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.