While We Were Sleeping

Megan decided to play Barber Shop. Michael decided to be her first customer:


And this is why there's no such thing as a Friday afternoon nap for parents.

The Great Dorkification

"Good Day. You have reached [Name of Company]. We will be closed on Monday, 21 August 2006 due to the public holiday, and will re-open on Tuesday, 22 August 2006. Ki-uh, please - uh, leave a detailed message, including your contact details....bleh! Hnnnuggg. Bllllleeeaaaaaarrrrggh!!! *head-desk, head-desk, head-desk*"

And then the friendly chirp from an amused audience in the room next door: "Don't worry - we weren't listening to that."

Witness Ms. Professional at work! Now I'm always going to be The Girl With The Answering Machine Recording. Great.
I didn't attempt a do-over until the office was deserted. Then I had another four or five tries. There's nothing like listening to a tape-recorded message in your own voice to remind yourself of your innate uncoolness. Go, me!
The one small mercy afforded me in this particular instance was the fact that there was no-one around to witness my attempts at trying to pronounce "Eid Al Is'ra Wal Mi'raj", before eventually giving it up for a bad joke and settling on:

"Good day. You have reached [Name of Company]. As Monday, 21 August has been declared a public holiday, we will be closed until Tuesday, 22 August. Kindly leave a detailed message, including your contact details and we will get back to you on Tuesday. Thank you. Goodbye."

Makes ya wanna call me up and offer me a job, yeah?

When I Grow Up I Want To...

Lower the suspension on my Alfa 145, install a racing seat and harnass, throw some new tyres on and have a go at Autocross.

We were invited by a new acquaintance of David's to check out the Autocross at the Dubai Autodrome last night, and I think I have just found something to do on Saturdays. I watched an Austrian madman do things with a Ford Mustang that turned my blood into petrol!
My car would be perfect for this sport - small, front wheel drive with a powerful engine and the bad-ass motherfucker good looks, all in black, to match.



I got so excited I couldn't be bothered to notice how David emphasised the words "lots of practice" every few seconds while we discussed my possibly taking up the sport.

Calm down, Ma - I'm only talking about it.

For now....

Foot & Mouth; Mad Cow

So we're in the car on the way home from picking up the kids yesterday and I turn around to talk to Megan. She's sitting on the fold-down armrest on the back seat, one hand clutching a box of Nestle Smarties, the other at work, scraping dirt from between her toes and shoving it into her mouth.
And people wonder why I'm a Mad Cow?

It's Official

I start at my new job on Sunday. Feeling just the tiniest bit nervous now. I'm the dog that runs up and down Main Street, chasing cars, and I've just caught the number 44 bus by the right rear tyre...
How fucked up is that? I always do this to myself; I breeze through the interviews, the embodiment of poise and confidence. And then I fall to pieces when they've bought it.
But I still get to go shopping for pretty new things! And I have a few days to just relax and get ready. It's just going to have to be okay and that's all.

In the meantime, there are dishes to wash, there is a neverending mountain of laundry to do and my floors have a date with Mr. Mop.

Later!

Seek And Ye Shall Find...

I've just had a very pleasant second interview with the people who interviewed me yesterday, and they are offering me the job! They'll call me later today with a formal offer and starting date, and then it's all set. It's a receptionist position, but different from all the other reception positions I've had before, my role being mainly to support the research team. This means that I get to learn about the research process in the executive search industry, gain some experience in something new and actually contribute something, instead of stagnating behind a front desk for the rest of my life! I'm pee-in-my-pants excited about this and I can't wait to get started, which is such a refreshing change for me.

And since showing up at the office in jeans and t-shirts is not an option, I get to go shopping too! I'm going to need new make-up, new shoes, skirts/trousers, some nice shirts and maybe even a jacket... Ahh, it's good to be a girl!

Because My Life is Oh, Soooo Titillating...

I'm not even going to try to describe what I've been doing for the past nine days. Mainly because it's been so utterly boring that I just might send you into a permanent coma (so thoughtful, aren't I?). But I'll share the highlights:

Pretty much every day since I last went to the office:

Spent hours upon hours online searching for jobs to apply for, between all the regular reading. Applied for about 11 jobs altogether.

Thursday:

Had an interview around lunchtime. I thought it went very well and hope that a callback sometime today for the second interview will confirm this. Came home, did a load of laundry and read a good chunk of archive at Ari Goes Down.

Friday:

We got up at sparrow's fart, wolfed down a quick breakfast and slapped copious amounts of sunblock on the little people before heading for the beach. Lay lazing in shallow water, watching the kids splash and carrying buckets full of sand and water to and fro. Freaked out and got out of the water upon noticing a human turd floating just inches away from where I lay in the water. End of the beach fun, folks! So we went home, showered, changed and took the kids to see Garfield 2. They behaved beautifully and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I'd happily take them again if the greedy motherfuckers at CineStar didn't charge AED30 per ticket. (Work it out, kids - that was AED120-00 to watch one measly film!) And that's not even counting the popcorn and soft drink (we only bought one!) for which you also get to pay through your nose... Went grocery shopping after the movie and then came home. And that took care of the day until lunchtime. David fell into bed and wasn't seen or heard from again until around four (bastard!).

Yesterday:

More reading of Ari's blog archives, more laundry. Got a call about a job interview (different company) on Monday. Wish me luck!

And here I am today:

typing up this sad excuse for a blog post because, well, there's nothing else to type. And, let's face it - it's easier to confront the fact that I'm pathetic than it is to confront the dishes waiting to be washed...

That being said, I'm all out of things to say and there's nothing for it but to don the gloves (of the rubber variety) and get it over with.

Later!

UPDATE: Just got another call for an interview this afternoon at 15:00. (Different company once again, but right behind my apartment building!) Wish me more luck!

Roots & Dust

I read this post at one of my favourite blogs a short while ago. I can't pretend to know much at all about Apartheid or about the horrors endured by so many under it. A white child, sheltered from the images of black children's suffering, my demons were known by other names.

But I have vivid pictures of that red dust, coating my long, blonde ponytail, staining the little white ankle socks that were part of almost every schoolgirl's uniform, ingrained in the scuffed leather of my black school shoes after yet another fight with some other kid behind the school tuckshop...
Rooigrond. Red ground.

Years later, on the other side of the planet, those images fill my head with the scent of that dust, stir up the old monsters... and also a hint of homesickness.

That iron-rich soil has a spirit of it's own, tenacious, unrelenting. Children of South Africa know; walk in that red soil once and it will follow you wherever you go, it's redness a siren, sounding to remind you: Remember where you come from.