It's official!

We did it! We had a beautiful day on Saturday & are now husband & wife.

And I'm still excited about everything. It's my hope to add a lot more photos of several different events...but it all depends on Internet connections (& how long it takes me to download iTunes- YAY tommy & Dev, great gift).

Well, one of many. Probably the most humbling experience of getting married has been just how many people have sent their best wishes our way. So many people contributed to making our day perfect...so a thousand & one thank yous!!!


Here's out bridal party just after the exchanging of vows- aren't the outfits great?!

Weeee!

The small things

Mutinondo Part II*smile*

One of my fave moments of the trip was watching this dung beetle (I'm calling it a dung beetle because it was rolling a ball of poop- not because I actually know that it's a dung beetle, so if I'm wrong- feel free to correct me)! I wish I would've taken a video; this beetle was a) truly acrobatic rolling the ball of dung along with his hind legs, and b) just like the little-engine-that-could. This guy never stopped pushing that poop, even if it was uphill & the dung rolled over top of him(her?) & back down the slope. Incredible.

I also forgot to put up the other beautiful finds: these stunning flowers, & the sunset we caught one evening (one photo starring Al).

The trip to Mutinondo…

I must admit, I don’t really know where to start on this one. Adventure indeed. Ahem. I used to pride myself on being a good planner- be it at work or personally- I often had details planned down to the minute. Well, I think I’ve fallen off the boat…or the boat has completely capsized. When heading up to Northern province to hit this camp (Mutinondo) I thought I had everything in order. I’d printed off directions and re-confirmed with the lodge in ready-ness for the trip. After a late start from Lusaka- (because we were still negotiating for our new vehicle- but beautiful she is)!!!














I realized I had forgotten to bring the printed directions. I had not brought a phone number because they told me they only had a satellite phone…and well, let’s just say it got to be pretty dark on the road, & we were unsure how much further we had to go before we would find the camp…so Marty pulled out his Blackberry (neither Alvin nor myself had reception with our phones) & his lifeline- & called a friend back home. Can you imagine? It must have been around 22h30 in Zambia, pitch black and nothing but huts for miles around. So Marty’s friend booted up the Internet & found the webpage I had failed to bring along with us. Here’s the situation:














This is my best "begging-for-forgiveness" look
















We managed to pull up to the camp at 00h30…woke up a guest who found a vacant chalet for us & found mattresses for Marty & Pat to sleep in the truck. Disaster. And ALL my bad*hahahah*. However when we woke to coffee & tea & met the owner we realized we'd found a gem of a spot; despite becoming the standing joke of the camp: “How exactly did you arrive here at 1 o’clock in the morning”? Thank goodness Marty & Pat are the best guests ever & we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the camp (& all of us agreed that we would love to visit the place again)! I have a lot of photos (as usual), but have tried to choose the ones that would be of most interest to my loyal readers*wink*.

Day 1: we set off on a trail of waterfalls:

It's mushroom season in Zambia (deeelicious), & I saw some of the biggest mushrooms in my life during this trip:



















I also saw plenty of massive millipedes:-)



















"Beer-o-clock" on the trail














A couple silly shots at the falls






























Day 2: Searching for the ancient Rock Art (which we never found). But the miombo woodland & rocky hills were truly sights to savour.

Rather than continuing our journey up north for a few things I had planned, we decided to head back to Lusaka for New Year’s Eve (photos may come) & then have a day turn-around before heading off for safari; which ended up falling through because the lodge had a water problem. But again, Marty & Patricia proved great guests & we ended up puttering around Lusaka at a family braai, a reptile farm etc. Now they’re off in Livingstone while Al & I flit about trying to plan our wedding…thank goodness my folks arrive on Friday! I can’t wait to see them!!!!

Christmas blog...am I too late?

I like to update things chronologically...so here's the Christmas update though I know most people have already moved on to the new year*smile*. As per usual, Al & I spent Christmas Day at his Grandmother’s farm. It was a beautiful day (except for the heavy rains en route); we pulled over when the visibility was this bad.















But the rains have ensured lushness & green-ness (if that's a word) everywhere- even the venue looked more beautiful!















Here we are:
The group getting a bit silly after posing for an age
















Bwembya did a great job braii-ing the meat, & Jackie & Mumbi were well into the Amarula by the time we arrived*smile*















Cousin Marty & his lovely gal Patricia showed up on Christmas day bearing gifts- HOLLA!















Pat even brought an early wedding gift from sweet Canj- I’m so spoilt! (And so happy). My next post will incorporate some of our adventure to Northern province, but this is all for the moment. Hope everyone has enjoyed the festivities! It’s rough to head back to work, isn’t it?

End-of-year ramblings & reflections

I love the festive season- there’s always so much going on! Marty & his Patricia arrive tomorrow evening- Yippeee! We’ll be heading off for a wee adventure to Zambia’s Northern Province for about a week. I’ll then expect company through to February 4th- how wonderful is that?

There’s one thing that has been getting me down though. My unofficial exam results have been received- though they weren’t quite what I had expected. All of the exams I sat in Lusaka I cleared (which is great news- I was really worried about my International Human Resource Management course...) However, I apparently didn’t pass my research proposal (which surprise, counts for the two introductory courses of the program. Without passing this proposal I cannot continue on with the program as I had hoped). My initial reaction was shock which quickly shifted into anger. Now I’m irritated that I don’t have the official results to see where I went so very wrong. The worst part is that when I submitted my draft my tutor provided praise & thought the draft would be developed into a passing research proposal with a few minor adjustments. So in those minor adjustments I must have really bunged up. I’m hugely disappointed, & a small part of me is holding onto the hope that maybe- just maybe- they’ve given me the wrong unofficial results (Maybe it was that International HRM course I bombed…). But since I can’t really hang on to that & still pursue my degree, I’m doing the best I can to dust myself off & attempt the RP again. GAH. What a waste of time & money & I really have no idea how I failed. I thought my proposal was tight. And so did the host of people who reviewed it. Another part of me is trying to accept the failure- I don’t really remember failing at much in my life. I was always the kid who “made the team”; so I’m trying to embrace this as a learning experience. I'm looking at the situation as a challenge that will hopefully (somehow) help me become a better person.

Apart from the things I’m caught up with at the moment, I’m hoping to make some time to reflect on the events of 2008. We certainly started out with a bang in India, & there’s not really been a dull moment since I threw so much energy into school & basketball. I look forward to sitting down & planning for 2009 as much has been ticked of the “to do list” for 2008.

Otherwise I’m wrapped up in Christmas baking, holiday planning & wedding planning- despite the poor school results I’ve got a couple of exciting months ahead! Here’s a shot of my delicious pecan squares- thanks for the recipe Ma, they’ve received many compliments already (okay, they don't look divine, but they're certainly scrumptious).




















Happy Christmas/holidays/festive season to all! I’m about to be on holiday- Whoop!

BSA Basketball End-of-Year Party

The three of us BSA Basketball coaches decided we wanted to celebrate a wonderful season. We threw together some juice & snacks & planned fun games for Friday afternoon. We also awarded a certificate for each player’s participation (which the kids were really excited about). Former BSA players were invited to join in some silly games, and recognize the up-&-coming athletes; I was really happy the ‘older’ guys were around to support not only us, but their friends at BSA. I don’t know how many photos I took but I’ve tried to pare down to the favourites…& I’ll try to attach wee stories so you get a taste of the afternoon.

I loved this shot of "Air Teza". Another team had come to compete to open the afternoon festivities- fun fun.
















In the right-hand line these guys are former players, or will be former players in 2009- but they came to enjoy the day with us; I'm hoping to recruit a couple to coach...















Snack-time. And yes, we did mix a bunch of juice in that green bucket...

















Here Coach Alinafe is explaining a silly team-building game- I love the facial expressions on some of the players "You want us to do what???"
















For fun, we had our under 12 team play the "big guys"- those who have moved on to higher-level basketball. It was fun to watch the little ones play their hearts out while the more senior players admired the skills that these kids are gaining at such a young age.















We had a bump-out competition for the under 12 players and then for the older guys.
Here are some shots of the competition

Nganga won for the under 12s

& Sogi won the combo under 15/18 category.

Alfred cracked me up because he came runner up in a couple of competitions- what a kid- just lost out & is still smiling. I admire his attitude & hope that some of the younger guys look up to him.

Sogi's post-win celebration

Elvis surprised us all during the 3-point competition because he was on fire. (The guys had earlier been teasing him for his red out fit- calling him Santa Claus; I thought it fitting that he also won a red t-shirt for his record: 6 out of 7 three-pointers in the preliminary round and in the final). Thanks to the folks at Bellerose (Sue!!!) for your continued contributions to making our small BSA events memorable!
The competition

And the winner (Elvis a.k.a. Santa Claus)

One player stood out to all three coaches this year. Rather than giving “MVP, Best defensive player” etc awards for each team, we decided to recognize only one player- the “BSA Player of the Year”. Bupe (pronounced more like woo-pay, meaning gift) had quite the season. He wrote his grade 12 exams this year but never missed a beat on the basketball court. He was our most consistent player, attending all training sessions & never missing Saturday games, the team jokester’s attitude also improved this year- he became that goofy but confident leader. His basic skills also improved drastically- what more could we ask for?! I get the sense that he was a bit surprised to be recognized, but all the guys were happy & I’m sure he loves his new tracksuit (thanks Mabvuto)!

All-in-all we think the day was a great success & it’s nice to introduce a few of the players to my on-line friends (loyal readers)*giggling*. Next we get some more serious feedback from the players, focus on the ups & downs of 2008 so that we can plan for an even more successful 2009. I love it!

Babies at the baby shower

Hi all, not too much to report over the weekend; but I did remember to take some photos at Kupela’s baby shower. Kupela’ looks about to burst (but beautiful as always)!














The father of the child was also pulled into the festivities…they were asked to wear diapers & pretty much look ridiculous while guests were allowed to ask various questions. For each question they answered wrong (or differently) they were painted with make-up or dashed with baby powder.














Sweet Vicki brought her beautiful baby Ndinawe & I can’t believe how much she’s changed in the past few months.


















































It was a beautiful day, and now it’s back to the grind...

First Christmas card of the year!

Thanks “Kumah” Kaye & Uncle Nick! What a nice surprise…& it was the perfect inspiration to set up my few Christmas decorations last night. (Unfortunately I missed the traditional December 1st date of setting everything up; I suppose the busy festive season has already begun). No need to comment Lain, I know it's too late for you*grin*. I have also realized that my tree looks fairly pathetic with so few decorations; I hope to remedy that this weekend.

Other news:
- We had our end of year tournament for the youth league over the weekend. BSA fared well: our under 12 squad lost in the semi-finals by one point (heartbreaker), our under 15s won the whole shebang, and our under 18 team lost in the final. Sadly, the person I asked to take photos took a couple videos (mostly of the ground)*hahahah*…I’ll post some action shots up here eventually if there are any keepers. We will, however, have an end-of-year party next week- I will certainly take photos then.
- A small update on books. I managed to get my hands on the famous “Golden Compass” book- what a read! I have no idea how I’ll track down the other parts of the trilogy…but I will. I couldn’t put the book down so I chose to pick a “classic” after that, just to slow the pace down a bit. I chose Emily Bronte’s Jane Eyre & found it thoroughly enjoyable; I would chalk it up as one of the easier classics to get through. I found myself chuckling out loud- brilliant. I am currently reading a piece of smut that I’m embarrassed to pull out in front of anyone because it’s a grocery store romance…but it’s light & mindless- just what I need to unwind!

That’s all for now.

Fish ‘n chips Zambian style

Hi all, I’m not sure if I mentioned this on the blog before, but I’m actually trying to get myself to start eating fish. Apparently they are so healthy etc that I actually started feeling guilty about not eating fish. Sadly, I’ve never liked the taste, so slowly I’ve been figuring out ways of preparing filets in a manner which I find palatable. So far I’ve started to enjoy tilapia fried with ginger, garlic & doused in lemon.

Well, Kolo decided she wanted fish for our weekly “nshima” night so she prepared “Kariba bream”: Zambian style. (I think these bream are probably an environmentally sound option because they’re caught locally, not farmed etc). But imagine finding this waiting for the frying pan when I walked in the door from coaching.

Hahahaha. And what do they say- out of the pan & into the fire…so much for my tilapia “fish fingers”*hahaha*. This is the bream post-frying.

I have to admit, the meat itself tasted good; it’s the presentation that was lacking. I only managed a few bites before admitting defeat; then I gorged myself on a lovely plate of potatoes & various veg:-) But I reckon I'm doing pretty well...for a girl who wouldn't touch fish a year ago!

Logic. Or lack thereof

Hmm, guess I’ve been quiet for a bit. I suppose my only excuse is that last week I was very much sidetracked by the Zone 6 club championship basketball games that were hosted in Lusaka. Teams came from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, & Angola (two Zambian teams also participated- no women’s teams though- men only. Boo). There was much excitement & the final ended up being Angola (ranked first place in the country) versus Angola (third place in the country)- it was a GREAT game, though I was disappointed that the underdogs lost.

Otherwise…here’s a photo update of the few small things that have been going on.

Our good friend Kieran was back in Lusaka & had to get rid of some Commonwealth Games Canada attire- holla! I love my new jacket (though ever honest Sarah T. told me this wasn’t the most flattering photo of me- I’ve decided to post it anyway)*grin*.

Then my dear Aunt & Uncle in Florida happened to have a flight attendant friend who was flying to Lusaka & decided to throw together a package. What a lovely surprise & assortment of incredible treats!! Happy early Christmas to me & Al. (Oh, & the lady who delivered it is also a star- the tin of English biscuits she brought have clearly not been saved until the holiday season)*hahah*.

And the jams that my uncle sent finally convinced me to buy a toaster

(I’ve wanted a toaster for a long time but never bothered to invest in one…but with strawberry jam like this- how can you not put it on toast??)

YUM! Thus the subject of my post…I’m not really sure if that was a logical thing to do…buy a toaster because someone sent 3 jars of scrumptious jam??!! Well, it is mango season & there tend to be lots of brilliant mango preserves this time of year…

This seems to be one long run-on sentence; let me end it here before the grammar cops pull the post.