's motd Sunday Feb 27, 2011 - New Zealand

[Guest guest]

NEW ZEALAND,

HERE I COME!

Sunday, 27 February 2011

A couple of weeks ago, my agent

and manager called to tell me there were these people

in Los Angeles who work for Air New Zealand. The Air

New Zealand folks wanted to visit class at Slimmons

and my manager wanted to know if that would be okay?

Of course I said..."Bring 'em! It's Valentine's

weekend and I'll be wearing red angels

wings, dressed as Cupid. It's gonna be a lotta

fun!"

Well, that Saturday morning, just

after my Project Me Class, the doors swung open to our

exercise room and over 100 people marched in to start

their workout with me. And yes, the Air New Zealand

folks were there, too. And let me tell you, we all

had a blast!

A few days later, my manager called again, this time

to tell me that Air New Zealand wanted me to record

the pre-flight safety announcement for all of their

flights. They sent me a script, I read it and boy,

did it ever sound like fun! So I said to my manager..."Let's

go!"

After I got off the phone, it wasn't five minutes

later before a little panic attack set in on me. "New

Zealand," I thought, "that's so far

away! I mean it literally is the other side of the

world. I'll be gone for six days. Six days away

from my sweet Hattie. Six days not teaching at

Slimmons. Six days away from my Clubhouse members,

all while I'm way off in the South Pacific! And

what will I eat while I'm away. What kinds of food

do they serve in New Zealand? Oh, my!"

I was in that part of the world once. Back in the

1980's, I'd gone down to New Zealand and Australia for

the release of my two books, the Never Say Diet

Book and the Never Say Diet Cookbook.

I remember doing several television shows while I was

there and a lot of book signings at area bookstores.

The people were all so nice and oh, I just loved those

accents of theirs! And can you believe, to this day,

I still get lots of E-mail from the great cities I

visited down under, Sydney and Melbourne Australia and

Auckland, New Zealand? Well now, I get to go back. I

got over my nervousness and had a tasty Kiwi in honor

of my trip. I'm excited about going back!

Yes, I'll have to make some

sacrifices to go on this long journey but hey, I know

I'm going to have a fantastic time. And when Air New

Zealand begins showing those in-flight messages,

featuring me, I'll make people laugh and you know

that's what I like to do best.

I'll be leaving tomorrow so right now, I have a lot of

clothes spread out in my bedroom and dressing room as

I decide what to pack. And oh yes, while I'm away, I

will really miss all of you. But hey, those

six days will pass in a hurry and I'll be home before

you know it.

They'll keep me very busy doing this spot and we'll

shoot it over two days. I'll also do a lot of local

press while I'm there and on my last day, I get to

teach a giant exercise class at Auckland's biggest

gym. That's gonna be fun! Wanna come? Oh, I wish I

could take you all with me!

If you watch the news

regularly, I'm sure you've heard about the massive

earthquake that struck New Zealand. Many of my

friends have been concerned about the country and my

upcoming trip there. The quake struck the city of

Christchurch, which is on New Zealand's South

Island, nearly 500 miles from Auckland, where I will

be visiting. The tragedy brings back memories of

what happened to my hometown of New Orleans

following Hurricane Katrina. Please keep

the city of Christchurch in your prayers.

Love,