Time for the heart.

I used to attend zumba classes once a week, sometimes twice if I could manage it. There is this elderly couple that come for the class too, the man should be in his 60s and the woman, maybe late 50s. The man is the only man in the class so quite noticeable. They just seem like these nice, probably retired, couple doing an activity together and having fun. Apart from the occasional hi when our paths cross, I really didn't know them like that. So yesterday was my first time going this year, I got to the class early, *very unusual* and the man was standing around the place where I normally stand, he was alone. After the usual greeting, I asked after his wife and he said she died. I was shocked because the last time I saw her, she was full of life though a bit frail. I offered my condolence and thank God the instructor was there  because I didn't know what else to say.
I wondered what she died of. If it was slow or fast? I wondered how he could even come to a class where he shared experiences with her recently and not burst into tears. I felt for him but I also admired his courage and strength.

 February is awareness month for the heart, emotionally and physically. As Valentine day approaches, everyone is talking about love, chocolates and flowers. As we share love with our loved ones and everyone around us, let us also not forget to show love to our physical hearts. Heart disease remains the number one cause of death for both men and women. It is called the silent killer because it shows no symptoms. We shouldn't go thinking, 'that can never happen to me, heart disease is not in my family'. It is best to be prepared. Know what you can control and work from there. Know your risks, maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, cut out smoking, drink moderately or not at all. Take care of your heart.

source

I can't believe it!!!

A big shout-out to all who left comments on my last post. Thank you so very much. I was thinking about the comment made by T.Notes about the dates on my blog being a badge and I thought to myself I havent been here for long now, what dates is this dude talking about. I decided to do some housekeeping on the blog and I discovered that I have been inconsistently doing posts here since
April 2011. 

2014 will make it 3 whole years that I have been occupying this space and all I can show for it 67 published posts and 211 posts in drafts.
 That is not a good report card at all. I can't believe that I have known blogging for that long. Where did all the years go? * Time flies when you are having fun*

Anyway I am back and it is February, the month known for love, heart awareness and cancer just to mention a few *junior debate days*.

....I will be back tomorrow to complete this thought

Happy New Year?

Happy New Year!!!!

I know I am about 29 days late but better late than never and it is still January so I guess I am  in order. I hope 2014 turns out to be a great year for you.

Source

 It is good to be back and to see that so many bloggers are committing to blogging more this year and keeping to it. For those who kept on blogging all through the drought last year, good job. I am sure it wasn't that easy for you too but with determination, you kept at it. I totally enjoyed @ilola's guess the blogger series, even though I was not able to guess any blogger, it was like a window to getting to know a little about all the people who write here. For those who hooked up and brought the gist to blog ville * Toin and Honeydame* well done. Sisi Yemmie too with all her reviews and mouth watering dishes.

 I didn't do much blogging last year and coming back, I was thinking of starting another blog and closing this one; thoughts of what the focus of this blog would be.One thing was sure though, I still wanted to blog. So while I sort all the back and forths in my head, here I am.

It is good to be back and be back to being consistent.

Day 11 My favorite quote and Halloween issues

It is the last day of October already! Hope everyone is doing okay. We are also doing fine over here. At the beginning of the month, I signed myself up for the challenge to blog everyday for 30 days and my report card is out. I failed woefully. All through the month I was just able to blog 10 times. If  it was WAEC, this is obviously an F9. I am not giving up though. The month is over but the challenge is still on.

  Today 11th day of the challenge I am talking about my favorite quote. I love quotes.  I used to keep a book where I wrote quotes when I was in secondary school and early years of university. It served as a means of inspiration for me. With the advance of technology, I keep my quotes on my phone now. I will just share a couple today.

2

3

 4


 5


6

1

Today is the last day of October and also Halloween Day. I never had a problem with Halloween before. I don't celebrate it because I don't understand what it is that is being celebrated. Is it the harvest season, ghosts, dead people..... and how did candy come into the equation? I never really bothered. Now my children are of school age and the Halloween talk has been going on in my household.

"Mummy, why don't we have pumpkins?"
"Mummy why do they have those scary skeletons and stuff on their lawn"
"Mummy, what are you going to be for Halloween? I want to be a princess. I want to be a fire-fighter"
"Mummy, are we going trick or treating?"


I still don't know the history of  Halloween or how it came about or why people have to dress up and beg for treats from strangers. I don't get it.

Raising children in a culture different from the one I was born and raised in can be a challenge sometimes. Even though something tells me even if the origin is evil, with its commercialization, the lines are really blurred now. So we had some talks about it, first off that mummy doesn't know what Halloween is all about but I will find out  it is my responsibility to take care of them and keep them safe so we wont be going door to door for treats. Rather, we would go to the store and they would pick 2 treats each and go back home to make cupcakes. They agreed. So when the school said they must come  dressed in costumes today because they were having a parade,we were back on the issue again. I remembered all those fashion parades we had at primary school and I thought we should go for an African theme. I didn't have money to spend on badly made costumes that will be useless after today. We finally rustled something from what we had at home. Anyways getting to the school and seeing all the children dressed up was something else. There were some really cute ones but there were also some very weird ones for kids like the zombies, vampires, witches complete with broom.

We had rain today bet it wasn't much fun for those who planned to go out trick and treating.

What do you think of Halloween? Would you send your kids out trick and treating?

Day 10: One food and one beverage

If I had to live off one food and drink, it would definitely be spicy fish and tea.


1



2

What a 'different' combination.

Day 9- Pet Peeves

1. I am one of those people who still write words in full. * I know* Maybe that's why I am not good at tweeting. Before I finish typing, I have exhausted my 140 letters. If you do short forms or abbreviations, please make it something everyone knows about and not necessarily something you just coined yourself. It annoys me when I am trying to read a message and I am taking forever to decode it. It makes me think the person probably has spelling issues.

1

2. It annoys me when people speak loudly on the phone. Except you are in the privacy of your house, then that is left for you and the people you live with.No one wants to listen to your conversations when they are trying to go about their own business. Please tone it down.

2

Still on phone etiquette, it is annoying when you are with someone and the person keeps fiddling with their phone. I know we live in the times where instant information is like opium. I think it is rude and you are just passing on the message that you'd rather be in your phone than be having that conversation.

3. It annoys me when parents play the one upmanship game about their kids with people.

Mom a: Do you know my son started crawling at 3 months?
Mom b: That's nothing, my daughter started walking at 4 months
Mom c: You guys are still talking about movement? My daughter started reading books all by herself at 8months.

Can we just stop all that? Parenting is hard enough, there is no need for all of that. Our common goals is to raise children who will be kind, competent, confident and compassionate with a sense of passion and purpose. There is no need pitching them against one another. All that will come with adulthood.

 3

30 Day Challenge- Day 8- Three things you want to say to different people

I am really doing badly at this 30 day challenge. At the beginning I thought it was a piece of cake and I would be hitting the days as they come, but that isn't the case. I am not giving up though. I will keep at it till the end. Hope y'all had a good one this weekend. I did. I was happy to see Monday though.

Today, I am supposed to say three things to different people.

To my mom: I love you so much. I know I have never uttered those words to you but I love you so much.You taught me to be a strong woman with the way you lived your life. No matter the challenge you faced, you always looked for a way to solve it. You never let anything hold you down. You are my face of God on earth and I thank you for doing your best raising us. You did good.

To Oke and Brume : Everyday I am seeing the world through your eyes. I am experiencing your growing pains with you and everyday my heart bursts with love for you. Yes, mommy gets upset sometimes and might not be patient with you but don't ever doubt it, I love you more than good food.

To the community of bloggers, readers and writers; those who read my blog, those who leave comments. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.