Valentine's 2013

Our Valentine's Dinner this year. We had home made sushi and pink sparkling wine. The sushi was a bit of a 'fusion' and not just traditional sushi. We used chilli, lime & soya salmon and added rocket, sweet peppers, sweet chilli sauce and blue cheese. Along with the more usual carrots, cucumber sand avo. It was delicious!

For dinner we had marshmallows and cup-cakes. Oh and the boys got PS Chocolates and Poems/Love Letters from me too. And they also got to have some sparkling wine, which they were thrilled about.

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I wear Red Socks on Fridays

Ok so I overslept on Friday morning and was too late to join the official Red Sock Friday run in Claremont, so I had to do my own solo Red Sock run on Friday evening. Still I did 15km, so that was a decent representation of the day I think! :)

Raised Eye-Brows

I love the candour and directness of Asian women. I love how strong, unappologetic and forthright they are. They speak their minds and own their opinions. It's refreshing.

It's no secret that I am not a girly-girl. I really can't be arsed with much of the 'girl' stuff. Shopping, grooming, preening, shoes, handbags, outfits, hairdos. All that Jazz.

But I almost snort laughed yesterday when a little chinese chickie looked me straight in the eyes and said boldly, 'Who does your eye-brows?... They are Very Terrible'. She proceeded to take a close-up photo, showed it to me and explained in detail what is wrong with them. Instead of being offended I was actually amused and appreciative. She is a massage and beauty therapist after-all, so I have no doubt that she does know way better than I do about these things.

So there you have it. My eye-brows are 'very terrible'. LOL

Goose Bump Monday leads me to Red Sock Fridays

So I have blogged before about how I have (finally) joined a running club. Not that I have actually run with or for them, or run a race at all yet this year but still... I have now got my kit and license and have entered 3x 10km races. So we are getting there.

Anyway, on Monday there was a club social so off I went to have a look-see and meet a few people and get a feel for what they are like etc. The club operates from Hamilton's Rugby Club in Greenpoint which is a lovely location. So we were upstairs in the pub looking down at the buff rugby players training - what's not to like!?

But the point of this post is to tell you about the goose-bump moment I had...

John McInroy - of Red Sock Fridays fame - was there to talk about the Red Socks campaign. I had seen and heard about them before so was vaguely interested but reasonably ambivalent about it. Until he got up. He is such a lively, animated and fun guy with a real zest for life. But as he was talking I got more and more intrigued and compelled by the story...

Read the links below for more details but the basic synopsis is that John and his best friend Ian worked in Dublin for a year. At the end of the year they moved on in life to separate parts of the world and were gutted at their parting so wanted to do something to remember each other always. Ian told John about a teacher back at school who used to wear red socks on Remembrance (Poppy) Day. It turned out that the teacher and his friend had been in WWII and captured at the Battle of Tobruk and sent to an Italian POW camp. They had made that pact that if they survived they would always wear red socks on Fridays after that to remember and commemorate each other.

In 1933, a man named Phil Masterton-Smith cycled I730km from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg (because he could not afford the train!)to take part in the Comrades Marathon. After his long journey to the starting line, Masterton-Smith took part in the Comrades the next day. He placed 10th and earned himself the nickname Unogwaja, meaning "the hare". This incredible story landed Masterton-Smith in the history books, and is at the heart of the UNOGWAJA challenge, Masterton-Smith had already won the Comrades in 1931 at the age of 19, making him the youngest Comrades winner to date, He was later killed in battle during World War II.... You guessed it he was killed at the Battle of Tobruk!

So John McInroy now takes part in the Unogwaja challenge and using Red Sock Fridays they raise money for charities, and there are Red Sock Friday runs all over the place and the idea has just taken off...

Why did this interest me..?

Well my very own Grandfather was involved in WWII and was stationed up in North Africa, and was captured in Tobruk and sent to and spent 2 years in an Italian Prison of War camp. He very well knew the Red Socks guys. It was a goose bump moment for me.

I now proudly own a pair of red Socks and intend to take part in a local red Socks Friday run with them tomorrow morning in Cape Town.

http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/john-wears-his-heart-on-his-feet-1.1216072

http://allthingsjabu.co.za/?page_id=720

I WEAR RED SOCKS ON FRIDAY!

*In memory of my Grandfather Norman Vivienne Fraser aka Bobby Fraser.*

 

Happy Valentine's Day

This is what I gave my team at work this morning.

 

What can I say I am their new leader, and a little love (and bribery) goes a long way!

 

Happy Valentine's Day, hope you are having a good one!