unreal at this point.
And then last night I was supposed to be meeting another boy from Internet Dating (after our first plan to meet on Sunday got postponed), but it got postponed again. He has had good reasons, but I'm losing interest with all this shuffling about. And honestly I don't have the time to see him before I leave now. So we'll see. Have decided to ignore any and all boy-related stuffs till after my return. Instead I ended up going to Panarotti's with TheHousemate. Things have been a bit weird there and we've hardly seen or spoken to each other in the last few weeks so it was nice to get things a bit more back to normal. Plus, I hadn't been to Panarotti's with him in so long, I'd forgotten why I don't actually like the place ;) Hahaha.
*Yawn* I am working up to complete exhaustion this week ... see why I need weeks like last week where I do almost nothing. Because it balances out with weeks like this one where I barely have a moment to myself. And that thing I said about doing nothing next week per-Peru, well that's not happening either :P And part of my brain is trying to figure out how to fit in more before I leave and another is fighting off any more activity!
So righto, what has the week consisted of so far? Monday night was the traditional SCM Dinner where we ate the most divine home-made Hummus. Seriously. And I love hummus. I must get myself this recipe!
And then last night was the 27Dinner at Rocket (who make the all-time best-ever hot chocolates!), sponsored by FNB and Paypal. Paypal doesn't much interest me, so neither did the first speaker. But, Wikipedia does, so I found Achal Prabhala far more listen-worthy. Otherwise, like every other 27Dinner, it was full of chatting and catching up with some awesome twitter people: @saulkza, @Nadgia, @levonrivers, @MarkGStacey, @Jenty and @kojobaffoe. And managed to put faces to names for a few others: @zk, @Katjie24, @jtbeale and @Cynicalgrinch.
Wow, a busy busy weekend ... as a precursor to what will be another insanely busy week! But, I have decided to do *nothing* next week as preparation for Peru. After all, there are less than 10 working days left till I leave!
After drinks, @jarredcinman, @bengis_khan and I decided to go for dinner at the Vegan restaurant in Greenside called The Greenside Cafe. I was completely amazed. The food was really really delish. I had their Nut Bake with a side of sweet potato and honestly I would go back there to have it again! They don't serve alcohol, but we had some really strong ginger tea which suited me just fine (although I don't really find tea an suitable meal-accompaniment). And for dessert some serious chocolate brownies. I know most people would be completely put off by the idea of going to a Vegan restaurant, but I'd honestly recommend trying it at least once (@jarredcinman also recommends their Tofu Tagliatelle).
On Saturday I went and had a completely painless experience at FNB getting my new Cash Passport card and some USD for my trip. What a relief after Wednesday's experience! And then there was some running around trying to find some more hiking socks (I find the Cape Union Mart Outlet Store in Woodmead the best place to buy these overpriced items!) and then ended up at a proper Cape Union Mart buying myself a new sleeping bag (before I only had one of those old ones, from the 80s that my folks bought my sister & I when we were kids - not ideal for snoozing at high altitudes!). I wasn't going to buy a whole sleeping bag, they say you can rent sleeping bags for the trail but you must bring your own sleeping bag inner (I'd never heard of one either!) because they get used by so many people. And then when I was looking at them on Saturday I realised it was only like R150 more to get a 0 to -5 degree sleeping bag instead (they were all on special) ... and it only weighs 800g anyway so why not get a new one.
And then there was time to grab some lunch and hop in the shower before heading off to Angel & Glugster's wedding with Bokkie. Oh my word, what a lovely lovely wedding it was. The bride looked amazing (no surprises there), the dress was so unique and so typically Angel :) The ceremony wasn't too long and I absolutely loved that it was in both English & Afrikaans (it was the first time I've seen them do that and I thought it was perfectly appropriate). I loved that they did the "cake bit" immediately after the service so that people could snack on Angels *divine* cupcakes while they had a few more photo's taken. The speeches weren't too long, the menu was delish and the photo-booth was freaking *awesome*. I've been to weddings before where they've had a photo-booth before, but the way it was done here was so much better! We got a print out of the pics to keep ourselves and we got one to paste into their guest book to write a message with. Now that is going to be an amazing keepsake! To see some gorgeous photos of the wedding, visit Jeanette Verster's blog.
Sunday was a pretty laid back day. Got my neighbourhood trek out the way fairly early on and then headed to Monte Casino to meet up with HelloKitty for lunch and a movie. We had a delish lunch at Gourmet Garage (which we discovered was a favourite for us both!). I had my usual: Peanut Butter Burger with Chili Cheese Fries. Yummm! And then we watched Eclipse. HelloKitty was dying to see it and needed a partner in crime ... and well, I haven't been to movies in *ages* so thought what the hell, it couldn't be worse than the first Twilight movie! It wasn't. I mean, don't get me wrong, as movies go it is no Oscar winner, but it wasn't nearly as dreadful as the first one. Perhaps because it's been so long since I read the books. Meh, I am still definitely still a member of Team Neither.
Spent some time with the Buns when I got home, things there are very up&down. Coal does not seem to have gotten any less aggressive, in fact almost more so (she bit me on Saturday!). But then on Sunday evening when I let them out they seemed a lot calmer ... She hasn't been home a week yet so am not quite sure yet what normal is going to be for these 3.
So it's been a quieter than usual week. Which has been lovely because I've been in a mood this week and needed the time to myself.
It started with the Currency Debacle. I skipped gym on Wednesday and thought I would pop down to my local FNB to get a few dollars in cash and reload my Cash Passport card since, after checking the website they are listed as a place that stocks them. So, after arriving at the first FNB, I am told they don't have a forex division so I hop into my car and head to the next closest one that does have a Bureau de Change. And there I sit, and wait. And wait. Literally at least 20minutes went by. And when my turn was up and I handed over my Cash Passport card, the guy looks at me and says sorry we can't reload this card because you didn't purchase it at an FNB.
See, in pretty regular print they say: "Just take your card to any participating branch of the bank or retailer where you bought it, and they will reload the card for you." Now me, I don't think this makes it explicitly clear enough that you can't freaking take you Cash Passport card into just any retailer etc. that stocks them and get it reloaded, you can only go back to a branch of the retailer you bought it from. How freaking naive is that?! Yet again, another instance where services are not making our lives easier, when did the world come to this and how on earth did we let it? (Can you tell I have been more than frustrated by laws and services lately that are not making life easier for me, the consumer / law-abiding citizen).
So I walk out of there with a blank look on my face completely flabbergasted at the giant waste of time I've just been exposed to. After numerous calls and trying to get more information from the Cash Passport or Travelex websites (because using the Store Locator on the Travelex website will have you believing that their only African branch is in Nigeria) I discovered that I'd originally bought my card from an FX Africa branch (I have now written this onto my card because you can bet that I will have forgotten by the next time I want to use it!). And of course this information isn't available to me by logging into my account online ... they had to look it up and phone me back.
And then there's the part about me having a Euro card (I think I got it for my Spain-Portugal trip) and now needing dollars and although the card will allow me to load Euros and then withdraw dollars / whatever local currency Peru uses, I will get screwed over with the exchange rate. So, I went back to the drawing board and decided to give my local FNB another chance ... will be off to get a USD card from them tomorrow (at a mere R110 additional fee for the new card).
And yes, you might think this is all quite madness and why am I bothering, but I feel slightly safer by not taking my actual credit card along to Peru with me in case it gets lost or stolen or whatever. Plus the cash passport is pretty much the same as having a debit card over there but obviously the funds are limited to what you loaded it with. It just makes me feel safer.
The other law that doesn't benefit us but makes our life more difficult that annoyed me supremely was on the weekend when I went to pick up my Pill from the pharmacy. I detest pharmacies generally because I can't abide wasting time in queues ... and there is *always* a queue. And I accepted when they changed the law to limit us to only be able to get a prescription for 6months of medication at a time. But now apparently they've made some new stupid law that means I can only get 3months of this 6month prescription at a time. Forcing me to have to go to the pharmacy again in 3 months. I know, it sounds ridiculous. But I'm not changing my Pill or stopping taking it the next 6 months so this law seems naive and inconvenient to me. I mean really, are they worried we'll take all 6 months worth in one go? Is that somehow worse than potentially taking 3 months worth in one go? Are they trying to stop the illegal sale of contraceptive pills to people (in case I might be stock-piling and on selling these things?!?)? I simple do NOT understand. Aargh. it annoys me just thinking about it.
Look who came home yesterday afternoon :) YAY!
She's not 100% and still has a bit of a scab where her spaying cut is still healing, but because it's scabbed over now she was able to come home ... after 2weeks & 1day at the vet. To say she was unimpressed about being there that long would be an understatement. And I'm quite nervous about how things are going to go down in t he homestead now with her having been gone for so long. Don't let that initial hello in the photo fool you. Lily is completely unimpressed at having Coal back and Rex & Coal are fighting it out for dominant bunny. It always was Coal, I guess because I've had her the longest of the 3 and Rex was such a pip-squeak when we got him. But now with Coal out of the picture for 2 weeks, I think Rex has figured out he could be in charge round here and is not letting that go lightly. And, let's face it, he is the biggest of the 3. They have definitely had some scuffles over night and Lily is more skittish than she's been in a while ... but hopefully things will settle down soon enough. And I can't protect them from each other all the time. They need to figure this out for themselves. But, after the spaying, Coal should be less aggressive ... I think Lily just has residual fear from before, honestly.
Nothing much else to report other than that. Things are slow moving in the boy-department. At this point I have a couple of great pen-pals :P Boy-Crush is completely out of the picture. Internet Dating Boy is back from overseas and our emails have started up again and there are one or two others I'm chatting to as well now ... Nothing spectacular to report tho.
On Saturday I went to visit Coal at the vet again. No, she's *still* not home. She can come home now, but I've chosen to keep her there a little bit longer because she would have to be in a separate hutch at home, with no hay and not be allowed out until she's fully healed (to prevent further infection). She pulled out her stitches *again* and they've now decided to just let her heal naturally ... which obviously takes longer. So I thought it best to keep her there because I'm worried about the cold because I don't have any old towels to put in the spare hutch for her (left those at Varen's) :( Will hopefully get her sometime this week tho (finger's crossed).
Anyway, she seemed quite annoyed with me when I visited her, and who can blame her ... but it is her own fault. Try explaining that to a bunny :P I am so looking forward to having her home!
And then on Saturday afternoon, after swapping my now-usual gym-visit for a walk around the neighbourhood (lucky I live on a hill so it's harder than it sounds!), I headed off to Outer Limits for a friend's birthday. After that we headed to Cool Runnings.
On Sunday I went off on a mission to find a pair of hiking boots and a backpack suitable for The Lares Trek. I'd begun the hunt on Saturday at Sandton, but was sorely disappointed by Cape Union Mart, Due South and Outdoor Warehouse in Woodmead. So I decided to hit Clearwater on Sunday since they have both Cape Union & Due South *right next door* to each other ... what could be better for comparison shopping ?!? And if all else failed, and Outdoor Warehouse across the road. So I spent a small fortune (Cape Union Mart won again, like when preparing for my Canada trip) and got everything I needed and I'm very happy with my purchases :) I even broke-in my new boots doing another neighbourhood walk later in the afternoon.
After my shopping I popped in to visit Louisa and ended up staying for a very delish home-cooked Chicken Pie for lunch :) Got some cute photos of Nicola for my #365 too!
In other news, Coal is *still* at the vet :( I am hoping she will be able to come home on Saturday ... they wanted to keep her there to keep her on the anti-biotics for the infection a bit longer.
Other than that, not much is happening. I got my travel insurance this week and I'm hoping that my Ageing Aunt will be joining me on my Peru trip (she's keen, but sick at the moment so is going to decide by Friday). I still need to get my currency (damn bloody proof of residence ... still waiting to receive my first postal Telkom account now that I've switched back) and I need to figure out what sort of additional gear (hiking boots?) I'm going to need to buy. No worries, right? I've still got 3 weekends to get this sorted ... eep!
*Yawn* So the Soccer World Cup is over. But let's start this tale on Friday, shall we?
I headed off to Beach Blanket Bohemia to celebrate @scottjorton and @Rubyletter's birthdays. The evening was good fun and I headed home at 2:30am ... only to be stopped & breathalysed by the cops. Not a fun experience at all, let me tell you. Clearly I expected to be over the limit (I'd been out since 7:30pm and had had a mere slice of toast for dinner). I was terrified. I had no idea what to do. But for some or other reason, the breathalyser didn't register at all and the cop decided to let me go and went to flag down another car. Omg, talk about life flashing before your eyes.
Seriously, I haven't had a drop of alcohol since. And it was tricky because there was champagne on offer at a birthday party on Saturday and, of course, the world cup final on Sunday. But I certainly wasn't putting myself in that situation again. It was quite the wake-up call. And honestly, I don't think anything other than experiencing it yourself would be nearly as effective. Again, yikes (especially because I tend towards serious mistrust of our officers).
I also popped by the post-office in the hopes that my first paper "original" (oh the sarcasm) Telkom bill had arrived so that I could once again FICA myself ... you know that property I've been trying to buy since March ... well now that it's finally ready to be lodged, my proof of residence has "expired" :P I tell you these people are going to drive me *crazy*. Needless to say that until that bill arrives I am once again unable to prove where I live.
And then it was off to a baby-shower for one of the book club girls. Sadly tho, I couldn't stay long and headed off to another birthday party. It was all very sedate ... all these afternoon events on a Saturday mean I was home before 8pm. Just as well, I needed a good night's sleep after the mere 5hrs the night before!
Sunday was pretty uneventful, but I did head off to watch the Soccer final at Schwabing. I'll say that it was a more exciting game than the Spain-Germany game, but generally I've found the Spanish games to be super boring ... This one was only made more entertaining by counting yellow cards rather than goals (which were sorely lacking). I left at full-time, but I gather Spain won during extra-time.
So I skipped my 2nd #365 photo yesterday, not for any good reason other than I've been in a weird place this week and feeling uninspired photographically. Also, Coal couldn't come home from the vet yesterday because she'd pulled all her stitches out again the night before :( Silly girl. Am hoping I'll be able to collect her on Saturday morning. She must be so confused, being left at the vet's with all these other animals and no run-around time in a garden :( Can't wait to have her home and show her we still love her. The other two have been playing nicely together in her absence, but I am a bit worried about the adjustment of her being back after a week ... not sure if that is long in bunny-time.
Not much too exciting to write. Didn't do much on Tuesday ... but it was the one-month marker till I leave for Peru - eep! And then last night TheHousemate and I went to watch the Germany-Spain game at our local ... with standing room only and another boring Spain game, we left there during half-time and found a nice little Thai restaurant with a TV and one table of guests (well, I'd guess it was actually the owners & family honestly) and continued watching there. Did I mention how boring watching Spain is? Although even I could see they did deserve to win the game.
I'm sure there was other stuff to write, but I seem to have forgotten ... am so over the boy-thing at the moment (some smses exchanged with Boy-crush over the weekend but that seems to be the end of it) and had more weird dreams last night. Seriously, someone was trying to blow me up and there were car chases and people dressed up as knights from the crusades :P Most peculiar.
Coal is still at the vet, have tried not to phone every day to check on her. Will hopefully be collecting her this afternoon.
Sigh. am feeling weird this morning ... perhaps it is a Tuesday thing? But this morning is more because I had a very weird night. Horrible & panic-y dreams about pets escaping and waking up at about 4am.
Yesterday afternoon was going so well, the bunnies were enjoying the overcast weather (their ideal weather, I think) and I was so chuffed with how nicely Coal's mood had changed. I know it's too soon for her hormones to be out of her system yet, but I was enjoying the calmness and the pause in her non-stop digging as she explored the rest of their enclosure.
They're going to probably keep her till Thursday ... Clean out her wound (it was all dirty because she'd been playing in her sandy burrow), give her some antibiotics and re-stitch her. I think they'll honestly probably have to re-cut her so that the layer can reconnect because of the healing :( Not an ideal way to spend my evening.
So yep, after work on Friday we once again headed down to our local, the Keg&Filly to watch the Netherlands vs. Brazil game (was pretty damn impressed to watch Brazil go out, I think it'll make things more exciting) and then stuck around to watch the Uruguay vs. Ghana game. Urgh.
Note to self: drinking Coffee Patron is still drinking Tequila :P Boy did I feel it the next morning when I had to be up early to go and fetch Coaley-girl from the vet! Yay, she's home now and dare I say it, she seems to be more even-tempered already ... okay so it may just be because she's still sore from the op. But I have my finger's crossed that this solves the problem and I won't have to separate them.
And I went to get my tattoo re-done. I wasn't expecting them to re-do the entire thing, but since it is such simple lines and so small, I guess it makes sense to keep it looking consistent. I think it was less sore than the first time, and definitely faster, but there was none of the prep work that was done when I first got it. It's sore again, like having a brand new tattoo, sensitive to touch, gotta use the Bepanthen again (hope it doesn't give me a rash like last time, but apparently I probably was using it for too long) and the worst part is it'll probably start itching again around Wed or Thurs ... urgh. But I'm very happy with it and glad the colour is bright again.
After that it was off to gym (with a hang-over even, can you believe it?!). It was the start of week 3 of 5-times-a-week attendance. Am quite proud of myself actually. And then it was back to the Keg&Filly for some more soccer, this time with @Rubyletters, @samanthaperry, @scottjorton, @claudetschepen (who were all there for the first game the night before too) and TheHousemate. @Rubyletters, TheHousemate and I ended up moving on to Melrose Arch for the Spain game. A great venue with a great vibe, but it was helluva tricky for me to actually see the screen for the first half (we moved round the side to a clear-view for the 2nd) and people bustling past us the *entire* time. So was annoyed. I think I am really not a crowd person, people irritate me.
Yawn. Another busy week. Went to dinner with @saulkza and @nadgia on Wednesday night, to my favourite Sushi spot, Yamada. And then we finished the evening off with dessert at Rocket :) Was so lovely to see them again (has been a while since @nadgia was finishing off her thesis).
And boys ... sigh, I must point out that this is *exactly* the situation I've been waiting for (which now that I'm in it sounds like complete madness to me! hahaha). This is both the best and the worst part of being single :) The exhilaration and excitement and possibility that receiving an email / phonecall / any contact with them brings and naturally the complete end of the world that not hearing from them feels like. Hahahaha. Am trying to remind myself not to get too caught up in all that (although that is all part of the fun!). I mean none of it really matters yet, I don't really have my hopes tightly pinned to either of them. But I do kind of want to actually see each of them and have the chance to find out.
Anyway, so I chatted to Internet Dating Boy on Wednesday afternoon. He's still overseas for another week. Although I did tell him I was having dinner with his new neighbours that night - hahaha. I hope that didn't terrify him completely. I still think it's hysterical! My life has been full of completely surreal coincidences lately (hey, @Rubyletters?). And Boy-Crush and I have been exchanging emails ... I'm currently waiting for a reply. Funny how sometimes you have no doubt they're going to reply and other times you will manage to convince yourself that you're never going to hear from them again :P Have I mentioned my brain hates me? Hahahaha.
*And* I sent in my booking form and paid my deposit for Intrepid's Peru Encompassed Tour in August. I have also booked my flights. Yup, Peru 2010 is now definitely happening ... and in barely over a month!! Yikes.