Dear Auntie E

I can not believe you are gone:(  I think I may still be in a state of shock.  You were the mother of many “orphans” in Jozi.  Your house and your heart were always open to the friends of your children that missed their own parents and were far away from home.  There was always an extra plate of food in case someone needed it, always a glass of wine, a smile and a hug available.  We miss you already.

Love
Ruby
xxxx

Dear Just Dance 4 and GirlGuides

Thank you so much for hosting a fabulous event for us girls on Wednesday night. Fun was had by all and I think it’s safe to say the game in general is a hit.

The function was at Slow in the City in Sandton…it was my first time there, and I think it’s a really nice venue for an event. The ladies had 2 XBox Kinects set up and ready for us to to get our dance on with Just Dance 4. The general idea was that for every time you danced, your name would be entered into a draw for a fabulous Marc Jacobs goodie bag. While I did not win (Jessica was the lucky winner of this one), I had so much fun and I ended up kicking ass in all but 1 of the group dances I took part in.

The girls also provided as with a really stunning goodie bag. It contained a copy of the game (especially for your gaming console, as the game is compatible with Wii, Xbox and PS3), a very funky 80’s style aerobics t-shirt, 3 perfume samples, a mini stylus, a keyring, a funky pair of sunglasses AND some wireless wipes. The snacks were divine, the wine was yummy, the dancing exercise a blast and the company, as always, fantastic:)

These came off very early on in the evening……
The content of our goodie bags
A better look at the perfume samples
Love Love Love the shirts we got!!!!

Also, just so you know, I think I might be addicted to your little game O_o. Today I went out to buy the Move for my PS3 so that I would be able to play….guess what I’ll be doing for most of the weekend:)

Thank you so much for a fantastic and really fun event!

Love
Ruby
xxxxx

Dear Ruby

Last night I was contemplating life in general (being stressed does that to me), and I had this little moment where I had to confess to myself that there were things that I wanted to say that I couldn’t say.  My mind on this has somewhat changed.  There are things that I can’t tweet/blog/fb about because it involves my job and because of the very nature of what I do I can not really just TALK about what I do.  But when it comes to my personal things…If i can’t say them out loud then maybe something is wrong.  Surely I should be able to voice my emotions accurately and honestly?

I’ve been under tremendous strain the last few months work wise.  Things have just really been intensely hectic and stressed and busy with impossible deadlines, a ridiculous amount of work and a lot of responsibility.  Can I cope? Sure I can…but that doesn’t mean I won’t have a bit of a private wobbly every now and again.  In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion that these are possibly even good for me.  It reminds me that some things are more important than work, that I need to take small breaks and that Ruby is more important than any deadline….because if I don’t care about myself nobody else will.  And that’s actually what bothers me.

I came to the conclusion that very few people actually really honestly care.  There are a vast amount of “friends” of mine that have no idea what’s going on in my life, what I’m coping with and what’s been happening.  With this I don’t mean they know every little thing that happens…it’s difficult to explain.  I’m the one who calls, sympathises and finds out what i can do to help, or show genuine interest in their lives, but only a very small group of people return the favour…for these friends I am incredibly grateful.  I love them with all my heart and would risk my life for them.  I know this fact shouldn’t bother me as it is normal that people in general don’t care about others…but the more I try to convince myself it doesn’t bother me…the more it does.  And last night was just a little realisation of that.  What triggered it? I have no idea.  The only people I interacted with were the bff and another really good friend of mine…both of whom fall into the small group of genuine friends.  Maybe it was the realisation that aside from them the number is super tiny, or maybe knowing that both of them were going through a tough time made me think of my own less tough but emotionally taxing time.  I don’t know.  All I really know is it hit me last night.

I feel much better about it today.  Maybe it was just the cherry on a really crappy day and I had very little emotional strength left to deal with it.  But it annoys me that it bothers me so much….I need to deal with this and move on.  Life is tough…suck it up cupcake.

I’m not writing this because I want people to comment with “are you OK?” or to send hugs or to call or something.  The only reason i wrote it was because I needed to voice what was bothering me. I needed to be honest with myself and I needed to stop worrying about the aftermath of being emotional and vulnerable.

Life happens…we all need to deal with it…this was just my way of growing up an dealing with something.

#55of365

I am absolutely petrified of spiders. This is not a new revelation by any definition…most people who know me are well aware of my phobia a.k.a irrational fear when it comes to the eight legged ones.
It astounds me that with my practical outlook on life, people and things in general I can be completely irrational about something as lame as a spider. But the facts are that I become completely hysterical and a blubbering mess when they arrive. And trust me when I say…if you even suspect there might me a spider….ask me, I’ll probably spot it in seconds.

This evening as I was getting ready for bed I ventured into the spare bathroom. Bear in mind that this is where my shower is located….which means that I’m in there every single morning. As I walked in I was confronted by a spider on the ceiling….cue hysteria. It did not stop there. As I looked around the bathroom I was confronted by MILLIONS of spiders all over. I have no idea where they came from…they were not in there this morning when I took a shower. I got so freaked out the hysteria got hysterical:/ to be honest I’m still in tears and shivering….even after I almost committed suicide by doom spraying….I still can’t feel my tongue:/
I’m writing this while I sit on my bed, armed with my weapon of choice. If you don’t hear from me by tomorrow please send reinforcements:(

Oh…and my 365 for today is of my weapon of choice:

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Dear Louisa

I suspect I’m a bit late to the party, but I only saw your post now:) Thank you so much for giving me this:

I HAD to giggle at your nomination…it’s scarily erm…accurate:P

So according to your blog post I now have to tell you 7 things about me that you don’t know….this becomes harder every time I have to do it…I’m not all that interesting and I’ve done a whole bunch of similar posts, so I’ve had to really dig deep.

1.  I don’t discuss emotional personal issues easily.  I prefer just shoving them down deep and dealing with them by myself.  I’ve learned that I’m far more comfortable being somebody else’s support structure and shoulder to cry on than being the one needing support.  Because of this I’ve often been accused of being secretive and mysterious…But it’s who I am. I don’t share easily.

2.  I’m just a tad obsessed about decorating my office in pink and white and black lace.  The plan was formulated the moment i started looking for a new home where I would have a dedicated office…the execution thereof has only started recently.

3.  Recently I spent about a week reconsidering my chosen profession and all the choices available to me due to a rather scary event.  I always knew my job to be dangerous, but being confronted like that makes you question many things.  However…I love what I do, and not to sound presumptuous, but I’m good at it and I’m refusing to let third parties’ actions spoil that for me.  #CSIRuby is here to stay:)

4.  My life would be incomplete without peanut butter M&M’s (Ok, you probably knew that already…but I had to slip it in there)

5.  I’ve lost roughly 7kg’s in the last 3 months without even trying to.  Stress is an amazing weight loss tool 😛

6.  Despite not having done ballet in like forever and a year ago I can still put my feet behind my head

7.  I’ve broken my nose……more than once..

Right…I’m supposed to nominate 5 – 10 other bloggers, but I think I’m going to cheat just a little bit.  I don’t like nominating people for things.  So, if you’re reading this letter and you haven’t done this one yet….please consider yourself nominated and take part:)

Here’s what you have to do:
1. Include the award logo in your post or on your blog
2. Say 7 random things about yourself that the readers don’t know yet
3.  Nominate 5 – 10 other blogs you usually follow
4. Let the nominees know that they are nominated & include their blog-links
5. Link the person who nominated you

Love
Ruby
xxxx