That's life

When I was young my mother would recite
"There was a little girl, she had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good
But, when she was bad she was horrid"
I think that about sums up life in general.
We have so many friends and acquaintances who are going through rough times. Be it health, finance, family ties, work or whatever I'm sure that some days they wonder when it's all going to end.
I also see the resilience of some of these folk, the "get on regardless" attitude, it's good.
This morning, skimming through "snips & snails" I came across a blog on her list - julieliveshere. I read the most amazing open letter to the person who has her wallet, give yourself a treat and read it. I will certainly be checking in on her  posts when I can.
So if it's been  a rough start to the year, just heed the words of the great Mr Sinatra
"Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race."
That's Life, I hope it's a good one.

How the weekend flies

Never mind the fact that we're heading for Feb. at an alarming rate, the weekends go by in the flash of an eye.
We spent most of this one rearranging the furniture in our house. First though we went to a few places to find a low cupboard - I expect there's a fancy name for it - to hold the new TV (so kindly donated by Timothy and Marleze).
We saw 3 really stunning ones at a sort of Indonesian import place, all to our liking and not overpriced.
On Saturday, once "he who works the occasional Saturday" arrived home we went to Green Point. First stop Giovanni's to buy some parmesan, cold meats and bread.
Then on to a store I shan't name because their prices are so over the top that I get the giggles when I look at the tags. The only table/cupboard we vaguely like was on the wrong side of R7000, too steep for us.
What a contrast seeing the  men lining up outside the homeless shelter close by.
Final stop, Tafelburg, they sell a nice range of middle of the road home furnishing and usually come in cheaper than most on their appliances. Hawk-eye spotted the ideal unit, a simple, low counter, 1400cms wide and with just one shelf, simple and really nice. Still, I wouldn't mind something from Ikea.
But you see, this is how we make work for ourselves.All that moving, emptying and the repacking of cupboards. Fortunately Danielle and Kelly dove in and packed my knick-knacks into the cupboard, a huge time-saver.
Talking of time savers, Sara-Jane finished the Meccano clock she and Grandpa were building. I mention the two of them but in truth Sara-Jane did most of the work, Grandpa admitted defeat and left her to finish the job. I may put it away as her wedding present - ho ho ho.
Best of all was having enough space elsewhere to put the record player back on top of the sound system.
It's abour 30 years old I suppose, but it still works like a dream. I don't think the term "built in obsolescence" had been invented back then.
What a treat, going through the LPs (ask your mum).
The grandchildren all came to see how it worked, the first LP was Michael Jackson, 1971, he looked to be about 14. They were suitably impressed.
But Granny had much more fun after they left, music brings back so many memories and let me tell you, vinyl sounds just great.
I put on one of my old favourites, a compilation disc called "All this and World War 2" and sifted through the rest.
What appeared to be the complete Bob Marley and Peter Tosh collection, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Niel Diamond, Francois Hardy (remember her?).
The list is endless, from the Beatles and Queen to the 1812 Overture. So much more to listen to.
I sent the dust bunnies off to find a new home and hopefully by the end of the week order will be restored in our house.

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Free Range Friday

Many of us are well and truly into Meat Free Monday, it just seems part of our normal lifestyle by now.
However, let's face it, we're not all ready to become vegetarians. Some would say Never, others, like myself, are sort of working towards it.
I see the day when I won't eat meat at all, I don't imagine I'll go vegan but certainly meat free. I do count chicken as meat.
As you no doubt know, none of the takeaways, restaurants etc. use free range chicken, this means that I don't buy chicken sandwiches and sadly have to have a Thai Chicken Sandwich on wholewheat with no chicken. Still yummy.
So here it is. On a Friday, if you're eating meat, make sure it's free range. I do have a chuckle picturing battery sheep, a la Glen Larson,  but apparently it's not all "free range" who knows? Some places already sell free range egg sandwiches so just check up. If you think the beef in your burger is suspect, order something else, likewise the rack of lamb at the fancy restaurant.
My theory is that if we don't buy none-free range every Friday it may lead to the production of less non-free range and the promotion of free range. Quite a mouthful I know and not quite what PETA have in mind.
Baby steps.

Mensa Invitational

Apparently The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational invites readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter and, supplying a new definition.
The list is long and extremely funny, here are a few of my favourites
Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole (see this weeks blog)
Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
Arachnoleptic Fit : The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
The Washington Post also has a contest in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words, e.g.
Coffee : The person upon whom one coughs
Flabbergasted : Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained
Flatulence : Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller
Rectitude : The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
Pokemon : A Rastafarian proctologist.
Have a laughter filled weekend xx

just a few words

"It is amazing how much people can get done if they do not worry about who gets the credit" -
Sandra Swinney

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I was in my fave store yesterday buying a rather nice tshirt. Standing at the counter, waiting to pay I and the lady next to me, heard a loud voice coming from our right. You know how it is, you all pretend that you can't hear the commotion but this guy was something else.
"I'm the nation wide manager for Pigs Bottom Clothing, you don't speak to me like that!!!"
We have no idea what "she" said but each time she tried to speak he said
"don't talk" and then for good measure he repeated it in what I think was supposed to be Xhosa. What would I know, I'm not a nationwide manager.
"I want to talk to Betty Bulemia" "Now! I know she's in the store tell her I'm here"
"Don't talk"
and so it went on, stupid man, he's probably had the job since 02 Jan 2011.
My young assistant took my card and said
"cheque or savings?"
"savings" I replied,
she swiped the card and said
"cheque or savings?" to which I replied
"you have to multitask, listen to him with your left ear and listen to me with your right"
That was when the lady standing next to me snorted in amusement.
I could complain to big mouth's boss but lets face it, he won't be working for Pig's Bum for much longer with that attitude. He reminded me of the tea advert where the man in a suit says to the airline lady
"Do you know who I am?" so she broadcasts an appeal "Does anyone one know this lost man?"
What an ass.

The best laid plans..........

Finally, the weekend arrived for the PiratesoftheCaribbeanathon. Three movies and lots of fun with the six grandchildren. However, once they arrived we realised that the PG ratings of 10, 10 and 13 should be observed. I know they're only guidlines but still. So, by democratic vote (it's not really democratic when the big ones have a louder say) they decided to start with "The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" not a bad choice, enjoyed by all but Jeremy (7) who thought it was silly.
Dinner was chicken drumsticks, potato wedges and corn on the cob. I was in disgrace for not providing chocolate mousse for dessert, even though I'd made REAL popcorn with a choice of buuter or salt! I did, however, serve Shirley Temples which I think I enjoy more than they do.
Grandpa was a star, bravely staying up to the end. In the lounge (room) we had Kelly's two man tent (for her and Olivia) and Jeremy's one man tent so they slept there, Sara-Jane and Danielle slept in the guest room and Jessica had to go home just after ten in order to be up at 4.30 am to go to ice skating practice.
Movie number two was Toy Story 3. We thoroughly enjoyed it, I cried at the end and look forward to seeing it again. No wonder it was the highest grossing movie in the world for 2010! Jeremy and I shared a seat so I had someone to cuddle during the scary bits.
The fact that we were all in bed by 11pm doesn't mean all was quiet. At around midnight Sara-Jane sent an SMS to Olivia  to tell them to be quiet. You've gotta love modern technology.
Sunday am was coffee in bed (Grandpa is so good) for Granny and once the troops were organised we had a cereal, juice, bacon, egg and toast breakfast. Jessica was dropped off from skating to join us and they all
watched The Princess Bride. It's such a fun movie, I love it!
Timothy and Marleze invited us to lucnch so we squashed the eight of us into the Honda (thank goodness for spacy cars) and headed south. Timothy cooks a mean steak (I don't eat it, sorry) and Marleze a superb mushroom sauce. As they said, they don't need to visit a steakhouse any more.
Granny and Grandpa were home by 4.30, all children safely fetched or delivered. What a good time.
Sion had directed us to UTube for some Big Bang Theory interviews at Comic.Com 2010. Will Wheeton was the interviewer and it was so good for the fans. Really my favourite comedy.
All in all a very good weekend, it's  a pity we didn't get to watch Captain Jack Sparrow but, there's always next time.