The world is a mad, mad place...

I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I am an alien walking on this planet. If I think something is red, every one else seems to be of the opinion that it is indeed blue. I, however, can never seem to see the blue, just the loud red colour burning my eyes. This burning sensation also never allows me to lie and say that I see blue, nope, the red burns so much that I need to look away.

Amy Winehouse, R.I.P? Seriously? ‎86 people murdered by some right wing lunatic in Norway and I only noticed one status update on facebook about them, but a convicted criminal dies as a result of a probable self inflicted drug overdose and the world goes into a a crying frenzy. Something is seriously wrong.

Ok, who am I to judge? Maybe she did find some rest at the end of it all. That is what makes God's grace so amazing to me. I hope she did, really I do. But man, 86 very young, presumably none drug using people were gunned down like animals and they only get ONE status update out of my 194 facebook friends. That, for me, is a real tragedy.

May God be with all those childless mothers tonight, including Amys' mom. It is for her  and all the others that my heart bleeds. There must be nothing worse in the world than losing a child.
May God comfort you all.

A month of lean Saturdays

I haven't written for ages. Ella has been teething and basically I am suffering from a serious lack of sleep and "me" time. I am not always convinced about this motherhood thing. Nobody warns you that it is going to be so hard at times. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but sometimes I just need a break.

Anyway, I haven't cooked for ages. I miss getting my hands dirty. The only thing I have managed to conjure up of late, is banana bread, just because it HAD to be done. The bunch of overripe bananas in the fruit bowl was seriously on their way to the bin. I am sure they prefer being in the bread.

This Friday I have been invited for Shabbat. I am looking forward to it as my host is an excellent cook. I will at least, for a very long while, have something to blog about. I must again apologise for my lack of communication. One year olds are not for the faint hearted. At least Friday will be only grown ups. I am really looking forward to it.

Until then...

Sticking my neck out...

I know I am probably going to crucified for this blog, so promise me, before you read the next paragraph, you will continue to read the rest of my explanation as well. Maybe then you will not be so angry with me. Never the less, here I go, sticking my neck out...

I will not describe myself as an animal lover. Now calm down; I LIKE animals, but honestly, I don't love them enough to own one or work with them. I think puppies are cute, kittens are adorable and bunnies are soft and cuddly, but I am not one of those people who long for a dog or any kind of pet for that matter. Some people. like friends of ours, confessed to us that they are not children lovers. They prefer their pets. They still however, like our kids and bring them the nice presents when they visit. They just don't want their own and I can totally respect their view. I, likewise, just don't want a dog, or a cat, or a hamster or anything also requires me to look after it. I have my hands full with my two girls; BUT I do still like stroking my friends dog and cried my eyes out when our family pup died.  I will also make a massive scene if I see someone abusing an animal and completely feel sick when I see what some people do to dolphins etc. BUT, if I have to choose between saving a dog or a child, the child will always win. To me this is a logical decision, but as I have harshly come to grips with this last month, it is not the same for everyone.

The first incident was one that happened in my neighbourhood. My daughter was run off her scooter by a dog. It all happened so quickly and Mia got the fright of her life and so did I. The little dog shot from out of nowhere and ran straight into her. She, of course, screamed like there was no tomorrow and it took me a while to calm her down. The lady who's dog it was came marching across the street and as I started apologising for Mia's reaction, she let loose. She told me that my child was, and I quote: "Demented" and that if she screams like that any dog will bite her. I must admit, I was gobsmacked. Her dog ran into my daughter. Her dog was NOT on a lead and according to me it was a normal reaction for a little girl to get the fright of her life. Well, according to her, I was wrong. A friend was with us, gave the lady a dirty stare, but said nothing. I was so shocked, I did not know what to say. She thought her dog was more important than the my daughter. To me, this is absolutely shocking.

The next incident was a little more shocking than this one. My brother, is currently in Korea. He was rather shocked, just as we all were, by the recent events in Japan. On his Facebook update, he said : "Praying for Japan...." That was all. Well, the amount of abuse this led to, left me absolutely gobsmacked. Some woman, basically said that the Japanese deserved what happened to them and that Louis should rather pray for the dolphins and turtles and whales they have killed. Ok, fair enough, like I said, we all know that us Westerners get rather irate about the Easts way of dealing with animals, but what I do NOT condone, is the amount of abuse that this woman through at my brother. I could not believe what I was reading. She attacked every morsel of his character and even my family. It was such an outrage that I had to report her to Facebook for abuse. If anyone of you would like to join me in doing so, please "Facebook" me and ask for her details. My poor brother, he IS actually an animal lover. His little dog Rufus was his shadow and he loved his goldfish so much when he was a boy that we had to stop him from taking it out of its bowl to play with it. I find an any attacks on a any beings, be they human or other wise, cruel and hateful. But I bet you she would not speak to her dog like that. What a very disturbed young woman.

Anyway, what I guess I am trying to say, is that we have to keep in perspective. My husband's aunt once said to me that nobody should feel too "Te" about anything. Translated it means that no one should be "Too" much into anything. This causes you to loose perspective. In both cases the women above felt they had the right to abuse other beings, this time human. We do not deserve abuse either. I do not think that either of them have lost any sleep about any of this and I know, almost for a fact, that none of them would speak to any animal like this. How shocking and very, very disturbing.

Well, enough about this abuse. It was not a pleasant experience, so of course, in my life, I have to fix unpleasant experiences with pleasant tasting treats. I must confess, I have been very good with the Weight Watchers thing, but every now and then a girl has to let her hair down (or in my case, put away her iPhone with the Weight Watchers App)!

I've always wanted to try home made pizza. Now again, I know many of you have probably done this millions of times before, but I have never made it from scratch. I always buy the bases and then end up with something that is ok tasting, but still leaves me longing to lift up the phone and dial Pizza Hut. Not this time. This was FAR better than any pizza that I have ever tasted. Making the dough yourself is a hassle, but worth every calorie. Give it a try, it is the one from the trusted old Jamie website again: Pizza Dough, you will never look back. Ours did not look very good, but I can assure you, they tasted like little misshaped pieces of heaven. I did go overboard though, trying to fit every topping I could think of one one base.

Not the prettiest, but definitely the yummiest!

The next day I did manage to sneak a peak at the Weight Watchers points value and thought it best not to comment on that. Lets just say, the calories were enough to keep a small African village alive for a week! So new rule: Never, ever, ever, ever count Fat Saturday on Weight Watchers! Remember Mondays are for dieting.

Until next month...

The thing with facebook...

My husband hates Facebook. He has many reasons to justify his hatred, but being as nosy as I am, have always ignored them. However lately I must admit, I am starting to understand the aversion he has to this social network. It has taken a while, but I finally think I am getting there.

In the beginning, I enjoyed it. I loved connecting with people I haven't seen since school, seeing what they were up to, what they became etc. I loved looking at pictures of their kids and their trips and their jobs. But lets face it,  it is very seldom you leave a surfing session on the "book" feeling good about yourself and your life. All the couples in the photos are always looking happy and smiling. All the kids look gorgeous and well behaved. The moms well rested and the dads proud of their little crew. Look at my photos for instance, I only publish those in which I look thin and happy and not dead tired. We are our own little PR crews and it's all wonderful, but the fact of the matter is, these photos do not always portray our real lives. Some of these happy couples are going through messy divorces, some of these kids are in actual need of a bloody good telling off and most of some of the mothers (like me) are so tired they are struggling to keep their eyes open to type blogs! I guess none of us are going to publish  the real photos of our lives. The ones where we look tired, the ones where we loose our tempers or the one where we cry because we found out that a loved one is leaving or that some one is sick. No, we are all loyal to ourselves and our families. We want to look good to the world. Happily married, smiley people, ready to take on anything. Personally, I find all this rose coloured editing a bit annoying, but this is not what really gets my goat. No, what gets me is that I constantly forget about these pictures are not always real. I fall for the "happy facebook life" time and time again. I mean, this social network gives people the opportunity to shove their possessions, their travels, their achievements etc. in everybody faces at every given opportunity. "Look at my new car!", "Look at the view from our new house!", "Look at this, look at that", it just doesn't stop. I must confess, I have had to hide some of my facebook friends, or let's us just call them what they are; acquaintances, purely because I can completely jealous of them. I've HAD to hide them, purely for the goodness of my soul. "Thou shalt not covet..." and covet I do, especially if I look at people's houses. It's weird, the photos that gets the green monster drooling over your shoulder, are always of the things that you most want in your life, be it a house, in my case, or a baby, in my friend's case, or a nice car or whatever.I am sure it happens to everyone, right? Facebook is a constant reminder of what we don't have, but really want. I tell you, this is simply not good for you. Now I get my husband's point.

A while ago I read a blog about the 9 most annoying people on facebook. Click on the link, it is a pretty funny read, but I have my own list. Besides the braggers, there are a small list of people that make me want to gag. I won't bore you with all of them this week, but here is my top 5 most annoying people on facebook for the week:

1. The South African Jesus Jumping Models (and Celebrities):
What is it with SA models or celebs that feel that they have to blurt out their religious views at any given moment?  I mean, I am all for confessing your faith, but wouldn't it be more affective if you actually live out your faith, rather than "status update" it. I mean, it is "Shout if you love Jesus" here and "All Christians of facebook stand up and be counted" groups there, not to mention that they are all members of the Angus Buchan fan page. But then, if you happen to flick through their photographs, which they publicly display because they think they are marketing themselves (I call it vanity), they publish half naked picture of themselves in bikinis draped over half naked men or woman! What is that all about? Good grief. The Sex Kitten Jesus Worshipper just does not work for me.Is this weird or is it just me that sees this as rather blasphemous?

If you don't believe me, check out Melany Lindeque's page. I once heard a sermon from a preacher called Paul Washer where he talked about inappropriate dress for a Christian. He said that if the clothes you are wearing draws attention away from your face, it is the wrong kind of attire. Ok, he is a very conservative Southern Baptist, but I think we get the picture when we look at Melany's display of photos. The lack of clothes really does draws attention to everything BUT her face.

2. Public Prayers:
These people go hand in hand with the crowd mentioned above. I am sorry, I cannot stand this. Don't status update your prayer life. What is that all about? Jesus is not one of your Facebook friends! In Matthew 6:5 it clearly says:  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

I think praying on your status updates, is the modern day version of praying on street corners. Rather let your life reflect what you believe, you do no need to status update it.

3. The Overly Politically Correct Passive Aggressive Crowd
They can be male or female, both are just as annoying. They are the ones who are supposed voice of the people. They embrace all humanist thoughts, all religions and all ideologies as long as it does not conflict with their thoughts, religious ideas or ideologies. On one hand, they support the icons of our country with soppy poems and quotations, on the other, when it bothers them, they slate the masses when they interfere too much in their little perfect lives (take the huge debate the Vuvuzelas sparked off on the "book" for example).
They are individuals, free to status update what they want, just please, whatever you do, do not take them on about their silly remarks, then it is status update war.  They will try prove to you that your narrow-mindedness is the cause of all the unhappiness in the world today and can never drop something. They always have to get in the last word. They are brave enough to attack you in on the net, but meet them round the pub and it is all hugs and kisses. Hypocrites.

4. The Where-I-live-is-the-Best-Crowd:
These people can be anywhere in the world, expats or not. They constantly tell you that where they live is better than where you are living. For example: Glad I am in Australia because the weather in the UK sucks! Cape Town is the best, London is the best..blah die blah die blah.

Yes, we ALL know the the weather in the UK sucks. I am very aware that SA, Australia, New Zealand or any other place on the is earth for that matter, has greater weather than the UK. At times I am sorry that I don't live there at too, but I have to make do with what I have. I have to deal with the UK, so while I am here, please, give us a break. We have to keep a positive mindset over here, otherwise this gloom will drive us mad!

All places have their pro's and cons. We are very aware of our cons, but believe it or not, we also have our Pros. It is NOT the best place on earth to live, I miss home every day, but I do like the fact that I can go jogging at night all by myself, without a care in the world.

5. The-My-Maid (driver/nanny/housekeeper)-Is-Off-SickToday-How-Will-I-Cope-Mothers
Now if this is you, I am just plainly and simply going to hide you. I would give anything to have some help in the house, so purely out of jealousy, you annoy me.
Anyway, I will stop all this bitterness immediately. I could get into ALOT more detail, but I am probably just going to upset myself and a few of you. I am sure at the end of the week there will be loads more of these annoyances that rear their ugly heads, but for now I think I am going to avoid Facebook for a while.

O yes, I almost forgot. We did finally have our Fat Saturday again this past week. Ella is better at last and I have caught up on some well deserved sleep, so I actually had the energy to cook. Hopefully you don't see this as bragging, just as an encouragement to get all of you out there to try new things. I tried Prawn curry for the first time ever and something Jamie calls "coated ice cream". Follow the links below for the recipes. It was great.

Prawn Curry:
Follow the link for the recipe
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/seafood-recipes/thai-red-prawn-curry-jasmine-rice-cucumb

Coated Ice Cream:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/spinach-aamp-feta-filo-pie-cucumber-sala

I've decided to only do one Fat Saturday a month from now on. There is just not enough time at the moment with two girls etc etc. I am sure my waist line will rejoice! . I will still blog whenever Mia lets me near the computer but for now..
Untill next month

And so it begins...

I've been thinking of something appropriate to write about, something inspiring for the new year, but I seem to be at a loss for words. This festive season, as all festive seasons, was really busy and Stefan and I have neglected our fat Saturday duties. Partially because of the lack of time, but mostly as it was a rather Fat Month. I mean do you really ever stop eating over December? At work people start bringing in cakes the day December dawns, all in anticipation of the celebrations to come. Then, in January, they bring all the left over cookies and chocolates and Christmas cake to tempt their office mates who haven't started their detox diets yet. So actually it is 2 months of eating. Well, I have decided it is time to slam on the brakes. I've downloaded this wonderful app on my iPhone that allows me to count calories during the day, so it is all systems go from here and the big battle against the bulge begins.

It has been a bit of an emotional few weeks. You always miss your family over Christmas. It makes me sad that my kids cannot spend it with their grandparents. Life is strange. You plan things when you are young, you imagine your life running a certain course, and then it ends up being completely different. Was it John Lennon that said: "life is what happens when you are making other plans"? I think it was him, not that I am a fan, but boy, did life hit him in the chest when I am sure he was planning to go and have a hot bath and a lie down. 

Back at work did not prove any less emotional.One of  my students was diagnosed with cancer over the festive season. I guess for him it was just a season, nothing festive about it. He is one of my favourite students and my heart is broken for him. He is my age. I am betting he did not plan for this to happen either. I guess he will now become one of us; The Slow Cooked Gang. It's a group of people I belong to (only figuratively speaking of course.) We have been made tender by exposing us to low heat over a very long period of time. At the start of the process ( although initially we would not have agreed with this statement at all) we were tough and hard to swallow, but as time progressed, we've become tender, easier to digest and if we are lucky, picked up a few good flavours along the way. See, this process cannot be rushed. It takes time, sometimes years to get rid of hard exteriors, bad habits and personality flaws. Slow, constant heat is all that does this. The only thing is that after you've been tenderised, there is no going back. Your view of life has become permanently altered and when you watch people throwing fits over trivia like the rise of student tuition fees, you can recognise that their time in the Slow Cooker has not yet begun.

The bad thing about this Slow Cooker thing is that you usually get shoved into it, rather unexpectedly. It is never a choice to go into one. I mean who is willingly going to go through such an unpleasant experience. Nope, you get shoved in, usually head first. Your initial reaction is always to try and climb out of the thing, cause lets face it, even low heat at a constant rate can eventually cook you all the way through. It's not a pleasant place to be and can be very lonely, but if the Cook knows what He is doing (and He always does) the end result is a tenderised soul.

When I look back, I definitely needed some time in the Slow Cooker of life. In fact, I think I am still in it, I have just got used to the heat.

So to all those who have spent time in life's little Dutch Oven, I propose you try out the recipe link for Ragu. It's amazing. If you rush this dish it is awful, but the longer it spends time in our Slow Cooking friend, the more delicious it becomes. Maybe, when you sit down to have a mouthful of this, it will give you hope that there is a reason for all of this happening to you and at the end, you will turn out one of the best dishes the Great Cook has ever created.

Until next week...