I have no idea how it happened – but I missed my blog’s 1st birthday!
Yep, my blog was one year old on the 11th :0)
How strange…
Looking at today’s post one year ago, I’m amazed at the about-face in content. It seems I’m in danger of loosing my Nerd-badge!
Be that as it may, it’s been a happy year online – filled with intrigue, fun and new friendships.
Browsing through some photostreams on my People sidebar in Flock, I recognized myself in Tresblue’s “Second Mossel Bay Seminar” set. It was an Internet Marketing seminar he hosted for the company webactiv8 – which I thoroughly enjoyed and, as a matter of fact, seriously motivated me to nurture my (then fledgling) blog.
Kudos!
Now for the pics:
Yes, I wear crocks with socs in winter.
I am multitask.
I say the darnest things…
We giggle, we learn.http://youtube.com/v/rZ01-aqXOdM
If I could come back as a drag queen, in my next life – I’d want to be Cher!
A woman has an affair during the day while her husband is at work. Her nine-year-old son comes home unexpectedly, sees the illegal lovers and hides in the bedroom cupboard to watch. Then the woman’s husband unexpectedly comes home.
She hides her lover in the cupboard, not realizing that her little boy is in there already.
The little Boy says: “Dark in here.”
The Man says: “Yes, it is.”
Boy: “I have a soccer ball, do you want to buy it?”
Man: “No, thanks.”
Boy: “My dad’s outside, I’ll call him if you don’t buy it!”
Man: “OK, how much?”
Boy: “R250-00.”
A few weeks later it happened again and the boy and the lover were in the cupboard together again.
Boy: “Dark in here”.
Man: “Yes, it is.”
Boy: “I have soccer boots.”
The Man, remembering the last time, asks the boy: “How much?”
The Boy says:”R750-00.”
The Man says: “Fine, I will buy them.”
A few days later, the Father says to the boy: “Grab your ball and boots, let’s go outside and have a game.”
The Boy says: “I can’t, I sold them for R1000.”
The Father says: “That’s terrible to overcharge your friends like that… R1000 is way more than those two things cost. I’m going to take you to church and make you confess your sins.” They go to church and the father makes the little boy sit in the confession booth and he closes the door.
The Boy says: “Dark in here.”
The Priest says: “Don’t start that sh!t again! This is my church and not your father’s house!”
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I got this joke in my inbox today – gave me a good giggle. But the punch-line bugged me, somehow. I tried to shrug it off and get some work done – but the gnawing in my mind kept getting worse.
I finally gave up and tried to figure out what was going on. Then it hit me:
“This is My church and not your Father’s House…”
Now I’m not going to make a soap-box moment of this – but I realized that this sentence holds the key to a great revelation. I’m still hacking at the lock, but it feels like most of the unhappiness in the world is caused by a similar mentality:
This is MY church and NOT your Father’s House.
This is MY presidency, MY company, MY rules…
The answer to serenity, peace and harmony is, of course, the antithesis:
“This is NOT my church, but your Father’s House.”
May God, as you understand God, reclaim the Place you need from those who deny you yourself.
Friends, visitors and everyone else,
click through to Stormhoek and buy.
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| Hexwell Ntsewuia is the cellar foreman in Stormhoek production in the Bovlei cellar. His wife is Letitia and they have 1 child. | Manus Samuels is a vineyard worker in a Stormhoek vineyard at Welvanpas. He and his wife Margaretha have 3 sons. | Ludwe Simon is a cellar worker, looking after Stormhoek wines in the Bovlei cellar, Wellington. He and Lucia have 1 child. |
Blogged with Flock
… and a lot easier than running around the school yard!
So there’s this meme floating around the blogosphere – let’s call it 8Tagg, seeing as how it requires you to reveal 8 things about yourself that people don’t know.
First you list aforementioned 8 things.
Then you “tagg” a string of your blog-buddies. (This is apparently done by hotlinks, pingbacks and somesuch. I’m placing my hope on Technorati to inform those I tag, seeing as how Blogger doesn’t support pingbacks – as far as I know.)
Tagging someone makes them “It” (fond memories right there…), which means they now have to do the same.
So, in the spirit of Twain’s first meme, here goes:
1. I never ended an educational phase (pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary) in the same school I started it. With my Dad being one of the few Land Surveyors in SA, we moved around a lot. I guess it became a habit.
2. I’m a Geminian Earth Horse (Gemini sun and rising, Sagittarius moon, year of the Horse etc). This apparently also explains my bouts of wanderlust.
3. I love writing, but I suck at correspondence. (Okay, maybe you knew that *lol*)
4. I have an immense urge to snap my fingers over the flame when people light their cigarettes with a candle. (Somewhere deep inside, my inner child still believes that fairies die if you don’t.)
5. I joined AA at the beginning of 2008. (Not very anonymous of me, is it?)
6. I’m addicted to puff pastry – especially if it’s baked around a Russian. (But I try to avoid all starch in my diet.)
7. Quitting smoking was harder than quitting alcohol or starch. (1 month and 20 puff-free days now!)
8. I fall in love with faces. (Flickr breaks my heart every week ;0) hehe.)
Now, who’ll be “It” then? checkitout:
– Geoff – my best blog-buddy, all the way from Idaho,
– Jayx – one of the zaniest characters to’ve lit up my life since my move to the Garden Route,
– Tresblue – he who got me blogging for real,
– Jockohomo – I’m a fan! A giant of the online world and my daily dose of provocation/inspiration,
– Warrior Scout – he who’s kickin tina and inspiring me along the way.
I’ve tried not to tagg people who’ve already been 8Tagged. If I inadvertently did so, please accept my sincere apologies.
(Please advise if I’m somehow not adhering to proper online conduct in tagging you, or transgressing in any other way for that matter.)
Now this is a print I wouldn’t mind owning! Talk about brilliant information design! It’s simple, easy to understand and provides all the relevant information you require! (To top it all – it’s beautiful!)
Country Codes of the World (Byte Level Research)
Blogged with Flock
This is a good story (and is apparently true).
“I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. Our lecturer was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called: “Smile”. The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and theneven my husband did. I did not move an inch… an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.
He said, “Good day” as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, “Coffee is all Miss” because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm.) Then I really felt it – the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.” I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, “I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.”
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope.” We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given, were we able to give.
We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings – and being part of God – share this need to heal people and to be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: Unconditional acceptance.
Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to Love people and use things – not to love things and use people.
My awesome parents.
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Mom got me with my mouth full!
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Our little one – taking on the Atlantic ;0)
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I feel like someone is trying to tell me something… but I’m not sure what that is. Will elaborate soon.
