Spring

Spring.
A new shoot, green and hopeful forces itself to the surface and gazes innocently at its new surroundings.
The environment is not completely hostile, but neither is it friendly.
The difference is that there is hope.

I am at a crossroads in my life where I have journeyed so far, I have battled, sweated, struggled with religion and morals and cried tears of sadness and frustration. Yet I have also discovered a new Ted, one who is more patient, honest, able to listen and shut up when required.
I have the most amazing friends in the world, I have made friends with folk I never see and they have become a part of my circle. Today I will mention a single Mom who is raising her daughter whilst battling to find a job. She has hit rock bottom, sobbed and hid, but she hasn't given up. What an honour to know her and know that when we finally meet for fruit salad and coffee, I will be able to hug her and laugh together.

Then my new friend, shy, funny, cute and a blushing beauty who has exploded into my life, thank you.
You make me smile and believe in a part of my life I had packed away.
I am smiling like a teenager as I write about you, I didn't think this was possible and irrespective of the future, I am happy now.

Spring is on our doorstep, embrace it.
Enter the world with a smile and a bounce in your step and who knows what new doors of opportunity await you.

Nite all.

Shelter from the Storm

A good friend is similar to the difference between cheap single ply toilet paper and a really decadent twin ply! They look the same, accomplice the same, but the experience and gentle caress cannot be explained.

A good friend will not only help you when you are down and broken, they will provide a safe have for you to recover in.
Brian and Dee and Zane and Trav took me in when the walls came crashing down, they cared for me, checked on me through the night to ensure I had in fact fallen asleep and put up with my mood swings.
They fed me, loved me, hugged me and comforted me and asked for nothing in return.

These are the kind of people that when I moved into my first bachelor flat, came and helped me clean and unpack. Dee and Candy and Melissa cleaned like woman possessed and fussed over me to ensure I had a fair chance to start again.
What do you say to friends like that.
The Readsters brought KFC and helped me with a deposit and food so that I would be able to feed my girls over our first Christmas together.
They covered my counselling sessions when my sad face and tears touched them and Wayne brought me back to church after my rage and anger at God.

The Liprini's flew me to Cape Town for my birthday so that I could stare a mountain and see old friends and somehow just learn to breathe again.

So, why am I so fortunate? Is it my suave hair and wrinkle free complexion? I firmly believe that if you are verging on the borderline between obese and pleasantly plump, you too can be wrinkle free.

Sometimes you get to remove yourself from a situation and look down on your circle of friends and smile through the horror of life, it is almost as if they form a cocoon around you and fend off any unnecessary attacks.

A hug from a friend is like being wrapped in an electric blanket in winter, its like a hot chocolate pudding on a winters night or a air conditioned room in the middle of summer.
Words cannot explain it, it makes you smile and relax.

So to all of you, find someone who needs that cocoon of love and help them, it could very well be the deed that gives them the hope to continue again.

Nite all

Revolution

A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.

My realisation that my marriage was over was a revolution, in the blink of an eye it was gone. It lay shattered and blown apart beyond repair.

And so began the 18 months of upheaval and emotional ping pong and then something else happened.
From the ashes and ruins a green shoot appeared, tiny and desperate at first but determined.

This little green shoot was "hope".
It fought from the dark burnt battered soil and emerged desperately seeking light. This has been the story of the last 6 months, no it hasn't been an overnight moth to butterfly revolution.
It was a candle being lit in a dark cellar, suddenly the objects that greeted my shins with silent giggles could be identified, my perimeter was vaguely familiar and the panic was replaced with a mild sigh of relief.

Ever had one of those moments?
It was the beginnings of an awakening and move from hell to midway stop, complete with cold water and meds.
You find enough strength to risk a bit more, a date, a smile, watching a love story or asking someone out on a date.
You suddenly have days where you embrace life with more passion and even an awkward skip in your step.

Heck I might even treat myself to a dream with a happy ending tonight.

Nite all

A Senseless Flirt with Reality

I asked a "slightly" stout middle aged Scottish gentleman who I work with if he had any advice for the dry skin on my legs, no this is not a normal request and yes he did ridicule me and shake his head.
He did however answer that if I added Tea Tree Oil to my bath water I would see a difference.
So I did. I added and bathed and lo and behold after 2 weeks my legs were . . . WORSE.

So Plan 2. I asked Dee who is not Scottish, a man or plump and is a trained beautician and her answer was as follows; Tea Tree Oil would make your dry skin worse, it did, so far so good and she proceeded to give me a small sample of cream which I applied.

OH MY COMPOUND NOUN!

So smooth! So silky! So incredibly (yet masculine) soft. My shorts slide over them with such ease it is as if gravity is inviting them to my toes quicker.

Motto of this tale, a grumpy Scotsman should not be mistaken for a beautician!

Tonight is Boys Book Club and I am so ready for it, I read the instructions on opening my Lindt Blueberry Chocolate in great detail last night and am ready to engage Stephen and Marcellus in a meaningful, yet intellectual guide to Safe Chocolate eating habits.

Safe sex, safe driving and now to our vegan tree hugging chanting and Enya loving audience, Safety by Chocolate.

And thus with smooth legs and all my limbs intact due to following the correct procedure in Lindt exposure I am almost ready to leave you.

One thought for the road,

If you ever find yourself seated naked on a hotel bed in a room reserved to Johnny Depp, it may well be that you have picked up your wife's bucket list instead of yours.

Nite all

Love me Do

"Lol just think for a moment lol 37, lives with a cat in a house with a grass roof, loves conjuring up things in her cauldron, never married, abducts children, feed them too much chocolate and sweets? I would have been burnt as a witch ;) lol"
The Witches Diaries

And yet she seems to have cast a spell on me without us ever meeting, is this possible or am I simply over analysing the situation.
Just let your hair down ( I have to wet it to get it to stay down), you deserve this after the last couple of years, the inevitable keep it friendly and stay in control, you don't want to rush into anything. Man o man there are so many thoughts, opinions and situations spinning through my head.

How do you feel Ted?
Um really?
Yup!

Ok, well here goes. I feel like a school kid who is so excited he can't sit still, I am the 10 year old the night before Christmas waiting for Santa to arrive, I am the teenage girl watching Bella being kissed for the first time by Edward in Twilight.
I don't want to be careful and restrained and tread lightly, good grief I want to dive in clothes and all and see what happens.

I want to feel love and laughter and dance in the moonlight with another, smell the aroma of wine on her breath and stroke her hair as she rests on my shoulder. I want the air to smell sweet again and to fill my lungs with eyes shut tight.
To feel anothers touch as I hold her hand and feel the tears of joy build up as my heart dares to explode.

But what if she doesn't like you, what if she leaves you?
Then I have at least tried, I cannot wait and hope for an angel to fall into my lap, I have to venture out and explore. The risk for failure is there, but the opportunity for love is far greater and worth the risk.

So with a smile, a deep breath and a heart beating a little too quickly. I am off.

Nite all

Death adds Life

I was wondering about our fascination with death and how we are surrounded by it, live with it and in most cases we aren't even aware of it. Think about your hair. Its basically dead. Yet we cut it, style it, colour it, wash and condition it, but its dead!!

We spend money preparing for when we die and worry about what will or might or may not happen and before we realise it we are overcome with all this "concern". Suppose its a case of worrying instead of living for the moment.

So what's the answer Doc?

Try starting each day with a really big stretch, walk to a mirror and greet yourself with a smile and maybe even a wink. At this point make it a rule to greet the next 10 people you see with a smile and a "good morning" irrespective who they are or if you know them or not.
Then find 10 minutes of "me time" and have a cup of tea or a mug of coffee or warm water and just reflect on yesterdays highlights and smile. If you had a really bad day then be grateful that you have a new day, another chance, a clean slate.
As for the argument that you don't have 10 minutes, I don't accept that. You can't find 10 minutes out of 1440 minutes in a day for you? You are worth it and deserve it.

This won't fix everything, but if we can start with a smile we have a much better chance of it rubbing off on someone else.

Give it a go, all it will cost you is 10 minutes a day.

Nite all.

A Cool Monday Feeling

It seems to lurk in the shadows, smirking and laughing silently to itself, waiting for an innocent troop of victims who have as much chance of surviving it as the pretty blond girl in the horror movies. You know the one that hears the scream and growling noises in the basement and thinks, “Oh no, I better check it out and take this umbrella with me in case there is a shower scene”. So down the stairs she goes slowly, asking nervously “Who is there”! She has removed her iPod headphones of course, otherwise how would she hear the creepy scary music and deep breathing.

Umbrella set to stun mode, chest heaving in her slightly too tight t-shirt and battling with the creaky stairs in her knock-off high heels, she descends.
We might laugh at the ridiculous set of events, but in reality don’t we take the same attitude to our own creature in the basement? Lets call our monster “Monday” and see if any light bulbs suddenly switch themselves on. At the mere mention of the name of the worst day of the week, we sigh and grunt and mutter under our breath, we conjure up images of being dragged behind wild horses screaming to work, school or simply out of bed.

Why?

What prevents us from treating it like any other day, i mean if we renamed all the days of the week and called Monday ooh lets say Friday and then we can call Friday Monday. Too confusing? Good news is that Wednesday remains Wednesday.

All I am trying to say is, have a great Monday!

Chow everyone.