So much for my resolution to blog once a week. (098) HA! Although, in my defense, I usually get the urge to blog during work hours and my my internet keeps bombing out as soon as I tried to sign into my blog. They’re onto me…. ;-)

So, what’s new on my side?

• My magazine addiction (047) has been successfully curbed I think. I no longer look longingly at the magazine rack each time I enter a shop and scan desperately for a title, any title, that will grab my fancy. And of course, I’ve become much pickier with the magazines I do buy, since I have a quantity limit now. Sometimes I don’t even get to 4 per month!
• I’ve tried to go see an improv show (004), even booked the tickets, but then rocked up at the wrong venue. Very disappointing! For those wondering, the Intimate Theatre is not a separate room at the Kalkbay theatre, it is actually a separate theatre and is in the middle of the CBD. So when we finally figured out we were at the wrong venue, it was too late to still catch the show at the actual venue. Oh well, you live, you learn… Next time!
• We did however attend the theatre (010) – this time for Pythonesque (a Monty Python type show, surprisingly…) at the Theatre on the Bay, part of our anniversary weekend celebrations. I’ve never seen any Monty Python (yes, yes, you can berate me later), so the show was a lovely surprise as I quite liked the style of humour.
• We’ve also tried some new restaurants out (012) (yes, coffeeshops DO count!) – Melissa’s for a delicious breakfast including a freshly pressed beetroot, orange juice & ginger drink, and Café Crème for an equally delicious breakfast which included a lip-smacklingly awesome apple compote with Bulgarian yoghurt.
• I can also tick off nr 013 – we had a picnic for Valentine’s Day. Even though it was on our livingroom floor (it was windy outside!), but we made the best of it with lots of cushions & duvets and in the end it was the best choice as we could pass out there and then when we had sated ourselves on JC Le Roux sparkling rose, homemade flatbread (025), diy marinated olives, garlicky chicken wings, roasted aubergine & redpepper and fried halloumi. Yum-o!
• Not making too much progress on nr 019 – I already eat a wide variety of foods, so this one is actually quite difficult to do… I keep threatening to try rollmops, but have not worked up the courage yet. They just look ….. icky…..
• 043 – I’ve paid off another one, so now have 2 left out of 5. Focusing now on TheHusband’s debt, so will probably take a while before the last 2 is paid off.
• 022 is ticked off – chocolate salami was a hit during the festive season (off course with extra booze & orange peel added in, why not?)
• Still too scared to get on the scale (027). But I think my clothes are feeling a tad looser (or rather, less tight…). Wishful thinking?
  
• Perhaps..Finally read Rich Dad, Poor Dad & can recommend it for anyone who does not look forward to getting trapped in the rat-race.
• Made good progress (read: about 2 days…) with nr 063, but then the whole Joost-sex video scandal popped up all over Heat, my colleague showed it to me and I was trapped like a deer in the headlights (albeit a deer that quite enjoys being trapped in the headlights…)
• Had a lovely girls night in with Michelle a few weeks ago, was just like the good old varsity days. Not sure if it counts as a proper girls’ night (069) when there are only 2 girls though…
• Working on 070, watch this space….071, 074 & 075 are miserable FAILS.
• I am a happy postcrosser! (091) Close to the 20 card-mark. Although, had a bit of a dry spell for the first few weeks of 2009, but now I’m all fired up again, since I figured out you can buy airmail postcard stamps in bulk at the post office, so I don’t have to go the postoffice every damn time I want to send a postcard (really annoying)
• Stupid computer gave me a bit of a backlog on 094, but I’ve started up a new legacy and will be backing up on a regular basis to avoid any future mishaps. (Stupid Acer!)
• The doves seem to not be such keen visitors to our balcony anymore, so I guess 099 has taken care of itself. However, we now have a new plague – cockroaches. They have managed to crawl inside of our microwave (yes! Behind the digital time display – wtf), and give me the evil side-eye everytime I step into the kitchen. However, we have now found a new poison with which we will wage our war, hopefully this time it is successful. FYI, cockroach traps trap NOTHING, Doom-type sprays just sprays them away and then they scuttle off somewhere else, and apparently the old footstomping technique isn’t really the winner either – they release a gazillion egss when they get squashed! Just what I wanted: little cockroach babies!
  
• Urgh100 – FAIL. But I’m glad about the FAIL. I think it actually did more good than harm as initially feared.

The cool thing about Postcrossing is that not only do you get to send postcards all over, but you receive postcards from all around the world too. I received the first 4 on Friday last week and it made my day! Even better was that the one from Tanzania had a message in Dutch on the back, and as we all know, I have a bit of a thing for the Dutch language - for some reason I find it VERY amusing. :-)

Enghien - Edingen. Rue Montgomery et Maison Jonathas. (Belgium)

(Norway)

New Orleans - French quarter (USA)

Zanzibar Island (Tanzania)

It's been 3 weeks since I've started with my 101in1001 and I've finished a couple of goals, and have a couple in progress.

The most difficult one is proving to be #47 (the one limiting my magazine addiction). But, so far I've complied by only buying 4 magazines since the challenge started. And I may only buy again on the 12th of November. Granted, the 4 magazines were bought in the space of a week, but that'll teach me to space it out a bit!

This past week has been interesting. Life without TheHusband usually is, as I battle my own demons. For those of you who don't know: he's in Lima, Peru for 2 weeks of training. One down, 2 to go. I think I'm okay so far. The ironic thing is that it's always been a dream of mine to go to South America. So... having TheHusband be away for so long and be THERE is sort of a double whammy. The photo's he's sent me so far looks absolutely amazing and the stories he tells me makes me want to quit my job, pack my bags and climb into the nearest suitcase bound for South America.

Or more commonly known: Afghanistan. The first on my list of countries to read about. To simplify matters, I've decided to focus on the internationally recognized countries. Of which Afghanistan is top of the list.


To be honest, I was very tempted to skip this one, due to over-saturation (the whole USA vs the Taliban saga), but in the end I gave it a go..

Interesting fact: The country was a monarchy until 1973, when the King's brother-in-law ousted him with a bloodless coup to become the country's first president. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "trouble with the in-laws"

Little known fact: There is a booming opium trade in Afghanistan stemming from a huge illegal poppy cultivation.

Best part: Culture plays a big part in the average Afghan's life - most households have at least one book of poetry and poetry events are very common (even though a large part of the population is illiterate).
Also, women now form 28% of the cabinet, making Afghanistan one of the leading countries in the world in terms of female representation.

Worst part: The almost constant war the country has been embroiled in since way back when. And the Taliban. Those are not guys you want to mess with. Especially if you are a woman.

Verdict: It doesn't seem as bad as I initially thought, but I'd still hesitate to go live there. Even though women are now well represented in parliament, and the laws governing what women can and cannot do have largely fallen away, I think that large parts of the population still views women as 2nd class citizens. And I'd have a very hard time coping with that.

So. I've stumbled upon an interesting meme and decided to take part in it.

The Mission:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days

Start date: Sunday 12 October 2008
Finish date: Saturday 9 July 2011


Magical Mystery Tour/Day Tripper

001. Spend a day at the amusement park & go on all the rides
002. Play a round of paintball
003. Go to an art exhibition
004. Go see an improv show
005. Go play putt-putt
006. See 6 live shows (2/6)
- KKNK (Apr09)
007. Go ice-skating
008. Go Geocaching
009. Attend an International Food Evening in the Neelsie
010. Go to the theatre 3 times (3/3) - Apr09
011. Go strawberry picking
012. Try 10 new restaurants out (4/10)
- Irish Pub, Durban (Dec08)
- Melissa's, Stellenbosch (Feb09)
- Manoushe, Stellenbosch (Apr09)
- Braza, Canal Walk (Jun09)
013. Have a picnic - Feb09

Honey Pie/Strawberry Fields

014. Plan weekday meals & do grocery shopping on a weekly basis - doing this on a regular basis, consider it done
015. Give Brussels sprouts one more try - Oct08
016. Make gluhwein
017. Make ginger beer
018. Roast a whole chicken
019. Try 10 new foods (3/10)
- Belgian endive (Oct08)
- Fennel (Dec08)
- Sauerkraut (Jun09)
020. Make a meal based on a colour-theme - Apr09 (YELLOW)
Starter - Stuffed Pattypans
Main - Yellowpepper & Fontina Salad with a creamy mustartd dressing
- Sweetcorn fritters
Dessert - Caramelized Pineapple with Butterscotch sauce
021. Make ice-cream/sorbet from scratch
022. Make chocolate salami - Dec08
023. Cook 5 things out of every cookbook I own (5/150)
024. Make & bottle something
025. Bake bread

Revolution/I Want You (She's So Heavy)

026. Eat two vegetarian main meals per week - doing so on a regular basis, consider it done
027. Lose 7 kgs (0/7)
028. Exercise for 30 mins, 3 times a week for 12 weeks (2/12) (re-started on 29.06.2009)
029. Touch my toes (without bending my knees!)
030. Drink 4 glasses of water each day - doing so on a regular basis, consider it done
031. Ban sweets for 1 week, 10 times (0/10)
032. Eat only raw foods for 5 days (not consecutive) (0/5)

Ticket to Ride/The Long & Winding Road

033. Go away for a weekend, 5 times (1/5)
- Goudini Spa (Jun09)
034. Go to Darling and visit Evita se Perron for a meal & a show
035. Get a passport & visit another country
036. Take a boattrip to Robben Island
037. Go to the beach
038. Go on a winetour (at least 5 winefarms)
039. Go on a roadtrip somewhere I've never been before

Can't Buy Me Love/You Never Give Me Your Money

040. Celebrate Buy Nothing Day(Nov 29) each year (0/3)
041. Attend a Treoc course - Nov08
042. Buy at least one property in our trust
043. Clear out short-term debt - May09
044. Buy all 3 Austin Powers' movies (1/3)
045. Buy/get another Sims2 expansion pack
046. Don't buy anything which doesn't fit me perfectly
047. Limit magazine buying to 4 per month - doing this regularly now, consider it done
048. Read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - Feb09
049. Buy a nice pair of boots - May09
050. Save up & register with SAICA
051. Buy proper ballroom shoes - Nov08

Hard Day's Night/In My Life

052. Wash the dishes every night for one month (0/30)
053. Put clothes away every night for one month (0/30)
054. Go one day without saying anything negative about anyone
055. Apologise first 20 times, even (especially!) when I think I'm right (2/20)
056. Make a point to NOT overreact (when I'm angry) 10 times (0/10)
057. Deal with an issue I'd usually try to avoid
058. Do not indulge in any gossip at work for one month (0/21)
059. Organise favourite recipes into a recipe binder
060. Declutter: get rid of 101 things (57/101)
- Shoes & clothes (Nov08)
- Clothes (Jul09)
061. Get rid of old magazines
062. Finally unpack the 'Box of Horrors' in our bedroom
063. Avoid celebrity gossip for one month (0/30)
064. Put away laundry the same day it's dried for 6 consecutive weeks (0/6)
065. Go through digital photos, print & frame (or put up for display in some other way) the best ones

Got To Get You Into My Life/With A Little Help From My Friends

066. Meet up with Michelle & Lee-Ann once every 2 months (2/16)
067. Host a dinner party once every 3 months (2/7)
- Caribbean party (Dec08)
- Bollywood Dreams (May09)
068. Go visit Nelia in Namibia
069. Have a girls' night out/in - May09
070. Make a new female friend
071. Write (& send) a letter to my brother once a month (0/33)
072. Visit my Aunt & Uncle once every 3 months (2/7)
073. Treat my mom to a spa day - Dec08
074. Talk to/email my dad once a month (5/33)
075. Call my mom more regularly

Love Me Do/Oh! Darling

076. Go on a date with TheHusband once a month (8/33)
077. Go for a Sunday/Saturday afternoon stroll with TheHusband once a month (1/33)
078. Re-read the Five Love Languages & also the Five Languages of Apology
079. Watch 10 "boy"-movies with TheHusband without complaining or falling asleep (3/10)
080. Do 101 romantic things for TheHusband (2/101)

The Fool on The Hill/I Am The Walrus

081. Learn to speak Spanish
082. Catch up on current affairs via news24 once a week - added to my RSS feed
083. Finish reading the Combrink/Combrinck genealogy books (0/3)
084. Complete Bronze ballroom dancing programme
- Preliminary - Mar09
- Secondary - Jul09
085. Take an online course
086. Read up on the history and culture of a different country once a week (3/143)
- Afghanistan
- Peru
- Finland

Happiness is a Warm Gun/I Feel Fine

087. Watch the Comrades once from start to finish
088. Re-read the Adrian Mole books (3/6)
- The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (Oct08)
- True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (Nov08)
- Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years (Nov08)
089. Have/go to a poker evening
090. Comply with the Four Agreements for one week
091. Send 20 postcards via postcrossing - Oct08 - Jan09
092. Join the bone marrow donor register - Oct08
093. Talk to 10 strangers (more than just "hi"...) (2/10)
094. Build up to 10 generations in one family on TheSims2 (3/10)
095. Host a Murder Mystery Evening
096. Learn how to & make a quilt
097. Make something for our flat (the quilt doesn't count)
098. Update my blog once a week (6/143) (exceptions will be made for periods away from home, w/o internet access
099. Find a way to get rid of the damn doves on our balcony - they left on their own!

Do You Want To Know a Secret

100. Do not **private misson ** - fail
101. Do **private mission**