Life flashing before eyes moment

5 years ago, I used to shout. "Use your bloody indicator, you twat"! Now I yell the same words and realise I have not used mine. That's what Dubai does to you, you become a bad driver and don't even realise it.

Yesterday my husband and I were on the way to a brunch in the back of a cab and I had a latte in my hand. As we drove down a relatively quiet residential street, another cab driver came careening from a slip road almost smashing into us. Phil was on the side of possible impact, I was on the island side of the road with lamp post that could split my skull in two. In a split second, Phil braced for impact and tried to brake with his foot suddenly thinking he was driving, while I calmly assessed all possible crash angles and tried to hold my latte upright so it did not spill.

What we do in the moment when we could possibly lose our lives. We pump a fake brake and try and rescue our coffee. Priorities

Ballet flats and getting my exercise mojo back

I have recently been instructed by my doc to ensure I do 1 hour of low impact exercise every day of the week. "5 days a weeeeeeek?" I screech in my head. I am committed to using my cross trainer when I feel like it AKA once every two months. How am I ever going to commit to FIVE days a week!!!!

Luckily I found an awesome personal trainer two houses from me and she does deep stretching and toning sessions for next to nothing per hour. I was dubious at first, having done a lot of yoga and pilates with good instructors back when I was more committed to exercise because her rate was so low. However I have been pleasantly surprised - she is an ex ballerina and totally focussed on posture and quality of movement for every single exercise.

I feel my blood circulating, my core getting stronger and I can already do a few more reps each time I see her. Now I am considering putting the ballet flats that I bought to use and adding an extra ballet session to the mix. She just spent two years training a 38 year old who had never done ballet before right up to doing pointe.

Natalie Portman here I come. (But sorry I can't do 8 hours of training a day) I might take me two years to get to use pointe shoes. But I'll be patient.  Doc 3 days a week is going to have to do for now. I know you will understand.

Washing, cooking, cleaning and getting hammered.

My husband shouted at me because I have too many photos. Apparently 80 gigs of pics is overkill.
Basically he is saying I am too sentimental, which means he wants me to be like him and own about two family photos.

Of course I refuse, so defiantly I went and took all my old negatives to Kodak and had them processed and scanned. Now I have about 200 gigs of photos. Yay for me.

Trip down memory lane...during one of my "I'm done with production, the hours are too demanding" moments in 2003, I took a sabbatical and decided that doing care work in the UK would be a welcome break from castings and manic advertising deadlines. UHM  - did I do my research. No.
I arrived in Oxford to care for Laura and had a two day crash course.  During those 48 hours I  thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I was petrified I would drop her out of her sling while trying to bath her, or break her neck while trying to dress her or not strap her into her car correctly and kill her as I drove around those bloody roundabouts.  BUT I pushed through and managed and realised she was a tough cookie and not easy to kill. My days consisted of cooking, cleaning, weeing, pooing, bathing, dog-walking, more cooking, shopping, chatting, 6 turns at night and then repeat, repeat, repeat.

After 8 months I would just hear my name echo in my head anyway "Heatheeeeeeeer" as I slept-walked to her room to turn her again, and again and again .
After a long days work we would watch Eastenders and get hammered together and after bed time I would go and have a few fags with the garden gnomes and ponder on how little sleep I was going to get that night. I worked 11 days on, 2 days off. Tough going, but Laura was a rocking chick and I don't quite know how I survived on so little sleep with so much boozing! I was 23, that's why.
 But kudos to all the care workers out there...I could only do it for about 10 months and then went back to the evidently not so demanding production hours.

MY DAISY LIST

I think "pushing daisies" sounds much more fun than "kicking the bucket".

So here is my DAISY LIST* 

To have lived a healthy life
Take my husband to a country where he can see snow
Play the guitar properly
To never have a family fight that splits any of us apart
Act in a movie and do a good job at it
Record at least one album
Have the opportunity to see as many people as I am destined to see accept God in their lives
Write a book
Give 200 or more young adults a career or tertiary education opportunity
Work hard and make use of every opportunity available
Take as much time off to rest and reflect as needed
Change my mind if I feel like it
Listen 

*To be revisited and reviewed as often as I please

Rub a dub - little girl in a tub

I really really don't like being sick. Well who does I guess.

I've never had an ear infection in my life and got struck with one of those and tonsillitis on my visit in Durban.

It feel like I am underwater with severe pressure on my head and my ears are ringing constantly which has put me in the foulest mood ever.

I'm lying in bed feeling pretty sorry for myself and nothing I can do about the vicegrip around my head!

Luckily I am on the church property and there are about 15 kids who board here from The Youth Care Centre including this little munchkin Rahima who comes and visits me and cuddles.

What a cute pic of her taking a bath in a bucket in a shower. She is 2 and is so clever - she can name almost all the colours - including grey and just chats non stop all day.

At least I have some cuteness to make me feel better.

Project Ignite 2011 www.youthcarecentre.org

Bird Seed

It's Thursday night (the rest of the world's Friday night) and I'm in bed munching on Waitrose's wholesome goji, seed and berry mix thinking of my mom. She is such a hippy at heart - I miss her!

When we were young she used to be obsessed with ensuring we ate healthy food. We never ate any purity, formula or processed foods. All our first foods where organic "purity" such as mashed spinach, banana, butternut etc and it was all handmade by her(for all five of us I might add).

We then proceeded to wholewheat sandwiches for school with small portions of nuts and raisins in funky tins. I used to throw a strop because I wanted white ham and cheese sandwiches and a neon plastic lunch box, not a hippy tin with bird seed.

Now all I want to do is eat healthy foods - go figure. Thanks Mama xx