Snugglebug

Hi Bloggers,

Well it has certainly been a while since my last post and I can’t believe that time has gone that fast.

In my world things have been absolutely hectic.  Work has been very busy and I have been working lots of late nights.  I’m still not sure whether this is the job for me as it’s beginning to impose on my personal life and my personal time and it’s really draining me with all the late nights.  I’m certainly not as young as I used to be and I can’t really handle 5 hours sleep over so many days.

Other than that Wingman and I moved in together in December last year but we have had so many problems with the house it’s scary.  The roof leaks like a sieve and we can only get it fixed in May when the rains hopefully stop.  The one toilet just seems to have a mind of it’s own and constantly stops working.  The wiring is enough to frighten the most hardened electrician and the one geyser keeps on tripping the plugs.  It’s a constant battle to get things fixed and it seems just as one thing is done then another thing breaks.  Sigh but I guess in time we will get there.

The kids are doing well and have settled in nicely and both did well in the first term at school.

We are off to George for the Easter weekend so I am looking forward to getting away from Joburg for a few days.  So that should be fun.

I have read a good couple of books these last couple of months, so as soon as my internet is back up and running at home (hopefully next week) will do a whole lot of book reviews for everyone.

Other than that I hope you have a great Easter weekend and have a good rest.

Have a good day and stay warm

Ciao

Hi Bloggers,

I hope that you all had a wonderful and restful festive season and are champing at the bit to get the new year up and running!

Well Wingman and I moved into our new house in December and we are still trying to get things sorted.  The previous tenant told us that there was a little bit of fixing up to do and that the roof leaked a little bit in the kitchen.  Nothing serious right??  Wrong!!! Oh My Greatness!  The roof leaks at random in the kitchen sure and it’s not a big leak but the whole roof leaks in the dining room and when it rains it’s like a waterfall down the wall.  Very pretty – but not good.  There is no hot water in the kitchen and the one toilet is broken.  And there are no plugs that work except for one in the lounge, the kitchen, and the kids rooms.  And as it was December / beginning January guess what?  No electricians, plumbers etc ….  So we have to get the roof redone, the wiring hopefully will be done this weekend and we need to get a plumber out.  Oh the joys!  And to make it worse the inside of the house on the main walls in every room is painted brothel red!  Yip that’s right!  I’m beginning to feel like a madam lol!

But I have to admit that it is nice to have my own house and have my own stuff around me again.  And of course being with Wingman every day.  It’s great to wake up together and have time together to get dressed and ready for work.  And to just sit around and relax in the evening in the bar and have a drink together in the garden.  We are so relaxed together and happy together and it just works.  And the kids are thrilled for us to be together and have a huge garden to play in and a swimming pool to boot!

Work started slow this month but we not complaining because as from next week the projects start happening. Monday and Tuesday will be late nights for me.

On other great news my sister is coming to SA for 10 days and arriving next week.  Apparently her hubby woke up on New Years Day and decided that she missed her family too much and bought her a ticket to come and visit.  Super excited!  And next week Saturday we are going to Sun City (in all my years I have never been) and she’s coming with for the night.  Can’t wait.

Otherwise I have read quite a few books over the holidays and so will start doing book reviews soon.  I am just waiting for my internet connection at home to be sorted out and then I can be online again.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and my 2013 be the best year yet.

Ciao

Hi bloggers,

I am so very glad that it is December.  Have been rather hectic at work lately, but at least today is my last day and then on a months holiday!  Yay!

Anyways am moving this month to my own house – can’t wait.  The only problem is coordinating all my stuff because currently most of my stuff is in storage at my dads house, the rest is in storage at my moms house and the last bit is with me!  Hectic, but at least I have time to move everything.  I can’t wait to be in my own space and have all my stuff around me again.

My son did very well in his end of year report and am very proud of him.  He really worked hard this year and the efforts have been great.

Wingman and I are doing very well and are still very happy.  Celebrated my divorce being finalised last Friday with a decadent meal and some very fine champagne.  It was awesome!!!!

Otherwise not much news on my side.  Am trying my hardest to finish my current book and will do a review in the next week.

Have an awesome Friday and a brilliant sunshiney weekend!

Ciao

Hi bloggers,

Hope everyone has had a good couple of weeks since I was last on here.  Things have been a bit hectic to say the least.

As you know I am recently back in the job market – But I’m not too sure whether I am enjoying it or not. Things are kind of up and down. Work is hectic busy one week and then quiet for 2 weeks.  Last week I didn’t know whether I was coming or going and then this week there is nothing going on and we are sitting outside in the sunshine getting a tan and playing computer games. The first week of December is going to be hectic again and then we close on 7 December until early January.  I’m not sure if it’s just because i am feeling unusualy exhausted at the moment that has me in this frame of mind. I am certainly looking forward to a holiday!

On a better note my divorice is finally becoming final on 30 November.  Can’t wait – after months of my soon-to-be-ex-husband’s nonsense it is finally happening and boy am I going to celebrate!  Coachman’s Inn here we come!! Wingman has said that he will treat me to a nice dinner with champagne.  Looking forward to that!

In December I am moving – again!  Am looking forward to being in my own house with my own stuff around me again.  I have to admit that I haven’t really had much luck in the house that I am currently staying in.  Someone tried to break into my car last week during the night.  Behind closed gates – yes they just jumped over the wall and ransacked my car.  Then on Sunday night somebody tried to break into the house / office as the alarm went off at 12.30am.  So I had the owner on the phone and security banging on the gate.  Whoever it was obviously got away as we couldn’t find anybody in the yard and the security did a walk around but needless to say it’s a bit unnerving at the moment.

Other than that, not much is going on.  My son goes on leadership camp this weekend and he’s looking forward to that and exams are almost finished – yay!

And on that note I am going to say cheers for now and will be back soon!

Ciao

About the Author:

Peter de Villiers is a South African Rugby Union coach who was the coach of the SA Rugby Union Team. After his successes with SA U19 and U21 squads, De Villiers was named as the coach of the Springboks in January 2008, the first ever non-white to be appointed to the position.

He lives in Cape Town with his wife and 2 daughters.

About the Book:

Throughout his tenure as the first black Springbok coach, De Villers has been in the news, and not always for the right reasons. His battle to be accepted and respected by the rugby fraternity started from the moment his appointment was announced, when his new boss admitted that De Villers had got the job for reasons “other than only rugby”.

In his 4 years as Bok coach, De Villiers experienced huge successes – a series win over the British & Irish Lions and a Tri Nations trophy - but he also suffered the ignominy of coming last in the Tri Nations and seeing his World Cup dream shattered by the controversial officiating of referee Bryce Lawrence.  In addition, his outspoken nature and colourful application of the metaphor alternately amused and horrified South African rugby fans, and his close relationship with his senior players begged the question: Who was coaching whom?

Now, in his autobiography De Villiers answers this question and addresses many more: How he managed to progress from the dusty streets of Paarl as a rubgy mad youngster to the highest job in South African rugby; why his employers tried to manipulate him but failed; why he stuck with John Smit as captain in the 2011 World Cup; and where his passion for rugby will lead him next.

My Verdict:

I have to admit that I am not the greatest rugby fan out there. I am a Bulls supporter and will support SA when they are playing. I know who most of the players are but if I miss a rugby game it doesn’t really bother me.  I however wanted to read this book because of the controversy surrounding it’s release and because of what happened at the World Cup (which I did watch!). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and as I knew who De Villiers was talking about when it came to most of the management and the players I was able to follow the story.

However De Villiers did bring up some very controversial happenings and I just have to say that as a rugby fan you don’t know what is going on behind the scenes with the players etc you only see what is on the field and how the team is playing.  There are always extenuating circumstances when the team plays bad and it is not always the coaches fault.

De Villiers did put it out there about match fixing with regard to the referees and I have to admit that it certainly got me thinking – especially after the lauded Bryce Lawrence was recently kicked out of the game?

Whether you a rugby fan or not I think this book is a good read and if rugby fans thought they knew Peter De Villers before reading this book, they will think differently afterwards.  I certainly did!

Ciao!

About the Authors:

Sean Newman began working for Lolly a year before his death and became his confidant. He lived the Teasers brand and became integral in not only the day-to-day operations as media, marketing and public relations manager but also as a keen oberserver of everything that really happened.  While others wrote about the Teasers lifestyle, Newman lived it.

Peter Piegl was editor of Playboy South Africa until mid 2011 and is the writing power behind the book.

Karyn Maugh is a legal journalist at eNews in Johannesburg with a degree in Psychology.  With a keen eye to the forensic details Maughn examines the facts.

About the Book:

The Lolly Jackson murder case – a mix of elements that has grabbed the publics imagination. Fast cars, fast money, murder, revenge, missing millions and smashed up Teazers clubs. With kilometers of newspaper headlines and a growing body count the insatiable public is no closer to the truth.

Amidst the confusing reports, money laundering on a grand scale, SARS investigations and the mafia-like killings, this is the inside story.

The book opens on the night of Lolly’s murder and is a personal, inside track into the reality of Lolly’s private and business lives, never before made public. Intimate and detailed, it provides the reader with a fascinating view of a world that previously could only be imagined.

My Verdict:

I was very interested in reading this book and I found it fascinating.  There was a lot of things that I had read about in newspapers etc that was actually confirmed as true.  I am not entirely convinced that the man accused of killing Lolly was the only one involved.  I suspect that there are others.  Lolly Jackson also had ties to Brett Kebble, Glenn Agliotti and the men surrounding the Kebble murder which makes me think that there is more to the story.  Then there is the story with his wife Demi Jackson and the missing will….  She took over Teazers the day after he was murdered and I have to admit that I have my suspicions about her.  And then there is the whole other part about sleazy bank managers and money laundering.

I have to admit that you are left with more questions than answers at the end of the book and even though I have done some Googling after finishing the book there are not many other answers out there.  Which brings me back to the point about the wife and the Teazers owner of Durban branch….

I would recommend this book to others who are interested in Lolly’s murder but even though they have a “cast of characters” explaining who everyone is, unless you have been under a rock for the past 5 years then you won’t really be able to connect the characters to other shady characters dead or alive.

Enjoy!

Ciao!

Hi Bloggers,

Hope everyone has had a good week so far.  Well I have one bit of excellent news!  I finally got a job.  As I may have mentioned in my previous blog (can’t seem to be able to work out how to see my previous posts) the one lady that works for the company that I do freelance work for has absconded.  Yip, disappeared to China of all places.  So I have been helping out in the office for the last 2 weeks (as I know the business and I live on the premises).  Then last week Friday the owner offered me a job!  And I accepted.  The salary isn’t exactly what I hoped for but there is commission incentive and at least it’s a steady income that I know I will get each month.  So I am back in the land of the employed.  I have to admit that I was a bit stressed out about accepted because for the last 3 years I have kind of worked my own hours and done what I wanted but I thought about it and I need the stable income at this point.

Another bit of good news is finally soon-to-be-ex-hubby has decided that he is not contesting the divorce and will look at the original settlement offer that we proposed and will make an effort to make things move forward – so hopefully I can be divorced soon now!  That would be damn awesome!

Now the other bit of news is that the owner of the company is coming up to JHB on 1 November for a week.  Now Wingman stays here every night but the other lady that I work with doesn’t know that.  I have kept it very quiet and she is under the impression that we only basically see each other on the weekend and occassionally during the week because of the kids and school etc.  So that means that I am not going to be able to see Wingman much of that week and that depresses me.  The other thing is that I have to give notice where I am staying at the moment because we are moving into his Bryanston house in December.  The owner has been very good to me and allowed me to “house and animal sit” since July for a very nominal rent in order to help me out.  And I thank her for that and am very appreciative that I have had this opportunity.  I just feel bad because I need to move on with my life and I can’t keep staying here under these conditions.  Now I was thinking of saying that the reason I am moving is because my son will be going to high school in 2014 and I need to be in the area and we need to organise things like water and lights into my name etc so that I can prove that I am in the area.  Do you think that will fly…..  Also we prefer to move over December because the company closes and it’s not so much of a stress and I can basically move bit by bit.  Please give me some advice on how to handle this because I don’t want to hurt anyones feelings or come across as being ungrateful.

Other than that I am hoping that the weather in JHB improves drastically before Saturday.  It’s my son’s birthday on Saturday and we are doing a paintball party for him.  No fun in the rain that’s for sure!  And he is so looking forward to it.  He did really well in the last term and is studying really hard for the upcoming exams and this is basically his last weekend out before exams start so I just want it to be perfect for him.

Not much else going on except for the stress of the above bit, but do have a book review for you coming up.

Have an awesome day and remember pray for sunshine please!

Ciao!

PS. Does anybody know how to change the appearance of the post – i.e. justify the margins, add a picture or change the text and colour of it.  I haven’t been able to figure that one out yet and it’s driving me crazy!

Hi Bloggers,

Hope you have all had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend.  My week has certainly been interesting. For those of you that don’t know I currently live in a house where a business is run that I do freelance work for. Well the one lady who works here has gone awol.  We checked out her computer yesterday to try and find a contact number for her hubby and we found lots of history about checking out courses for teaching English in China.  The only thing is the courses are in China.  Then we also found flight queries about flights to China from 7 Oct.  So we suspect she is in China and needless to say by next week she won’t have a job anymore.  Well the owner of the company has asked whether I would be interested in taking her position if she doesn’t come back.  So depending on the salary offered I might have a job next week!  Hold thumbs!

Yesterday was not a good day for me.  I went outside to have a smoke and walked right into the sliding door that someone had closed.  Needless to say the glass is all cracked now and I have to replace it now – ouch!  I ended up with a sore knee and a huge headache.  Then last night I was walking outside with mine and Wingman’s food and tripped on my son’s school bag and there I was flying through the air and the plates and food all over the floor.  So now I have 2 very sore knees.  I swear I was not going to get out of bed this morning for fear of hurting myself more.  And last Sunday I slammed 2 fingers in the car door – don’t even ask – and subsequently seriously bruised the one and tore the nail off the other.  Roll on end of the week – it hasn’t been a safe one for me so far.

I spoke to the attorneys on Wednesday and finally the divorce papers were served on my soon-to-be-ex-hubby.  Now it’s a 10 day waiting period in which he can context it and if we hear nothing from him then they can go and set a court date.  Maybe I can be divorced by the end of November.  That would be great!

Other than that, Wingman and I are doing very well and I am still very happy with him.  I’m looking forward to having my own place in December and having my stuff around me again.

My son has gone back to school this week and I’m waiting for next week when we get his report.  I’m sure he has done very well and it’s only his Afrikaans that I am worried about.

Otherwise not much news on my end.  I haven’t done much reading lately but will post a review soon.

Have an awesome fun filled weekend and stay dry if you are in Jozi!

Ciao

Hi bloggers

Hope you are all having a wonderful time with this great Summer weather that we are having.

I had an awesome time this last weekend. Sunday just chilled and then went out for dinner with Wingman.  Monday was up early (4am!) as my son left on his school tour to Durban.  Came home and slept for another hour then got up and packed as Wingman and I went to a game farm until Wednesday.  We went to a little place called Tshukudu Lodge in Polokwane and it was heavenly.  Got there around lunch time on Monday and just chilled with a couple of drinks.  Tuesday morning up early again (6am!) to go on a game drive.  It was wonderful and only the 2 of us.  We saw lots of buck and buffalo and some giraffes and crocodiles.  Then went back to the lodge and lazed around in the sun and got a decent sun tan,

Wednesday we had a late breakfast and then went to Mystic Monkeys which is a private zoo on the lodge.  There we saw lots of different monkeys, cheetahs, tigers, white lions, parrots, lemurs, and some other types of wild cats.  It was really very interesting and I love the monkeys.  Then we unfortunately had to come back to reality.  It was really great and so relaxing.

My son is only back tomorrow evening and it has been nice having a break but now I want him to come home because I miss him too much.

Have decided I am going to try my hand at roast chicken tonight (laughs) so am going to be looking for recipes on the internet otherwise might go and buy one of those cook-in-a-bag things.  I tried that with chicken pieces and it was divine!  Any suggestions???

Otherwise hope you all have a fantastic day and will do a book review soon!

Ciao

Hello bloggers,

Glad to be back.  I haven’t been able to post for a while because I had some problems getting into my blog after the move.  But am now up and running and trying to get the feel of this new platform.  Hopefully all in due time.

Anyway updates on my side is that I have finished the 2nd and 3rd instalment of Fifty Shades and am debating as to whether to do a book review or not on them – let me have your thoughts please.

I had my op done 2 weeks ago and although it took about a week before I was up and running (so to speak) I am feeling much better and not sore at all – just waiting for the stitches to come out.  But I can tell you that it was damn painful afterwards!  Not something I would do again (well hopefully I won’t have to).

My son is doing well and he did well in his exams.  He is off for a week next week (on the public holiday nogal – at 5am) on school tour.  He is really looking forward to it and I am looking forward to the break.  Speaking of breaks my wingman is taking me to a game reserve for a few days next week and am defnitely looking forward to that. Lazing around for 3 days sounds like a plan to me.  Can’t wait!  And he’s taking me shopping on Saturday for a new sexy cozzy. I love to be spoilt!

The divorce is still in the pipeline with my soon-to-be-ex-hubby and we have come to the conclusion that we are both going to walk away and not sue each other for anything.  As I am the one that is getting the debt he is only to happy to walk away.  What an ass!  Anyway I just thought about it long and hard and decided it really isn’t worth my while to try and get money out of him.  I never got it while we were married and I am certainly not going to get it in divorce so I decided that this is the best route for me and I just want him out of my life.

Other than that, not much news but will keep you posted (now that I can) on all future events.

Have a fantastic long week and catch up next week

Ciao