2016…..

2016 has been a rather interest year for many reasons. Work has been crazy…although to be fair I suppose my work/life balance always goes just a tad out of whack in terms of the work craziness. I am a workaholic and while I don’t measure my success on how busy I am and how little time I have outside of work, the facts are that I love being busy, I love my job and for the most part I don’t mind the extra hours.
2016 has however taught me to focus on the rest and relaxation and on the “life” part of work/life balance too. To invest in quality, happy time with the people I care about more often.

If all goes according to plan, 2016 will also be the first time in 10 years that my little family gets to spend Christmas all together….My parentals, my bro, my SIL, my two beautiful nephews and myself all together for a crazy cold and *hopefully* white Christmas. I CAN’T WAIT!

2016 has also been the year where (hold on to your horses) I started cycling. It’s a crazy thought…me on a bicycle…but it is true. I got dragged along earlier this year on a cycle and since then I’ve actually grown to love my Saturday mornings in the saddle. I’ve grown to appreciate the tender nether regions after 2.5 hours in the saddle, grown to appreciate the stiff muscles and the aching wrists. Because once I get to the end of my ride I feel like I’ve accomplished something. And not only that…I’ve been afforded the opportunity to be healthy, to completely zone out from everyone and everything for the time that I was on the bike and to be grateful for what I am able to do.

And last but not least 2016 has been the year where my romantic journey with The Gypsy began. I’ve been alluding to his existence on twitter for a while and if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen his face creeping into my timeline. There isn’t much to the story really. Fact is I’ve known him for a few years but I’ve never even considered a romantic relationship because I’ve always had someone else. And I am one of those people who never even consider or think about the possibility with anyone else when I’m with another.

But somewhere between breaking up with the Guy Person and grabbing 2016 by the horns, The Gypsy once again popped into my story….and this time he appeared to play the role of the potential leading man. Once he became aware of my newly single status he simply asked that once I am ready to move on I give him a chance. And due to the circumstances around the breakup and the 6 months preceding it I was ready a hell of a lot sooner than I had anticipated. And somewhere in between the cycling and laughing and late night chats and dinners and random whatsapp conversations he became more than just a friend.

He’s weird…I’m weird…and we are completely and perfectly weird together. My relationship with him is so different from every other relationship I’ve ever had and his European frankness is refreshing and in stark contrast with most other guys I know, let alone guys I’ve dated. A spade is a spade is a spade and no topic is too awkward…apparently.

I love how we can passionately and heatedly debate on different sides of an issue the one minute and laugh and hold hands the next, not allowing a difference of opinion to cause anger and irritation. I love how he appreciates the fact that I am opinionated and independent and how he isn’t threatened or intimidated by my personality, independence or my sometimes scary and hectic job. I love how he respects my faith, beliefs and choices. I love how he is constantly encouraging me to grow and do new things and how he not only welcomes but insists that I always speak my mind. I love how he chooses the moment I probably look at my worst to stare at me in wonder and tell me how beautiful I am…it’s all really lame and really corny and really awesome.

And while I have absolutely no idea what the rest of 2016 will hold I know that this year I have chosen to live in the moment and that so far, despite the fact that it hasn’t always been moonlight and roses, 2016 has been good. It has been filled with new beginnings and adventure and challenges and it has presented me with a million ways to make new memories.

P.S. So subsequent to this blog post 2016 got even better when a LOT of hard work, all nighters and mentorship resulted in a promotion announcement on Thursday *grin*.

It’s been a while..

So as I’m sure most of you realise by now…I haven’t exactly been doing my part when it comes to this blogging thing. Hell…I haven’t even been around on twitter or any other platform all that much lately. The thing is…life has this way of getting in the way sometimes.

I’ve also adopted a far better attitude towards all forms of social media. The guy person isn’t into it…like AT ALL and as such he’s hardly ever on his phone. So out of respect for him I put my phone away when he arrives or when I arrive at his home. We talk, we watch movies, we laugh and we live in a time where cellphones didn’t exist. My phone stays in my bag and is only pulled out every so often to check if I’ve missed a call or a personal message that may be important. Anything that doesn’t appear to be important or life threatening can wait..face to face time is simply more important.

Then of course….work. I think by now we’ve established I’m a complete and utter workaholic…I’m ok with that. It means I work hard when I need to and delivered an excellent result in record time. It’s my thing and I’m happy with that. The guy person also seems to get this for the most part. I don’t understand people who don’t try to be the best at what they do….people who do a job just for the sake of having one and earning a salary…people who don’t get passionate about what they spend most of their time doing. I realise they probably don’t understand me either…but seriously…what is wrong with you?

So the new job has been great for the most part. Big corporate life and being a permanent staff member is far different from being the contractor and I’m trying to adjust to the changes with a smile….I’m successful at it too…for the most part. Certain things frustrate me and the red tape and office politics irritate me on occasion but for the most part I’m totally rocking this corporate thing. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with a true legend in my field and he has been a constant source of wisdom and support and for that I can’t possibly thank him enough.

Obviously I can’t go into any work related details…the job description pretty much says “hush-hush”, but what I will tell you is that rest assured…the bad guys…we be catching them:)

In other news…life is sometimes hard, but I’ve gotten pretty good and faking a smile till I make it. I’m dealing with a lot of emotional and human related issues at present…not to mention shouldering the struggles of the people I care about (I do that). Life is by no means moonshine and roses…but it is mostly good and I’m mostly happy and I’m infinitely grateful for all the amazing people and things in my life.

So I may be a little scarce sometimes…but I’m always here. And maybe soon I’ll return to regular updates and all kinds of drivel on this here blog:)

Dear New Beginnings

So 2014 wasn’t a great year…I think we’ve all established this. It jumped between unemployment, employment, emotional turmoil, overseas trips, near death health issues and utter chaos more than I ever want to be reminded. But here we are in 2015 with a bunch of new opportunities knocking on my door and it is with great excitement that I embark on a whole new, and totally different kind of journey.

You see, on Monday I joined the ranks of a rather well known big corporate as a permanent staff member. I am very excited about the opportunities and experience that this well thought out, overly debated and sleepless night inducing decision will bring. Truthfully, it wasn’t an easy one…but it’s the best decision for me right now. So here we are…standing on the brink of something new and looking all bright eyed and bushy tailed and scared half to death.

Can I do this? Can I really really do this and make a huge success of it? OF COURSE I BLOODY CAN! Or rather that’s what I proudly exclaim to the world while my insides shake and my heart skips a beat (or two or three). So far so good….I haven’t been required to do anything except look pretty and professional, collect a laptop and sit around…this will hopefully change soon as “ledigheid is die duiwel se oorkussing” (as my gran would say). I’m not a fan of not being busy….as most of you know I’m that overly busy person who thrives under pressure and laughs in the face of unrealistic deadlines.

So here’s to new beginnings and exciting changes and a splendid 2015. If nothing else it will most certainly be better than 2014, that much I’m sure of.

Love,
Ruby

Dear Bosslady

So, today marks the one year anniversary of becoming self-employed. Yay me! It has not been easy and at times it has been down right stressful. But I have to tell you that not for one single second in the last year did I regret my decision. It has been an amazing learning curve, not only with regards to my trade, but also with regards to myself, my friends, my faith and life in general.

So here’s to stepping out, to being brave and to doing my own thing. Happy anniversary to me:)

Dear people of Namibia

So I recently returned home after spending 7 weeks in your gorgeous country for business. I was super excited at the beginning of this trip as it symbolised many things. It was the start of my new career, and signified giant changes in my life. My life was literally turned upside down and inside out and just to make sure I realised that I had made big changes, I jetted off to your beautiful country for my first contract.

In general I was treated well. The people were friendly, I remembered this from my previous visits also. And apart from a few hiccups along the way (this included a cold, 3 spider bites, being bitten by a mole cricket, my car being egged while I was driving and a bruised elbow) my stay was genuinely awesome:)

I was astounded at the volume of rain your country received in the time that I was there. I think out of the 7 weeks I was there, you might have had 5 days with no rain…other than that it rained at least once a day, EVERY day and some days it just rained the whole day. I went in search of the desert on numerous occasions, but all I could find were foliage covered dunes….it looked nothing like the desert I remembered. In a normal year Windhoek would receive roughly around 300mm of rain annually. You guys have had over a 1000mm of rain in 3 months! and it hasn’t stopped raining just yet. While all the rain means your country is even more spectacular than usual, your infrastructure was not designed for this much water. EVERYTHING has started falling apart. Your roads are pothole riddled and even worse than the roads in Jozi, and in some places the roads have completely collapsed. Windhoek also has a number of rivers crossing roads, but since you hardly ever have a lot of water there are no bridges, the roads just run through the dry river beds. These rivers have been flooding, which made driving to work every morning a rather stressful experience on some days.

I stayed in beautiful guesthouses, made wonderful new friends, discovered incredible talent music wise at the most obscure places, discovered awesome little spicy cherry shots, could snack on delightful german delicacies, came to the conclusion that I really love my new job and managed to head off an investigation that will make the individual under investigation have an accident in his pants.

Thank you for a wonderful 7 weeks. I look forward to returning to your country in a couple of weeks’ time to conclude the investigation. I’ve included a couple of pics for you to view at your pleasure:)

Love

Ruby
xxxx