Tag: sheena

Two girls, One Flat, a Lifetime of History #LoveChange

It’s Tuesday and I’m bucking a little trend today, and making this Throwback Tuesday! Why? Because I can, and because this post got me thinking. It got me thinking about the village of colourful characters that make up our life, and that one time in a flat on a hill where two gals had a barrage of great ideas and a litany of funny stories to tell. 

I’ve been thinking about Sheena a lot recently, as our friendship and connection has taken on a zillion different mediums over the years. We’ve been through what feels like a million metamorphoses, and yet the easy nature of how she and I talk to each other stays the same. She says it on her blog so well, when she describes me as “Cath – my ex-housemate, soulmate and sharer of womb in another lifetime.  We’ve been in each others lives forever, we just didn’t know it”.

Sheena and Cath
Two girls, One flat, A lifetime of history

It always makes some people’s eyebrows shoot up when we tell them that we had never truly met, in person, before deciding that we’d like to be housemates. Hah. Truth is, what started as mutual blog stalking, turned into Facebook messaging, and then I actually think I invited her to live with us via a blog comment, that mentioned lavender and baby powder. But, let’s back up a bit…

Cath and Sheena
I miss this girl like I miss the point sometimes.

My friendship with Sheena started with a simple Facebook message, after we’d “mutually stalked” each other online, thanks to the then-little world of blogging in SA. Back then, there were very few bloggers in South Africa, and we all sort of found each other through the Queen, Tertia. Sheena and I shared our stories with each other, without inhibition, because we both knew that blogging was therapeutic for us. We’d laugh at each other’s chaos and calamities, and commiserate together over our sad moments. We had written a hilarious history book together, full of quips and private references, long before we’d even met.

When I was in my teens, my dad used to tell me how the poetry I’d write and the graffiti I emblazoned on my wardrobe was my “primeval swamp”, because, from there, I’d hone my craft and learn to write. For me, I think the primeval swamp became blogging, and from it, grew not just my career, but my village too. Sheena, for me, has always been – and always will be – the head chief of that village.

Our time living together was peppered with laughter, fighting over how to hang the laundry (yes, really) and, as young adults trying to find their place in the world, we would talk long into the night about our respective hopes for charting our ways through life.

We’d laugh over our fears of being alone for the rest of our lives, and how we’d probably never “settle down”. Sheena taught me not to doubt my inner voice – she reminded me not to let anyone question my parenting, unless they had a damn good reason to. Sheena stuck with me as I faced a horrible time in our life, and she helped me laugh at it, because… “the best thing you can do to get past something that scares you, is poke fun at it”. Sheena was a friend to me at the worst of times, and another mom to my kid when she needed a circle.

Of course, we were never going to live in our little big flat on the hill forever. We’d talked about our dreams and hopes, the futures we would create. And then the time came where we needed to stop talking about them, and start making them.

The rest, as they say, is history. Sheena’s gone on to create the career we always knew she would, and marry the love of her life (turns out, he was actually not just around the corner, but a little bit more inland…). I’ve gone on to be the writer she believed I always would be, even when I did not believe it myself, and to have the family unit I dreamed of, but had sometimes deemed impossible. Sheena would always believe in my dreams for me, when I could not. She still does. 

While we live in different places now, and our lives have the hue of the dreams we’d dare each other to dream at 2am, over boxes of tens and laughter… yet, the essence of who we are remains. Life changes came at us and we at them, like cheese on toast. But us? Our village is exactly as it always was, just bigger. Our life in the little big flat on the hill was colourful and sometimes so noisy. But from colour and chaos, has been built a village. Thank you, funny girl on the Internet, for helping me believe in the village.

I’m tagging Sheena to share her story on how life has changed since we lived in that little big flat on the hill. YOU should get involved too, because BrightRock are looking for your #LoveChange story.

Sheena replied to my post here and it’s BEAUTIFUL! 

 

Are you a budding writer? Then #LoveChange and win!

BrightRock loves change and now, they’re looking for your big change story. Share your story about your experiences with one of Life’s biggest Change Moments – whether it’s Landing that Job, Tying the knot, Starting a Family or Making a Home – and you could win R2 000 in cash and the chance to become a regular contributor on BrightRock’s exciting Change Exchange. It’s an asking, learning, sharing, changing space – packed with tips and tools to help people live through, and even love, life’s greatest Change Moments. I love reading each piece as they’re published, because life – even though I hate change haha! – has taught me that Change Moments are what make life move forward!

Change Exchange Writer Competition

Here’s how to win:

Submit your #LoveChange story – of no more than 650 words via the “Your Story” tab on the Change Exchange. Feel free to upload a pic to go with it, or include a link to an Instragram pic or YouTube video. You’ll find all the competition rules on the Change Exchange. Get writing folks, because this is a damn good way to kickstart your dream! 

A few good men.

<insert schmaltzy but serious post here>

Today is one of my bestie’s, aka, Sheena‘s two year anniversary with the fantastic Jon.

Upon waking this morning, after calling my Shmooshy and waking him up as he wanted me to (*heart*), I was alerted to the fact that Jon woke Sheena up this morning with coffee and beautiful flowers. Having just had me and the Shmoo’s 20 months, I’m all hearts and flowers myself. In fact, scrap that, for just over 20 months, I have been all hearts and flowers myself. Sheena has been for just over two years.

That brings up some perspective. Some very serious, very life-changing perspective. You see, I have some favourite love stories. My all time headline top one is that of my friends, Angel and Glugster. I know Sheena will agree with me that, this one, is a love story that inspired us on the days when we both thought, for a long time, that love – real, enduring, curl your toes and soothe your soul all the way through, love, was beyond us.

You see, when Sheena and I lived together (in our much younger, less schmaltzy days :P), we would often discuss the topic of love. Of how we’d both been led into love, led out of love, and how we had both made some absolute mind-boggling errors in supposed love. Sheena saw me a through an ultimate heartbreak, that ended up with me realising more about myself, and led me to realising some life dreams. Were it not for that heartbreak, I would not be who or where I am today. Were it not for that heartbreak, and all of them that went before, I would not know or have the love I have today. And I have it, in abundance.

Here’s the thing, though. Sheena and I would talk of love often. Daily, in fact. We’d laugh over our follies, muddle through our sometimes lack of faith that it existed for us in the future, and resolved to just marry each other if noone worthy ever showed up on our doorstep.

Oh. How. Wrong. We. Were.  

The thing about love, real love, is that it is almost always unexpected. Sheena did not expect that, one day – in the not too distant future, she’d be taking  a road trip home to her mama and fall in love on the way. I did not expect that, one day – in the same not too distant future, I’d be coming home from a trip to Cape Town and have someone waiting for me. I did not expect at all, that he’d get down on one knee and give me a post-it note that would change my life entirely.

We expected none of this love.

And, in there, I guess is the life lesson. When living without expectation, great things happen. You see, we’d always been told that, but we never really thought we were entirely worthy of it. Instead, we preferred to laugh at our own (and each other’s!) mistakes, and try and fathom our way towards a life that was without that great love story.

Today, though, we look back and we email each other and laugh. We marvel at how our mood swings get dealt with by our significant others, we laugh at the notion that we have significant others and how it’s not a weird cosmic joke that they’re really ours to love.  We share our cute stories of things they’ve done, and marvel at our stupendous luck. Our extreme joy.

There was a time in our lives when we felt let down, disappointed, and eager to cover up our hurts with a flippant “I’m fine”. There was a time in our lives when we’d pretend we were the poster girls for Surviving Singledom – we’d watch Bridget Jones over and over again for inspiration, and commiserate over the rather apt resonations of ourselves on the screen.

There was a time in our lives when we believed that love was for other people. Today, we both know that love…our love that we’ve been so incredibly blessed with, is for us.

Happy Anniversary Sheena and Jon.

(and Jon, apologies for my heinous hair and screeching nature when we met the very first time in my driveway. I promise I’m sane).

(and Shmooshy, I love you like there are not limericks enough)

<3

things i miss about Sheena.

this had me snotting on my sleeve. we miss you too, fuckbitch.

truth is, life’s moved on. we both live in different houses now. but, we’re actually exactly the same still, whether in the same room (which is when we’d be texting each other) or in different towns (which is when we email each other one-liners).

1. The ability to call someone a fuckbitch and have them not get offended.

2. Sheen’s superior way to sum up a situation and then tell me how i have it completely wrong, without having me want to punch you in the junk for it.

3. Domestic fallouts about laundry, the fact that i wash the dishes too many times in one day (please note, I have it down to twice a day now. seriously. i have trained myself) and, of course… “67 reasons why towels should be folded, not rolled. or rolled, not folded. oh, i don’t care, just check if we have wine”.

4. Half-tide tea. i still battle to make a full cup.

5. The arched-eyebrowed ‘mmmmm’ Sheena would give me when i would throw my heart at something she always knew was not worthwhile. It’s always hard to convince that tough cookie of anything.

6. The way you’d grab my hand and say “learn to say no, Cath”. Learning to say no is still my hardest lesson but, I’m learning.

7. How we could fight and it would not hurt. With Sheen, I know it always come from the place of “look, I get you, I love you but, fuck you”. Heh.

8. 3am ‘no, seriously, it’s bedtime’ conversations.

9. Waking Sheen up every morning by letting Cam into her room. It made Cam’s day.

10. Sitting on the kitchen counter and purging every single past life hurt, and then laughing about it. Thank you very much, T-shirt Boy.

11. Sitting on the lounge floor and forcing ourselves to laugh at life’s miseries, over a box of tens and presents with “with love from Sue” on them.

12. Knowing that, no matter how bad a day got, we knew we were going somewhere. Even if it was backwards, just for a little bit.

13. Being able to bust into Sheen’s room, say nothing and have her respond with either a face of “OMFG! OMG! Hands in the air and play track 6!” or “who.the.fuck.do.they.think.they.are”, from what she’d overheard. Note, the second type happened ALOT at The Shath. Note, the first type would happen ALOT if she was in my house nowadays.

And, I’m done. for tonight.

so, here’s a thing.

But it’s actually my good. Heh.


It’s been a while since i blogged properly. yeah, you know, the usual round of excuses but, here they are:

1. i have been fuckoff busy. no, really. this year, the year of Zen is Zen but, what I forgot to mention was that it’s FuckOffBusyZen. So, yeah.

2. I may or may not be diverting my latenight monitor tanning in the direction, sometimes, of my bed. The truth is, I’m working on that insomnia we all know and hate. Shmooshy has even assigned himself as my personal “gotosleepandstayasleep” guru-type person. It works. I slept for 9 straight hours on Saturday. As you well know, that shit just doesn’t happen with me.  The divine sleep is undoubtedly helped along by the divine company.

3. A new thing I’m learning too. The power of laziness. No, really. Brainshutdown and do nothing. I do not have the innate ability to just do nothing. Like, watching the telly. Really, I don’t watch it. And, if I do, I’m watching something with Cam or probably being really useful and folding laundry simultaneously. And mentally scaling mountains. And probably tweeting about it. And hashtagging it. ROTFL at #laundryduty.

4. So, this being lazy stuff. It’s doing a hell of a lot of good for my stress levels. You see, by the time Friday rolls around, I’m probably an untangled ball of string every week. I have a lot of demands on my plate. That’s not a whine, it’s a fact. It’s how I roll and I cope with it. It’s how I rock it. And I am okay with it. But, yes, by Friday, it’s not uncommon for me to want to throw my hands in the air and middle-finger the planet. Hey, at least I make it look good and spend my time devoted to giving my all to whatever is in front of me.

5. Right, this is the part you’re going to hate. There are currently some frustrations in my life that  I am plain old choosing not to blog about. No, it’s nothing bad that I cannot handle. But yes, for the sake of people I love, I’m not blogging about them. Right now, they are what I need to vent about but, I cannot and will not here. There’s no point and it would hurt someone I love very much if I did. So, I choose not to. And to help me alongwith it, Shmooshy is who I vent to about it. We do that. We co-vent. It’s awesome. *swoon*

6. I’m still a little awed. Recently, I was privileged and blown away by a large amount of my ‘friends who live inside the computer’ (thanks, Tertia, for that term!). The truth is, when faced with something so horrible, that I had not spoken of publicly, and then to be surrounded by love when I opened up about it, completely awed me. I kinda feel like I am fully strong and yet, anything I say next will pale in comparison. Am I making sense? I can’t even begin to fully explain the immense love and strength my friends have given me. In buckets of bucketloads. I am left wordless by all of your love and hey, that’s my sixth reason. It’s a damned good and awesome reason.

7. Cam. My daughter is amazing. With her great love for the world at large, and the people in her life. Her absolute exuberance towards each new day (okay, weekdays it sometimes wavers…i mean, who really ever wanted to go to school?!?) inspires me. As she grows, learns and flourishes in things I did not succeed at, at that age…I am left marvelling at her ability to overcome and to not give up. I am so proud of her tenacity and her excitement for life. I’m even prouder to report her new-found favourite thing…the starchart. Or, in our house, the Smileyface chart. Twas her suggestion, and we worked it out together – what she would get smiley faces for, and how often we would do them. She cannot wait to fill it, and get her big surprise. On that note, it better be a big one because she is doing so freaking well. Mamapride knows no bounds. As for the starchart thing, why don’t adults have them too? I am almost certain we could improve the planet ten-fold in one week, if we implemented starcharts for every adult too. Just a thought…Anyway, I digress. I’m making more of a conscious effort to truly be with my child. To be lazy with her, to lie in the sun more often and to just do nothing or anything. I see you looking at me, a bit cock-eyed whilst reading this because you may think I spend as much time as possible with her and I do try to…but, I feel her fifth birthday looming large on the horizon and am panicked. I cannot believe she is nearly five, and I just want to know that I have truly cherished every moment of her life.

8. A while ago. Someone with whom I am no longer friends (Sheena and Larcy know who this is) told me that I had no time in my life for anyone other than myself, my job and my kid. I made no apologies to this person’s very wrong assumption of me and happily deleted their email. And the one they sent after that too. And the one they sent after that, too, which begged me, after unceremoniously and without invitation, ripping into my life and demanding immediate attention, to give even more attention, when I barely knew them. That person’s lack of respect towards me, my choices and my life at large did actually bite though. And it left me doubting for a while that I actually could be all that I have to be, want to be, love to be, in this life. It threw me more than I would like to admit, at a time when I already felt thrown. It bit and it hurt and, for a while, it made me believe that I was not destined for anything more in my life. It made me doubt myself and my ability to truly commit to anyone beyond myself. It made me determined though, to prove that little doofus wrong. And, truth is, he was. (Wait, dude, do you still read this? Lol.) The truth is he was and is entirely wrong. And here’s why… The fact is that my boyfriend (yeah, you know, the clever, terribly talented, superhot, loves me and Cam like there’s no tomorrow one…yeah, that one!) and I both have busy lives. And we both respect each other’s lives. In fact, there’s no question about it. The absolute last thing I would ever want is for him to give up or sideline something important to him, for the sake of me. And likewise, the last thing he would want is for me to give up or sideline something important to me, for the sake of him. Cha. Look at that. Respect. And I learnt this entirely from him. The truth is, when you’ve been wandering the avenues of fuckwittage for as long as I have, you really become cynical and jaded about the whole process of relationships. And then, if you’re lucky, like me, you have the world’s most understanding listener walk into your life, listen to you and love you. Even at 2am when you have mad hair and cannot sleep. Even when you just need to scream and end up making ugly grunting noises over things that you cannot avoid and which annoy the living daylights out of you. My point here is quite simple. I’m not blogging as much because I’m busy holding Shmooshy’s hand under the table whilst we eat breakfast, get a little sunshine, be completely lame about each other and cuddle. I think that’s a damn fine reason for a little slump in number of blog posts per day/week/month/timezone.

Complaints? Questions?

I didn’t think so.

I know you’re still smiling for me as you read this.

Es. Oh. Tea. Dee.

The Shath Sisters 🙂

For Sheena and I.

When I read her most recent post and then compared it my own life.

I realised and remembered two things. Both of these things, she’ll understand immediately.

1. Shath symmetry.

2. Sit with me on this beach.

Happy smiles for the Shath UnScissoring Sisters. Thank you for keeping me believing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x43gz4bKnFI]

Dear Sheena, a random thought

I will not tolerate bleakness.

It’s YOU who kept me believing.

And trust me, you and I both know I had more than enough molasses of crap to try and halt my faith in life.

Consider this your arsekicking. You’ve done it for me numerous times.

Remember that time you made me listen very loudly to a song whilst you drove too fast down a one way road and we went and shopped and laughed and i said NO to a waistcoat and yes to everything else?

Remember that time I shat you out so badly I reckon your mother would’ve trembled?

Remember that time I came home and cried and we remote karaoked?

Remember that time you came home and spoke of THAT place that I’m not allowed to mention and you’re snortcoptering as you read this?

Remember every single one of those times and remember that things have been worse.

There have been bleaker days and hey, at least we’re human and not dancers.

What is gone, is gone. What remains is what’s honest. What stays is what’s real.

We’re not here to survive. We’re here to flourish.

You knew that before me. Remember that.

Through smit and through shit. Twin powers activate.

Revenge and Cupcakes on an Aeroplane

It started with a phonecall. That I missed. Heh. Larcy was round for tea and tuck
that night, and I picked up my phone just as it went to voicemail. It was Angel.
I listened to the voicemail, disbelievingly looked at larcy and said:
You know how I was just saying I kinda wish Sheena’s birthday was here so that you
could actually, like, meet her? Well, Angel and Glugster want to fly me up for it!
Heh. What should I do?
My heart said:
Go.
Go, because it meant being able to be there for Sheena’s 25th. We all know my theory
on the 25th year. Oh, Sheena, I owe you a phonecall about that one…
Go, because, truth be told, I owe the bitch because of last year’s birthday, when she
engineered my surprise party and had me in fits of tears and insults towards my best
mates.
Go, because, Cath, you can.
So, under a thickly-spread veil of lard and bleak emails, I conned Sheena into
believing that I was very, very bleak about missing it. Over six weeks, talking every
day to the madam, and laying it on thick like never before, I did it.
I kept checking the calendar. I’d be lying if I said that Angel and I didn’t count
down via morning text message. We did. Most of them were something like:
OMG! THREE SLEEPS LEFT!!!!
Hehe. Fuck, i love my friends.
So, with Cam packed off to her dad for the weekend, Friday woke up and I left the
office by ten. Way too distracted to sit around and wait for the day to roll by, I
had my hair cut, went home and finished packing. When Will came round with the now
infamous ‘big ‘n gay’ suitcase, and my stuff only *just* fitted in it.. Hey, don’t
judge me… a girl needs options, you know. I can actually fit my entire self into
that suitcase. True story.
So, off we went to the airport, I checked in and settled down for a bit of lunch and
even more Sheena-ragging. Dude! I called you from the airport! ROTFL.
Soon enough, that little green plane had me touching down in good old Egoli, were I
was met by Angel and Glugster, carrying gorgeous flowers and an insane balloon.
Before I even go there. Before I even start on the events that transpired, of tears
shat and maniacal laughter…I want to tell you about Angel and Glugster.
You see, dear audience of twelve, Angel and Glugster found me via Sheena. And when
Angel started her regular ‘blog stalkings’ of me, and I of both her and
even-numbering-obsessed Gluggie, I started patching together the pieces of their
lives. I fell in love with their story. And most of all, I fell straight into
inspiration. Here was Angel, rocking single mama who had finally found the man who
loved her and her child without boundary. And here was Glugster. A true gentleman who
so absolutely loves his now wife-to-be and her son. A love story through the good old
blog. When my life hit a horrible rocky turn last year, Angel and Glugster stood by
me, in ways I cannot even elucidate. They loved me from afar and when I finally met
them, on my lounge floor, whilst playing with Cam, I was, truth be told, awed.
They’re both grinning and blushing whilst reading this, I am okay with this. Their
love knows no boundaries, and it extends to Cameron and I. When I said that good
things and good people have come to me via this little habit of mine, once regarded
as disdainful, i’m not shitting you. Cameron calls them “the angel without wings and
the man who loves her”. Angel and Neels, I just wanted to say thank you. Such little
words, but so heartfelt. Just, thank you. For you, every day, my heart says a prayer.
You know why.
So, they picked me up and we ferried off to an Italian restaurant where the waiter
knew very little (“what is this brandy stuff you speak of?”) and the food awesome.
“What is this no cocktail menu rule of yours? are you insane?”. Okay, I admit, the
bad waiter mojo is my fault. 😛
And we laughed. Laughed so hard. Laughed so much. Hey, Angel, you didn’t show me your
cupcake! Waha.
And then, home. To sleep and be warm and be ready for the onslaught of Gold Reef
City. Warm and snug, I thought to myself, and of course, unable to tweet or say
anything, I thought.. “heh, i am lucky and heh, Sheena, dude, revenge is so sweet”.
Saturday opened up her eyes and the sun shone – good thing too, because I would’ve
frozen my youknowwhats off if it hadn’t.
I got to sit with Angel whilst she created the SheBee and 8unni cupcakes and truly,
Angel, if I let Cameron loose in your kitchen, I fear you will never recover. Hehe.
It’s a kitchen making heaven in a cupcake, right there, and oh boy, Cam will just
freak out in excitement.
And off we went, after doing a little network setup for the Knucklehead and his mate.
By the way, Knucklehead, you are so, so, so much like my very-missed friend, Dewald.
Truly. Thank you for your time and laughing with me, and for putting me on to some
pretty cool bands I’m going to get hold of. Now, where do i get that hairdye!?!)
Dropping the cupcakes off at Primi, and a quick smokebreak later, we arrived at Gold
Reef City. Hiding behind Neels all the way, and of course, showing off my bra to
Angel in the parking lot (Cath standard operating procedure, of course), we met Craig
and Sam in the queue. Thanks, you two, for getting us our tickets so we didn’t have
to slog the queue for half an hour.
Hugs all round, and we’re standing outside the Tower of Terror. I hid behind the wall
when Sheena emerged, still shaking from that shit-yourself of
who-the-fuck-would-even-want-to-do-that-ride.
Hugs all round again, and still she hadn’t seen me…
So, I pounced, hand over her mouth and I said
“Hey, tart, what’s sweeter than birthday cake?”
Which is when I yanked her head back and said
“Revenge!”
Angel says Sheena and I have our own language. True story, we do. insert hand
motions, a cup of tea and a “the chocolate is full of bath” phrase, and we do. But,
that language didn’t exist for ten minutes whilst we both shat tears and jumped
around.
Truth be told, a number of people not part of the gang and the gag must’ve thought
“are these two retarded or just still screaming from the tower of terror?”
To my endearingly termed fuckbitch and former Shath-mate, I got you. I got you so
well I live in fear of my 30th birthday. Heaven help me for how you’re going to repay
me for this one. You’re probably in evil planning stages now. I think I’m going into
hiding June through to July next year.
I got to meet so many people, round the lunch table at the world’s worst Mugg n Bean,
with the world’s worst waiter (see, told you I have that mojo) and Craig got to bitch
about his very teeny tiny garnish salad.
We moved off after eating, and I practiced my ball skills to try and get a pink shark
for Cam. Turns out my ball skills have nothing to do with the actual sport
equipment,if you get my drift. Heh.
My favourite part of Gold Reef City has to be the Kiddies section. Maybe it’s because
I’m a mama. Maybe it’s because I know Cam would love it there. Yes, my notsobabygirl,
you’re coming with next time, I promise.
With the help of our crew, Neels won Cam a stuffed dog. His name is Sheeba Bolt
Snickerdoodle, and he’s fast asleep now, paws wrapped up inside Cameron’s little
arms. Thank you, my friends.
Another table, another group of people and I started to feel like this was
fast-becoming one of my top five weekends of life. True story, I think it has. We
laughed and talked and joked ’til the sun started to set.
And, then, off to Primi for dinner, drinks and debauchery. That said, noone danced on
the table (chairs don’t count, girls :P) and Sheena managed to get through the night
without having one of the girls pop out, hah.
I met so many wonderful people. Funny. Hilarious, in fact. I knew that already from
our twitter karaoke and banter. What I didn’t expect was how much you’d all feel so
much like home to me.
On that note, though, yes, dudes, I really am this short. I know I come across as
much taller, I get that alot, but, yes, I really am this short. Yes, jokes do fly
over my head (that was a new one) and yes, I really do shop in the kiddie
sectionsometimes.
In no particular order (and if i forget anyone, please forgive me now, I’m writing
this a few days later and i left my notebook at the office!) :
Jon – I’m getting to you just now. From meeting you in my driveway on a Sunday
afternoon to your now well-honed ability to put up with all that is Sheena, your
smile says it all.
8unni – from one single mama to another, keep rocking it, chick.
Flea – wahaha. Dude, I’ve licked your face. You can stay 😛
Richard – fuckoffsideways, you really are that tall.
Rebecca – you owe me one rescue tactic. You know why. Heh. Good to meet you.
Garsen – you are exactly who I expected you to be. Garrulous, divine and hilarious.
You owe me a dinner, cooked by you. I’ll await your call 😛
Bergen – two things – never steal a lady’s chair and get on your knees, boy. 😛
Sam – if there was one person I wish I could have had more quiet time with, it was
you. For so many reasons. Now, sing it with me: “she wants to ….”. wah. Poor you,
Bergen, poor you.
Gareth – where can I get me one of these electric cigarettes, please? I think it may
be the answer I have been hunting for!
Craig – my friend Craig. You with your warm hug and iPhone addiction. Heh. And your
honest approach to life. Who would’ve thought we’d have so many people in our mingled
past already.
Philip – you, so quiet. I expected you to be taller! Kidding, I had to get someone
back for it! You have such a clever eye. Kudos.
I know I’ve forgotten people. Dammit. Just know this, please, you made a birthday
surprise girl, feel like she was at home in her pjs, comfortable and on her own
couch. Thank you.
When the night drew to a close, the actually-quite-jacked waiter (yay! we broke the
pattern!) brought round the bill and we all said goodbye, I started texting Jon
(Sheena, stop abusing your phone’s battery!). Heaven only knows what I said but, man
I hope it was good. heh.
Sleep, and a sunrise, I got up, made us all the Cath-breakfast, and got to sun for a
little while with someone i have been dying to meet – the now-blog-in-hiatus Sweets.
Chick, it was damn fine to meet you. And even more awesome to know that you’re doing
well. You so deserve it, hon. So much so.
ExMi and the BF joined us, without the Kid, deemed my future son-in-law, who was
pretty ill. Poor babe. I hope he’s doing better, mommy-van-driving tartface 😛
Shortly afterwards, after she finished faffing around, like usual, and was most
probably gently shunted out the door by Jon, Sheena came round too.
And what did I get? Yes, folks, an awesome T-Vaal T-shirt tan. My nose is now
peeling. Help?
Far too soon, it was airport time. Far too soon for me. I sat in departures, waiting
to board, crying my head off. I didn’t think I would be. I knew it would be a
whirlwind trip. I didn’t expect it to be a heart-wrenching to leave as it was.
And wing back I did. To home, to Cameron, who ate all her Angel-made cupcakes in
three minutes flat and then asked if I could fly back and get some more for her
(heehee)! To Cameron, who loved her Sheeba Bolt Snickerdoodle doggie and tried, very
hard, to insert the entire worlds-largest-lollipop into her mouth. She’s still
working on it.
And on Sunday night, I was tired. A weird tired for me. It wasn’t from working, or
monitor-tanning til 1am. It was a strange tired. I was tired from having a good time.
From relaxing. From laughing so much I know I grew a few more laughter lines.
And, in bed, snuggled up with my precious daughter, I smiled to myself.
Thank you for a wonderful, insane, hilarious weekend. I remember, now, who I am.
Photo
Photos courtesy of AngelsMind
Formatting intentionally insane.
It started with a phonecall. That I missed. Heh. Larcy was round for tea and tuck that night, and I picked up my phone just as it went to voicemail. It was Angel.
I listened to the voicemail, disbelievingly looked at Larcy and said:
You know how I was just saying I kinda wish Sheena’s birthday was here so that you could actually, like, meet her? Well, Angel and Glugster want to fly me up for it!
Heh. What should I do?
My heart said:
Go.
Go, because it meant being able to be there for Sheena‘s 25th. We all know my theory on the 25th year. Oh, Sheena, I owe you a phonecall about that one…
Go, because, truth be told, I owe the bitch because of last year’s birthday, when she engineered my surprise party and had me in fits of tears and insults towards my best mates.
Go, because, Cath, you can.
So, under a thickly-spread veil of lard and bleak emails, I conned Sheena into
believing that I was very, very bleak about missing it. Over six weeks, talking every day to the madam, and laying it on thick like never before, I did it.
I kept checking the calendar. I’d be lying if I said that Angel and I didn’t count
down via morning text message. We did. Most of them were something like:
OMG! THREE SLEEPS LEFT!!!!
Hehe. Fuck, i love my friends.
So, with Cam packed off to her dad for the weekend, Friday woke up and I left the office by ten. Way too distracted to sit around and wait for the day to roll by, I had my hair cut, went home and finished packing. When Will came round with the now infamous ‘big ‘n gay’ suitcase, and my stuff only *just* fitted in it.. Hey, don’t judge me… a girl needs options, you know. I can actually fit my entire self into that suitcase. True story.
So, off we went to the airport, I checked in and settled down for a bit of lunch and even more Sheena-ragging. Dude! I called you from the airport! ROTFL.
Soon enough, that little green plane had me touching down in good old Egoli, were I was met by Angel and Glugster, carrying gorgeous flowers and an insane balloon.
Before I even go there. Before I even start on the events that transpired, of tears shat and maniacal laughter…I want to tell you about Angel and Glugster.
ANGLUGANGLUG 2You see, dear audience of twelve, Angel and Glugster found me via Sheena. And when Angel started her regular ‘blog stalkings’ of me, and I of both her and even-numbering-obsessed Gluggie, I started patching together the pieces of their lives. I fell in love with their story. And most of all, I fell straight into inspiration. Here was Angel, rocking single mama who had finally found the man who loved her and her child without boundary. And here was Glugster. A true gentleman who so absolutely loves his now wife-to-be and her son. A love story through the good old blog. When my life hit a horrible rocky turn last year, Angel and Glugster stood by me, in ways I cannot even elucidate. They loved me from afar and when I finally met them, on my lounge floor, whilst playing with Cam, I was, truth be told, awed.
They’re both grinning and blushing whilst reading this, I am okay with this. Their love knows no boundaries, and it extends to Cameron and I. When I said that good things and good people have come to me via this little habit of mine, once regarded with disdain by some, i’m not shitting you. Cameron calls them “the angel without wings and the man who loves her”. Angel and Neels, I just wanted to say thank you. Such little words, but so heartfelt. Just, thank you. For you, every day, my heart says a prayer. You know why.
So, they picked me up and we ferried off to an Italian restaurant where the waiter knew very little (“what is this brandy stuff you speak of?“) and the food was awesome. “What is this no cocktail menu rule of yours? are you insane?”. Okay, I admit, the bad waiter mojo is my fault. 😛
And we laughed. Laughed so hard. Laughed so much. Hey, Angel, you didn’t show me your cupcake! Waha.
And then, home. To sleep and be warm and be ready for the onslaught of Gold Reef City. Warm and snug, I thought to myself, and of course, unable to tweet or say anything, I thought.. “heh, i am lucky and heh, Sheena, dude, revenge is so sweet”.
Saturday opened up her eyes and the sun shone – good thing too, because I would’ve frozen my youknowwhats off if it hadn’t.
I got to sit with Angel whilst she created the SheBee and 8unni cupcakes and truly, Angel, if I let Cameron loose in your kitchen, I fear you will never recover. Hehe.  It’s a kitchen making heaven in a cupcake, right there, and oh boy, Cam will just freak out in excitement.
And off we went, after doing a little network setup for the Knucklehead and his mate. By the way, Knucklehead, you are so, so, so much like my very-missed friend, Dewald. Truly. Thank you for your time and laughing with me, and for putting me on to some pretty cool bands I’m going to get hold of. Now, where do i get that hairdye!?!)
Dropping the cupcakes off at Primi, and a quick smokebreak later, we arrived at Gold Reef City. Hiding behind Neels all the way, and of course, showing off my bra to Angel in the parking lot (Cath standard operating procedure, of course), we met Craig and Sam in the queue. Thanks, you two, for getting us our tickets so we didn’t have to slog the queue for half an hour.
Hugs all round, and we’re standing outside the Tower of Terror. I hid behind the wall when Sheena emerged, still shaking from that shit-yourself of
who-the-fuck-would-even-want-to-do-that-ride.
Hugs all round again, and still she hadn’t seen me…
So, I pounced, hand over her mouth and I said
Hey, tart, what’s sweeter than birthday cake?
Which is when I yanked her head back and said
Revenge!

REUNIONAngel says Sheena and I have our own language. True story, we do. insert hand motions, a cup of tea and a “the chocolate is full of bath” phrase, and we do. But, that language didn’t exist for ten minutes whilst we both shat tears and jumped around.
Truth be told, a number of people not part of the gang and the gag must’ve thought…
“are these two retarded or just still screaming from the tower of terror?”
To my endearingly termed fuckbitch and former Shath-mate, I got you. I got you so well I live in fear of my 30th birthday. Heaven help me for how you’re going to repay me for this one. You’re probably in evil planning stages now. I think I’m going into hiding June through to July next year.
CRAIG AND HIS SALAD
I got to meet so many people, round the lunch table at the world’s worst Mugg ‘n Bean, with the world’s worst waiter (see, told you I have that mojo) and Craig got the world’s teeniest tiniest garnish salad.
We moved off after eating, and I practiced my ball skills to try and get a pink shark for Cam. Turns out my ball skills have nothing to do with the actual sport equipment,if you get my drift. Heh.
BALL SKILLSMy favourite part of Gold Reef City has to be theCATH AND BOLTKiddies section. Maybe it’s because I’m a mama. Maybe it’s because I know Cam would love it there. Yes, my notsobabygirl, you’re coming with next time, I promise.
With the help of our crew, Neels won Cam a stuffed dog. His name is Sheeba Bolt Snickerdoodle, and he’s fast asleep now, paws wrapped up inside Cameron’s little arms. Thank you, my friends.
Another table, another group of people and I started to feel like this was
fast-becoming one of my top five weekends of life. True story, I think it has. We laughed and talked and joked ’til the sun started to set.
And, then, off to Primi for dinner, drinks and debauchery. That said, noone danced on the table (chairs don’t count, girls :P) and Sheena managed to get through the night without having one of the girls pop out, hah.
I met so many wonderful people. Funny. Hilarious, in fact. I knew that already from our twitter karaoke and banter. What I didn’t expect was how much you’d all feel so much like home to me.
On that note, though, yes, dudes, I really am this short. I know I come across as much taller, I get that alot, but, yes, I really am this short. Yes, jokes do fly over my head (that was a new one) and yes, I really do shop in the kiddie section sometimes.
In no particular order (and if i forget anyone, please forgive me now, I’m writing this a few days later and i left my notebook at the office!) :
SHEENA AND JONJon – From meeting you in my driveway on a Sunday afternoon to your now well-honed ability to put up with all that is Sheena, your smile says it all. /on that note, check the shitsmit on Sheena’s face here. wah/
8unni – from one single mama to another, keep rocking it, chick.
Flea – wahaha. Dude, I’ve licked your face. You can stay 😛
Richard – fuckoffsideways, you really are that tall.
Rebecca – you owe me one rescue tactic. You know why. Heh. Good to meet
you.
Garsen – you are exactly who I expected you to be. Garrulous, divine and hilarious. You owe me a dinner, cooked by you. I’ll await your call 😛
Bergen – two things – never steal a lady’s chair and get on your knees, boy. 😛
Sam – if there was one person I wish I could have had more quiet time with, it was you. For so many reasons. Now, sing it with me: “she wants to ….”. wah.
Gareth – where can I get me one of these electric cigarettes, please? I think it may be the answer I have been hunting for!
Craig – my friend Craig. You with your warm hug and iPhone addiction. Heh. And your honest approach to life. Who would’ve thought we’d have so many people in our mingled past already.
Philip – you, so quiet. I expected you to be taller! Kidding, I had to get someone back for it! You have such a clever eye. Kudos.
I know I’ve forgotten people. Dammit. Just know this, please, you made a birthday surprise girl, feel like she was at home in her pjs, comfortable and on her own couch. Thank you.
ILL TELL YOUR MOTHERWhen the night drew to a close, the actually-quite-jacked waiter (yay! we broke the pattern!) brought round the bill and we all said goodbye, I started texting Jon (Sheena, stop abusing your phone’s battery!). Heaven only knows what I said but, man I hope it was good. heh.
Sleep, and a sunrise, I got up, made us all the Cath-breakfast, and got to sun for a little while with someone i have been dying to meet – the now-blog-in-hiatus Sweets. Chick, it was damn fine to meet you. And even more awesome to know that you’re doing well. You so deserve it, hon. So much so.
ExMi and the BF joined us, without the Kid, deemed my future son-in-law, who was pretty ill. Poor babe. I hope he’s doing better, mommy-van-driving tartface 😛
Shortly afterwards, after she finished faffing around, like usual, and was most
probably gently shunted out the door by Jon, Sheena came round too.
TSHIRTTANAnd what did I get? Aside from the splendour of giggling with good friends and poking Sheena’s hungover head… Yes, folks, an awesome T-Vaal T-shirt tan. My nose is now peeling. Help?
Far too soon, it was airport time. Far too soon for me. I sat in departures, waiting to board, crying my head off.
I didn’t think I would be. I knew it would be a whirlwind trip. I didn’t expect it to be a heart-wrenching to leave as it was.
CAM AND BOLTCAMLARGE LOLLIPOPAnd wing back I did. To home, to Cameron, who ate all her Angel-made cupcakes in three minutes flat and then asked if I could fly back and get some more for her (heehee)! To Cameron, who loved her Sheeba Bolt Snickerdoodle doggie and tried, very hard, to insert the entire worlds-largest-lollipop into her mouth. She’s still working on it.
And on Sunday night, I was tired. A weird tired for me. It wasn’t from working, or monitor-tanning til 1am, like usual. It was a strange tired. I was tired from having a good time. From relaxing. From laughing so much I know I grew a few more laughter lines.
And, in bed, snuggled up with my precious daughter, I smiled to myself.
Thank you for a wonderful, insane, hilarious weekend.