Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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.


























Tuesday, April 23, 2013

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.


















Tuesday, April 16, 2013

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.




















Thursday, April 11, 2013

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!




Tuesday, April 9, 2013

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.





















Sunday, April 7, 2013

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.


Friday, April 5, 2013

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

 photo H54Fbutton-triangle_zps678b65ba.jpg





Thursday, April 4, 2013

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!




Wednesday, April 3, 2013

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!


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

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.

















Monday, April 1, 2013

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!