My joy jar

I love this creation of mine, it has really brought me so much joy.

My encounter with gratitude started a long time ago, I suppose the earliest memories would be of saying prayers and listing all the things I was grateful for.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 

One of the most notable entries was on the day after my husband was killed - I wrote I am grateful that he will never see me with wrinkles - that’s all I could summon up on that most dreadful of days. During the first few months I also wrote on one gloomy day, I am grateful that I can lift my pen to write in this journal.

At some stage I decided to buy a big glass jar and put small scraps (of old cutoffs from scrapbooking projects) of paper with things that made me happy written on then. I also got a jar for my friend Linda. I loved seeing the notes piling up forming little piles of colour and then toppling over and spreading out as I added more. As always, I was competitive with myself and wrote more and more each day. 

I wrote about big important things that happened and tiny almost insignificant things that made my stomach get that joyful feeling. Nothing was too small and the more I wrote the more I noticed. The more I noticed the happier I felt. Sure bad things also happened but they were far outnumbered by the little joyful moments.

I love reading about the things that gave me joy at the end of each year or on any day that I especially need to feel gratitude.  So many of you have featured in my joy jar. I hope you know who you are and how grateful I am to have you in my life.

Nanna's dinner menu

When I got home from work one night this week, I saw this on the dining room table.
My mom has such lovely ideas and really tries hard to show that she is adding value to our family. She really doesn't have to do anything but it makes her feel valued to cook dinner. We really appreciate it so much and we love these interesting touches she comes up with every now and again.

A great helpful app

I eventually bought a new wallet as my one was a bit tatty. This created a new problem, all of my store loyalty cards didn't fit into the new wallet. Devin's girlfriend Kayleigh kept telling me about the app she uses called Stocard. I tried it and am super impressed.

Once you have downloaded it from your app store/playstore, it takes seconds to add a card. Press the + sign to add a new card, select one of the available card types and then simply scan the barcode of the card you want it to keep.

If the card does not have a barcode, my Makro card didn't, there is an option to add the card number manually.

I have added 8 cards that I use often and tested the MySchool card at woolies yesterday, it worked perfectly and I'm very happy with my lighter load in my wallet. I haven't tested any manually added cards yet.

The app looks like this. Thanks Kayleigh!

Surprise Supperclub weekend away 2019

Supperclub weekend away 2019

What a feat you pulled off Brenda, surprising us with flights to Durban and a stay at Geraldine's awesome place in Durban North. I was very happy that I got to Uber to North Beach Parkrun with Carol. The highlight of my weekend though, was sleeping outside on the massive patio and waking up to see the sea. We had an incredible, delicious weekend and were treated like royalty. I enjoyed putting on the extra 2 kilograms that I took home with me. The resident buck Sophia was so unbelievable.

Our flight home was very interesting, we were re-routed back to Durban just before descent due to the storms. That has never happened to me before. We waited in Durban and took off again over an hour later. Brenda played 'leaving on a jet plane' on her phone and got us all singing. She's a hoot. I enjoyed chatting to all the girls in such a perfect setting. I didn't even know there were things like vegetarian piranhas, fascinating creatures. A memorable weekend indeed.

LP records

I am busy with a clean out in my life, trying to simplify my world. I found a whole lot of records that belonged to me, Richard or my dad. It was such a fun, nostalgic trip, skipping down memory lane. Remembering the classical music my dad loved and played depending on his mood, everything from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture with the cannons and bells to Ravel’s Bolero. I still have all the albums. Lovely childhood memories.

Also the records of my youth, the most memorable being the replacement of the original Rodriquez Cold Fact. The original got damaged by my first boyfriend Neil who managed to knock over a red candle and the record ended up with red wax all over it. I have two that are still sealed, Noddy has an adventure and Creedence Clearwater Revival greatest hits, double album. Then, there are the records that Richard owned when I met him and the ones that we bought together. So many of these bring back wonderful memories. 

I even know the exact day that one of them was bought; Saturday the 3rd October 1981; Climax blues band Flying the flag that we bought at Stereo Haven in Kempton City. I found a diary entry of mine that mentions it! And Scott Dawson and John Cross are part of the day too. Life is so interesting. 

Sisters

I love this picture of Tarryn and Kiara. It was taken on one of Tarryn’s visits back home, which are few and far between, but we are awfully grateful that she gets here at all. Kiara was still in uni and Tarryn took a drive to Pretoria to visit her dorm room. She left this message on Kiara’s board on her door. Pouty was Tarryn’s nickname for old Kiara who swayed between being Pouty and Lucy (short for Lucifer) in those days. She has changed so much since then that we don’t have much to tease her about and her name is simply Kiara.

Online dating profiles

That was a fun exercise. A friend got some info about a mutual contact, who apparently, has a profile on a dating site. My friend wanted this confirmed so I, being the female, agreed to create a profile and skulk around the site to see if we could establish some evidence. I was ready to stalk the men of Gauteng. The last time I did this, I found 2 work colleagues and a family member so I deleted myself and never ventured back. I logged on yesterday and these are my findings:-

I really think guys out there need some help. You are clearly, mostly-clueless about photos and they are your means of attracting a person, and getting them to want to find out more about you. A photo taken from under your chin and up your nostrils is not the smartest pose.  Please look at the camera, a sideways glance into the future makes me wonder what the other side of your face looks like.

A photo with you and your wife confuses me, especially your wedding photo! You and any lady, arm in arm, is going to raise questions that you probably won't get the opportunity to answer.

When you and two buddies are in the same picture, do I guess which one is you, or do I get all 3 of you?

Photos of you displaying the fish you caught are not appropriate, nor are photos of kids, what is that? You are marketing yourself, and then I must want to meet you based on a photo of,(hopefully), your own kids or grandkids. Photos with you and kids are just weird on a dating site.

If you are taking a selfie, don't do it in the mirror so I can see you holding the phone, that and not being able to perform a simple photo crop, drops your IQ by 20 in my books.  Clear black and white photos stand out nicely from the blurry, nostril pose that seems to be favored by red-faced sweaty blokes with nauseating nicknames.

I never did get to find the person we were stalking, but we had some good laughs and have hopefully helped someone to find a partner using a better profile photo. I intend to create a profile for a single friend of mine so we can see if the females are any better at the photo thing.

I'll update you soon.

Until next time,

Have fun.

Tasha