HIt the sales today- and there was not much... Only a few of the shops have marked down their Christmas goodies, got some lovely biscuit tins, with contents at 50% off though- I use the tins for everything- including gifts for next year- also some luxury choccies at 50% off- so not bad

Today, the 27th, is a public holiday here in SA. Normally it's just Xmas and Boxing Day( 26th) but the 26th was on a Sunday, so we get the 27th off. This is great as both DH and I are working this week so it gives me an extra day to relax and sort the house out a bit- no cooking as plenty of leftovers. I'll hit the sales later in the week, but most will only start in mid jan when most people get back from holiday

We had a very pleasant Chritsmas day- it was just a small crowd, mostly friends and neighbours which made it more relaxing- my domestic worker is on leave and I'm not so the house is clean but not sparkling. It was quite hot ( 26C) so we had our traditional braai(BBQ) LOL-using the new Weber braai my Dh got for his birthday. Nice desserts, choc mouse, pavlova and choc cake with a small fruit one and lots of mince pies.
It rained on Sunday- not on Xmas day like it usaully does so we were quite pleased
One of our friends- who also works with DH- spent Xmas with us and not his family as the bosses told him that he will be working over Xmas as he is single... so he spent the day with us as they can both do most of the system support remotely using my husband's leased line connection- they are both sys admins
All in all a good Christmas weekend- hope everyone else had a good time

Had my shopping delivered this week. The delivery fee is actually very small( R55 or $ 10). You choose your groceries form the shops website- one of the largest grocery stores here in SA. I find it actually saves me money- you can compare prices by unit, there is a running total of your order, and you can shop whenever-at night is my favorite. I find it very useful to have the bulk items delivered- the cat food cans, big bags of sugar, cases of long life milk- much easier than trying to push a full trolley through the holiday crowds. When I'm not working I go shopping myself, but while I'm working I find this method saves both my sanity and my money.

The 16th is a Reconciliation day here in South Africa. Historically Dec 16th was celebrated by the Afrikaners as Dingaan's Day- which commemorated victory of the Afrikaners over the Zulus' in a battle in the 1800s. From 1961 it also marked the day the the ANC formed MK the armed wing. From 1994 the day was kept but the focus changed- it's a good day to focus on reconciliation and on how far we've come just before Christmas. It's also quite a big deal this year as we have made 10 years of democracy and freedom – feels good to be living here- sure it's not perfect but it's good.

Had a nice surprise today- went to fetch the vitamin hamper I had won, and discovered they had included a watch as well. Very happy- have enough vitamins for another 2 months , and an extra watch- may re-gift it . I've been very lucky this year- won several smallish prizes- toiletry hampers, wireless keyboard and mouse( which DH uses) , shoes and now a watch. Here's hoping for something big next year- like a car or a kitchen.

My car did well last month- I've only had to fill her up twice and should run easily till end of this week. Total cost of petrol( gas in the US) was R320($53) for the month. She is an extremely economical car- a Datsun 1200 ' 74 model, that my folks brought new and has always been in the family. I took it over about 4 years ago as the repairs were costing the folks a lot, whereas DH is relatively handy with old cars and our neighbor is a mechanic
DH also gave me the tip of never letting the tank go below a quarter- helps preserve the engine and means you shouldn't run out of fuel.

I was doing a quick run through the supermarket this weekend- major shopping is now done online with the silly season being here. One of my tricks to not buy more than planned is to to use a basket not a trolley- can't fit in too much and gets uncomfortably heavy if you do. It worked this weekend- I popped in for bread and breakfast bars- and that's all I brought- very proud of myself. Also the shops were too crowded to make browsing pleasant- looking forward to the after Xmas sales though. Johannesburg is not a holiday destination- most people here leave over the festive season to go to the coast- so here's hoping that the shops will get quieter soon

Manged to take lunch every day this week- helped that I had leftovers and a couple of lunch-boxes already int the freezer- feels good though. Must work on the breakfasts though- I wake up too early to want to eat anything at home, and breakfast bars are good, but still relatively expensive even when I buy them at the supermarket. Must go and decide what I'll be eating for this week, and do some cooking- weather is still extremely hot, so nothing heavy.