taken from The Muslim Woman mag. Volume 8, edition 1
I found this article really touching....
True Value of a Wife by Shaykh Abdullah Adhami
The Holy Prophet (SAW) said:
"the believers who show the most perfect faith are those who have the best disposition and the best of you are those who are best to their wives." (at-Tirmidhi)
By getting married, you are not just getting a wife, you are getting your whole world. from now until the rest of your days your wife will be your partner, your companion, and your best friend.
She will share your moments, your days, and your years. She will share your joys and your sorrows, your successes and failures, your dreams and your fears. When you are ill, she will take the best care of you, when you need help, she will do all she can for you;
When you haver a secret, she will keeo it, when you need advice, she will give you the best advice. She will always be with you; when you wake up in the morning the first thing your eyes will see will be hers, during the day, she will be with you, if for a moment she is not with you by her physical body, she will be thinking of you, praying for you with all her heart, mind and soul; when you go to sleep at night, the last thing your eyes will see will be her; and when you are asleep you will still see her in your dreams. In short, she will be your whole world, and you will be her whole world.
The best description that i personally have ever read describing the closeness of the spouses to each other is the Quranic verse which says; " They are your germents and you are their garments" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2: 187)
Indeed, spouses are like garments to each other becuase they provide one another with the protection, the comfort, the support, and the adornment that garments provide to humans. Just imagine a journey in the winter of Alaska without garments! Our spouses provide us with the same level of comfort, protection, cover, and support in the journey of our lives on this earth as garments would do in the Alaskan journey.
The relationship between the spouses is the most amazing of all human relations: the amount of love and affection, intimacy and closeness, mercy and compassion, peace and tranquility that fills the hearts of the spouses is simply inexplicable. The only rational explanantion for these most amazing of all human feelings is that; It is an act of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala , "And Allah has made for you Mates (and Companions) of your own nature" (Surah An Nahl 16:72)
Only our Almighty Allah in His Infinite power, Boundless Mercy, and Great Wisdom can create and ingrain these amazing and blessed feelings in the hearts of spouses. in fact, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is remaning those wjo search ofr His sighns in the universe that these feelings in the hearts of the spouses are among the signs that should guide humans to His existence as he says in the Qur'an, " And among His signs is this, that He cretaed for you mates from amongst yourselves that you may dwell in tranquility with them and He has put love and mercy between your hearts; verily in that are signs for those who reflect." (Surah Ar Rum 30:21)
Finally, it is common that spouses vow to love and honour their spouses until death do them part. love should never end and we do believe ther eis life after death where those who did righteousness in this world will be joined by their spouses. ( Surah Al Zukhruf 43:70)
got this email today.. had such a laugh !
A WOMAN'S HEART IS LIKE A CIRCUS
There is always room for another clown...
WHAT CAN ONE GIVE TO A MAN WHO THINKS HE HAS IT ALL?
A woman to show him how it all works!
WHY DO BLACK WIDOW SPIDERS KILL THE MALE AFTER COPULATION?
To stop the loud snoring even before it starts
WHY DO MEN LIKE TO MARRY VIRGINS?
Because they cannot stand criticism...
WHAT DO YOU CALL AN INTERESTING MAN WHERE YOU LIVE?
A tourist
WHY DID GOD CREATE MEN?
Because vibrators cannot mow the lawn...
WHAT DO CLITORIS, ANNIVERSARIES AND THE TOILET BOWL HAVE IN COMMON?
Men miss them all!
WHY DO SO MANY WOMEN FAKE ORGASM?
Because men fake foreplay...
WHY IS IT THAT ONLY 10% OF MEN GO TO HEAVEN
If all men went to heaven it would simply be hell!
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND PIGS?
Pigs do not turn into men after drinking!
WHY ARE MEN IN BED LIKE MICROWAVE FOOD?
After 30 seconds they are both done!
WHAT DISEASE PARALYSES WOMEN FROM THE WASTE DOWN?
Marriage.
WHY DO MEN HAVE A CLEAN CONSCIENCE?
Because they never use it.
WHY DID GOD FIRST CREATE MAN AND THEN CREATED WOMAN?
Because experiments are first done on animals before applying them to humans
WHY DO MEN LOVE INTELLIGENT WOMEN?
Because opposites attract
WHAT IS THE SMALLEST BOOK IN THE WORLD?
"Everything that men know about women"
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND FRUIT?
Fruit eventually gets ripe.....
WHY ARE BATTERIES BETTER THAN MEN?
At least they have a positive side...
WHY IS IT NOT POSSIBLE FOR A MAN TO HAVE A GOOD CHARACTER AND BE INTELLIGENT
AT THE SAME TIME?
If that were the case he would be a woman...
WHAT DID GOD SAY AFTER HE CREATED MAN?
I can perfect this creature....
WHY ARE MILLIONS OF SPERMS NEEDED TO FERTILIZE ONE SINGLE EGG?
Because sperms are male and refuse to ask for directions....
WHEN DOES A MAN LOOSE 90% OF HIS INTELLIGENCE?
When he becomes a widow...
WHEN DOES A MAN LOOSE THE REMAINING 10%?
When his dog dies...
update: the whole hanging up story has been kinda sorted out, but 'Mr arrogant' told me that i should know "he will never call a person that hangs up on him back, ever" .. so, i said sorry, i didn't know you were so over-sensitive about such a trivial thing, and i will never hung up again.. but now he has another stupid issue.. i swear, its like he is digging for things to argue about, only difference is that he does argue straight out, he just goes into silent mode, and i cant do that, i have to sort any issue out straight away..
new issue:(via sms, wed. nite)
Him: tell me, am i holding you back?
Me: what do u mean?
Him: we don't really discuss our 'friendship" and i know us being set-up like we were means there is only one intention and i haven't committed to anything, so, is there any other guy? other proposals?
Me: (WTF) there will always be other ppl trying to intro. me to someone, but i don't think it would be fair to me, you or the third person, to consider, i don't do the "line the guys up thing"
Him: what do u mean you, me and them?
Me: i wont just meet anyone right now, be cos i don't want to meet anyone else..
Him: ok, i just don't want to think that i am holding you back, leading you on or preventing you from moving onto greener pastures.. so to speak.
Me: i think we need to talk about this
Him: (avoiding nicely) its late, we will chat tom.. on msn
yesterday, on msn during the day.. he is acting like nothing was wrong, so i asked "are you goinh to explain the smses? and he said" it was straightforward, no hidden meanings?.. i asked if we could discuss it over the phone rather and he said okay, later or tonight,, but its now Fri. morn. and he hasn't called! so now.. I'm done, cant take being ignored , I didn't do anything wrong, so if he has an issue, or all these thoughts floating in head, and he doesnt want to dicuss it, he can deal with it, and call me when he has sorted his screwed up head out!!!
btw, My neighbour wants to "set-up' a meeting for me for some guy that is "very nice, and a really good guy" so, maybe i should agree!!
I know its dumb, but I need the humour, A "very serious" post regarding my life and happenings, will follow shortly (later today or tomorrow) right now i need chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate!!
Im getting a bit frustrated with "the guy " now...
here's the story why, so, you decide if I'm being a psycho bitch and over-reacting... Or maybe he is just having a really bad case of PMS.. but, the thing is, i am a LEO, and because i am a Leo, i constantly need attention, okay, so i may be just using my star-sign a san excuse, but, i hate being ignored.. even if it was my fault that he is now ignoring me!
We were having a chat on Friday evening while he was waiting for his friend to go out for supper, and he mentioned something that is a constant bother to my sanity, so, i acted as though i was upset, and said "okay then, Bye'.. and ended the call, thinking that he would be sweet and call me back... but, the jerk didn't.. so i sent an sms and said "i was joking, you're supposed to call back.." NO REPLY... Come Saturday, and still no message or call so i smsed and he replied immediately, so i thought he wasn't upset anymore, but me being a complete stress-aholic, i told him to that i needed to tell him something so will he please call me when he has a few minutes to spare (I'm not being a cheap-skate) and i was planning on apologising to him when he did call.. but once again he didn't.. the whole evening! On Sunday, my family and I had to go to a small farm-town where my mum's side of the family live (the north-west region), so, was sitting and chatting with all my family, and when i checked my phone, lo-and-behold, an sms from HIM... completely normal, but, i was busy so didn't get a chance to reply (i know, sad excuse but you know how it is when you with family) and we got home really late, had two reports to finish for Monday morning for meetings with my supervisor so finally got down to replying his message late morning... which he didn't reply.. then, Found out that I'm getting my car back form the panel-beaters this week, so, in my excitement, I sent him an sms to tell him the good news.. No REPLY ! Later yesterday evening, I went to best Friend (shakeera's) house for supper since she left for Cape Town today. She saw how upset i was, so she suggested i call him (this was about 6 pm) but .. you guessed it NO REPLY ... (by now, i was fuming i tell you...so, got home at about half nine, and sent and sent another message... which he replied .. this is how the message conversation went:
Me: Hi are u okay or is something wrong? haven't spoken to you in a while
him: I'm OK.. U OK? ( Ruby thinks :WTF? )
Me: I'm OK,tried calling you earlier
Him: oh ( waste of an sms i tell you !)
Him: just a bit busy dealing with some urgent work issues
Me: okay, didn't you get my missed calls?
him: I was swapping between phones... (never stopped you from calling before did it?)
and that was the end of our conversation... and it is now 4pm the next day, and i ha vent heard a word from him... so, i think i should be concerned right? i mean, you can be busy, but can you have such urgent work, that you don't even sms or call your girlfriend to find out if she is alive? or if the aliens didn't abduct her in the middle of the night?? or am I being the nagging girlfriend? It's not like i call him the entire day or anything....
Anywayz, onto worst things that have happened to me today: My experiment did not work.. I am so freaking fed up with the bloody dumb-ass plants, its as if they have a vendetta against me.. first they don't grow, when they eventually grow, they don't have any RNA (protein-making genes) , when they have RNA, there isn't enough to produce mRNA ... *** almost pulling my hair out*** I'm so so so sick and tired of all this Shite!!!!
As for Blogger Beta- I was forced into changing over.. yep, i was one of the unlucky ones that had the automatic transfer done to my blog over the holidays, so, since seeing that i got the new version, i decided to accept the new template... and what do you know.. everything disappeared.. My stat counter, My technorati button, My Quote of the day, everything.. but the crappiest part is that my links are no longer working, and try as I may, I can't seem to get it right, so, Please, I appeal to anyone who may have an idea how to sort this mess out to please, please help me!!!
SOULFUL RELATIONSHIP
If you're not married yet, share this with a friend. If
you are married, share it with your spouse or other
married couples and reflect on it. An African proverb
states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open,
and after you marry, close one eye."
Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone
, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance,
pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you
blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't
fool yourself that you can change someone or that what
you see as faults aren't really important. Once you
decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws,
vulnerary-abilities, pet peeves, and differences will
become more obvious.
If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow
and evolve, you've got to learn to close one eye and not
let every little thing bother you. You and your mate
have many different expectations, emotional needs,
values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You are two
unique individual children of God who have decided to
share a life together. Neither of you are perfect, but
are you perfect for each other? Do you bring out the
best in each other?
Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do
you compete, compare, and control? What do you bring to
the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past
hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can't take someone
to the altar to alter him or her. You can't make someone
love you or make someone stay. If you develop
self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life", you
won't find yourself making someone else responsible for
your happiness or responsible for your pain.
Manipulation, control, jealousy, neediness, and
selfishness are not the ingredients of a thriving,
healthy, loving and lasting relationship! Seeking
status, sex, wealth, and security are the wrong reasons
to be in a relationship. What keeps a relationship
strong? Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of
humour, sharing household tasks, some getaway time
without business or children and daily exchanges (a
meal, shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note).
Leave a nice message on the voicemail or send a nice
email. Sharing common goals and interests. Growth is
important. Grow together, not away from each other,
giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure
. Allow your mate to have outside interest. You can't
always be together. Give each other a sense of belonging
and assurances of commitment. Don't try to control one
another. Learn each other's family situation. Respect
his or her parents regardless.
Don't put pressure on each other for material goods.
Remember for richer or for poorer. If these qualities
are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment,
withdrawal, abuse, neglect, dishonesty, and pain replace
the passion.
Im really, really pissed of with "the GUy" but, he doesnt know it, because he hasnt bothered to call me since yesterday!!
So, my title song for today is : I don't need a man by Pussycat Dolls...
Approx. reading time 3 minutes
I was reading the lastest entry on dreamlife's blog and i realised that im feeling the same..
I Got back to campus last monday, and everything was all set for me to start with my experiments, but somehow i just cant down to doing them. i spent most of last week just catching up with everyone in the lab, had long lunches everyday and the worst part is that since my car is still being fixed, i have to wait to be fetched in the evening, but, instead of being productive and writing up my thesis, or doing an experiment i just sit on the internet... then, I pysched myself up over the wknd, and planned on starting proper work on monday, but come monday morning, the weather was really crap, gloomy and dull and my supervisor always says "dont start an exp. when you feeling down" because you sure you make a hash of it.. so, that was my excuse for the day.. but, now its wednesday and i still havent started with anything, and tom. is going to be too late, since i need 3 consecutive days to do the exp. so,i have wasted another week.. a week which i know i cannot afford to waste since i have to have everything (which is a LOT of stuff) done by april but right now, i just-dont-give-a-shit !!! and i have no idea how to motivate myself.. I need someone to maybe electrocute my brain into working again, so that i can feel like doing something, but right now all i wnat to do is run as far away from this place as i possibly can.. Anyone have some free accomodation for me plz? or want to join me on a desertes island where no-one knows how to get hold us?
so, in september i met a guy,the full story (link under repair)
He does not live in jhb, and this is starting to become a bit of an issue for me. He doesnt really realise it, and i know he is also a busy guy with his job and stuff, but i only see him once a month.. and i dont think that is enough time .. really, okay, i know that i speak to him daily over the phone, and maybe im just being a demanding girl, but, there are stuff that you can only talk about when you with the person, face-to-face, not over a bad vodacom line ... And when he does come to Jhb, there is always a million stuff to get done in the 2/3 days that he is here, and if he is here for work, thats even less free time, and how much can you discuss in the 5 hours that you have...
before i go off on an irrelevant tangent, this is my big issue..
Ineed to know what his intentions towards me /us are? if he sees this relationship going anywhere? and if yes, is it in the general direction to an altar anytime in this decade? or before i turn 30.. by then he will be 38, and thats too long...
the thing is, I have never really had a serious, long-term boyfriend, and i dont want one for 1/2/3 years on end, and after all the jerks taht i have been set-up with the last 2 years, he is the most compatible guy that i have met, and i just need to know what his story is before i fall crazy, stupid in love with him and get myself hurt ... (if im not in love with him already)
so, my question to you guys is: is there a specific time that i am supposed to wait before i ask him? and do i do it over the phone or sms, or do i wait for his next visit.. see, i was pysching myself up to ask him this coming wknd, cos he was supposed to come to jhb, but now he has some work to do, and may only be able to come the following weekend.. by that weekend, it will be five months since we've met, so, should i ask him then? or do I wait till six months..
i dont know, im very confused, some of my friends advised me to ask him over the phone, but, i think it would be better in person, because i can then see his facial expression (look of horror/surprise) but then if its a bad answer I dont know how i will react...
in any case, please , any comment on this matter will be much appreciated..
hey everyone..
I know, i've been really scarce, but, i was on holiday, and after my holiday i have been really busy, but things are much calmer now, so, hopefully will hopefully be posting on a regular basis as of next week...
I hope that you all had a fabulous summer holiday, mine was really cool, but now its back to work unfortunately!!!
good news is that i have finally sat down and "seriously" started writing my thesis (have to hand in by May the latest) and so far its going okay... yippeee...
I was gonna copy Saaleha and do a review of 2006, but then i realised that i did something similar on my birthday in July, so it may just be overkill...
thats all for now, hope to catch up on all the blogs soon...
Approx. reading time: 4 minutes
hey there... yep, i am alive (shukar) and well, but its been one hectic month...
Firstly, both the uncles that i mentioned were ill, in my previous post, have passed away, and as strange as it may sound, on the same day, so the funerals were at 11am , and just as my mum and dad got home in the afternoon, we got a call that my mum's brother passed away, and the family had to get ready and leave for the second funeral which was at 11pm, two hours away from Johannesburg... May Allah Grant them both jannah...
Everything else has been going really slowly, being around to local conferences and workshops, trying to fill my time productively since my experiments have STILL not worked, but, now, i have given up for the year, and i am on leave from tuesday next week, and will only return to campus on the 8th of Jan.
Bad luck struck again.. I was in a car accident last friday, on that Damn hill again... this woman lost control of her car, and as i was going up, she came zooming down the hill, into me... the entire right side of my car was damaged, and i had serious whiplash and back pains.. which has now subsided.. but my car will probably be written off according to the insurance guys... so, will have to look for another car after the holidays :( :(
Wasn't really intending on going away, but my family decided at the last minute, to go to Durban,(Umhlanga) so will be heading to the coast on wednesday next week... so, i wont be posting for a while.. unless its some cool pics of the beach...lol
so, adios, for the next 2/3 weeks.. hope that everyone has a nice summer break, and May Allah take you safely wherever you and your families are headed...
Im so so so sorry, (hanna) I know i haven't updated in ages, but i have been hectically busy the last two weeks. so, i promise to return to the blogosphere as soon as possible.
till then,
take care eveyone...
I love the weekend before Eid. The excitement in the air is contagious. Okay, i admit, traffic is horrendous (especially in fordsburg/lenasia/or any other indian suburb) but everyone is so happy, and smiling, and kids are running around, looking fortward to wearing their new clothes, and getting "eidie' and little girls are applying mendhi on their hands and ladies are all shopping up a storm, getting all thier groceries, and fruits and veggies and stuuf for desserts (yummy) ... its just awesome.. and then you get one irritated old man who cannot wait any longer for his wife to do her shopping, and he starts hooting at the car in front of him (who isn't really in his way)... whether you love the whole vibe, or you don't, you soon get swept into the whole scene and when you look at the person standing next to you in the queue, wherever you are, you smile, and share a silent message "EID Mubarak.."
Wishing everyone an Eid Mubarak to you and your family and all your loved ones...
Remember those less fortunate than us, and Muslims around the world in your duas on this wonderful day...
Approx reading time: 3 minutes 29 seconds
I am convinced that doctors are the dumbest people on earth.. or maybe its just South African doctors that all strive to be as big an idiot as or Health Minister... (i apologise if you, if a member of your family, your wife, girlfriend, friend, soul-mate or neighbour is a really good doctor,) but i am generalizing okay!!!
My mum's brother has been really sick for the last few months. He has been to 2 doctors in the small farm town where they live, and they both diagnosed his ailment as bronchitis and were treating him with that.. (now, his family is also at fault, since they didnt take him to a specialist but that is besides the point..) so, after being sick for the last couple of months, he get really ill a month ago... so he went to another local Gp, that used a few more of his brain cells and decided to take some tests.. The tests came back, and showed that he had Lung cancer, so, he was sent to have some scans done.. and the scans showed that the cancer was spread from the Brain all thw ay to the lungs.... through the eye etc... he is too weak to even do chemo or radium or any treatment, so they packed him up into his car, and sent himn home telling the family that it is just a matter of time...
on the other side of my family, my dad's sister's husband has also been really sick. Now, he lives in JHb, his family has taken him to the doctors and also to the hospital, and the doctor's said, its becuase he is daibetic , that he is not feeling too well.. blah blah... until he got ill on wednesday.. so they rushed him to Garden City Clinic, and whta do you know.. Test results showed taht he has kidney stones "the size of a golf/tennis ball" and his one kidney was close to collapsing, so they did an operation that lasted for 5 hours on Friday, he has been in the High Care unit since then, and is going under another operation later this morning...
So, i ask again? what is wrong with the doctors of SA??? are they just too lazy to treat a patient properly? They just assume the ordinary when diagnosing, Site "stress " at the best of times, and do nothing.. until its too late.. Maybe its all part of a conspiracy to lessen the population in S.A....
Maybe Manto should stop the research on the African Potato cure and send the doctors for better training ....
Approx reading time: 3 minutes
I decided to also post a forwarded email today, So that i don't feel left out ...
Energizer Bunny arrested; charged with battery.
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
My wife really likes to make pottery, but to me it's just kiln time.
Dijon vu: the same mustard as before.
Practice safe eating: always use condiments.
I fired my masseuse today. She just rubbed me the wrong way.
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.
I used to be a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.
If electricity comes from electrons, does that mean that morality comes from morons?
A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
Corduroy pillows are making headlines.
Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome.
Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
Banning the bra was a big flop.
Sea captains don't like crew cuts.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
Without geometry, life is pointless.
When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
Reading whilst sunbathing makes you well-red.
When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
Approx reading time: 3 minutes 40 seconds
"A chance 4 all u bloggers 2 make history. On the 17th October 2006, The National Trust is asking all bloggers to take part in the biggest blog in history, by recording a blog 'diary' of that particular day. Then all the blog records of that day will be stored by the British Library as a permenant historical record of our national life. It will be a one off, one day diary done on a mass scale - it will aim to be a historical record for future generations, on how life was like "In our day"."
taken from cellardoor-cellardoor.blogspot.com
when I read this, thousand thoughts on what I would blog about went through my mind, however, as i sat down and began to write, i suffered from writer's block...
and if this is any indication as to how my Thesis writing up is going to move along, Im going to have to add an extension to my extension...
Anyway, last week ( either wednesday or thursday morning) i was watching morning live on SABC 2 (breakfast programme) and Vuyo the presenter had a special guest in the studio...
The lady's name was Zuki Matamo,
Evelina Tshabalala, Zukiswa Matamo and Nomawethu Nika from Mandela Park informal settlement in Hout Bay, Cape Town are used to making their way through hardship.
That's why they're not daunted by their latest project: to climb the highest mountains on each of the seven continents and, in the process, become the first black women to conquer Everest.
Matamo and Nika summited Russia's Mount Elbrus together on 9 September. Tshabalala summited Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro on 8 July, followed by Matamo on Women's Day, 9 August.
Next stop for the trio: Aconcagua in Argentina in December and January. Tshabalala will catch up on Elbrus, and Nika on Kilimanjaro, either before or after the South America trip.
They've called their project "Isicongo", after the isiZulu word for the top of a mountain.
Beating the odds
Tshabalala, 41, is a single mother, the sole bread-winner in her family, and lives in a one-bedroom shack next to a rubbish dump. She's survived a car accident, the death of her second son - and the news that she's HIV-positive.
She's also an accomplished marathon runner: in 1994 she realised her life-long dream of taking part in the London Marathon, where she placed 25th.
It was running that first brought Tshabalala and Matamo, a domestic worker and mother of three, together in 2003.
Matamo had spent the previous two years struggling to lose the weight she had put on after the birth of her third child. Tshabalala's solution began with a 20-kilometre run.
"After that run I decided I never wanted to see Evelina again," says Matamo. "I kept looking at her and thinking, I'm never running with you again."
Eighteen months later, the two were running marathons together, Matamo had shed 42 kilograms, and the friendship was unbreakable. They remember each others' times for every race they have run together. And Matamo doesn't mind finishing behind Tshabalalo - because she always runs back to keep her company until the finish line.
Then there were three
In 2005, Tshabalala and Matamo climbed Table Mountain, and were hooked at once on this lofty new expression of their sporting abilities.
In the same year, Matamo met Nika, also a mother and domestic worker, who had also starting running in order to lose weight.
Matamo encouraged Nika to start running competitively, and within the space of a few months Nika had completed the Winelands Marathon, Two Oceans Half Marathon and Knysna Marathon.
Achieving their new goal will require intense physical and psychological effort - and a fair dose of good luck, especially when it comes to the highest of them all: Mount Everest.
The last expeidtion is planned for 2008, and that will be Everest.
I think what she and her fellow team members ahve achieved in the short space of a year, is absolutely amazing, and hopefully they can be a source of inspiration to many young women in SA.
Before you judge what a good baker i am, please bear in mind that I am a scientist, and making kids novelty birthday cakes is not a part of my job description...
And, i made it at 6am on a sunday morning, so, i gave myself A+ for dedication to my nephew... Im sure im the best aunt a kid could ask for... (and the best daughter a mother could ask for as well) because after the cake was done, I baked a whole lot os different biscuits etc. for eid, so that my mum doesnt have to do it during the week... so, i spent my entire day in the kitchen yesterday, and by 7:30pm, i was ready to drop dead...
Anywayz, this is the cake: Yusuf was really impressed... 
He couldnt wait to eat it, so he cut a piece with a butter knife, before we even sang for him... 
He turned four, but he insisted that he only wanted 2 candles on the cake... dont know why... 
Approx. Reading time : 5 minutes
Unlike Fatima, dreams about Zee, chasing her around trees and singing songs from bollywood movies to her, professing his undying love, surrendering his prize possession (his blog) to her... (LOL)( okay, I promise, thats the last time I will mention it)!!! Try as I like,I cannot go back to sleep after sehri.
Random thoughts keep floating through my head, things that I need to once my day finally starts, people that I need to suck up to, bribe, murder, and help before I can once again, get into my cozy bed at night...
And if IM not thinking of the day ahead, I somehow end up reviewing days gone by, things that have impacted my life, my thinking, things that I should have done at a specific time, and the worst of all... Things that I wanted to say to someone, but, didn't... Things that you would say,but, having said them, the consequences of what you've said can be detrimental to the situation/relationship/cocoon of comfort... I guess its a case of stirring up trouble unnecessarily, but certain things are bugging me right now, and I am Dying to ask, and clarify all the jumble of emotions that this situation is causing, but bringing it up may have dire consequences, that I don't think IM willing to, or have the energy and time, to deal with right now...
I may not be making much sense, I know, but, these are, the random thoughts in my head, at 5 am in the morning...
so, I will end this convoluted thought process, on a happy note..
Its my nephew's Birthday today.. He is now a whole Four years old, and I am going to bake him a "train" cake, complete with four/five carriages and the works.. So, I guess I better get started, if I want to surprise him with it when he gets up... And IM sure his mum wont be impressed, since he will probably end up having a Very healthy chunk of sugar for breakfast....
Approx reading time: 2 minutes
Im a hopeless romantic... So, after watching really soppy movies that have me in tears, I always try to write down or just remember THE MOST romantic line that i've ever heard...
But, with old age, comes memory loss, and for the last week, its been bugging the life out of me, trying to figure out which movie i've heard this line from.. so, this is an appeal to any fellow hopeless romantics out there, to please help me, and try and figure out where this line is from.. I can't even remember who the main actor/actress was, the plot ... NOTHING !!!
The line: You are everything i never knew I always wanted"
Ring any bells, anyone???
Approx reading time: 3 minutes
Last week can be put down, as one of the worst weeks that i have had, thus far, this year... Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong, all at the same time.
The outcome of the meeting with my supervisors is: I will not be able to complete my experiments and write up and then hand in my thesis by the end of november (yes, thats in six weeks time) without having a nervous breakdown, so, i am taking a six month extension on my MSc, meaning, i will register for the first six months of next year, and InshaAllah, that will be enough time, to get it all done, have to hand in my thesis by May, and will Hopefully graduate in september next year.
Now, when the two of them sat down and decided this, I was so fed-up and unamused by my dumb experiments not working, that i just nodded my head, and agreed, i am too tired to even try and finish it all in this year.I didnt know whether i should be happy, sad, glad, or mad... because right now all i want is to go for a holiday... and maybe with this new development, i can take a week or two leave.. yay!!!
Im sure the owners of all the petrol stations had a really bad day of business yesterday!!! The public were, for a change, not filling up before midnight, but, were counting down the minutes to midnight , so that they could get the 50c off the petrol price when they visited to get their cars filled!!
Such a nice feeling hey?
I am so so frustrated right now, i just need to vent ...
I came to campus at half past five this morning, and started my experiment. Now, i was running four experiments today, and the product of each one, is carried over into the next.. at nine I started the second experiment, i.e. isolating total RNA from the plants (RNA is the coding material for your proteins etc.) and this went well, got lots of RNA (120 ug) so i was YAY.. and carried on with the third exp. at about 11am... Which was to extract the mRNA from the total ... (mRNA is messenger RNA and these little pieces of crap, code for amino acids) and thats when it all went wrong... i did the entire experiment, and at the end, when i had to work out how much product i have, i get a negative value.. so, i re-read my samples, and then i get a minute amount.. I need between 0.5-2.5 ug .. I HAD 0.003 ug.. there is no way in hell that this will work for the next experiment...
so, the meaning of all this is that I AM SCREWED!!! I have no more plant material to start with, I only have reagents enough for one reaction in the experiment that follows after mrna isolation, and i have a meeting with my supervisor and co-supervisor on wednesday mornging to discussion who we should select as my external maker for my dissertation... Dissertation my foot!!! Im not going to finish on time, becuase, i dont even know where im going wrong... I have troubleshooted to hell and back, there is nothing that I am doing wrong (i am 120% sure of that) and the things are still not working!!! I am so upset, i cant even cry anymore, my tears are all on strike !!!!!!
Approx reading time: 6 minutes
Before i explain the title of my post, i think it is important for me to mention, that i have been at work, since 5:30 am this morning (and its Monday) THATS how stressed/crazy/dedicated i am ...
okay, before you start spinning cartwheels My confused friend read on... Quarter-life-crisis, does exist, as Zee has previously mentioned, BUT, recent events have lead me to the conclusion, that only men go through it, and us, lucky females that we are, are thankfully saved from this life-altering event.
This is the story that has convinced me of this theory;
My best Shakeera(who has mentioned in previous posts) was introduced to this guy a couple of months back.. things were going really well, they met up a few time, he use dto go and visit her at her business, blah blah, and there was even talk of marriage.. YIPPEEE. I was with her about two weeks ago, having lunch when he phoned, and spoke to her, told her he was gonna come and visit her that day or the next. That evening she calls me, and tells me the jerk, sent her a three-part sms, Saying how sorry he is, he doesnt think its going to work out, He makes Dua that she finds somebody who is worthy of her blah blah blah...
Firstly:
he sends her the message at 8pm, when he knows that she gives extra tution at this time, so she cannot reason straight away...
- The sms came through in stages, one every 5 minutes and took approx. 2 minutes to update each time (compliments to our very efficient service providers)
- Then, when she was done with her students, she called him, he didnt answer the call.. Called her back after half an hour... and rudely asked her what she wanted... to which she replied" an explanation for the sms that i received"
He got all angry on the phone, didnt discuss anything properly, started screaming loudly at her, and has the damn cheek to tell her, that he had to do it at that time, becuase he felt that she was "in love with him" so, she told him that she is NOT in love with, she liked him, yes, but, thats as far as it got...
she asked him for a reason, and he , dumb shit that he is.. couldnt give her a single reason !!! NOT ONE!!! ZILCH ... the only thing he said was " its not you , its me" They then said goodbye!!!
Then, the dude has the nerve to call her , after one week, at sehri time, for a doctor's number becuase his room-mate was ill.... bloody nerve!!! and two days after that, (on the fourth fast) he sends her an sms saying Ramadaan Mubarak !!!!
I was furious with this idiot, i think i was more upset than Shaks.. I mean, can you get any dumber, why must he waste her time, talk about marriage and how he is bringing his family to propsoe after Eid, then break-up via sms, and still have the freaking nerve to call for a doctor's number, oh yeah, he also told her, he would like to continue talking to her, and if she is still single after about a year, then, thay can get married... Like hell... Can men not understand, that when a relationship is ended, no communication is sought therafter, no "hello, how you doing every now and again.. Its nmeant to be a clean break... GOODBYE, GOOD RIDDANCE, GO TO HELL for all we care...
ANd dont call when you recover from your QLC.... IF you ever recover from it at all... !!!!!
Ive been tagged by The Man...
tHe TaG:
'List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LiveJournal/blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.'
But, Im not gonna be nasty (and its ramadaan so you not supposed to be listening to any music right? so, not gonna tag anyone back... and, i apologize, but i dont really remeber the names of the songs, but i will try my best...
My list :
1) P Diddy with some chic (cant remember her name ) and can't remember the what the song is called right now either... But i like it ...
2) justin Timberlake - Sexy back
3) Just jinger - What he means
4) Shane Wade- No promises
5) Nick Lachey _ whats left of me
6) Sandi Thom - I wish i was a punk rocker
7) nelly Furtado - Promiscuous
and in other news today :
I had Haagen Dazs... Finally !!!!
friends and I went to sandton on friday evening on my insistance, to have HD... and i think it was sooo worth it.. I had Belgian Chocolate with a dark chocolate sauce... I know, lots of people dont like dark chocolate, but i love it, (its an acquired taste i suppose ..) and the only way i can describe the ice-cream is totally orgasmic. we bought the ice-cream, and went to the Square, set on the steps and ate it , and i tell you, i was in heaven... someone could have taken Nelson Mandela's Statue and walked away and i wouldnt have even noticed... *sigh* not good to talk about such things especially when you fatsing hey...
anywayz, HD left such an impression, that I went back on Saturday afternoon, this time I had the coffee flavour (to which my sister said 'yuck" but, i loved it ...
other than that, my wknd was quite uneventful, no guy stories today, and I have been at campus since six o clock, planned to do an experiment, (which is about 8 hours long) but just as i was about to start, I found my equipment non-sterile... so, now im waiting while its all in the autoclave again, and hopefully I can start my exp. by ten o clock....
1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
2. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3. I Work Hard Because Millions On Welfare Depend on Me!
4. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
5. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
6. Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive.
7. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
8. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
9. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
10. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are missing.
11. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
12. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
13. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
14. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
15. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
16. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
17. Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!
18. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
19. Procrastinate Now!
20. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
21. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
22. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance
23. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
24. They call it PMS because MadCow Disease was already taken.
25. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
26. a picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.
27. Ham and eggs. A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
28. The trouble with life is there's no background music.
29. The original point and click interface was a Smith and Wesson.
30. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.
Approx reading time: 2 minutes 15 seconds
hey there... hope you guys didnt miss me too much.. but i have been soooo busy...
but, i have good news... I have officially started writing up my thesis... YAY !!! I now have a folder on my lap-top, labeled "Msc Thesis", and the draft first page, acknowledgements and contents have been done, today, i am hoping to start on my materials and methods chapter... ( pat on my back) Im so proud of myself...
As for my experiments, they still not working, so, im sitting around, watching my dumb plants grow, get infected with a fungus/bacteria(although they are grown in sterile little boxes) and die.. and that is why, i am no where near finishing the practical bit... but, with ramadaan around the corner, i am hoping that things start working properly, and i have decided that will be in the lab by six every morning , ready to work.. really hard.. or else its never going to get done....
to all my fellow muslims: Ramadaan Mubarak... may you have a spiritually uplifting month and please.. remeber me in your duas!!
Approx reading time: 3 minutes
Im sure most people know that friday night was an auspicious night for Muslims... We believe that on this night your book of deeds for the past year is closed, and a new one is opened for the following year... On this night it is also noted everything that will happen during the course of the year ... i.e. who will be born, who will leave this world, etc...
My year has started off with a really good, big bang... I met a guy.!!!!
Now, everyone that reads my blog, should be aware of all the HORRIBBLE, dates that i have been one, so, i wasnt expecting much, but, before we met on saturday, he emailed during the week and sent me his pic and asked for mine and since he looked really handsome in the photo, i sent him a stunning picture of myself (they all are anyway) we chatted on the phone and only then agreed to meet up for coffee ... Turned out really well... im trying not to get too excited over it, just in case I jinx it or something.. but, he seems like a great guy.. so, fingers and toes are crossed...
btw... zee: "i know, i lied, and yes, i agree, you do know me better than most people!!!! sorry for ditching you, but H.D is not opened as yet anyway, so, we WILL do it soon... I promise !!!!
This is a really interesting analogy that i have heard recently, and since i did mention on a previous post that people say "give it time, and see if the person can grow on you" I have now decided to give this comment as a reply in future
She grew on him like she was a colony of e.coli and he was room temperature Canadian Beef....
Other quotes on note:
He was deeply in love .. when she spoke, he thought he heard bells , as if she were a garbage truck backing up !!! and last but not least:
Every story has an ending, but in life, every end has a new beginning...
Approx reading time: 4 minutes 12 seconds
The last two weekends have been really wonderful, so, I have decided to tell all my fellow bloggers about them(cos I have nothing else to talk about right now, im at work and really, really bored...)
Last week wednesday, i recieved an email from Clarins House, inviting me for a
make-up workshop (im on their database since i went for the workshop in March), these woekshops have limited space (15-20 ladies at a session, so, I feel quite priviledged to have been invited) so, best friend (who is offended that i refer to her as such, so, henceforth she will be called by her name i.e. Shaakera (and her hips dont lie either) and I decided to go for this ... It was a relaxing afternoon, the Clarins ladies did a demo, and then we all had to do our own make-up. I left Clarins house, with Orange eye-shadow, and royal blue mascara (i never apply mascara normally, because I ahve naturally stunning eyelashes(flutter them delicately and, as strange as those colours sound, they looked absoulutely amazing on, so, after being made-up stunningly, I went out for supper with my family and felt very upset when it was time to wash all the pretty stuff off my face that evening..
You all already know what I did on Saturday evening (KANK) and I spent sunday shopping with my mum and sister in Rosebank and Sandton...
This weekend was also lovely...
Visited "The Guy" at his shop on friday afternoon, spent time chatting to his mum and sister , then went out for supper in the evening. On saturday afternoon Shakeera and I decided to go to the Nedbank Bridal Fair at the sandton convention centre...
This is an interesting story...
as we taking the on-ramp onto the highway (M1: smit street) two M3 BMW's are passing on the extreme right lane, (one black, and one silver grey) but they want to get onto the middle lane (becuase of the speed trap's that are always present i suppose) so, the black car is now in front of me, and since its an M3 (with a cute guy which IS indeed rare) i gave the second guy some space to gap in .. so, there i am, driving along, with these two M3's in front of us, and after the "Speed-trap bridge", I take my right, and pick-up speed, silver M3 also gets into the right lane , so i move into the middle lane and then black M3 comes up into the third lane, next to me, so, we sandwiched between these two M3's with cute guys on the highway.. They then smile at us, and signal to us to wind-down our windows, so Shakeera does so, and the guy in the black M3 asks her for her cellphone number.. So, bright spark that she is, Gives him my cell phone number, the HOT guy then says thanks, closes his window and both cars smoothly glide away, two minutes later, my phone rings and its HIM.. so, shakeera speaks to him, and these guys that we know from Nowhere, want to take us to the movies... so, good girls that we are (and rapist weary as well) said, no thanks, we are going to meet our family at the bridal fair, and politely declined... But, how cool was that, I dont think any of the directors in Bollywood of thought of that scene yet.. I can just picture ShahRukh and Arjun in two flashy cars, with maybe Rani/Priety in the middle...(henceforth,I will be officially calling myself The M3 magnet ...lol)
The bridal show was interesting, outfits were all stunning, there was one outfit that i liked and was priced at R 15 000 .. (what can i say, i have expensive taste)
The fashion show was entertaining, and as a finale, Guarav Chopra cames on stage and did some moves from one of the movies (he is a choreographer in Bollywood for those of you that didint know that !!! )
On a sadder note: Saaleha was a bit slow in the t-shirt printing for Pluto, (sniff, sniff, Pluto has now been downgraded, and has been stripped of the title of planet... yep, you read correctly, Pluto is no longer a planet.. Don't you hate it when the new guys jsut bust in, and have no regard for the little guys...
Approx. reading time: 3 minutes 20 seconds
I learnt something yesterday, that brought me to tears and sorrow grew in my heart. I am very dissillusioned and I have just found out how horribly cruel and evil a person can be, to the extent that they dont care how they hurt people, or how much hurt, and pain they might cause to their friends/family/ relatives, their main evil intention being to destroy any love or joy in others lives so that these other people can be as unhappy as they are..
I know that this may not make alot of sense anyone that reads it, but, i just need to vent, and I cannot go into alot of detail, but i need to just say it, so, i might be vague in this discussion...
There is this person, that has caused so much of grief, and sorrow in my friend's life, causing the love of her life to just abandon her, and yesterday she found out the true reason... Her cousin was the invisible evil behind the scenes, and did all in her power to destroy their relationship...
I cannot grasp the fact that a person can be that wicked, disgustingly cruel to someone that is your blood relation, someone that you have grown up with and known all your life... Is this what the world is coming to? Is the chase of material things in this world now extending to emotions, feelings and personal contentment, so that one must always be better than the next, and if You have an unhappy life, why should another person know what it feels like to be happy/ have a smile on their face? I AM DISGUSTED...
I know, and I understand all about Takdeer, but what confuses me right now (Fatima this is the stuff i was telling you about) is this situation that i have mentioned. Was it in my friend's takdeer to go through all of this or have actions of her cousin changed her Takdeer? CAn Takdeer (destiny) be changed? When does one accept everything that comes there way, any HOW MUCH patience must you have to be so accepting with everything (bad especially) that happens to you in your journey of life.. I know we put our faith in Allah, and understand that all that happens is in His Hands, and He will only give you what you deserve (so i may be coontracdicting my thoughts) but What happens when You run out of SABR(patience) ??? and what if Sabr is just not enough???
Approx. Reading time : 1 min 56 seconds
I got up early this morning, realised the weather was really bad outside, and went back to sleep. I eventually walked out the door on my way to campus at 8:00 am. I only live about 7 minutes away from uni. so, i was driving along merrily, until i came to Siemens Hill (on symons road....) anyway, it is a known fact, that whenever it rains, the guys that run tow-a-way services always put oil on the roads (mean B******s that they are, so that people lose control of their cars, and down sliding down the road... so, whenever it rains, i go down really, really slowly... as i was today, but, there was a car in front of me, and there were two tow-trucks on either side of the road, but the one guy was standing in the middle of the road, and signalling for everyone to stop (for no apparent reason) , so, the schmuck in front of me gives dead brakes, and stops, and i swerve to the right to avoid going into him, and i slammed into the truck on that was on the right.. got off the car.. (i dont handle stress and anxiety well, and panic quickly, so i was shaking a bit) the guy gets into his truck and drives away....
The front bumper is scratched all the way on the right, and my wheel and mag-rim is damaged, and I think the wheel alignment is affected, so, guess i will have to sort it all out tomorrow...
Thankfully, I am okay!!!
Approx reading time: 1 minute 50 seconds
I think that i should sign up to a CA group. although CA in this case would stand for "Chocoholics Anonymous" ... I would then be able to go to weakly meetings, stand up, and meekly say " Hi, my name is Ruby and I am a chocoholic" and my fellow CA memebers would reply "Hello Ruby" ...
Last week, after a chocolate binge that consisted of truffles, pralines and all things that went straight to my hips, i decided to go on a chocolate diet. Now, this was a huge step for me, considering that i have a least one bar of chocolate a day ( I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory btw) (my fav. choc. right now is the cappucino Aero) anyway, decide to stop the chocs and see how long i could manage without the little brown pieces of heaven ...
A total of 3 days!!! I went without chocolate for three days, before i started showing signs of complete withdrawal (might have been PMS as well) , moodiness, irritable, highly strung out, and the fact that none of my experiments have worked in the last two weeks didnt made it any easier...
What made me fall off the wagon was a 250g slab of "threesome" ... the relatively new choc. that consists of three layers, a chocolate, followed by a white chocolate layer, and a slightly smaller piece of Dark chocolate on top of that, thereby, forming a (sort of )pyramid shape... but, nonetheless, I cannot be blamed, it was the Chocolates fault, for having found its way to the countertop, right in from of my Chocolate-starved eyes....
Approx reading time: 2 minutes 40 seconds
I have just got home from the movies. I went to watch the new Karan Johar movie… Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna… and right now, the only word that I can think of to describe this movie is WOW!!!
It was amazing… Breathtaking awesome… heartwrenchingly romantic… truly serendipituous… (and the soundtrack is just wonderful)
Shah Rukh looked as gorgeous as ever, Rani more beautiful than I’ve ever seen, Preity was spunky, sexy and her usual vibrant self, Abishek was scruffy and cool and Amitabh was as brilliant as ever. I wonderful special appearance by Arjun Rampal completed this amazingly talented cast, and the results were mind-blowing… I recommend this movie to every single person. Whether you are a Bollywood fan or have seen one, this is Definitely the movie of the decade, not to be missed… (and zee, you Have got to watch it, I will personally take you if need be !!!)
The storyline is one that hasn’t been explored before, but is truthful, honest and hurtful at times, but as Bollywood is know to be, a happy ending is always in sight. There is a scene in the beginning, were Rani is about to get married, but she is unsure whether it is the right guy and she is sitting in her garden while the guests are all waiting for her, and SRK is also there, waiting for his mum who is in the wedding-house.. and they get chatting, and she asks him whether he is happily married or not.. He replies and asks her why is she questing her decision at this point and she says that she is afraid that she may not be in love with her husband to be..
He then says: (not the exact words) “you are at a crossroad, with two choices: 1) go inside, get married and be happy with your husband who has always been your friend…
(since friends make the best spouses) or 2) walk away and hope that one day you might find the elusive true-love that everyone searches for.. She then asks him: what if I meet my soul-mate after I get married and to that he replies: you only fine love if you are looking for it so if you don’t search for it, it wont find you and you can be content with the life that you create…
And I guess that is the truth. Compromise is what makes/breaks a marriage. Having gone to the movies with my sister and sister-in law and a friend, there were two of them, who are married , and then two of us that are single, and it was amazing how our feelings about the movie differed. Sister + SIL felt that there should have been more emphasis on salvaging the marriage, while Friend and I felt that true love was meant to be persuaded. (I’m not going to give the story away)
But, the main question is: do you meet someone, feel that you could live with them and grow to love them ( which I don’t personally think is always possible, cause love is not like a fungus that can just sprout up anyway/anywhere/anyhow.. another subject to be dealt with in future) and get married with the fear that you may lose out or do you take a step back, stop and wait, regardless of how long one might have to wait, hoping that your soul-mate may find you and for true love to find its way to your heart???
Anyone who knows me, knows where to find me on a Saturday afternoon because a Saturday afternoon is my “me’ time, when I get to go shopping for a couple of hours by myself, and in JHB, the only shopping mall worth going to, whether its for just window-shopping, browsing through the stores, or some serious retail therapy is Sandton City.
Since shopping is such an exertion of energy and the most strenuous form of exercise entire week, I normally have to then stop at either Nescafe for some coffee, or if my sister is around (she also has to go to Sandton on a Saturday afternoon ) we all end up at Baglios for ice-cream…
Well, no more… no more Baglios, no more Nescafe, no more Mozart (elsewhere, not in sandton) because soon, there will be ….. (drum-roll plz) HAAGEN – DAS opening in the walkway between Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square and boy am I excited….. over the moon with joy… I cant wait for the MOST d-i-v-i-n-e ice-cream in the world to finally arrive in JHB… thus far the only other make that has come even remotely close to H-D taste, was an ice-cream parlour in Cape Town that was called SINFUL and truly lived up to its name (truly orgasmic ice-cream) with names like Heavenly Hash (I’d thought I was in heaven) and the Aero made me feel like I was floating on a beautiful bubble.
But, all those tastes will soon be fading into nothingness, once I get my tastebuds addicted to HD heaven….
BTW: it is the first Haagen Das franchise to have landed in SA...
Approx reading time: 3 minutes 22 seconds
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things
were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and
wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as
one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and
placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she
placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots
out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in
a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did
and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take
an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard
boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The
daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity - boiling water. Each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being
subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid
interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became
hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a
financial
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff
spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the
very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it
releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things
are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate
yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you
a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you
strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they
just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest
future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in
life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone
around you is crying.
Approx reading time: 5 min 30 seconds
I know that a truce has been called in Lebanon/Isreal , but I found this email really interesting, so for those that may not have received it...
The Shame of Being an American
by Paul Craig Roberts
Dr. Roberts is John M. Olin Fellow at the Institute for Political Economy and Research Fellow at the Independent Institute. He is a former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He is the co-author of The Tyranny of Good Intentions
Gentle reader, do you know that Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon? Israel has ordered all the villagers to clear out. Israel then destroys their homes and murders the fleeing villagers. That way there is no one to come back and nothing to which to return, making it easier for Israel to grab the territory, just as Israel has been stealing Palestine from the Palestinians.
Do you know that one-third of the Lebanese civilians murdered by Israel's attacks on civilian residential districts are children? That is the report from Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator for the UN. He says it is impossible for help to reach the wounded and those buried in rubble, because Israeli air strikes have blown up all the bridges and roads. Considering how often (almost always) Israel misses Hezbollah targets and hits civilian ones, one might think that Israeli fire is being guided by US satellites and US military GPS. Don't be surprised at US complicity. Why would the puppet be any less evil than the puppet master?
Of course, you don't know these things, because the US print and TV media do not report them.
Because Bush is so proud of himself, you do know that he has blocked every effort to stop the Israeli slaughter of Lebanese civilians. Bush has told the UN "NO." Bush has told the European Union "NO." Bush has told the pro-American Lebanese prime minister "NO." Twice. Bush is very proud of his firmness. He is enjoying Israel's rampage and wishes he could do the same thing in Iraq.
Does it make you a Proud American that "your" president gave Israel the green light to drop bombs on convoys of villagers fleeing from Israeli shelling, on residential neighborhoods in the capital of Beirut and throughout Lebanon, on hospitals, on power plants, on food production and storage, on ports, on civilian airports, on bridges, on roads, on every piece of infrastructure on which civilized life depends? Are you a Proud American? Or are you an Israeli puppet?
On July 20, "your" House of Representatives voted 410-8 in favor of Israel's massive war crimes in Lebanon. Not content with making every American complicit in war crimes, "your" House of Representatives, according to the Associated Press, also "condemns enemies of the Jewish state."
Who are the "enemies of the Jewish state"?
They are the Palestinians whose land has been stolen by the Jewish state, whose homes and olive groves have been destroyed by the Jewish state, whose children have been shot down in the streets by the Jewish state, whose women have been abused by the Jewish state. They are Palestinians who have been walled off into ghettos, who cannot reach their farm lands or medical care or schools, who cannot drive on roads through Palestine that have been constructed for Israelis only. They are Palestinians whose ancient towns have been invaded by militant Zionist "settlers" under the protection of the Israeli army who beat and persecute the Palestinians and drive them out of their towns. They are Palestinians who cannot allow their children outside their homes because they will be murdered by Israeli "settlers."
The Palestinians who confront Israeli evil are called "terrorists." When Bush forced free elections on Palestine, the people voted for Hamas. Hamas is the organization that has stood up to Israel. This means, of course, that Hamas is evil, anti-Semitic, un-American and terrorist. The US and Israel responded by cutting off all funds to the new government. Democracy is permitted only if it produces the results Bush and Israel want.
Israelis never practice terror. Only those who are in Israel's way are terrorists.
Another enemy of the Jewish state is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a militia of Shi'ite Muslims created in 1982 when Israel first invaded Lebanon. During this invasion the great moral Jewish state arranged for the murder of refugees in refugee camps. The result of Israel's atrocities was Hezbollah, which fought the Israeli Army, defeated it, and drove it out of Lebanon. Today Hezbollah not only defends southern Lebanon but also provides social services such as orphanages and medical care.
To cut to the chase, the enemies of the Jewish state are any Muslim country not ruled by an American puppet friendly to Israel. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the oil emirates have sided with Israel against their own kind, because they are dependent either on American money or on American protection from their own people. Sooner or later these totally corrupt governments that do not represent the people they rule will be overthrown. It is only a matter of time.
Indeed Bush and Israel may be hastening the process in their frantic effort to overthrow the governments of Syria and Iran. Both governments have more popular support than Bush has, but the White House Moron doesn't know this. The Moron thinks Syria and Iran will be "cakewalks" like Iraq, where ten proud divisions of the US military are tied down by a few lightly armed insurgents.
If you are still a Proud American, consider that your pride is doing nothing good for Israel or for America.
On July 20 when "your" House of Representatives, following "your" US Senate, passed the resolution in support of Israel's war crimes, the most powerful lobby in Washington, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), quickly got out a press release proclaiming "The American people overwhelming support Israel's war on terrorism and understand that we must stand by our closest ally in this time of crisis."
The truth is that Israel created the crisis by invading a country with a pro-American government. The truth is that the American people do not support Israel's war crimes, as the CNN quick poll results make clear and as was made clear by callers into C-Span.
Despite the Israeli spin on news provided by US "reporting," a majority of Americans do not approve of Israeli atrocities against Lebanese civilians. Hezbollah is located in southern Lebanon. If Israel is targeting Hezbollah, why are Israeli bombs falling on northern Lebanon? Why are they falling on Beirut? Why are they falling on civilian airports? On schools and hospitals?
Now we arrive at the main point. When the US Senate and House of Representatives pass resolutions in support of Israeli war crimes and condemn those who resist Israeli aggression, the Senate and House confirm Osama bin Laden's propaganda that America stands with Israel against the Arab and Muslim world.
Indeed, Israel, which has one of the world's largest per capita incomes, is the largest recipient of US foreign aid. Many believe that much of this "aid" comes back to AIPAC, which uses it to elect "our" representatives in Congress.
This perception is no favor to Israel, whose population is declining, as the smart ones have seen the writing on the wall and have been leaving. Israel is surrounded by hundreds of millions of Muslims who are being turned into enemies of Israel by Israel's actions and inhumane policies.
The hope in the Muslim world has always been that the United States would intervene in behalf of compromise and make Israel realize that Israel cannot steal Palestine and turn every Palestinian into a refugee.
This has been the hope of the Arab world. This is the reason our puppets have not been overthrown. This hope is the reason America still had some prestige in the Arab world.
The House of Representatives resolution, bought and paid for by AIPAC money, is the final nail in the coffin of American prestige in the Middle East. It shows that America is, indeed, Israel's puppet, just as Osama bin Laden says, and as a majority of Muslims believe.
With hope and diplomacy dead, henceforth America and Israel have only tooth and claw. The vaunted Israeli army could not defeat a rag tag militia in southern Lebanon. The vaunted US military cannot defeat a rag tag, lightly armed insurgency drawn from a minority of the population in Iraq, insurgents, moreover, who are mainly engaged in civil war against the Shi'ite majority.
What will the US and its puppet master do? Both are too full of hubris and paranoia to admit their terrible mistakes. Israel and the US will either destroy from the air the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Iran so that civilized life becomes impossible for Muslims, or the US and Israel will use nuclear weapons to intimidate Muslims into acquiescence to Israel's desires.
Muslim genocide in one form or another is the professed goal of the neoconservatives who have total control over the Bush administration. Neocon godfather Norman Podhoretz has called for World War IV (in neocon thinking WW III was the Cold War) to overthrow Islam in the Middle East, deracinate the Islamic religion and turn it into a formalized, secular ritual.
Rumsfeld's neocon Pentagon has drafted new US war doctrine that permits pre-emptive nuclear attack on non-nuclear states.
Neocon David Horowitz says that by slaughtering Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, "Israel is doing the work of the rest of the civilized world," thus equating war criminals with civilized men.
Neocon Larry Kudlow says that "Israel is doing the Lord's work" by murdering Lebanese, a claim that should give pause to Israel's Christian evangelical supporters. Where does the Lord Jesus say, "go forth and murder your neighbors so that you may steal their lands"?
The complicity of the American public in these heinous crimes will damn America for all time in history.
Approx reading time: 1 min 38 seconds
The headline news in "The Star " today, has been the addition of three new planets into the solar system. The International Astronamical Union (IAU) which has been an arbiter of planetary nomencluture since 1919, has received a new definition of a planet from a special committee of seven experts that has been set up two years ago.
The new recommended definition of a planet is : A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite.
The ancient description of a planet was " an object that wanders against a backdrop of fixed stars" and is no longer valid in a modern age of advanced telescopes.
According to the panel of experts that were given the task of defining what a planet was, many factors had to be taken into consideration. However, after two years of confering ,their main goal being a new definition of the word 'planet'. They have come to a unanimous agreement that in future , a planet should be defined as a celestial body that is big enough for its gravity field to form a near-spherical shape.
The object must also be in orbit around the sun, or another star, but not as a satellite of another planet, which rules out the Moon and the larger moons of the other planets.They have thus chosen gravity as the determining factor.
Recent new discoveries have been made of objects in the outer regions of our solar system that have sizes comparable to and larger than Pluto. Thus, calling into question whether or not they should be considered planets.
The three new planets are Charon, once considered a moon of Pluto, but now described as its double planet. Ceres, formerly known as an asteroid or mino planet, and UB 313 (it has to be formally named, although it has been nicknamed Xena) was only identified last year.
There are now eight "classical" planets, three 'plutons" - those planets that are similar in size to Pluto with extremely wid solar orbits- and the asteroid -like Ceres.
The new definition means that there are possibly another two dozen known objects in the solar system that may be considered a planets.
Approx. reading time: 20 seconds
About two months ago, my lap-top was stolen :) :) :)
Today, i got a new one, so, i will now, hopefully be able to post everytime I think of something important, and not forget everything that i want to say (as the case has been) , so, in future, topics may be vaster than just boys, boys, boys...
Approx reading time: 60 seconds
caution: this is a VERY vain subject!!!
I CUT MY HAIR and now i hate my hairstyle..
okay, im being awfully dramatic here, and i DO still have loads of hair on my head, but its not as much as there was... and i want my hair back :( :( :(
see, for the last year or so, I have really long, almost-till-my-waist-long .. straight -as -a pin- dark brown hair, and everybody kept commenting on how lovely it was.. so, I figured, that there had to be Lots of nazir (evil eye) on my hair. (mum agreed)
anyhow, on tuesday, everyone was planning on leaving early from the lab, so, i decided to go and watch a movie (again!!!) but, when i got to rosebank, the movie that i wanted to watch had already begun, and the next show was too late, so, i went shopping... (bought lots of unnecessary stuff) and then, on the spur-of-the-moment, i decide to go and have my hair done...
What i didnt realise is that when the woman showed me how much she was gonna "trim off" my hair was wet, so, naturally, when it gets dry, it gets shorter.. so, now, im sitting with hair that is just pass my shoulders, (has a nice tousled look with all the irritating layers) and even though everyone says it looks really nice, it feels as though a part of me is missing...
Hope it grows back quickly....
There is a guy... (as there always is ), but, this guy is amazingly handsome, stunningly sexy and has the loveliest pair of hands that i have ever seen on a guy. I have had a HUGE, CONSTANT crush on him all my life (even after all the other men that i have had the Bad luck of being attracted to, this guy is the standard by which all others are measured). He has always been the guy, and when i see him/ speak to him, my heart starts to race, my hands start feeling clammy and my heart skips a beat when he smiles at me...
now, he is a sort-of friend, my family know his family, His sister is my aunts best friend blah blah, all relations that need to be made have been made, except for the most imp. one....
His mother adores me, and my mum and i bumped into her while we were shopping on tuesday afternoon, and she and i got into a conversation about knitting.. now, this lady wants to knit a scarf, cos of the cold, and she asked me for advice about the color/ number of stitches she must make/ needles she must use.. everything, i might as well have said" Let me knit it for u " ... (btw, I do know about knitting, since my family is in the fabric and haberdashery business)
After the knitting seminar, my nephew decided to go with her to her shop, and so, we had to go back to their business to fetch him, (which was the perfect excuse to see THE GUY!!! )
Walking away from their shop, nephew in tow, mum says to me... If that woman had her way, u woulkd def. be married to her son by now... (sigh) if only !!!!
Oh my freaking word..... THE date was the most excrutiating, horrible, horrendous, dull, boring, serious, terrible.,.. did i mention Horribly boring? ...
needless to say, this dude was NOT my type, and regardless of what the friend that set me up siad, he WAS NOT my type.. I felt absolutely NO attraction, interest, admiration towards him what-so-ever.... i was merely THERE !!!
okay, maybe im being a terribly cruel B**** , but he was soooo unexciting,that when i tried to make a joke, he didnt respond. He just sat there, and changed the topic (into a critically serious one) in less than a minute... By serious i mean... app. he doesnt just watch ANY movie, becuase that is just a waste of time, only movies by Acclaimed directors are worth watching... HA !!!
Aside from his character, his dress sense has to be questioned.. AND THE SHOES (WTF!@!!! need i say more) (as u many have figured by now, I have a thing for shoes!!!) and to top it, as if the package wasnt bad enough, he had a really squeaky voice as well.... so, I tried and succeeded in cutting the "coffee" short, by saying that i had to meet up with friends soon, and left him sitting in the dull coffeeshop (his choice , not mine) to finish his milkshake, and walked away as fast as my legs could carry me...
Later in the evening, he sent me an sms, saying that he enjoyed the coffee...
( 1: he had milkshake, i had tea... no coffee was involved...
2: does that mean he enjoyed the drink/ the company/ or both
3: I didnt know how to reply, since... I didnt enjoy the company, and due to my flu, I drank the tea, but my tastebuds are currently on respite, so, i didnt taste it, hence, couldn't really say i enjoyed it now could I .. cos, even though I may be horrible, cruel and A B**** of note, i do not lie....
But, i hope that he got the message ..i.e. That i would NOT like to repeat the experience.. ever, ever again!!!
following this meeting, I contacted the 'friend" (and i use the term loosely) and told if she ever dares to set me up with one of her boyfriends "retarded" friends ever again, she will lose THE most valuable thing in her life.. My FRIENDSHIP>>> hope that she too, has got the point....
I have another blind date, tomorrow afternoon...
Details on monday ...
P.S. Request for prayers, so that I may survive this one !!!
Life is sometimes so scary and unpredictable...
there was this girl in my class in grade 8-9. she wa a brilliant student, bubbly personality, always with a smile on her face, the most amazing sense of humor ... she was really really wonderful. Anywayz, as all freindships go, (esp after high school) we lost touch since she went to another university, but, about 3 yrs ago, we re-acquianted, since she had a lift-club from my campus, (and we had mutual friends.)
After completely her degree in pharmacy, she was/is currently doing her community service at the local hospital about 10km from her house. On her way to work early last wed/thurs morning, she was involved in a head-on-collision at the main intersection out of her suburb... She had right of way at the traffic light, but the driver of a truck jumped the light, and slammed into her car....
she is now critical , on life support machines, has internal bleeding and a broken femur, but due to the bleeding, they cannot operate on her....
I cant even imagine what her parents might be going through...
Its unbelievable how life and all that seems important can change in a mere second, and due to neglegience of others innocent people get hurt ....
I have a frind, who has spent the past 2 yrs trying to make an idiot of a girl try to fall in love with him. he did the sweetest things, sending her flowers to work( yes, flowers feature as the MOST romantic gesture in my books... ) writing awesomely soppy letters and dropping them off at her postbox outside her house, and basically being the all-round good guy that is just a figment of most girls imagination. Anyway, this chic didnt like him, she felt that she was
to get so seriously involved with someone (she is 23,and he is 25) ... so, after a good few months of mopping around and being depressed, he has found another girlfriend...As some of u may know, the 9th of August is woman's Day in South Africa... (and to those taht forgot... its a public holiday next wednesday) ...
And since we are about 20 females in the department and a fewer amount of guys we have all decided to go out and have a fun day in the sun(hopefully ). we are going for PAINTBALL... (all are welcome!!!!) Im really excited, and soooo lokking forward to it, since i havent been for about 3 yrs, and im organising it all, so, its gonna be a blast!!!
Another MAJOR event is happening this wknd... i am going to watch PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN on sat. Booked my tickets already... so, gonna see Johnny in all his gold-toothed glory !!!! yippppepeeeee ......
