Brrrrrr monkey!

The monkey's first experience of 'snow'... in the Lesotho mountains on our recent road trip holiday. She enjoyed every moment!

Nostalgia

Why do winter nights
make me ponder
open closets of memories
unlock hidden thoughts
provoke teary eyes
bring painful nostalgia?

Is it the cold?
The caffeine overdose?

Or is it just me?

Model monkey! :)

My library

I have a dream that one day, when I am all grown up and we have our own house, I will have my own library.
In this library there will be (as in any true library) an impressive collection of books! There will also be a bay window, a couch with comfy pillows and a fluffy blanket (especially for those freezy winter evenings), hopefully a view of the sunset, a huge dark wooden desk with two bunker lamps, and on the wall a huge map of the world - one of those ancient maps with the pictures and the Latin names for the continents... :)

There will also be a 'special collection' shelf. A space to keep (safe and protected and special) those books that have crossed my path and really touched my soul. Sometimes when I am frustrated or when the problems of the world overwhelms me, I imagine myself standing in front of my own 'special collection', just touching the spines of these few 'soulmates', immersing myself in the emotions they provoked, and escaping from the mundane worries of everyday life. For anyone else this shelf may just look like a random collection of unrelated stories, but for me they are different...

This week I found, by recommendation of a special friend, another unexpected treasure to add to my collection. I was swept off my feet, on an emotional rollercoaster, devouring it yet stretching it out as long as possible in the fear of reaching the end...
"The Time Traveler's Wife".

All I can say is, wow.

Training log

This first week of training I managed three good 5km runs, and a challenging but hugely enjoyable +/-20km mountain bike adventure.
Slowly but surely!

What a weekend

Spent this past weekend in the Mpumalanga Highveld, near Dullstroom. We decided (with a bit of difficulty and a few pangs of guilt) to leave the monkey at home with her granny. And she had a great time while we recharged and had a bit of time to focus on emotional reconnecting :)

The lodge where we stayed is a truly beautiful place. Each log cabin has a massive fireplace (we used a MOUNTAIN of firewood - temperature was below freezing at night!) and also has its own two mountain bikes - we had an epic journey of about 20km through and around the plantations on the farm. Two nights of uninterrupted sleep was a welcome bonus after a difficult monkey-sleeping-week last week. And I managed to read a whole book!

Emotionally and physically recharged, full of courage to face another long week at work...

Big aspirations

My long-term running goals:
http://www.sevencontinentsclub.com/
http://www.northpolemarathon.com/html/20039.html

Sounds impossible?
Maybe, but I am a firm believer in the power of goal-setting :)

Entered the lottery for the 2010 London Marathon. Mmm... doing my favourite activity in my favourite city... having such a good excuse to visit my favourite city...
how much better can you get?? :)