Phuthu Stay Phut, Don't go!

I went on this camping trip with my industrial fan, microwave, camping cot, toys, tons of mozzie spray and an open mind. I can tell you, without one shadow of a doubt, that it was *beep* challenging from the word go.

Pitching this 8-man tent of ours under a 35 degrees African sky is no joke, especially if you have to still deal with a 1-year old eating suspicious objects, disappearing into the road and licking off his sun block. I took this all in and went to my quiet place where I had a persuasive one-on-one with myself.  After digging real deep I decided to stand tall and take this on. I would much rather have packed everything right back and go home where I can control Daevin’s comings and goings in a comfy way. What held me back? I already bought the t-shirt, which meant that I now had to earn it. That, and the fact that I don’t quit.
What threw me at the very start was the fact that the tent looked totally different in real life. What happened to the 6m long lounge area I pictured? And the sight of the new mattresses Sean bought made me want to reach for my first Amarula. It was about 9 m long but only 1cm thick. Charming. Besides for all the moaning and groaning every time we had to turn around (ouch!), the first night went down smoothly until we were woken up by the sound of The Rocky Bay Wind Troll threatening to carry us away. The flaps of the tent went berserk which made me seek refuge next to my 3-year old daughter…

… Only to wake up to a cloudy, rainy day. Now, in my PC days (pre-children) I could think of quite a couple of things to occupy myself with in miserable weather like this, but keeping an overactive, overtly curious toddler boy (happily) busy in the confines of a 1.5 x 1.5 m lounge area (still not sure what happened here!) is not for sissies. Needless to say, I took a couple of trips to the shopping centre close by to kill time but would have preferred a couple of swigs from the cough mixture bottle.

Something that was quite unusual to me, being a hermit and’all is the way these campers just all get along. There is this sense of unity; we were all one. You greet, smile at each other, have a bit of a chat and the kids play together. Hey, I could even do small talk! I must admit I didn’t deal well with the (already very clean) ablution blocks but there is nothing Handy Andy, disinfectant wipes and slops can’t cure. The days were long. Very long and the nights way too short but, besides for being a bit shell shocked, I lived to tell the tale. Without kids I think I can totally rough it up, but with small kids I think I prefer a nice, cosy lodge somewhere, thank you very much.

Okay. So maybe I’m being a bit of a drama queen. It wasn’t all bad. I loved seeing Kristin taking the most out of every day. Loved the fact that we were right on the beach. Loved the evenings next to the fire. Loved Sean’s happy face after his fishing trip. It wasn’t all bad!

Killing some time before I book the next camping trip.  What did I take away from this whole experience? The fact that I’m woman enough to build some memories for my kids to treasure. The knowledge that I can now enter Survivor, should I wish to.

My man and I are doing the Dusi Canoe Marathon tomorrow – our first one in 3 years. We’ve done a grand total of 4 training sessions so we’re in tip top condition for the 120km event.

Needless to say it should be an interesting one for the heart, lungs, triceps and biceps.

But the real cool thing is that we’ve got a bright orange boat decorated with colourful Phuthu stickers. So even if we don’t look too hot, at least our boat will.

The technique is to use soapy water to position them well and then wipe off any bubbles with a dry towel.

The Phuthu gals helped me stick em on. Thanks dudettes

This must be my favourite sticker…..

…After this one…

This one is kinda cute too…

Orange and green..Laaaik it?

Have a look at the two pics hanging on the wall in the background. That’s my man in his wild day. He’s calmed down a milli-fraction since then. Now you can understand why he always wants to go down the difficult rapids which almost cause me to have a coronary.

Wish us luck! Please. Need it.

Question: Why will 2010 be a better year for you?

Louise

• 2010 is undoubtedly going to be a busy year and I think it may just top 2009 which was a bumper year in terms of activity. This year brings the Comrades; a daunting challenge which invigorates me and petrifies me at the same time. Is that possible? But before that, we need to contend with the Dusi and the Argus.
• Perhaps our aspirations are a little bigger than our collective mitochondria [okay, here I was like, where the hell did she pull this word from? Wiki-answers came to the rescue. Moving on... where were we?] … perhaps our aspirations are a little bigger than our collective mitochondria can handle but we plan to put them to the test nonetheless.
• Other than the tick-box type events, I plan to Zumba my butt off, read the ever increasing pile of books stashed next to my bed and cook until I can cook no more. And then bake. And then learn to juggle the imod balls. And then maybe the poi.
• I’m excited for the Soccer World Cup and think it’s going to be a special year for South Africans and a better year for our economy. And I’m excited for everyone else’s 2010 line up too! Engagements, weddings, pregnancies, start-ups and sporting goals…there’s just so much excitement abound

Elzet

• I’m planning on slowing down the hands of time as a way to rebel against the BFRR ( Big Fat Rat Race) and to live an uncomplicated, uncluttered life. I refuse to become part of the way this ambitious world of ours always hungers for better, bigger and more. What’s up with that anyway? The plan is to live a simple, stress-free life and spend my time selectively.
• It’s going to be a healthy year. Baby steps. More exercise and plenty of stretching (when I’m 60 I want to be so supple that I’ll be able to do the splits comfortably and use this technique to open all bottom drawers), less stress and worrying, less junk, more veggies (:0) and much more laughing!
• A lot of my friends are pregnant (or are planning to fall pregnant) and I’m not, which is enough to make me feel very blessed (and relieved). Our two young children are getting to a stage where I can move around more freely and I’m thinking of doing a course or two, you know; stir up the old dreams a bit.
• The recession has eased up its nasty grip so people might smile a bit more. That would be nice.

Kerry

• 2009 Was a year of mixed emotions and experiences. I would like to say that overall it was a good year, but globally it was definitely a tough one, I think everyone felt the pressure of the recession whether they were directly affected by it or not. But and there is always a but, I started a new life last year in a new province, new job, new man, new friends and I loved every minute of it.
• Why would 2010 be a better year than 2009? I’m getting married to the best man in the world, everybody is slowly recovering from the recession, we are going to successfully host a major world sporting event in the form of the FIFA World Cup. Oh and according to Nostradamus, the Incas and most doomsday astrologists we have 2 years to live and 2 is my favourite number. So in December 2012 if you looking for something to do, we will be having a major party. So in conclusion 2010 is a year for planning, organising and appreciating what we have and just being happy. Why? Cause we can!

Wonder what Katrine’s plans are…?

Question: Why will 2010 be a better year for you?

Louise

• 2010 is undoubtedly going to be a busy year and I think it may just top 2009 which was a bumper year in terms of activity. This year brings the Comrades; a daunting challenge which invigorates me and petrifies me at the same time. Is that possible? But before that, we need to contend with the Dusi and the Argus.
• Perhaps our aspirations are a little bigger than our collective mitochondria [okay, here I was like, where the hell did she pull this word from? Wiki-answers came to the rescue. Moving on... where were we?] … perhaps our aspirations are a little bigger than our collective mitochondria can handle but we plan to put them to the test nonetheless.
• Other than the tick-box type events, I plan to Zumba my butt off, read the ever increasing pile of books stashed next to my bed and cook until I can cook no more. And then bake. And then learn to juggle the imod balls. And then maybe the poi.
• I’m excited for the Soccer World Cup and think it’s going to be a special year for South Africans and a better year for our economy. And I’m excited for everyone else’s 2010 line up too! Engagements, weddings, pregnancies, start-ups and sporting goals…there’s just so much excitement abound

Elzet

• I’m planning on slowing down the hands of time as a way to rebel against the BFRR ( Big Fat Rat Race) and to live an uncomplicated, uncluttered life. I refuse to become part of the way this ambitious world of ours always hungers for better, bigger and more. What’s up with that anyway? The plan is to live a simple, stress-free life and spend my time selectively.
• It’s going to be a healthy year. Baby steps. More exercise and plenty of stretching (when I’m 60 I want to be so supple that I’ll be able to do the splits comfortably and use this technique to open all bottom drawers), less stress and worrying, less junk, more veggies (:0) and much more laughing!
• A lot of my friends are pregnant (or are planning to fall pregnant) and I’m not, which is enough to make me feel very blessed (and relieved). Our two young children are getting to a stage where I can move around more freely and I’m thinking of doing a course or two, you know; stir up the old dreams a bit.
• The recession has eased up its nasty grip so people might smile a bit more. That would be nice.

Kerry

• 2009 Was a year of mixed emotions and experiences. I would like to say that overall it was a good year, but globally it was definitely a tough one, I think everyone felt the pressure of the recession whether they were directly affected by it or not. But and there is always a but, I started a new life last year in a new province, new job, new man, new friends and I loved every minute of it.
• Why would 2010 be a better year than 2009? I’m getting married to the best man in the world, everybody is slowly recovering from the recession, we are going to successfully host a major world sporting event in the form of the FIFA World Cup. Oh and according to Nostradamus, the Incas and most doomsday astrologists we have 2 years to live and 2 is my favourite number. So in December 2012 if you looking for something to do, we will be having a major party. So in conclusion 2010 is a year for planning, organising and appreciating what we have and just being happy. Why? Cause we can!

Wonder what Katrine’s plans are…?

Here we are a little earlier than usual. But seeing as though it is 2010, a year for beneficial change and  growth, we thought that everybody would benefit having the braingames on a Monday instead of Tuesday, big decision I know!

Anyway, here we go-

Which of the cubes can be made using the flat layout shown below?

As you are well aware, The Dusi Canoe Marathon will be taking place next week on 21st January and will finish on 23rd January.

The Dusi Canoe Marathon is a canoe race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The race is run along the Msunduzi River or more commonly referred to as the Dusi.

But I am sure that not everybody is aware of the possible dangers involved in competing in this race, besides the recent crocodile sightings, snakes, dehydration and sun stroke there is a much smaller, in fact microscopic problem that seems to plague the competitors involved. I talk about E.Coli ladies and gentlemen, up to 50% of the Dusi participants have shown symptoms of Dusi guts during the course of the race. Dusi what? Yes Dusi Guts, or a gastrointestinal infection, some of the symptoms include diarrhoea vomiting and dehydration.

If you are competing in the race (Good luck Boss Lady), now is the time when you should start preparing your body for the race.

Travelan is a product on the market, available at certain pharmacies, which aids in the combating of the serious strains of E.Coli in the gastrointestinal tract and should definitely be considered, if you don’t want to be hampered by tummy troubles.

Click here for more info on Travelan

Goodluck to all the participants!