Sex, the City and Misplaced Friends Found Again

Well, I think I have finally settled on vacation plans. I am notoriously busy lately, notoriously exhausted all the time, and notoriously anal about planning, so clearly this is not a good combination for vacation planning. But I think I am ready. I think...

God knows I can use a break. I have not had a proper (long enough) break since before I headed to London for postgrad life. It dawned on me when a friend pointed it out the other day - I went from a solid, stressful year of studying, straight into a hectic, busy and sometimes stressful job (with early morning wake up calls and late night bed times), without a break in the middle. So guess what? I am exhausted.

I am so looking forward to just relaxing - 3 weeks of doing nothing but stuff I absolutely love doing. I was not at all excited about it before, with everything that has been going on in my world, but by now, I am ready to just kick the heels into a corner and get some new flip flops and bring my Sex and the City alter ego back to life. And I will be able to blog more as well. I know you have missed the excitement!

The IYS application form. Wow. Takes me back.

What is also a bit exciting is that I will get to meet a penpal I have had since I was 11 years old. For my Trini friends (of my generation), do you remember IYS? IYS - International Youth Service. It was an international penpal service that set kids up with penpals from all across the world. I had a penpal from the US, the Bahamas, South Africa and Italy. It was all the rage when I was in Form 1. You just needed to pay $5 and choose 4 countries from where you would have liked to get a penpal, and you were set. Back in the day of snail mail - you know where you used a PEN, wrote LETTERS on PAPER, put it in an ENVELOPE, put a STAMP on it, and sent it via AIR MAIL - getting a penpal letter was exciting. I never heard back from 3 of my 4 penpals but there was one who sent me back really fun and interesting letters about her life in her city.

Sadly we lost touch after a while. Fast forward some 20 years later, and I cannot even remember how or why, but I Facebooked her name, and found someone with the same name. I sent her a message asking if she had ever had a penpal from Trinidad, and waited. Not long after, I got a response. No, she did not have a penpal from Trinidad, but she sent me this message (names changed obviously - gotta leave some suspense!!)

I have to tell you that I'm not your pen pal, but...listen to me....about 7 months ago a friend of mine was searching for my Skype account and she found another (Jane Doe) in Doeville, so she was the wrong person, but my friend told me about her and since that day we stay in contact. We have the same name.....and surname...and they are very rare alone so name and surname together practically impossible. We are the only 2 Jane Doe in Doeville. So I wrote to her, and waited to ensure that it was her... 

AND SHE WAS REALLY YOUR PEN PAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't that the greatest story? Wrong Jane sent my contact info to Right Jane and that was it. We resurrected what was a paper-based friendship and began corresponding again on social media, and now we are taking this show on the road! So after 20 years, on my much needed vacation, we will meet for the very first time and catch up and have girls' time! So you will just have to wait and see how it turns out. Until then, I have reports to vet, articles to finish and design concepts to scrutinise. It is not always fun! lol.

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Meet Bride of Dracula

I had dental surgery yesterday - an experience that inspired fear in every fibre of my being until I got a second opinion, and then it just inspired fear in a few fibres of my being, and then no fear when it was finally over. Strapped into the passenger seat of the car, with gauze packed tightly in my mouth, and the loopiness of sedation still very much the overriding sensation, we headed home.

I knew I would be hungry but would be unable to eat anything substantial so when I spied the watermelon van, I told my mother I would really like to get a slice for later. Sitting on the passenger side, I thought I would do the needful and motion to the vendor which slice I wanted, and hand over the cash as well. As the guy headed towards me, his eyes opened in fear and horror, and he almost dropped the watermelon slice from the shock.

"Miss, what happen to yuh mouth?"

I thought perhaps he meant the slack jaw or the swelling. But no, when I looked in the mirror, I was freakin' Bride of Dracula/Vampirella, with blood everywhere - on my teeth, my lips, dripping down my chin. lol. I was a hot mess! I could well imagine my own expression had some crazy woman pulled up to my watermelon cart looking like she had just pulled apart pieces of roadkill with her teeth. Needless to say, the guy was more concerned than terrified in the end. I could laugh about the horrible amusement, even through all the pain, but that was a Mastercard "Priceless" moment if ever there was one. I got home and slept for about 12 hours after that - a combo of I think the sedatives and the physical exhaustion from the past couple weeks.

I am much better today, and no, I do not eat small children. I try not to.

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Life and Ice-Cream - Savour every moment

My home-made cherry coconut ice cream

Yesterday I made a tub of home made cherry coconut ice-cream - rich, creamy ice-cream. The funny thing is, I did not want to eat it, as good as it was. Oh, I loved making it but you know us, girls, always worrying about weight and stuff.

Today, I got news that a former colleague had died. Cancer. She had come back from vacation late last year, and complained of feeling ill. She fought the good fight, but she will be laid to rest today.

And then I went back to this ice cream. We often snipe about such trivial things and miss out on so many wonderful experiences - whether they are big or small. But this amazing thing called life is not a trivial matter. It is an enormous gift that we should all embrace and enjoy, and use well, not just for ourselves, but for others. The consolation I have is knowing she had a marvellous vacation, where she lived and laughed and loved, and in her life, she gave of herself to be a friend and mentor to others. Her memorial service was massive, testament to how well she lived her life and how well she was loved. May she rest in peace.

Today, I am going to enjoy a bit of my ice cream, and like life, even with the pitfalls that may come with it, savour every moment.

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100 days of Happiness

What does happiness mean to you?

It should not be complicated and often we make happiness complicated. We take drastic steps towards this state of being that can  be achieved by just being kind to a stranger or giving a friend a hand.

Just wanted to share this project with you, which a friend and her team are spearheading - to make Trinidad and Tobago smile, and I am extending it to everyone else because happiness is contagious and the world needs more of it.

Click on the link below to sign up and to join me on this adventure. Check out the video to learn more from my girl, Michelle, on the genesis of this project. And have a happy weekend!!

The 100 days of happiness adventure

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Q2 Outlook: Anticipated Growth in Happiness

Memory Jar for all your 2013 memories

Can you believe we have almost come to the end of the first quarter of the year? It seemed like just yesterday we entered 2013 and now we are in the middle of March.

How has the year been for you so far? Have you done anything you had planned to achieve at this point? Is your life showing signs of growth? Recession? Stagnation?

It has been slow slow going here. The start of the year was not great and I am disappointed with myself for how I allowed things to get the better of my fancy-free spirit. It's just been a lot of work, and work, and work. And sleep. And holding on to bad memories from the end of 2012. But there is hope...there is ALWAYS hope.

I saw this really great idea at the end of last year and had planned to do it this year. The memory jar. You get an empty jar, box, or whatever, some slips of paper, and everytime something good happens to you, you take a note of it, and stick it in the jar so come December 31, you can go back and look at how good the year was for you. We often dwell on the bad things or the non-starting aspects, but never fully celebrate or appreciate the little things which make us smile or grateful. I saw a quote somewhere that went like, "The worst memories stick with us; the nice ones always seem to slip through our fingers". Hold on to the great moments. I try to do it every day, but I think memorialising it can help put it in perspective at the end of the year. I also think putting it down on paper forces you to be more proactive about creating those great memories - get out of stagnation. So there you go.

I have my empty Prego jar, my paper, so will start afresh in Q2 to make 2013 a good one.

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