Christmas Cringe

We really need some fresh and updated Christmas Classics. Don’t you find that its always the same old boring toonz that adorn the festive radio waves at this time of year?  I’m getting a wee bit weary of them.  It actually makes me cringe.


• George Michael and his Last Christmas is just so old and dreary - just like most of the 80s.

• Squealing Mariah’s All I Want for Christmas Is You was simply a boob - just like her augmented chest.

• I’m dreaming of a Whiiiiite Creeesstmaaaas. Bing Crosby is dead peeps! What kinda name is Bing anyway?

• Do They Know Its Christmas?. Bob Geldof is a bit of a nutter at the best of times - who in their right mind, names their daughter “Peaches”? This song is been murdered repeatedly at Christmas. I really do care about feeding the world, but someone should put the Band Aid over Bob’s oral cavity for good.

This year we should be rockin’ it out at Carols by Candlelight with Achmed the Dead Terrorist’s "Jingle Bombs" or  "Hey Santa Claus" Kevin Bloody Wilson - you know, stuff that makes us cheery and jolly, not stuff that has a mind-numbing affect and puts us into a light coma.

May the songwriters of the world unite and give us the gift of new-fangled funky toonz this festive season.

Year End Function at Work - Survivor

Do you have what it takes to be the ultimate Survivor?

Out-wit, Out-play, Out-party


We finally got our invitations to our Year End Function!  And what a hype it caused at the office. We got a little bottle of sea sand on our desks filled with plastic bugs and a ice-cream stick (dunno what thats for).  We got a cryptic email leading us to a website link where you had to complete a puzzle before it opened the invitation. 

Sounds like its going to be an active and fun-filled day in Hartebeespoort on the 27th of November.

"Bring your wit, leave your integrity. 

Lies, allegiance, alliances and for the most part FUN lead to your ultimate goal...immunity!

The HOMEMAKERS tribe has spoken!"

(Yes, that is a fly on the top of the bottle)

Simply Slim Weight Loss Update with pic

Tomorrow will be 5 weeks on Simply Slim (with a weekend or two off and some cheating on my camping weekend away)

I have lost 5.5kg in total now.  I am thrilled to bits!  I never measured my centimeters lost but some of my clothes are very loose on me.  I can finally fit into my Size 10 pants.

I'm sleeping better than ever and my energy levels are high thoroughout the day and only sometimes I get a slight headache if I don't drink enough fluids.  So it helps with the intake of gallons of water.

I have been watching what I eat over the last 5 weeks but if I feel like a chocolate, I have it.  I just have a lot less that what I normally would have.  Most of you know how much of a chocoholic I am. 

I nibble snacks throughout the day to keep my metabolism and sugar levels up and have my main meal at night at about 6pm.  I don't make special meals or weigh my food, I just dish up a lot less and I listen to my body.  When I feel full, I stop and I am able to manage about half the portion that I used to have.

Will be taking a week's break next week and then will continue in December over the holidays.  I would hate to pick up all the weigh that I've lost.

About another 4 or 5kg and I will start maintaining.

South Africanisms

The things only South African’s say…

Babbelas (pronounced bub-buh-luss)

This refers to a morning-after hangover.

Bakkie (pronounced bucky)

This commonly used word refers to a small pick-up truck.

Biltong (pronounced bill-tong)

This South African favourite is dried and salted meat, similar to beef jerky, although it can be made from ostrich, kudu, beef or any other red meat. It is synonymous with rugby, another South African favourite.

Braai (pronounced br-eye)

This is the popular South African version of a barbecue where meats such as steak, chicken and boerewors (boo-ruh-vorss) are cooked. Boerewors is a traditional spicy South African sausage made of beef or lamb and is also referred to as wors (vorss). Chances are that you will also be introduced to pap en sous (pup en sohss) at a braai. Pap is boiled corn meal, and sous is the sauce it is covered with, usually featuring tomato and onions.

Cooldrink or Colddrink
This is the common term for a soda. Ask for a soda in South Africa and you will receive a club soda. 

Coca-Cola is a colddrink or cooldrink, as is Pepsi.

Howzit

A traditional South African greeting that translates roughly as "How are you?" or "How are things?"

Izit?

This is another great word to use in conversations. Derived from the two words "is" and "it", it can be used when you have nothing to contribute if someone tells you something at a braai. An expression frequently used in conversation and equivalent to "is that so?" (Really?!)

"Just now"

If a South African tells you they will do something "just now", they mean they will do it in the near future but not immediately. For example, the appropriate reply to "Why don't we go shopping now?" if you wish to go a little later is: "No, let's rather go just now."

Koki (pronounced koh-key)

A coloured marker or felt-tip pen.

Lekker (pronounced lekk-irr with a rolling r)

Afrikaans word meaning nice or cool. "That was a lekker party".  It is also often used in association with food, as in: "That wors is lekker.". 

Robot

South Africans tend to refer to traffic lights as robots. 

An example of usage would be when giving directions: "Turn left at the second robot."

Sarmie

Colloquial term for a sandwich. 

If you are going on a picnic and your hosts tell you they have packed sarmies, you will at least know they have remembered to pack something to eat.

Skinner

Gossip, as in: "Have you heard the latest skinner?" Someone who talks behind someone's back is known as a skinnerbek.

Slap chips (pronounced slup chips)

French fries, usually the large, soft and oily type of chips. Also vinegar-drenched and bought in a brown paper bag. 

"Slap" is an Afrikaans word meaning "limp", which is how French fries are generally made here. If that's not how you like them, be sure to order them "crispy".

Tackies

Running shoes or sneakers. 

Sometimes used in conjunction with the word fat, as in "fat tackies", it describes extra wide tyres. Example: "Look at the fat tackies on that motorbike!"

Now-now

This is not intended to comfort but means shortly, as in: "I will be there now now."

Ag Shame! (pronounced like the "ach" in the German "achtung")

This one is used a lot! 

Can be used in various contexts as in "that's adorable!" or "that's horrible!" can be confusing but it’s always a reaction to something.

Eina! (pronounced “ay-nah”)

Widely used by all language groups, this word, derived from the Afrikaans, means "ouch." 

You can say it in sympathy when you see your friend the day after he got donnered by his wife.

Eish Wena! 
Its lekka to live in Sauf Efrika!

F is for ...

Family

And Sundays are for Family.

We had a family braai (aka barbeque) at my Mom and Dad (in laws) place,  my Brother- and Sister-in-law, their two boys; Werner and Morne and Tannie Anna and Oom Fred were there.  It was a lovely sunny day around the pool chatting and hanging out with each other and eating my Mother-in-Law's delicious spread of food.  Plenty of laughs and over-eating.

Megan and her cousins Werner and Morne

Jump!

Brothers: Morne and Werner

KK not venturing much further than the step

Megan

Megan doing her "Gary The Tooth Fairy" impersonation (aka walking on water)