Last day of June

Last day of June - already!

How time truly flies.

Not sure what you have planned for the rest of the year, but I'm planning to make mine pretty busy!

I appreciate your dropping by and hope you continue to do so!

See you on the other half of 2011!

Pieces of me...

There are times you listen to a song and you just know that the lyrics were written for you, about you.
That's how I felt when I listened to this song by Ledisi. I must have played it at least 30 times yesterday!
(Why do songs sound so much nicer when it's raining heavily outside and you can play it really loud?!)

'Like every woman I know, I'm complicated for sho', but when I love, I love till there's no love no more!' 


Have a listen! I hope you love it as much as I do!

Memories from my past

A friend posted this video on Facebook recently and it brought back memories.
My parents were huge fans of Doctor in the House and I recall watching this comedy (and quite a few other imported programmes) with my whole family.

As a family, we all used to look forward to the weekly episodes. Being the youngest of 5 children, I was usually the one sprawled on the carpetted floor, as all the available seats in the living room had been taken.

I didn't understand most of the humour (too many inuendos), but I was just content to be in that setting where everyone was happy and laughing. We were all home for the night, and even if we needed to go out, we knew we had a car in the garage that had a full tank of unadulterated petrol. Electricity was available, the ceiling fan provided a cool breeze, the kitchen tap gave us clean drinkable water and the quiet sounds of our neighbourhood made us feel safe. Sometimes, the land line would ring to disturb that peaceful gathering, but it was mostly a peaceful evening. The loudest noise you could hear on such evenings was probably one or two neighbours chatting on the street, but certainly not a whole lot of noise. Generally a simple, peaceful existence.

Fast forward to today, and I think about the next generation. Their memories will be different.

Granted the happy family evenings still exist, where everyone (albeit older!) gathers around for fun and laughter (I get to be a part of this whenever I go home), but quite a few things have changed. For one, whilst the foreign programmes still exist, there are also a whole lot of indigenious programmes (comedies, sitcoms, movies), which are equally as entertaining. That, in itself, is progress. In the same vein, the telecommunications industry has made remarkable progress as almost everyone is able to own a cell phone and therefore, keep in touch with loved ones .

Sadly, the quiet sounds of  the neighbourhoods have been replaced with loud power generators, which are used to provide electricity. (You see, constant electricity is now a recurring campaign promise, which is dangled in front of the populace each election cycle, with no real results to show for their votes). Clean drinkable water coming out of the taps (instead of being poured out of plastic storage containers) is now a luxury, that only the few who can afford to install their own water boreholes, can get.

When the power generators are not contributing to the noise levels,  there are churches and/or mosques on almost every street helping to keep that up. The combination of the wakeup calls from the mosques and overnight revival prayer sessions in the churches are enough to keep everyone within a 100 mile radius awake! In addition to that, you have the cars on badly tarred roads, bumping along with their tired engines full of adulterated petrol and causing quite a disturbance - physical and environmental. That can't be progress.

Being miles away from home today, I sometimes think about what memories our young people of today will have.

Dear Young-People-At-Home, what are your thoughts?

A poem about competitive sports

It feels like I'm in a war zone
All I hear is shouts and groans
They're all looking so fierce, everyone so serious,
It's not just the children - the adults are worse

They told me it would be fun for the entire family
It doesn't matter if your child is fantastic or silly
The little ones really do enjoy participating
As they wait anxiously for results - lots of nail-biting.

Alas, we seem to have lost that camaraderie
The parents are squabbling and the fighting's quite fiery
'My child came first, this is not a ruse'
'Somebody change that ribbon before I blow a fuse!'

Parents, do relax and enjoy the game
You do not want to turn this into a Youtube'd war of shame
Surely, at this age, it's more about fun and not a test
To see who can win in this fierce contest!

There are so many in hospitals, bound up in slings

Whose parents can only dream about such things

Many more in morgues, who never had the chance

To compete for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.

Be grateful that your children can participate
Your community is filled with love and certainly not hate
So next time you think that the score is wrong
Take a deep breath, think, then caution your tongue!

+1 it!

There are so many new features coming out to make websites or blogs more accessible and lots more fun.

Subscribe button (so people get your blog posts via email), Follow me button (so they become 'members' of your blog), Blog stats (tells everyone how many people have been to your site), Share (allows you to share your super exciting post with others via Facebook, Twitter etc......

Yesterday, I added the +1 feature. 'What's that?' I hear you say?

Well, until Blogger Buzz sent me an email about it, I also had no clue. (And I am supposed to speak fairly fluent IT!)

So I decided to do some research. Apparently, it's a really cool feature that lets everyone know that you found something pretty cool. Kinda like, 'I like this very much, so I'm happy to let everyone know that I liked it!' or 'a Stamp of Approval' or 'a Personal Recommendation' or in Facebook-speak 'a Like'...Anyway, I'm sure you get the point! 

Here's the video from Google, so you can learn all about it.

Who knows, you or someone you know might want to +1 something, sometime...

Alternatively, you might just want to surf the Internet hassle-free without having to feel guilty about not adding a +1 to every single page you find interesting, just on the off-chance that someone you know might be looking for that same thing in Google! 

I guess, if I know someone looking for something specific, I could just send them a link in an email, text message, somehow. Most websites already have a button that says 'Click here to send this page as an email to a friend.' Or is that just too basic!???

  

To Joplin, Missouri

Someone cut in front of me in the carpool line the other day 

And that got me really mad

I was tempted to go up and confront her,

But it turned out to be a he and not a she!

So I suppressed my anger and fumed all the way home

(He was much bigger than me, you see...) 

I was really livid deep inside

Stressing about adults who do not follow rules.

"Car pool is not that complex

All we have to do is wait in line and take turns

Cutting in front of other cars makes me so vexed
Surely, that can't be cool!"

And then I switched on the TV at home

Only to see the news coverage about Joplin

The footage - scary. The people - helpless. 

Their devastation - palpable. 

(It kinda puts things into perspective, doesn't it?)

There I was, stressing about something as trivial as carpool

When there was a bigger catastrophe going on around me

Whole communities devastated, families brutally separated 

By huge, raging gusts of wind and rain.

Homes blown away, cars flying in the air like kites

Entire neighbourhoods turned into wasteland

These people had no carpool to worry about - not even streets anymore..

All they now had was confusion, fear and bewilderment

Rebuilding after events like this can take its toll on the nation

What can be salvaged? How do you console the bereaved? 

The mother who watched her infant snatched away by the wind?

The father who helplessly saw their family home collapse to nothingness?

There are too many of these natural disasters occurring

Too many hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis and bush fires 

Some people say 'Global Warming'

Others say 'End times'

I do know that we Earthlings have ravaged the earth

Raped her endlessly in our selfish quest to get the finest

Of Earth's minerals and resources, to make our lives comfortable.

We have stripped her of her dignity.

And we continue to do so each day

In the cars we drive, the packaging on the food we eat

The plane rides, those luxuries we cannot do without.

At what cost to humanity?

Can we do anything? I think we can. 

Let's make a conscious effort in our communities, in our lives

Try a little, conserve a little, save a little, change a little

We owe it to the people in Joplin (and all the other cities affected by natural disasters) 

Be Still...

I've had a very busy fortnight, doing quite a bit of 'fun' travelling. Whilst it's been extremely exciting, it has also left me feeling somewhat rushed off my feet! So much to do, so little time....

Today, I woke up with this Bible verse in mind, which has now set the tone for the day.

'Be Still and Know That I am God' Psalm 46:10

Have a wonderfully, great day!

Food for thought - 1

Source:- http://www.theeducationpeople.com/

2000 and counting!!!

We're celebrating! We're at 2000 hits and counting...
Here's a link to the post that went out on the day we reached 1000 hits!

Once again, I want to thank everyone who has visited the site to date. Each visit has added one more click to the counter!

Can you believe that the 'blog concept' started off as a 'little project' to entertain myself and now it's something I absolutely, positively look forward to! I'm constantly thinking of new things to say and interesting ways to discuss everyday events in my life.(admittedly, somedays, I'm not so successful but it's fun trying!)

I do hope you still enjoy visiting and that you'll keep coming back again, and again!

I'll sign off by saying 'I'll keep going at it until it stops being fun!'

Travel Hassles....

As the name suggests, I love to travel.
Sometimes for work, and sometimes for pleasure. Sometimes by road, sometimes by air. Sometimes local (in the same country) and sometimes international.
I am very familiar with airports, airport smells, hotels, hotel smells, rental cars, rental car smells....you get it.

I have a personal checklist I run through before I leave on any trip.

• Laundry - I wash all my clothes (it’s a bit silly, but it’s always nice to think that if I never make it back home, at least people can say ‘She was a very clean and tidy woman!’). Bizarre – yes... 
• Shopping - I stock up the fridge (to make sure there is enough food for when I get back. I hate heading straight to the shops right after a long journey)
• Finances - I check my wallet and swap out the money. (I usually have a stash of foreign coins, so I just make sure they are accessible)
• Travel documents - The most important thing I check is my passport. You see, I’m from a country that requires a visa to almost everywhere. This has never really stopped me from planning trips, I just need to make sure that I have the right visas in my passport for the country I want to visit.

And here lies my biggest issue with travelling 

The process of getting a visa can be quite stressful, (depending on which embassy you are going to). Planning for obtaining a visa needs to happen weeks before your travel date, in order to avoid any embarrassment. Gathering your relevant paperwork (birth certificates, marriage certificates, bank statements etc) needs to be done meticulously. Omit one document and you have very likely jeopardised your chances of getting that visa or visiting that country!

Thankfully, I haven’t had too many horror stories within the embassies, but I could regale you for days with stories of people’s experiences in embassies.

Another hurdle I mentally prepare for, is clearing immigration. I have to stress that with the state of the world today, immigration control is of utmost importance. It is pertinent to assess all travellers diligently, to ensure that the people you are letting into your country are genuine travellers.

I am always very conscious of the power that the individual in the cubicle wields. The immigration officer – the one looking through my passport. That lone individual – the one who can single-handedly decide whether or not I will enter that country.

I don't think it has anything to do with the visa on my passport. It has nothing to do with my bank balance. It’s not my fancy smart clothes or my well-spoken and respectful manner. It’s simply that immigration officer’s perception and judgement of my ‘true intent’ at that specific point in time. This is what they are trained to do, you see...

Travelling is great fun, but there are occasions when I wonder if the lines between prudent, diligent assessment and sheer spite are a bit hazy.... but I could be wrong.

Maybe we were both having a rough day....

A poem by Shelly

Shelly is one of my regular readers. (Thank you, Shelly for your frequent visits!). She sent me this poem which I've decided to use for today's post.
(By the way, I can confirm that Shelly is definitely of sound mind and was not writing about herself!!)

Hope you enjoy it!

Denial? No!
I’m not crazy,
I don’t need any help,
I’m just going through a hard time,
Everybody has those, right?

I’m not crazy,
I can take care of myself, really,
Believe me, I’m happy,
Nothing’s wrong,

I’m not crazy,
I don’t need a doctor –
Or a home or a hospice,
I can live alone and be independent.

I’m not crazy,
I don’t need your help,
Stop calling here,
I’ve got plenty of support.

I’m not crazy,
I’m not on anything,
I’m not doing anything,
And I’m not seeing anyone!

I’m not crazy.

Shelly, April 2011

Task list....

• Drop off kids at school
• Pick up kids from school
• Take 1 child to athletic meets (about 15 miles away)
• Take 2nd child to a different sports meet (closer home)
• Pick up children from sporting events
• Clean guest room and make beds (I'm having guests over for the night)
• Drop off drycleaning
• Pick up drycleaning
• Do some ironing
• Shop for groceries (I am really beginning to hate this task! I miss Tesco home delivery)
• Cook dinner (eat some, freeze some!)
• Go to Gym (hopefully)
• Blog (hopefully)

I thought I'd give you a list of my activities for today.
And to think, many women do all this, and so much more each day, whilst holding down full time, high pressured jobs! (You can substitute Blog for any other passion one might have - volunteering, helping out in the community, helping out in church etc)

How do we do it?

To all the women juggling love, life, children, work - Cheers!

Lights, Cameras, Action....

I asked a 9 year old the other day what she wanted to be, when she grows up.

And she replied ‘I want to be famous’

My first thought was ‘The ills of today’s society. That poor child spends too much time in front of the TV. It’s got to be all those reality TV programmes, making these poor young children believe that you can just wake up one day and decide you want to be ‘famous’ – hah!. I need to speak to her mum. No-one starts off life wanting to be famous. Most people start off wanting to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Scientist, Teacher etc , you know, something ‘regular’ (hopefully, something that will require some college education as well!). You then aspire to do something outstanding in that career that will make you famous. That’s how it’s done!’ Blah, blah, blah

Naturally, as a responsible adult, I did not voice those thoughts out. Rather I pried a little further.

‘Famous doing what, my dear?’

‘Famous in movies’

‘Like an actress?’ I asked

‘Nah. I want to be a movie director. I want to make and direct my own movies. I write the scripts, I do the auditions and pick the cast, costumes, the set. Then I film the movie and market it to a big company or a TV station’

‘Are you going to do everything by yourself? That’s a lot of hats to wear!’ I asked

‘Of course not! I will do the bits I like (write the script, direct the movie, casting) and get people to do the stuff I can’t. Maybe I’ll let my big sister design the set, cos she wants to be an interior designer!’

Do remember that I’m having this conversation with a 9 year old... When I was 9, I was getting to grips with long multiplication, simple geometry and the rudiments of writing a decent, structured English essay, certainly not planning how to run a successful movie empire and overthrow Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg. I certainly had my own dreams, but I know they were not as grand and well thought out as this.

And then this got me thinking about something I read recently in another blog, where the writer blogged about Albert Einstein’s quote ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’. My first thoughts when I read that blog was ”Surely, you need both (in equal doses) to be successful”. Another blog I visit regularly also has a post about the fear of failure or the failure to fear.

But after listening to my 9 year old sage, I’ve learnt a lot.
Now, I'm not sure if this is a sign of the times or a cultural thing, but here's what I know. I know that today's children, in their innocence, believe in the possibilities and dream big. “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it,” William Author Ward. A lot of children I come across today believe this - fully! Not bad, I say, provided there is a wise, mature adult available to provide practical guidance and keep them grounded.

Sadly, as adults, we have lost that 'innocence' and immediately see the negatives (That's impossible, because I do not have the knowledge) rather than the positives (What if I tried to do that? What would the outcome be?) in every situation.

You know, with imagination, there are no boundaries, no limits, no borders, no ceilings (glass or otherwise). There’s practically nothing in your way, except you, your mind and how far you want to go. Imagine first and then seek the knowledge that will make your imagination a reality. Explore the ‘what-if?’ and see where that takes you. Let your imagination run wild first, and then think about how knowledge will help you achieve it and where to acquire that knowledge (get the knowledge yourself or collaborate with people who already have the knowledge).

To my 9 year old movie mogul, I say – ‘From your lips to God’s ears. Go for it!’ Move over Kathryn Bigelow!