Me, Myself & I – Page 4 – A Bit of This A Bit of That

August 3, 2016August 3, 2016

#ZombiePrompts – My 5 favourite blogs

So a few days ago, Sam from Tech Girl mentioned on Facebook that she enjoys catching up on my blog, even though we don’t have that much in common.

It got me thinking and I remembered this prompt from #Zombieprompts. I have roughly 50 or so blogs in my feed reader at the moment. They run the gamut from mommy blogs to photography blogs to entertainment and lifestyle blogs. narrowing them down to 5 is going to be a tough one.

Harassed Mom

I met Laura-Kim online ages (and ages and ages) ago, and have been an avid reader of hers for all that time. Laura has a large family (4 kids!) and I love reading about how she manages her kids, home, work and passion for the blogging community. I especially look out for her awesome tried and tested recipes. When Laura isn’t blogging at her personal blog, she is over at South African Mom Blogs.

6000.co.za

His tongue is as sharp as a scalpel and he never fails to make me snort laugh. Mr. 6K is from the UK, living in Cape Town, has family (including a beagle) and in his own words ‘does science for a living’. Underneath his biting and often dark humour are harsh truths and eye opening facts. I always feel like I should grab a bowl of popcorn when one of his posts turns up in my reader. Oh, he also takes some awesome photos.

Tech Girl

I have to include Tech Girl on this list, not because Sam mentioned me but because her blog is a regular go to for me. Tech is one of the things we do have in common and I really enjoy how Sam and her team break down the latest trends, games and general tech stuff into simple, easy to understand posts. They post about everything from Pokemon to curling irons, to the ins and outs of blogging. They also review a HUGE variety of products, apps, games and gadgets. I particularly love the small glimpses we get into Sam’s personal space, furnishing her home and cooking up a storm(trooper) are my two favourite examples.

jewgal

Adina has a way with words that is spellbinding. She doesnt post often but when she does I make sure to have some uninterrupted time so that I can properly concentrate on her posts. Adina writes about her her religion and faith and how she stands up for what she believes in, never wavering from her path. She writes about her family and their adventures. In every post no matter the subject, she manages to weave her soul into the story and often leaves me with tear in my eyes.

Bloggsy Malone

I’ve never met Dave IRL, but one day when I do meet him, the first thing I’m going to do is give him a great big hug! You see, Dave is one of the most inspiring people I have come across. He is a recovering addict, who writes honestly and openly about his experiences. His frankness and willingness to share his journey is a treasure. Dave is a wonderful writer with a fantastic sense of humour,he also takes awesome photos of CT. Oh, he also loves cheese. No really, he LOVES cheese!

So those are the 5 blogs that really stick out for me at the moment. What are some of your favourites?

July 27, 2016

Smile

Many years ago, when I first started working, I was given this little nugget of advice, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Even when you are speaking on the phone, smile. Your smile will be conveyed through the phone and the person speaking to you will hear it and respond in kind.

I’ve noticed, the happier the people around me are, the happier I am.

What really drove (haha) this point home, is my regular morning bus driver.

Every single morning when I get on the bus, he greets each and every passenger with a boker tov (good morning) and nisiyah tov (good travels). On a Sunday morning he adds the greeting sh’vua tov (good week). On a Thursday he wishes everyone a Shabbat shalom before they get off the bus. At the beginning of the month he will add chodesh tov (good month) too. He is always smiling, laughing, having a conversation with the passengers seated near him. He never gets upset at the traffic/other drivers and he plays an awesomely eclectic collection of music.

I tend to start my day with a smile on my face and a spring in my step and it is directly attributed to the awesomeness that is my morning bus ride.

On the odd occasion I take an earlier bus, the driver is usually quiet, mostly polite and will only greet me if I greet him first. My mood for the morning is definitely not as bouncy as usual.

So, when those mornings happen, I try to be the one with the smile, the happy greetings, the effervescent bounce and hopefully my mood will rub off on everyone around me.

'Cause this kid has the best smile ever! — ‘Cause this kid has the best smile ever!

I guess what I’m trying to say is, smile dammit!

July 21, 2016

#ZombiePrompts – Whats in my handbag?

I’ve done this before, take a look here and here.

I currently have the following items in my bag:

Wallet (the Knomo wristlet purse from the first handbag post above, a little worse for wear but still going strong).
- My ID
- My bus/train card
- Various store club cards
- Bank Card
- Medical Aid cards for me and the kids
₪1 in coins (now in my wallet).
House keys.
Cell charger and adapter.
Headache and tummy ache pills, just in case.
A broken plastic ring that I told Faith I would try fix.
3 random pieces of paper.
A card with 4 hairbands on it (I tend to lose or break them at an insane pace and I cannot have my hair loose).
Sunglasses (when they are not on my face).
Deodorant because its hot as hell and I don’t want to stink.
A bottle of water because its hot as hell and I don’t want to dehydrate.

Not so much stuff and I’m pretty proud of myself for not having too much junk in there either.

July 19, 2016July 19, 2016

I downloaded, deleted and re-downloaded Pokemon Go.

Firstly, I totally missed out on the original Pokemon craze. I just never saw it/got into it and had no idea what it was about or why it was so popular.

When Pokemon Go was released there was a lot of hype, naturally, and it looked interesting and easy. Also, I walk a lot since I don’t have a car and it seemed like something I could easily incorporate into my day.

So, I downloaded the app and it was awesome. It was fun and easy and totally addictive. I had to stop myself from going for a walk at all hours of the night.

But after a few days I deleted the app. Why?

It chowed my battery. I already have to recharge at least once a day, I was now recharging at least twice. And yes, I did all the battery saving tips I could find, it is still a huge battery drain.
I kept having to log in if the app wasn’t in use for a period of time, which was annoying (apparently this issue has been resolved in an update to the app).
The servers were overloaded and a lot of the time I couldn’t access the app anyway.
I work 9 hours a day. I travel for almost 1.5 hours a day. I actually enjoy being home to bath and feed kids and spend time with my husband. Besides my walks to and from the bus stops, I don’t actually have much time to go out and play the game.
It was taking up too much head space (you know, that addictive, have to play all the time, head space).

So I deleted the app.

And I was ok with that. Until the weekend.

Then I was out and about and I saw lots of people playing and I actually had the time to play but my app was gone and I was sad (ok, not THAT sad since I didnt download it again).

But now Im thinking, what if I make this a weekend game? Only play on weekends when Im not busy with family? Do I have the self control and willpower NOT to play during the week?

So I re-downloaded the app and I’ll see what happens.

July 5, 2016July 5, 2016

That time the kids locked themselves out and the bus never came…

Ja, yesterday was fun. Not.

Got a phone call to say that the both the babysitter and Aaron had forgotten their keys so they were locked outside the apartment. I had about half an hour left of work before catching a 30 minute bus home. So I left a bit early hoping to catch the earlier bus. In the meantime it was super hot yesterday so they couldn’t really play in the park until I got home, so they camped out in the hallway/stairwell of our building where at least it was a bit cooler than outside.

Now, I hoofed it to the bus stop with 5 minutes to spare before the bus was due. Except it never came. Turns out the bus before that also never arrived. I know this because at least 3 other people had been waiting for it and now 2 buses never pitched up. So we waited, hoping the next bus would arrived.

Anyone want to guess what happened?

After 3 buses failing to arrive, we decided to call a taxi. 4 of us, all going to the same place, makes sense, no?

Pomegranates cause my husband takes awesome pictures.

Except the 1st taxi didn’t want to drive all the way to Modiin. And then there were no other taxis.

Eventually a taxi came past and stopped. So 4 strangers took a taxi home together. I got home at 17:55 (instead of the projected 17:30). It worked out well in the end. Driving via taxi is faster than the bus, only took 15 minutes. And because there were 4 of us it wasn’t that expensive, only ₪20 each. Still, it was an extra expense since I have a monthly bus pass and I shouldn’t have had to pay anything to get home.

This seems to happen every time there is a holiday, either school holidays or Pesach/Channukah holidays, my bus in particular decides we don’t need to go home.

I’m really hoping I manage to get home tonight!

July 4, 2016July 4, 2016

#Zombieprompts – If I won the lottery…

Oh boy. I can spend hours and hours fantasizing about what I would do. Mostly I think I would be practical though.

First off, I would buy/build a house. I would make sure it was perfect. Specifically the kitchen. I have a kitchen fetish and a huge board on Pinterest with many, many clever ideas I would like to include.

Then I would put away money into a trust for the children. A nest egg for them. For their education, weddings, first home, travel, whatever they need/want.

I would pay off all our debts.

Then, I would take a holiday. We would go somewhere fun, lots of site seeing, lots of food, lots of relaxation.

And then I would put what was left into an investment for our retirement and I would go back to work and living my life.

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016

#Zombieprompts Week 19

Keep a gratitude journal for a week and share the entries.

Oh man, not only am a waaaaaaaaaaaaay behind on these posts but I need to keep a journal for a whole week? Nope not going to happen.

I will tell you what I am grateful for right now.

Summer
2 beautiful healthy children
A surprise visit from my mom last week
A good job
Being able to order sushi for lunch at work
Awesome public transport
My new bra ((boooooobs))
My husband who made dinner last night
The beautiful city I live in

June 5, 2016

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Graduation

Last Thursday my baby brother graduated with a B.A. in Government. I cant even begin to describe how proud I am of this kid. He not only studied for the last 3 years but he worked full time too. He did all this with the support of his wife and son, who also deserve huge credit! Proud doesn’t even begin to describe it!

My mommy made a surprise visit so she could attend the graduation and I am so glad she was there. Such a special moment to stand together with my brother in his cap and gown.

Now, all these wonderful photos almost didn’t happen. At least, I almost wasn’t in them.

You see I had to get from my office in Lod, to Hertzliya, by 17:15 so my brother could fetch me from the station on his way to the graduation. A friend in the office and I mapped out my route on Moovit and off I went at about 15:00 to catch the bus to the train station.

I got to the station a few minutes earlier than expected and I saw a different train than I had planned was about to come in. So I took it. Without actually checking properly that the train stopped in Hertzliya.

You see, this particular train went via Hertzliya, it just didn’t STOP in Hertzliya. Which I only realised as we breezed through the station. The announcement for the next stop on the route came over the loud speakers. Haifa. An hour away.

Whats a girl going to do? Settle in and read a book, that’s what. (Thank goodness the train had power points so I could charge my reading device aka my phone).

Anyway, after taking some pics of the gorgeous Mediterranean, I got off the train in Haifa and hopped on the next train back to Tel Aviv. Thankfully I didnt have to wait too long. After another hour traveling back, I got off at University station in Tel Aviv and hopped on ANOTHER train to Hertzliya. Again, I didn’t have to wait too long and the train from Tel Aviv to Hertzliya is about 7 minutes.

I got to Hertzliya and after having some difficulty with the scanner reading my ticket, a very nice train employee let me out the station just in time to catch a bus to the IDC campus.

What should have taken me an hour took me just over 3 hours. You would think that since I was so late I would have missed a large chunk of the graduation ceremony. You would think wrong. I only missed one musical number by the local Wind Orchestra and the opening 10 minutes of the Deans speech.

Just so you can see exactly how far off course I went, I've circled the places on the map where I started, should have gone and actually went... — Just so you can see exactly how far off course I went, I’ve circled the places on the map where I started, should have gone and actually went…

So not only did I get to see my brother walk and collect his degree but I also got to go on an adventure. Good times.

June 1, 2016

It’s a booby trap!

This article, about bralettes, came up on my FB timeline a while ago and it got me thinking.

I haven’t worn a proper, structured bra since I stopped breastfeeding Faith just over 5 years go.

You see, I went from a milk induced, full C to a barely there A cup. The lovely lady at Woolies who did a fitting for me, rather rudely exclaimed ‘Eish!’ after taking the measurements. She may even have mentioned trying the training bras from the kids section.

Around this time I discovered bandeau bras at Pick n Pay. They were cheap, light weight, comfortable, came in regular or racer back straps and also, most importantly, came in a small.

Now as we all know, change is the only constant. I’ve gone up a jeans size in the last 18 month and somewhere along the line my boobs seem to have grown too. This is not a bad thing except gravity (and age) are working against me and I felt it was time to look at giving the girls a little more support.

I asked on a FB group and the ladies recommended a store in the local mall and I popped in there last Friday.

I told the young girl at the counter that I needed to be measured. She tipped her head to the side, then the other side and proclaimed that I was a 75C (European size which is a 34B SA size). I asked if she was sure and she very casually reached over the counter, squeezed my ribs, then my boob and said ‘Yes, I’m sure’.

Okay then.

Credit where its due, she was right. I tried on 2 bras in a 75C and walked out with both.

Now, lets go back to those bandeau bras. They were soft and comfy. Sure, they didn’t give me any support or shape and they were not the prettiest bras out there but comfy. Did I mention comfy?

The new bras are very, very pretty. Lacy and blingy and pretty. And they give me a great shape. I look like a growed up and I actually fill out my tops now. But… OUCH! The band and straps are tighter than I’m used to and the under wire is poky. And yes, I checked, they fit the way they are supposed to.

I suppose there are pros and cons (and plenty debates) to each type of bra and the bottom line is what I want to get out of the boob coverage I choose each day. So far, week days are for pretty, perky boobs and weekends its a toss up between bandeau bras and just setting the girls free.

Ladies (and gents), what are your thoughts?

May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

Meh

Just meh.

I feel like I should be writing stuff, interesting stuff, things you guys will find funny and relevant and interesting.

But I just feel meh.

I don’t even feel like doing the #Zombieprompts.

Meh!