Welcome! We've been expecting you!

I should be asleep. I should be getting my beauty rest but I wanted to see the NYC ball drop in Times Square. From the warm comfort of my living room of course lol. 

Well joyeux anniversaire, bonne année, feliz ano nuevo, appy appy new year and of course Happy New Year to you. Twenty sixteen has rounded the bend and we have met. It looks colorful so far and it sounds gleeful. What with all the fireworks and festivities, everyone is in uber great spirits.

I pray that at this hour peace is reigning supreme in every home. My quiet and everlasting prayer and desire is that men, women and children all over the world experience calm, hope and freedom in their minds, bodies and spirits. I know that the creator knows my heart. I am confident that my desire is not beyond his incredible reach. He can make it happen. Jeremiah 29:11 does say that it is God's desire to prosper us and not to harm us. To give us hope and a future. Okay, yes we must call on God's name, seek him harder than we we look for tickets to our favorite concert or sports game or date for the evening, or mate for the wedding date. The promise is that we WILL find him when we seek him with all our hearts.

The new year is only 2 hours old (it's 2:35 a.m.). I pray that 2 weeks in, 2 months in and 2 quarters in, we will still be celebrating as if it's midnight and the ball just dropped. Am I crazy to think like this? After all, life is not promised. I am learning to enjoy the moments, moment by moment.  Live in the present and live a full life - NOW as if the ball just dropped and all the excitement is ripe. Carpe Diem - seize the day!

Let's:
Celebrate even when things go in the opposite direction. Celebrate the small stuff!
Celebrate what seems to be the end because in every end there is a beginning. Celebrate promise!
Celebrate disappointments, doors closing and down days because there will be appointments, other openings and sunshiny days. Celebrate what ends and what's beginning!
Celebrate, celebrate and celebrate some more.

Live, laugh and love life. Make twenty sixteen the best one you've seen!

2015, so sad to leave you!

In the year of our Lord two thousand and fifteen, I accomplished much. Unlike the last few years, I am not rushing to see the beginning of a new year. On the contrary, I am savoring the memories of twenty fifteen.

Okay so you are thinking I landed a boom job, I moved into the mansion of my dreams or I hit the lottery and all my problems are now solved! HAHA, I wish and I will keep on wishing.

This year offered me some chances to live fearlessly and I took them all. Here are some opportunities that I landed:

January - March
I joined the Poshmark community - I downloaded the app, snapped and uploaded pictures of some clothing and accessories (even my breast pump) that I thought I could exchange for cash and voila, within 24 hrs of joining on New Year's Day, I had my first sale. Talk about a confidence zoom? I was on a roll. Someone close to me said that after all that college education, I turned out to be a hustler - DWL. I love it!

I signed up my little lady for swim classes and decided it was going to be nonstop until mastery is attained. Alas, we are now level 4 - swim team level that is.

I was awarded a grant at work to travel to Spain. Me? Er...wait....did they just call my name? Pinch me...they are actually granting me my wish? Somebody wake me up, I must be dreaming. WOW! I had all those sentiments when I heard my name called for the travel grant. I was finally going to set foot on the land where all Spanish began. Have passport...will travel they say. Mine had just expired but that wouldn't stop me.

Instagram and Twitter here I come! A rather sage friend of mine advised me to step into the social media for business exposure months before. I cringed at the thought. I barely like getting onto FB but my class and school mates are there so I pop in when I have a minute - whenever that is.

However, with Instagram it was love at first sight, I have a "don't care much" relationship with Twitter and I put up a business page on FB which I nurture. All is moving along swimmingly.

The world of blogging was the next path to trod. I love the idea of blogging but it seems to be a job. I don't want to be judged by the world about whether my blog is successful or not. I just want to express myself - express me and talk with people about anything. I thought that I would start my blog to share my travel experiences and so it was that forauntsis.blogspot.com began.

 
In April I made a mental shift to step up my business game and attend the next Global Training Conference with Arbonne. During GTC 2015, I began to see the possibilities of being an accomplished Arbonne Consultant. The change over of their new online system in April and the energy I saw via videos told me that I can do this. I accepted the business challenge and I would keep climbing.

I will never forget May 31st for a long time to come. My blood and I packed up and headed to the airport to embark on an overnight trip to Madrid. Excitement filled my intestines. Adrenaline seeped through my veins. Satisfaction bubbled in my heart and joy swirled around in my mind while an atypical nervousness tingled on my skin. I eagerly wanted to sit on the flight and fall asleep while the captain and his second did their do. I love to travel, although I'd rather to do it the beam me up Scottie way. Yup, I want to wake up and be there already lol. It was Godspeed and good night until around 9 a.m. Madrid time on June 1st. I made it. It was awesome to wake up on another continent.

You can see previous blog posts for details on the Madrid experience.

Enter Periscope! So while in Madrid I happened upon the Periscope app. As hesitant as I am I didn't jump - until later that month. I joined and started checking out the scopes to see exactly what animal this was. I wasn't so sure about live streaming me. I was totally fine watching other people, then the Perigirls turned the corner and we collided. Thanks to Perigirls.com I am a Perigirl and I have scoped! They have ideas to scope about and tips to make your scope successful so I jumped in with my heart in my mouth. I survived!!!

July - September
As much as I don't care for Twitter a girl contacted me on there and we chatted via Skype. Creepy? Yes to begin with I thought she was weird to want to talk but I said I would try her out. Common thread? Entrepreneurship so we saw eye to eye on a few things.

Well I decided I wanted to step back into the world of the "partner" plan. A group savings plan that takes place among caribbean people for the most part. They contribute to a saving pool where one person gets a lump sum weekly or bi weekly for a predetermined number of weeks/months. I tried to get a group going but instead, joined one I was in more than a decade ago. It is a good idea no matter what the financially savvy and skeptical say about it. I will keep climbing with that too.

I did the 21 days to financial freedom with a friend of mine. It is a legit strategy to develop sound financial responsibility. I will have to do it again because I followed it to about 90% on the first go around. I have to do it when I am more prone to spend. Summertime maybe?

While in Spain I was 200% convinced that I can no longer wait to re-enter the fitness world. Walking abound Madrid was fun but mi granny - mi hart (my heart)! While I probably lost a few pounds from all the walking, I sure gained from all those tapas joints and restaurant food I ate. I was in haste to find a gym. A gym yes because I can't exercise on my own and get the results I need. Been there - done that and failed!

So I went up the road and then down the road and up the road again - literally. My area is stacked with gyms. I was looking for classes, atmosphere and dog nyam it - PRICE! At night I gathered my notes and before I slept I'd say "may the gym with the best price win".

Heck it took my ride or die to show me the winner. She said, "Look, there's a gym." I responded, "They're not open." She said emphatically, "Yes they are." I did a sharp turn up the steep hill with my steel beast. I dared... to step ....into the world of...... CROSSFIT! Five months later, -8 pounds, -2% body fat and +2% muscle gained,  my machine status is loading! DWL ....because there are no machines - we are the machines!

The birthday month came around and I just wanted to drive to and eat at Bahama Breezes. I did that and I loved every minute of it. Can't want to do it again.

Then I embarked on the Paleo challenge at the gym and determined to eat like they were telling me to. Yes, no bread, not rice, no butter, no white potato, no condensed milk, arrgggg enough with the NO's - eat everything green and meat. So I ate chicken and fish and worked out like they were telling me to and drink a protein shake like they were telling me to and dunk in the darned dunk tank before and after the challenge to get the BMI rating like they told me to.

Voila! I won second place in the challenge. Likkle me...second place. I never win anything but I won second place - W O W! Lord thanks for giving me the means to make this happen. I will keep climbing with that too, one workout at a time.

October - December
I think it was on the first day of October and with quick, nimble fingers I registered for Arbonne's GTC2016. It was costly but I stepped out again and said "I will do this." Las Vegas see you in a few! Excitement!!!

I decided in July that I would take a walk with my students along the path of inspirational and spiritual things in a different way than I have done before. God was showing me in the latter months of the year that this was for real.

The Parable of the Pencil is allowing me to inspire them. The Pencil - a writing tool can teach us so much about approaching life's daily events and our relationship with our Maker. The students think that I am teaching them but, sharing with them is teaching me even more!
And so the last few weeks of the year asked me to step out and nurture beyond the textbook. I say "yes Father, I will go where you lead."

They say all good things must come to an end. It is with very mixed feelings that I prepare to walk into the future. I loved every month of twenty fifteen and how it asked me to step out of the box of fear. I love how I responded. I am unsure of what happens when next Friday rolls around. Part of me wants more of the same. What if there is better ahead? If I am still here I will move ahead with arms open as if to say "bring it on".

Good times...yardie meet up in Madrid

On Saturday I caught up with an old mate. Good ole Kayson from church and University (UWI - Mona). Good times get better when friends are together. Seeing him reenergized me - he is a good soul. Kayson is great encouragement and always has a good laugh to give and to share.

Before heading to eat we passed by the center of Madrid - Puerta del Sol. KC and I got our pedicures on the map dwl.

Kayson is a great tour guide but he definitely should not quit his day job. Keep calm and teach on son lol :). He took us to see the Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace, gardens nearby  and the Opera house. He even walked us through the red light district, oops! Okay it was on the way to the Borax place.  

Then we went to Borax - a Cuban hole in the wall. That food was mad!! See my plate of salmon with orange sauce? Man I can't even describe that food for you. The laughter, reminiscence and camaraderie was even madder though lol. 

It was a beautiful night out. Wow, talk about an Arabian night. Well, I have never seen or experienced an Arabian night but the term sounds fitting. The crisp breeze was caressing us as we meandered our way back to the train station where again we stopped to chat and laugh some more. Bring back the good ole days, dwl!

All I want to do is bottle the weather and take it back. It would transform ATL into a paradise - un paraiso. Listen, all I can say is that I was beginning to taste a slice of Madrid that I wanted to keep nestled in one corner of my jaw for a long time. I wonder what my mom would think if she were here. Still thanking God for allowing me this opportunity and guiding/protecting me as I go where my mom has not gone before. 

Our first Sunday in Madrid seemed quiet to a certain degree. It is still lively. The people still spill into the streets, malls, tapas joints and subways. Oh and they do make it to church the Catholic Church I think. It was a day to stay local for us. We went to the mall and walked around again. This time we paid attention to each level of the mall and what it really had to offer. I like to look at fashion and accessories so going slowly was perfect lol. 

Then we went to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. It looked like real Chinese food this time or definitely way better than the first attempt - yuck! The line to get in stretched way past the doors so, we decided to take a look. Meh, whatever is what came to mind after we stood in line and finally made it inside. It stopped a gap for the price. Note to self: I must eat well, I must eat better, I must, I must, I must.  

On the upside, my S Health app tells me four days in a row that I keep breaking my own record for number of steps taken in a day. Bravo, bravo, that means I am outdoing 10, 000+ steps per day. Love S Health for that. I know you want to get in on the step action so get S Health (I have Android) or get a comparable app. Walking can be so much fun especially when you get to do some people watching while at it lol. 

The pickneys dem got to "drive" remote controlled cars while at the mall. KC was eager to get in and when she did, she put on her game face or her serious face. She looked oversized in the car for a minute. The party started when boycito got in though. "Whoaaaaaa" was the sound from his weeee little mouth. Can I tell you, this kid was in heaven. He started turning the steering wheel, opening his eyes wide and laughing so hard. He is a little edgy for his age. He was having "un monton" of fun. He cried when the time was up, pobrecito. I could tell that they wanted to do it again. Well why not, I mean when else would they be able to get into a BMW sports car and just drive? Unlicensed at that - HA! Their dad will be working until forever to give them these luxuries. They want the best - already! 

Welcome to (Bienvenido a) Madrid and EF

Madrid, Madrid where you can find a plethora of tapas bars, monuments, historical buildings, Spanish architecture, tourists, small cars, more tourists, spectacles of all sorts, even more tourists and of course night life.

I chose Madrid as my place to complete professional development this summer. I wanted to taste and see how good it is to be in the land of the Spaniard, speaking Spanish and partaking of Madrid's everyday life. I dreamed the dream back in high school and I saw myself in Paris and Madrid. 

Ole, ole, it is I in Madrid! I did begin an application to a University here back in 1998 and was dead set on going when the US and A called hahaha. Well now EF Madrid has called. Education First Language Centers of Madrid is an awesome place to take Spanish classes while immersing in the culture. Check them out on Facebook - EF Madrid or www.ef.com.es. On Friday, the day after Madrid's Fiesta (holiday aka I just need another day to chill out and not work day) the troops and I went to EF, situated down there at Avenida de America metro station.

Did I mention that I love the freedom of mobility via the underground train or metro system? It reminds me so much of London's Underground or the "tube" as they call it. I think it can be expensive if you don't spend long enough to buy their monthly metro card though. The 10 ride card I bought for 12, 20 euros, takes you on the metro and the blue EMT buses. Nice but gosh it makes me miss the privacy of my own car and regardless of how dirty my car is, I still feel like I am in a less germ infested mode of transport. Okay I sound OCD eh? I know. 

Ok back to EF, The staff at Education First was warm and welcoming. They even made the kids and MC feel like they were coming to classes lol. "I think I will like it here" is what I was thinking. Then I looked around only to see all the youngings of the planet...uf! "I am out of place" was my second thought. Yup I am about to be the granny of the class or school for that matter. You know how these language centers attract the teeny boppers and twenty somethings of the day? Oh well, "I can look it and I will rock it come Monday" was my third thought. Between Arbonne, H&M, Banana Republic and I, we will make it happen...hahahahaha.

Let's Tango, Arbonne Pure Mint and more!

Lawks, on Wednesday it took us forever to leave the hotel room. Clearly we are still trying to adjust to the new time. We finally walked out of the room at what would be noon or near noon Eastern Standard Time. I am not sure what we were planning to eat at that time if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner. Anyway the  plan turned out to be that we would roam the street by heading north. In less than 10 minutes we got to a supermercado, small but had some familiar items and then 2 tapas lounges next to each other. Oh did I mention that this was 90 degrees on Wednesday? Ohh wee yup 90. I did get out the vegan inspired, cruelty free and not laden with harmful chemical or ingredients Arbonne Baby Care Sunscreen and we lathered in some - I didn't know what to expect okay! By the way MC is now an Arbonne Pure Mint toothpaste user....hip hip hooray!! Yup moving away from fluoride toothpaste to Pure Mint fluoride free was easy and he's feeling the result. Morning breath be gone and fresh breath for longer here we are. Don't knock it 'till you try it. Text, e-mail or call me, I got you.

The day was hot indeed! Nice and hot, though no humidity at all. I was pleased - like please puss dwl. So we leisurely pulled our hungry selves to the tapas joint only to find out the cocina (kitchen) wouldn't open until 18:30 or so (6:30) - yikes! In my head I thought - Is wah tek dem mad people yah star? Translation: What the heck is wrong with these people man? I know they have weird hours, I have taught the culture. But I and I hungry you si mi? 

Nonetheless, it was lovely to experience the sidewalk cafe feel, so we hung out and had drinks and some nasty peanut mix for a starter on the house. MC and I chatted about how I was not impressed by what I was seeing so far.  You see when I think of Europe I get this idea that I am supposed to feel like I am in a very different place. Well I am not feeling that - no sah not at all bredren. Minus the appearance of the people, I feel like I am someplace in the caribbean or Jamaica or even the great U.S. and A but it happens to be located in Europe. Okay, okay it is still the early days yet so I am  very open minded. I have classes next week and I will get around some more so we will revisit this - awrite then! 

The kitchen was taking too long to open so we moved on to the mall around the corner that the waitress told us about. BAM!! Here we go, now we are talking. The mall had a supermarket right there and as we walked, we saw some familiar names like Starbucks, Dunkin and some British names MC recognized. We happened upon an Argentinian joint - Che!!! Yup as in Che Guevara. We decided to eat there. The  waiters looked like they were ready to dance the Tango. They showered us with meat, meat and more meat. The picture to the right is just the starter at Che!!! We were responsible and ate with temperance. See my plate below? We will NOT return lol. Food wasn't bad but too much MEAT!!! 

Thursday the 4th happened to be Corpus Cristi day. A holiday in Madrid while we are visiting. The receptionist at the hotel remarked that they have too many holidays, hmm okay then. We trotted quickly to the southern half of the hotel's street and realized that we walked to the mall again dwl. Oh before that we stopped for tapas which were pretty good. I had salmon on flatbread. It came out to me raw - ewwww! I asked for it to be cooked haste post haste. Is who dem tink dem ah bring raw salmon come gi? No bawba mi nuh eena dat. Translation: Who are they bringing this raw salmon to? I don't want any part of that/please remove this from before me. I was not pleased so I didn't even take a picture, man oh man! It was delicious when it returned to me cooked though! The others had some egg and sausage dish which was good they said. 

At the mall we roamed around some more to see the quality of clothing etc. in comparison to what we know. They have a good mix and the prices are really not bad at all. That mall is similar to Cumberland. Dinner was not easy to decide on but we found a spot similar to Chipotle - well sort of similar named Tako-away. There is MC doing his best Spanish ordering to the right. I had an empanada and juice from a place next door to this one. Chico ate all his dad's burrito and then some. He also drinks from everybody's glass. I think he is telling us to get him his own plate from now on. He eats well, thank God. People make much of him when they see him. He just stares at them in return, sigh. The people are generally very nice here. I like that a lot about them. Muy amables! Okay it is 3:00 am and I plan to pass by the Education First Language Center location tomorrow in preparation for my classes next week. I am having fun. I love having my family with me and experiencing all this with them right there. God is an awesome God and I will not forget his goodness to me. Buenas noches familia. 

I love my Madrilenan lisp!

I am lov-, lov-, loving my lisp!  You didn't know I have a lisp? Yes man, I am running a consistent  lisp since I started communicating with the Madrilenos.  It's only been 2 full days but man has it been awesome to communicate with the Spaniards! Well except for this one woman who was wearing sarcasm as her sun screen. Apparently it is hot here. Hmmm...I don't feel the heat but I love the fact that the sun is out and I can rock my yellow glitter pedicure crafted by The Beauty Concierge (www.styleseat.com/beautyconciergellc) via some flip flops and no sweater or jacket. I thought it would be a cool 65 degrees more or less, but it is even nicer. The heat is definitely not Atlanta's heat with the humidity hanging on to you like white on rice. I can do this kind of heat.

We had to switch hotels yesterday. On Monday when we arrived, we checked into a nice hotel but it was 30 minutes south of Madrid and in a factory/car sales zone. There was nothing for 25 - 30 minutes walk from the hotel but highway and wasteland after you passed a few factories. We walked to the nearest zone of shops on Monday evening and it was a long and picture-less walk; nothing to shoot, so all cameras were tucked away. We immediately decided that this would not be the place to stay - no boss yah so caa dweet fa tree weeks. After eating the most fake Chinese food on the planet for dinner, we taxied back to the hotel and the search for a new hotel began. By the way, MC remarked that the taxis are robbery. They arrive to you with no less than 6,10 euros in charges already on the meter and the increments of 50 cents quickly add on as you drive. We are officially anti taxi!

The one night at Holiday Inn Express Madrid Leganes was real but we said deuces and headed to Madrid or so we were hoping. It turns out that we are near to the airport now and still 20 minutes from el Centro de Madrid but it is a hop away en autobus y en metro - so we hopped onto the 77 bus then el metro. KC had fun doing that yesterday. She is enjoying her time so far with pink glitter on her pedicured feet - lol. She's even catching the lengua via television and listening to me chat with the folks. MC on the other hand has spoken about 5 Spanish words dwl. He has caught on to <<vale>> though. That is their response to close a conversation and also to show agreement or understanding.  I have taught that for years, now I use it daily. Immersion is the number 1 way to learn a language. The Mexicans or latinos would say <<bueno>>...the Madrilenos say <<vale>> (baaleh). Go on say it now....baa - leh! Perfecto - you did it!

We hung out at Gran Via (a nice long wide street in the city with shops like crazy and restaurants, tapas bars, tourists, more tourists and tour buses then bikes and more bikes) for some time. I wanted to see the Fuente de Cibeles in that locale and we did see it. The fountain was not running as you see below, so sure enough we passed it without noticing the first time. As I remember from pictures and videos, water supposed to be coming from the Lions' mouths etc. Cha! O well...there it is - sort of impressive, just sorta.

That's where the sarcastic woman entered the experience because I asked her where exactly it was and she said I must've passed it, so I said perhaps I did and her response was, or maybe it moved. I laugh now, but then? Ahh I just looked at her, gave her one of Chico's evil stares, smiled and walked away. Gran Via reminds me of Piccadilly Circus in London or someplace in Manhatten.

It was Indian cuisine for dinner (Bangladeshi to be exact) and that was 100%  better than Monday's Chinese whatever that was dinner. I will eat that Indian dinner again in a heartbeat. There was a birth control machine next to where we were seated. It takes only the exact change and dispenses some form of contraception (in packets of 3) in time of need. Go Espana, you do what you have to do to curb your population or whatever you want to call it.

So, before I go now, about the lisp. The folks in Madrid apply a lisp for letters or sounds of S, C or Z in a word they speak. Buenos (buenoth) dias (diath) and they almost eliminate the D sound if it doesn't occur at the beginning of a word by making it an ever so soft sound, that it almost goes away. Language is awesome! Learning about it can be a pain sometimes but living it can be serendipitous to say the least. Okay so it is already 3 pm or 15 00 hrs. We have not eaten because our bodies are still sleepy (Atlanta time and a little jet lagged still) but we will discover more today and share. Hasta (hathta) luego amigos.

Phenomenal Woman - Phenomenal mom!

The world can't contain them.

The world can't exist without them.

The world revolves around them. 

There's harmony in the world because of them -

Moms! 

Phenomenal women - Phenomenal moms!

Today we celebrate the phenomenal women of this world - our moms. 

Here are a couple of phenomenal thoughts about mom: 

What's phenomenal about your mom? 

- My mom had a brilliant smile and was always laughing.

- She thinks that she is the wisest person lol, she loves deeply. 

- Her strength, drive to succeed with the little that she had. 

- She has the strength of an ox and an unmatched determination. Her love for me is sacrificial. 

- Simply put, her unconditional love, patience, kindness and her ability to forgive. 

- She works where I go to school and she's my favorite mother. 

Mom's favorite thing to say:

..."you must make me proud!" D. AB

..."stop skylarking!" P. G.

..."I may not say I love you guys, but I do." M. C.

..."hello, hello, hello, let me tell you something, you just listen to me." S. B.

..."if you want good your nose have to run." O.AC

..."listen!" K.C.

What advice you wished mom gave you that she didn't? 

- I wished she was here to tell me just how awful this world can be, sigh...miss her.

- I wished she gave me more academic guidance to realize more in life. I felt alone in that respect as I didn't have a father figure or older sibling to guide me. 

- I wished she had been there to push me to the limits in education. She gave some good advice nonetheless. 

- She gave good advice about education, career etc. but I wished that she had helped me to be more marriage focused early or make myself available for a husband.  

- I wished that she that she had told me how difficult it would be to be a good mother. It was tough doing it without her.

Enough said! MOM you make the world go 'round, we don't have the words and we'd need ten thousand tongues just to tell you thanks. 

Acknowledgements to Debby AB, Paul G, Shani B, Milton C and KC for their contribution to this blogpost. 

Mother's Day May 2015

I love food and Things Jamaican

Things Jamaican - do you remember that place? Was it downtown Kingston, near to the sea? The Caribbean Sea. They sold woven baskets, placemats, coaster sets, irie island clothing, very cool artwork, carvings, bottled spices and the list goes on. I hope that I am not wrong because I remember going there to get some treasures before returning to my insane first world life some years ago.

What a sweet piece of view of the water when you drive along the harbor to where Things Jamaican is man! I am salivating right now for some Caribbean water, landscape, sun, sea and sand. Actually they can keep the sun, I'll take the rest of it. Pardon me loved ones who can't recollect because you have never been, simply put you need to go and get your own sun, sea and sand, bottle it and bring it back with ya dwl. 

So let me tell you this, on Good Friday I drove myself to the farmers market and as usual I went crazy picking up all things Jamaican. On this trip I had a chance to read labels. I made some discoveries that leveled me. More than half the items on the shelf are not products of Jamaica. They are not made in Jamaica or packaged in Jamaica.  They are NOT products of Jamaica. I became sad. I felt deceived. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. Anyway, I picked up the ones that I believed were really things Jamaican. I intended to have a nostalgic Easter weekend including a Jamaican meal on Easter Sunday and bun all weekend. After I left the market and in a somber mood, I concluded that I need to go home - to Jamaica that is.  Gosh, I love Jamaica. I love things Jamaican!

Now you know, ilovefood.com lol. On Easter Monday I decided to do a juice fast. I was off from work and I figured I would do it on a day when all 999 of my 1,000 stressors were temporarily removed from me. It started out very well. I looked at all 6 bottles of juice and wondered how the day would really go. let me tell you, it started out on a heavenly high. The first drink was an orange pineapple combo. I licked my lips every which way after I downed 16 oz in only 2 gulps.  I felt great. So 2.5 hrs. later I had to move to the Detoxifier which is a combo of cucumber, celery, lemon and cayenne pepper. I wasn't rushing towards this one. That madness was as green as the rainforest on a typical day. Fear crept in. My daughter cheered me on. I opened the bottle and took a sip, allowing that half mouthful to sit in my mouth for a few minutes like the juice lady recommended. That would warn my stomach that the mean green was on its way and they'd send back up dwl - okay they'd send the right gastric juices to do their job efficiently.

I swallowed and told KC that this was one would "take some getting used to". In my mind I thought I was going crazy. I had 4 more bottles of that hulk-colored thing sitting on my counter. That's my meal for the day! Immediately I thought of mixed nuts, trail mix, raisin bran cereal, HTB spice bun, Golden Krust chicken patties, honey wheat bread with butter and apple jelly, Costco cranberry Chicken salad, Chick-fil-A  freshly squeezed lemonade, quaker instant oatmeal with too many spoons of nestle sweetened condensed milk, boiled yellow yam, fried plantains, ackee and codfish and all the other things that made my snack and mealtimes so climactic over the weekend. I didn't finish the second bottle of juice for another hour. The third bottle was delayed and all other bottles after that.

Near midnight I was determined to get to the last bottle of Carrot Ginger so I gulped the last Detoxifier. Whoa! I solemnly declared that i don't want to see another bottle of that meanness for a long time. Carrot Ginger was smooth. Carrot Ginger was good to me. I finished her while blowdrying my hair. Way to end the day, sigh.

In retrospect, my will power is quite good. I did not eat anything all day. I did not reach for any treats. All the smells and aroma of the evening's dinner did not sway me. I held up! I proudly said that I will do it again for 3 days the next time. The Detoxifier with those ingredients? Heck to the no but juicing? Oh yes, I am ready to give my digestive system a rest. But friends, in those few hours of drinking only, I got reacquainted with the fact that I .....LOVE..... FOOD!

I grew up with the best food items. Some of my best memories are from Saturday soup days, Sunday morning breakfast smells and Sunday afternoon coconut aromas mixed with fried or steamed fish. Weekdays smelled of curry and brown stew chicken. I learned how to prepare these food from the best - chef mom! 

Well cheers to all things really Jamaican and to .... good nutritious food! What are your food memories? I want to hear them.

Full circle

The earth is round for a reason. Everything seems to transpire in a cyclical manner. There's day then night, and day again or whichever comes first. Then of course theres the New year, Valentine's Day, Spring break, tax season and April Fool's, Mother's Day and Memorial Day, Father's Day, fireworks and barbecues around July 4th, tax free weekend for back to school shopping, Labor Day weekend, this guy....ahhh yea Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, then come the final two seasons that we love to love - first, Thanksgiving and feasting which runs right on into tinsel, garland, wreaths and all those blinking lights, Christmas shopping, gift exchange and need I say more feasting? Then we pause to ring in the new year and begin to do this all over again. By the way somewhere in all of that you had a birthday, and you probably celebrated for or with loved ones and dear friends who had birthdays.

What goes around does come around for us. I have wondered about that quite a bit. Are we supposed to learn a lesson from the circular nature of life? I haven't stopped to get the answer so when you figure it out you tell me please.

I do think that I have had my aha moment however. There are many things in this life that make me go hmm but this one made me go hmm, hmmm, hmmmm. I am....becoming my mother. And confession is good for the soul lol. You see I spent a lot of my late teen years and my young adult life vowing NOT to become her. Mommy was strong, resilient, wise, hardworking, compassionate, firm, tough, giving, comical, humble, God fearing, an entrepreneur, a hustler and beyond that, she was a CEO. A CEO and head of household and that kept her saving only to spend again. She participated in lending circles (partner plan for us yardies) just to survive. She didn't have tax refunds to look forward to - no, absolutely not. She did it the Jamaican way where according to her one hand washes the other. She helped others. Her generosity had no limits and so many people helped her in return. On the flip side, she was also, scared, one tracked, fearful of the unknown, timid, economically/financially challenged and to top it off, a single parent of 5 children.

As I grew older and eventually separated from her, I recognized that deep inside her was an unrequited love. She gave it all to us in the best way she knew how and did not demand a return. At the end of every day, she had nothing left for herself, no social media to unwind with friends near and far, no telephone (for a long time) to catch up with family far away, no television (for the most of my early years) to indulge and vicariously live through her favorite characters and she did not have a companion to be the sounding board for her long, arduous and dull days. She lost herself in work, planting flowers and vegetables, household chores, her relatives, her children and later on grand children.

She had challenges that bring tears to my eyes just thinking about them now and I am sure that I don't know the half. I am not the key keeper of the family by any means so I don't know all the stories but I lived some of them and they were not pretty.

Mommy did not venture out- she missed several opportunities as a result. Mommy did not take risks - she missed several opportunities as a result. Mommy did not even enter secondary (high) school - she missed a plethora of opportunities as a result.

Me? I have been scared, one tracked, fearful of the unknown, timid and financially challenged. Oh but I'm.....comiiiiiiinnnggg......out! Yes like Diana Ross I'm singing......I'm coming out!!  Out from under all my inhibitions.

In a way, I have come full circle. What my mom would've been is who I am today. I am becoming mommy, I am realizing her dreams. I am definitely not worthy because she did one heck of a job with the scarce benefits that she had. Today I have what she can only smile at. She thinks that I am not her because, I have so much more than she ever did but, I am becoming her, I am her.

This blog is for mommy and the rock (really a gem) that she is - the rock that I am approaching.

From my heart to yours

If you really know me then you know I love connecting. Chatting face to face is my first choice by far. Chatting by phone takes second place. Texting has become the order of the day and that is not by choice about 99.99% of the times lol. Conversations are sacred for me so I always want to catch up with you.

Usually on holidays I try to reconnect, especially if you are more than an hour away by car. But sometimes the day ends and I didn't get around to you.

Well, we will wait on holidays no more. We can meet here in between phone chats, text messages or meet ups and there will always be a dialogue, from my heart to yours. It will be a little bit of everything. Some days it will feel like you are driving with me on the way to or from work, the grocery store or to get my hair done. Either way please feel free to talk back!