HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORMA!

15 December 2016: Today is my younger sister Norma's birthday and we share the same age (of course I am still 11 months and 2 days older than her!!!) until my birthday next month.

This morning I started off my day in Benoni as I had a case at the CCMA ~ Not wanting to sit in traffic (which I did anyways) I left home at 6 and stopped off at the Lakeside Mall where I found Wimpy was open and had a really good Wimpy coffee and sunrise breakfast while working on my computer.  Oh yes ... also had great service!

This is a picture I got off the web of the mall ... this picture must have been taken when the mall was really new because it is looking a bit worse for wear.

We had a really good commissioner at the CCMA which was nice for a change.  I spent the afternoon in the office and got stuck in horrible traffic on the way home.

We had dinner at Norma's home tonight with our other sisters, her son Wesley and his girlfriend Sam and a number of her friends.  No photos were taken because it is always a bit of a whirlwind being in Norma's company.
 

Gorgeous sunset from Norma's verandah

 I really hope that her next 365 day trip around the sun is going to be super awesome and hold the answers to all her hopes and dreams.

TEAM CHRISTMAS LUNCH @ KOI

14 December 2016: My colleague Njabulo booked for us to have our Christmas Lunch at KOI @ 24 Central in Sandton yesterday.  

The 'A' Team ... Andries, Mothupi, Me, Thulani and Njabulo

The food was awesome and the company really good.

Andries, Mothupi and I tried an Oriental Cocktail (non alcoholic) ... unfortunately the ginger (which was not on the menu) overpowered the other fruits in the drink.

 We ordered grilled rib-eye steaks however the waiter returned to tell us that they were sold out so I tried crispy beef ... I was really happy with the meal as it was delicious (I will be returning to have this again!!!)

 Mothupi was drawn into ordering dessert ... and we got these desserts which looked like Master Chef creations.  Mine (above) was a medley of mango (mousse, sorbet, coolie) with caramel popcorn.  Mothupi's was a green tea mousse with raspberry sorbet and raspberry jellies.

 

Andries' dessert was a coconut meringue ... I want to try this when I go back.

 I was so busy enjoying my meal that I didn't see my boss Andries take this photo of me ...

HEART SISTERS and more ...

Tuesday 6 December 2016: When we were in New Zealand in September I told Nats about my friend Roz and said that I would LOVE it if they could meet ... of course we did not know that Nats would come to SA so soon after our visit.  I asked Nats if I could reserve a day of her visit and managed to arrange a lunch where the two of them could meet and just like I predicted ... they really liked each other.

We met at Contessa in Rivonia as Nats said that she loves babootie and they make delicious babootie.

We had an awesome lunch and I was very lucky to spend the whole day with Nats ... we visited Westpac (the plastic shop) at Lifestyle and we shopped up a storm and we also visited Lara at Scrapbook 'n Things @ Stepping Stones Nursery ... I hope Nats gets everything in her suitcase when she packs.

 I planted this little rosebush in remembrance of my friend Joan ~ My yellow rose of Texas ~ and every time it blooms I think she is saying "Hi!!!".

 9 December 2016: Connor and Drukkie.  I was at Lakeview today ... Connor's team wore black and white and who would have thought that these two boys would wear their OppiKoppi t-shirts.  They really are like brothers born from different mothers.  It is very difficult to get a photo of them both looking at the camera and acting 'normal'.

13 December 2016: I had a meeting with one of the managers at Nedbank Park today and was there early as usual and worked in the restaurant.  The new company has just taken over from Deli One and I was not sure if Tapelo was employed by them.  I was sitting and working away when suddenly there he was with this awesome cuppa coffee for me.  I was so excited to see him and he was delighted by my reaction to seeing him.

This evening when we went to Rosebank for dinner with Nats and Brett we saw Hamleys and Richard decided he wanted to have a look ... unfortunately they were just about to close but we had a quick look inside ~ To us grown ups it is just another toy store however I should imagine to a little kid it is awesome. 

A LITTLE THANK YOU GOES A LONG WAY!

I am very fortunate to have many loving relationships which sustain me in this tough world we live in ~ Many built as a result of working in the bank for a long time.  Sometimes I feel abused by the work that I do ... as many times the effort I put in seems to go unappreciated by the business and it feels like when you do the extra and go out of your way to help that it is expected of you.

Today I got a call from one of the Ops Managers in the new business that I look after who I had helped prepare for the first hearing he was presenting at ~ I know that this is a very stressful part of any manager of people to have to go through and I try and take some of the stress away by helping them prepare their paperwork for the hearing and think through their case to prepare themselves thoroughly (and on the other side I have to help the staff member with their case ~ can you say "schizophrenia"?).  When my phone rang I said to my friend Natalie that I really don't like answering calls when I don't know the number (need to update his number in my phone) but decided to answer the phone anyway ... "Hi Lynn, Sorry to phone you on a Sunday but I just wanted to find out when you will be coming past our office as I got you a little gift to say thank you for all your help with the hearing" ... I was flabbergasted!  What a kind gesture!  Thanks Adriaan for making me feel appreciated!!!

THIS 'n THAT!

Last Sunday I decided we needed to take the cars for a wash so Steph, Connor and I jumped into our cars and drove down to the Glenvista Shopping Centre.  I messaged Wendy to see if she wanted to join us and we had a lovely, leisurely breakfast at Cafe Aroma.

 During the week AnnaMarie called and asked if I had time if I would go to the corporate shop at Head Office and check the price of a specific cooler bag ... She said it looked like a back pack.

Armed with this information I went down to the shop ... took this photo and sent it to her with this message "Die eene? R224." Her response "Ja sal jy vir my een koop asb. Ek trf nou".

I sent her the following message "Is sel fone nie net te fantasties? VOORHEEN sou ek die gekoop het ... dan is dit verkeerd ... dan sou ek dit moet terug bring ... NOU ... foto ... is dit die een ... ja ... koop die regte ding en SIEDAAR". (Translation "Are cell phones not too fantastic ... BEFORE I would have bought the item ... then it is wrong ... I have to bring it back ... NOW ... photo ... is this what you are looking for? ... yes ... buy the right thing and ... WALLAH!!!!!")

While I was downstairs I decided to pop into the convenience store and get a cuppa coffee ... it was awesome!!!!  And then I saw this little message and thought it suits any cuppa coffee well ...

 

My sister Wendy sent me this photo of her ex husband Keenan with her son Jarod after his recent game ... "They won districts and he had 14 plays (not too sure what that means)" and I responded saying "That means he added huge value to the game!!!" 

He looks right at home in this outfit!

We had our annual Staff Appreciation Day in Nedbank on 18th October ... Unfortunately one of our colleagues was off sick so our boss Eugene took myself and Mothupi to breakfast at Wimpy in Sandton City.  We took a brisk walk there, enjoyed a great breakfast and then another brisk walk back.

We each received a R180 gift card from Pick 'n Pay ... We gave a voucher to our cleaner lady Agnes and she was so overwhelmed and thankful and told us that she was going on leave that day that I decided to give her my voucher as well.

Connor and Steph attended Jam Jozi and on Saturday night he was telling us about these Napsac Airbags (I had seen them on facebook and thought they were an awesome idea) and was really selling the idea to his best ability.  I agreed to pay for one ... this is the photo he sent me later in the day ~ looks like the ideal afternoon nap location.

A NEW LEASE ON MY WORK LIFE!

4 October 2016: Today I met my new business team for the first time ... In a room of 40 people I had only met 2 people before! (and that excludes the 2 people in my HR Team!!!).  This is their Annual Operations Conference and boy did I learn a lot!  And I am very excited by all the new learnings I am going to have ~ It is always interesting to go into a part of the busines you know nothing about with no preconceived ideas.

Imagine how "at home" I felt when I was already included in receiving a jacket along with the rest of the team!!!

My room for the night

We finished at 5, checked into our rooms and then chilled at the bar until dinner.  I sat with LeeAnne (who I have known for a number of years) and Sanet (who I will be working with from the HR side) and we had a lovely chat.  After a delicious dinner I was back in my room by 20h30 and was asleep by 22h00.

5 October 2016: Had a good sleep except for 2 calls from ADT for the house alarm!.  Got up at 06h30 after relaxing in bed after my alarm went off.  After a lovely breakfast we had a full day until lunch and then finished off at around 15h30 which made for an easier drive home.

An awesome start to my new job!!!

 My spiffy new jacket!

  I LOVE Olwazini!!!!

FRIDAY BREAKFAST

30 September 2016 : I have built enduring relationships with many of the people I have worked with over the years and these two ladies are two of them.  Karol Luus (Florida Branch) and Alida Grobler (Flora Centre Branch) are two of the branch managers I have worked with for a long time and this morning we met for breakfast at Wimpy at Flora Centre Shopping.  We had an awesome time catching up and of course I had my camera handy for a photo and we had such fun trying to get one photo where their eyes were open and they were both smiling ... I deleted all the closed eyes ones and here are the rest ...

Love these ladies!!!!

IF IT'S MEANT TO BE ... IT WILL BE

These words roll off our tongues so easily but sometimes it is difficult to accept the situation and move on.

I applied for a position recently and was 'second choice' ... It is a really difficult thing to deal with and my heart is still hurting a bit while my head tries to come to terms with it.

However what is keeping me sane is that ... when God closes a door he always opens a window!  I am praying that I am not going to be second choice in my next application ... Say a little prayer for me will you?!  I need a new challenge and a change of scenery.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDELWA!

22 April 2016: Today was my colleague Lindelwa's birthday.  My boss very cleverly put a late afternoon meeting in our diaries with lunch added at Pappacino's.  Lindelwa arrived expecting us to have a full meeting and was shocked when she realised that this was a lunch in her honour ~ she was the only one who didn't know that it was not a meeting.

The waiters came and sang to her after her insisting she didn't want this to happen.  So cute!!!!

We had an awesome afternoon filled with great company and really good food.

Lindelwa, me and my gorgeous boss Xoliswa

Today was a REALLY busy day for me ... I had two disciplinary hearings at work which took the whole day and that after I got to bed at 2am.

It was also a really awesome day as Connor started his year long contract with Nedbank today and was exhausted but excited about work at the end of the day!!!! YAY!!!!!

I am just having a quick peek at Facebook then I am going to work on some baby shower and wedding invitations I am making for two friends.

I have a "To Do" list for the weekend which I am determined to get through so I am off to get started.

Hope the start of April has been awesome for you!!!! 

RECOGNITION

Twice a year we have recognition functions at work ... in the past we used to have one big Regional Function now we have them in the different areas in our Region which are not as much fun. I attended two functions for the areas I look after.

ROSEBANK AREA had their function at the Wanderer's Golf Club in Houghton on Thursday 4th February.

I arrived a bit early and sat outside working on my laptop (the view is of the golf course is gorgeous) until the committee arrived.  It was really funny sitting there listening to these old guys at a table next to me gossiping (in South Africa we call it 'skinnering') about other people and using such foul language that at one point I had to have a look to see how old these guys were and then they apologized but continued with the same language.  It was rather hysterical because I could just imagine my Dad sitting in their midst.

Jurieka and Alencia

I slipped away early from the function as I had to get home to finish a return I was working on for our Regional General Manager.  I worked until 00h30 when I couldn't see straight any more.

JOZI WEST had their function on Saturday 13th February at Usambara on the West Rand which is mostly a wedding venue.  Before the function started there was juice served in the garden.  There was a bridal couple having their photos taken in the garden as well.  We entered the hall at 6h30 ~ The venue's staff had done a lot of hard work and the hall looked awesome.

Our Area Manager, Steven Fraser, dressed in his African regalia started handing out the awards which is always the exciting part of the evening ~ Because the area had done so well there were many awards to hand out.  Some of the staff did a dance when their names were called out.

 Here are some of the support staff, me included, who were recognized (and I match with the table cloth!!!). 

Steven, Mandy, Florah, Jurieka, Michelle and me

All the area winners

Then ... we had a belly dancer.  OMGoodness!!!!! Usually belly dancers have a bit more meat on them ... This lady was OK but went on for FAR too long and then came back a second time!!!!  Here our manager from Randfontein, Lebo, was having a bit of a dance with her ... hysterical!!!! as he has no rhythm.

 Then she got a few of the other guys involved.

 Then .... we had to sit through a burlesque type routine which would be appropriate for a bachelor's party ... certainly not for a work function!!!!  Then the belly dance came back on and then the burlesque dancers again  ... ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!  It's 20h40 and I'm hungry!!!!!

I ended up being the official photographer for the evening as Johan had forgotten his camera at home and when his wife arrived with it the battery was completely flat. 

I left the function at around 10pm, just after dessert was served, to fetch Connor and Steph ~ I had dropped them at Cradlestone Mall on my way so that they could go to dinner and movies at the IMax theatre.  They had a stunning pre-Valentines evening with dinner at Dopio Zero after they had bad service at Mythos and then they saw Deadpool which they obviously enjoyed because they couldn't stop speaking about it.

It was so nice not to have to drive home on my own.