Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Great Pretender

Back to real life. I still had my place to myself and was loving it. Well... I was spending more time away from my place than there. Four months into our relationship, Cavin had already asked me to move in but I was enjoying him courting me. Moving in was going to be a totally different stage to where we were. Also, when you ask for something, very specifically, as I did my apartment and get it.You want to savor it!

One day, while doing a random side job, I bumped into a guy  I had once worked with. He is from Africa. We had a mutual friend. That friend and I are no longer friends. I saw the guy once since the movie we met working on and he seemed like he was avoiding me. I thought that it was before when we met, I would joke around and his response was always, 'you're crazy!'. Maybe he didn't want to be associated with crazy people. If that's the case, good for him! Crazy people are crazy! I did say hi, but I got a feeling he was brushing me off.  That's ok. It didn't hurt my feelings. Now, here we are, more than a year later, I bumped into him again at this side job. It was late at night and pouring rain. I now have a car. When we met, neither of us were driving. We both took the train and the guy disappeared on me when the ticket police came in because he hadn't paid to get on the train. This was before I saw him again and he didn't seem interested. Back to the day of the side job; I didn't see him that evening until we were on our way out. He was sitting in front, I was one of the last people to walk in, he must have seen me but I can't say for sure.

At the end of the gig, he walked really fast when I tried to say hi. I got the same vibe I did the previous time. I caught up with him when we got to the elevator. We exchanged a few words and on our way out of the elevator, I asked him if he needed a ride. It was very late, dark and cold. No longer raining. He asked if I was driving. No, I am walking. I wanna give you a piggy back ride, smdh! His face lit up when I offered him the ride. I thought to myself, aren't you glad you talked to me now, even though your pedestrian ass was avoiding me? When we got to my car, his face lit up even more. He told me he loved my car, it's so cool. It's a solid car blah blah blah. He asked what I had been up to, why he hadn't seen me in so long. He told me how proud he was of me that I bought the car blah blah blah. I dropped him off on Wilshire where he was going to take just one bus home as opposed to buses and trains as he would've if I didn't give him a ride.

As he got off the car, He thanked me very much, asked me to take his number, so we can keep in touch. I'm sorry but I can give you a ride because I am kind and like to help when I can  but that doesn't mean just because I have a car, all of a sudden, I am good enough to be friends with you. No. I am not blind. I saw your ass avoiding me like the plague! We're still not friends, but I did my good deed for the day, we're good! Bye! This is all me in my head, of course! I took his number and told him I would call him when I got home. I never looked at that number again!

I booked a job where were were going to play spectators in a baseball game. It was a late shoot so we had to pile clothing on. We may be in Southern California but it does get cold here too sometimes!

Here we are, on set, filling in paperwork, who do I see? The ride guy! Great! Did I avoid him? Nope! What for? I did my thing, when our eyes met, I waved hello. When he saw me again, he told me I'm full of games. I asked what he meant. He told me I promised to call him and I didn't. I was like, 'oops!'

A Vuvuzela on set. Memories of Fifa World cup 2010

I saw the nice girl I once carpooled with who lives not far from my place on set and we sat next to each other. It was nice catching up. She had a lot of interesting stories. She had vacationed overseas, fell in love and someone fell in love with her at school 'for no reason' that she didn't love back, she was in love with the vacation guy.

Dummies to fill in empty spaces. Last time I worked with these was in Johannesburg

Come to think of it, a lot about that set reminded me of home.

While walking around, settling in, I noticed that the lead was none other than Terrence Owens. What? I used to watch his Reality TV show back in the day. I actually, had seen an episode he did of Celerity Wife Swap not too long before I saw him in person. I was the only one star struck! Nobody else around me knew who he was. He's an athlete turned reality TV star. I don't know him as an athlete, cos I was in Africa then and had no business watching baseball haha. 

I tried to steal a picture of T.O. but you would have to zoom in and squint to make him out

It was an ok night, we stayed on set for 7 hours.I hopped in my car and drove back home without giving anyone a ride. My friend had used her parents car, so she was fine. Had I known he was going to be there, we would have carpooled again. She followed me home until she was familiar with the area, then she sped off. That child drives fast. I'm not a grandma on the road , but I drive speed limit. boring!





Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Black Friday

On our last day in the desert, we got up early, as usual; Calvin made breakfast, we packed and loaded the car.

Calvin's dad has a friend of more than 50 years. They have been friends since they were in second grade and have been in each other's lives all their lives. The friend lives in the desert. Calvin called the friend and the friend wanted us to pass by before we left.

I asked Calvin to take a couple of pictures of me before we headed out. I was so glad to have finally gotten a chance to see the desert house.

It was kinda cold as you can tell by my outfit

Calv did what we used to call closing procedures in my years of working as a security officer; walking around the house ensuring all the windows are closed, doors locked, water thing closed, etc. As he was doing that, I walked around taking the scenery in one last time.

That's when I spotted these: 2 Prickly pears!

I come from an area named after prickly pear because there are so many of them. We used to even sell them growing up. We would fill old paint cans up with prickly pears and sell them to passers by along the main road from Uitenhage through Cape Town. I had never seen this shade though. Calv picked it for is...with his bare hands! I was like, are you sure you should be using your bear hands for that? He relied, 'babe, I'm a tree specialist! I know what I'm doing!' Ok, smarty pants!

Peach prickly pear. 

I had never seen a peach prickly pear before. Maybe it should be called prickly peach? I enjoyed it though. I hadn't had prickly pear since forever. Just before we left, I said something about my dry skin from the desert weather. Calvin ran back to the front yard, tore up an aloe and brought a piece. he told me to use some of the juices on my skin. I was like, ?!?!?!? I didn't want to say anything to the Tree Doctor. It's quite nice having someone so handy around, who knows things regular people don't know. He comes in handy more often than not.

Calvin spotted a toad as he was turning off water. See? on the left? there were three of them

When all was said and done, we headed over to Cal's dad's friend's house. It's downtown, so to speak. Cute house. Cute Harley Davidson bike outside. Nice and clean. Red. Have you noticed how bikes are hardly ever dirty? The friend came out to great us. A True biker, he came out in jeans with a Harley Davidson T-shirt on and had shoulder length silver hair. It was nice to meet someone that cool. You wouldn't expect that in that town. always expect the unexpected. He gave me a good, strong hug and told me that he had heard so much about me; that Cal's dad loves me and always raves about me. It was such a humbling thing to hear. I love Cal's dad, he is the nicest person you will ever meet in your life and an awesome cook. I guess that's where Calvin gets it from.

Back to my roots!

We hung out. I love other people's homes. I love to see how they decorate them and stuff. I'm into that. Feel free to send me pictures of your homes too, for real! I love them, I think you can learn a lot about someone by just looking at their home. I specifically love clean homes, ain't nobody got time to tiptoe in a filthy house where you can't even put your expensive handbag. That ain't right! It doesn't have to be all white. Lived in but tidy, where you don't have to spring clean, or lock some rooms when you expect someone because you're embarrassed. The way you live also shows your state of mind. If your house is chaotic, it means your affairs are all over the place. I really believe that. You wanna keep things in their own place in your head and in your house. Why not? Life's easier that way. You want to be able to walk from your bedroom to the bathroom or any other room for that matter, in the middle of the night, in the dark or with your eyes closed because there is no mess on the floor that you will trip on.

Anyway, we sat on stools by a counter between the living room and the kitchen and drinks! The friend took out his precious stash for Cal because he considers him his nephew. We all chatted and joked around. I love that guy, he's so cool. So Fun! There were a lot of that's what she said jokes. And you know me, I always down for a that's what she said joke. The friend's wife came home. She had been visiting her sister in the hospital. This is the fifth wife. Apparently the friend had been married and divorced four times and Calv's dad was best man in three of those weddings haha. I love such stories, the craziest things you will ever hear. The friend told us their started off as a group of five or six friend but half have since passed away. He and Cal's dad are the only two that are still close. 

The wife invited us to their 20 something or so anniversary. This may be the fifth marriage but it stuck! They have been married for a very long time! Calvin agreed.. Not too long after the wife got home, it was time for us to head out. Back to LA, it is! I noticed Calvin walking kinda funny to the kitchen. I had asked everyone to take a group selfie. It came out great. I sent it to the wife's phone for them to have a copy. We walked to the car and that's when I saw that Calvin was really having a hard time walking. All that good stuff that the friend was giving him, may have been too strong for him. Great! That means I'm driving all the way home!

But first!We went to the mall. I had seen one of my favorite stores in the mall when we went to Walmart. I asked if we could check it out seeing as it was the real Black Friday. There was nobody in the mall, I think everyone was still at Walmart since the night before. I needed a black, everyday handbag as my old Ann Taylor one was busted. I had had it forever though. Since my sister came to The US for the first time. I was still in South Africa then, dreaming of coming to America. This was 2009 or 2010. I highly recommend Ann Taylor, a bit pricey but oh so worth it.

I found a cute BCBG Tote.

Cute and just the right size
Just what I needed! And it's reversible!

Yass! 

Not only that! It came with another bag inside. A Crossbody bag. My kinda sht. If you've noticed my bags over the years, especially on Facebook or Instagram; I always have a crossbody bag.

Amazing bag that keeps on giving

It seemed like I was getting three bags for the price of one. What more could you ask for? I also needed a pair of sunglasses. I had been breaking mine like there's no tomorrow. I found two pairs; one Oscar De la Renta and one Tommy Hilfiger pair. The Tommy was going to replace the Rockawear pair that stretched out on me. They were kinda similar.

I saw a cute pair of Navy  swede Calvin Klein Moccasins for Calvin. Unfortunately, he told me they're not his style. When it was time to pay, Calvin insisted on paying. I didn't even turn him down because I deserved it considering I was bout to drive us all the way back home and I drove to the desert as well. 

Approaching Johannesburg

What? Where are we?

Johannesburg with 172 population. 

This cannot be the same Johannesburg as the one in South Africa has a population of around 5 million.

I'll leave you with me in Johannesburg. See you in the next blog. Thanks for reading!





Friday, May 13, 2016

Giving Thanks

Here we are, at Walmart, Ridgecrest, ready to shop till we drop! We had to drive around a bit looking for parking. It was already packed by the time we got there even though we were early. Clearly, we weren't the only ones who were Smart Brooks! Shouldn't these people be Thanksgiving-ing? Black Friday comes but one a year, I guess! We found parking, I kinda felt bad for people who were going to shop on actual Black Friday, there wasn't going to be anything for them to buy.

So, we walked towards the Walmart entrance and boom! Yellow tape all around the store! They had security all around the entrance. You couldn't do what I sometimes do and enter from the exit door and vice versa. Those police weren't playing. I asked one of them, why are there police here tonight? He told me that it was for black Friday. Wow! I am not a big Black Friday person, I just do my thing and if I was going to be at the stores, then so be it.

When we got inside, there was only one direction we could go, everything was contained within security tape. Also, the way they packed everything, it was impossible to go back, once you went black passed a section. It was pretty organised, I must say, big up to Walmart! We had to grab whatever we thought we might want, we could then sort everything out before we headed to the cashier. Calvin, being his impulsive self, was just grabbing and thowing on the cart (trolley)! I had to ask him if he really needed some things. He told me that he would give some away as Christmas gifts, which was a Smart Calvin move. I headed straight for the printer. It was going to be my first time owning a printer. How American of me!

I was lucky, they still had a huge pile of the HP Printers I was eyeing. In fact, they had different ones as well, but mine was cuter. Calvin bought all kinds of things, he really doesn't need anything, that's why it's so hard to buy him something for a special occasion. He's modest too, when I ask him what he would like for Christmas or something, he will tell me, 'I don't need anything, babe! If I needed anything, I would've already bought it myself'. I have a George Foreman grill that I got from a good friend of mine when she relocated, I told you that story. I use that to make toasts as well. They had toasters for $10, so I grabbed myself a cute, silver one. Calvin bought himself a ricer cooker. I have my amazing pressure cooker, that I hadn't even used, so I didn't get one of those. By the time we were done, this was us...



The stuff was very nicely priced though, I didn't feel bad at all, plus Calvin paid. He offered to pay for my Printer. He didn't need anything and ended up buying so much, so I felt kinda bad and paid for some of his stuff.

We loaded our stuff in my truck and wend to eat. Ridgecrest is a very small town, they didn't have that many options of places for Thanksgiving dinner, so we went to the first place we saw open; Dennis. Lucky Bastards!


Calvin ordered appetizer. It was ok
I never order appetizers and all that. Calvin almost always does. I just shoot for the most exotic item on the menu. This is Dennis, they don't do exotic.

My dinner. It was decent. The shrimp was meh

Calvin usually orders for me. I ask him to because he is such a foodie. His choice of food is always so good!

Calvin's dinner. Delicious

I had some of his food, as usual!

There were a couple of families to my right who had toddlers with them. Those kids wouldn't stop crying. First I was annoyed, then I ended up feeling bad for the families and the cry babies.

After dinner, it was freezing cold out! We ran to the car and headed back home. Heater on! We snuck into our sleeping bags and went to sleep. It was a great day indeed!

PumlasFood Cookbook

Soooooo! First and foremost, I would like to give a huge shout out to my sister Pumla Brook-Thomae on her amazing new cookbook that just came out. Well done, sis! You relentlessly make me proud! I will definitely buy myself a copy or two! Please support a sister! Her book is entitled PumlasFood: Family Style. It's very scrumptuouus,  really simple to make meals. She is taking preorders now and is shipping them within South Africa. International sales will be dealt with at a later stage, she will inform everyone. You may find her on Social Media, (Facebook, twitter, Instagram) under her name or look up Pumlasfood. She has a blog as well http://pumlasfood.blogspot.com . She's a great soul with a big heart, always sharing recipes on her pages, health and lifestyle tips.

My sister Pumla's highly anticipated Cookbook
Anyway! Back to the business of business! Remember, we were still in the desert, we did some shooting.

Shotgun

I hit the target my very first shot with this baby...
Revolver

Target. No watermelons were harmed during the production of this experience!

That's a fake watermelon. I nice time was had all around!

By the way, before we went shooting, we went to the local Walmart to buy earmuffs for me. When we got there, Calvin noticed that they had a printer dirt cheap. I had mentioned to him that I need one. I wanted one for my eBay business. It's so much easier to just print the label and drop the package in the drop box. It definitely beats waiting in line at the Post Office forever. A lady overheard us when we were going gaga over the printer. She told us that they were lowering prices for black Friday, which was the following day. She did mention, also, that they were going to start selling at the sale prices that very night! Thanksgiving night. Black Friday, as you may know, is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is on the last Thursday of November in The US and in October in Canada. I told Calvin that we needed to go back to the sale. It was nice and late, we could do whatever we needed to during the day and then head out there before the sale started, pick what we wanted and be first in line once they started ringing Black Friday purchases. 'Smart, Brook!', he said. 

We got what we needed from Walmart and headed out to the shooting spot. Not before getting stares as if I was back in Eastern Europe. My gosh! Adults could contain themselves, but kids! Poor kids! Some parents stared too though. It got to the point where, I told Calvin and he told me to tell him whenever I spy a starer. We made out every time someone stared at us. Give them something to gawk at.

Traffic? What's that? 

I love driving in Ridgecrest, there is no such thing as rush hour over there. You may look it up, it's a very small town, with not much going on.
Driving Brook

After shooting, Calvin drove us back to the house. He loves shooting. I was glad to have shared in that experience with him. 

Back in the house, we just hung out and talked. I had always had a feeling that after our first trip to the desert, we would be that much closer. We did a lot of talking. I opened up even more to him. Believe it or not, I am not one to put out all my business out there. This may be hard to digest considering I am on all the social media sites (look me up and add me Babalwa Brook. Team follow back!) and I have a personal blog but still! I am not just someone who tells everyone everything about me, just like that. I have been in relationships and friendships with people for years and they still don't know all there is to know about me. I have friends who talk about stuff I even forgot happened to me because I never have any intention to bring up. I don't now if this makes sense, but I am not a big fan of feeling vulnerable. Hat off to people who can go there. 

I did try to call my family on Thanksgiving and couldn't reach them, especially my mom. I know Thanksgiving is an American thing but I am so big on gratitude (I've had a gratitude journal since 2014), I wanted to talk to the people I am most grateful for, my family. Time difference is a mutha, I tell ya! 

There are a bunch of CD's and VHS tapes in the desert house. We tried watching some TV to no avail and ended up watching a serial killer DVD on my laptop. I had taken it along because in all the times I have imagined being in the desert, I had imagined it being this cute house where my beau and I would be alone, listening to music off my iTunes. Nice and romantic! The laptop came in handy because we ended up watching serial killers haha. That can be romantic! No? Ok!

I'd had my nails done just before the trip. Calv's treat. Gel Nails

Calvin made us lunch, we ate and chilled. After all that, we headed for Walmart for Early Black Friday!









Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Halloween Carnival

Prior to the desert trip , it was Halloween. Calvin wanted us to go to West Hollywood. That suited me perfectly because it's up the road from my apartment. I made a little something for us to eat. I had never cooked for him before, so I thought it was going to be nice to make something for both us for dinner, seeing as he was going to be coming from work and it was around dinner time. I made something quick, rice with a couple of veggies and pilchards. I love pilchards, all kinds of fish anyways!

My First time cooking meal for Calvin
The food came out great! I took a quick shower and put on my new dress! Remember the one he bought me in this post ?

Selfie before Calvin gets here!

I put on my nice perfume and waited for him to arrive. Poor Calvin was stuck in LA traffic! Sorry, boo! That's what I go through whenever I am the one doing the drive to your house! He finally arrived.... Dressed to the Nines! I had never seen him in a suit before! We had been to church together and everything but this time he went all out! He had on a nice lilac shirt and a nice suit, and a nice fedora. Fedoras are his thing, he also likes suspenders. I was besides myself when I saw him at the door! My mouth was literally on the floor! Good thing the floor was gone and all the poopage was gone! Calvin took off his Jacket and looked so Broadway in his fedora, moustache and suspenders. He looked like he was about to jazz dance.

I considered using some of the photos for headshots, so I asked Calvin to take a few 

We sat and ate. He enjoyed the food and paid me plenty of compliments on the fish, he was like what's in that sauce? Usually, he can tell you what's in anything from the smell, sometimes taste, this time, he couldn't and I loved it. Hell, I couldn't either. I added a mixture of spices and sauces.
I love this dress, The cleavage window gives me life

After eating, he was laying on the couch relaxed, I was full too, I didn't care if we what's the past tense of forgo? didn't go to the Halloween festivities, I was ok just chilling with my beau at home. He told me that he wanted to have something to tell his colleagues the following day at work, we had to go. Ok! Let's the thing was kind of a big deal, millions of people were at the event, there was going to be live music and the street was closed off for the event. Might as well go, right?

The stage behind me. Halloween Carnaval

The WeHo Stands for West Hollywood
As you can see I was in flats at this point, I took off my shoes when I realised that we had to do a little walking. There was no parking closeby, between the streets being closed and the fact that we arrived kinda late, we had to park far. Not that far but far enough for me to get the itches when walking. Nightmare of all nightmares! If only, I knew beforehand when this dog on itch was going to take place! I've had it all my life and I still don't know what triggers it. At this point, I suspect that it has something to do with walking after having just taken a shower. I need to be those people who shower the night before for the following day but uhm, that doesn't make sense to someone of my weight, with a couple of folds and the vjj. All that requires a little freshening up before going out. Or if you're going to have company.

We walked around the Halloween street, did some people watching. The outfits were crazy, as you can guess. I needed a few stops to calm down the itch that wouldn't go away. The air was nice and fresh outside and I think that makes my skin sting, ugh, who cares! Calvin felt bad for me, he wanted to scratch it. I have never had someone try to scratch it for me. It was a nice gesture but it felt very strange. I asked him not to talk about it or entertain it, let's focus on the fun night we were having. 

Eventually, we headed back to the car. I sat in there and felt the tingles wash away. Perfect moment ever! Then we drove home. 

We got home and chilled. Always nice being in my man's arms!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

We Didn't Start The Fire

Freedom at last!
Inasmuch as I enjoyed the free money that came with having someone crashing on my couch for a few hours a night, I loved having my place to myself. I stayed alone for a bit after Brian moved out.

Calvin had to have a medical procedure one day. I happened to be around, so, I went along. In fact, I drove him to the doctor's. He told me to park the car and go in with him. I was flattered that he wanted me to be around for that, and, at the same time, cringed inside. I didn't know how scary it was going to be but I wanted to be there. It was as hot as heck outside, I found a spot across the street from the doctor's and went in to find Cal. Calvin was already with the doctor, they called me in when it was ok for me to go in. I was so nervous! I kept telling myself, relax, all's well!

The nurses were nice, doctor was ok. Calvin didn't seem nervous at all, so  I tried to hide my nerves. The actual procedure took no time at all, but there's all the paperwork that had to be done and stuff. When we got done, I drove us back home. Calvin had a few days off, doctor's orders, then it was going to be the weekend. He suggested we head for the desert. It was my first time out there and our second trip together. This was much further, 3 hours away. I didn't know what to expect. I had seen the outside from pictures Calvin took for me whenever he would go there with his dad.

We packed firewood, sleeping bags and all kinds of fun stuff. Calvin had said that we might go camping in death valley or somewhere in the mountains while out there. I was game! I'm always game!

We left around 2pm, just like last time when we went to Orange County. I drove, it was a nice drive, soon as we left LA, the road was clear. It always amazes me the difference in traffic just outside LA. Worlds apart!

The temperatures were much lower in the desert than in LA. We arrived at the house, I got a tour. It's a 3 bedroom house with living room and a big open plan kitchen with giant island in the center. I really like the setup. It has two bathrooms, one ensuite the main bedroom. It was a bit dusty because nobody lives there. As a result of the dust and not feeling like spring cleaning I took out the sleeping bags and told Calv we would sleep in them. I had brought pillows for us, in case we went camping. Those came in handy too!
The living room with eclectic throws and our thick ass red sleeping bags

After off loading the car, we went out to dinner. Calvin drove. I was pooped by then! It was my first time letting him drive my car. I don't generally let anyone drive my car. Interesting, because everybody lets me drive their cars. I don't ask, they usually do and, you know me, I don't say no! Anyway, he drove it very carefully, which  I appreciated. I turned on the A/C and heated the seats, it was so cold! Population in that town is  500, 5 minutes or so from Cal's family home, there's a bigger city with 15000 population. These are very small towns, as you can tell, especially where we were staying. There are no tall buildings and I think that adds up to how cold it is,because it's open.
We came across this ride full of people, they told us it used to look just like mine before they "worked" on it
See how open it is behind us? The town is somewhere in the peripheral view, small

We went to a steakhouse for dinner. It wasn't far, less than 10 minutes drive. Plus side for being in such a small town, with zero population? No traffic! We parked right outside the restaurant. There were a bunch of people inside, the waiter was nice, the food was meh. We had Ribs. I wished they were warm, it was so cold! There are a bunch of TV's in the restaurant and pool tables, it looked like a sports bar to me. The servings were so huge! We ordered one meal and shared and couldn't even finish it.
Dinner, giant ribs, okra, cornbread and sweet potato fried

 As soon as we were done eating, we got the heck out of there. Calvin drove back. We got home,  I helped start the fire outside.
Feeding the already well fed fire

 I stuffed in so much wood in there, the fire looked like a house on fire. It was great! I hadn't started a fire in forever but I grew up in the farm, some things you never forget.
Look at that!
We sat outside and enjoyed the fire while Calvin played Sam Cooke on his cellphone. We had brought his portable speaker with him. He bought me one as well when he got that one. He got me a pink one. Perfection! It was a fun time! We sang along, danced, enjoyed the heat. It was already late by then. I eventually got tired and went inside, made my bed. They have these really big sectionals in the living room. I got on one of them in my sleeping bag, Calvin took the longer side because he is taller. Interesting that we slept in the living room in an unoccupied three bedroom house. Calvin did suggest we sleep in his dad's room. I didn't think it was appropriate.
Parked outside the desert house

The following morning, we went shooting. We had brought all kinds of guns. We went to an open spot with mountains around it.

 Nobody lives there, we had also brought targets, we bought them on our way to the desert. Calvin set up the whole thing, he was the first one to shoot, I took pictures.
Gearing up
We started with the small gun, I don't know names, ok? He showed me how to load it, I did so, took a stance and BAM! I hit the target y'all! First time around! I was so psyched! Calvin caught it all on camera, thankfully!
Aiming ... and... BAM!
My immediate reaction after hitting the target the first shot

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The Winning Attitude

After my best day ever at Let's Make a deal, all the winners were taken to the back to do paperwork. There were about ten or less of us. The whole process took no more than 15 minutes. When everything was done, I submitted my stuff to a lady who first congratulates you then confirms your prizes and your contact details. It was only then that I really heard what I had won. All I saw before was the gigantic TV. I was so excited all over again! In the end, we went outside and caught up with the rest of the people who were in our episode. Some people congratulated me, some of the audience stuff told me that they were not surprised I got picked, that, it was a matter of time. That was a nice compliment! Some haters folks told me that I got picked because I flirted with the producer. OK, losers, why don't you flirt with the producer next time and see if you will get picked. Not only that, if you do get picked, let's see if your sour ass will actually win! A lot more goes into winning  than flirting with a gay producer. Like, come on now! Naysayers! Some of them are my associates. I just smiled through it all. When they are ready, they will win too! I was going to offer one of them a ride home but they whole thing turned me off, that was a winning they just turned away right there by being naysayers.
After winning big on Let's Make a Deal

I can't tell you how many times, I will decide in my head that I will offer someone a ride, even if it's to the bus stop and they will do or say something that just makes me go, maybe not today! When that happens, it's a lesson to me as well that, by being negative,  I am closing doors I didn't even know were already open to/for me. Be careful what you put out in the world. You think that it's hard for you to get things or find someone or whatever, meanwhile, someone overheard that you are looking for a job, OR, saw you and immediately thought, '(s)he would be perfect for the job I am recruiting for!' as they make their way to you, you say something funny about someone, or something you have no business saying and they thing, 'meh, maybe they're not that perfect for it after all.' I'm not saying don't be easy going and don't make jokes, just be nice. And be happy for someone when something happens to them. They say that if you are around when someone wins something, you are that much closer to winning yourself. Winning includes all kinds of winning, as you well know. If you're not happy for someone when they win, you've just made a U-turn from winning, now, you're that much further.
Getting ready for Let's Make a Deal. I took this picture thinking, I'm gonna post this on my blog when I tell them about my winnings. And it all worked out!

The day of winning, I went to my car, ever so happy, turned on the phone and called  Calvin. I told him about my amazing day. He doesn't watch TV, has no idea who Wayne Brady is, but was still happy that I won. I was going to spend the weekend at Cals, as usual. Instead of going back to my house and then really getting stuck in traffic on my way to his, I decided to drive straight there from Hollywood, which is closer to his than Beverly Hills anyway. I rocked up in scrubs, haha. It was all good. Cal bought me a dress and I had a change of outfit at his house as well. It all worked out.

Not too long after all this happened, Brian and I were ok, he was back to talking about himself, telling me about the women who yearn for him, the one he wants more than anything else in the world, his ex-wife. What, Brian was married? Yup! He was 24 and was already married and separated, I guess. His wife is gorgeous. Apparently, he really loved Brian, he was with him even though he weight double what he weighed when I met him. He lost a lot of weight. When I found out that that girl was an illegal immigrant when he met Brian, it all made sense! I'm not saying he married him for citizenship, I'm just saying! It's very nice of Brian not to divorce her until she got her citizenship. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, people pay a lot of money to marry people for citizenship. Don't come after me, Immigrations; I'm just a blogger!

Brian was still shopping on Rodeo, he was still calling his mom a b*tch and his brother an *ss hole. I didn't even know he had a mother, until I asked one day and he told me that she was a btch. I also didn't know that he had a brother but apparently, Brian was adopted and his mom favors her biological son, who's a New York attorney blah blah blah. Brian made reservations at my place for a few days, his payment didn't go through, you know the usual, I locked him out. You know what's funny? He never came home that night! Or at least, he never bothered me, maybe he came home, realised he had been locked out and left. I don't know, I never asked.

A few days went by, I went over to my boyfriend's and locked the house again. I had no communication with Brian because, again, he owed me for the time he had already stayed at my place and for the time he was locked out. He started leaving me rude messages, talking about Sh*t, and f*ck and all kinds of stuff. He told me that he had my money, I just had to open up for him. I didn't want him to pay me under the table, I didn't want to have to deal with another situation whereby I let him come by and he actually, only had so much money and he was going to pay me the rest later. Whatever! I was done! I wanted him to do everything by the book this time or nothing at all.

I got a call from AirBNB, Brian had reported me to them. I don't know how the report went about but AirBNB has access to the emails I had been sending to Brian over the time he had stayed at my place and they saw that he wasn't a stellar tenant. When they called, they told me not to worry about payment, would suggest that I kick him out because, clearly, he had overstayed his welcome. they would take care of the money he owed me. Air BNB was going to pay me and would in turn get their money from Brian. After the clogged toilet, I found out, I had to throw away more stuff from the smell, so I told Air BNB about it. They told me that they would take care of that as well. That was covered in the insurance the landlords get through being with Air BNB. That was music to my ears. They immediately transferred the money Brian owed, including the days he had been locked out. They seemed very understanding about the entire situation, at least my side of it. I was happy with how they handled it. They asked me to fill out a thing about the toilet deal, attach pictures and receipts, etc and they would reimburse me. That's where all the pictures I didn't show you went haha. Within five days, I got paid for that too. They asked me if I felt ok to have Brian come over to fetch his stuff, that very evening. I told them that I didn't feel unsafe. I refuse to feel unsafe in my own home!

I filled Calvin in on what had transpired. He told me to call him when Brian was over, just so that he can be on the phone should anything transpire. I thought that was sweet of him. I didn't anticipate anything transpiring. Crazy as this sounds, Brian was respectful, in his own way. And I appreciated that. I didn't want to have the police there to embarrass him when he was moving out. We did have some good times and some good laughs. Brian was in and out in no time. He called me when he was done to hand over the key, shook my hand and thanked me for letting him stay at my house and being so understanding for the time that I did. I wished him luck with everything, locked my doors, took my clothes off and walked around naked again now that I had my house back after so long!

Friday, April 15, 2016

Let's Make a Deal!

I tell ya, after the toilet incident , I opened all the windows and then turned on my air purifier and closed everything to make it clean the air as much as possible.

We survived!

In the midst of it all, I got an opportunity to go to Let's make a Deal, the game show hosted by Wayne Brady. I remember thinking, and when I thought this my heard skipped a bit, OMG, I could get picked and win stuff! I thought to myself, sht, now that  I know what I know about the law of attraction, it's entire up to me whether or not I can go home a winner the following day from the show. That thought made me very nervous! The thought that you can be, do, have whatever you want in life can be very scary. When you really think about it! I thought to myself that I should visualise that before going to sleep that night. It was already night time. I planned what I would wear the following day, something that would stand out. Then I thought, inasmuch as the show has a dress code, at the end of the day, it's not what I will be wearing that would get me picked but my believing that I would. Every time I thought about that, my heart would beat funny. It scared me a little!

I decided I would wear my red scrubs for my costume to the show. I quickly went to bed and, contrary to what I had planned, I decided not to think or visualise my being on the show. It was making me feel very scared and nervous and I didn't want that kind of vibe while thinking about it. I just thought about the best thing that happened that day and went to sleep. Lo and behold, I dreamt, I was on the show, got picked, was standing on stage in my red scrubs and just as I was about to pick a curtain, number one, two or three, I woke up! That made my stomach turn. OMG, was this so much in the back of my mind that I dreamt about it? You know what? At least, I dreamt I got picked. It was a good dream.

I put on my red scrubs, nice smelling perfume, I wanted to smell good for Wayne when standing next to him. I got in my car and headed to studio. We stood in line, they asked us our names and what we do for a living and took photos of us before putting us in the waiting room. People had come to play! They were wearing their best costumes. I was just focusing on breathing and being in a positive, clear mind frame. A lady I was standing behind, who was absolutely adorable, older lady, who was petite, she had a beauty pageant  dress. I paid her a compliment. I also saw a guy I had worked with before. He was so desperate to win a car. Everyone wants to win a car!

They gave us numbers and we were supposed to sit in numerical order in the holding room. The tiny lady disappeared for a second and came back with a long face. Apparently, she won like a $100 from the show a year or so ago from their quick deals and she couldn't play for the next three years or so. That left her really depressed. This lady was sure she was going to win a car that day! I felt bad for her but told her that if she is meant to win a car, she would still win it. That show isn't the only way people can get cars for free, she shouldn't give up on her dream of winning a car. She didn't car about my words, she just wanted to wallow in self pity. I didn't want to go that road with her, so I started talking to my guy friend. He was so nervous, he couldn't even hear me talk. They say there are people in the holding area who are watching how much energy we have and those are the people who decided if you will get picked or not. My friend was just throwing energy all over the show. I thought to myself, wow, ok!

People know why they are here. I know that it's good to be energetic to attract things you want into your life, however, you shouldn't be desperate, because that will only draw things into you life that will make you more and more desperate. I wasn't there to preach all that to people, I was there for my chance to win as well, so  I took a few breaths and thought about random stuff that had nothing to do with the show because the thought of the show was freaking me out. I don't know why.

They loaded us into the show, sat me somewhere and then moved me and put me next to a guy in scrubs. The guy in scrubs was a nice guy from New York, a paramedic. We talked about his vacation, and all the shows and studios he had been too. His friends are TV producers so he went to the best shows, ones that are hard to get tickets too. Lucky fish!

One of the producers, my favorite, Chris, I think is his name, he is so cute, I have a crush on him. Once, he made announcements before the show and then asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if he were single. He told me he is but plays for the other team. I know he does, he is obviously gay, but so cute. Everyone laughed, he asked if I had a brother. This was forever ago!

This episode, Chris came out and made his announcements, told us how to get picked on Let's Make a Deal and he talked about how his tucked in shirt was bothering him, he then pulled it out (that's what she said!). In the end, he asked if we had any questions, I raised my hand and asked if I could help him with that shirt. I wanted to tuck it in for him, if you know what I mean, haha. He laughed and said, 'I remember you! You asked me if I was single before! And I told you I play for the other team. Come over here, let me give you a hug!' That was a special moment for me, cos I like that guy. He dresses so cute, he always has something super expensive on, like a watch or something. Anyway, I told him; I love you! thank you for the hug! and ran back to my seat.

The show started. The paramedic and I would play along and guess what the contestants should pick and we always picked the winning box or curtain or whatever.

In between takes, Wayne goes to the back, the DJ plays music, some dance, hoping someone will notice them and pick them, some dance because the music is so fun (ME!), some sit down and talk to their friends.

Towards the end of the show, just after commercial break, Wayne says, LAST DEAL OF THE DAY! WHO WANTS TO MAKE A DEAL? Everyone goes, MMMEEEE!!! as usual! Like, who doesn't wanna make a deal? Even the lady who can't play wants to make a deal! Wayne goes, 'You! Lady in Red!' F*cking hell, you guys! I GOT PICKED! Sshhhhtttt! I tell ya, I had gum in my mouth, they don't want you to have gum in your mouth on TV, They even collect it in cups before the show, but I get away with it, because I don't chew and blow bubbles during the show. I freaked the freak out, getting picked! I screamed, swallowed my gum, and ran down those stairs towards the stage! It was the happiest moment of my life, I tell ya! Whew! My heart beats fast, just thinking about it!

Wayne: Hiiiiiii
Me: Heeeyyyyyy
Wayne: What's your name?
Me: My name is Brook! OMG, I'm so excited! Thank you!
Wayne:......looks at me
Johnathan: Ok, you have to pick one right now
Me: One what? What's going on, Wayne?
Wayne: You have to pick one!
Johnathan: Three....Two......
Me: OMG (makes the sign of the cross), Number TWO! (clearly confused as to what's going on)
Johnathan: Sorry, you ran out of time
Me: Wayne, what just happened?
Wayne: You had three seconds to pick one and you ran of time, I'm so sorry.
Me: I am so happy! You don't understand. Being picked here today, is one of the best things that's ever happened to me! Whether I win or not, I am still so very happy!
Wayne: Brook where are you from?
Me: Johannesburg
Wayne: Johannesburg, South Africa?
Me: Yes, My brother met you in Johannesburg, you were there for your comedy shows, he talked to you!
Wayne: Tell you brother I said Hi! I love South Africa, we go there a lot!
Me: Will do!
Wayne: We were joking, we haven't started yet....
Me (collapses on stage! for real!)
Wayne: I have two boxes for you, a small one and a big one, which one would you like?

During this time, I look around, look at my paramedic friend and at my guy friend who wanted to win a car, his jaw was on the ground, he was still so shocked that I got picked. I looked back at Wayne and caught a glimpse of myself on the screen. You guys, everything happens so fast when you're going through something like that. I am surprised I remember so much of it. I try to be in the moment but some moments are much bigger than us. It's moments you never ever imagine they will happen to you. Here I am, a girl from A small town, Uitenhage, who used to get teased because my family lived in a farm, standing in front of Wayne Brady on the stage of Let's Make a Deal, a CBS show, in Hollywood. Like, how did this happen? Who ever thought that that girl would have a moment like this? A moment where are the cameras on the set are focusing on her, where she is the only one on the screen because the moment is all hers? I didn't have to pay anyone for this, I didn't have to beg for it, I didn't fight for it! It was given to me. That's why we just can never give up on life because you never know when that moment will be for you. It could be right around the corner!

Me: Oooohhhh! Whew! (makes another sign of the cross!) Big box!
Wayne: (opens small box......)
....guess what was inside? a Zonk! There was a bowl of cereal in the small box. What does that mean? I WON! I picked the winning box!
They opened my box and I had all kind of goodies in there from a 60inch 3D TV, an iPad, Bluetooth headphones to a year's cable subscription.

YOU GUYS, I WON ON LET'S MAKE A DEAL!

Remember my dream, where I was standing on stage in my red scrubs? It came true!

How To Unclog a Toilet

When Brian woke me up in the wee hours of the night to tell me that he pooped, I was so pissed! I took a breath and asked what was going on. He told me that the toilet wouldn't flush. Apparently, he tried flushing it for a while before he woke me up but didn't want me to be mad at him for not telling me should I need to use the toilet. You know, when you appreciate someone told you something but are still mad that they disturbed you, so you just wish the whole thing didn't happen period? That was me. 

I tried to flush because there was nothing in the toilet, just water and some toilet paper. Water raised to the top, I was sitting there with my eyes popping out of my head, oh my goodness! He was like, "Did you flush? Oh noooo!" I was thinking, well, you shouldn't have blocked it to begin with! Toilets block. This happens to the best of us, but when you're the one on the receiving end, in the middle of the night, it's a real challenge to be sweet about it. 

Brian had school the following morning. He told me that he was going to try to take care of it before he went to school. My thinking was, this is someone who doesn't consider my feelings, he was always late; what was likely to happen was that he was going to oversleep, as usual, then get up, rush out the door to his Uber and go to school, leaving me with a house smelling of faeces. This was someone who would clog the bath tub/shower with his hair. I don't know how many times I told him to watch out for stuff like that because the apartment management wasn't going to pay to remove his falling hair from the shower. 

I went online to see how to unclog a toilet. I had fixed a clogged toilet before in Vegas. All I remember was that it was so easy, I remember using warm water, I don't remember anything else. I saw on one of the sites that I could use vinegar and baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). The only vinegar I had was my expensive Apple Cider vinegar, but it was desperate times and Brian was going to have to replace it. I used that and baking soda. I always have those two around the house for their plethora of health benefits. Look them up! That didn't help. Whatever was blocking the toilet from flushing wasn't playing!

Brian is in and out of the house, there's poop smelling water on the toilet floor, he was getting ready to step on my rug with that, I was like, God, no! I put newpapers on the floor for him and told him to layer some on the bathroom floor as well, then throw them all away. He asked if I had gloves for him. Sure! This is someone who wanted to step on the poop and then on the floor that he was sleeping directly on. All of a sudden, you need gloves. I gave him my dishwashing gloves. I also gave him a bucket. He went to the kitchen and asked if I had a big pot. UUUHHHMMM FOR WHAT? He was going to use it in that whole mess. I told him I didn't want any of my kitchen stuff in the bathroom. Like,for what? I gave him a jug and whatever else he could need, and asked him not to go to the kitchen with those feet. Yuck!  The whole house was smelling like sht. Literally! Brian wasn't even stressed out, he was stepping on the sides of the newspapers I layered for him on the floor, all the way from the toilet to the front door.

I was thinking to myself, is this a sign? That it's time to let this guy go? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that never would have happened to me. I'm just saying that was the icing on the cake. 

Brian only had to leave around ten the following morning for school. He told me that he was tired, he wanted to get some sleep. I told him sure, it's not like we were getting anywhere with what we were doing. The following morning, he went to a hardware store and came back with the long wire thing to unclog a toilet. He used that and then came and knocked on my door, ever so excited. He asked me, 'Didn't I tell you I was gonna take care of it? I fixed it! See? I'm a man of my word!' I was happy for him cos for the first time since I knew him, he saw something till the end. I didn't even have to remind him in the morning. He went as far as cleaning the floor, with my brand new mop, that he had to replace. After that, I had to throw away everything he used. Clean up some more, to satisfy my germophobic side. He told me to replace everything and tell him how much he owed me. I did him a favor and bought whatever I could get from the 99 cents store, to save some money as that was an unexpected thing. 

I could attach pictures for you but I love you too much! 












Monday, April 04, 2016

I Made a Boo Boo!

It's still vacation time and my phone is still off. Dude is still unable to get hold of me and is sleeping I don't know where because I locked the bolt to my house. Not my problem, when you book a stay through AirBnB, you pay before the stay. He didn't. Oh well! His stuff was still at my house, so he still owed me for that because I wasn't able to let someone else stay there, plus, he had the key to my place.

Calvin took me to one of his favorite restaurants in his neighborhood. Mexican. We picked up his friend along the way. A nice guy, very talkative, good talk though, so I liked. I looked for something I had never had before on the menu and found this cool dish that comes in a pot. I had meat, I think it was beef, then there was a plate full of rice, beans, other stuff and another plate with salad. AND the friend recommended a drink he thought I would like. I tell you, it looked like I was going to have a buffet all on my own. They also had their own dishes but mine was the most elaborate.

Part of my dish. The meat pot. The red drink was mine too

The food was good but I think I got full just by looking at it. It was way too much. We asked the lady to put it in a take out container or us.
Rice and Beans...

There is always so much food around Calvin that I couldn't tell you how much weight I have put on since we met. It's a hard one, I tell ya! (That's what she said haha).

That's me in Cal's Green clothes; his favorite color

The above is the outfit Calvin wore on our trip to to the mountain. I love how, even though he's slim, some of his clothes fit me. He has all sizes in his closets. Yeah, closets, that man has a lot of clothes!


On Sunday, Calvin wanted to go to church. I didn't have any church appropriate clothing. He offered to buy me a dress.

Cute and Comfy. I also grabbed leopard print shoes while at it

I will show you the shoes when I find the picture. I wore the dress with the shoes even though the shoes didn't really go along. I didn't buy them for that outfit anyway. I bought them cos I liked them.

Found the shoe picture!

During our shopping trip, we stopped by at this cute sweets spot. We had one of just about everything. Cal bought stuff for his family, and I had Ice cream with chocolate brownie, white and dairy milk chocolate and Lord knows what else.
The green is Pistachio ice cream so good!

 It was good!


 After church, Cal's friends stopped by for a drink or ten. We ordered pizza. I am not a big pizza fan. I will eat it, especially during PMS, otherwise, meh. To entice me, Cal ordered the best pizza around. I was like, alright, I'll check it out! It came in a giant rectangular box. One of the biggest pizza boxes I have ever seen. The pizza was good too. They ordered my choice, something with lots of meat on it. Why not, right? Well, unless you're vegetarian.

Pizza so big, all of it didn't fit in the picture!

I enjoyed the pizza. Calv had also ordered anchovies on the side.Some of her friends added ranch (salad dressing) on their pizza and some or everyone but me added Parmesan powder. I was like, dang! Tough crowd! All in all, everyone enjoyed the pizza (in their own special way!)

After out week or more off, I turned on my phone and checked my messages. There were so many from Brian, my AirBnB guest. He left me voice messages, emails, and texts. Normally, he wouldn't message me at the risk of me forwarding the emails to airbnb and  them finding out that he was a crappy guest who wasn't paying on time. He would always insist we talk over the phone or in person when he was home. He was desperate. When I got home, I messaged him through airbnb and told him the reason I had turned off my phone and that he still owed me for the time that he wasn't staying there. I wasn't going to let him in until he was paid up. He made payment ASAP via credit card and also paid for the following few nights. I was completely turned off this guy. I didn't appreciate his style at all.

After the few nights Brian had paid for, he booked again and made a payment. I accepted. The following day, I got a message that the payment didn't go through. Great! I took a screen shot of the email and texted it to him. He tried to explain his way out of it. I locked my apartment that night. He knocked and knocked and knocked, I didn't open. I thought that having been locked out for a week was going to teach him an invaluable lesson. Not this dude! 

He came home in the middle of the night, around 1am. His usual time. I heard knocks on the door and the window. I didn't open at all, in fact, I turned off my phone. He finally gave up and slept outside my front door. The following morning, I opened my door and this dude is lying out there like, what in the heck! I guess he was out there using my wifi until he fell asleep. The heck? He came in, paid me in cash and apologized again. I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. I need to get rid of this guy but a few things need to fall into place first. 

When he paid that day, he also paid for the following few nights. He was good in worming his way back in by doing that. I took the money because money is money and that's why I was letting my couch out. That night, I went to sleep. In the middle of the night, I heard Brian come home. I was lucky, I went right back to sleep. Within an hour or so, there's a door on my door. The bedroom door this time. Brian never used to come into my room or even knock. He used to do his own thing, I used to do mine. I'm like, good God, what could it possibly be at this hour. I woke up and answered the door. Brian told me that he didn't want me to get mad in the morning, so he thought he'd wake me up and tell me that he blocked the toilet.