Short and sweet? I feel it’s time to call it quits here at eLuckypacket. Yes, over the coming months, I will be closing this blog down and focusing more on my family blog.

I’m not usually one to give up on something quickly — eLuckypacket has only been going just under a year, after all. But I also know when a venture is not thriving, and recognize when I need to give it up.

I started eLuckypacket with the simple thought that Southern-African women spread across the globe might want to keep in touch. That those living far away from family might want to participate in a virtual community and share something fun.

But along the way, I learned a couple things:

Planning, designing and launching a blog is a lot of geeky FUN. Keeping it running and posting multiple times a week? Not so much. Correction. It is fun … I just don’t have the time for that much fun focused all in one place. I need to spread my fun around — ha ha!

Those of you who live overseas know that there are TONS of South-African expats in just about every major city of the world. I assumed most expats were fairly web savvy and that a good percentage of them would like a fun read every couple of days.

And while I’m going on about fun … from reading quite a few blogs over the years, I should have known that the really fun, juicy community-style blogs are those written by fun, juicy girls. The kind that are outrageous and engaging and larger-than-life. I am not that kind of girl. For the most part, I am very earnest and kind but fairly introvert. Not the kind that spills it all out on the blog. So perhaps I am not the best candidate to edit a community blog.

But getting back to all of you South-Africans out there — I’ve learned that not all of you are glued to the Internet. You’re busy carting kids to school and running your own businesses and perhaps checking email or hopping onto Facebook when you get a spare moment. Definitely not reading blogs daily though — not the majority of you anyway.

So yes, I misjudged how Internet-active South-African women might be. And much as I love the small band of dedicated eLuckypacket readers (I can name you on the fingers of my two hands), I cannot see myself maintaining this blog for years and years in the hope that more readers will join us.

My main reason for closing down eLuckypacket, though, is something I could not have foreseen. Over the past year, I have slowly been taking small steps toward healthier, happier living. Committing to a varied exercise plan. Finally losing the post-baby um now-three-year-old pounds (only 4 lbs to go!). Slowly peeling away things that are not serving me or my family, so that I can LIVE a bit more and run around like a crazy-chick a bit less.

And I find that, internally, I’ve slowed down a lot. I’d rather lie on the carpet with Tau and play trains than cram in a missed blog post. I’ve started reading again — real novels and autobiographies instead of snippets of magazines in doctors’ offices or in the bath tub. And I hope to start writing and crafting a bit again.

So. I plan to leave eLuckypacket up until the domain expires some time August 2009. But I will not be adding new posts.

You’ll still hear from me because I’ll still be reading and commenting on South-African blogs. And if you’d like to stay in touch, you can email me at editor@eluckypacket.com or continue to visit our family blog at nobaddays.

I started this blog with a Hello World post … and now I’m wondering how one ends a blog. With a simple bye-bye blogging world?

No — I hope to stay in touch!

“All of our reasoning ends in surrender to feeling”
Blaise Pascal

Aren’t we all feeling the tightness of the economic situation in some way?

The mind boggling stats and financial reports on the news seem a bit abstract. What I know is what I see. Stores closing down everywhere I look.

The last time I went shopping in the mall nearest our home, there were two major chains having going-out-of-business sales, and a shoe store that was already boarded up.

And when I dropped into another mall the week before, I noticed yet another shoe chain closing its doors. All of their shoes were 70 percent off and I scored three pairs for under $30.

One of which was the cute and comfy starry canvas flats shown above. Also a pair of designer winter mules and a set of strappy black sandals. (No — not THE black sandals.)

Great bargain but I felt awful for the two cashiers in the half-empty shop who were clearly going to be out of work soon.

“I have a dream that my … children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luther King Jr.
I Have a Dream

 

Which got me thinking about how we underestimate our own special abilities. Those parts of our characters or skill sets that make us astounding good at something! Anything!

For example:

1. I am very good at making something out of nothing! Give me a creative challenge and I will rise to it. A short story from watching a couple in the grocery line. Lycra slipcovers for my dining chairs … freehand, without a pattern. A one-of-a-kind world map for Tau’s bedroom wall, so that he knows where the family live in South Africa and Canada and New Zealand.
2. Also, I seldom LOSE it with my kid. Instead, I get quiet inside and very, very resolute. Some would say stubborn but I like to think of it as being composed.
3. Little known fact. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. Big deal. I can also purse and lift my lips up to cover (COVER) my nostrils entirely. Comes in very handy when swimming underwater!

How about you? What are your superhero-girly-magnifique-alicious powers?!
 

A couple years ago, Dave and I took a ballroom dance class to learn the basics. Of course, we didn’t practice enough and the class moved quickly through too many dances, so we forgot it all.

In fact, the only thing that lasted was the lovely pair of strappy Fioni sandals I bought to take the lessons.

Let me tell you, finding black sandals that are comfortable enough to learn to rhumba in is quite the feat.

The straps on these babies were soft black elastic and the heel just high and wide enough so that I didn’t wobble. They look great with skirts and jeans and work slacks, and I wore them for years.

When I realized just how great they were I went back to the store to buy a backup pair. They were all gone.

And then the black finish rubbed off around the toes, despite my efforts to touch them up with a black marker. And the leather lining the footbeds started to lift and flap against my heels with every step. And still I wore them.

One day I spent a good 45 minutes on the Internet searching for every combination of “Fioni” and “black” and “strappy” and “sandal” I could think of. The picture you see above was probably the closest I could find. But not the same shoe.

I don’t shop much for shoes (compared to other women, Dave, compared to other women) and I have picky, picky, picky taste, so I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Until I visited one of my regular blog reads — and for the life of me, I can’t remember who it was — but in the context of her post, she included a picture similar to this:
 

 
And suddenly my quest for the perfect strappy sandal was not only vain but insignificant.

No one should have to wear plastic bottles for shoes.

And no one should have to wear black rubbish bags as clothing. Or eat out of a garbage can.

The next time you are approached to donate to an organization providing clothing, shoes or food for people living in poverty, I hope you will remember my frivolity, remember your own relative comfort, and GIVE.

Today is Blog Action Day 2008, with a focus on poverty. Check out their list of 80 Things You Can Do to Fight Poverty Right Now.

 

I’m busy getting ready for a huge third birthday bash — the guest list got a bit out of hand. Rookie mother!

So I thought I’d send you over to Photojojo, where they have a great list up … Ten Ways to Look Fabulous in Pictures!

Here’s the short list but check out the full article for details.

1. Dress nicely
2. Check the mirror
3. Don’t shine
4. Stand up straight
5. Twist it up
6. Stretch your neck
7. Flee the flash
8. Choose your light
9. Watch where you stand
10. Meditate for a moment

Yeah right, I always have time to meditate before getting my photo taken!
 

Third birthday and a boy? Trains of course!

But instead of getting myself in over my head this time, making a full cake-ey version of Thomas, Salty and all the Troublesome Trucks, I’m taking the easy route. Making a couple batches of cupcakes, icing-sugar train tracks on them, joining them together in a circle and plonking an el-cheapo toy train candle holder on the cupcake track.

And I’m making the cupcakes from a box. But then that goes without saying!

I must say, though, that it has been fun looking around for ideas — I had no idea cupcakes were such a big deal these days!

There are a number of cupcake blogs: Take a look at Cupcakes Take the Cake , All Things Cupcake and 52 Cupcakes, to mention a few.

And then there’s a fabulous new cupcake book, which I saw on our recent trip to San Francisco. Hello Cupcake by Alan Richardson and Karen Tack has THE most incredible cupcakes in it. If you see it while browsing bookshops, it’s well worth flipping through or buying. (Here are just a few of the cakes in the book.)

Finally, for those of you who insist that bigger is better, take a look at the Giant Cupcake Pan by Wilton. I mean how many calories can there be in one cupcake?!
 

Earlier this week Nutmeg put herself out there, reminding her American readers that their one vote is not always enough.

Those of us who do not yet have the right to vote are in an even more frustrating predicament. We pay taxes, we contribute to the economy, we volunteer to better our neighbourhoods and we raise our children as Americans. But for one reason or another, we cannot vote.

In my case, I am a permanent resident but am still at least five years (!) away from being able to take citizenship. I am not allowed to vote Obama-Biden in this election … or the one to follow in 2012.

What to do?

See the handy dandy banner above? And the skinny one in the right sidebar? I made them! And if you have a website and are in the same situation, I ask you to copy and post them on your site.

Know someone living in the US who can’t vote like me? Send this post to them (click Email to a Friend below).

If they are McCain-Palin fans, I will even (much as it makes my toe nails curl) make them a banner that reflects their preference. Because I’m nice that way and I believe we should all have the right to vote if we pay taxes and are committed to making a life in a society.

Live in the US but don’t have a website? I have posted an 8 x 10 version of the banner here, where you can download, print it and stick it up somewhere where others will see it.

Pass it on, ladies! We South Africans know firsthand how precious the right to vote is! 

Last night I read One Fish Two Fish to Tau and smiled when I reached this page.

It reminded me of the great time we had on holiday over the past ten days — with very little agenda, just moving from place to place, enjoying opportunities as they arose.

Years ago, Dave and I spent a few days on our own in San Francisco. We slept in, walked the city flat, browsed bookstores and specialty stores at our leisure, had slow breakfasts in small coffee shops, reading the local paper.

With a two-year-old? Different story. We visited toy stores that had Thomas play tables, we threw pebbles in a stream for 45 minutes, we visited every fire station we found, and we went down the curly slide again and again … and again.

Dave and I joked that we might as well have stayed home because all the kid was interested in was fire engines, railway boom gates and counting the American flags he saw. All of which we can see and do in the suburb where we live.

But yes, kids really do slow you down. So that you relax and take pleasure in the little, ordinary things. Like making food and poop for a Playdoh elephant, setting a basket of baby heirloom tomatoes on a windowsill, and watching the chef in an authentic Italian eatery in San Fran slowly stir a “super-BIG” pot of Bolognese.

Yes we did get to taste lots of scrumptious wine, sleep in (ok, some days), and make lovely dinners from fresh, local produce. All the things we love to do.

Our pictures are here and they should give you a good sense of the slow pace and simple pleasures we enjoyed. Yes, these things were fun and fun is good!