Merry Christmas

Christmas is the one time of year you get to feel like a kid again. I was so excited last night that I almost wanted to open all the presents and had to try restrain myself. The only difference being that I wasn’t actually excited about opening my own gifts but couldn’t wait for my husband to open all the presents I had brought for him. It must be a sign that I am growing up. It was our first Christmas on our own. London tends to completely shut down on Christmas day leaving those with no transport a little stranded, which also means a mass exodus on Christmas Eve. This meant that Will and I had the choice of spending £30 or more on a taxi to get to friends, or spending Christmas at home, just the two of us. You know that you’ve married the right person when Christmas is just as special with just a two person family.
We went for a walk before lunch and had the pleasure of seeing all the children’s new Christmas presents being taken out for a spin. There were new bikes, roller skates and remote control cars being played with in the park. Although the little girl with the roller skates was not so much as skating, as being held up by her father and pushed along.
According to the Christmas check list it has been a rather successful Christmas day.
There were awesome presents
Family
Mince pies and plenty of drink
And I have eaten so much food I can barely move.
Now for an afternoon nap and Christmas will be complete.
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

It's nearly Christmas :)

Christmas is less than a week away! London is, as Craig Revel Horwood wood say, FAB-U-LOUS at Christmas time. (By the way, congrats to Harry Judd on winning this years’ Strictly Come Dancing. Now I’ll have to find something else to do on Saturday night…)
Christmas is the perfect time to feel like a tourist again. Everywhere you go is filled with lights, Christmas trees with decorations and fantastically cheesy songs like Last Christmas by Wham. Feeling festive we decided to go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park; but apparently everyone else that evening had had the same idea. We queued for 5 minutes to exit the tube station only to arrive at a queue of fellow holiday revelers of 50 deep and 30 people wide who were waiting to get into Winter Wonderland. Not a huge fan of crowds, even if it was for mulled wine and a German market, we decided to see what else London could offer us. Thankfully there is always something to see in London, even if it is a four storey store with M&M merchandise. Here are some pictures of us being tourists in London….

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year!

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

I find nothing better than a good murder mystery, especially an historical one, so I was very eager to immerse myself in the Interpretation of Murder. It is set in 1909 when Sigmund Freud went on his one and only trip to America to deliver a series of lectures on psychoanalysis; after which he described the Americans as “savages”. He always spoke in later years of this visit as if some trauma had befallen him in the United States. No-one knows for sure what happened to Freud to make him react this way. Jed Rubenfeld takes this historical fact and creates a scenario where Freud’s visit coincides with a mysterious murder. The second victim manages to survive and Dr Younger, a Freud devotee, is asked by Sigmund Freud to help the second victim regain her memory after the attack by using Freud’s techniques. Jed has moved some historical details around as he explains in the author’s note but I loved his attention to detail, especially the description of the privileged upper class New York socialites and the strained relationship between Freud and his then disciple Carl Jung. I found it compelling and a real ‘who dunnit’ which kept me guessing all the way through and  found it a fascinating portrayal of the New York of 1909 and an excellent debut novel by Rubenfeld.

A hard day at the office

I work in a particularly British office. And by that I mean that we have at least 4 cups of tea a day. Which is fantastic since I love a nice cup of tea (anyone who had read 1 of my previous posts would know it has been inbred in me) but the only problem is that, being an all female office there is usually some kind of chocolate, pastry or biscuit type treat. It is no surprise that I have put on a little weight. I had to go up a pants (or trousers, depending where you're reading this from) size. One morning whilst getting dressed I did the customary sucking in of appropriate body parts to do up my button. It was when I exhaled and the button popped off that I thought some exercise was in order. In hind sight I shouldn't have been trying to squeeze into pants that were obviously too tight, but this kind of wisdom only comes with experience.
I have since begun walking the half hour (depending on the size of your legs) journey to the train station in the morning. It's a nice feeling of accomplishment before I start my day. And since the bus I used to catch was so rare it was on the verge of becoming an endangered species, I get to the station at around the same time anyway, I just spend less time waiting in the morning and more time doing. I have also practiced saying NO so I am not tempted by tea time treats. But there are mince pies in the office, and it is nearly Christmas, so maybe I'll just have one.

It's been a little while

It irks me when a blog entry begins with an apology by the blogee for not blogging in a while; so it pains me to say...
Sorry you few and faithful readers, but I haven't blogged in a while.
But I have a good excuse, it was my birthday! And I *gasp* turned 29. The last year of my 20's is sadly upon me. I remember being 16 when I could barely wait to turn 20. The 27 plus people I knew seemed so cool and sophisticated and looked like they had their lives all figured out. I should have asked them as I'm sure it wasn't the case; as I, in my late 20's, feel no cooler, I am definitely not sophisticated and I am a long way from having my life all figured out. Nevertheless, the dreaded 30 is still an entire year away. I have heard the 30’s club is not so bad, but I have 362 days until I have to think about that.

And I wonder if young impressionable teens now look at me and think how cool and sophisticated I am. But somehow I find that very unlikely.

Anyway Happy Birthday to me!

Beautiful Bride

As I have mentioned before, one of the things I love about my husbands career, is that I get to see the photo's before anyone else does; and this is especially true when he photographs a wedding. What girl doesn't love looking at wedding photo's. The wedding he went to shoot in South Africa recently was no exception. It looked like such a fun wedding, and the bride looked gorgeous. These were some of my favourites

The 72 day itch

Kim Kardashian is getting divorced after 72 days of marriage? What a joke! I’ve had food in my fridge for longer than that. Granted I should have thrown it out after it began to smell, but at least I know a thing or two about commitment. How bad could things be to call it quits after only 2 months and 2 weeks? Most people are still in the honeymoon stage at that point. Even after my humble 4 and a half years of marriage, I still hate being away from Will. He recently went home to South Africa to shoot a wedding, and I missed him terribly while he was away. So much so that I became quite a useless individual:

1. The inability to cook - Men may relate to this one more, but when my husband is away I can't see the point in making an entire meal for just one person. It takes longer to cook the meal than it does to eat it and dishes are your dirty reward at the end of it. One evening was a delicious meal of bacon flavoured crisps (my meat and veg), blueberry yogurt (fruit and dairy) and a cup of tea - at least I made sure it was a balanced meal. The fact that I haven't cooked a meal in 4 years also weighed heavily against any culinary brilliance whilst he was away.

2. My IQ level lowered significantly - There are certain movies that I am not allowed to watch because my husband refuses, and vice versa, it's called compromise. I haven't seen a Will Ferrell movie since we met because my hubby can't stand him. I, on the other hand, loved movies like Elf and Old School. So when he was away I thought it the perfect time to watch movies that I ordinarily would be banned from seeing. My movie choice comprised of Scream 4 (I had seen the first 3 and it would just be wrong not to complete it), Stepbrothers and Blades of glory. I see now that there is a reason I have been banned from these movies. My mind felt like porridge by the end of it, unable to hold an intelligent thought.

3. First sign of madness, I began talking to myself - ‘The Female Brain’ by Louann Brizendine states that women speak an average of 20,000 words a day, compared to men who only speak 7000 words per day. Whether or not this is scientific fact, it is definitely true in our marriage. I hate silence, and I like to fill it, either with music, TV, or the sound of my own voice (or sometimes the sound of my own voice OVER the TV or music.) You can imagine what torture it was for me to not have Will to chat to in the evening. I began to discuss things with myself, and tell myself what I think we should do next. I was, understandably, getting very bored of my own company by the end.

You can imagine how happy I was when he returned home, the promise of decent meals and intelligent conversation returning with him!

Eleven by Mark Watson

I first saw Mark Watson doing a standup comedy gig on Michael McIntyre’s ‘Comedy Road Show’. I thought he was delightfully quirky. On first watching him, it looked like he had come out on stage with no material and was adlibbing the whole time. I only learned later, after watching a few of his different gigs on YouTube that this was merely his style. I was an instant fan; and as an avid book reader I was delighted to hear that he was also an author. I immediately got my hands on a copy of Eleven.

It is basically about a seemingly insignificant incident that sets off a domino effect of events in eleven individuals’ lives. It is a thought that has occurred to me many times before, how all our lives are linked in some way, and how someone’s decisions can in some way have an effect on your day without you realizing. It is a simple idea which is excellently executed with a surprising yet fitting ending.

The story follows Ireland Xavier, and it is his action, or lack thereof, that starts the series of events in eleven separate lives, which are all in no other way connected to each other. We are also intrigued by the circumstances that brought Xavier to London, who is originally from Australia, which Mark Watson unfolds throughout the story.

I must admit that I thought it might get confusing (or boring) going through eleven different stories, but Watson quite convincingly handles multiple plots with entertaining ease. Being a comedian, I expected a laugh out loud comedy. Although there are funny moments throughout the novel, with insightful commentary on human nature, it is quite a melancholy book. I highly recommend this book. Watson has an easy and captivating writing style. 

He is also absolutely hilarious, so if you haven’t seen any of his stand up, do yourself a favour and look him up!  

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month (and all the wannabe authors of the world went – WOOHOO!)

It is a non-profit literary program that challenges aspiring novelists to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  The idea is that you bash out the complete rough draft of your novel in November, and with a complete novel finally out of you, you can sit back, relax and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

With the deadline of 50,000 words in 30 days – gulp – you have no choice but to shush those self doubting and procrastinating voices within and finally just throw all caution to the wind and write that novel that has been sitting within you for decades.

As you may have guessed, I am jumping on the literary band wagon and am attempting a novel in a month (I have started in October and have written 1305 words; is that cheating?)

I, along with many other fledgling authors out there I’m sure, hold no delusional hopes that my novel will ever be published. Even so, would it not be fantastically wonderful if, sitting on the tube one day, someone opposite you takes out a novel to read that happens to be one you’ve written?

I hope you join me for NaNoWriMo. (You can even be like me and get a head start on things by starting this month) If you do want to give it a go, I’ve listed some links to helpful websites for new writers.

National Novel Writing Month – The Challenge!

Starving novelist – Fantastic blog for all aspiring authors. She has great tips and helpful ideas.

Procrastinating writers – Offers guidance for writers who struggle to get started. Latest blog posts offer some advice for NaNoWriMo.

Writers online – Great resource for all things writing related.

Struggling authors – Technical and moral support for new and unpublished writers.

Writing excuses – podcasts to help you banish those pesky excuses and start writing!

Just As You Are by Jill Lemming

I found this really lovely poem by Jill Lemming and hope she doesn't mind me sharing. You can find more of her poetry here.

Destructive thoughts within our minds can keep us in despair... those doubts and insecurities are not worth the pain they bear. It's sad to carry baggage that causes grief and shame... and in time we come to realize we have ourselves to blame. We can choose our way of thinking and ask God to give us peace... as we pray for a healthy attitude, our negative thoughts will cease. These human hearts are fragile and sometimes we can't see... it takes some effort on our part to find worth and security. Don't let those demons haunt you and keep you in the dark... just know that God, who formed you, loves you just the way you are.

The 8:22 train stalker

I quite enjoy my morning commute into work. The train is a civilized way to travel and, being a reverse commuter, it’s much quieter. It's a lot nicer than a bus and you don't spend the morning crammed up against a strangers back, arm, chest or face like you do in the tube. I get a lovely window seat where I can watch the scenery, and catch up on some reading.
However, my mornings were ruined by a stalker on my 8:22 train. You can fairly expect that people are creatures of habit and usually sit in the same carriage, in roughly the same seat. So seeing the same few people every morning was no strange thing. Although when this man who sat diagonally to me every morning started staring just a little bit, I began to get perturbed. But not one to blow my own trumpet announcing that I am so wonderful that even strangers are infatuated with me; I decided to test it out, and then I could safely announce that Yes! I am so wonderful that even strangers are infatuated with me! I went in different carriages, walked the opposite direction to where I usually went, changed my mind at the last minute just before boarding and walked down the platform to another carriage door. No matter where I sat, I could 100% guarantee where this man would sit. I wanted to say to him, “Excuse me you weird little man, but I do not really want to be stalked at this moment in time; because a) it’s quite creepy and b) you’re a freak, so please leave me alone!”

I’ve had to start walking to the other side of the platform to get on  the very front of the train to avoid him; which isn’t so bad….it’s even quieter than the rest of the train because no one else could be bothered to walk that far! I have thankfully been stalker free for an entire week now, and hope to remain that way.  

It’s my one year anniversary!!!

Exactly one year ago today my husband and I landed in London to begin a brand new chapter in our lives. We had no definite plans and started our journey with literally the money and possessions we had on us at the time. Some days were scary, not knowing what was going to happen. There were teary phone calls back to South Africa once or twice. Looking for work felt like a full time job in itself. Will and I sometimes only had each other to fall back on. But despite the bumps in the road, it has been the most exciting thing we have ever done; we have enjoyed every moment, and it has made us closer and our relationship stronger. It has taken a while to feel settled in; but it has somehow always felt like home here. God has constantly been there laying out each next step for us to take. It’s still an exciting journey and we can’t wait to see what happens next. I can’t quite believe it’s been a year already as I still feel like a newbie. But I think it’s safe to say that we have officially passed the newbie mark and are now meeting people who we can pass on our wisdom to (however miniscule that might be). We celebrated the momentous occasion with a bottle of wine at the park in this unnaturally balmy weather. And may I take this opportunity to say - To all you Brits out there, I really love your country!

A little bit of music and some great photography

As a very proud wife, I reserve the right to be totally biased in my praise of William Adams Photography! The opportunities that are available to photographers in the UK (although very slim) are still greater than those back home, and one of the reasons we considered moving here. My husband is getting the chance to combine his passion for photography with his love of rock music. This does mean evenings alone as he attends gigs; but I must admit I enjoy the next morning when I get to look through all the photos before anyone else has seen them! It’s also really wonderful to watch him following his dreams!

He’s had the chance to photograph some really excellent bands. One of which is London based Indie rock band, The Genies. The band is made up of singer/song writer Steve Clarke, bass player Mattia Milan, lead guitarist Rob Payne, keyboard player Jimi Yates and drummer Ryan Pincott. They have been approached by a world renowned producer who has worked with some well known names, producing albums which have reached number 1 in the UK charts. They’ve got a really great sound and will be giving away a singed copy of their debut album to a very lucky person. Click HERE if you want more details. 

 

He’s also shot Don Gallardo and How Far West from Nashville Tennessee. Will described them as “…guitar driven Southern Blues with a good shot of rock thrown in for good measure. The songs are toe tappingly good and the harmonies sent shivers up my spine.” They are comprised of Don Gallardo on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, bass guitarist & BGV Travis Stoke, lead guitarist and BGV Clint Maine and Andrew Squire on drums. 

Room by Emma Donoghue

Room was a tough subject to tackle. Emma Donaghue, however, manages to do this excellently. We start the story on Jacks 5^th birthday. He was born in an 11 foot by 11 foot room, which is the only world he has ever known. He lives with his Ma and his ‘friends’ Rug, TV, Wardrobe and Plant; as his mother has given characters to each of the objects in the room. Room is the only reality that Jack has ever experienced, and the things he sees on TV like other boys and girls and the outside world are not actually real to him. Jack is unaware of the true horror of his situation. Ma protects him from their captor Old Nick, who to Jack is just the man that brings them food and Sunday treats. Jack has never seen Old Nick as he is always instructed to hide inside the wardrobe when Old Nick visits. This world is shown to us through the eyes of this 5 year old boy, and Emma decides to tell this story in his voice. The reader is fully aware of what is going on even though Jack does not grasp the tragic reality of his world. This makes it a lot easier for the reader to digest such a difficult subject.
When, through various circumstances, Jack eventually does see ‘Outside’; it is a real mind trip to discover the world for the first time through the eyes of this 5 year old boy. Donaghue takes us on a journey of discovery with Jack. I did battle at times to read the 5 year olds language, and it was not an enjoyable book to get totally lost in. But it is skillfully written and the story is told in a refreshing way.

A truly exciting journey.

My husband would probably describe me as a bit of a control freak. I like to have a plan. I like to have a plan B in case the first one doesn’t work out. I often wish that God would give me the blue print for the next 5 years or so, just so I know that everything is going to turn out ok and all my worries are unfounded. He obviously doesn’t work this way; and trusting him is sometimes the hardest thing to do. I want to sort everything out myself because He seems to be M.I.A a lot of the time. It’s only when I look back over events that I can see His hand in everything; He’s somewhere in the background, directing everything.

Lately however He has been answering our needs in very specific detail. From my job to the exact amount of money we needed for Wills new camera. We have not even been specifically praying for these things; we have only been talking to each other, discussing what would be nice to have or what we need to do eventually. It has become incredibly evident to me that He does listen to us, even to our thoughts and everyday conversations. He cares about us and every detail of our lives. I don’t know what’s coming; I don’t know what the next step in the plan is, but I do know that He is there and that this is the most exciting journey we can go on, trusting that whatever happens He will be there no matter what. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but He does.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it. . .

I had a fun evening out last night, which ended up feeling a little cloak-and-dagger. An exchange was to take place, at a certain location with an unknown contact. The ‘contact’ was to meet our friend in Wimbledon to sell him a keyboard at 8:30. As the evening progressed, and 8:30 was now a distant memory, we became more skeptical of this stranger’s intentions. He had smsed to ask if he could be met at a different location. We immediately thought this sounded a little suspicious and our friend insisted he stick to the original arrangements. By the time 10:30 rolled around, we had surmised that this man didn’t want to sell a keyboard, but might very well use Gumtree to lure his victims with the promise of shiny keyboards only to end their lives outside the Hand and Racquet in Wimbledon. When a sms finally came at 10:30 which simply read ‘I’m outside’, the boys bravely decided to go outside and investigate while the girls remained inside to keep away from the pending danger. What we were met with, to our relief, was a rather cute looking British lad with well styled hair from Southend-on-sea. And most importantly, he actually did have a keyboard to sell. He ended up staying for a drink, and telling us how he was also a little apprehensive about the meeting, expecting to be confronted by a shady character with ill intentions.
I’m glad to say that our little adventure ended quite well, with our friend totally smitten with his new toy; and no one’s lives were taken at the hands of the mysterious Gumtree killer.

I don’t wish ill on her, just a very irritating day. . . . .

It may seem that I have a vengeful nature, but as I said, I do not want some sort of tragedy to befall her, only a slightly more irritating day than usual; like missing her train, or stepping into a rather muddy puddle on her way to work.

Perhaps I should explain…..

My hubby and I have been casually browsing possible new places to live. Since we are not in a hurry to move I have allowed myself to be a little more fussy; and so we haven’t found anything that we love yet…that is until last night. Happy to house share, we went to meet a couple that were renting out a room in their home. Viewing a shared accommodation always feels like going for a job interview. You have half an hour to convince strangers that you’re a wonderful person with whom they would love to live. I was therefore feeling apprehensive before we met them, but my feelings were soon displaced as I walked into the house. The house was perfect, spacious with plenty of storage, clean, an easy commute to work; it even had a garden. We got on well with the couple and the place would be available in a month as that was when the other tenant would be moving out. It was all sounding so perfect. We left quite assured that the place would offered to us, and went for a celebratory dinner to McDonalds (or more accurately it was almost 8 o’clock at night, we were starving and McDonalds was right there).

At about 9pm we received an email from the landlady informing us that we would have been welcome to move in; however the current tenant had had a change of heart and wasn’t sure when, or if, she was going to move out. We would be the first to know if the situation changed.

Deflated from the news, we went to bed.

And that is why I wished said tenant a rather irritating day. However, I believe karma came knocking on my door as it was I who had the irritating day. Let’s just say that the transport system and I were not the best of friends.
And so our casual search is continuing. But I can’t help but wonder if all unsuccessful candidates were told the same story of the indecisive tenant as a way to soften the blow of rejection?

Nah……they loved us! We’re wonderful people.

Goodbye Summer

Autumn is sneaking up on us. I can’t say I’m too upset by this as I loved London in winter; and am hoping it will snow again this year! Might I be the only person with this wish?

However, yesterday was a positively balmy 24 degrees and most of England was taking advantage of the last days of summer. We went across the road to Clapham Common which was brimful with happy sun worshipers. There were the young families, the group of ladies doing a team building exercise with the well built ‘trainer’, the lads playing cricket with their tops off trying to impress the group of girls close by, the group of girls totally oblivious to the young men as they were caught up in girly natter, and my hubby and me with a bottle of wine and our books; secretly people watching instead of reading. It was a lovely day; although I feel we really must invest in a picnic blanket as rocking up to the park with my bright pink bath towel just looks uncool…..

Bank Holiday Bliss

One thing I do miss about back home is the amount of public holidays we get blessed with. April is practically a right off due to all the days off work….

Britain seems to be a little more frugal with its holidays. However this does result in a heightened sense of excitement when one finally does come around. August 29^th bank holiday weekend saw a huge exodus from London to relaxing country side getaways.
We decided to visit a friend in Wales. Some may remember that Wales is where we started our little adventure. It was slightly strange returning to the same house we spent those first 2 months in. The last time we were there I was stressed beyond belief; homeless, jobless and with no idea what we were going to do. It was nice to return knowing we had a home to go back to as well as my awesome new job!

We had a lovely time; we ate good food, spent time with a good friend and even visited the beach, albeit in long pants and a jersey!!!!

Here I am enjoying the lovely sea view!

A Great British tradition

I am discovering the joys of one of Britain’s best loved past times….Dr Who.

It took me a while to come around, but due to a persistent husband who got all the episodes, I succumbed and have happily shared in the British institution that is Dr Who. I had never heard of the show before moving here; but I’m amused at how much it is part of the British consciousness.

In the office the other day I heard my colleague saying to someone over the phone, “You sound like a Dalek,” when referring to the bad connection. When watching a house hunting program (another much loved British past time) the presenter commented on how the house was a veritable Tardis, as it was bigger on the inside than it had seemed on the outside.

The effects are low budget, the story lines are far-fetched; Dr Who is like an intergalactic James Bond who can get himself out of any situation and save the world, but it’s fantastically enjoyable. Needless to say I am really looking forward to the start of the new series this weekend. Although I do miss David Tennant….

Feel Good #2-Tea

It is common knowledge that if you have been dumped, lost your job, are facing a huge decision, or your precious pet Scruffy has passed away; a cup of tea is the answer to all of life’s hardships. I grew up in a family that believed this wholeheartedly.

We were lucky enough to enjoy family holidays three times a year in our house down on Durban’s south coast. My grandparents would often come to stay. When they did us kids would try to avoid any adults at 8:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm and 7:00pm as we would certainly be asked to make yet another tray of tea. It was the worst possible job. No matter what you had been doing, you were forced to stop and make a full tray of tea. Not just a mug of tea; teapots, teacups, sugar bowls and milk jugs had to be included (WITH a doily, purely for the purpose of decoration).  At 30 degrees Celsius it would be too hot for such a beverage, but this would not deter these die hard tea drinkers.

This is now a custom that has passed down through the generations. My husband knows that if he has to wake me up early, he only needs to present me with a cup of tea to coax me out of bed. I find nothing better than a nice cup of tea after dinner. This love of tea is something I definitely inherited from my mom and granny.

On the day my beloved gran passed away, the entire family met at my grandparent’s house. It was a time we all needed to be together. We spent the whole day there, talking about my gran, grieving our loss and laughing at all the fun memories of her; and I can’t tell you how many trays of tea were made that day. She would have loved it!

Starter for Ten by David Nicholls

This is the story of Brian Jackson. He is about to start university and has the naïve idea that he can be a totally different person. With dreams of intellectual debates, poetry readings and drinking “fine vintage port out of tiny glasses while listening to Miles Davis,” Brian leaves behind his childhood friends, Spencer and Tone and sets off for his new university experience.

On his first night he meets Alice Harbinson who is, of course, out of his league; and falls totally in love. To impress her Brian joins a quiz team; which he only gets onto because one of the other contestants falls ill.

Of course things don’t go according to plan; which leads to totally embarrassing and cringe worthy scenarios; and I would actually have to put the book down for a moment to recover, all the while relating to the angst Brian is feeling (that, I’m sure, we have all experienced by simply being a teenager ). This book is laugh out loud hilarious! Brian constantly puts his foot in it and gets himself into social situations that feel like you are watching a car crash about to happen.

It is a totally enjoyable book and I will definitely be reading more from David Nicholls.