Scattered Brainings XVI

* Anyone else have a routine they follow when they first arrive at work? For me, it’s simple: I go through my e-mails, have a mug of tea… and have a look at some comics & memes on my favourite sites. It only takes about 5 minutes, if that, which makes me feel a little less guilty about going onto these sites in the first place. At least I’m a diligent worker for the rest of the day.

* Smudgy might be against healthy snacking. Why else would she steal the apple I wanted to take along to work from the kitchen counter… twice? Oh, wait, that’s right – (a) it was small enough to be considered a toy, and (b) she’s a cat, so she does whatever she wants. Like sleeping on my brand new coat before I even wear it.

* Not having drowned thus far during aqua aerobics feels like a great accomplishment to me. Yeay exercise!

* I know you’re supposed to feel flattered when people think you’re younger than you really are. I’m just wondering at what point in your life this is supposed to be complementary and when the guesstimated difference is a bit too extreme or even astonishing. The women in my aqua aerobics class thought I was only 15 or 16 years old! (I’m told it’s because I’m so small & ‘skinny’.) Now imagine their expressions when they hear that I’m married and how old I actually am. The shock value / surprised faces are really quite amusing.

* The weather is cold, and for the past week I’ve been wearing not-really-heat-inducing jerseys at work with the sleeves rolled up because I feel warm & semi-claustrophobic. I’m too young to be getting hot flashes, right?

* Pink macaroons taste like Bakers Zoo Cookies. If you live in South Africa, go buy one at a Limnos Bakery and tell me I’m wrong. They are awesome!

* We’re watching the second season of GAME OF THRONES at the moment. While interesting, I can’t help but want to groan in joint despair and annoyance when we have to see another person’s naked form and all that hoo-ha. Get on with the story already!

* Also, has anyone else joked that Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly are like Frodo Baggins & Samwise Gamgee in LOTR? Come one: Samwell – Samwise? Both a bit portly, well-meaning, supportive and a true friend? Jon and Frodo each with their own type of burdens to bear and roles to fulfil / adventures to go on? No? Just me, then…

* Is it weird that I find it weird that people don’t think it’s weird to have a whole conversation while in cubicles/stalls at a public/work restroom? Weird.

Let’s cancel today

I don’t know why I bothered getting out of bed this morning.

I woke up at 05:30, decided to stay in bed until 06:00… and then realized, hey, the power’s out! Look outside – all the streetlights and traffic lights are off, as well. At least I knew that we weren’t the only ones affected. I lighted some candles, stumbled around Smudgy (who was really affection, purring, allowing me to pick her up and carry her around while petting her), got ready for work, and then spent half an hour trying to get my Significant Other out of bed.

I arrived at work at 07:30. I couldn’t disarm the section of the building I work in because it wouldn’t accept my code (again). I had to hang around in the reception area for a few minutes until someone who has the authority to disarm and enter any section was able to do it for me. Walk into our section, switch on all the lights, get my computer up and running… And the office is a ghost town. There’s nobody else but me for the next 40 minutes.

By this time I’ve sorted out my desk, gone through e-mails, checked what I need to do for the day, and still sit wishing that I could be in bed sleeping/ reading a book – we’re having such cold, rainy weather, after all, and I love it.

Our offices are closing at 12:00 today. That’s three & a half hours from now. Just enough time to start kind-of-sort-of-maybe getting into my work, not feel in the mood to do it, keep wishing I were reading instead, and sit browsing memes until it’s time to leave. This could turn out to be a highly unproductive day (which could either make me feel extremely guilty or highly indifferent).

So yes, I think it would have been a good idea to just cancel today and skip over to the weekend – a sentiment I am sure many people will agree with.

Have an amazing Fried-day, readers! xx

Holiday cheer?

I’m not sure how festive this season will turn out to be…

We’re standing at the 5^th of December, and I have yet to hear any Christmas music blaring in the shopping centres. The closest I’ve come to this was when my Significant Other and I were sitting in a restaurant last Thursday evening and a total of two (if even) Christmassy songs played softly in the background. The only thing going on in the shopping centres is absolute madness. This past weekend proved it, and I am glad that all my Christmas shopping is done… because if it was bad last weekend, it’s only going to get exponentially worse once schools close this coming Friday. Having the kiddies around the complex is going to be a reeeaaal treat for my Significant Other…

One of the local radio stations launched the Boney M Acclimatisation Program (BMAP) in November. Every other morning, they play a Boney M song, allowing people to get used to the so-called ‘brainwashing-waves’ (brainwashing + brainwaves, get it?)  in hopes to help them from spending all their money on gifts when their ears are assaulted by the festive tunes. Although this is cute and funny/ silly, I find it rather hard to swallow how people use aforementioned music as an excuse for their excessive shopping. ‘Oh, it wasn’t my fault – the Boney M music started playing, and it was like I lost control of my mental faculties. Really, I couldn’t help myself!!’ *roll eyes*

Okay, everybody, let's put more spendy frenzy into the chorus!

Great, so now everybody is against Christmas music… religious nuts, shoppers, my Significant Other… I started listening to some festive tunes yesterday, then felt ‘guilty’ because my S.O. doesn’t much care for it (even though I had my headphones on and he wasn’t there), so I turned it off.

Then there’s the little matter of Christmas trees. I wrapped all our gifts yesterday (hurray for me!) and will be putting up our little tree this evening, which is a step in the festive direction for our domicile. I’m not sure the same can be said for my parental home. It’s the first year since forever – probably since my older sister was little, which makes it 27 years ago – that my parentals will have a fake Christmas tree. Although it’s nice to have a real tree, it just becomes more and more expensive every year, and if you add all of that up over the years, it’s a lot of money! With a fake tree – nice and tall to fit into their living room with the high ceiling – you save money in the long run, plus you help to save some trees. All that’s good and well, but the reason I don’t think that things are all tinsel and baubles and happy sparkling lights, is the fact that my younger sister Addy refuses to decorate the fake tree… which she calls ‘that thing’ with great antagonism.

My work here is done...

Oh, and did I mention how I was looking forward to the release of the latest edition of the Sarie Kos (Sarie Food) magazine, only to find nothing Christmassy about it? *shakes head* Perhaps I should have some of those ‘Christmas’ truffles I bought to make myself feel better.

I could always spread some of the holiday cheer around the office by baking some cookies! My Significant Other bought me some more cookies cutters over the weekend, so now I have a Christmas tree, snowman and reindeer I can use! Since I’ll be working until the 23^rd of December (and I think others will, as well), I’m sure we’ll be needing those sweet treats to boost our morale.

Plus point: summer hasn’t been very summery over here thus far (yesterday’s 37 degrees Celsius excluded), so I’m hoping for a cool Christmas. It’ll sure beat unbearable heat and help fight off sluggishness and irritability (not the best combination for happy faces and feelings of harmony)…

So, how do you feel about Christmas 2011?