of time out... that i'm getting!

So I was meant to take leave in July. Just one week was all I asked for. I was granted the time off work, but then, 3 days before I was due to sit at home doing NOTHING I was asked if I would assist with a project at work. The truth is that the only reason I accepted the project was because I was offered money to do it. haha, and with my boyfriend being all retrenched and shyte, I wanted the security of what could almost have been seen as a second salary. It pretty much was a second salary.

So the project was given a two month time line - which I managed to complete with a week to spare, and now that it's all done and dusted, my leave has been reinstated.

Yay!

So I'm on a mini vacation. Starting this afternoon I will not be coming anywhere near this office untill the 13th September.

please expect nothing from Wozzel.blogspot during this period.

You can rest assured that I will be at home, relaxing. Drinking wine for breakfast - just because I can - swinging lazily in the hammock in the garden, maybe frolicking in the waves on the beach, and maybe - maybe I will bake.

Who knows, who cares - I really dont. I just need the time out. The silence. The rest.

The last time I took leave, I did it properly. That was last year, two weeks, over my birthday. A friend and I went on a crazy ass road trip through South Africa and it was awesomness personified... In the name of random and absence I'm going to re-post what I had written for another blog after the trip... coz I can.



pssst…

hello? Are you there?


Oi,
shhhh… hehehe,


quiet now…shhh, I want to tell you something….

come here quickly – and pay attention…


did you hear that I found magic?


………..Follow me.. I’ll tell you more.


If ever I’ve seen magic, I’ve seen it today… perhaps it’s where fairy’s play – or where dolphins surf the waves of a turquoise ocean? And I know I will see magic again tomorrow. Whisper – whisper – run and JUMP it’s magic see?

If you were to ask me to chose which of the many places we saw during our 15 day road trip, was my favourite, I would throw myself on the floor, kick and scream, I would throw a fit, putting any 5 year old to shame because choosing would be near impossible. If you were to say, I don’t know, push a little harder, I would have to go with Coffee Bay…. So, where do we begin? ooh, a list. I like lists. This is the list of the places we went to.

The list of places we went to

Ixopo
Lusikisiki
Coffee Bay
Hogs Back
Cape St Francis
Sedgefiled
Jeffrey’s Bay
East London
Lusikisiki

We started the trip off in Ixopo where we went to a Buddhist retreat for a Djembe Drumming weekend. Walking through the grounds of the retreat it’s very easy to believe that you are in a different place al together. A magical place maybe? Where silence really is golden. Where meditation, walks through rough stoned Labyrinths and energies are just an every day way of living.

Headed off to Lusikisiki early that Sunday morning, to go visit my mum who runs a lodge out there. We road horses. We sat on the beach. We drank wine. We laughed. We joked. The funniest was when I crept up behind kims horse, gave him a slap on the hind leg and watched him dart off down the beach… hehehe… ok, so I was the only one who thought that was funny.

There was much road. We’ve been up hills, down hills, over mountains, across bridges, over rivers. Up one hill and guess what was there? I’ll tell you. Nothing but more road. And then we ended up in Coffee Bay. Beautiful Coffee Bay. Watching the sunrise the first morning I suddenly realised that we were not a movie set! We really were slap in the middle of a little bay. The kind of amazing magic some people only ever do see in a movie (no man, sies, go on a holiday, I suggest the Eastern Cape). Only, it really is that much more beautiful and is that much more magical. Only, I felt Coffee Bay was missing a Pirate Ship. Every good “Bay” has to have a Pirate ship!

And I found a stone under a tree. I turned it over. A big frog jumped forward. I jumped back. He said “Croak!” and I said “Eeek!” and then I ran away “you can’t catch me frog! I’m looking for magic see!” and goats laughed at me. Perhaps they think I’m mad.

And we went to so many places. A place called “away with the fairies” in Hogs back which really was beautiful, just so very over grown. I went for a bit of a hike and was back within 20 minutes, red as a beet and half dead simply because the trail was so over grown that I never knew where I was and got a bit lost. So gave up. And I can keep up with the best of them when it comes to walking and running.

Our trip took us through to Cape St Francis. The next day I woke up and I was 28! And it did not ever hurt a bit! and I heard Whisper – whisper – run and JUMP it’s magic see?
And I got lots of messages and calls. And some of those were such magic too! Especially the most magical of them all. So after dealing with the fact that I was now 28 – the wrong side of 25, but the better side of 30, and having made sure I was still all in tact and after checking my blood pressure and cholesterol levels (must be more mature and responsible now) we headed off to Knysna.

WHAT HAPPENED TO KNYSNA? I did not find any magic there. I was devastated. From hippie to yuppie? No. sies. You can keep Knysna. That is all.

And then we met JK for dinner. And it was awesome. What a nice guy! We said things like “Hello, how do you do” and other nice things like “what a lovely home you have” and then JK opened some wine and it sounded like this - “PLOMP” and that was magic too! And then, after a few wines, we were laughing out our noses. It’s magic see!!

I was looking for magic. I knew I would find it somewhere, and up till then, I was starting to realize that there is – quite simply… magic everywhere… if you will only notice it… ssshhhhh – whisper – come… follow me

Things on my mind this week

All the work I need to catch up on.
Cape Town – will I make it?
Britney. Am I over Britney Spears? Or do I just need space?
I’m rested. I’m somewhat revived. I’m still wondering what’s next with work though. Where is life taking me next? I’m not convinced this is it. There is more.
My birthday party this weekend. Yes. I’m having another one coz my other friends missed me. Cool eh?
Crème Soda kisses :-)
Freedom. I hear it calling. Can anyone else hear it?
Did any of the first European Settlers kick themselves in the arses after seeing the Eastern Cape and already having had given KZN the title of holding “The valley of a thousand hills” silly fools!

I have a question for anyone living in Jeffrey’s Bay.

Why do you live in Jeffrey’s Bay?

Sorry, I do not mean to disrespect your home. And I’m sure that if you were to poke you finger into your left eye, tilt your head to the right and squint… then maybe it does start looking better. Ok – I’m being mean, so I will stop. I have nothing more to say about J-Bay.

East London really surprised me. It was the first time I had ever been there. And I really liked it. I could live there. Sitting on the deck at the back packers we stayed at, drinking coffee, watching the sun come up at 06:30am – I could totally see myself running along the beach, surfboard under my arm and jumping into the ocean to join the dolphins for a swim. Only – I can’t surf. So I would need to learn first. East London ended up being the place we stayed at the longest. Both kim and I fell in love with the vibe, the people, the sun and beaches. We played pool, we drank beer. We had an awesome time! Met some very interesting people, and bumped into one guy we had met in Coffee Bay and another someone we had met in Hogs Back. This got me interested in the lives of back packers… they are like a whole different sub culture of people. An entire society most of us know nothing about… so I decided to interview one… only I lost the piece of paper I wrote everything on. So I can’t blog it. sucky build up eh?

Before we knew it, it was time to hit the road again. Off we went, back to Lusikisiki, just to get some rest the last 2 days of the holiday.

And then we headed off home. I got home to find all my plants were still alive. I was so worried because I had never arranged for anyone to look after them, but they were FINE and I was happy and it was nice to be home. I did all the mature responsible things like unpack my bags and do a load of laundry (I kid you not, I flooded the bloody passage way again… that poor carpet) and drank a glass of wine and I reflected…

shhhh…

Whisper – whisper

did I tell you that I found magic?

Songs in my head this week

I need a hero – Bonnie Tyler (best road trip song ever.. kim and I were literally dancing in the car!)
Gotta be somebody – Nickle Back (awesome song)
Here you come again – Dolly Parton
Baa baa black sheep – just about any nursery school.
So what! – Pink

So I was sitting at home.
And I realized.

Oooh. I found magic. I found magic everywhere.

PEOPLE… do yourselves a favor! GO ON HOLIDAY. Go see our beautiful country. GO SEE IT IMMEDIATELY!!! Because if you don’t.. you’re missing out on something amazing. And it’s right here – right here!! In your back yard.

The magic?

haha, I had lost the magic…far less than that which was at stake at the time, and I realized.

I have changed.
I am magic.
I found it.
In me.

And this is what I want to share with you too… if you look closely enough, just look deep inside. Take 1 minute of your life and just LISTEN to me… because if you do, you’ll see -


there is magic in you too.






Bye Bye - See you all soon!!!