Making: plans. So many plans. Travel plans. Staffing plans. Sight-seeing plans.
(You might know that I’ve been in South Africa for the past few weeks for work-related stuff. I’ll soon be moving to Nigeria for work, permanently!)

Cooking: I haven’t cooked in about 10 days (with one exception).

Drinking: lots of sparkling water at the office.

Reading: Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen. I’m so proud of myself. In the past 3 months, I’ve read 3 other books. Now that may not be much for some of you, but it’s significantly higher than I read in my last quarter. I’ve read the following in the past 3 months:

• A short history of nearly everything, Bill Bryson- rough guide to science: the history of physics, astrophysics, chemistry, archaeology, geology… Great read for everyone, especially nerds like me.
• Fringe Dweller, Gorky’s Zygotic Glove Puppet- fiction based around the realities of feeling like you don’t belong and existentialism.
• Three wishes, Liane Moriarty – fictional tale of 3 sisters’ dramatic lives

Wanting: to learn as much as I can on my job, and get good at it. The beginning is so daunting. Feeling like an impostor. Feeling like I’m inadequate.

Playing:  gospel music mixes on YouTube.

Wasting: serviettes and pocket tissues. This is bad. Especially because I am usually quite a green-thinker.

Sewing: Pfffffft.

Wishing: the world had no pain.

Enjoying: the weather in Johannesburg! It’s so lovely and warm with clear skies. But still not too hot. The nights are brutally cold though.

Liking: that I am not sharing my current apartment with anyone. It gets lonely sometimes, but at least I don’t have to share a bathroom!

Wondering: what it will be like to be staffed on a real-life case once I move to Nigeria. It’s scary to think the impact that I’ll have on a company is entirely dependent on the analysis I do and how correct it is.

Loving: the biltong they give us at the office!

Hoping: to split myself between two events this evening.

Marveling: at the power of the human mind. It’s so beautiful and complex. The creativity, the problem-solving abilities…

Needing: more time in my day. Actually, what I really need is better planning and management of the time I DO have. It just feels like outside of work, there’s no time to blog, edit videos, see people, watch TV… Almost no down-time. I guess that’s one of the cons of working a formal job. It’s so easy to get caught up in the system and lose yourself.

Smelling: my body mist- Body Shop’s English Dawn White Gardenia.

Wearing: lots of formal wear now that I finally started working. I love wearing heels since they lift my butt and make me look taller. HOWEVER, yesterday I got a horrible cramp on my left foot and decided to ditch the heels for the rest of the week.

Following: the following YouTubers recently (ish):

• Grace Helbig– she is soooooooooooo funny! I love her
• Today with Tray– vlogger from Toronto
• Rosanna Pansino– she bakes the most beautiful things!
• Irischel507– makeup artist originally from Panama

Noticing: that smiling at someone in the hallway, saying good morning to a stranger or asking how someone’s day was, makes a world of a difference. I mean, I always knew it, but I’m trying to DO it more, and it really makes a difference.

Knowing: that God ALWAYS comes through. Always. If things are still looking messy and bleak, hold steadfast. It will get better, and you won’t even know why you were stressing.

Thinking: about going back to being vegetarian soon. You might know that I was vegetarian for about 2 years before I became anaemic (a result of many factors including diet). Since I reintroduced meat to my diet, my Hb levels have increased from 8.6 to 10.9 in 8 months. I’m at the lower limit now (for women, normal Hb levels are between about 12-16) and wondering if I can now ditch the meat and try be more careful with what I eat.

Feeling: ambivalent. On the one hand, I’m super excited about having started work, and moving to Nigeria. On the other, I’m nervous, scared, keep questioning if it’s the right decision etc. This is normal, right? I mean, there would be something wrong with me if I wasn’t anxious, right?

Bookmarking: business articles and  useful modules on the office intranet.

Opening: a new tab to catch up on Lyra Aoko’s blog posts which I’ve been late on.

Giggling: Laughing out loud at how ridiculous Nairobi Diaries is. Honestly, it’s soooooo bad; like so so so so so so so so bad, that it just becomes straight up funny. Certainly my guilty pleasure, and you can judge me all you want! 😛

Lots of love friends,

Thanks for the constant love and support.