Stranger In The House

Years before i was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family.This stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As i grew up, i never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors; Mum taught me good from evil and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger..... he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If i wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answer about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took our family to the first major league ball game.

He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind. Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were hushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for quiet and peace. I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity  for example, was not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or visitors. Our long time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my Dad squirm and my Mom blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He even talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by this stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked.... and NEVER asked to leave.

More than forty years have passed since this stranger moved into our community. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.Still, if you could walk into my parent's den today, you could still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?.............We just call him 'TV'

Stranger YEARS AGO

He has a wife now...... We call her 'Computer'

Their first child is "Cellphone"

Second child is "iPod"

And just born last year was a grandchild "IPAD"






culled from a magazine

Stranger PRESENT DAY

Oh my! HOW TRUE THIS IS!!!!

Recipe: Moi Moi

Woke up Saturday morning with a strong craving for moi-moi.  When i'm excited about getting a particular task done my mind is fixed on it and can get everybody around me excited about the task too. I eventually got my mum and sister to be my assistant chefs. There's something about eating moi-moi made with leaves, it gives it a very unique and delicious taste. Had to rush to the market to get the moi moi leaves and some other ingredients.

Decided to prepare moi moi my style and share on my page. So here goes......

Ingredients

• 4  small cups of beans
• 2 medium sized Titus fish
• 3 medium sized onions.
• Vegetable oil and or margarine
• 2 Knorr cubes
• Salt
• Moi moi leaves

Moi-moi is the one of Nigerian food recipe that is prepared cold. All the mixing and adding of ingredient is done off the stove. Once you start cooking, there's no going back! You cannot decide to add more salt or ingredient. So getting it right at the mixing stage is very important.

Continue for method......

Emma!

Dear Emma,

There are no words to describe the utter grief that i still feel now, and i cannot possibly imagine the shock and sorrow that has been thrust on your family as well.

It still feels like a nightmare and i need to wake up!

I remember your optimistic attitude to life
Just once you asked;
"Are you sure i can make this?"

I was quick to say "Of course"
Usually i'm a realist but you made me believe again.
You struggled for over 5 years
You struggled with cancer, but you were never angry.
You took each day at a time
Believing and hoping all will be well.

I've known you for about 3 years
but the lesson i learnt from your life is worth more that 6 years in college
You were a loving and caring friend
Constantly calling to check on your friends
when we should be the one making those calls
You always had a listening hear
with a strong shoulder to lean on

I remember going to visit you at LUTH when you had chemotherapy about 2 years ago
The way you laughed and made a small deal of the medical procedures
and jokingly said "This people wan use chemo kill person o"
How you told Austa and I tales of all the other male patients in your ward
You made us laugh long and hard
You eventually traveled to India last year
stayed there for over 6 months
You called regularly applauding the medical service you were receiving there
How the chemo had minimal side effects
cos it wasn't affecting your appetite at all
How you'll call just to tell me what mummy made for lunch
I remember you made me promise to make you starch and 'owo' soup when you got back
You got back with a healthy glow on your face
You even made me lunch when i came to visit.
I remember your constant shy smiles
healthy appetite for food,
deep love for God.
I remember.....

Sometime last month you called
You mentioned you were going back to India
I asked if there was a problem
You were quick to reassure me
You said it was just routine check up
It was 6 months after your last visit so i understood
This time you were traveling alone(without your mum) cos it was to be a very short visit
You were very enterprising and was even planning it to be a business trip
You asked if i needed anything, they make lovely saris there
I said "No"
I should have said I needed you to come back

Usually when you travel you always keep in touch
you call.... you send sms...... facebook messages.... facebook chat....
This last visit was different
Over a week and no call
I tried your line you had in India it was switched off
I got excited, assumed you're already back
Then tried your mtn line it was off
Decided to drop a message on facebook
Just to see a few messages saying "RIP Emmanuel"
My heart literally stopped!!!

Emma, why didn't you call to say goodbye
Everybody miss you
Your mum is devastated
Your siblings are crying uncontrollably
Its over a week now but the pain is still fresh
You were  barely 33

I am not angry anymore
I was angry for some days but that has faded into some sort of acceptance.
I still occasionally dial  your number....
You're gone to a better place and i pray we'll meet someday
I miss you Emma.

Adieu dear friend

Miniature adults everywhere

The way parents dress their young ones these days is gradually becoming cause for concern.
I understand wanting our female daughter to look pretty and chic.
I understand keeping up with latest trend  in fashion.
What i don't understand or find difficult to tolerate is young female scantily dressed in very revealing outfits, forcing them to become miniature adults.
Some parents dress their children irresponsibly in the name of fashion and expect them to dress responsibly when they grow up. That's not gonna happen. If you start at a tender age to dress them scantily, when they grow up they become Lady Gaga (pardon me Gaga's fans).
It all starts from the home, parents have a lot of role to play in this.

Children are on summer break so get to see all sorts. Go into any shopping mall or cinema these days and you'll be amazed at what they wear out. Teenagers in ridiculously short skirts and dresses are at every corner.

There's this 9 year old female that stays on my close, she's always dressed in micro mini-skirts and very indecent short knickers. She walks down the road and we are all forced to stare. Its not just her legs we're staring at, neither is it the confidence she exudes. Its the blatant seductiveness and sensuality in her stride. The other day, i caught her winking at a male teenager and had to blink to be sure i saw right. Does she understand the "game" she's playing?

There has been numerous stories in the past of child molestation. I can be very passionate about issues pertaining to sexual abuse particularly when it is committed by family members or people is the child's circle of trust. The blame goes primarily to the molesters but parents have a role to play in the way they clothe their wards. Stories are coming up daily of fathers sexually assaulting their children. We constantly hear of houseboys and relatives violating young ones, lots of pedophiles out there. Often times these children are innocent and may be unaware of the damage done to them.
We regularly hear that men are turned on by what they see; women by what they hear. Some men even get turned on for no excuse at all. Why don't we help these men; why constantly get them excited. Not just the adult females that are guilty of this, some of our "innocent" children are too. 

A close friend that works at a General Hospital told me few days back about his 3 year old  female patient. The mother complained that the toddler has itchy vagina. She assumed maybe sand got into the panties when she was playing during the summer class, or her daughter has very sensitive skin and reacting to the toiletries.

On examination, the mother wept profusely and started raining curses when she was told the state of her young child sexual health. I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but the doctor discovered that it was repeated sexual abuse. My heart weeps for her and for all other young children that has ever been violated.

If we're not careful this is what we'll see in our shopping malls/cinemas 2020.

TGIF! Fridays are gradually becoming my best day of the week.

Nooddles Night

Smoky hot!!!! It was delicious too...... You like?

Random Post/ Joined for Life

There is absolutely no excuse this time for my display of laziness last couple of weeks. No time to post or even check on my frequent bloggers. Struggling with this weakness. God help me.

How have y'all been? Got some sort of promotion at work. Promotion in job description/title, hope it comes with the financial benefits soon. So a little stressful joggling with the added 'new' responsibilities. Its a wonderful challenge and an interesting learning process.

Olympics has come and gone. I won't even bother to comment on our performance cos i decided to cut down on my criticism. New mantra is "Praise more...... Fault less". (But we no try sha.)

Beautiful games, lovely performances. Those athletes made me wonder why i didn't consider a career in sports. They made it seem so easy. Imagine jumping a 2M pole!!!........ Or running 100 meters in 9.63 like my brother Bolt (we actually have a striking resemblance believe me).

Was going through a newspaper a couple of days back and saw a picture of this wonderful conjoined twins

Abby and Brittany Hensel

Getting their driver's license

From the article, they are quite popular and was previously on Oprah's show years back. Their names are Abigail Lorraine Hensel and Brittany Lee Hensel. The sisters who share a body but have 2 heads are dicephalic paraphagus twins. Born 7th March 1990, their parent rejected the option of separating them after hearing from doctors that it was not likely for both girls to survive the operation.

The Hensel twins have a single body with separate head and neck, a chest that is wider than normal, 2 hearts, 2 arms and 2 legs.

In conversation and personalities the twins are clearly distinct persons with distinct likes and dislikes. Their preference in food, clothing and color differs too.

Despite the curiosity that their condition has generated, the Hensel twins have managed to live private life with relatively little press attention.

Now this article got me thinking..... We find it extremely difficult to live with each other, we are quick to complain when we don't get things done our way. I can imagine the unconditional love this twins have for each other, sharing their illness, pain, happiness, joy.....  

The uncertainty about their future, not sure if they'll find true love.  

Reading this was truly an eye-opener and a message for complete acceptance of ourselves. God didn't make us with flaws, we sometimes see our imperfection as flaws but He made us all GOOD. 

PS: It does feel good to be back.

Hey all

How's the week going? Hope the weekend went well.

Mine was activity packed. Had to attend a conference Thursday-Saturday. Lots of talk, talk, and more talk. It went well though. Made new friends and strengthened some old ones.

Sunday was my niece birthday. She turned 8 (can't believe she's 8 already). Its seems like yesterday when i held her in my arms and now she's beginning to dab my lipsticks on and play dress-up with my clothes.

Her name is Rukky (full name is Oghenerukeme-means God has given me or God's gift to me).

There's some form of strange flu going round in Lagos. Almost everybody i know has either catarrh or cough or both. Almost escaped it but my chest feels kinda funny.  My siblings are not left out too, Rukky's mum had a mild fever so she was banned from the kitchen-related activities. 

We had a small get-together for the birthday gal and cos i'm the most fit person around i was the cook, photographer, DJ and MC. Fortunately, it was just about 10 kids that came visiting so it wasn't stressful.

The celebrant-Rukky