Where have I been? Missing not just from you but from myself too. I had big plans; blog, more readers, more articles, more more more of everything but as life would have it you can only plan for so much and the rest, well thats up to God.
I have had neither time nor mind to write anything constructive in the past months too many things going on and as opposed to over extending myself I decided to let time work it out. So here I am back to get our chat session up again. Its a new year (well it was 3 months ago) and so much has gone on and still going on. Kudos to President Obama, my sons too may be presidents one day. I pray the economy turns for the better under his watch or else I'd be back to square one: trying to convince my sons that a black man can rule LOL. More recently little boy Chris Brown beating up Rihanna, WOW , that was a shocker. Foreclosures, credit crunch, job loss that is all the news today apart from the shooting/murder side track every now and then. And amidst it all our lives have to carry on.

So hello again and visit with me often, I'll make it worth your while.

Cheers
Annie O.

Christmas

A few weeks ago, just as the holidays started my 3 year old said after watching a Christmas themed commercial “mummy I want to go to Christmas” I remember smiling just because it was so cute; what he said. I smiled at him and said “don’t worry baby Christmas is coming here”, “ok” he replied seeming quite content with my answer. I wondered what Christmas meant to him and as the days passed by it was obvious that he had started making the connection, Christmas = presents, after all everyone keeps asking “what do you want from Santa?” Of course I start to worry about how my son thinks of the holidays, I want him to understand that this is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, The Son of God.

All this got me thinking, what does Christmas really mean these days? It is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus and it is also the day of giving gift; the grand commercialization of Christmas. So many parents running from pillar to post trying to check off as much as possible from their children’s list to Santa, turning on the extended line of credit if need be; it seems to be the norm. I actually talked to one parent who sees no other way out. I don’t know about that, my oldest is only 3 and all he wanted was ‘present’, so maybe when ‘present’ turn to Nintendo DX or Air Jordans limited edition I’ll change my tune. But for now, I think it is absolutely ludicrous that children today are raised with such a sense of entitlement that parents see not being able to provide these gifts at Christmas as a sign of their inability to be a good parent. What is the worst that would happen to a kid who doesn’t get all they want, I can imagine they will survive; I did! What ever happened to living within ones means? I strongly believe that kids should get gifts for Christmas; you can teach the spirit of giving and sharing which is part of the season’s message. However Parents shouldn’t be breaking the bank to get the gifts, teach from a tender age that giving what you can is always enough and kids will grow up knowing that in whatever they have their parents have done their best. If you decide to keep up with the Jones’ then don’t be mad when the mini-you you have raised always expects and demands more.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for The New Year`

The Man List

As a teenager & in my early 20’s the list of must haves in a man was so long: he had to be tall, handsome, ‘GQesque’, romantic, intelligent, well read, exposed, fit, driven, successful, rich, of course a great lover, a good listener, thoughtful, God fearing & church going and of course he must be madly in love with me. If we all put our lists together I can only imagine how many foolscap sheets we would need. Now many years later when I think of this list I break into a smile knowing that it did not have to be so long, plus finding the perfect fit is the tallest order.
Let’s analyze: things like tall dark and handsome translate into attraction and maybe the attraction will be more than skin deep ergo beautiful girl dates ugly man. Rich and successful vs. thoughtful and caring in my book thoughtful and caring wins every time because anyone can become rich and successful but being thoughtful and caring; either he is or he is not. Many times with list in hand we very quickly eliminate a man because he doesn’t look the part or act the part we created in our dream and many times we date a guy simply because he does, forgetting that more than a resume makes for a good relationship. Not to say we should forget the list completely (we can never do that) but we really should focus on those things that reflect the heart of the man as opposed to those that reflect the size of his ego. Time and time again we have seen and heard of beautiful looking couples that fall apart in no time, I used to wonder how that can be, now I know better. Whereas there is no single answer to that question we do have the responsibility to ourselves to do the best we can to mitigate unfulfilled marriages and the rising divorce rate in our generation. No matter how strong and independent we woman are there is certain comfort and security that arises from knowing that you are loved by your man so remember this next time you are armed with your list.