New Year, New Me!

With New Years resolutions flying around like wildfire, I thought that I would take this opportunity to let you know my resolutions for the year ahead.

Over the years I have had the tendency to make and break resolutions without a bat of the eyelid, but I am hoping that this year will be better, and there is one very simple reason for that. I am not going to be specific. I am not going to say that I am going to lose 10kg, or even 5kg, because as soon as I put on a gram I will decide that the resolution has been broken anyway, so might as well go nuts! And so, instead of giving myself specific goals to focus on, I am going to focus my attention on areas in my life that could do with improvement. Which areas would those be in particular?

Family
Health
Photography
Writing

During 2012, I found myself feeling very disconnected from my FAMILY. I have found that it is all too easy to become out of touch with even those who mean the most to you when you are half a country away. Grahamstown in particular is so out of the way that it is not as easy as just hopping on a plane to be with those that you love. This meant that 2012 was a year of huge regrets when it comes to my family. I missed the birth of beautiful Zach, and have yet to meet him. I missed seeing my American cousins when they were visiting and my American aunt on both occasions that she came down. I missed birthdays and anniversaries, happiness and sadness. But my biggest regret of 2012 is that I didn't get to say goodbye to my Biba, my grandfather, who has always meant so much to me. The loss of my mother's parents hit hard while I was in Korea, but the loss of Biba hit harder because I was so close, but still couldn't be with my family when it meant the most. 2013 is going to be different. I am determined to spend more time with my family over the coming year, starting with a trip up to Cape Town as soon as I can manage it (potentially March).

Weight has always been a problem for me. I bounce up and down like you wouldn't believe. I lose weight in a heartbeat and put it back on just as quickly. When I was in Korea, I lost 10kg in the period of just over a month. Upon my return, I put it back on almost as quickly. I don't want my new years resolution to revolve around weight loss or gain. Instead, I want to focus on HEALTH during 2013. In my mind, being healthy is far more important than being thin, and while I don't think that the two go hand-in-hand (being healthy for me has never meant being skinny), I do hope that improving my health will improve my weight. And physical health is not all that I am aiming for here either. I am also hoping to get over the fears that inhibit my mental health - my phobias of spiders and needles - so that I can leave a fuller, more generally healthy life and lifestyle without fear. My phobia of needles significantly affects my health in particular, as I need to go for regular blood tests and the fear is preventing me from keeping my health in check.

2012 was a great year for my PHOTOGRAPHY. I started getting regular clients and I set myself up with a studio. I realised that each month, I was getting at least one paid gig, and I even got a booking for October 2013 a year in advance. My main aim for 2013 is to keep it up and get it better and busier! More clients! I want to be able to get a steady income from my photography, and I want gear gear gear. One of the aims is going to be a 52 week project (one a day for a 365 project ended up being a bit too much for me to handle after all, so hopefully one a week will be manageable) and another will be to start putting away some money each month  to put towards new gear.

In 2011, I completed the mammoth task of finishing NaNoWriMo! It was a great feeling typing the last of the 50 000 words and knowing that I had accomplished what I had set out to do in one short month. 2012 was not a year for WRITING. I slacked on my blogs, and writing took a sidestep to make space for photography and work. This is going to be the year for writing once again. I have an idea for a story, and I really want to make it work. I do, in fact, have about 10 uncompleted ideas lined up and ready for me to work on, but I am both a procrastinator and easily distracted, which does not make for successful writing. I need to focus my time on these projects to make sure that they get done and get that sense of accomplishment back.

So bring on 2013, the year of FOCUS!!

Deck the Halls!

I love this time of the year, and I know that is a little weird what with me being Jewish and all, but it is true. Christmas always brings back the best memories – decorating the Christmas tree with Granny Ellen, baking (and eating) mince pies and Christmas pudding, Christmas lunches with Uncle Ashley and my mom’s side of the family and, on the few occasions that I haven’t been home, spending Christmas with friends.

This year, Grant and I are staying in Grahamstown, which means that we aren’t going to be with our families. Our friends are spreading out around the country to celebrate with their own families, some going to Zimbabwe or Cape Town and others just visiting nearby Boknes. Even Jono (our housemate) is travelling to Limpopo to be with his family, leaving Grant and I on our own! This will be a first for me. But we weren’t going to let that get us down! All that it really meant is that we had to celebrate Christmas earlier than usual this year, while our friends and family are around!

This last week has been the week of Christmas for us. The festivities started on Wednesday with a Christmas/Birthday dinner at Mike and Vicky’s. Vicky has always seen her birthday as the start of the Christmas season, since it was only after her birthday that her family started putting up the trees and decorations and started getting ready for Christmas proper. So what better time to celebrate the festive season than with a Birthday dinner including all of the Christmas favourites? Well, some of the favourites and some of their own modern twists! Dinner kicked off with homemade sushi which was followed by a turkey-sized chicken, gammon, roasted sweet potatoes and veg. Once we were all filled to the brim, it was Secret Santa time and we unwrapped gifts galore before finishing off the night with some mince pies and custard. Yum!

With Friday being a public holiday, Thursday became the Friday of the week and we were all in great moods by the end of the day. Grant was in a particularly good mood as his dad and stepmom were arriving on Thursday evening. A little shuffling was in order as Jono’s sister was also staying with us at the time, but with a ton of space in the new house it was no problem getting everything in order! Natalie moved into what will soon be Grant’s bar and Grant’s dad moved into our Study with Sharon. Everything was back in order and our long weekend began with a trip to the driving range where Rob, Grant, Jono, Natalie and I swung away at golf balls. It has been way too long since I last did this and I was completely out of practice – picture balls bouncing in every direction but at the course – but by the end of it I was back in the swing of things and balls were flying into the distance (though not nearly as far as Rob’s, Grant’s and Jono’s. Clearly I need more practice.) Having had a late breakfast of scrambled eggs, no one was particularly hungry at lunch time, but we made up for it by having a homemade lasagne dinner which was delicious as always.

Saturday dawned nice and early as Sharon and I had to drive Jono and Natalie to PE airport stopping for some coffee, some shopping and a Nanaga break on our way. When we arrived back, I was surprised by a small LED Christmas tree together with decorations that Grant and his dad had bought just for me! I spent a good portion of the afternoon decorating it and presents were then brought out of the woodwork and put beneath it. Saturday has become Grant’s favourite day for a braai (we have had one every week since we arrived at the new house and even had two on the weekend that we arrived thanks to a power outage) and this one was no exception. Mike and Vicky came over and an abundance of meat ensued – chicken sosaties, kudu steaks and wors – with the potato and table salads becoming the fillers. But Saturday was nothing compared to what was to come on Sunday!

With Grant’s family down for the weekend, we decided to take the opportunity to have our own Christmas celebrations by having a Christmas lunch. Or what was supposed to be a Christmas lunch and ended up being a Christmas linner (lupper? lunner? sunch? dinch?) The day started nice and early with everyone waking up at 8 and starting on the dishes from the braai so that we could have something to cook with. With dishes ready, Grant started preparing the turkey. And my God was it a big one. So big that we weren’t sure that it was going to fit into our teeny tiny oven. Which it thankfully did. The gammon that we bought was also pre-cooked, which meant that we didn’t have to worry about that having to go into the oven. What we did have to worry about were the potatoes, stuffing and veg, all of which did require oven and stove-top cooking in an oven that could barely fit the turkey on its own and a stove that could only have two plates on while the oven was going. Not fun. Preparations were also halted when Grant sent his dad out to get toothpicks that were essential for the turkey cooking and his dad ended up getting distracted and chatting in the street for an hour while we waited for the toothpicks to arrive. 

Nonetheless, dinner was ready by 4 and it was certainly a great one! Our linner of turkey, gammon, stuffing, roast potatoes, carrots and cauliflower was followed by pressie opening which in turn was followed, a good while later, by dessert of mince pies, Christmas pudding and fruit cake with custard and ice cream. Of course, the ice cream was all that anyone wanted to eat since Sunday ended up being an absolute scorcher of a day, and by the time it was all over I was ready to collapse into a food coma. It is now almost 24 hours later and I am still full!

And so, our Christmas celebrations have come to an end. Grant and I are still looking forward to celebrating actual Christmas together, but the big gespiel has been completed and we are looking forward to a relaxing Christmas day rather than a rushed frenzy of food.

Here’s hoping that everyone else’s Christmas is as merry as our early one and looking forward to speaking to and seeing you all in the new year!