Here Kitty,Kitty, Kitty

I woke up grumpy this morning.

To people in my circle of trust this may not be the statement of the year and I already hear them saying: "so?".

Well this morning I woke up extra grumpy and I'll tell you why. I got into bed last night after the soccer (well done Brazil!) and was really looking forward to a good night of slumber as I was really bushed, I think it was because I didn't partake of my Sunday siesta and had a fairly busy day. Anyway I was tired and got into bed where I peacefully drifted off to sleep. However not for long.

Now before I can carry on I need to fill you in on some background info. I have become the adoptive father to two cats, one is grey and the other is black. The grey one loves to run around so we'll call her Trollip and the black one is a little over weight so we'll call her Boat. Now I have become very fond of Trollip and Boat over the years even though I'm not really a cat person. But they are also the cause of me grumpiness.

You see Trollip and Boat wait for you to get into bed and fall asleep and then they jump on the bed and quietly, in U.S. marine like stealth mode, attach themselves to you. For instance if I fall asleep on my back Trollip will fall asleep on my feet and Boat will fall asleep on my chest. Have you ever tried to sleep with a 4 kg cat on your chest? The problem is not falling asleep as you already asleep when they attach themselves. The problem is trying to turn around in your sleep. As soon as you try your body brings you out of your delightful little slumber in order to find out what the resistance is to you turning on your side.

So you wake up and try and move Boat off your chest. But this is easier typed than done. You see by now Boat is sleeping and warm so she's not going anywhere. You at first try to gently nudge her off, but she just ignores you. You then try with a little more force and not only does she ignore you but I can actually feel herself making her body weight heavier. Eventually after nearly catapulting her off the bed she gets the hint and moves off your chest allowing you to turn.

And she waits.

As soon as I've have fallen asleep on my side, Boat maneuvers in and positions herself up against my chest, while Trollip has positioned herself up against the back of my knees in effect pinning me in that position so again I cannot naturally turn or move in my sleep. And so a hour or two later I am again brought out of peaceful slumber to try and unpin myself from the clutches of Boat and Trollip, who have the determination of two tag team wrestlers. Again they defy all gentle attempts at their removal. And so eventually they get the hint and I roll onto my tummy, and you guessed it, a few minutes later Boat is getting comfy on my back while I'm trying to fall alseep.

This goes on the whole night.

All while my fiance is peacefully sleeping completely unaware of the feline assault I was under. So after being awoken 4 to 5 times last night, I eventually got out of bed this morning grumpy.

Not this is a a recent habit that Trollip and Boat have gotten into, oh no, this is something that has gone on for weeks, so in effect I can count the number of good night's sleep I've had since the beginning of winter on my hand.

Now Debs thinks this is amusing and endearing, telling me how they are looking for warmth and their daddy.

Rubbish! I obviously did something to the feline species in my past life and now I'm paying for it.

And so it's happened, I must be one of the few men in this world that have been relegated to the couch by two cats.

But I don't care.

If it means that for a good nights sleep I have to sleep on the couch then so be it.

Plus I read somewhere that men actually like sleeping on the couch. It's like camping.

Are Fridays supposed to be this hectic?

Wow, really didn't expect today to start off the way it did. Yesterday afternoon I was looking forward to a Friday where everyone would be slightly hungover due to the celebrations last night of Bafan Bafana's win. Alas that never happened even though our boys in green and gold did us proud.

Then of course there's the tragic news of the passing of Michael Jackson that was on the radio as I rather abruptly slid into consciousness this morning. Now I know that I'm not the first person to write about this and probably won't be the last but it's always a sad time when you lose any person, especially an icon. I won't go on about his life, as unless you've been living under a rock in deepest Russia for the last twenty years you know all about MJ, suffice to say I immedately thought about my mom buying me a copy of his 'Bad' album on tape and jamming to it in my giraffe jarmies at the tender age of 6 or 7. Rest In Peach Michael.

Further bad news followed in that I heard about the passing of Farrah Fawcett. Now I admit that Farrah was a little ahead of my time so I don't know too much about her, except she looked hot in a bikini in her hay day. Anyway I'm sure she's in a better place and I'm sure her family are glad that she's finally over her suffering. Rest In Peace Farrah.

Anyway life must go on and those that have pass will always live on in the memories of others.

3 months left and counting....

Well I have exactly three months left of carrying the title 'unmarried'. On the 23 September I tie the knot with the love of my life.

Now before you say that I'm getting all mushy, you must understand that getting married is a big step for me. Not that it isn't a big step for other people but subjectively it's a big step for me. I can still remember the time in the not to distant past where I used to openly boast to my friends that I would never get hitched, and here I am, wedding preperations are coming down the home straight, and I'm getting ready to spend my life with one person.

Now firstly for those of you that have never been married, I need to tell you about the joys of wedding preparations. I don't think anyone can give you enough info on how to properly prepare for your wedding as it is a rollercoaster ride filled with stress, relief and a good dose of nerves. I must say that I've been fortunate enough that Debs has handled most of the preparations and she has been a superstar in this area. I always said that if it was all left to me we would be getting married in jeans and a t-shirt in front of a magistrate.

Wedding preparations aside, I also had to wrap my head around the whole idea of getting married. You see I never grew up in a household where my mother and father were married, and ultimately I only grew up with my mom, so from a young age the whole spending your life with another person concept was unique to me. Even in my varsity days when I started dating I would drift in and out of relationships without any cause of concern, so it's been a big step for me to get my mind and attitude right for this next chapter of my life.

I think the turning point for me was to just sometimes go with the flow and not be so concerned with knowing how something will end up. You don't always have to know how your future will end up and I suppose that's one of the exciting joys of living life.

Ok, enough with the deep and mushy stuff, I have a bachelor party to look forward to.

Apparently it will take place over an entire weekend, yay!

The World Champions are Here!!!

It's been two weeks since my last blog and I wish I could lay the blame on procrastination but alas I only have work to blame and the two busiest weeks I've had in a long time.

To give you an idea, my job normally entails me sitting in an office, behind my laptop where I'm either typing or dictating. I don't really drive around, however in the first 5 days of June I managed to drive approx 2000 km's. That an average of approx 400 km's a day. Needless to say when I did get back to the office I was playing a serious game of catch-up, a game I'm still playing at the moment. And losing.

Anyway we all busy in our own way and I'm sure there are many of you who can relate.

During my travels I came up with alot of topic ideas to blog about, which hopefully will materialise on my blog in the coming days.

An interesting place I visited last week for one of my matters was the bustling metropolis of Phalaborwa, which is 5 mins outside of the Kruger Park. Now I cant remember the last time I went to the Kruger Park, and I'm sure it was back in the 80's, so going back to that part of our country was really an eye opener.

That part of Limpopo is truly beautiful and just driving through Magoebaskloof brought back memories of the hiking I used to do through the sappi plantations, it was like being in rain forest. Phalaborwa is interesting in its own right, it's like a little city time forgot about, and I had to appear in the Magistrates Court, which was completely foreign to me, as I'm only used to the major Courts in Jhb. Anyway it was a interesting trip and I hope to spend more time there when I go back in July.

The other interesting event this week was I went to my first international soccer match. It was the friendly game between Italy and New Zealand, on Wednesday night. The game was held at Attridgeville Stadium. When I first heard that we would be going to Attridgeville I immediately had images of the uprisings and problems that occurred there in the past and I was completely hesitant about going, but when we got there I was pleasantly surprised. The streets were spotless, the neighbourhood quiet and all the houses neat. I felt very embarrassed for being so ignorant. Now don't get me wrong I'm sure there are many townships around our country that are dangerous and dirty but I think the lesson I took away is don't judge a town without a visit.

As for the soccer game it was a thrilling game, with Italy winning 4-3 but I was impressed with New Zealand, who are currently ranked 82 in the world, to fight off the current world champions till the final minutes of the game. I would have probably enjoyed the soccer more if I wasn't sitting in the rain under an umbrella and not being able to feel my legs due to the cold, but being an Azzurri fan means you take the good with the bad.

On the subject of the Azzurri I was also fortunate enough to attend a reception at the Italian Ambassador's house last night where Debs and I met the entire Italian soccer team. It was like being a school boy and seeing your heroes walk through the door. I got some pictures with a few players, which I'll put up when I get a chance, and Debs was in her element meeting Fabio Cannavaro, the captain, who according to Debs is "...one of the hottest soccer players to play the game...". Personally I didn't think he was that spectacular but I was assigned camera duty nevertheless and took a pic of Debs and Cannavaro, which I'm sure will be made into our Christmas card for family and friends.

As for the weekend I'm going to attempt to take it easy and get some couch time in. I'm also looking forward to the Confed Cup kicking off on Sunday and I hope Bafana Bafana can continue their winning streak. I'll definitely be getting the Vuvuzela out for the kickoff.