Relief!

I finally finished the first phase of a client blog, and it is now ready to be heavily populated before we launch later this month. Yay me!

Working on this project was not easy. I don't have an intuitive understanding of the client and what the organisation needs, and for many reasons I won't go into, I've had difficulty building rapport with them. So I just had to rely on my brief and give them what they asked for.

Which usually puts me in a bad mood, because I work more efficiently when I understand the client's business so well that I can take initiative and do things that enhance our relationship even if the client has not asked for them yet. I really need to do better on this one.

The rest of the month promises to be very hectic. I have a client launch event, and am doing their media statements and related targeted articles.

I'm not complaining - in addition to this being good work in a recession, the writing is on a subject I feel strongly about (training and empowerment of young people), so I am looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, my first post on Female2Female, entitled "Sexual Stereotypes Cut Across All Cultures" is live, and there's a very interesting discussion going on there.

It begins with you

And if you live in the African continent and you are familiar with the You Campaign by the African Broadcaster Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, a continent-wide coalition of more than 60 African broadcast companies, you've probably seen the new series of ads for television and radio.

The ads are built around the tagline “Imagine the Possibility of an HIV-free Generation: It Begins with YOU”, and the new series will roll out over the next year, broadcast across 38 countries.

The first set is on multiple concurrent partnerships and they've partnered with the OneLove Regional Campaign on them.

Which is why yours trully can invite you to watch the ad on YouTube and to talk about what you think about the relationships depicted. The main ad is 60 seconds long, the other two are 30 seconds long....

Female2Female

This week Laura at Harassedmom launched a group blog called Female2Female. As you can see by its name, the blog is written by women and covers female issues. So far, posts have been about growing up adopted and birth options.

Yours truly was invited to contribute to the blog, and to talk about women's sexuality. Specifically, I will be guest-blogging on female2female about some of the issues that comes out of the OneLove Regional Campaign.

My posts will be published each Wednesday, so please feel free to check out the blog and comment on some of the articles.

Laura is also looking for contributors/guest-bloggers. So if you have a story that fits in with the new blog, feel free to contact her.

Rewind Monday; Take 2

The day was exhausting, but not particularly productive.

I did a major job for a client ( I was very organised, got my ducks in a row over the weekend etc) and worked very smoothly in the morning.

Then in the afternoon I got a frantic call from the client saying my brief had to change, and I had delete every document I posted and use different materials.

Spent the afternoon redoing the job. It was not hard work, but somehow I finished the day feeling lethargic. I wish I could relive today; only I'd have a different brief, do the assignment just once, and then spend the rest of the day working on other projects.

Was cheered a bit by this big stuffed dog (image on the top left), which a friend brought me today as an office-warming present.

It's huge - I think heavier than some five year olds I've carried. He says its job is to keep me company while I work. I guess I'll just have to find a chair and put him in a corner. No idea what to name him though.

Baking Cakes In Kigali Is Librarians' Pick At Book Expo America 2009

My friend Gaile Parkin's debut novel BAKING CAKES IN KIGALI was Libarians' Pick at Book Expo America 2009.

Congratulations, Gaile. I am so proud of you!

And if you haven't read the book, buy it from your nearest Exclusive Books, or through Amazon.

I loved it. It's well-written, touches on some serious life issues including post-genocide Rwanda without getting boring, or worse, depressing.

In fact, I found it so funny I couldn't help reading bits of it to my sister as I went along, just to share the humour with her.

Taking Things Easy For A While

The ulcer is still giving me some bad moments, so I'm taking the next couple of days a bit easy.

It's month-end, so I'll still work on the reports,udate the web sites etc, but no new work for now. I hope!

I don't want to be stuck in bed again for days on end. And yes, I did change my meds, and they have alleviated most of the pain.

I've also started being more careful about what I eat, using lots of vegetables and fruit,but no wheat and dairy. A gluten-free, dairy-free diet always makes me feel much better.

But it's hard to maintain, because it rules out a lot of treats ( pastries, breads, desserts like pudding and ice cream, or even chocolate bars).

I wished I could eat this soup (image on the left), which I made for the family to keep them warm.

There was no particular recipe - I simply dumped leftovers from the fridge into a big bowl, added bits if carrots, mushrooms, green pepper and onion, some herbs and stuffed the dish into a microwave oven to cook until soft.

My version was a lot less exciting - no pasta,or the tomato bean soup that was part of this recipe. Ho hum!

Moving Into My Home Office Today

Today I started moving into the outside building that has been converted into my home office, and it has really been exciting!

But I'm also realising that the colour scheme that I wanted (blue, white and black) is not going to happen overnight, if at all.

I did manage to paint the wall a light blue colour which I like, and think it's going to be very soothing for me as I work.

But a neighbour gave me this lovely bench, whose insides is also a storage chest. The bench was made less than six months ago, and has a lovely bronze velvet fabric covering the seating area. The colour does not match my scheme, but it would be very silly for me to change it to try to conform it to a colour scheme in my head.

And Baby thinks the bench works really well with the maroon and grey scatter cushions, and the hand-made reed mat, which is a gift from my sister-in-law Pontsho.

But I am going to paint my desk white, get the big black leather chairs that will help me get really comfortable while I work, and later in Spring, invest in black and white floor tiles.

So furnishing and decorating the home office as I like will take time, but it will get there. And I'll share some pics once it's done.

Living Life, Rather Than Watching It

Meanwhile, Baby (aged 11) is valiantly trying to keep busy doing real life stuff during her mid-term break.

She finished her homework and there's some irony there: her task was to watch a DVD of a fairytale and then write a summary of the story, in Afrikaans.

Afrikaans is our third language. Or rather, it's one of the languages we have to learn to get by, because South Africa has 11 official languages, and it's smart to make sure you can at least ask for help in all of them. And Zulu is the second most used language in SA, so we really have to learn that one.

Baby also went through her bead collection and found that she had enough left-overs to make me this bracelet.

That was Monday and Tuesday. This morning she decided that it was time to organise my books and DVD collection alphabetically.

I personally think I have a very odd baby: whose bookshelves actually stay organised in alphabelical order?

But, it will keep her busy for a while, and maybe along the way she'll find some interesting books that are appropriate for her.

Life Should Be Lived Physically, Not Just Virtually

It's mid-term break and Baby is home all day for the whole week. So I'm facing the challenge of keeping her busy even as keep my normal work hours.

The challenge is that she will happily spend all day IMing her friends, playing on barbie.com and similar sites and watching girly movies ( The Cheetah Girls, Bratz, High School Musical etc).

I don't think that's healthy for a child to spend too much time watching stuff that doesn't even reflect real ife, or living life virtually, insteading of DOING fun things with real people she can see and touch.

So I became the heavy that said she was restricted to real life things. That is surfing, IMing, watching TV or DVDs is banned in this house.

Instead, she has fabric to sew, beads to make necklaces and bracelets and stuff, and a recipe book to cook/bake/whatever. She can also go for long walks, go play in the park ( accompanied by my helper), brush our dogs' fur. ( Edward is a Chow mix, and has really long hair that makes him look like a lion).

I wonder if she noticed I didn't ban reading novels? Ja, I'm a hypocrite, because reading novels is not a real life event.

Meanwhile, if you have a minute, hop onto the OneLove web site, where a discussion is going on about the emotional pain one sufffers when breaking up with a partner, even when tha person is already married to someone else.

Learn Some Things About Me

I found harassedmom's take on this meme very interesting, so I decided to play.

1. What is your current obsession? Books. It started when I was 12 and never let up.

2. What is your weirdest obsession? The Twilight Saga. Read all four books, bought the DVD and can't wait for the release of New Moon ( the movie). It's a young adult series, for goodness' sake!

3. Recall a fond childhood memory? The Christmas before my father died. We knew he wouldn't make it through the next year and all made an effort to have the most special Christmas we've ever had. Everyone made an effort to be extra loving to each other.

4. What’s for dinner? We had beef stew, rice and salad. Delicious!

5. What would you eat for your last meal? Seafood platter.

6. What’s the last thing you bought? River sand, for the couryard at the back of my house.

7. What are you listening to right now? Vuvuzelas. Watching 2009 Confed Cup. I was going to skip the game, but Baby talked me into it. Now she's fallen asleep in the middle of the game.

8. What do you think of the person who tagged you? I wasn’t tagged

9. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be? Johannesburg. I live in my favourite city. I'd simply want a bigger house, still period style, in Houghton.

10. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Durban, to see my newest nephew, Matthew Kabelo. He's soo cute!

11. Which language do you want to learn? Sign language

12. What’s your favourite quote (for now)? It's not a quote as such, but something a friend of mine said: "Pretend that you have a camera that is focussed on your problem. Then, zoom out. Look at all the issues and other things surrounding your problem. Chances are, if you're looking at the big, wide angled image of the whole picture, you will see a way around your problem." Gaynor Paynter, friend and small business owner.

13. What is your favourite colour? Red

14. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? Black leggings. They're very warm, comfortable and can be matched with other pieces of clothing to look stylish quite easily.

15. What is your dream job? To write novels.

16. What’s your favourite magazine? 25 Beautiful Homes

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? A Day at Magwanani Day Spa.

18. Describe your personal style? In terms of clothing? don't know. I just buy what I like.

19. What are you going to do after this? Go to bed. It's after 22h00 on a Sunday.

20. What are your favourite films? Grosse Pointe Blank, Speed 1, Stargate, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, Twilight, The Matrix

21. What’s your favourite fruit? Avocado

22. What inspires you? Ordinary people doing extraordinary things

23. Your favourite books? Lord, there are so many! The ones that come to mind easily are are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, Acheron by Sherilyn Kenyon, Restoree by Anne McCaffrey, Lightning by Dean Koonz, Dark Magic by Christine Feehan, Jacob by Jacqueline Frank, JD Robb's In Death series...More on my online library on Facebook.

24. Do you collect anything? It seems I collect books. I didn't set out to do it though. It's just that when I find an author I like, I end up buying everything they've written that I can find.

25. Any advice that’s come from bitter experience? Be the best person you can be, without anger or bitterness. Don't let people who hurt you decide who you should be or what you should believe in.

26. What makes you follow a blog? When the blogger says something that resonates with me/if they inspire me/continuously teach me something new/I suspect common interests (renovating old houses, parenting, writing).