Guess who's back?

Hi Peeps!

Its been far too long. Again. Some of my blogfam know that I put to birth on 15/05, some don't. Anyway, for the record, I had a beautiful baby boy and have been on a 3-month Maternity leave, just resumed work on Monday the 18th. Have a lot of catching up to do, my office seems so strange to me after so long.

Thanks to my blogfam for your calls, mails, lines on my blog and elsewhere on the www, your visits, prayers, good wishes.....GOD BLESS Y'ALL! May He be there for you as you were for me. I'm really grateful to y'all..

It's been far too long, y'all know I have to do a play list! Here are a few of my fave songs right about now....
- Rihanna- Take a bow, Disturbia
-RayJ ft. Yung berg- Sexy can I
-Chris Brown-Forever
-Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown- No air
-Jay Z- Roc boys
-Usher- Love in this club
-Alicia Keys- Superwoman, Teenage love affair
-Plies ft. Ne-yo- Bust it baby
-Keri Hilson-Energy
-Madcon-Beggin'

Now I know most of these songs aren't new, but I've been out for 3 months so I gotta lotta catching up to do, so bear with me OK?

I'll be back soon...for now let me leave you with a mini-pix of my baby, taken when he was just 2 weeks old.

Have a good weekend people!
'moni....

Keyshia Cole - Heaven Sent

Guys,
I'm really sorry for the loooong overdue absence...Work has been so HECTIC!! I've moved houses and I'm not due to have my baby - not today at least...Thanks y'all for checking up on me...hope I can resume blogging soon cos I miss all my blogfam...

Enjoy this song by Keyshia Cole...she's something truly...

Bless y'all..
'moni

Love your neighbours!

** This was supposed to be put up on the day I put up my last post but well, here goes!**

It's such a pity when I look back to yesteryears and remember with nostalgia the relationship we had with our neighbours while growing up....we lived in an small estate with 3 flats. Tere were 3 families living in them and they were allocated to staff of a particular company...the first flat belonged to a Yoruba family, they were Muslims and the family was young......their first kid was younger than the last child in my family by about 3 years and they were 3 kids in all....the second belonged to an Ibo family with 3 kids and a step-sister...the eldest daughter was as old as my eldest brother, the second was the same age as my immediate elder brother and the third was my age......my family lived in the last flat. We had 4 bedrooms and a living room.

I recall that no matter how much my mum reminded us not to eat at the neighbours or anywhere else for that matter, we still ate at the neighbours and we all played around together like one happy family. Of course we ran indoors, each to our separate homes when we heard the honk of any of the parents' cars but we were sure to resume play in the bus on our way to school the following day.....

Even our parents were on friendly terms with one another....the man in flat 1 and my dad worked at the company's head office in Port Harcourt and the mum in flat 2 was a nurse at the company's clinic. This was all in the '80's...

Nowadays, relationships with our neighbours are cordial at best and conversations with neighbours are such a drag! Everyone wants to have their own space and every one's mantra seems to be "keep your nose outta my business"...Such is the relationship between my family and my neighbours......try hard as our kids did to forge a bond, us parents kept tugging at them, get back in! and discouraged any friendship between the girls....we even got to the point of having silly issues because of this and that...

My neighbour is a single mother of a 1 year old, and in true Island style, we do not speak to each other. Only to the children, and then to offer an exaggerated Hellooo and Byeeee! I rarely even give a second glance or wonder what is happening in her home and I'm sure the same indifference is accorded to me and mine.

From the little I can claim to know of her, I see her as someone whose priorities do not happen to be her child but rather are elsewhere.....far, far, away in a place I know nothing of. She rarely sleeps at home - ask me how I know? Her car's usually not at home at nights and she comes in the evenings for a bit and takes off after sometime. I happened to notice on a few occasions that her help left late in the evenings and came back to work in the wee hours of the morning, say 5:30am. I saw that happen about 5 or 6 times and thought nothing of it. Fast forward to last week Thursday. My neighbour came home in the evening as usual, did her thing, left.....she returned again very late, say about midnight 'discovered' her daughter was alone at home..... checked everywhere, didn't see her help. She settled in for the night and Miss. thing returns at 5:30am sharp the following day......to welcome a very unlikely sight....her madam's car!

Drama everywhere.....girlfriend comes out...yelling...so this is what you do eh? I pay you and you leave my baby at home at go out to sleep with men! I will kill you today! You want to destroy my life....So much drama.....That was when the pieces of the puzzle fell into place for me....so the girl wasn't a come in the morning, leave in the evening kinda help? And the baby was in the house all the time when she went out? I really felt like an evil person when I pieced all that happened together, I knew that it would never have happened if we were more cordial to each other and the girl took advantage of the fact that we weren't friends with her madam and threw all caution to the wind...but even my neighbour herself was partly to blame! How dare you leave your child to the maid like everyday? I'd always assumed her daughter was wherever she was putting up, never for a moment thought she was left at home with the help....

So many what ifs clouded my mind but the one that struck the most was the decline of good relationships with our neighbours in so the called high brow areas....it's sad really, to think we live in a time when your neighbour would see your child going astray and instead of correcting him or her, would look the other way. It's such a crying shame!

What is the meaning of a neighbour I ask? It it merely the person who lives a little distance away from you? Shouldn't it mean much more than that? I remeber while growing up, we didn't dare to be naughty around my neighbours parents because they could discipline us as good as our parents, but nowadays? The essence of the word Neighbour seems to be extinct!

His grace..............

I had a post all typed up and ready to put up today, but that has to wait....I just wanted to drop a line to ask my blogfam to thank God with me....

Men of the underworld broke into my home last night and did what they usually do. I just want to bless God that my family and I were unscathed at the end of the about 30 minute ordeal....I also bless His name that my neighbours were also unscathed...I'm sill quite shaken up by the whole shebang and I'm particularly sad that my daughter had to witness such drama but I also know God can and will make her forget....We all are, just because He is. Occurrences like this make you remember that life is so fragile, nothing is constant and we are all living in uncertainty.

It is really sad when men who you have no knowledge of break into your home in the dead of the night, threaten, push you about and ransack your property as if they belong to them and then look to you as though they deserve a thank you after they are done creating the stuff that nightmares are made of in your head.....it's sad to know that even if you screamed or called the police, it would take forever (if ever) for help to come to your aid......sad to know that these miscreants feel so comfortable in your home with the assurance that the noise from the generators outside is enough to drown out whatever commotion that could arise from their unannounced entry into your home...it's all such a crying shame!

This quote by Peter Henry Abrahams pretty much says it all for me.....
"To live with the conscious knowledge of the shadow of uncertainty, with the knowledge that disaster or tragedy could strike at any time; to be afraid and to know and acknowledge your fear, and still to live creatively and with unstinting love: that is to live with grace"

May His grace surround us all everyday of our lives!

1love,
'moni

fuel pump conspiracy

This is a major rant!!! I'm tired of this country sha, I no go lie!!!!!!!!

On Friday last week on my way home from work, I stopped by at a filling station on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway to fill my car's tank with petrol in preparation for this week as is my usual tradition. I bought the petrol and drove home.....

My car is relatively new and I have never had cause to visit the mechanic since I bought it except to service it. My Mr. checks the oil and water on my behalf regularly so I never need to open the bonnet myself and the batteries have been OK since.. Imagine my surprise when I started the car on Monday morning and it refused to start! I checked the battery indicator on the dashboard display and saw everything looked OK but the car just wouldn't start!

Being that the car is a manual car with the a, b and c (accelerator, brake and clutch) I asked my maiguard and some other guys around my neighbourhood to push the car while I drove, thinking that would jump start things and I would be on my way....no luck! I had spent about 30 minutes doing this and realized I had to move on in order to arrive early at work. Now my hubby left the house before was done packing my stuff up so I had to find my way to work....

On getting to the office, I was surprised to see only my MD and supervisors cars...when I got in I found out that my other boss had the same problem...his started on Sunday when he was on his way to church and our Financial controller realized her car wouldn't start that morning as well....My mechanic went to my house about an hour later and told me my fuel pump was bad....My 2 other bosses took their cars to Briscoe Ford (company cars) and their drivers were told the fuel pumps were bad.....Unlikely coincidence eh?

Yesterday, my hubby called me to say 8 of the Toyota Corolla's in his company car pool had packed up and the problem? You guessed right! My sisters hubby also told her a number of cars in his company's pool had THE VERY SAME PROBLEM! FUEL PUMP!

Now I've been hearing this rumour that the fuel being distributed around Lagos is of bad quality....I wonder why the regulatory bodies did not discover this? Is there no means of checking that the petroleum products that get distributed are quality controlled?

I really am tired of the seeming lack of control in Nigeria, most anyone can get away with anything! now I'm quite skeptical about mentioning the name of the gas station from where I bought the petrol although my M.D says name them and shame them....anyway, I'd advise everyone to keep their ears to the ground before purchasing petroleum products....a word is enough for the wise!

Say- John Mayer

Hi people.....
This is one of my new best songs. heard it first during the christmas season and knew right away it was the genius John Mayer who was singing....Heard it again on the radio yesterday and I just had to share. This song is tres fab! Enjoy people!

One love
'moni;-)

Update by force...

I have been forced to update by members of my blogfam....lemme think, lemme think...This update shall be based upon questions I have been asked by my blogfam and shall on the whole have no direction per say...

My pregnancy is going very well by God's grace, I still have no clue as to the sex of the baby is let's just say fear no let me check...lol...I actually tried to check 2 weeks ago and the baby kept its legs crossed the entire time...no amount of prodding and poking was sufficient to move the baby from it's position and I just had to leave...I would go for another scan in two weeks so let's keep our fingers crossed!

Still on the subject of the baby's sex, I would obviously like this baby to be a boy 'cos I already have a daughter but my hubby says 'girl or boy, this one is the last one unless you want to turn yourself into a baby factory... I have always - subliminally at least- wanted to have three so I reckon I shall trick my way to the third one i.e. if i haven't changed my mind by then....

Moving on to valentines day...how was my valentines' day spent? I spent the working part of the day at work....got into mad traffic at Kofo Abayomi Street on my way home from work and spent about 2 hours+ before I got to Mobil at Lekki Expressway...from there on it was a breeze getting to Lekki but my hubby who had been waiting for me at some 'joint' got tired of waiting and called to say we should meet at home...I wasn't disappointed in the least as I already had a headache plus my left leg was tired from pressing down on the clutch. So that is the end of that story...

My afrobabe asked me how it went the first time...My question is first time doing what? I have a lot of first time stories:

First day in school (a distant memory)
First fight
First grown up party I went to
First time I blogged
First time I kissed
First time I had sex
First time I had a baby

Now I'm going to pick the one that I feel like blogging about so there!

MY FIRST KISS

I was in the University (wouldyoubelieveit?!) and there was this guy who was soooo into me...lol...I didn't like him or hate him...to me he was just there. He'd asked me to be his girl and there I was wondering, 'Am I supposed to say Yes to this or just let things flow?...' anyway we went on our merry way and on some days I acted like his girlfriend and allowed him hold my hand or put his arm on my shoulders in public (that was eons ago, when an 18 year old acted 18, not these days, with 18 year olds acting 30!) and on other days I acted like I didn't know him.....It was quite funny in the beginning cos we had yet to define what we were doing...I was playing hard to get and he was feeling like a chaser....anyway at some point it was clear that we were officially dating or going out as we liked to call it and he'd been trying to kiss me for a while....a really really long while.......

One day anyhow we had been in his room chatting about everything and nothing and I just knew he was going to kiss me...looking back, I think I wanted him to kiss me cos I wanted to know what it felt like......anyway, he acted like he was trying to get something out of my hair and I played along... It was so clumsy and awkward and silly! I felt like YIKES! Ewww someone Else's saliva in my mouth!....gross....lol...anyway, all in all, I didn't have an earth-shattering, toe curling, mind blowing kiss 1st time around....that's the first time experience I'm willing to share for now so it will just have to do!

It's been quite a long time since I had a song list up,there are quite a few songs rocking my boat at the moment so here goes:

My play list

- Living Darfur - Mattafix
- New soul - Yael Naim
- Bubbly - Colbie Caillat
- Love like this - Natasha Bedingfield feat. Sean Kingston
- Sweetest girl - Wyclef Jean feat. Akon and Lil Wayne
- Apologise - One republic feat. Timbaland

I don try o! Guys take care and have a blessed weekend...See you next week!

One love,
'moni

Happy valentine.....

Hey people!

This is another one liner.....just to wish y'all a Happy Valentine's day! Please play safe....don't forget to use raincoat oh! Anyway...Just to wish my blogfam a blessed day 'cos you all are my Valentines......

one

'moni.............

I'm feelin.............

Gongo Aso by 9ice........this song is off the shizzle for hizzle! If you haven't heard it, help's here....check out the right side of my blog for my playist. It's the only song there and I'm mos' def rocking it!!! I don't understand a word of it but who cares? Will be back sooner than you think! ;-)

5 years of married life later...

So exactly 5 years ago my Mr. and I took a leap o' faith at some small church in Port Harcourt and said 'I do' to the officiating minister in answer to some questions I don't care to remember...
It's been ten whole years and some since we started this journey, not knowing where it would lead...
Now a 4 year old and another on the way later we have come to this point...
It has been fraught with highs and lows, blessings and disappointments, happiness and sadness but on the whole, I thank God for us, we're not perfect but we do try to get by and make the best of 'us' in this imperfect world...

I'm hoping that the next 5 years will be better than the last and that God will meet us at our every point of need...
I earnestly pray that God helps us renew our unity through Christ and that we continuously find satisfaction in one another.
I pray for the grace to bear each other's weaknesses and the compassion to help each other out in times of need.
I also pray to our Father in heaven to equip us with every necessity to raise our children to His glory...

This is my thanks giving....please join us in our prayers...For everyone out there who is seeking for a life time partner, fruit of the womb or any other blessing, I pray that God will show you His face and you will have cause to sing a new song this year.

God bless you!

Happy New year!

Happy new year people!
I know I promised to post pictures I took while in Dubai Eons ago...pls forgive my late posting (as usual). Anyway, better late than never abi? Enjoy! (or not!)

Dubai through my eyes...............


1. Sign outside the Dubai Museum -Al-Fahidi Fort (can you see the spelling error? lol!) The Al-Fahidi Fort is thought to be the oldest building in Dubai and is so named because the fort was used to defend the town from warlike neighbouring tribes...it has also been used as a jail, the ruler's residence, a store for ammunition
2. Entrance of the Al-Fahidi Fort
3. One of the photographs in museum showing Dubai's urban expansion between 1960 and 1980

4, 5 and 6 are replicas of the famous Al Abras (ferry boats) used for transporting passengers across Dubai's river creek. Pixs taken in the Museum as well...

7. More literature regarding Dubai's urban expansion
8 -13 show pictures which were taken at a water front during a tour of Dubai...

14-16 are pictures of the Jumeirah Mosque

Pictures 17-19 show the The Burj Al Arab, the famous 7 star hotel in Dubai. It is rated as one of the world's finest hotels and is designed to resemble a billowing sail..with an impressive height of over 300 metres, it is surely a sight to behold.

Pictures 20 - 24 are random pictures taken whilst in a moving car...They show random town houses and estates

Picture 25 was taken in the indoor ski slope (Ski Dubai) at the mall of the emirates, currently the largest shopping mall in the United Arab Emirates.

The last pix is yours truly...taken at the Museum....

Hope the pixs don't bore you too much...most of the good pictures have me in them and I really am not yet ready to 'out' myself...

Here's wishing you all a happy new year...I hope all your wishes come true this year...God bless!

1 love,

'moni