The ideal place and pretty much everything near perfect.

Your boxes are packed and you have updated your address. The moving guy is quite a friendly fella and you have planned how you are going to place your furniture. You have even thought of changing your gym membership and notified everyone about your new home.

Then a bomb drops on said home and you have nowhere to go, but either way, you have to move in one week.

Yeah, so that is sorta-kinda what happened to me on Monday. Not an actual bomb, but sorta. The home is no longer.

Oops. So now what?

Now you move into a house with a lovely boy and you wait to see what happens next. Maybe this is meant to be more perfect.

So here we go – time for a homeless adventure!

You might have heard “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles”. The people who will go with you for two miles – those people. Keep them close.

That includes family. Love them and tell them that you do.

In short: Do not forget those who matter.

Yesterday when I got home, my car’s hand brake snapped. I live half way up this mountain, and a hand brake is very important. If you do not have one, your car will not be in the same spot that you left it.

Who fixes cars on Fridays after 6pm? Nobody.

I usually park downhill facing a wall, but I stopped to move something that was in my way. That is when I heard a crack and a snap and the only word I could think of was OOOPS! (and then of course ‘now what?’). This gave me enough space to reverse uphill (without a hand brake).

That thing was obviously in my way for a reason. Phew.

It made me think of so many other things that I am thankful for.

Being me. Having the right to be myself and being able to express myself in a way that only I can. Without anyone telling me what to do and who to be. Try it, it is quite nice.

Legs. Even if you have cankles or funny knees. Growing up, I never liked my legs, always thought they looked odd. Learn to love them, they are so important and are pretty fancy, especially when you realize what they can do on a spinning bike.

Breakfast at street cafe’s. Even when you sit under a tree and the leaves end up all over the place. The live music adds extra special goodness, and the fresh rye toast too.

Good friends. The ones who will call you at 8am to check if you are okay (after the car episode). They will most likely call again on Monday, to hear if it is fixed. Love.

My PurpleBerry. That will be my pink/purple and black BlackBerry. It really does connect you to the rest of the world, for free. Never thought that I would love a phone, but I think do.

There are SO many things to be thankful for – big and small. I try to think of a few everyday and do you know what?

Good things happen when you say thank you.

What are you thankful for?

Due to the lack of internet and a working computer, I have been getting more creative (good thing) and after a double spinning session, I felt the need to cook dinner. Oh, and why not bake cookies after 9.30pm? Sugar cookies that is.

Yes, it is strange to bake cookies for someone who cannot even eat them, but it is the thought that counts. So YAY! to my Dad.

Love you, misss you (and our Sunday scrambled egg dinners), wish you could eat at least one sugar cookie today. Sorry about the pink, but let’s call it love.

The idea was to write little messages (with more meaning), but I do not have a piping bag and forgot to buy wax paper (to make my own piping bag). The sticky frosting had to be rolled and cut. Like I said, it is the thought that counts!

These were fun and therapeutic at the same time. Yay!

A while ago something upset me terribly. I have honestly never been that angry. What happened? None of yo’ business. (Bare with me.)

I had so much anger that I could not keep to myself. I lashed out, and obviously said things I should not have said. Yes, you have to let it out – in some way or another – but there is something that you have to keep in mind.

The way you say it.

Even though I have never felt that amount of anger (ever, ever, ever), it was not an excuse for saying things in a crazy ghettohhh* way, especially if you care about someone. This might have been the best time for someone to ask ‘how would you feel if someone said it to you like that?’ Um, unfortunately what is done, is done and yeah – terrible. Not proud of myself.

Every story has more than one side (of course). We all know that. No matter how bad it is, through all the crazyness, have you ever stopped and thought about it. Really thought about it?

Stop reading. Stop looking at this screen, just for a few seconds – and think about it.

Okay, was it really worth it? Did it make you feel any better? Did you every feel guilty about it?

Stop again. This time I do not have to think about it. Even though the ‘screaming’ made me feel better (because bottling up never helps), the guilt got worse. Especially if it is not like you to do or say those things. Believe me, it is (almost) the complete opposite of who I am.

Unfortunately, unlike Disney, we cannot turn back time.

For months I have been wanting to ‘make it right’, months! Since day one, aaactually. But why didn’t you?

There is only one way to put it: Forget about your fucking pride and say that you are sorry. (Said that to myself.)

Was that so hard? No, it will even make you happier. My skin is already glowing and my eyes more shiny, all because the DIY worked. The DIY? Yes, there is a way to do it yourself. It is really, very simple.

Say that you are sorry, good.
At this point it does not matter who did what, but forgive each other.
And most importantly, forgive yourself. (Try it, it helps.)

It is that simple.

Hugs tend to seal the deal, but in my case it is not an option.
Although I did hug others when I felt the need to say ‘sorry’, even a stranger once. Yes, I hugged this guy and it actually helped. Thanks guy!

Now run along, go ‘make it right’.

* No disrespect to the ghetto. The neighborhood where I grew up might be considered the ghetto too. So much love.

What does this day mean? What do you have to do?
Not much, you just have to be awesome.

There is a very long list of awesome people, too long to list them all – but here are a few.

♥ Narayanan Krishnan (video), a man who dedicates his life to washing and feeding people in India. It takes a lot of awesome to do what he does (especially because most people will think of it as ‘ew’).

♥ Water. Everyone needs it. Scott Harrison had a birthday party and asked everyone to donate money towards a good cause. A few years and a few birthdays later, they have provided water to people all over the world. Amazing.

♥ Osvaldo Cavandoli created something awesome – La Linea. Remember him?

♥ If you follow my blog, you might remember Shaka. At first he might seem a little strange, but listen to what he says, really listen. It makes me sad and happy (at the same time), every time I listen to him.

“This world is about love man, the sooner off everybody understands that, the better off everybody will be. The trick and the secret is not to wait to be my age, and then say yeah he was right! Aiight, you do your thing.” – Shaka

♥ Influencers. They are all around us, here are a select few that you might be familiar with. Gotta love Jeff Staple, gotta love.

♥ Oh, and sloths. Sloths are very awesome.

If you are not sure how to be awesome, this might help.

That was April 2007.

January 2008, he passed away. So, today it will be 3 years since he said farewell.

I will be blowing bubbles for you Daddy-oh!

P.S. Look at our hands. Tee-hee.

I have a thing for double digits and even numbers – not crazy about 7 or 13 or 43 (you get the idea). When it comes to 22 or 11, yes please. Yes, I know that 11 is an odd number, but that is where the double digits come in. Plus, I was born in November – the 11th month. Oh, enough.

You have probably thought of ‘New Years resolutions’ by now. Not my thing, but I did think of things I would like to do during 2011. But that is kind of the same thing, right? Then I saw this – and could not help, but laugh.

“Just learn to live right the f-ck now.” Uh huh.

There is one thing that I will keep in mind this year (and hopefully for a few years… okay, forever). My cousin wanted to go for a run, but really did not feel like it. I asked him why not skip today’s run and do it tomorrow morning? His response: “If I skip today, I might as well skip tomorrow” and the next, and the next, and that way nothing will ever get done.

Stick to it and just DO it.

Oh! Have you seen Due Date yet? My favorite line: “Have you ever seen the movie Forrest Gump? He ran across the U.S. and he was pretty stupid. I have faith in you.” If you have not seen it, please do. Especially if you love coffee.

And with that I would like to wish you double everything (only the good ones of course) for 2011. Make it happen. I have faith in you.

P.S. ‘Hello Kitty’ ice cream? Yup, I had the honor (it is always an honor) to share these pink cups of berry flavored ice cream with my Oupa at the airport. One + One = 11. Yay, double digits.

Thanks to my Shrink for the video link.

2010. Thank you for everything. Lessons were learned. Hearts were filled with happy. Lessons were learned. Everything made sense. Hearts were filled with happy. Lessons were learned. Maybe not in that order, but that pretty much sums it up.

If you did something ‘wrong’ or made mistakes, it is okay. Try to learn from it, and be thankful for everything. Every single thing. It is amazing how everything seems so much better when you say thank you.

And with that I would like to say thank you to YOU. Every single one. Yes, you too. Yes, I am talking to you. Uh huh – thank you for alladat.

May 2011 be filled with love and happiness.

Take note of the small things around you. It will make your day brighter.

Narry will be back next year.
ex-oh-ex-oh

Thank you for being such a good performer and still doing the dance moves that made you famous back in the day.

You do it all with a smile and your dancers, well, your dancers are a show on their own. They have the biggest smiles on their faces throughout the entire show and like most hip hop dancers, they made me want to get up there and do the moves.

I did not know that you are the type to hand out roses, but while that other guy threw roses into the crowd, you reached over and handed me a rose. Oh, thank you very much. MC Hammer, gave me – Narry – a rose. Say what? Uh huh.

Even though you did not wear your gold pants, I wore mine and I am guessing that is what got me that rose. Other than the fact that I was standing right in the middle of the front row. Either way, respect. Also for remembering Tupac and dear Luther. Oh, Mr Vandross. RIP.

ice.

You are one cool guy (too cold, too cold) and you really bring that ‘cool guy thing’ to the stage. No, I am not referring to the water you poured over us (especially the front row), but you know what I mean – you are Vanilla Ice.

By the way, that water and glitter combo is quite a mix. I had blue stains on my arms and chest the next morning.

And just like the Hammer crew, you are a smiley one. I like that, and I appreciate it. What I appreciate even more is the gratitude you showed when you thanked everyone for the support at the end of the show. You meant every word. I felt that.

So now it is my turn to say thank you.

You are the true legends and I never thought I would be proud of wearing gold pants.