Good Morning

Today!

20 Things I am greatful for ... (Living in Ireland)

Looking for a job at the moment is proving more difficult than I imagined, so I have decided to do a post on things that I am greatful for, to put some kind of perspective on the fact that I don't have a job.

1. I have a wonderful family
2. I have left my Sat Nav in the car overnight and 24/7 for the last 2 years and it has not been stolen, I have even left the car unlocked on several occasions over night.
3. I get to pick up Em from school every day.
4. I have wonderful friends
5. I have a house, car, family, friends, food and everything I need.
6. I am able to walk to loads of places without fearing for my life.
7. I was brought up in a home with 2 parents who never divorced (although sometimes I wondered why they ever got together in the first place).
8. I can use public transport.
9. I walk around with my handbag open and more often than not my purse is lying at the top (little bit careless I need to start being more careful).
10. The only reason we have a house alarm is so that our insurance cost is not so high.
11. When I let the house alarm go off accidentally, the police came round to check if I was okay even when I told them it was a false alarm.
12. I can withdraw money from the ATM without having to watch my back.
13. When Em is a bit older I can allow her to go into town on her own using public transport
14. I able to decide where I want to live
15. I have a warm bed and clothes
16. There is money in my purse and my bank account (not a lot but it's still there)
17. We are all healthy and don't have any disabilities
18. We can go on holidays
19. I can laugh at myself, especially now that I am Irish
20. I am greatful that I have things to be greatful for and that I can blog about them.

K.K.K.K.Kisssssssssssssssss

Are you old enough to remember the C.B. days as in Citizen Band radio, 10-4 Good Buddy, okay so I am giving away my age, I was in high school when the CB Radio was all the rage, my eldest sister who was working at the time, very kindly helped me to buy a CB Radio and get and aerial up, or wait that was some guy I met on the CB radio who came and put up an aerial for me because he developed this huge crush and wanted to talk to me 31, that's 24/7... and later stalked me for a while.

Yes, I think I was 15 or 16 when I first got the CB radio and all my girlfriends had one too, the first thing was finding a "Handle" (something you call yourself not your real name), I have no idea how it came about but I was given the handle "KISS", my other friend was "Golden Earring" and the one who named us called herself "Twinkle Toes".
The CB radio proved very interesting and we met some interesting characters through it as well, also a few boys I dated (hope hubby isn't reading this). We would arrange an "eyeball", which was a meeting to see if you liked the person, because more often than not you would be flirting with someone over the radio and when you met them in real life they would be aaaa yuck, the face for radio type person ... lol. One of my first boyfriends Michael I met over the CB, he lived in La Rochelle and was in the army at the time. Then there were the friends I met, Ivan and Andre both from the south - for the life of me I have no idea what their "handles" were, and Clifford was the guy who stalked me.

Once you bought your CB you had to go to the post office and get a license because if you were caught transmitting without a license of course there would be a heavy fine, and sometimes you were asked your license number over the airways, I still remember mine was ZRAM678 which would be called out as Zulu, Romeo, Alfa, Mike 678 - it was so cool learning all the new lingo.

Breaker, Breaker if you wanted to interrupt a conversation, then you would try and find a clear channel to talk to someone on, and if your aerial was strong enough late at night you could talk to people in different countries around the world. I think CB radio became very popular in South Africa after movies like "Smokey and the Bandit". It also died out very quickly, like most things did in South Africa at that time. Things would be a big hit and then suddenly they would be so un-cool and then it would be over and out!

Well the reason I started this post, is because hubby got tickets to go and see KISS and I said I would go with him, now our friend Lynn is coming over from the UK and going to see KISS with us ... which suddenly reminded me of my CB days. Hopefully the concert is good, because they are also getting along in now, but I will let you know how it goes.

Roger, Over and out, good buddy! Mwah!!!  (Who the hell is Roger?)

Glee FlashMob - Dublin, Ireland NPAS

Here is a street performance by the NPAS group where Em does her Speech and Drama:

Thought for the day

Don't let someone become a priority in your life when you are just an option in their life.

Relationships work best when they are balanced.

Don’t make a promise when you are in joy

Don’t reply when you are sad

Don’t take a decision when you are angry

Think twice, act wise

Don’t go the way life takes you.

Take life the way you go

And remember you are born to live

and not living because you are born.

Bollywood Comes to Dublin

Em wanted to take part in the "Art in Action" performance this year, which is held on the Bank Holiday week-end in June, her birthday week-end.  She has practice every Thursday after school until 4:30, and has come home with a CD that she needs to practice to the songs, here is the performance from the Movie that she will be dancing to, I must say I think it is really good.

Scottish Technology

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, Irish scientists

found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the
conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more
than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Irish, in the weeks that followed, an English
archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story
published in the Sassenach Morning Herald read:

"English archaeologists, finding traces of 130-year-old copper wire,
have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech
communications network 30 years earlier than the Irish".

One week later, the Banffshire Courier in Buckie, Scotland, reported
the following:

"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his field near Enzie,
Banffshire, Jock Broon, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he
found absolutely f@*k all. Jock has therefore concluded that 130 years
ago, Scotland had already gone wireless."

Shout out against crime in South Africa

We can only hope that this hits home, what a BRILLIANT re-mix and Video, makes you proud to be a South African!

Happy St. Patricks Day

It's not Junk, it's ART!

I had to capture this line my 6.9 year old daughter spun me last night.  I was busy getting the recycling together as today the bins get fetched, and I picked up a empty roller towel card board thingie that my daughter had wrapped in foil as she wanted to make a sword and show her teacher.  I let her have her amusement and then thought I would just toss it in the bin.  As I was going through the lounge with all the recycling, she saw it with my pile and said "Hey, mom you can't throw that away!"  and I said "It's Junk it's going in the bin" to which she replied:  "It's NOT junk, it's ART!!!!"  Well I guess that told me, I will have to start looking at junk in a different way now!

Greystones

After Emily's exam we headed off to Greystones where we took a walk, and then had lunch at the "Beach House Pub", here are some photos.

Happy Mothers Day

Mothering Sunday ...

It's mothers day in Ireland tomorrow and Emily just gave me the BEST card in the world ever!

Sicily

I have just been onto http://www.accuweather.com/ to check out the weather in Sicily for the next 15 days, and boy now I can't wait to go, it is mainly dry and partly sunny but the tempreture is up in the 18's and higher - An Irish Summer!  Roll on Easter.

Always Remember

Still Snow on the mountain 07032010

Honey you didn't believe me there was still snow on the mountain, check out Owens website:  http://owenhiggins.xanga.com/, here is one of the photos that Owen took.

Egoli

I happened to go onto SA Rocks and watch the Final episode of Egoli, frankly I was quite surprised that they would have it embedded on the internet and you wouldn't have to pay to watch it.  Oh my goodness it brought tears to my eyes, kowing that this was one soapie I would follow religiously when I was back home.

Random thoughts I've had today

1. 
   
   
   If your friends don't phone you ... phone them
2. 
   
   
   I really think that Italian lady what's her name ... Angie bolan, was the one who tried to kill Julie in Desperate housewives
3. 
   
   
   Gabie and Carlos should be taken out and shot ... (Desperate housewives again)
4. 
   
   
   I really do need to do something prodcutive instead of sitting by my computer
5. 
   
   
   Sleepover ... midweek ... mmm .... not such a good idea but let's wait and see what happens
6. 
   
   
   What are we going to do on Paddy's day ... maybe we should just go to the parade
7. 
   
   
   It's cold, my feet are cold ...
8. 
   
   
   I can't wait for Sicily
9. 
   
   
   Must call my sister some time
10. 
    
    
    Where is Gwen?
11. 
    
    
    Mafia Wars is becoming boring now ...
12. 
    
    
    Time to make dinner

Toxic Friendships

You know how often you look for a word to describe something and can never find it, well after reading my new favourite blog, Ches said his 2010 is "For me, this year has been about 5 very important positives and life changing experiences... 1. Finally ending some toxic friendships, and finding great new ones."

And that is so true about my "positive" year, I have been on this positive drive since the end of last year, you know new beginings and all that, it started when we got back from our round the world trip, I decided that I need to rid my life of things that bring me down and some of those were "Toxic" friendships, wow it feels so good to use that word!  And I did, that is end some toxic friendships, I am now so much happier with my life and myself.  Woman can be evil and now I know that woman can be TOXIC too!!!  Bored woman I have found are dangerous woman too, so never let your mind be bored.
 
I have also found some great new ones, this is my year!

Bloggers

Just stumbled onto yet another awesome blog, I wonder why I can't write like other people is it because my blogging is just too personal and too close to my heart? ParkLife Blog is about an ex Game Ranger who has moved to the city and his experiences living in Jo'burg and is so funny that I just want to keep reading, his experience of the Jo'burg police pulling over a taxi driver this morning and locking him up is well worth a read.

And another blog I love reading is a Canadian girl who is living in Dublin and studying at Trinity college, she writes about her life in Dublin, I just want to read more and check each day if there is update, again I wish I could write like this.

Today I was actually contemplating writing my own book, but I honestly don't know who would read it, I can hardly get anyone to read my blog, so who would read my book? I think these thoughts came from me getting an email from a publishing company in South Africa, a retired Brigadere General from the South African Air Force is writing a book about all his rescue missions, and of course one of them was the Oceanos.  Well they asked me to write a short description on the book for the cover, not sure if it will get onto the cover but there is nothing like hoping.

Paula Banks

I am always fascinated by the beauty of Nature, and when people can capture beauty in a photograph it amazes me, I love Nature and would love to be able to take photographs like Owen Higgens and Paula Banks.  I happened to come across Paula Banks website which you can look at under my "Blog List", here are some of her photographs:

© Paula Banks. Photo used with permission