The Rapture by Liz Jensen

In a merciless summer of biblical heat and destructive winds, Gabrielle Fox's main concern is a personal one: to rebuild her career as a psychologist after a shattering car accident. But when she is assigned Bethany Krall, one of the most dangerous teenagers in the country, she begins to fear she has made a terrible mistake. Raised on a diet of evangelistic hellfire, Bethany is violent, delusional, cruelly intuitive and insistent that she can foresee natural disasters - a claim which Gabrielle interprets as a symptom of doomsday delusion. But when catastrophes begin to occur on the very dates Bethany has predicted, and a brilliant, gentle physicist enters the equation, the apocalyptic puzzle intensifies and the stakes multiply. Is the self-proclaimed Nostradamus of the psych ward the ultimate manipulator, or could she be the harbinger of imminent global cataclysm on a scale never seen before? And what can love mean in 'interesting times'? A haunting story of human passion and burning faith set against an adventure of tectonic proportions, The Rapture is an electrifying psychological thriller that explores the dark extremes of mankind's self-destruction in a world on the brink.

Hmmm. I dunno about this one. It didn't really come together for me in the end. I'm not really sure exactly what the book was supposed to be about in the end either. It's got some interesting characters and some nice descriptions but I still wouldn't recommend it.

Welcome Roomie

Friday evening started the weekend out slowly. I spent ages in traffic trying to get from my new home to my lovely vet so that he could inspect Rex's sore feet again (although, as I mentioned, this time he seemed to have an irritation on both his front paws that he was chewing at and making worse). It wasn't as bad as it looked to me (I couldn't really get a good look tho). It's not an open wound as I thought it was, it's just a callous forming that he's irritating.

But I did get his very long nails clipped, which I think I will do (well, not me personally, I will keep taking him to the vet for that, he squirms wa-ay too much for me to try attempting it!) every 3 months or so from now on.

And then I went home to make myself some dinner and clear out my spare room.

On Friday morning I'd got an sms from my friend Beukes, who I'd offered my spare room to way back when I first moved in. I figured he must've found himself another place by now and had thought nothing more of it ... being quite happy with living on my lonesome at this stage, actually. In truth, I don't mind either way and did rather leave it up to fate to decide if I lived alone or not. Beukes is the only person I offered the room to (it's not like I'm on the desperate hunt for a house-mate and put it on gumtree or anything!!). So anyway, he wanted to know if my room was still available.

So, yeah, I had to clear out my spare room (which had basically turned itself into a laundry room in the last few weeks of rain ;) ) and he moved in on Saturday. Has been kinda weird getting used to someone else "wandering the halls" and what not, but I don't forsee any problems with the two of us co-habiting. Hell, our mom's are even planning a trip up here to visit together apparently ;) (Did I mention I've known Beukes since he was about in Standard 2/Grade 4?)

Saturday I was up early doing admin type stuff, getting keys cut and remotes set for his impending move and I bought myself a new shower-head. Can I just say I think it's the best R250 I've spent during this entire move? I *love* it!

I can't remember what else I did on Saturday, I did laze around watching more Eddie Izzard dvds :) And later, @saulkza & @nadgia came over to see my new place and we went off to Yamada for some sushi (yum!). They gave me a beautiful orchid as a house-warming gift ... which I promise to try and keep alive :)

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Sunday was made up of equal parts productive and laziness :) The morning started early-ish with a trip to Builder's Warehouse to buy some more bricks to finish off the bunny-hutch area. And I decided to buy some of those "sheets" of grass you see them selling on the side of the road to try out in the hutch as a possible solution to Rex's sore feet (it's that they need cushioning, which is why we originally tried the yoga mats, but grass is obviously ideal for them). I love it so far, I only needed 3 sheets (at R8 a sheet, hell if I have to buy replacements every 2 weeks, I'm happy to do that!). It makes the hutch looks so much nicer inside and they seem to like it so far - although they seemed a little confused by it initially.

And then CollegeInstructor and I headed off to Miss B's and the three of us went for (what turned into) a long lazy boozy lunch at Piatto. A truly perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We shared a delish garlic & mozarella focaccia. I had the butternut panzerotti as my main (very nice! I was expecting to have a few left-overs for today, but there were none) and then we ordered 3 different desserts to taste.

The Izzard Report Back

So on Tuesday afternoon @clairam came round to see my new place after work and then we headed off to The Bowling Club at Zoo Lake for a pre-Eddie Izzard dinner and drink.

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Was pretty cool since I've never been there properly before (only in November when we were actually there to play bowls ... which some might argue is a more proper reason to be there actually ;) haha). Is unbelievable how cheap the food is, we each paid R27.50 for our dinner and under R10 a drink. And the food definitely hit the spot.

And then it was off to The Civic. I was quite surprised (and a little worried) when we arrived and there wasn't a single mention of Mr Izzard's performance. The only thing they seemed to be advertising was four-six-six-six-four. I really did have a moment of panic wondering if we were at the right place! We had another drink there while we waited for @tfrayne and Maroon to arrive and then headed into our seats when the bell rang.

Oh my word, you could feel the excitement in the air :) And add to that the fact that we were sitting behind John Vlismas, Trevor Noah and Chris Forrest (oh, and we saw Alex Jay there too), and you must know how tingly I was feeling :)

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Eddie came on stage with sadly not a spot of make-up in sight, which was about the only disappointing thing I can say about the evening. He was amazing. And he performed for a good three hours (with a half hour interval in the middle) and I know he'd only just flown into Joburg mere hours before! To say it was worth every cent would be an understatement, I will say that I did go and check if the Sunday night show had any seats available the next day tho ;) Sadly, it was already sold out, otherwise I seriously might've been in danger of going again! I'm even wondering if Izzard is an appropriate name for my possible future son ;)

✓ Tick.

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To say it was a late night would be an understatement. The show ended at about 23h30, we got out of the parking around midnight and then headed home. And then I coudn't sleep because my head was buzzing. I think I probably dozed off around 02h30. I was pretty buggered on Wednesday.

But that didn't stop me from heading over to Bert's new place (one of the book club girls who has just moved into a place literally about 2mins from my new place :) ) and then we went out for a celebratory dinner at our local O'Hagans (only because it's literally within walking distance from her place and so, walk we did). I can't even remember when last I was at an O'Hagans, and the last time I was probably at any similar sort of pub would've been for some rugby-game while I was dating Bean. So long ago. But I tried their Rib Burger and it was quite delish (it had nacho's on it too!) ... aside from the fact that even de-boned ribs are not the right shape for a hamburger-roll. Was great catching up with her outside of book club :)

And tonight, I'm looking forward to spending a quiet one on my own at home :) I'm exhausted!

ps. Apparently Telkom will be installing my phone line next Friday ... damn, I really did think it'd be sooner.

It's Eddie Izzard Day

Yay, yay, it's Eddie Izzard day :)

Yesterday feels like it was a very productive day. Funny how since I moved out Monday evenings are just so much more fun, even when I skip @clairam's Slow-Cooker-Monday Dinners.

Last night I skipped gym too (naughty), but after being a beautifully sunny day, the rain was back and I just wasn't in the mood. Also, I spent some of the time I should've been at gym a little more productively, I was on the phone with Telkom ordering my voice line (which they have to install and then I can upgrade to an ADSL line ... since I want to do a "self-installation" ... whatever that is, but the guys at work assure me it's the way to go :) ) So yes, there will be a purchase of a wireless router at some point in my future too. And I'm looking forward to signing up with Afrihost as well, I can't pass up their amazing R29/Gb offer!

And once that's all done I'll buy myself one of those cool Ladder Desk's from Mr Price Home. And I figure at the same time they're delivering that I might as well get them to deliver my Brooklyn 3-seater couch ... I've looked around at other couches, but I really can't find anything that grabs me more than that one, so I think I will have to take the plunge :) But the way I figure it I may as well get both delivered at once ... so not sure when exactly it'll all come together.

Perhaps I should be taking bets on when you all think Telkom will show up to install my line. I have my heart set on before the end of the week. I have faith ;) Haha.

Also last night CollegeInstructor came round to say hi and I ended up cooking us dinner ... nothing too fancy, just some scrambled eggs (I was desperate to use my new pan! Which I love, by the way) and I introduced him to the comedy genius of Eddie Izzard. As if I couldn't be excited enough about today's impending performance :)

More More More

Sho, time seems to be flying past, it's February already! And what a year 2010 is turning out to be :)

On Friday night we went for after-work drinks at Capello's (yay, more Watermelon & Chili Mojito's for me!) and while we were enjoying ourselves there, the grandmother of all rainstorms descended on us!

I got home to be very grateful that the bunny-hutch is on *two* bricks instead of just one ... it looked like they were surrounded by a swimming pool of water! But they survived and have immensely enjoyed the recent spate of sunshine we've been having :)

After drinks, I headed off to Bangkok Wok at Cedar Square for dinner with @NoaNeo1, BrotherSwoop's ex girlf (and yes, a mere 3 weeks after their 6 yr relationship ended and apparently he too has a new girlf ... definitely something genetic about not being alone in this family me thinks!). But we had an absolute blast catching up and swapping break-up stories ... surprising how alike the brothers turned out to be, actually ;) She recommended the Golden Noodle Duck and I can say that it is sublime :) yumyum.

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On Saturday I had a morning of more retail therapy planned, but the handyman arrived knocking at my door at 8:30am to finish with my snag list (which actually I was thrilled about once everything was done :) ) So I got started on my day's mission a little late, but had a *most* productive day :)

It started with a call to Bree Produce ... and *yes*, they had a bale of Erogros Hay for me & the bunnies. Thrilled! So that was a major top-priority on my list, and one I wasn't sure I'd managed to get ticked off this weekend ... but I am so glad to have been able to clean their hutch and give them fresh hay! They are so much happier :)

Oh, and I took this awesome picture of Lily on Sunday. She was posing so nicely ... but my Blackberry camera has a bit of a delay and this, instead, is what I got. I love it cause everything is perfectly in focus ... except her, obviously ;)

And then it was on to Mr Price Home to spend some of my house-warming vouchers (Thanks RubyLetters & Doodles!). I had already seen exactly what I wanted, a set of drawers for the bathroom so that I could finally unpack all my bathroom clutter :) And I'm thrilled with the result! (I even assembled it myself!)



And then I headed off to spend the rest of my house-warming gifts (Thanks Jackson's Mom and Arkwife!) on new linen for my new bed. I *love* it! Luckily when I bought it I completely forgot to get a fitted sheet ... so I went to get one on Sunday, by which time I'd decided that a white one would just be too boring (and I could get one at any old time if I changed my mind) and decided to get a cerise one instead :) I love that it looks all pure white one top with just the embroidered flower detail and then when you climb in it's bright and funky. I am definitely loving shopping with only myself in mind ... I can choose whatever zany thing pops into my head :)

Okay, so that seems like a *lot* of pink all in one weekend ... but you gotta make do with what's available and what catches your eye ... Besides, it's not like it's all in the same room. And I love all my new stuffs :)

On Saturday evening I met J9-double0blonde for dinner at Melrose Arch and we decided to give Piza e Vino a try. Was awesome, I had a very delish half-and-half pizza with half their Pizza Very Verde (Pomodoro, mozzarella, spinach, zucchini ribbons, mascarpone, basil oil) and half their La Greca (Pomodoro, mozzarella, Dargle valley bacon, feta and avo). Their pizza base is nice and thin too. I would definitely go back! And we had shared a good bottle of red too ;) Was an awesome evening of catching up :)

On Sunday I did a little more shopping, more mundane stuff tho, like pots and pans, my fitted sheet and more cooking utensils. but every weekend the house comes together a little more and slowly slowly it's becoming a home :) I'm very happy. Although I did have some twinges of missing a person to be sharing it all with late last night ... I know, how is t hat even possible considering how much time I spent out and about with people this weekend but, it's the sharing the quiet time that makes it different, I guess?

I went for Sunday lunch at Co.fi (also at Cedar Square, I'm becoming a local, haha ;) ) with the Bookclub Mommies, babies, hubbies and all :) It was lovely to catch up and see the growing babes. The lunch was yummy too, I had one of their gourmet sandwiches and a Co.fi shake ... and anywhere that offers a coffee-flavoured milkshake for a mere R15 is awesome in my book!

So yeah, another all-round awesome weekend. Filled with even more friends and shopping :) I am a lucky lucky girl.

Oh and ps. I'm going to Eddie Izzard tomorrow night and I simply can NOT wait! *more awesomeness*