About Bo

Dog lover. Runner. Although very slowly. Keeping up with the stresses of running and life...

7 things you most probably didn’t know about me…

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Bo

So the challenge came from @TanyaKovarsky’s blog www.dearmax.org to list 7 things about myself that you most probably didn’t know.

Okay, so here goes:

1. When I was growing up, I collected Pink Panthers. At one stage I had 27 of them and called them my ‘Pankies’. I still have a few in the garage that I really should donate to charity. It just breaks my heart to get rid of them.

2. I was born a ginger, had blonde hair growing up, but now I am dark brunette.

3. I studied Information Science, which is really a fancy name for Librarianship. Yes, I like to wear my hair tied up in a bun and still remember the Dewey Decimal classification system.

4. I am an avid (closet) cross stitcher.

I really need to find time to do it. It truly is addictive and can keep me busy for hours.

5. I love documentaries. Especially about 9/11, The Kennedy’s and Man’s first flight to the Moon.

6. I never learnt to swim. I can do doggie paddle but never learnt to do crawl or backstroke or anything fancy. If I am totally honest, I am not really a water person at all.

7. Even though I have travelled to many exotic places, the Kruger Park and Namibia remain my two favourite places in the world! I was fortunate enough to spend a week quadbiking, 4X4’ing, sand boarding down the dunes in Walvis Bay and swimming with the dolphins two years ago. It’s a memory I will cherish forever!

Please share your 7 things with me! You’ll be amazed just how fascinating people find you!

I know I will….

A weekend to remember

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Bo

This weekend was one of the best I can remember in a long time and for no special reason other than I spent it with great people, doing the things I love to do.

Friday evening was spent having sundowners at Pirates Sports Club in Jo’Burg. It was the perfect end to a heavy week. Good laughs, awesome friends and the best burgers in town!

Saturday morning I attended a blogging workshop hosted by @TanyaKovarsky. Having gained some valuable tips and being able to share some of my fears with fellow bloggers has left me so inspired – all I want to do is blog!

(I did make a few changes to my blog on the weekend after the workshop. I hope you like them and would love your feedback.)

The rest of Saturday was spent shopping for Christmas presents. With a list in hand, we arrived at Sandton at 13h00 and left just after 19h30 with a car boot full of shopping bags. You seriously want to be on KK’s Christmas list. He does not hold back! Toys R Us love us!

I did manage to find the most adorable Christmas ornaments. Aren’t they just divine?!

(and they only cost me R50 each from that nicknack shop next to McDonalds in Sandton called Chefs ‘n Icers.)

I’ve placed them on my kitchen window sill to keep me company while I cook.

Sharing a pizza with KK at Andiamo in Fourways watching the people walk by doesn’t sound like much. But trust me, in my mind, it’s the perfect Saturday night date after a long day of shopping.

Try my favourite toppings next time you go: Haloumi, biltong, sundried tomatoes and avo. *drooling*

Sundays are our lazy day. We woke up. Had breakfast. Fell asleep again. Chillaxed around the house. Had a wonderful supper outside on the patio watching the sun set.

Happiness.

Running to the end

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Bo

Everyone has the end of year jitters. With talk of holidays and colleagues applying for annual leave, there is still so much work to get done before the end of the year. Invoices need to be submitted, charters need to be briefed, proposals need a decision on, workshops still need to be held. It’s an absolutely crazy time at the office at the moment.

It’s not only me that feels the tension. When I look around, I see some very stressed out faces. Tired, drained, with no more energy left. It even feels as if we’re all ready to give up and throw in the towel. It’s during these times that I remember my Johnson Crane race and realize that there is no option of quitting.

The Johnson Crane half marathon was the very first 21.1km race I ever attempted. I was fine during the first 14 kms. I ran in a good, steady pace. I felt fresh. However, I might have been a bit eager and by the time I got to the 16km mark, I hit the wall.

Hitting the wall is something most runners fear. It’s a terrible feeling. I remember it well. I was exhausted. It felt as if every step I took required immense effort until eventually, I stopped. My body would not carry on. I froze. I could not think of anything else but quitting. My legs refused to move and as hard as I fought it, every muscle in my body had given up on me. My mind was screaming, GO! But my body wouldn’t move.

It took a dear friend who happened to cycle past me to feed me a banana and gels to get some energy pumping through my body before I managed to get my legs to move and carry on running.

I finished my race and to this day, Johnson Crane has become one of my favourite half marathons and holds that special place in my heart.

I have strung my medal around a little ornament on my desk. I use it to inspire me on difficult days.

Especially on days when it feels like I’ve hit the wall. The days when the stress overwhelms me. I stare at it and remember that I am capable of so much more…

It reminds me that even if I hit bumps in the road and even if I am on the verge of quitting that there is always an end in sight…

And a medal!

Making Christmas mine involves a bit of compromise and effort

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Bo

I dread this time of year. While everyone else around me is excited about the holidays and the countdown to Christmas, for me, it represents the time of year that KK and I argue the most.

The thing is that we’ve both come from very different upbringings where Christmas was celebrated very differently in our families.

His memories of Christmas involve presents around the tree, family photographs, gammon and fruit cake and opening up presents on Christmas eve.

However, I can’t remember my family ever having a Christmas tree. Presents were not a big deal (and some years never even wrapped). I also recall that the fact that my single mom could earn extra money for working overtime on these days meant we usually landed up spending the time at my granny.

Don’t get me wrong. It never bugged me. In fact, this is what I came to know as a fantastic Christmas! This was the norm.

So what’s the problem then? Why do we fight?

In a way, KK is reluctant to give up on his Christmas tradition. In his eyes, it is perfect. This is where the arguments start. I want something of my own. I want my own tradition. I want something uniquely ours. And yet with Christmas eve booked by his family and Christmas day spent split between my mom, stepdad and my dad, there isn’t really time for an ‘our’ Christmas.

I think it’s different when you have kids and you start creating your own traditions. But that’s not going to happen with us. So for the past couple of years, it’s always landed up being a big argument.

So this year, I decided that two things were needed. I needed to back down and accept that KK’s Christmas is important to him and I shouldn’t try change anything. The second realisation is that if I wanted something of my own, I needed to find it or create it.

And so I did..

We made Friday night a ‘romantic, Christmas tree putting up evening’. I booked us out for the evening (so that we didn’t accidentally make Friday night plans with friends), I bought some really yummy snacks on the way home including some wine. I made a delicious supper which we ate outside on the patio, watching the sun set. And then we set out decorating our home in Christmas decorations. Together. Just the two of us while my George Michael CD played in the background.

It was an evening where we celebrate the start of ‘our’ Christmas together and spent time decorating our beautiful home with the most stunning Christmas decorations.

What works is that no one can take this evening away from us. It is ours and is a special evening that we can look forward to every year from now on – building our own yearly tradition.

It takes both a compromise to find a solution and an effort in order to make something work. Sometimes it’s difficult to do, but the rewards are amazing!