Things I found out during leave…

Internet cafes still exist, would you believe it?!
Before my leave started, I had debated getting an internet stick, to go online while at home. But I figured it would be a waste of money since I would not use it much. A time came though, when I needed to check and send some emails. So I had to get access to the internet. I did not want to go to town, just some place near home. But where? Although Kira Town Council, which is not too far from where we live, and Namugongo, have grown the last few years, internet cafes have not made inroads there.
Plus, everyone has a smartphone. So that afternoon when I had many errands, I grudgingly started making my way towards Ntinda, after everyone one had told me there was no café for miles around. I kept my eyes open though, just in case. And boom! I did find one in Naalya. It is surprising I even saw it. The sign struggled to show its presence amidst other bigger and more colourful ones. It just said “Internet Café Here” and it was on an A4 piece of paper on the wall of a building.

The day had been saved. The prices were fair, the environment calm and the service, good. But when the power went off and there was no backup plan, things went a little awry. Lucky for us, it was back in minutes and you can imagine how fast I did my work, lest the power went for the rest of the afternoon.
You must always find time to check nooks and crannies of your house.

Many of us have a routine at work, home and elsewhere. My routine at home when it comes to the chores is to focus on my room and every so often check on the other general places like the bathroom and bedrooms to ensure they are clean. But now that I had more time on my hands, I started checking corners and places like that part behind the fridge, that corner where the gas cylinder stands, that area behind the TV, the spaces under the beds and oh, did I find dust and forgotten cups, hairbands and other such things.

We got to work with the maid, shifting, dusting and washing things. Now, I have told her, we need to make that search-and-clean part of routine, something we do every few weeks, otherwise we will wake up to find plants growing in little corners of the house.

It is always a nice thing to go open up boxes that have been shut for months.

Once a year, I go through the boxes that contain the gifts we were given at our wedding. I pick a few things I feel we can use to replace the old ones on the shelves. Usually I get a set of glasses or a few plates. We got very many of those! This time round, as we cleaned and rearranged, I found to precious items to use.

One was a tea set, in a nice deep blue colour. This would be perfect for hubby’s evening tea as he watched football. It would also make the place where it sat look nice. So we washed and set it out. The most exciting find was an electric hand mixer.

To imagine we have had the thing for eight years and not used it! Well, having spent a good amount of time watching the food channel, the girls and I decided we needed to put it to use and so far it has been instrumental in helping us make pumpkin soup, one of my favourite soups. We intend to get more adventurous and see what else we can use it for in the kitchen.

So yes, in addition to doing other things, this leave has been quite productive.
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