Comings & goings

I’ve been inspired to post because of my brother. He recently blogged about nothing, & it made me laugh…so I figured I should also throw something up here. (Which reminds me Tommy, what of your fish)??

Updates:

1. I have only taken 2 days off of that abdominal bench (and that wasn’t on purpose, I just kind of ran out of time). I’m feeling much stronger, though I’m still a lifetime away from a washboard stomach*hahaha*

2. Arrival of packages: Well, hand delivered wins out. Kelvin arrived safely with a massive bag of goodies…photos to come as jerseys get distributed. No sign of the snail mail package*sigh*

3. With the arrival of Kelvin, came Claire! YAY, so they’ve been staying with us for about a week now. I’ve actually felt like I’ve been on holiday. Claire & I open a bottle of red- or mix up some sangria- & sit out on the ‘patio’ overlooking my dead grass (that’s another story & photo), chatting, reading, or eating:-). I’ve taken a few photos of our ‘adventures’ that I’ll post later.

4. BSA seems to be doing very well on the basketball side. Both the under 18 boys and the under 12 boys won on Saturday (much fun- no photos)! The week before a couple of ‘my’ girls had pitched up, so they were able to join in a friendly game which was eye-opening for them & exciting for me- we’re still working on them!

So really, there’s never a dull moment. My Canadian friend Heather will soon be leaving Lusaka (which is not the good news) but the exciting bit for me is she gave me about six new books & the board game Clue! (Claire & I worked that board game out over a glass of red too)*grin*. Other than missing Heather as a friend…there goes my yoga instructor:-( Guess I’ll need to find a new Friday afternoon activity after she leaves. Boo.

So really, nothing new; I should have a few more photos & stories coming up. For now it’s back to the grind.

Zimbabwe

Well, it's not getting any better in Zim. Mugabe versus Tsvangirai lives on. Mugabe called for a "re-count" before any official results were released. A boat full of arms from China is docked in South Africa & the most Thabo Mbeki mutters is "there is concern". When he was in Lusaka for the big extraordinary SADC meeting, South Africa did not even admit that there is a 'crisis' in Zimbabwe, which is a shame, because the country is in shambles.

But they say if you don't laugh, you'll cry...so here's my fave email of late:

Mugabe was asked when he’s going to bid the Zimbabwean people farewell.
Looking puzzled he answered, “Where are they going??”

The Birthday lives on & on & on (cue Jack Johnson)

Just in! Kolo sent me these photos & I think they're great.

Here we are actually looking photogenic*giggling*

There were men at the party, but the chose not to partake in the photo opp.

That's Kupela, Layla, Christine, Namukolo, Emily, myself & Lauranne

My birthday lives on...

I was really excited on Monday when I received a hand-delivered birthday gift from South Africa! A Canadian former Commonwealth Games Canada intern-friend is based in Cape Town. Turns out she’s also a schoolmate to my workmate…so they meet in Jo’burg for their classwork. Kirstie being the star that she is, sent along these FAB gifts! I’m so spoiled.
My new Namibian bracelet.














A birthday candle:














I was going to say that hand delivering packages is much more effective then sending anything via post (as I’m still awaiting my birthday package from my folks)- when two things happened.
1. I received a package from Aly- holla to receiving a new book! and,
2. My Zambian friend Kelvin, who is now based in Edmonton is supposed to be en route to Lusaka for his first visit in nearly 2 years. My folks- beginning to get worried that the birthday parcel may never arrive- organized another package to be carried by Kel. But imagine this- he was refused to board his flight in the USofA because he didn’t have a transit visa. He was supposed to arrive in the next couple of days & we haven’t heard anything since the hiccup in the States…so that package may be as close as the package sent via snail mail.

Sigh.

But I do feel loved…& what a long birthday- I’m still celebrating:-)

The newest Addition

Well, Alvin came home on Friday with a surprise. (I hope he wasn't hinting anything about my waistline)- a new abdominal bench















It's a beauty. I've never been one of those people who'd do crunches & push ups everyday. Ask me to go running, cycling, roller-blading, play ball- anything, I'm in...but to be all alone & working on abs never really interested me. But, since it's spreading guilt in my living room, I've been on it everyday since he brought it. I'll let you know how long I last*hahaha*!!

Here's proof that's Al's using it:-)

Latest dishes

I had the worst hankering for nachos this weekend. Other than slurpees, I probably miss plain old tortilla chips more than anything...so I dug into the Doritos, even bought some salsa instead of making my own, & enjoyed a nachos & cheese lunch! Not quite like Pete's nachos (with all the company AND drinks to go with it), but I did enjoy.

















On a completely different note, another dish I have recently been hooked on, is "Sampo". Here maize kernels (NOT like our sweet corn from home...this corn is not sweet), are boiled & then mixed with groundnuts (or peanut butter) & sugar to taste. It doesn't look very appetizing, but it is scrumptious!

I've got hot water!!

Actually, the hot water tank was fixed on Saturday afternoon...& I've been enjoying luxuriously full hot baths ever since:-)

Grey hair

When I was brushing my teeth this morning I had a bout of the giggles. Two new, coarse grey hairs were poking wayward above my wet mane; I let out a sigh & admitted that I really am a year older.

I celebrated my 27th yesterday- hard to believe. I had a lovely day & was spoiled the whole weekend. A crew of us went out for drinks Saturday night & my batteries died in the camera, so I’ve been promised photos…they’ll be posted here if they ever to land in my inbox! Then yesterday Alvin presented me with a dress- I had picked out the material ages ago but hadn’t managed to get made into anything- (featured in the photo below), & a surprise dinner, with birthday cake for dessert. Alvin was in cahoots with a couple of great Canadian girls- so they came over bearing Indian cuisine (scrumptious) and a bottle of Amarula! A special day indeed.

(And I’ve been feeling guilty because all last week I was pouting- my parents were not sending any emails because they were off enjoying Arizona with my Gran- & I hadn’t received one birthday card via snail mail, not even from my Auntie Nada who is always the first to have something in my post box…) But after such a great weekend, it just doesn’t feel right to complain!
Thanks to all for the well-wishes! And thanks to those who attempted calling but couldn’t get through- I didn’t do too bad with calls from Montreal & texts from South Africa to Mozambique*grin*.

The new dress - with Christine & Alvin.














The culprits...and a table full o' yummy eats!

There’s no April fool-ing

It’s been quite the morning.
Our hot water tank has broken down…it seems that when this happens it takes weeks to repair*gah*. In the meantime we heat water in a basin & later dump it into the tub- not ideal, but a reasonable temporary solution. Except that this morning the electricity cut; BOO for less than lukewarm baths.

Let’s hope this morning is a big ol’ joke & the week gets progressively better as April pushes on!