Colours of Winter

Now aren't those colours just glorious?

Just goes to show that you can still find beauty in the dead of winter. 
And I didn't have to go far, these beauties were just down the end of my street.

Just wanted to share that with y'all.

I'm talking men's figure skating

I have really been enjoying watching the Winter Olympics over the last few weeks. Especially the figure skating. I love figure skating. And most especially the men's skating. For reason's I can't explain, they just seem more exciting to watch.

To me, this olympics was really exciting because we had the former champion, a Russian by the name of Evgeni Plushenko. And USA's medal hope Evan Lysacek. Both are really good. And great to watch.

In the end Evan Lysacek won the gold for USA, leaving Plushenko visible upset, as he really thought he had nailed it. My favourite was always Lysacek, to me he skated amazingly, and worked really hard for it.

But back to Plushenko. He is very serious on the ice, like a machine, and performs quad and triple jumps like they were cartwheels.
Okay....thats a bad example as I have NEVER been able to do a cartwheel in my life!! But you get the idea!

Anywaaay.....this is a little clip of his free program that led to him getting the silver medal. Just to give you an idea of the caliber of skater that he is.

(Please excuse the foreign commentators throughout the performance, alternately, hit mute!)




How's that???

Well, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this next video of him, performing totally unlike I've seen him perform in competitions. It gave me a very different perspective on Evgeni Plushenko: World Champion.
Now he was channelling Tom Jones: Sex Bomb.

Now if you aren't a fan of Tom Jones and this song (like me), go ahead and hit mute again. But the performance is really funny!

Our Happily Ever After

Hearts abound. Flowers, candy, chocolates, and all things love.


Hubby and I have never been extravagant Valentine's gift givers. No grand gestures, expressions of eternal foreverness or gazing misty-eyed kinda people. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not us.


To me, it's a growing, familiar, reading one another's minds, and finishing one another's sentences kinda thing. He puts up with all my bad habits and sees me at my worst. He still makes me laugh. And finishes making the tea when I forget (which is almost always....)


He's a great Dad, and my favourite picture of him, is when he's playing on the bed with our two boys, giggling and making up funny stories to get them to belly-laugh.


The best interpretation of love and growing old together is from the Pixar movie UP. It's my favourite scene in the whole movie, because it's so true, and so real.

Hope you enjoy it......and to my best friend, I love you to the moon and back!

Brighter shade of grey.

This is the view out of my front door window.

It's cold. It's grey. It's raining. It's what I like to call "mizzly". And it's rather dreary. Okay, so we aren't stuck in blizzards under 5 feet of snow like the poor souls on the east coast of the US are.

So I have decided I am going to ponder on happier, brighter, warmer and more cheerful things today. Something along the lines of this....

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That's better, and how about some of this......

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Now, I'm starting to feel it!  We all want to do some of this....

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And a whole lotta this.....

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Roll on Summer!!!!

No fair.

They say it's a small world.....I don't know. Sometimes, to me, it's a really BIG world.

When cold oceans divide, vast continents separate, time differences clash, and everything in between appears foreign and unfocused. Then we feel really far apart.

And no amount of social networking, twittering, emailing, skyping, nor any other form of communication media can seem to make up that distance. It's not the same. It comes close. But not close enough.

Somehow, I cannot spot the veiled sadness behind the smile I'm seeing on my computer screen. I cannot hear the undertones of pain on the other side of my cell phone. It's the down side of not being close enough. You miss the signs, the body-language, the comments that you'd normally pick up on while having a cup of coffee, or over lunch.

Some days, it just doesn't seem fair. Being so far away. Away from the normal, the familiar, the comfortable. Away from what you know, and understand.

And away from the ones who understand you.

Koeksisters in China Town, Houston

Wow, I managed to get 3 nations in my title today. Nice!

It was time for the Koeksisters (you can read about them here) monthly get together, and this time it included a trip to Houston China Town, and a visit to a nice Chinese Restaurant in the area. I was really looking forward to this one!

It was a small group of us this time around, and in complete reversal, I was the "tourist" walking around taking photos of all things chinese. It was fun!

The store in the mall we went to, was mainly a huge fresh fish/seafood/meat/veggie/grocery store. And while a few of the ladies spent their time running through their shopping lists (they tell me the fish is great & well priced too), myself and another fellow Koeksister browsed around,  just checking out the vast array of items on the shelves. It was an education let me tell you.

Here are just a few of the items that piqued our curiosity.....

Preserved duck eggs........ slimy things which did not look appetizing!

The crabs were HUGE I tell ya. And just sat there staring at us....

The name of this says it all..........smell fish???

 

This, if you didn't already know , is a Banana Flower. Doesn't look like a flower, or a banana. Although it does look the same colour as the few measly bananas lying in my fruit bowl at the moment..... I've gotta throw them out! I think they are even past the banana bread stage!

These pork uteri were just NOT GOOD!! Hence, no visuals.... 

Lastly, we have the Jackfruit. I had to google this one, as I'd never heard of it before, it turns out that it's the national fruit of Bangladesh. It's about the same size as watermelon.

The restaurant we went to was very nice, and we were treated to Dim Sum. And as we had a friend of one of the Koeksisters visiting from Singapore, she was able to order for us, and gave us a great selection of food to try.

So all in all, we had a great morning. And if you are in Houston and decide you just have to get yourself some Smell fish with a helping of Banana Flower, you'll know where to go!

Introducing Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvanian groundhog!!

Back in South Africa, I'd heard about Groundhog Day, but never quite understood it's meaning, and what the heck is a Groundhog anyway???

Well, today is Groundhog Day, and in true 'American Tale' fashion, I have delved into the history of this special day so as to enrich your lives and impart knowledge! (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Let's see....it started off in Germany, where farmers waited till late in the winter months to see the hedgehog come out from his underground home. If the hedgehog saw his own shadow on a sunny day, then that meant another long six weeks of winter were still ahead. And back in his hole he went!

Years later, German settlers in Pennsylvania, brought the old belief with them, and the hedgehog was replaced with the American groundhog.

Today there is a very famous groundhog residing in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. His name is Punxsutawney Phil. Every year, residents and paparazzi await anxiously to see what Punxsutawney Phil's prediction will be.

Will he see his shadow, and sentence us to another 6 weeks of winter, or will there be an early Spring this year.

This is serious stuff here people!!

Anyway, here is this years prediction, as per Punxsutawney Phil from Pennsylvania............

Greetings from Punxsutawney!


Phil Says Six More Weeks!
Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2010 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:


Hear Ye Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.


After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, "If you want to know next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be."

(That's not my words by the way, that's actually on the official website!)

So there you have it. If you didn't know, now you know!

Here's a little more about Punxsutawney Phil, in case you are interested........

Plesh-hul-hay-jans

No, the above title was not a typo! And no, I have not OD'd on my Dunkin' Donuts caffeine.
Let me elaborate.....

My 8 year old started to tell me how he made his school TV debut during his pleshulhayjans.

Pardon me Kellan??

While I was doing my pleshulhayjans mommy...

You're WHAT Kellan???

(Heavy sigh of frustration from 8 year old) My PLESHULHAYJANS!!!!

Kellan.....I'm sorry my boy, but I have NO idea what you are talking about! Give me a clue please......

(Severe rolling of the eyes from 8 year old) Mommy!! You know what I mean....that thing we do every morning at school........

 Okaaaayyyyyy?????? (still clueless at this point!!)

It's that thing where we talk about America & the flag.........

Suddenly light dawns! I start to smile, and it erupts into a full blown bellylaugh!!

Kellan, do you mean the Pledge of Allegiance?

(a satisfied grin breaks out on his face..) YEEESSSSS Mommy!!

You gotta love it!!



                         {photo source}