Hmm… what to say, what to say… Honestly, I can’t remember what I said in my last update, so I’ll try to cover what I think haven’t yet. Well, it’s Wednesday night. Tonight Melissa said she'd make my birthday cake! I wasn't even talking about cake and she said she'd do it! Hooray for Melissa coming through for me. Now I just have to pray that my friends come. I'm inviting anyone I can think of... even if I hardly know them because this is the perfect excuse to invite them over! Melissa and I agree that if Sean thinks I have to have a bring and braai, then SEAN needs to do the braaing! Neither of us feels confident to do it, and when I went to the braai at his apartment complex, he said that the men do the braaing anyway. He seemed to enjoy himself that time, so hopefully he won't mind. That can be his birthday present to me. haha

My friend, Heather, sent me an sms about Friday. We're meeting at the mall at 6:30 ("half past 6" as they would say here) for coffee and then the movie is at 8:00 I believe. We're going to see Shrek 2 - it opens on Friday! I know I like these people - they're coffee people just like me! It's taken me 5 months, but I think I might finally be making friends that I can really call my friends... and not just people who I know from church... but NON-Nancefield people! Don’t get me wrong, I love Nancefield people!! But it’s nice to branch out some too. Hopefully after hanging out with them on Friday, I'll be confident enough to invite them to my place the following Friday for “Bonnie’s Birthday Bring-n-Braai.” (Wow, that’s a lot of B’s!)

Hmm... what else haven't I told you? Melissa and I didn't go to school today because one of the guys who works at the school said that the kids haven't been coming since it's the last week of school (yeah, this is Africa, remember?). So, I'm not planning on going tomorrow (Thursday) either. It's a 45 minute drive both ways, and I hate going when things are not normal (which at that school, is just about always). Did you read in my journal about why we didn't go last week? There was taxi-violence, and they closed the major street that we take to get there. So, I haven't seen my kids at Diepsloot in a while, but in all honesty, I'm not all that sad about it. All my attention is on Lilydale right now. Oh, Chantal DID come with me on Monday and Tuesday. I picked her up Monday before club. Club went very well. We had snack (as always) then played a get to know you game. Then I talked for a while about how easily it is for us girls to let what guys think about us determine what we think about us. I sang the song "Plain"... the one I originally was going to do for the musical. I hadn't planned to, but the CD was in the car, so I did it. Then I read an excerpt from a book I have. It's a love story, written about falling in love with this wonderful man named Jesus. It's really cool because it never says His name or blatantly says who it's about. So the girls were all into it because it's wonderfully written. Then I asked them, "who would like to fall in love with a man like that?" And most of them raised their hands. They were somewhat surprised when I said who the story was about. It was a great way to talk about really growing closer to God in a personal way.

After club, Chantal and I quickly came home, I changed clothes, and then we were off to the East side of Joburg for Mexican Night at BIMS!! Did I ever mention that to you? I can't remember. Close to BIMS there is a "Mexican" restaurant, and many of the missionaries go there. The owners are really cool, and often take suggestions that we offer. So... the BIMS people planned a night for the missionaries to all cook some Mexican food (the way we eat it in America!) and 5 of the Banditos people came to taste our recipes! It was awesome... and SOOOO delicious! Earlier on Monday, Melissa and I went to the Holidays' house to help cook. I made a soup that was quite delicious. At the dinner, we had a discussion time, and someone asked the owners if they tasted anything that they thought they might incorporate into their menus, and they said my soup!! YAY! Go me. That was also Chantal's first taste of Mexican food. Boy did she get a treat! After we ate, we stayed at BIMS to talk to a friend of mine. Remember the LSU team? Well, 3 of them stayed in Pretoria, SA for 3 extra weeks. They were all at BIMS Monday night because their plane was leaving on Tuesday. So after we ate, Chantal and I went to Brandi's room and we all talked until about 10:30pm. It was so nice! After that, we came back to the house and crashed! Tuesday Chantal and I went to school at Lilydale. They took an exam I had made for them and Chantal and I attempted to grade them... wow, that's going to take me forever!! Then we had club again, and it went about the same as on Monday - very well. After that I took Chantal home. Then I came home and crashed on the couch for a while. I finally convinced myself that I really needed to work out, but I was too tired to take the energy to go to the gym. So I did some Tae Bo in the living room. I've not done too much today. Slept in, and then watched a movie while I lounged in my pjs. Then I did go to the gym today for a total work out (weights and cardio). Then Melissa and I FINALLY went to the grocery store, so we have food now. Then we got dinner at KFC and brought it home to eat while we watched some TV. I'm getting used to this whole idea of break!!

And now, here I am… enjoying some time on the internet. I promise that I DO work, but hey, when you get a break, you enjoy it, right?? :) Right. Goodnight everyone!





Link to pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/bonnieb81