Its Oscar!

I have at one point posted on my other blog about Oscar’s Arrival.
If you haven’t read it, feel free to.

Oscar has since grown into a rather interesting dog. I also think he is crazy. But I still adore him.

As of late Oscar seems to have taken to a stuffed dog. He loooooves this dog.

You can barely see the stuffed dog under all Oscar’s loving.

When it gets hot we have to shave him. Summers are cooking here in South Africa so any way to keep him cool is preferred. Last year we did this.

He seemed proud of it too. We’re definitely doing it again this year 😉

I do however embrace his crazy. Or my crazy. Whatever. I sometimes mess about with him.

He does so give into his mommy’s whims 😉

If there is one thing my Oscar knows how to do, its sleep. He adores his sleep…

Look at that face…

He also loves a good tummy rub.

That smile says it all 🙂

Stay tuned for more Oscar action as time goes by. He does enjoy the attention. 😉

The G-word

I hate it.
Once a month (barring the odd incidental), dear heavens I hate it.
It makes me want to scream “not a fuck” and hall tail the other way.
But alas, the responsible mother and wife in me just can’t avoid it. 
Grocery shopping.
I know I am not the only one, but all of you present yourselves pretty well in that I just can’t tell. Well played.

I cannot stand the trolleys having to be pushed down isle after isle (even with a list. EVEN WITH A LIST!) and packing in what is needed (and sometimes what is not) while navigating other trolley pushers. DO NOT get me started on baskets.

I cannot stand those who happen to run into a friend in the middle of the isle and then proceed to block the isle with their trolleys (if this is you, please, please for the love of all that is good and pure suggest moving to a more open location to have your discussions). Yet I remain calm (after counting to a bajillion) and politely say “excuse me” as I venture forth towards the next painful isle.
I look at my list and I look at the shelf and I wish that I was done already. 

And when stores move their shit around? PLEASE put a note to indicate as such. Why make us hunt for the damn item? Just a short note that is has moved from this isle to that would be great thanks.
And then this..

And this…

And bloody this….

Need I say more??

A little drabble…

I can’t begin to tell you how much of a TV series whore I am. Damnit, its ridiculous. And yet, I’m sucked into the different realities each and every week.

I drift from a world where superheroes exist to one where the monsters that you were told didn’t exist, do. I jump right in where zombies aren’t as rampant and mad as you think, and are capable of holding down perfectly legit jobs. Off to another place where the headless horseman is pretty damn adept at using a shotgun. Then of course there is an FBI’s most wanted who, well…helps the FBI catch bad guys. Great right?! And I could go on and on and on…..

I can’t deny, I love it. Millions of people love it. That escapist feeling it gives to one is great. And of course sometimes you get way too involved, but hey, fandom life rocks. Hard.

Vaping: The Facts

A little over three months ago, I started vaping as an alternative to smoking. I still used to smoke during the day, but night times just seemed easier to vape since we always used to smoke outside. And since it was winter, and vaping doesnt excude the same danger to others’ health with second hand smoke, vaping was totally the better option.

Gradually I ended up vaping more and smoking ciggarettes less. I didnt really feel the difference in terms of wanting cigs. I didnt miss the cigs either. As of two months down the line, I am cigarette free. I do not miss it. At all. And vaping has definitely improved my all over health somewhat. I taste things better. My sense of smell has also improved. The overall benefits has certainly outnumbered that of smoking.

What is vaping you may ask? Well, let my try and give you this as simply as I possibly can. The info contained here in will not be a overall coverage. That research I shall leave to you to make up your own mind. The info would be useful for non smokers (just in terms of understanding that it cannot be categorised under the same vein as smoking cigs) and for smokers (who perhaps, if you look deep enough, want to find a healthier alternative if you cannot give up completely).

According to the “Urban Dictionary”, Vaping is defined as: To inhale vapour from E-cigarettes. Used because “smoking” an E-cig doesnt apply as there is no smoke only vapour.
That, in itself, should describe the health benefits compared to cigs.
Another question I get asked often relating to the vapour is whether it puts water on your lungs. The answer to this is no. It does not function the same way as, say, an hubbly pipe does (which uses water as a basis for inhaling). E-cigs are run off of a battery. No water. Just E-liquid. Which also does not contain water. It is recommended when vaping to make sure you keep hydrated. That in itself should indicate that the chances of water on your lungs due to vaping, are nil.

The above is a hubbly.

This, above, is an example of an e-cig.

There are various kinds of E-cigs and accessories which I could probably spend numerous amounts of blog posts telling you about each and every one of them. But the basics are this (courtesy of http://www.ecigology.com):

Electronic Cigarette (Abbreviated as E-Cig) – A device that heats up a liquid solution consisting of nicotine, propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycol, and flavorings to a point where it actually turns into a vapor which can be inhaled.

Atomizer (Abbreviated as Atty) – The part of an e-cigarette that actually heats the juice to the point of vaporization.

Cartridge (Abbreviated as Cart) – A plastic tube-like piece that is usually stuffed with some sort of absorbent filler material that holds the juice.

Cartomizer (Abbreviated as Carto) – A cartridge and atomizer in a single unit. These generally are disposable, inexpensive and hold more juice than a regular cartridge/atomizer combination.

Battery (Abbreviated as Batt) – The battery piece of an electronic cigarette is the part that provides power to the heating element. This allows the heating element to heat the Juice and produce vapor.

E-Juice – Also referred to as E-Liquid, Juice, or Smoke Juice. This is the liquid that is vaporized when using an electronic cigarette.

Automatic – A style of electronic cigarette battery that does not have a button to activate the heating element. Rather, when the user draws on the device a switch is activated and the atomizer is activated. This style of e-cig is most like smoking a traditional cigarette.

Manual – A style of electronic cigarette battery that has a button (usually on the top or side of the battery) that activates the heating element. When the user wishes to use the device, the button must first be depressed in order to produce vapor from the atomizer. This style of e-cig is less like a traditional cigarette than the Automatic, but is preferred by many due to the fact that it is sealed and can not be adversely affected by Leaking.

I hope some of this info is rather helpful. There are so many sites dedicated to vaping. Should you wish to find out more, Google is your best bud. Or leave questions in the comments. I’ll do my best to help. 🙂

Creating more room in a small space

For the longest time I always had to laugh when people referred to Feng Shui. Seriously? Its just moving things around. Really doesn’t need a fancy name. Right?

I recently looked at my kids bedrooms and realised that their space to play, or really what would govern a “proper bedroom” was seriously lacking.

Feng Shui: (in Chinese thought) a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy (chi), and whose favourable or unfavourable effects are taken into account when siting and designing buildings.

Somehow in the setting up of their rooms, when they got their big boy and girl beds, it was placed headboard against wall with bed running down the middle of the room. Essentially cutting the room in half. This making a small room look tiny. And obviously giving neither of them the room they needed to play in their  own space.
In hindsight, I should have taken a “before” shot before making my changes in each room. But this blog (as well as the rooms) is a work in progress as there is much I still want to do. So there will be plenty of pics coming.

In the meantime, the kids are so much happier with the new room rearrangement. And strangely seem more at ease. Could be that Feng Shui energy flow. I might have to investigate this theory further. 🙂
They now have enough floor space to play etc. And of this, I totally have pics 😉

Daughter's Room

Son's Room

All in all,  progress is being made. 🙂