Unearned privileges

I'm back in the big city with all the lovely pollen from all the beautiful flowers. I've also acquired a neti pot in an attempt to fight hay fever. It offers instant relief, but I haven't used it since I got back from my writing retreat last week. I'll keep you updated on how well it works in the long term.

I missed three things while I was in the teeny tiny house in the middle of nowhere. I didn't think of these things as privileges before the visit.

Trees and greenery
Apparently I struggle to live without trees. I especially like trees that are taller than me. It's not so much to ask in my opinion. I'm a shorty. From the little prefabricated houses you can't really see trees.You just see more little boxes. I was lucky to see a beautiful sunset at a guest house after I begged my friend to take me somewhere, anywhere to save me from cabin fever.

A beautiful sunset, but no big trees

Clean water
At home I just toddle over to the tap when I'm thirsty. Naturally the water tastes better (and is probably better for you) if you boil it first and then put it in the fridge to cool down, but it's perfectly possible to drink it. A little miscalculation in the amount of water at the beginning of the visit lead me to really appreciate being able to drink water whenever you feel like it since I felt I had to ration myself. The other water privilege only became apparent after a few showers. Little scratches became little sores. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to treat a serious injury there.

Silence
I didn't expect to have to add this to the list. The cliché of the quiet little village is a lie. Up to a point anyway. It's true that you don't hear the roar of city traffic, ambulance sirens or gunshots. The environment is quite quiet. This means that the doef-doef or the bass of noisy music carries beautifully; the houses are quite close together.

Little boxes

If you're like me, all the talk of little boxes will have made you remember the song. So I've added a link so you can listen to it. The first verse holds true, but unfortunately the people here don't all go to university. Some don't even finish school.

Master's
I remember seeing or reading about the downsides of rehab for addictions somewhere. Some people believe that rehab doesn't work since the people are taken away from temptation and weaned from using substances in an isolated environment. This does not necessarily help when they are returned to their ordinary environment. The same applies to the Biggest Loser programme. Many participants gain at least some of the weight back. It was easier to write when I had to face little temptation or irritation.

Project 36
Eating plan

Fun fact: eating food with a high fat content will make you gain weight

It's obvious, really. Since I've started visiting Marthie Leach I've eaten a low-fat diet. In the beginning I was a bit tragic about some foods that had to be moved to the only-eat-as-a-free-meal category, but my body has adapted. The week of eating snacks and "normal" food left me feeling fat.

Enter the dragon scale. The first weigh-in showed 2 kg more than when I left home. After eating my ordinary food and two days at home, it dropped to a 1 kg gain. Marthie Leach advocates a common sense approach to this - if you visit friends you will stray from your eating plan. Just remember to eat every two to three hours so that your body doesn't feel the need to hoard all the fat you're feeding it.

Gym
I haven't been there in a while. Must. Go. Back.

How did the matric reunion go?

Well, well, well. What an interesting experience. 

I wavered between taking a friend along as a buffer, but in the end I decided to go on my own so that I wouldn't have to worry about amusing a companion. Instead I made a beeline for the people with whom I really wanted to chat. And yes, I enjoyed myself immensely.


Who else got fat?
Out of my fellow female attendees, I was the only one who managed to literally double my weight. I didn't care, they didn't seem to mind and I felt pretty. So, if you except me from the proceedings, the boys put on weight and the girls changed their hair colour.

Did everyone "grow up"?
Yes and no.Yes, there was a general improvement in manners and many people were just honestly glad to see each other. I went about greeting people and even got hugs from people that were a tad, how shall we call it, impulsive and impolitic in school or towards whom I acted in an impulsive and impolitic fashion. In other words, there was quite a bit of Wodehousesque "these fellows and damsels were at the old school with me. What ho!"

The other part of the experience was the regression factor. Highly amusing. If I concentrate very hard I could probably dredge up old grudges. Be angry about that boy who grabbed my derrière in matric. But seriously, why bother? I have a lovely life and we were teenagers then, for crying out loud! Some people came to the reunion with the express intention of settling some of these old scores or at least sticking to the cliques from school. Some kept score of who greeted them.

Did people change?
Not really. People have just become more who they were in high school. Poise and manners were popular acquisitions.

A picture is worth a thousand words
Some of my photographs. They reflect my sense of humour.

The head girl of our year and the Oompah Loompa band

 

Corset win!

I usually only write one post a day, but I thought this little update deserved its own post.

Project 36
Right at the beginning of the blog I posted an image of a nymphette. For those who forgot, the post is The photo and here it is.

Click on the image for a better look

I've achieved one part of my challenge to myself - I fit into the corset!

I discovered this last night when I wormed in (with assistance). Over the weekend a (male) friend of mine gave me a look and told me that I ought to fit back into the corset. I continue to be astounded at my friends' insight into the contents of the forgotten recesses of my cupboards. Or they lurk and read the blog. At any rate, he was quite correct in his analysis. I fit in without those funny lumps that occasionally appear at the back when you shouldn't even have tried to get in.

Once I got over the general high of getting in, I tried the skirt. The ego trip slowed down to a crawl. Alas, the skirt is still much too small. This can mean that:

• I lost fat over my stomach first,
• the corset stretched, or
• my helper had good, strong hands and squashed me in.

I'm going for a combination of the first two. It might mean that the finale to my blog (I thought of wearing the outfit as a whole and having photos of me in similar poses) might not work since the top might fall off once the skirt fits, but still, empirical proof that I am smaller and getting closer to achieving my goals! Hooray!

Picnic time

My blog deals with preparing for yea old reunion (do I really want to go?), the Master's (of much blergh at the moment) and, alas, losing weight. But then nice things like picnics happen. Hooray! They interfere with Project 36 since I end up eating things I shouldn't, but it's good for the soul. Also, everyone knows that birthday cake doesn't cause fat even if it's chocolate cake.

I love the Pretoria Botanical Gardens. I used to fly my kite there when I was even younger and shorter than I am today. I also have vague memories of bringing tadpoles home. More recently, my friends have birthday picnics and open-air meetings there. Also, I go there as an excuse to play with my camera.

Here are the results of the time spent not having a lovely time and chatting, but playing with said camera.

Yummy bones on a black plate

Soft and delicious fangs ...

... that you can have much fun with

Black birthday balloons

Shadow of a mohawk

More fun with mohawks and umbrellas

Silhouette time

A different mohawk than the umbrella candidate

The birthday girl playing with the balloons