About Bo

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

My high school reunion: Stepping back 20 years

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Bo

I have always found it odd when people talk about their high school reunions. The discussion is usually about how they are dreading it and how much they hated people they went to school with. So when I got the invite to my 20 year reunion, I wasn’t too sure what to think. Was it really that bad as everyone made out to be?

It’s not like I hated school. I didn’t have any bad experiences. I was well-liked by my teachers. I guess the thing that stood out for me the most was my friends. They’re the ones that made those years so fantastic and memorable.

The experiences with them was what played a part in how I viewed life when I left school 20 years ago and how I learnt to value friendship, trust and loyalty.

So I went. Nervous as hell (especially since KK was away and I went alone). It was like stepping back in time… I could not stop smiling.

My bestie from school (and who still is) put together a slide show of everyone: what we all looked like in 1992, what we looked like now, what we were up to…

It was so cool. How weird to see that friends from school were now parents with kids and full time jobs and responsibilities!

I imagined that we would all be sitting around quizzing each other about our present day lives but it was not to be. All we could talk about were memories from school. Stories of rebellion, our favourite and worst teachers, whether or not our headmaster was still alive. It was awesome to laugh and remember back.

No one really cared who was a big shot director now. No one even bothered to ask where I worked. It wasn’t even about who had put on weight, who had gone bald and who had/had not aged well. When we looked at each other’s faces, we saw the 18 year olds we knew from 1992.

I am so glad I went. It’s the latest I got home from a party in a long time and was on a high for so long. A part of me is happy to have seen all those faces and friends, but a part of me is sad that time is flying by so quickly. So much has happened during those 20 years. Ups and downs. We are sadly not the young, innocent, carefree youth we were then.

But for one evening, we most definitely were!

Running through my weeks…

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Bo

1. Christmas trimmings put up by team of girls I sit next to at work. 2. The choice of mayo at Woolies! 3. Cherries – My new favourite snack. 4. Breakfast at Junipa’s. 5. The calmness in the library at Melrose Arch. 6. Annie napping in front of TV. 7. Our Christmas tree is up! 8. Trimmings around the house. 9. Lunch with a bunch of girlfriends.

The year of the healthy eater

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Bo

This year has definitely been the year of the ~~diet~~ healthy eating plan. Not a week has gone by without some article popping up on the web or tweets about no carbs, low carbs, Paleo, Atkins, Dukan… you name it. I’ve watched the outcry from dieticians against Professor Tim Noakes’ revolutionary eating plan. I’ve become aware of the Sleek Geek movement and the numerous updates. Even buddies of ours swapped the regular burgers and beers for green leaves and black coffee. It’s truly been a year where everyone has joined one or other healthy eating plan in the hope of losing weight.

So when KK completed the RAC Tough One 32km running race recently, we were discussing the race and it got me thinking. You see, as a runner, KK will never walk during a race. In his mind, it’s a running race and the only time he walks is through the water stops. Yet walking during a race is very much part of my races. My walk/run strategy is what gets me to the finish line. Both of us are runners but with very different running styles. We do what works for us.

And I guess that’s the point with diets too. Noakes’ eating plan is not for everyone, but it has worked for him. Sleek Geek has motivated loads of people, but the whole group thing might turn some people off. And yes, those on the cabbage/South California/Atkins diet might feel great for a week when they are able to lose 6kgs, and that’s okay.

Let them enjoy the high while it lasts. We’re all different and sometimes, something that works for me might not necessarily work for someone else. The key is to not judge or criticize but try to support as much as I can. Because let’s face it, there’s nothing as wonderful as crossing that finish line or losing those kilo’s! Is there?

Is being alone making me lonely?

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Bo

KK is away on a business trip. You’d think I’d be used to it by now but I’ve realised that I’m not. Since I met KK, he has gone away on many business trips. Some of them have been short ones, some of them as long as 5 weeks. I usually arrange dinner dates with all my besties, I plan my PVR schedule and try get in long phone calls with my sister and my mom. But the plans all sound more exciting than reality. Because if I have to be honest with myself, I actually hate being alone.

Is there a difference between being alone and lonely? Surprisingly, the dictionary defines lonely like this:

lone•ly [lohn-lee] – adjective, lone•li•er, lone•li•est. affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone; lonesome.

Ironically, being alone is definitely making me feel incredibly ~~depressed~~ lonely. Yes I have loads of friends and colleagues around me. But it’s not the same, especially when I am so used to being with KK all the time. I can’t sleep during the week. I don’t feel like watching TV. I avoid going out. I tend to sleep my weekend away. I go into total hibernation until he returns.

I think it’s been bugging me a lot more lately because I’ve realised that with us not having any children, without KK, I truly am alone. I’ve never really been alone. After I moved out of home, I always had someone in my life and met KK 15 years ago. He’s all I’ve got. So when he does go away, I am fooling myself in to believing I love the ‘free’ time. I hate it.