ONE YEAR OLDER....BUT STILL YOUNG AT HEART!!

So last week Wednesday, April 14th, I celebrated another birthday!! I should have written a post then but I had such a busy day that I never got around to it. To be totally honest, it was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time! I've never really been a huge birthday person, as in I don't really make a big deal about it. However, it really is such an awesome feeling when your friends and family make it a point to show you just how much they care.

I received a couple of cool gifts too, stuff that I had probably been in dire need of, lol. I'm an old skool girl at heart and so sometimes I don't really get with the times until everyone else has moved on to the next thing, leaving me still trying to catch up. I'm cool with that though - maybe one of these days keeping up with the Jones' will be important to me but to this point in my life, that's never been the case and I don't envision that changing.

That being said though, I REALLY loved my gifts and the thought that went into them. When someone shows you just how thoughtful they are by paying close to attention to what you need, it makes you feel that much more special:)

I think back to a year ago at this time. I had just injured my Achilles on April 18th 2009, I was without direction, upset, sad, afraid of the recovery road that lay ahead, worried about the apparent end of my long and oh-so-fulfilling career, and just really wondering where my path was going to take me. I had nothing but questions and very few answers.

Fast forward one year later and I have landed! Last Friday, I was finally able to jog again....woohoo! Yeah for rehab/physiotherapy!! I've been fortunate enough to have some great business and career opportunities fall into place and I'm SO excited about that. My bank account is looking pretty good:), I had a smooth transition from one tenant to another in my house in Austin, TX, thank goodness, I have been enjoying myself, my heart is being taken care of so well;-) and I am truly at one of the best points of my life!

I smile a lot. And the world seems to be smiling back at me. I keep wondering how come the Lord sees fit to keep blessing me like this, but since I don't know how or why, all I do is just keep thanking Him. If someone would have asked me where I would've been a year from last year, I would've never guessed that I would be standing in this place.

And all I can do is keep on keeping on, trying to be a good person, to show my friends and family how much they mean to me. People keep asking me how come I still look so young and would have to say that I think the key to my youthful feeling and appearance is just that I live life to the fullest, I stay positive, I really care about people, I'm passionate, I don't take myself too seriously and laugh a whole heck of a lot:-)

So here's to another year of life!!! I have a feeling it's gonna be my best one yet!!!!!

WITH MY HANDS TIED....

I don't know if you guys have had the chance to hear this new Toni Braxton song, but it is MY Kinda Song!!! I love it and I've been playing it in heavy rotation. It's called Hands Tied. The lyrics are on point,

"I dont need my hands to feel the things i feel inside (cuz i)
cuz i know what inside's my heart is right
they dont have to hold you like that
they dont have to touch you like that
cuz you know the truth is that i will love you with one hand tied behind my back...."

Check it out and tell me what you think....



Aside from wearing out this song, lol, I've been just busy, busy, busy - busy doing work, busy spending time with my friends, busy spending time with my friend:-), extremely busy at physiotherapy - I swear those therapists at Select Therapy are masochists or slave drivers or something, but they are definitely getting the job done because my Achilles has improved by leaps and bounds and I'm supposed to start jogging next week. Woohoo...finally!!!!

In other news, lol, PUMA just sent me another shipment of stuff and as per usual, they have sent crazy amounts of everything. 15 pairs of shoes (including a couple of really funky Alexander McQueen ones), dresses, belts, caps/hats, every kind of shirt/top/blouse/t-shirt, skirts, and then of course actual track gear. Does anyone wear a size 7 1/2 shoe??


Peggy and I have been very blessed recently to make some really good connections in regards to our interior design business, Urban Safari Design. We've connected with a great construction company and we will be a part of most of their projects so that means lots of consistent business for us on a very regular basis!! God is good!!!

I've been making some other great connections to in regards to other opportunities but I will say more about those things at a later time....

Other than that, I've been enjoying some social events and just thriving in general. It always helps though, when you could love someone with your "hands tied":-) It just makes everything seem that much better and brighter!!! Hope you are all doing well!!!

A TO Z OF WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO.....

So, I've been away from the blog for at least a couple weeks. I 've been SO busy doing a million and one things and in fact I just got back to the US at around midnight last night. I finally have a moment to breathe so I figured I'd update this little blog of mine just in case I still have any followers:-/ I thought I'd try to make it fun by going through the alphabet and saying what I've been doing.....

A....Avatar. I was probably one of the last people to see this movie and I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi movies, but it was AWESOME (once I got used to nausea I was feeling from the 3-D)!! Two thumbs waaaay up!!

B....Bahamas. I just got back from my home town of Nassau, Bahamas last night. I had to speak at this Nutrition, Fitness & Sport Psychology seminar. It was a short trip but I had such a great time.

C....Congratulations to Chris Brown (not that Chris Brown - this one's from the Bahamas) on winning the men's 400m at the World Indoor Champs in Doha, Qatar last week. Congrats to Chandra Sturrup who at 38 yrs of age ran 7.16 in the 60m and finished 6th and big ups to David (Oliver) on his bronze and PR in the 60m hurdles. (Oh yeah, and that spread in Essence, Mr. Big Timer:-)

D....Dining out. I've been doing a whole lot of this. My new favorite spot is this Brazilian restaurant Bamboo, right here in Culver City.

E....Early bird. I've been getting up a lot earlier than when I was training. Didn't know that 7-8am was such a pleasant time of day.

F....Family. Just got to see my brother and parents last night and this morning. Can't say enough how important they are to me!

G....GOD is good!! He continues to bless me in so many ways and I am eternally thankful.

H....Haircut. I've been toying with the idea of getting a significant haircut....something above the shoulders, maybe even all the way to the "Halle Berry". Just can't decide exactly what to do:-/

I....I-pod. I FINALLY got the songs on my I-pod changed last week, which I hadn't done since 2008. Yeah, I know that's lame, but I don't know how to do it so I had to wait for someone to oblige me and now I'm in heaven:-)

J....Jogging. This is something I HAVEN'T been doing. I'm still in heavy physiotherapy sessions twice a week for 2 hrs and hopefully within the next couple weeks I will be able to start to jog....can't wait!

K....Karma. Is something I believe in. I think I've been putting a lot of good vibes out there so maybe that's why everything's been coming up roses lately.

L....LOVE. It is DEFINITELY in the air:-)

M....Making Moves. I'm supposed to have a meeting later this month with the pitching coach from the Los Angeles Angels about possibly doing some work with them in the areas of nutrition and stretching. Keep your fingers crossed!

N....Nervous. I'm a little bit nervous about the reality TV show that I'm going to be on that filmed in January for athletes learning how to be Sports Broadcasters. I've forgotten most of what I said and did and I'm gonna probably be mortified when it airs in June:-/

O....Outlawed! I am officially banned from buying any more shoes till June 1st. I've been on shoe buying binge lately and it has to stop! Now! (But my shoes are BAD! Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good!)

P....Personal Training. I've begun doing some personal training and so far it's been going well and I'm having fun putting all these years of working out to good use.

Q....Queen. Been feeling like and been treated like one lately:-)

R....Reunited. I reunited with two high school friends when I went home to Nassau that I hadn't seen in the past 20 years. It was SO great to see them. It was just like old times!

S....Speeches. I given two recently. One on Saturday in San Diego at The Live Well Project for 100 underprivileged girls. The second in The Bahamas at that Seminar on Monday.

T....Tattoos. I've been thinking about getting one for the past couple years. Something to do with the 5 Olympics I've competed in and the 5 rings. I just can't figure out where and exactly how it should look....

U....Urban Safari Design - The interior design company that I co-own with my business partner Peggy. We just finished another commercial project, a nutrition club. Pictures to come at a later date.

V.....Velvet track suit. It's a NO-NO!!! I just met a guy wearing a brown one the other day and I could barely focus on the conversation. SMH!

W....Why Did I Get Married Too. The upcoming sequel to the first Tyler Perry movie of the same name. Can't wait to see it:-)

X....X-cited about all the possibilities that lie ahead this year for me.

Y....Yesterday I started reading this book called Diamond Ruff that's going to be made into a Feature Film. Very interesting so far. Wonder how it's going to end??

Z....Zero. The number of things I have to complain about right now! Life is good:-)


So that sums it up. What I've been up to in a nutshell. Busy as a bee, but lovin' every minute of it. Hope all is well with all of you!!

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT?

I've been thinking lately about what it is that draws a woman to a man and vice-versa? And is there really such a thing as love at first sight??

I know for myself, there are certain things that immediately draw me in, and I'm talking pure aesthetics....a great smile (nice teeth), engaging eyes, good skin, nice hands....to name a few. But love?? What is it beyond that immediate attraction that makes someone take a second and a third and a fourth look?

People often say that they know within the first 5 minutes whether someone they've met has boyfriend/girlfriend "potential" or not. I think what is more often the case is that you know instantly if someone doesn't have a chance, but not necessarily if they do. Personality is such a HUGE X-factor and it is truly such a variable that I think it's almost impossible to completely rule someone out without having a conversation. And what is an appealing character trait in one person doesn't necessarily carry the same appeal on another. Weird how that is....but when people overlook the fact that someone is rude, thoughtless, selfish, unkind, or disrespectful just to be with the bombshell or the handsome hunk, we know how long those relationships last - not very!

There are certain deal breakers however. Instant No-Can-Dos. Shorter than me? Nope. Unintelligent? I'll pass. Smoke cigarettes? Hell to the no! Now while I don't think I've ever experienced love at first sight, I think I've had lust, lol, but I would never rule out the fact that it happens.

***"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle." ~ Amy Bloom ***

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Today is such a beautiful day! It's a day to celebrate friendship, it's a day to celebrate life and it's most definitely a day to celebrate love! I've always believed that love is something that we should show all throughout the year. Why wait for one special day to let the people in your life that matter know just how important they are to you? I try to make it my business to show my affection and appreciation all year long, but it is kinda fun to make that little extra effort on this one day.

One of my favourite quotes is "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." -Dr. Seuss

Who knew Dr. Seuss was so thoughtful, lol, but I couldn't agree with him more!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY everyone....it's gonna be a lovely day:-)

KIRK FRANKLIN HAITI RELIEF

I came across this song, "Are You Listening?" produced by Kirk Franklin. Along with a many of today's best gospel artists , he recorded this song to help to raise money for the people in Haiti in conjunction with UNICEF. Not only is the song absolutely beautiful, but the proceeds are obviously going to a great cause. Listen, enjoy and do your part to help if you haven't already done so.

........WHILE DRIVING

I remember years ago before I had a blackerry, before I knew anything about having this type of instant access to the worldwide web, to e-mails, to google, to bbm, I would look at my friends who would use their phones for anything else other than to make and receive phone calls or to send the occasional text as crazy or bored or lame or "too cool for school" so to speak. And don't let me get started on those who would do all this stuff while they were driving. Those people were REALLY crazy!!

Fast forward to a couple years ago and the acquisition of my own blackberry and I became/have become that person I so chastized. It's one thing to put one's phone to full use and by that I mean, go ahead have fun, use all the apps and gadgets on there but the thing I had come to dislike about my own phone usage was that I had become a culprit of doing these things while I was driving.

The thing is I know better!! I've seen all the stories about the accidents that people have gotten into, the deaths that have been caused, that could've been avoided had that person not been fooling around with their phone. I've seen the mothers crying on Dr. Phil and I've seen the anguish that this basically self-serving, selfish act has wrought on the lives of so many. Yet I, like so many others, just convinced myself that I was actually good at it. That it was just those people who didn't know how to text, bbm, google and drive.

Studies have shown that it is equally, if not more dangerous to do these things while driving than it is to drive drunk!! And that still didn't stop me. But something hit me, quite literally, when a friend of mine who drives and texts got into an accident a couple months ago, just moments after he had told me that he was good at doing it. No one got hurt but still....How coincidental or not? It was at that moment that I decided that I needed to make a change.

You see it's just not worth it when it comes right down to it! There is no text or query or bbm SO important that it can't wait until I get to my destination. And if it is, then I need to just pull over and handle it. I mean, what were we all doing before the advent of this technology? We just waited till we got home to check our emails and to look up what ever information we needed to find out. To put other people's children's, mother's, father's, brother's lives at risk for the sake of our own impatience or need to know or tell ASAP is about as selfish an idea as I can imagine. And I am committed to not doing it anymore.

New Year's resolutions are often cheesy and we often break them by January 5th lol, but I made it my business this year to hold myself accountable, to be more responsible, to act like an adult and to stop using or checking my phone while driving aside from receiving or making phone calls and even then, it's only hands-free usage. It's the law here in California anyway. If there are any of you out there who might be reading this blog and who are culprits of this awful habit, I am challenging you today to stop and think about this for a moment and make a decision....is it REALLY worth it?? When you think about it, the answer has to be NO!