The Happiness Project - Week 8

I had one of those

fabulously fantastic days

this past Saturday.

I went for a manicure on Saturday,

and got a lovely blue 

on my fingers.

Susan and I
then discovered
a garage with cute clothes.
Yes I said a garage.
Basically, it's a second hand clothing store
in a garage.
Needless to say,
I'm prepared for winter.

This lovely shopping experience
was then followed by
care package of
a taste of home.

Susan and I
then went for a coffee
before going to school to watch Ethan
in his Saturday Soccer league.
Ethan was chuffed
that Bibi came to see him play.

Saturday night
was Fiesta Latina.
A fundraiser for a trust school.
I even wore my new/old dress.

Thanks for a wonderful day
Susan.

Happiness is a wonderfully
fabulous day.

The Happiness Project - Week 7

Last year,

our school organised a Saturday soccer league.

I was keen to have Ethan join,

but worried since he isn't really good

and he gets upset real easily.

This year, 

he was also keen to join.

So sign him up

we did.

This weekend was the first

Saturday Soccer day.

Ethan was given his team.

He practiced for awhile.

Then the team shirts arrived.

Then it was game time.

Where I'm embarrassed to admit

my son skipped more

than dribbled.

But he had a blast.

Which is really

all that is important.

Happiness is the beginning of

Saturday Soccer season.

The Happiness Project - Week 6

Every Friday,

I have my students create

one perfect sentence.

On Friday,

one of my students wrote the following sentence;

Every Friday, Ms Tima wears jeans and brings flowers.

I had to laugh.

Yes, Friday is my casual Friday.

I tend to wear jeans.

And every Friday morning,

I go to the market and fetch

some fresh fruits, veggies

and yes,

flowers.

The other thing I love about Fridays,

my students have French

in the morning.

It's the perfect time

to enjoy a latte

and get some marking or planning done.

Happiness is Fridays.

Writer's Workshop - Butch

The last thing your pet destroyed. 

When we decided to get a puppy,

I went through a list of

JR Ward's vampires

for a suitable name.

Scott caught on to the fact that

Wrath, Rhage, Vishious...

were all vampires

and vetoed them.

But Butch....

well Butch was not one Scott ever suspected.

Well....

if you are a WARDen fan,

you know that Butch is also known as

Butch the Destroyer.

I never expected my Butch

to be the destroyer.

But he is.

It began over Christmas.

Even though we arranged for Mary

to feed him and play with him,

he was not happy that we left.

He ate our trampoline.

The netting has been destroyed.

Then he decided he wanted to hang out next door

with the two Jack Russels.

He dug up our garden,

squeezed himself under the fence

and partied with the neighbours,

We put chicken wire under the fence to stop him from digging.

Then...

then...

a couple weeks ago,

I go outside to do the laundry

and feed him.

I step outside and see...

this thing...

I had no clue what it was.

As I got closer,

I noticed underneath all the dirt,

a bright green colour.

My bra!!!!!

The dog ate my bra!

Correction,

half my bra!

There, 

sitting on my lawn

is one half of my favourite

and only

green bra!!!!

A week later,

the other half showed up!

The Happiness Project - Week 5

Last Saturday

was the last Saturday of the month.

Also known as

Dutch Reform Market day.

We were out of town,

so we missed it.

But then, 

a dear mate of mine

told me there was another market

this past weekend.

Yippee!!!!

Each month

Ethan buys me a necklace from the market.

I have quite the collection.

So,

we walk into the market 

and Ethan asks;

"Mama.....necklace..."

Who am I to turn down a necklace?

There's also a lovely lady

who makes/designs dresses.

I picked up a cute one

from her.

We then hit the supermarket

and guess what Scott found...

Happiness is some great weekend
finds.

Lucky Man: A Memoir - Michael J Fox

I'm a huge Michael J Fox fan.
I even had his posters in my room
growing up.
So, you know,
I really enjoyed this book.

Michael talks about his life in Canada,
his aspirations to be an actor,
his move to Hollywood,
all the way to announcing to the world
that he has Parkinsons.

I also learnt a lot.
I learnt where the J came from.
His middle name is Andrew and
while I thought being called
Michael A Fox
was ok,
he didn't like that.
Plus,
it never occured to me that it would come out as
Michael Eh? Fox!

Did you know
at one point
he was so depressed from learning about
Parkinson
he started abusing alcohol,
a lot?

It was an easy,
light read.
And proceeds went to his foundation.

High Five For Friday

We had a fabulous time

in Mukambi.

It was relaxing

and we got to see 

some great animals.

So...

for this week's

High Five For Friday,

I thought I'd share 

five of my best pictures

and sightings. 

Leopard

Baboon

Elephant

Puku

Cheetah

Writer's Workshop - Something New

Something new you tried.

I never got the whole fishing thing.

You sit in a boat,

touch icky worms,

throw in a line

and wait.

Wait in hopes that 

a fish will take the bait.

Scott, 

on the other hand,

loves to fish.

And he loves me enough

not to ask me to go with him.

Then Easter weekend happened.

We went to a lodge.

To see some animals

and mostly,

to relax.

I'm on Spring Break.

I have no lesson plans to write,

no homework to mark,

and no studying to do.

I had big plans to sit by the pool

and read.

But then,

Ethan decided he wanted to go fishing.

At first,

I thought I'd stay back.

But it was Ethan's first time fishing

and someone had to be there to document it all.

So I went.

After about 5 minutes,

Ethan caught his first fish.

That's when I decided I wanted to give it a try too.

Yes, that's right,

I tried something new.

Fishing!

And,

you know,

it really wasn't so bad.

Just don't be thinking

this trying something new

will become a habit!

Just the Way You Are - Barbara Freethy

Just the Way You Are

is a story of two sisters

torn apart

when they fall in love

with the same boy.

Feeling betrayed,

Tessa leaves Tucker's Landing

and never looks back.

That is until their grandmother suffers a stroke.

Tessa decides to come home

after 9 years.

Obviously she's still

angry

and in love with Sam.

Ok, so here's the thing.

Allie slept with her sister's boyfriend!

She got pregnant and married her sister's boyfriend.

And yet,

we're suppose to feel sorry for this woman.

Are you kidding me????

She spends the entire book

complaining about her sister,

comparing herself to her sister,

whining about her sister.

And yet,

she slept with her sister's boyfriend!!!!

I am so glad this was

another one of those free

Kindle books!

Dark Needs at Night's Edge - Kresley Cole

I love being on vacation.

There's no homework to mark,

no lesson plans to write,

no studying to do...

I get to relax and

read.

Dark Needs at Night's Edge

is the fifth book

in Kresley Cole's 

Immortals After Dark series. 

Conrad Wroth 

is a vampire who's gone a little mad.

He has the bloodlust

and carries the memories of

each person he's killed.

He's filled with anger

towards his brother for turning him.

His brothers want to help him.

They capture him and hold him captive

in hopes to cure him.

Neomi Laress was a ballerina,

brutally murdered in her home

in the 1920s.

Her ghost wanders her home.

Conrad is the only one who can see her.

She is able to calm him,

get the voices in his head to quiet.

She brings him clarity.

But she's a ghost.

How can a ghost become his Bride?

But you know

they will get their HEA.

The Happiness Project - Week 4

I love my cats.

There's a fascination they hold.

Nine years in Tanzania,

and the only cat we ever saw

was lions.

Lots of them.

But only lions.

Then last year

we went to Mfuwe.

We lucked out and saw a leopard.

Life was good.

Then this weekend,

we went to Mukambi.

Our first drive was in the evening 

and guess what we spotted?

A cheetah!!!!

Sunday morning,

we headed out again.

We crossed the river,

got in our cars,

and a meer 2 minutes later,

came to this;

We decided to go for one more drive

this morning

before heading back.

Guess who we found again?

Happiness is Easter with 

leopards and cheetahs.

Be-lated Birthday Tradition

Six years ago,

on Scott's birthday,

I had ordered something for him online.

About a week before his birthday,

I realised the gift would not arrive in time.

It was Scott's first birthday

with Ethan.

He needed a present.

So I bought a kanga

and had a shirt made for him.

I then realised

there was enough material

left over to make

Ethan a shirt too.

And so a tradition was born.

Each year,

Ethan gives Scott a shirt,

and has one to match.

This year,

there was a lot going on.

I didn't get my act together. 

The shirts didn't make it on time.

But they did get here!

Happy birthday Scott.

Sorry it's late.

Romeo and Juliet - H.T. Night

I am not a fan

of Shakespear's 

Romeo and Juliet.

I mean really,

they are like 12!

Romeo goes to a party

because he's in love with Rosaline.

He then sees Juliet

and decides he loves her.

Within two days,

there are many dead people

including these two.

Romeo is a sweet talking

idiot.

And don't even get me started on Juliet.

But then I saw this.

Romeo and Juliet:

A Vampire and Werewolf Love Story.

You know I had to read this one.

Well... maybe it would have been better

had I not.

First off,

we're in the year 2099.

New York City is now called

Verona.

The Capulets are rich vampires.

The Montague's are werewolves.

The dialogue is forced,

rather fake.

There's the fight.

The deaths of Tybalt and Mercurtio.

There's even the whole

"Romeo, Romeo,

where are you Romeo?"

balcony scene.

It was the exact same story,

and I mean exact same,

just with werewolves and vampires.

So glad it was free.

Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

Last year,

I came across the book

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

and fell in love. 

You can read all about that

here. 

This year

Scarlet

was released.

I'm not sure what I expected,

but this wasn't it.

I loved the whole

Cinderella take.

I didn't find it cheesy.

I loved the way Cinderella 

was made into a cyborg.

It offered a new twist.

In Scarlet,

Cinder has been imprisonned

and manages to escape. 

She decides to go to France

and search for the woman

she beleives may hold the key

to her missing past.

Meanwhile,

we meet Scarlet.

Her grandmother has been kidnapped

and she's determined to find her.

She meets a streetfighter

named Wolf

who offers his help.

Scarlet, grandmother, wolf...

Did I mention she wears a red hoodie?

Yup,

this Cinderella tale

has turned into a fractured fairy tale.

And that started to bug me.

Scarlet ended with more secrets.

Cinder is determined to learn about her powers

with Wolf's help,

and beat Queen Levana.

What gets me,

is what comes next?

Hansel and Gretel?

Snow White?

Is Luna filled with fairy tale characters?

Fishing

Ethan really wanted to go

fishing this weekend.

He's never been,

but that doesn't mean he can't fish.

He spent a lot of time

explaining to his dad

how you hook the bait

and catch a fish.

Since he obviously

knew so much,

we decided to take him fishing.

May I also point out,

this was my first time

fishing as well.

Frazer was our guide,

and he was fantastic.

He helped out

whenever Scott was busy.

Scott made sure

Ethan knew what to do

and was properly set up.

Within minutes,
my little fisherman
caught a rather large
catfish.
Not only did he need
Scott's help,
but Frazer helped too.

In the end,
my little fisherman,
caught 3 large
catfish!

I also did pretty well.
Caught a catfish too.
Reeled it in all by myself as well!

Scott...
well....
he caught a couple of small fish.
He had to release them,
as they were small.
Ethan likes to point out
that he caught,
not only the most fish,
but also the biggest fish!