Nakutamani

You know when you wake up from a dream and you're so convinced it's real that you're confused about waking up in your own bedroom? You try to align where you just were in your mind with the reality of life? And you hope to fall back to sleep so you can continue the dream? Except it's a work day and apparently they get angry when you don't show up? I know, so selfish of our employers, eh?

Wednesday morning, I thought I woke up here:

That far bed? For four months, that was my bed in Tanzania. When I awoke on a cold and foggy Wednesday morning to realise that my dream about being back there had been nothing but a dream, my heart ached a little.

Adding to the realism of my dream was the fact that it was about going back to Tanzania to visit. I saw my friends in their new jobs, I brought gifts of items I knew they loved but were hard to come by in Tanzania, and we caught up on our lives over nyama choma at our favourite restaurant. It was so real.

I spent the remainder of the day missing Tanzania.

I missed bartering for food in the markets.

Lushoto Market
(Not my 'normal' market. I don't have any pictures of Tengeru Market.)

I missed my coworkers.

Grace, Hadija, Rachael, me, Mama Musa (Fatima)
Just a few of my awesome coworkers!

I missed holidays that looked like this:

Morning coffee in Nungwi

Or this:

Elephants in Tarangiri NP

I missed seeing Mt. Meru every morning.

Sunset on Mt. Meru
You can keep Kilimanjaro, this is the mountain I long for.

*sigh*

I will be forever grateful that I got to live in Tanzania and that I live in an age where I am able to keep in contact with many of my friends from there through the magic of the internets and social media, but why can't I live in the era of Star Trek where I could just beam over there for some nyama choma and a Tusker beer while I dust off my rusty Swahili and we catch up on the going on in all our lives?

Do you have a place that you miss? What do you miss the most?

Note: The title means is "I miss you".

Elaine - Part Two

I wrote about Elaine on the anniversary of her disappearance. Based on her past, it was assumed that she had committed suicide.

Roughly a month ago, her remains were found along with evidence that it was not suicide. Other than an amendment to my original post, I chose not to mention it directly other than to a few select friends.

This past Friday, a man was arrested and charged with her murder.

It is a surreal feeling to read a newspaper article about something so grisly and know the person in the story. While I am both elated that there is a strong chance of justice in a situation where we thought there was little, I am angry that one person could have altered so many lives with the senseless taking of Elaine's life.

No amount of justice will bring her back.

So, in memory of Elaine, please hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.  Do it now and do it often.

The Happy Dance of Life

[Source]

The sign above pretty much sums up my view of life. It is rarely the events of a day that determine if it is bad or good, but my attitude towards them. Obviously, some bad days are just bad days regardless of your attitude - my cousin's death is a bad day no matter how bloody cheerful I was prior to getting the news - but someone else's attitude in a meeting? That will only ruin my day if I let it.

I am, generally, a very positive person. I find that it makes life more enjoyable.

It also means that when life starts coming up roses, and you're already a happy person, it's really hard not to walk around doing this all day long:

Oh dancing Nathan Fillion, how I love thee!

What has been so fantastic? Just every day life, to be honest.

I know I said I wouldn't talk much about work on here, but work has been great. I grow to love my job a little bit more every day.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that this happened last Friday:

If you don't know who Eddie Izzard is (what's wrong with you?) then you need to watch this:

Oh, November 29th! You can't come fast enough.

I joined my brother's Yahoo Fantasy Premier League this year. I did it for various reasons but I honestly expected to spend my time at the bottom of the pool (I even named myself GunningforLast FC), stumbling through my picks and hoping that I (re)learn something about a league I love but haven't actively followed in about 10 years. It's early weeks yet, but I've done better than I expected.

That, my friends, is me sitting in 5th place. And that little asterisk in Week 7? That's indicating I was the points leader for the week. Week 6? I was 1 point behind the point leader. I'm feeling pretty darn pleased with myself right now.

Hopefully, I'm still sitting so pretty after this weekend.

On the flip side of feeling 'woo-hoo', Ireland is officially out of World Cup 2014 in Brazil and I can't even blame this guy:

Thierry Henry's handball, seen by everyone in the world except the ref, allowed
France to win against Ireland and knock us out of a spot in South Africa 2010.
Still bitter.

While I'm disappointed about Ireland, both Germany and Switzerland have qualified which means I still have teams to cheer for and will not have to wear a France jersey (because sometimes I have issues keeping my mouth shut) so...

Despite messing up my left tricep and bicep three weeks ago, I continue to love kickboxing and bootcamp. I was seriously bummed when I couldn't make class due to a cold-flu-breathing-issue last week. Unfortunately, I was so excited about getting back at it this week and kicking butt in kickboxing, that I left the gym after class in a haze of euphoria and failed to see the Pothole of Doom so I'm out until next week or whenever my knee scab heals and I can bend my leg again.

*sigh*

The Pothole was totally that goalie.

Finding a gym that has a built in support system (the other girls) and a trainer that holds you accountable has made all the difference in keeping me going back.

That and finding an activity that taps into my hidden desire to kick people's asses.

I guess that's what it really comes down to: I'm happy because I get to punch and kick things and no one gets mad at me.

I'm sounding really well adjusted right now.

So...

There was supposed to be a full post going up today except the internet connection has been pants and now I have to run to catch the bus to concert band practice. Yes, a grown adult just typed that sentence.

I did want to say that life lately has been pretty...

Also, the Walking Dead starts on Sunday, so after the turkey dinner...

I'll have some good stories to share. I promise.