Diary of a Lagos working housewife - Part 9

Today is not a good day, I thought to myself as I stood in front of the vending machine to buy another  drink.  I had initially bought a can of Fanta, but my body craved for more Sugar.  It’s hard to explain but sometimes, one really needs the sugar rush.  I chose a bottle of Vimto and started drinking it even before I got to the lift.  I mumbled a word of greetings to my colleagues in the elevator and kept gulping my drink.   I really was not bothered about drinking in the lift as my body needed the sugar  badly.  Initially, with every gulp, I wanted the next gulp in quick succession but as I gulped more, I became somewhat satisfied.  I always attributed the craving for sugar as a sign that I may have overworked myself and lost a lot of energy.  I happen to work in the service industry and sometimes, you just have to stretch your brain for the answers.  Read, assimilate, apply, summarise, convince a colleague, make a client happy - the list is endless.

Diary of a Lagos working housewife - Part 8

I woke up today in a very gay mood. Sometimes I am unable to explain the reason for my excitement but I have noticed that the days I have a very good sleep, I tend to wake up earlier and happier. Yea, I know what you are thinking, given that I live in Lagos, those days seem to be very few. Sighs! 

I actually ‘crashed’ last night - that is what I call when I get so tired and nothing could have gotten me out of bed – not even the thought of breaking out with acne if I do not wash my face before hitting the sheets.  I was that fagged out!!! I even used a very harsh tone to get DD into bed. The weekend was a stressful one - just because I brought work home. It was very annoying as I couldn't watch the marathon of one of my favorite shows, running on DSTV.

Sometimes I am amazed at how work creeps on you when initially it looks like you have the whole time in the world to carry out your assigned task. Well this weekend, I learnt my lesson again, the very hard way as I had to work non-stop from about 2am to 10am on Sunday. Good thing is I got the task done but that also meant I spent the better part of the day catching up on sleep.

Diary of a Lagos working housewife - Part 7

DH is coming back…yippeeeeee. The first thing on my mind was to get a relaxing massage. Even though I was yet to solve the issue of the scattered house, I couldn’t be bothered.  DH once mentioned that my skin was softer after a massage, so what better way to treat him that welcome him with a very soft skin….hehehehe

I am an ardent fan of dealdey online store.  I check the website almost everyday and you could call me a massage prostitute, because anytime there is a massage deal on dealdey, especially if the parlor is on the island, you would find me there.  I once bought a deal for a massage at Ikeja.  I bought 3 tickets at the time and ended up with 3 hours massage and sauna treatment, because I couldn’t make three trips and my friends whom I offered the extra tickets, couldn’t make the trip either.

I made my appointment for my massage for about 5.45pm.  I reckoned that would give me enough time to pick DD from school and get to the massage parlor.  I closed from work at exactly 5pm, thanks to the god of traffic, navigating VI roads wasn’t such a big deal today.

George Zimmerman found not guilty of murder in Trayvon Martin's death

I am not very surprised at this verdict, given my knowledge of the US' jury system. I guess it is all about reasonable doubt....

Here is the report, according to CNN

George Zimmerman never denied shooting Trayvon Martin, but he said he did so in self defense. Late Saturday night, a Florida jury found him not guilty in the teenager's death.

The verdict caps a case that has inflamed passions for well over a year, much of it focused on race and gun rights.  The six jurors -- all of them women -- deliberated for 16½ hours. Five of the women are white; one is a minority.  When he heard his fate, Zimmerman had little visible reaction. He turned and shook the hand of one of his attorneys before sitting back down, smiling only after court was adjourned.

Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, were not in the courtroom when the decision was announced. But they shared their emotions on Twitter shortly afterward.

"Even though I am broken hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY," Tracy Martin tweeted.

Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., said words can't express how relieved his family is. "Having said that, I don't think this is a time for high-fiving," the brother said. "I acknowledge -- we all have acknowledged -- that Mr. Martin, Trayvon Martin, lost his life. (But) it was not an act of murder. It was not an act of manslaughter."

Diary of a Lagos working housewife - part 6

I have been on a break for the last few weeks. Yes, everybody deserves a break..I know you don’t really take a vacation from life but in my mind, I like to give myself such luxuries.  What was the reason for my break, you would ask? Well DH was out of town for about 2weeks and just like any family where the head of the house is not around, I decided to enjoy my break by doing what I sometimes know how to do best – NOTHING!!! I watched DSTV like it was going out of fashion. Oh yeah, that was when I discovered that DSTV repeats the same movies day in, day out…what nonsense!!!! I don’t even want to go on about the fact that we are not getting real value for our very high monthly subscription.

As the days roll by, it occurred to me that I was trying not to miss him.  Day 1 was not bad, apart from the fact that I had to go drop him for his ride at about 3:30am which meant I was grouchy for the remaining part of the day, every other thing went according to my routine. If truth be told, sometimes I enjoy the break from life.  It gives me time to review my priorities, think about my relationship with everyone including God and also decide to make a better attempt at living.  By Day 3, I was becoming uneasy – hmmmm, but he had to travel so I kept my cool. It wasn’t helping that he was so busy and didn’t have time for my usual chattering.

Diary of a Lagos working housewife - Part 5

Hmmmm, did I really forget my shoes at home???? I replayed the whole scene again. I remember choosing the shoes for the day and putting it beside my bag. Where exactly I lost track of it was quite hard to fathom. After analysing the situation for about 5mins, I reckoned it wasn't worth brooding over as I needed a solution and a very fast one at that. 

I did the usual thing, you guessed right...I updated my blackberry messenger  status...hehehehehehehe. While others laughed at my predicament, some offered a few suggestions. A friend pointed out that all would be well if I was not wearing flip flops.

Luckily, I was wearing a ballerina but my good friends know that unless I am ill, you cannot catch me in a pair of flats at work. Apart from that, my ballerina was not compliant with the dress code of my organization, thus it was out of the equation.

As I thought about what to do, it hit me that this would be the 3rd reoccurrence of this incident. The first time was very early in my career life, I was quite lucky that my aunt was working on the island at the time, so she was able to bring a pair of shoes for me. Pending when I picked the shoes from her, I remained semi-glued to my chair.  I wasn’t so lucky the second time as I had to wear my black moses sandal and literally hid in a corner where no one would notice me. 

Are you for or against spanking kids?????

Growing up was fun, absolutely no doubt about that but it had some parts that we weren’t particularly fond of. Being spanked was one of those parts and I would be surprised if there are a lot of people in my generation who were not spanked once or twice during their formative years. We didn’t like being spanked but guess what, getting spanked for misdemeanors are part of the reasons that we are whom we are today. I am an advocate for change even though I tend to resist it at first but I have noticed that it is becoming almost an abomination to spank a child. Well, one of the change agents are the kids themselves. I remember spanking my 3 year old recently and she looked me straight in the eye about 40minutes later and demanded for an apology for getting spanked. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in support of physical abuse but using a cane as a corrective measure was something I grew up with and I must confess that it was one of the things that shaped me. Even the bible says spare the rod and spoil the child. So I am a bit concerned as to whether the no cane policy that we are adopting in this jet age will suit the 21st century kids - a generation with more daring and assertive kids. If you ask me, I am for using a cane ( and I don’t mean electric cables or other harmful whips) as a corrective measure but such kid must know the reason why he/she is being spanked. Also depending on the age of the child, little punishments like facing the wall, the naughty corner or taking away TV time and favorite toys might work. But are we saying we shouldn’t spank at all??? Can we sustain this without spoiling the child?????

Diary of a Lagos working housewife - Part 4

I finally got out of bed and started my morning routine. The first thing I did was to wake DD before heading to the bathroom. She spends an average of 20minutes every morning attending to the call of nature, so the idea is to use her quiet time - that is what I call it... to get ready.

 

Me: wakey wakey baby

DD: is it time to wake up?

Me: yes dear

DD: I want to sleep

Me: That makes two of us, but it's time to wake up. Cou cou baby, do you want to go to school?

DD: yes

Me: it's time to wake up 

DD: ok.  Am I going to school

Me: Yes.

It's very funny how anytime she agrees, she proceeds to do what is necessary. Well, I must comment that today is one of my lucky days because the time it took to wake her up was less than the usual 5 minutes. And to think we have the same conversation every school day???? God bless mothers!