Monday, August 31, 2009

Dear Metrocops

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

On Friday night, while i was on my way home from watching District 9.....awesome movie btw, you guys should totally go watch it if you haven't seen it yet.....the unthinkable happened. There I was, driving along happily in my little baby, listening to Nickle Creek when suddenly this black car, came speeding from behind, overtook me, cut me off and forced me to a standstill. Then, within seconds 2 metro police vehicles came to a screeching halt behind my now stationary car.

I was feeling pretty confused until the first shots rang out. Those idiots were firing at you guys and i was right in the middle of it all. After what felt like an eternity and a million shots, more metro cops came chasing from the other direction and the dudes were apprehended. I on the other hand could not move.

A very friendly policeman, whose name I just can't remember, came up to me and asked me if I was OK. I wasn't, but I managed to say that I was and that i would like to go home now. He was sweet enough to escort me home and make sure i got there safely. I was sort of OK until i actually got home...I freaked out, completely. And bought shares in Hysterics R us...and throughout all of this the kind police officer just stood there patting me on the back and telling me it's OK, it's over now and I'm fine.

So I'd like to thank you guys first of all for dealing with the situation quickly and efficiently. And even though i don't remember the guys name,I'd like to say thank you to the police man who treated me with such kindness and patience in my moment of absolute melt down. Thank you!

Regards

Ruby

P.S. erm.....just so you know, I'd like to point out to you guys that you might want to reconsider having roadblocks on Witkoppen during peak time traffic.....It really really screws us normal people around and makes us a bit negative...k?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

To my dear dear blue eyed boy

This started out as a very emotional and heart wrenching post...but after much deliberation I ended up deleting the whole thing. I miss you, I'm worried about you and I wish that things were still they way they used to be. You were my boy, my friend and a ray of sunshine in my life. These days I hardly see you. I have no idea what is going on in your life, and the little I do know I hear from other people or through FB. I'm not sure where exactly the distance came from. I don't think either of us are to blame...I suppose it's just one of those things...but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.

Our conversations have lost their passion and tenderness. And we're lucky if it lasts more than 2 minutes and get much further than "hi! how are you? What have you been up to?" We used to be inseparable. You were the one person I would always phone when things got tough. The one who understood me. You GOT me.

But before I become all emotional and girly I just wanted to tell you this. I miss you! More than you can ever imagine. And I will always love you in that special way that we love each other. Closer than the bestest of friends and yet, no more than friends. Look after yourself you hear.

I love you

Ruby
xxxxx

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Dear ghost of weekend past

What a weekend! I'm dead tired, and the week's only just started, although, that might be due to the fact that i only went to bed at 3 last night rather than a busy weekend:)

So on Friday and Monday I undertook the journey to and from the parentals and in the process was subjected to the national sport of the Free State - Pot hole dodging. I'm pretty good at it too....since I've been doing it for years traveling between uni at home at least 4 times a year and between jhb and home in more recent years. On Monday however, some poor dude wasn't quite as good at it as he thought, and his reckless 160km/h on a road so riddled with potholes that they should have a warning saying "Caution, sections of road ahead" instead of "Potholes for next 100km" ended in a nasty wreckage. He was hurt, but apparently no permanent damage was done to him...the car however was a complete write off.

On Saturday we travelled down to my gran for the day. Yes, she lives 250km away, and yes we often just go for the day. And yes, i guess we might be just a little odd. Anyhoodle, to get back to my story. The reason we went is because she needed us to help her pack up her things, and to go through the stuff she won't be able to take with her and divide it between the children and grandchildren. See, earlier this year she fell and broke her back. At 83 she is still living on her own and looking after herself quite well actually, but after the fall she realised that she can't continue to live on her own indefinitely. So she's decided to move in with my aunt, but she'll be visiting all the children for long periods of time, so she'll only be there like 3 months in the year anyway.

I wasn't exactly thrilled at going through her stuff and helping to divide it up and choosing what i wanted. It felt like a gross invasion of privacy. Like we were scratching through her whole life, looking for the parts we wanted most and ripping them from her life. It almost felt like we were saying goodbye. Quite a few tears were shed during the course of the day by my gran, my mom and her sisters and also us grandchildren. But the day was also filled with tons of old stories, tales of how and when a certain object was obtained.....i realised that my Gran's life had been filled with amazing stories.

When we got their my gran called me aside with a very mischievous look on her face. In her room she had hidden a number of articles which she didn't want anybody but me to have, since I'm the oldest granddaughter. Now, I've never been a very sentimental person, but this weekend I discovered that faced with certain situations I can be extremely sentimental and also emotional...who would have thought. The first thing she gave me was my great grandmother's recipe book. Now i realise that this sounds ridiculous, but bear in mind that this book is more than a century old. It's historical value alone is overwhelming, but of course the sentimental value was the one that got me. The second item which want to mention specifically is a small hand embroidered purse which contained a 100 year old threepence. I knew about this little purse and coin and before my gran even managed to say anything i was in tears. You see, my great gran used to say that you always have to carry a little money with you in the form of change, in case of emergency or in case you needed to phone. So she always carried this purse with the coin in her handbag, and when she was really old she gave it to my gran. And although she knew it was silly and sentimental since she could do nothing with a threepence she carried it with her all these years. And she wanted me, as the eldest grand daughter, to have it, and to do with it whatever i please. 3 Guesses where that little purse is right at this very moment :D

I spent the most of the rest of the weekend working on ASSignments which were due today, and yay me! because i e-mailed them in earlier today:) On my way back yesterday I encountered something which is neither strange nor uncommon considering where I grew up. It made me smile, knowing that my journey was being delayed by 15min because of this
Thank you, dear ghost of weekend past for an awesome weekend. For the time I got to spend with my parentals and with my gran and with the other family:)

Love

Ruby
xxxxx