Anyway, trust the phone to ring in the one place where one isn’t supposed to take calls – the library.  (Similarly, I always want to go to the bathroom the minute I start browsing the shelves in the library.)  If I’d known that, I would have gone yesterday already…  I would also have avoided the R7 fine for returning my books one day late!

So, now I’m throwing the question back to you.  Have you heard?  Are you not following me on Facebook or twitter?  If not, why not? (If you do start following me on twitter, @ me, so that I can follow you back.)

I have been invited for a second interview, this time with the General Manager and the owner of the hotel/estate.  Things are looking good.  My interview is Thursday 11am.

Think of me!

Thank you for all the good wishes.  You guys rock!

Because Bassets are such “old-fashioned” dogs, we decided that she needed an old-fashioned name and eventually came up with Maggie.  It suits her to a T!

We decided to let her stay with her mom and litter mates until I stopped working, so that I could be home with her.  Monday evening we went to fetch her…  She did NOT like the car trip, but fortunately it wasn’t too far.

She immediately started investigating her new home and seemed satisfied.  We taught her to go through the pet entrance in the safety gate in the kitchen and I familiarized her with the lawn, where we hoped she would be doing her ablutions right from the start.  Because she’s already 12 weeks old, she’s mostly toilet trained.  Mostly.  Fortunately we don’t have carpets, so I’m not too fazed by the odd accident.

Before we got her, I read up on training a puppy and got advice from lots of people.  They all said the same thing:  Don’t allow the puppy to do anything that you wouldn’t want her to do when she’s fully grown.  Craig and I decided that we weren’t going to allow  her on the furniture or our laps, because Bassets, though low to the ground, are classified as Large Breed dogs.  I bought her plenty of blankets and put them next to the places we usually spend our time.  I was prepared!  But I didn’t count on my soft-touch husband!  Less than two hours after her arrival, she was sleeping comfortably on top of Craig on the couch.  Our rule has been amended now…  She may lie on a blanket on the couch.

There is no way we were going to budge on the night time sleeping arrangements though.  Craig and I aren’t small and we already share our Queen bed with two cats.  Room for a puppy there is not, let alone a full-grown Basset.  She moaned a bit, but settled down quickly in her own bed, next to ours.  I get up about twice a night to take her outside and she’s very comfortable.  She sighs, snuffles and groans in her sleep – too cute.

Not only is Maggie adorable, but very adoring.  She follows me everywhere I go in the house.  Our house is suddenly very tidy, because she will appropriate anything lying around.  Like the cats’ toys…

Speaking of the cats, they are both horrified and fascinated.  They’ve never been in contact with dogs before, so they have no clue what this strange, noisy, clumsy creature is.  Pepper is rather scarce at the moment, but Lavis follows the Hanlie & Maggie show all over the house, making sure to always stay out of reach on top of the furniture.  You can see she wants to get to know Maggie, but she’s still too scared and of course it doesn’t help that Maggies is filled with typical puppy enthusiasm.  She growls and barks at her toys when she plays.  That is just too intimidating for poor Lavis.  We are of course giving the cats lots of love and attention and I doubt it will be long before they’re all great friends.

Life is a lot of fun in our house right now…  I burst out laughing every time this dog runs!  And she will just flop down anywhere for a nap.  Too cute!

I am definitely going to leash train her, so that we can take a daily walk together…  I need the exercise and so does she!

At work we use a biometric clocking system.  Every staff member has a four-digit code, which you enter into the keypad of the clock machine.  You are then asked to insert your right index finger in the reader to validate your identity.

After inserting the finger, the machine takes a moment to deliberate, then bleeps loudly and displays the message “Match OK”.

Just OK?

Not a day goes by without me secretly wishing that the message would say “Excellent Match” or “Perfect Match”.

I guess I will have to learn to live with OK…

PS.  It’s a long weekend, so expect another post in the next day or two.  I have lots to tell you.

I’ve wanted an iPod for years, but they’re so expensive over here.  When I learned that one of my cousins in America was coming to South Africa for Christmas, it felt like a great solution. We bought it from Amazon.com, had it delivered to my uncle along with a range finder (whatever that may be) for Craig – his Christmas present – and started compiling a list of all the songs I would like to download on my iPod.

And then her trip got postponed to May.

Fortunately, my friend Charlotte had to go to Salt Lake City for three weeks in January and my uncle sent her the stuff and she brought it back for us.   Yay!

So, now I am consumed by music. I even feel like taking my iPod for a walk around the neighborhood.

Apart from the iPod and the range finder, there was  a book I’d won on The Tippy Toe Diet, MegaYoga.  If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I’ve always been interested in yoga, but have never had the courage or the opportunity to try it.  Mainly because I’m fat, unbalanced and unwieldy and knew that I’d need some specific help.  The idea of floundering around among a room full of lithe, bendy, serene women just didn’t appeal.  But this book… is awesome!  It tells you how to move your excess flesh out of the way (including breasts), advises on ways to support yourself and provides modifications.  I can’t wait to start doing yoga.  Thanks Cammy!

In other news, I’m making headway in the garden.  I spent a Christmas voucher on some gardening tools yesterday.  I am surprised to find that watering the garden can be a zen experience.  I have a feeling that we’ll grow together, my garden and I.  It reminds me of Avatar – I feel so connected.

I have really great news to tell you with regards to my health and my journey.  I’ve been sitting on this news for almost two months (no, it’s not that), because I wanted to make sure that it was going to work out. It’s working beautifully! I’ll start blogging about it tomorrow, so watch this space.

What I would like you to do for me today is to recommend three songs for my iPod.  Your three favorite workout/walking/running/foot-tapping/dancing-with-joy/filled-with-wonder songs.

Have a great Monday!

PS.  I am still working my way through my blog reader.  I haven’t abandoned you!

Just remember, it’s a very small house!  Craig and I have set it up for the two of us – not for guests.  There is only one bedroom, as we have turned the others into a media center TV room and a study.

LOUNGE:

BEDROOM:

TV ROOM:

STUDY:

KITCHEN:

VIEW FROM THE FRONT PORCH:

This is why we moved here…  There are lots of big trees all along the street and a school sports field across the road.  I love watching the little ones practice athletics!  But most of the time it’s just green and serene.  We’re working on the the lawn at the moment – it’s already greatly improved – and will replace the rickety fence with a palisade type fence (and climbing roses) in the near future.  The backyard is bigger, and I’m putting a lot of effort into the garden right now.

There are no bathroom pictures, since the one is so small (even though it’s quite pretty) that it just doesn’t photograph well.  The other is so awful, I’d rather treat you to a Before and After post once we’ve renovated it.

This is not your typical South African suburban home… they’re usually larger and newer.  This is an older suburb with more old-fashioned homes.  Somehow this house is very us.  I love it already!