April Fuel

On April 1, 2008, I was standing in line at the grocery store when I got a phone call summoning me into an OB/GYN's office in DC for a medieval procedure to determine whether or not the Angel of Death had one more stop to make with the Jones Family.

On April 1, 2009, I woke up in a brand new, charming apartment in Nairobi, headed to a local TV studio to participate in cable program about being 40-plus and fabulous, and had my yearly Pap smear appointment with one of the coolest OB/GYN's I've ever met.

I'd say the Universe has seriously thrown a sistuh a bone these days. Remember back around New Year's, when I wrote about meeting a local celebrity who has her own cable chat show in one of Nairobi's trend-oid boutiques? It was actually one of the proudest moments of my life when I realized that I had the exact same taste in clothing as Patricia Amira, this skinny, dark and lovely Kenyan woman with the killer British accent.

Well, since that moment, our paths keep crossing. First indirectly, when I participated in her "Bachelor Auction That Wasn't Really an Auction." Today's show was a lot of fun, too. I met some really great people, and started to feel like I've actually almost kinda sorta become a local. Of sorts.

Then I headed straight to Nairobi Women's Hospital, where I'd made an appointment with Dr. Carol Odula-Obonyo. I'd met her when I co-hosted a local "Science Cafe" on women's health. It was great being part of a group of women just chilling in a local bar and getting valuable information about hot flashes, cervical cancer, nutrition...and yes, somebody brought up sex toys, so what the hell--we went with the flow. Dr. Carol was absolutely terrific, and kept reminding us women that we just keep giving and giving and giving to everybody else. It's time we gave ourselves the gift of health and strength.

During the cafe, I told the audience that not only was I happy to be there that night, I was happy to be ANYWHERE, because of what last April Fool's health scare. So today, as I raced from place to place keeping appointments and picking up a few odds and ends for the crib, I kept saying little silent "thank you's" to God, the Archangel Julie, Buddha, and anybody else who might have had a hand and making this one of the most incredible years of my life.

(Oh, and I also found time to book a head to toe rejuvenation at the luxurious Maisha Spa in the 5-star Serena Hotel for tomorrow afternoon. Hey, I may be in a deeply philosophical, devoutly grateful mood lately, but I'm still Princess Rachella, after all...)