TC Wilma

TC Wilma. For the last week, most of you probably know that Samoas been dodging a bullet, literally. From the beginnings of a 'depression' located west of Savaii, she begun her journey, intensifying as she went. First she came torwards us, and there were rumours of Savaii being first in line for a whiplashing, then she was supposedly heading south, then did a u-turn and went north, careered over the top of both islands and sailed down the aleipata-tutuila straight. While some chose to be defiant and laugh at claims of a "possible cyclone"- What cyclone?! they said, when it was still only a depression - hello Wilma, I think it was pure luck that saw us get by.
Since the beginning of it all, Ive been following religiously on the net on my Digicel Blackberry thankyou very much. Like a diligent pupil, every 3 hours checking the samoan meterology sites updates. Some people (like one person- like my husband and thats it!) think I stress too much at times.....weelllllllll, there was a cyclone literrally circling the islands. I WOULD KNOW, because IVE been following the updates. Not you. me.And I think a possible cyclone actually lEGITAMITIZES (if there is such a word) ALL WOMEN to STRESS.Im pretty sure if I dug deep enough I could rationalise it with a hormone imbalance which is triggered by bad weather that instinctively makes you want to protect your young...yea the hubby can fend for himself, if hes not already protecting me and da babies, then hes on his own! So yes, I worry.

.What I Do not get is- those who couldnt appear to be moved, or care less....like it was seriously irritating me.The lack of preparation going on around me. It was one of those things i couldnt correct, no amount of shouting yelling banging would change things, or at least twas too tiresome to do so...they're all adults, get with the program already.

so for example
when the warning began, on the radio on tv everywehre- the words "nofo sauniuni"..yea, you know the good ol saying- be prepared?? Im sure it has been dictated and PROVEN through decades of civilisation that the prepared, are better off hands down...but do people around me prepare?????no. No banging of apas onto windows, no rushing to the shops to stock up on batteries and food, no turning on buckets ful of water in preparation for the water to go off, no cutting down of humoungous trees near homes...nada...or at least from where I stand and can see. All making me of course, look like a lunatic rushing round looking for my buckets and torches and counting my tins of food and batteries...if I could hop on my roof and do the rough stuff Id be banging and hammering and doing all those "designated men" like jobs too...
I got irritated by the number of non locals (non savaiians) who were not heeding the warnings and asking us, while in the middle of sweeping waves of water outa our restaurant and tie-ing down kapolegis to hold out the rain/wind, if we were open for pinacoladas and steak- like WHAT THE HECK!yes the waitress would be walking over with a pinacolada on a tray and WHIP, TC wilma took it, sorry, the WHOOSH, wilma also took the waitress and WHAM..a coconut just knocked one of our customers over!!!I can see it all happeing ...of course, those who chose not to leave Savaii when we warned are now STUCK here because the boats are CLOSED..and have been for last 4 days. Good luck getting on anytime soon, the line is from the wharf to the new marketplace with people camping around in wait of the next mobile floating device to take them back over. I hope you miss your flight...there. I said it (shhhh)

In amongst all my insanity, I was so annoyed that I almost WANTED wilma to hit...just so I could give people that " I told you so, you are so stupid " look. I know, Im terribly pessimistic at times but dang it, just dont get the 'relax and wing it' attitude some people have.

Anyways, so Wilma is supposed to have passed already, funny that cause only now is the wind howling and the rain slamming down, fair to say only NOW is our property majorly flooded (luckily buildings are all raised) you just have to wade in above ankle deep water/mud everywehre. Only now, the Sapapalii river/ford overflows and the locals sit lazily on both sides watching buses and trucks attempt to make crossings, kids and men wade side by side in the actual ford/river with dirty brown water rushing down, collecting coconuts which have caught rides down the river.They have made a somewhat amusing game out of this, except that every once in a while a log surfaces suddenly and takes out a grown man who gets dangeroulsy washed away only to clamber up the sides of the river 10 meters down, lucky the river is not very deep, or very long, one would just get spat out into the shallow lagoon at the end... if the mounds of foliage/rubbish didnt catch you earlier.

Speaking of amusement, the hubby did return from town day before depression evolved into wilma with his car ful of cyclone supplies. Mountains of rope (ok, pass coz we would need lots of rope) and a $130dollar torch.Its high tech toshiba and waterproof to a depth of 50meters. Ok, cos if wilma hit us, we may become submergeed in 50 metres of water and luckily, he thought of buying this (very expensive) light so we could navigate our way underwater to safety...or something like that- surely must have motivated him. eh. Boys and their toys. suppose if there ever was a group of them (men) standing side by side, fair to say he'd be feeling pretty flashy and content with his flashlight, waterproof and all.

Ok, so I really wanted to post some pics but my phone has decided to go crazy and not let me do anything apart from make a phone call with it!auuuoi! funny that, seeing that it is a phone and all, but I am feeling very naked for a moment with out all its usual luxurious functions!!
ok, so when it does get its head back, Ill post some pics, happy reading!

last 11 minutes of the day

I have exactly 11 minutes, then Im outa the office:) yay, not that leaving the office means Im 'off' work, as all you mums out there know very well- it'll be outa da office, and into the kitchen/child supervising/bathing feeding burping changing entertaining mode/outfit/whatever...go superwoman:) thats me (sometimes:) )

So today, as I was running around town doing business stuff, I realised
-my skirt was ripped, slightly in the back, hemline was partially detached and dragging
- I also realised that this happened last time I wore it, last week sometime, and cant believe I had forgotten about it and not noticed when I put it on
- I saw heaps of tourists-kiwis by the looks, all dressed up in their jayjays dresses, glassons steel rimmed big fly -eyed glasses and their bling bling
and I thought to myself
- when In the last 5 years did I stop dressing up??What the heck happened to me!?
I used to like wearing pretty dresses and matching earings etc etc, I used to keep up with movies and music...

at some point, I guess this all become less important to me. is this what they mean by the good ol saying - you get married and you let go???
hmmm seems to me an easy trap to fall into! My attire today was based purely on what was there and not in the wash, vaguley matched, can cover up my hairy legs...and looks just ok...no longer interested in the brand names and materials and the hem lines and the cuts...oh no...im really turning into a nana. At some point in the last 6 years, I decided to wear less and less jewellary and it has now become a habbit. I think it all stemmed from being uncomfortable in the line of work I did, appearing to take interest in looking sparkly and nice- who was I trying to impress?? the overworked radiologist interested only in whether or not your bare-chested position was correct for the upcoming xray shoot to see if you have pneumonia?? the patient next door spewing his guts out or the one down the ward losing a battle to some fatal disease?? thats when I stopped. I couldnt bring myself to paint my nails even, or put on blusher or anything because in the scope of everything I was doing, it was just wrong.OF all the things I should be thinking of and doing, worrying about my looks was least priority on my list of worrisome things. So I stopped, maybe just a plain pair of hoops , my watch and wedding rings, that was it. Now, a whole dresser full of pendants, bracelets and earings, some bought some gifted....and I cant think of anywhere to wear it all too...but Dammit I need to beef up this look because Ill be dammed if someone is saying about me "look at her, shes really let herself go"lol!!..

the only problem i can see with this plan is- if i start wearing jewellery, I think people in my 1 mile radius will think Im rich-(( because NONE of them wear jewellery (except a wedding ring maybe) lucky if theyve got shoes on even!)) and all come and ask for small loans...no, for my own peice of mind, i think ill save the bling bling for that special occassion, in Apia somewhere, far away from the eyes of my neighbours whose motto apparently, as I was so rudely told one day while declining yet another small loan request "in Samoa (you mean this village in Savaii) when you need money, you ask your neighbour".....
ok, please let me know if anyone else has ever heard of this motto??Cos dammit- I want some money so NEIGHBOURS_ show ME da money please!!!lol!
anyways, as always, just a short random one

One of my guests just mentioned (theyve been in Sa for 6 weeks) that hes counted more the 30 consecutive days of rain since arriving! thats why its called the 'rainy season' i guess!
this is my yard




These are my feet




Theyve been dirty most of the last 8hrs Ive been runing around, washed a zillion times...but still...remain mud clad:) I really have let go!!hehe!

Just another new years

So, after a while, every new year, brings, just another new year:) Another year to grind hard, as my dad would put it, head down bum up (that is his expression of doing work..maybe at the office?? or in the garden?? not literally head down and bum above the level of your head, but perhaps head in a book or something??lol) anyways, so many things to do, not enough hands or finances to do it, so many ambitions, not nearly enough(at times) motivation:) If I had to recap last year, 2010= 2 weddings and a baby.
Yes, two big Samoan weddings, family weddings at da hotel and one new baby, all very expensive things to have embarked on so fair to say I am pretty sure our financial statement will show a big fat loss, but if you could put a price on 2 happily married couples and a beautiful baby girl, I guess you could say we made huge gains in 2011 (optomist in me and I am not usually an optomist!!)

On the same note, I am hoping, and so far I can only plan as far as no babies, no more huge fat losses in 2011:) only more gains please.
Things I need to do-
Brush up on my Samoan , seriously, this is costing me coz almost every other week, someone lands on my doorstep (and just to sway on this subject, in the last month, people landing on my doorstep has resulted in 3 pairs of shoes going missing from my doorstep- I mean seriously! i think some think this is a laughing matter but I wish I could SHAME SHAME SHAME the people that do it! this is not on and ONE DAY, i will have a camera security system, take your picture and post it on TVSAMOA ok...) so anyways, land on my doorstep demanding my subs, my contribution because I am a financial member of da village womans committee..for goodness knows what, and half the time I ask what its for, and some word I dont understand/have never heard and so will forget in 2 minutes, comes out "you know, the iko, the iko"..thats not the word but something like that that makes u go whhhaaaa??? And when asking what that is, answer is - dumbfounded look followed by "the IKO"..because saying it louder means Ill get it right??

anywayas..so yes, If I am to make myself more fluent, then perhaps I will be less easily fooled, as my baby sitter sometimes exclaims (she is also from da village) that she could not think of why someone (and I dont know all the people in the village) would collect $$ cos nothings being collected at the time (JUst me being a big fat sucker)

I really need to be excercising- My family have launched a fitness challenge for ourselves:) it involves money, fortnightly fees and penalties for gaining weight, a big reward for the biggest loser:) unfortunately there should probably be penalities for weight staying stagnant too, because I havent done any excercise in the last two weeks- crap!! reallllly want to though lol. I can sit here and 'think up" 20 different exciting routines involving sit ups, pilates, yoga as the sun rises, all that nice meditation get yourself in the zone type stuff, I can plan playlists that go for hours that make you wanna jump up and down and dance kick and punch...always the case aye, in your head youre like YEA YEA YEA I GAN DO IT...but in real life youre like ...ahh, ill just sleep another hour:) not that i sleep, more like i have cups of coffee, sit on my big butt and do nada...motion wise:) in saying that, im the lightest in the challenge so really, its really for everyone else he he he he!

Some other things i need (want ) to do
-more landscaping/planting
-create my own herb garden
-read up on homeschooling
- save up for my dream car
-do some part time work (yet again) at the hospital..when the little ones are older and not stuck to my boob and hip...
-make more dates wit my friends in Apia when I can make it over
- get myself a new wardrobe and toss out some of the -1)size 12 2) size 14 3) maternity style 4)when I was young and hip small shiney billabong boob tube types 5)NZ wardrobes that I continue to hoard in my wardrobe..
-get some new hobbies....seriously, I will need to creat them myself and urge other people to join, maybe kayaking or SOMETHING...because the lack of things to do in SAVAII can SERIOUSLY AFFECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH..sometimes:) shhhh
-dats all I can think of for now, If you can think of anything else I should be doing, or you could recommend, please..feel free:)
take care