Time, there Isn’t Enough

Time, there is never enough of it. Except when you have nothing to do at work and it’s nowhere near 5pm! Or on a Friday and you’re planning on going away for a weekend, then it’s like all the time you were needing when you didn’t have enough of it just rocks up for an extra 5 hour visit “hiiii”!

Anyway time, it’s nearly my Birthday again, comes once a year that darn day. I love my Birthday, who doesn’t? Yes I’m getting older, well my body is, but I am still young. And I’m keeping my body young by eating healthy and working out. 26, this year. It’s an odd age, neither here nor there really.

So I’ve decided that there are a couple of things I want to do before my 26th Birthday rocks up on my door step on what will probably be a windy Sunday morning. 

I want to run a 5km or even a 10km if I’ll manage, it’s not exactly easy to stay healthy and fit in winter when it’s always so cold. I want to go watch more bands, why have I stopped doing this? Durbs, I’ve decided I have to tap that in July. I want to go swing off the Moses Mabida Stadium, I’ve wanted to do that for years  Not much time left to plan that. I’m doing the 20km “Walk the Talk” this year. Oppikoppi is happening before my Bday too. Eek! I also want to dapple in a little bit of Buddhism. Which probably sounds super strange but I feel like it would be something interesting to explore. 

World Cup, feel it. It was here.

It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating and hosting the world cup in South Africa. I remember working my ass off at the Hotel we had just opened in Johannesburg. We had barely been open for 3 months and were already fully booked for the entire World Cup period. I was a 3rd year trainee in 2010 but was given a lot of responsibility, especially in systems (booking system for reservations) I had blocked off basically every group booking for World Cup in the hotel, and for the World Cup period the group I was put in charge of was the US Soccer Family. VI-freaking-P! 

Is was awesome to be given so much responsibility and trust. They had booked over 100 rooms on some nights. “do you have some of those triangular things?” – inside joke this. 

Some of us at the hotel were even lucky enough to be given tickets to go watch the game they played against Slovenia. Too awesome, those Vuvuzelas though… My lips were raw! Luckily I had ice cold Budweiser to drink!

Remember how freezing it was during the World Cup? Damn. No one cared though, people were everywhere! I can even remember the Mexican supporters and the actual Mexicans, gosh darn they were the BEST! And the loudest, those hats though… Hahaha

The atmosphere during World Cup was really something else, you could not help but feel connected to everyone. I even watched games, I don’t watch footie. But I did during World Cup!

Now 4 years on and the World Cup is back on again, in Brazil, and I’m listening to a CD that I downloaded on iTunes for work called “Brazil World Cup Football Party Anthems” it’s corny and has some really rad tunes. The tunes just make you want to shake your booty and to support the footie. For real. I find myself wanting to know what’s happening in the World Cup and to follow the teams. 

I am following these teams this year, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire , Algeria (basically all African countries, but mainly routing for Ghana) and then Brazil and Iran. 

Iran I’m following because for almost 3 weeks in April this year I hosted the team at the hotel I work at for one of their training camps. And I worked like it was World Cup again. Even made their beds! Best believe. Go boys!! 

World Cup, feel it. It was here and now it’s in Brazil, la la la la Laaaaaa!

“Like a complete fool”

I love this, can’t quite remember where I found it a few months ago but I think it is super cute.

“I hope that I am your reason to smile, even if it means I’d have to act like a complete fool. I wish to be the one by your side when you’re sad, the one who cares for you when the whole world seems to be crumble around you.

I wish to be the one whom you’d create new memories with. I want to be the one next to you when the sunrise comes and the last one to kiss on the forehead before you go to sleep. To watch silly movies and laugh like the world is ours.”

Life Lately

Woke up at 3h30 this morning, that’s damn early. I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m not a morning person, once I actually manage to get up and dressed I can be quite bubbly. I’m that person in the queue at the airport at 5h30 greeting everyone I have to interact with and asking how they are. Whilst everyone stares at me like I’m nuts. 

I’m on my way to East London to visit my folks, so excited because I haven’t seen them since December. Way too long ago as far as I’m concerned. Just a short trip though, it’s the annual “long weekend” trip. 
 
I have been looking forward to this weekend for a very long time, the break away from Joburg and work is really welcoming. I’m mentally tired. Also I have a cold so it’ll be good for my body to actually rest. I hate getting sick, it’s the pits. 

Work this last week has been so amazing, I haven’t felt this alive in ages. It’s exciting again, it’s challenging and I’m already looking forward to how much I am going to learn from the new boss. 

For the last couple of years I’ve been in this whole “balance” phase which is amazing! I mean to be able to balance work, fitness, family, friends, traveling and partying and actually get it right is a big thing. 

Balance is great BUT for the first time in absolute ages I am willing to let a few of those things take a little bit of the back seat, they’re going to get a smaller piece of the balancing cake. My career is about to boom again, I can just freaking feel it. And that’s going to take a big piece again. All those other things are still important to me though, I’m not going to go backwards, because that’s just silly. 

I won’t mind working the longer hours and taking on more stressful projects again, I live for that shit. As long as I can make it to spinning every other odd day, I’ll be ok. We all have to have some form of release. Fitness & gym is definitely my release. 

I’ve seriously gotten over drinking, not that I drank a lot before. But I don’t enjoy it that much anymore, and I don’t like how it makes my body feel afterwards. Gross. 

As for me being single, I don’t mind it at all. The emotional pain that comes with being with the wrong person can be so detrimental to a persons life and state of mind sometimes. I’ve been hurt by getting my hopes up way too many times over the last 4 years. There’s someone who I’m enjoying at the moment, whatever it is it’s chilled and I haven’t laughed and been able to be my “silly” self in ages. It’s actually just so nice to chat to someone that can appreciate that I’m a little nuts sometimes. 

August is looming around and I’m starting to freak out about how much I already have planned for the month already. Eek. Oppikoppi is from the 7th – 10th, got my tickets, don’t have signed off leave. Eff. Birthday is on the 17th, thank goodness it’s a Sunday! I don’t even know what I’m doing this year. Ant & Irene’s wedding is on the 22nd, it’s a Friday. I don’t have signed off leave, a dress or someone to go with. Bigger eff. Hahaha. We shall cross this bridge when we get there!

I’m so excited about the trip in September to Bali with my Mom. It’s going to be an absolutely amazing experience. She’s my everything. 

Within the Next 12 Months

So in the next 12 months something I am really looking forward to is the trip that I am doing with my Mom in September, and we are going to be off to Bali! It came about quite quickly, the two of us were merely chatting about going overseas together sometime and some of the places we were considering were Prague, Italy, Turkey, Greece and of course Bali.

We decided to choose Bali because the culture and the more adventurous side (we have both obviously also watched “Eat, Pray, Love” – that movie kills me). I am so excited to go back to East side of the world again, I absolutely loved Thailand when I went last year and always talk about that trip. Indonesia is one of my favourite places anywhere in the world, I haven’t travelled anywhere except to Thailand but based on the pictures I have seen and the articles I have read I am totally in-love with those parts of our beautiful continent.

I can’t wait to explore temples, rice paddies and the beaches with my Mom. I am looking forward to experiencing the Balinese culture, foods, dancing etc. and of course the shopping! 🙂

Uluwatu Monkey Temple, Bali

There are a lot of things that are coming up that I cannot wait for in the next 12 months but this is definitely my highlight for now!

I also get to see my parents in two weeks’ time as I am going for my annual winter long weekend away with them, and we are going to the coast this year.

Me, in basic

Where to start, and how do I determine the difference between what is basic and what is intricate about me?

I am naturally blonde although my hair has gone darker over all the years from all the highlighting. I have an athletic build and I am average height. I freak out over picking up weight although I also don’t really care if I do. The cake is there to be eaten. That’s pretty basic right?

I love being fit, but I actually find that keeping fit is bloody difficult and takes a lot of dedication. I am dedicated, there’s nothing basic about being dedicated.

I am lazy, but I am also hard working and energetic. It’s complicated.

I have a love/hate relationship with my bed. Love to sleep but also hate to go to sleep.

I am weird, and not weird like you need to stay away from me weird. I say and do random things, I am hyper, enjoy acting “crazy”, love being a clown and enjoy laughing at myself. I think this is also probably why I cannot quite find anyone that interests me enough to stay with. The thought of acting “normal” with anyone just so that they can like me is just not going to work for me.

Kissing, this isn’t basic for me, or it is. I just love it. All the other stuff can take a back seat.

I absolutely love my friends, and whilst I may know a lot of people and they are dear to me. There are only really one or two close friends that I can say mean the absolute world to me, one in specific and she knows who she is.

My Mom & Dad are the most important thing in my world, everything I do for myself, I do for them as well. My Ouma is also right up there with them.

My home, this is my space and I love it. I share it with few. The same goes for my garden, an area which I love to spend my time in.
If you asked me a few years ago what the top 5 most important things in my life were, I would probably tell you work was in the first 3. It’s not anymore, it comes in the top 5 but life doesn’t revolve around it.

CharlieC, he isn’t with me anymore but I can’t even tell you how often I think about him and how much I miss him. The presence of a pet in one’s life can never really be explained until it has been lost.

If I could quit work today and travel tomorrow, I would. The things that are out there to be seen, *sigh*.

All a girl really wants…

So my # 1 pet hate in the “dating” world at the moment is being treated like a piece off “ass”.

Girl meets guy. Guy just wants action off the bat. All a girl really wants is for someone to stroke her hair and tell her she is pretty, perhaps a few flirty kisses or two.

I am old school, or at least I used to be. And I blame this on the category of guys that I have been subjecting myself to over the last year or two. It has programmed me into thinking unless I give guys action they’re not going to like me. It’s has to stop.

Gone are the days that I allow anyone to treat me like a booty call or like anything less than I deserve. I used to be this “doe eyed girl” (although I have blue eyes & not brown), I digress; I never really used to utter any swear words, I despised kissing people that smoke, I wouldn’t previously go anywhere near anyone that did any form of drugs let alone even smoked weed, I have never really been a fan of tattoos (this is a personal choice and preference). I would date guys for months before anything more than kissing happened. Sure, this all sounds prudish. I don’t care, I had standards and I still do but somewhere along the line I started compromising some of these and allowing myself to dip. Me; personally.

What happened to how things that happened back in the day; where you’d go on proper innocent dates, flirt a little and maybe end the evening with a steamy kiss that left you wanting more?

I want to go for walks in the park, holding hands and frolicking, and most of all laughing.

I want to go to the movies and to order popcorn and a slush puppie.

I want to go on dinner dates and to drink a glass of red wine and just be flirtatious, it doesn’t have to go anywhere else.

I want to go to a waffle house and eat a waffle topped with ice-cream and syrup. This is one is a biggie for me, I haven’t had a waffle in years.

I want to meet your friends and family and it must be genuine and not just a case of look at my “hot piece of ass”.

I want to be able to ask you to sleep over for the night and not worry about how much of my clothes I have to take off in order for you to actually want to stay over for the night.

And most of all I just want to be told that I am pretty on the inside and the outside. Not hot or that I have a nice ass and sexy legs.

You know what used to be one of my absolute favourite things in life, a first kiss. I used to love how awkwardly sexy it was and the anticipation it would bring to every sense in my being.

Loved reading this article on Elite Daily the other day as it says a lot – “8 Modern Dating Struggles That No Other Generation Has Had To Deal With”

It’s not just Hospitality

People look at the hospitality industry and think it is all about serving others.

Basically it is, but I am not a servant and neither are the people I work with. I love being a hospitable person and making others happy by ensuring a comfortable and memorable stay at the Hotel. I don’t care that occasionally people scream and shout at me when things don’t go well during their stay or how they expected it to necessarily go; instead I care about how I can rectify the situation and how I can avoid it from happening again in future. I care about making those “moments of magic” happen for the customers. That is ultimately what I enjoy doing every day.

This article is not about that though, I could go on and on about why I love being in this industry until the cows come home, but I am not going to do that.

A year ago if you had told me that in a few months’ time I would know what a fat trap was and how to go about emptying it I would probably look at you like you were nuts, I didn’t even know what a fat trap was up until a few months ago. In fact, if I was told I would be doing 60% of the things I have learnt about and to do in the past 7 months I would most likely think you were crazy.

Sure I have always been a handy individual that knows her way around a toolbox and the cleanliness of her home, but I did not quite know about it into such detail like I have learnt to in the last 7 months.

Nowadays when I go into the toilets in public places or anywhere in fact, I wonder who the hell is in charge of their cleaning standards because they’re shocking, and trust me, you don’t notice a toilet is dirty until you are taught to notice how dirty a toilet really is. Who in life requests quotes for those bins in the ladies toilets (and I am sorry for the guys reading this)? Well, I do. You have no idea how many types there are out there and how much those nasty things cost.

That said, discount people, ask for a discount, and always get 3 quotes for the same thing from different suppliers. When I ask for a discount, I mean to get a discount; before I sign on the dotted line.

Oh and ladies, next time you go into a clothing store change room, take a look at that change room’s floor/chair… no really, take a look. Sif, all that hair and fluff. I. Can. Just. Die. I would rather take the clothes home to try on in a clean environment.

You could also probably perform surgery in my home these days, that’s how clean it is.

When the power goes out at 8am on a Sunday morning and there are no maintenance guys around, guess what? You are now that maintenance person, and you best figure out what blew in the DB board and how to get it fixed (don’t worry I am never put in any bodily harm at work). This. Is. Fun.

Sometimes I sit in my office and I hear a crash in the car park behind my window only to find some customer has reversed their car into a parking pole, “sorry sir/ma’am, are you okay/do you have insurance” – awkward.

Personal problems, let’s just be serious, work is work but we also work with humans (yes, there are still some out there), sometimes people need to be a shoulder to cry on, or even just need an ear to listen. I don’t even have kids, a boyfriend/husband or luckily even family problems. But you’ve got to learn very quickly how to be that person who can still be supportive and give some decent advice if need be.

Gym, pfft what’s that? (I am kidding I do have a pretty neat balance going for myself, I am lucky like that), but if I didn’t and did work some long dog hours, let me tell you, working in a 7 floor building that has a lot of stairwells, I would never worry about missing “legs day” ever again.

If I could go on about what I have learnt in the last 7 months I would probably be typing this article out for another 7 months, but I work in a Hotel and I don’t have time for that, plus I need to get to bed so I can wake up early and not look like death at the reception desk tomorrow morning. I place orders, from hygiene equipment to linen items, to anything else you could possibly need in a Hotel, and yes we have a purchasing guy that’s in charge of all of that in the Hotel, but just like the maintenance story, if that guy isn’t there, you’re pretty much him for the day.

Restaurant refurb, new curtains/scatter cushions time? You have to give in-put, or else you’ll end up looking at something you don’t like all day and every day, well you’re now also that designer person.

The garden service is on site and planting new plants and the gardener is not doing a proper job of pushing that soil down around the roots? You think you have seen it all; well you haven’t until you see me in the garden with my heels on showing him how to do it properly.

We have trainees, they’re like hospitality babies (I was one once), they want to learn about everything, EVERYTHING, they’re young and they don’t know much; but they are super eager to get to the top, quickly, it’s quite amazing to witness actually. When their results come back from varsity, I get to give them the news; I feel like a mother when doing this, sadly it doesn’t always swing the positive way though. But I can’t even begin to explain to you how proud I feel when they pass. Like I said, I was once there. Proud. Momma.

Someone say they need to hire a car? I can arrange that for you. You need to send a parcel/fax/scan to an email address? I can do that for you. Your Wi-Fi is not working? I am now in IT. Bring. It.

Housekeeping room attendant didn’t come to work today? I can make beds and clean bathrooms to help, we are a team and we work as one to make our customers happy.

Count stock? If I told you how many individual line items I count every month you wouldn’t believe it. And guess what, I love it. Until things don’t balance of course. Recount. I. Can. Cry.

Phone call at home at 10pm, 2am, 4am or on an off weekend? I am available.

Like I said I can go on, and there isn’t a second of the day that I do not enjoy when it comes to my work.

Never underestimate the amount of knowledge a person working in the hospitality industry has. I may not have studied something like law, medicine or engineering but I can tell you now that something like hospitality is also just as intense as any of these career choices I just mentioned.

Ps. I have studied labour law, have done a 1st aid course and know how the electrical boards at my Hotel work as well, so I guess that does give me some insight to some of those fields anyway 😉

The best part of my job is that I get to learn something new every day, because every day has a new challenge and new lesson to be learnt. I deal with different people every day, and no two people are the same or require the same thing.

I am also surrounded by some of the best people in the Hospitality industry because of the company that I am working for; most of all I have my two amazing parents that are also in the industry. A day never goes by that I cannot pick up the phone to get advice from any of these mentors I have available to me.

Driving in the Fast Lane

Last week Friday I decided to take a last minute trip to Mpumalanga to visit the family. It’s about a +- 160km drive to get there, so not too bad. Driving at night is a bit sketchy though, because there are a lot of coal trucks once you hit the back roads around the mines. But bearable, if you don’t drive like a fool and just stay alert and pass when it is safe to do so.

Driving there and back this weekend I couldn’t help but notice how badly people drive though. The pressure one gets to move out of the “fast” lane is ridiculous, even when you too are also trying to pass a car that is driving “slowly” in the “slow” lane. The speed limit is 120km/hr on our roads, but I can certainly tell you that people do not stick to this, which I can sort of understand. I think driving any faster is just plain ridiculous though, especially if you’re looking at petrol consumption and actually just planning to stay alive. I’d even go to say that 130km/hr is the limit for me.

But not this past weekend, there were times where I was pushing/pushed to drive at 140km/hr just to either pass a bunch of cars or to keep up in the fast lane to pass these cars. The result of not driving at a similar pace to those around me would end in me being stuck behind trucks or smaller old vehicles and then not being able to get back to my 120km/hr pace again.

When one eventually does get to the fast lane to pass said trucks and slow vehicles at the legal 120km/hr you then proceed to get some d*ck head driving up your ass at 140/160km/hr trying to force you to move over before you have even managed to pass by a safe distance.

Hey asshole drivers, if this is you… kindly stop. The rest of us would like to arrive safely at our destinations and also not put others at risk by making stupid decisions on the roads.

Gotta Get Fit

Haven’t blogged in ages, haven’t had an off day in ages (17 days and counting… the life of a career girl) haven’t been to the gym or running in ages…!

As of today I have been working for 17 days straight, whilst I am not physically exhausted, I am starting to get mentally tired, irritable and also annoyed about the fact that I have not been to gym in ages nor eating very healthy.

My biggest, and most terrifying fear is being overweight. There is nothing that scares me more than the thought of picking up weight and losing all the hard work that I have put into maintaining my fitness and body weight. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that I am not fat, but I also know what my best is, and I am currently not at my level best.

This month I have been eating a lot of junk, I have in the last couple of months been drinking more alcohol than what I should be (no one forced me to drink of course), and I have also been eating a lot of bread… I do not even like bread. But when you are working from 6 30am – 6 30pm every day, what other option do you have?

As of the 1st May I have decided that I need to get my ass into gear, and it’s going to be tough, mostly because of the cold and darkness that has arrived with the treacherous Winter season. But I am going to gym or run, daily. I will be eating healthy and I will also stop drinking alcohol again.

My goal… to get fit again and also to look great before my Birthday & the wedding that I am attending in August (anyone know of a hot date thay can accompany me?) and of course my holiday in BALI, I have got to look super hot for that!!! 🙂

And I am cycling the 94.7 with my Dad again this year! Have to be super fit for that one.