It was the big moment we had waited for! The very special invite from Paramount and Tom Cruise, as promised last year, was sitting in my inbox and it was glowing I tell you!
December 14, Lorraine, Peter, Aric, Hannah and I went to the IMAX theatre in the mall and lined up with all the other extras who so expectantly came to get a glimpse, not of Tom, but of themselves ;-)
Halfway through the seat grabbing action movie, there it was...so fast that if you didn't know who to look for you missed it. Lorraine and I in the background for 3.8 seconds....oh what a glorious moment to have made it on the big screen in a major Hollywood flick!! Robin (who we now all hate!) has at least 8 seconds of face time. She has now moved back to Canada in fear of other extras retaliating and egging her house! Pinkie, who we all hated from day one (as she placed herself behind Tom in every goddang scene - come on lady - REALLY??) was barely on for 1 sec (and she was out of focus). Of course now I am going to get the DVD and really start nit-picking through the scenes of the Billionaires Ball, to see if I am in fact elsewhere in the scenes. To spend 3 days filing 10 minutes of the movie now seems over the top. Wonder why it took so long to get that kiss right?!?!
Life moves on with many prospects of upcoming extra jobs, but this writer has to prioritize. Started a Master's Degree in Social Psychology early December. One can never have too many degrees or too much knowledge. My MBA served me well in moving up the ladder and earnings. This degree will see me slide back down into the social gutter where all the good stuff is waiting to be questioned. As a Social Psychologist you get to ask all kinds of questions - like why do we scratch an itch? Why do people go for plastic surgery? Or my favorite one: Why do beer ads always have women in them? I can't wait to ask, ask, ask. Aidan and I are in a friendly competition for straight A's (I have them...he got 4 A's and a B this semester) :)
My Cisco life as we knew it, is over. After a painful and drawn out divorce, battling over who gets the stock and who gets the options...and whose fault was it anyway? we settled out of court with an amicable amount of $$. I promptly placed the funds in my offshore, tax sheltered, secret, far-away lair, for a rainy day. Now I shop less fashion, dye my hair with L'Oreal Creme Colour which saves me 650 dirhams every 6 months. I've decided to go natural...meaning chestnut brown (who knew after all these years that it was truly my real color?) And we eat home more often than out. I think I can do this belt tightening no problem.
What comes around goes around and with that I have been told the VPs who were being major a-holes, have been moved and fired respectively. My boss was demoted and hates life...what more can I want? I've decided to start my own consulting company, focusing on coaching, leadership development and youth programs. It should kick off in January, once I obtain the right trade license from the government. I'm taking odd projects until then - one is with GEMS (the leading private school system in Dubai) and UNESCO, to create a plan for training 10,000 school principals in Ghana, Kenya and India. I've domne round one and it is now down to UNESCO to do the next step - which may be hindered by funds cut from US, due to the Palestine becoming member state. Why can't politics keep out of philanthropics?
This year 2011, was odd and wonderful in every aspect. We travelled far to see Aidan and we are fortunate he is with us in Dubai for Christmas and New Years. Courtney and he broke up December 20...good timing! No further details available but I daresay we are pleased (as I'm sure are her parents). The boy is gungho about getting back into the dating game and is now all of a sudden aware of the many coed beauties on campus!
December 14, Lorraine, Peter, Aric, Hannah and I went to the IMAX theatre in the mall and lined up with all the other extras who so expectantly came to get a glimpse, not of Tom, but of themselves ;-)
Halfway through the seat grabbing action movie, there it was...so fast that if you didn't know who to look for you missed it. Lorraine and I in the background for 3.8 seconds....oh what a glorious moment to have made it on the big screen in a major Hollywood flick!! Robin (who we now all hate!) has at least 8 seconds of face time. She has now moved back to Canada in fear of other extras retaliating and egging her house! Pinkie, who we all hated from day one (as she placed herself behind Tom in every goddang scene - come on lady - REALLY??) was barely on for 1 sec (and she was out of focus). Of course now I am going to get the DVD and really start nit-picking through the scenes of the Billionaires Ball, to see if I am in fact elsewhere in the scenes. To spend 3 days filing 10 minutes of the movie now seems over the top. Wonder why it took so long to get that kiss right?!?!
Life moves on with many prospects of upcoming extra jobs, but this writer has to prioritize. Started a Master's Degree in Social Psychology early December. One can never have too many degrees or too much knowledge. My MBA served me well in moving up the ladder and earnings. This degree will see me slide back down into the social gutter where all the good stuff is waiting to be questioned. As a Social Psychologist you get to ask all kinds of questions - like why do we scratch an itch? Why do people go for plastic surgery? Or my favorite one: Why do beer ads always have women in them? I can't wait to ask, ask, ask. Aidan and I are in a friendly competition for straight A's (I have them...he got 4 A's and a B this semester) :)
My Cisco life as we knew it, is over. After a painful and drawn out divorce, battling over who gets the stock and who gets the options...and whose fault was it anyway? we settled out of court with an amicable amount of $$. I promptly placed the funds in my offshore, tax sheltered, secret, far-away lair, for a rainy day. Now I shop less fashion, dye my hair with L'Oreal Creme Colour which saves me 650 dirhams every 6 months. I've decided to go natural...meaning chestnut brown (who knew after all these years that it was truly my real color?) And we eat home more often than out. I think I can do this belt tightening no problem.
What comes around goes around and with that I have been told the VPs who were being major a-holes, have been moved and fired respectively. My boss was demoted and hates life...what more can I want? I've decided to start my own consulting company, focusing on coaching, leadership development and youth programs. It should kick off in January, once I obtain the right trade license from the government. I'm taking odd projects until then - one is with GEMS (the leading private school system in Dubai) and UNESCO, to create a plan for training 10,000 school principals in Ghana, Kenya and India. I've domne round one and it is now down to UNESCO to do the next step - which may be hindered by funds cut from US, due to the Palestine becoming member state. Why can't politics keep out of philanthropics?
This year 2011, was odd and wonderful in every aspect. We travelled far to see Aidan and we are fortunate he is with us in Dubai for Christmas and New Years. Courtney and he broke up December 20...good timing! No further details available but I daresay we are pleased (as I'm sure are her parents). The boy is gungho about getting back into the dating game and is now all of a sudden aware of the many coed beauties on campus!
Slim and Sammie have been getting closer and now play all the time. It was such a great rescue animal and we are glad we have her, though she is cheeky! She is now so agile she can jump up on anything so we have to make sure things are put away in the kitchen (at night).
New Years eve brings us on the golfcourse on Yas Island, with Peter and Lorraine and then a late lunch/early dinner, before Cold Play concert on Marina Island in Abu Dhabi. VIP tickets for free, who can say no to that? It should be a nice ending to a quirky year.
Peace to all!
