What activity would you like a lesson from an expert?

This is easy enough – if you’ve ever seen me in a kitchen (or never seen me in a kitchen)…you would know what I would want – cooking lessons from an expert to ensure I don’t poison the poor fellow in the receiving end.

I am the type of person who burns boiling water - utterly hopeless. The thought of cooking makes my palms sweaty and my heart race. I find it such a mundane task that society dictates as the job of the women. Well, if you know me, I’m never in the kitchen and I’m as maternal as a doorknob.

However, that being said – I would like to know how to cook without going into a complete panic. I’d like to do all the fancy dishes shown on the cooking channel – and do it with the easy that those chiefs do it. And the saying, “the way to a man’s heart, is through his stomach” doesn’t help!

I have been terrorized by my grand mother to be more feminine and submissive. Not to mention with the task to be the home starter when in actual fact Gran – all I need to do is find a man who likes to cook…

Bucket list: 100 things to do before I die

1. Paraglide along the west coast
2. Track mountain gorillas in Uganda
3. Sky dive - tandem of course
4. Go shark caging diving
5. Go river rafting
6. Get married - and have the big white wedding
7. Have a family
8. Grow in faith – and be a good Christian
9. Hot air balloon over the Maasai Mara in Kenya
10. Pony trekking in Lesotho
11. Go back to Mozambique for a holiday
12. Microlight over Victoria Falls
13. Soak in the Wikki Warm Springs – Nigeria
14. Travel back to Venice: take a Gondola ride and buy a glass ring – the one I bought fell and broke :-(
15. Stroll through the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna – 130 km east of Tripoli
16. Visit the Kruger National Park
17. Bungy jump again but this time actually jump off as opposed to someone pushing me
18. Learn to surf, more importantly to be able to stand up on the board
19. Learn sign language
20. Learn photography
21. Work one summer at a soup kitchen for the homeless
22. Learn to be more patient
23. Take a road trip and not know the destination
24. Go on holiday and not over pack as I always do
25. Be debt free – not that I have debt now
26. Donate blood on regular moment
27. Take a cruise holiday – destination does not really matter
28. Go to the Maldives and stay in a water villa (house built on stilts in the lagoon).
29. Go to Egypt and explore the pyramids
30. Be able to drive and not get road rage at the stupid people on the roads
31. Be able to stand in front of a crowd and Karaoke like no ones listening
32. Learn to ice skate
33. Be able to go to my dad’s grave and not be sad but rather at peace
34. Learn a new language
35. Blow a month’s salary on shoes/clothes and items for the house
36. Visit the churches of Lalibela – Ethiopia
37. Learn to be quiet and meditate
38. Realise that there is no such thing as PMS and that its just my personality
39. Swim with a dolphin
40. Have an invisible friend
41. Go watch a ballet or opera show at a theatre
42. Make a snow angel in real thick snow
43. Go to India and ride an elephant
44. Visit Greece
45. Write my will
46. Go to Thailand
47. Shop in Bangkok
48. Tell my loved ones that I love them – while I still can
49. Spend the night talking with my husband and watch the sun rise
50. Go to Zanzibar
51. Build a tree house – its for the kids of course
52. Flash an officer of the Law
53. Win the lotto and tell my boss to take a hike – must be dramatic and creative resignation (like in the movies)
54. Learn to cook
55. Go on an African safari
56. Walk the great wall of China
57. Learn to master the art of eating with chop sticks
58. Be a great mom (if I ever do embark on that journey)
59. Learn to make sushi
60. Save enough to make provision for the loved ones I leave behind
61. Learn to play a musical instrument - maybe the harp
62. Touch a snake or let one hang over my shoulders
63. Give to various charities
64. Not care about my weight or the occasional muffin top
65. Have a professional photo shoot done
66. Shop antiques and tasseled fezzes in Fes
67. Learn to drive a motor bike
68. Go to Jamaica – perhaps even retire there!
69. Learn to garden
70. Set off a fire alarm at work and hope that someone doesn't catch me
71. Attend an Oprah show – the Christmas Show!!!
72. Stay out all night dancing and go straight to work the following day
73. Cut my hair into an outrageous hairstyle
74. Purchase my first pair of Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo shoes – break the bank.
75. Go to a wedding and wrestle to catch the bride's bouquets
76. Make my first million
77. Have a happy fulfilling marriage – more importantly, just have ONE marriage and not succumb to the divorce rate
78. Do a job that I love and am passionate about
79. Learn to take a compliment
80. Learn to take criticism
81. Fall deeply in love - helplessly and unconditionally
82. Ask for a raise
83. Shower under a waterfall
84. Experience a white Christmas
85. Look at my family from a distance and realise what a great job I have done
86. Make my own wine – stomping it and "the whole 9 yards"
87. Buy a house and make it a home
88. Overcome a fear
89. Learn to keep in touch with friends and family
90. Become a Sunday school teacher
91. Pitch a tent in my backyard and camp the night under the stars with my kids
92. Send my mom red roses on her birthday and Valentines Day to let her know how much she is loved
93. Stick to my New Year’s resolutions
94. Give ten percent of my income to the church
95. Go to a place where nobody knows me and pretend to be a completely different person – like a millionaire or a doctor
96. Learn to DJ
97. Be a non-smoker
98. Crash a high school party in my 50s
99. Be active and in good health
100. Be an organ donor - to help someone else

Bonus...

101. Be happy and content that I lived a fulfilling life with no regrets

What would the world be like if Santa Claus actually existed?

So what would life be like if the mystical Santa Claus did exist? I think that perhaps the world would be a better place; more people would behave themselves – hoping that their name would be on Santa’s list for a gift. We all know that if you were naughty, Santa wouldn’t bring you a gift.

On the other hand, perhaps it would be a bad thing…people would idealise Santa into a God-like figure and perhaps people would become more materialistic – instead of focusing on the smaller things that brings one joy. I always thought that people appreciate more if they achieved something through hard work. So how many people would people be ungrateful for the gift they have received? Would Santa become a target, would thugs try and rob him? Perhaps Santa would become victim to the sins of the world – sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll and not forgetting corruption.

I don’t know which of the above would be true but I do know that the thought of Santa Claus does bring a smile to my face…of younger, more innocent times. Times of excitement and minimal sleep just incase I missed Santa coming down the chimney. It was a vital part of childhood which I wouldn’t have traded for the world.

GLOOMY THOUGHT: I remember the moment I found out that Santa didn’t exist – how I had been living a lie. Dramatic – I know, but why would our parents give us such an amazing character just so that the dream can be pulled out from underneath us???

My big fat BIG dream

For some this may be an easy question, they may have their life mapped out. I find that my big fat dream changes all the time to what I need at that moment in my life.

When I was younger, all I dreamt about was being skinny, having straight hair instead of curly and being in with the “in-crowd”. Lol…yes my dreams have changed since then…my big dream now is to complete my BTech and gain experience. I dream of travelling to exotic places all around the world. I dream of having a house that is a home or maybe even drive a fancy car.

Then there are times that my big fat dream is to have a big white wedding. Although it is not a priority now, perhaps in the distant future I may wish to have a family. When I am a mother I may find financial security for my loved ones a priority. When I am 80 years, wrinkled and matured like a good wine…I may consider my health most important.

At various times in my life, my dream is to be closer to God. I dream of more profound things than my life – Martin Luther King’s words come to mind, to make this world a better place and to help those less fortunate. Most importantly, despite my age, where I am in life and what my dreams are – above all I would like to be happy and surround myself with loved ones.

So no, I would like to think that there is one big dream that I have, but I don’t – I have many all equal in priority…cause who said I can only have one big fat BIG dream.

When does a house become a home?

As more and more of my friends leave the "nest" and move in to their own place, it got me thinking how important a home is. It is a safe place to retreat back to after a long day, a place that you can wear what you want and truly let your hair down. It is a place of comfort and a reflection of who you are.

So when does a house become a home? I think when you deciding what couch you like and what vases compliment the curtains…your house is still a house. Whether you have the latest designs or appliances…this still does not make it a home.

I think a house becomes a home when you experience great joys – and sorrows, when you experience unforgettable memories and the walls speak of great times, when you see photographs of loved ones displayed all around, when you hear laughter and the occasional angry scream in the passage. You experience life with all the ups and downs in those four walls…when your house is filled with all of this and the people you love…this makes it a home.

Home is where the heart is...