"I should have bet on Run for It."

So, at the last the day has arrived. The day of the J&B Met. Larger than life was the theme and it really was. Today I really realized that the perfect recipe for a great day is not the huge event, the thousands of people or the exciting activities taking place all around. A bad day can have all those things and still be bad, what makes the day great is the people that you spend it with. Today was great because of the people in it. 

"Simplicity and beauty is larger than life." 

Celebrities, Wine, Chip n dip, friends, photo's, horses, betting, colour, stilts, being on tv and so much more. 

Lisa and Andrea, you guys are great, but on a serious note, you really are. Dressing up would not have been as much fun, there would not have been as many photo's and it would not have been as great if you were not in it. So, thank-you. One of these years we will be standing on the podiums with our partners (I shotgun Christian) and looking even better (if that is even possible). I just hope that even when we do have our own partners we will still be together. It's our tradition first anyway. We really do not need partners/boyfriends to make our day great. We just need great friends. Luckily we have that already.

This picture of a girl who says that she respects those friends of hers that pose. Respects all on her, poser.

This week has been good, I had Orientation day at SACAP on Wednesday morning and I have my first lecture on Thursday the 3rd February. Work went well this week, I am really getting into it and learning the routine. The kids are great. In terms of exercise...it has been a "rest" week. I have still exercised everyday, just not twice a day like I had planned. Except for Wednesday. I have my first cycle race next Sunday, which I am kinda freaking out about, but also super excited for. Went to my first house warming of the year, was great fun again because of the company. Tomorrow I plan to hold a Sunch (late lunch, early dinner) as my January dinner party. That needs to be done. I still have no idea what I am going to make. I completely forgot to take the lottery. In all the Met Madness. I will have to do it on Wednesday, even though that is February, I'll just do it twice in February. Technically I did bet today, which is gambling, which is what the lottery is. So, I think i can get away with taking a late lotto ticket. Today we bet on Mother Russia and we each won our money back and R2 more. Not too bad. One more thing on my list that I can say I have done :) 

The life of the employed... and thumbless.

Well yet again it has been a while since I updated my blog. This is not a habit I intend to continue, but I have just been settling into employment and recovering from an injury. 

So, I did get a call from Natalie and on Monday we met for an interview. It went great and I was told that I would start that Wednesday. To describe the feeling of successfully getting a job and knowing that a whole new adventure awaits is near impossible, but an extraordinary feeling it is. On my last day of unemployment I did the errands that I knew I would no longer have the time to do. I made sure that my registration for the College of Applied psychology was completed and faxed. I registered for my physical science and then applied for my mathematics examination remark. 

I guess I was more nervous for my first day than I had thought. On my arrival at their house on Wednesday morning I accidentally slammed my finger in my car door. It immediately began to bleed underneath the nail and I tried my hardest to ignore the excruciating pain. Natalie, however, was wonderful and soon I felt much better. Henry was the first to be picked up as he is only in grade two and finishes school earlier. I was a bit worried about Henry, my cousin had told me that he is extremely shy and that it would take some time for him to become warm up to me. From the moment he walked out of the classroom I could tell that he was very shy and I started stressing that he wouldnt like me and that it would take him forever to get used to me being around. So, all I did was try and be friends and make him feel like he could be comfortable with me. To my surprise Henry warmed up to me much quicker than I thought he would. By the time we arrived home he liked me. Stella was not a worry of mine. I had met her on Monday when we had our first interview and apparently she liked me. After we got home and all the homework was done we went to the park and after that my first day of work was over. By the time i had gotten home that evening my finger was in so much pain that I even started tearing up a little. It turned out that I had a hemotoma and the blood needed to  be drained from my finger. Now, as a person that wants to study medicine, the sight of blood always excited me more than it did sicken me. I try to tell myself that the the pain combined with taking an anti-inflammatory on an empty stomach and the fact that I was seeing my own blood pouring from my blue nail caused me to faint at the sight of blood - the first time I have ever fainted. It makes me scared at the idea of donating blood, the chances of my fainting again are quite high, but it is something that I have to do this year. 

On thursday, it was really my real first day at work. I think the best moment of my day was seeing Henry from his classroom as I was waiting outside and seeing his face lighten up at the sight of me and his eagerness to get out. I have realized from taking on this job just how much I love responsibility and how quickly I can become attached to two great children. How two people, no matter their age can make one feel important, special, loved and happy. The days when I am not with them I miss them. 

Friday was my errand day and the day that I found out that I have in fact broken the tip of my finger. So thats why I was in so much pain all the time.

In terms of exercise the week was a fair success. It started out great and then it started to fall apart when my Tuesday morning cycle was disrupted by my saddle breaking. I still ran 4 times in the week and went to yoga 3 times a week, but only went to gym once. Thats not bad considering I got a broken thumb. The cycle race ended up not happening. According to my father an 84km race on the flat grounds of Stellenbosch actually just was not good enough for us. We should work on hills, so instead of the race we went out for a 3 hour ride and did the biggest hills in Cape Town. 

I think I have found my passion, the thing I am naturally good at. The skill it has taken me 18 years to realize I have is cycling. Cycling makes me feel good, its easy for me and not because im not trying hard enough or because im not taking it seriously enough. Its easy because it is something that feels so natural to me. Im definitely not the best, and I have a lot I need to improve on, but in terms of potential, in cycling, I have a lot. Even if I do say so myself. Cycling is definitely something I want to continue doing even past the Argus. It turns out my list has already given me so much, it has already taught me something so important about myself and it makes me so excited to see how the rest of the year goes as I complete the goals on my list. 

So, it is a strong goal on my list to remain single and unattached for this entire year, and I really want to do that. Murphy's Law I have met someone. Someone who makes me laugh throughout the day, someone who is good looking, mature and who I seem to have a lot in common with. There is no confirmation how this someone feels about me and it is way too soon to know how I feel about this someone. But I know that Im going to let this one go, to not try and interfere and to let things be. If they are meant to be they will be and there would be no need to rush it. I did learn a good lesson though, that sometimes one person can give you hope, can make you realize that sometimes getting hurt can actually make you appreciate when something good comes around and make you see that someone who doesnt give you what you deserve and doesnt treat you like you should be treated is actually a person that doesnt deserve your thoughts, or tears.

Now that I have a job I can finally start saving money to buy myself a Mac laptop. Another thing on my list. 

This week I have also learnt that harmful friends, friends that make you more miserable than happy are actually not worth it. Life really is not about how many friends you have, but about the quality of your friendships. I would rather have a small amount of great friendships than many friends that use and abuse me, that do more harm to me than good. 

I have purchased my tickets for the J&B Met and Im looking forward to going on Saturday. The theme is larger than life, which is fairly difficult to dress for, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve. I hope they turn out successfully. 

In terms of my goals list things are going well, I am sticking to my exercise goals, I am going to the J&B Met, I am still blogging, I have got a job, I am working towards saving money to buy myself a laptop and have registered to complete my science and psychology goals, I have met some great new people, taken some photo's to document my year and have been running with Billey to help her lose weight. 

I guess this week, my biggest lesson was that sometimes the best moments in life are the little ones, the ones you don't plan or expect anything from. Those are the moments that make our day, the moments that we will always cherish. 

While I have been away*

So, the last time I wrote I was just about to go for my first Argus training cycle and I had to make a decision about a job that I really wanted and needed, but was unsure as to if I would be able to manage with everything else I had to do. 


Well, my first cycle got me up at 5:15 on that Tuesday morning. We rode to muizenberg and back, which to my intense disbelief was only 26km. I really loved the ride though, if I had to wake up everyday at 5:15 to ride, it would be completely worth it. On saturday I got woken up to 5:00 to start our long ride of the week. We went with another couple up to Simons Town and back, a 2 hour ride. Besides Boyes Drive (which includes a nearly vertical hill that goes on forever) it seemed like a pleasant breeze. Afterwards I felt like I could go on for another hour if I needed. That 2 hour ride, however, was only 45km. How is that possible??? It has got to be more that that!!! This Sunday coming we have our first cycling race, just to get the feel of other riders in close proximity around us. It is 84km. I wish myself good luck for that one. 


This week has been an effective week in terms of exercise. After Mondays running and gym, I did a cycle and yoga on Tuesday. Wednesday I decided I needed off and to be honest I cannot completely remember why. Thursday I went for a run in the morning and gym in the evening and on Friday I ran again in the morning and did yoga in the evening. In just 2 hours I will be inside a heated room sitting on a yoga mat.

I decided that I would take the au pairing job as it is only Monday-Thursday and I do need a job. I should be able to manage my time well and at least I will have something to keep me busy at times in the year where I may feel lazy. I am awaiting a call from the mother, Natalie. I hope that all turns out well, but I am sure it will. 


On friday I went to my brother 5th birthday party, which was themed - Construction site. There seemed like millions of 5 year olds running around screaming, but the food was great and it was good to be around some family. 

I attempted strawberry picking. On friday Jo, Tessa, another friend and myself went up to Mooiberg farm in the hopes of doing some serious strawberry picking. To our shock and disappointment  the fields were completely empty. At least we tried and in the process got some great farmstall food and good pictures. 

This week coming up involves more exercise, handing in all necessary registration forms, cooking with Jo, a trip to the airport, applying for an exam remark and a killer cycle. I have also got to begin a serious diet as my dad has suggested that I lose 5kg's before the Argus, to make the hills easier for us. Lets hope it's a great week!