Can You Lend An Ear?

While I was at work one day this week doing my tables (I work in retail and was assigned to the clothing tables) I heard exclamations of, “Oh my God, I cannot believe I find a pair, wow I’m so happy.” I ignored the lady and kept folding the articles of clothing on my table grumbling under my breath about the inconsideration of customers who dug up the tables of clothing as if seeking gold, especially when all the sizes are displayed prominently on the pieces of clothing. I was in my own world minding my own business and I just kept going.

I heard another shout of, “Oh my God another pair, wow today is my lucky day, doesn’t take much to make me happy at all wow!” This time I spun around and a lady about 60-65 years old was going through some designer jeans and found herself two pairs of black ones in size 14 and she was ecstatic. I honestly thought she was talking to her friend or maybe a fellow shopper but she was alone. I know why she was so happy, the retail establishment carried a lot of designer clothing labels and the price was great compared to the department store and savvy shoppers know a great deal when they see one and to find your size on that particular day was like icing on the cake. The sizes go real fast as sometimes shoppers shop for their friends and relatives also. It’s not unusual to see them on their cell phone describing or taking pictures and then leaving with several pairs.

Still I gave her a half smile and resumed my folding. She walked up to me still talking. “I can’t believe I found my size, you see, I lost a pant size and… then I heard, oh you don’t really care”… I stopped short, put away the article of clothing I had and gave her my full attention. I looked her in the eye and apologized.
“I’m sorry, you were saying?”
It so happened she lost a pant size because she was on a diet, so I congratulated her and then she said it was a starvation and a suffering diet. I was puzzled. She explained that her mom had died recently and then her house was burnt to the ground all her possessions, memories were now ashes and now she was living temporarily elsewhere. She also explained that because of all that she had gone through her appetite was non-existent. I told her I was so sorry she had to experience all of that and hopefully things can only get better from then on.

Finding the jeans in her new size and for the price she paid, she was expressing new-found joy I guess, about the little things that made her happy. She wasn’t giving up; she was determined to still find her joy. She was grateful and happy enough to share her joy and her story knowing all that she went through recently and I felt this (put your thumb and forefinger close together) big for my behavior and selfishness towards her expressions of joy earlier. So wrapped up I was in myself!

I know the lesson is to be thankful and grateful for the little things and not to take anything or anyone for granted. It took a senior citizen who had gone through hell and back to remind me. Thanks lady!
“Dear God, thanks for all my blessings, those I’ve acknowledged and those I have not Amen!”

Having Blood Drawn!

“Aaaawwww, omg! Ouch! Oooh! Omg! dooo-nt! Omg!”
“Please stop all that noise, he said, you’re going to scare all the rest of my patients.”
I watched with squinting eyes as his steady hand with the needle approached the blue vein in my arm and…omg! Ouch! Oooh! Ouch! Wait; wait pleeease, just a minute… All this happened after he gave me a bright orange sickenly sweet liquid to consume and I had asked if I could have ice in it and he laughed at me. I then asked if I could have a gum to take the taste out of my mouth and again it was a no! I could only rinse with water but couldn't swallow any of it as that could mess with the purity of the test. All this was said and done on a fasting that started at midnight and it was now 9:30 in the morning!I had a hour to wait for the first needle. I was so not looking forward to it.

“Shhhh, you’ll make them think I’m hurting you.”
“That’s because you are! Hello! You’re sticking a needle in my arm!”
He said, “Ok, calm down and take a deep breath… just breathe, now form a fist and take another deep breath. I felt a pin prick. “Release the fist and breathe”. I felt it as he adjusted the vial below in his hand. I watched as the dark red liquid ran through tubes and I watched again as he changed vials four times!
“Did you feel that?”
“Yes I did!”
“Ok it’s over; see you at 10:30 sharp!”

This was a three hour blood test and this was just the first hour!!
I am such a wimp!!... Lata!

July 11, 2009

T-Shirts Captions

I’ve always been fascinated by tee shirt captions because I think they express what an individual usually feels for that day (or hour maybe) when it was donned. Most importantly they are usually funny and I am cheered for that minute or hours after I read them. I stare unabashedly straight at their chest and read in silence and then burst out laughing and got dirty looks in the process because I think they sometimes forget that they have words written across their chest. Once I turn their attention to the words, I get a smile or outright laughter.

I decided to highlight a few I’ve seen so far that tickled my funny bone. I just love how clever and tongue-in-cheek they are. See for yourself.

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I taught your girlfriend that thing you love so much! (This was on the well muscled chest of a Latino guy)

Are you as think as I drunk am I? (This one is easy, had one or six drink too many)

Lord keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth. (Self- explanatory)

I know it all… I just can’t remember it all at once. (Memory impaired perhaps?)

High Maintenance (This one was a hoot because the woman wearing this looks to be in her seventies, head wrapped in bright floral scarf, skirt with huge floral prints and sneakers with socks…so far from the caption written across her chest.)

Orgasm Donor (Do you really need an explanation for this one? A very confident teenage boy was wearing it)

He loves me (Big letterings) I love him not! (Small letterings)

Sarcasm- just one of my many talents!


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Readers if you see any more tongue-in-cheek captions please send them to me at “bookworm5316@yahoo.com” please and thank you...Lata!

Just learned this morning July 20th, that one of my favourite author, Frank McCourt has passed away. I read his critically acclaimed novel "Angela's Ashes" for which he received a pulitizer prize and his other novel "Tis". He was a very talented writer.He will be missed.
R.I.P Mr. McCourt.

He did it! Yeah!
June 29, 2009

“No more pencils, no more books”
“No more teachers’ dirty looks”

It’s summer and school is out! Need I say more? My son has been out of school for two days now and I’m so very happy and proud of him I don’t know myself. He has advanced to fourth grade!! I’m tickled pink (yellow, orange you name it). He did it! My loving and amazing child has advanced to fourth grade for next semester!!

Towards the end of the semester he was having difficulties with his teacher who happens to be a wonderful, disciplined and fair teacher. He wasn’t getting along with her as he felt she was picking on him unfairly and she didn’t like him. I had to explain to him that if the teacher didn’t care about him she wouldn’t go through the trouble of correcting him or sending home notes with the intention of resolving the problem. I was getting notes from her in the meantime explaining what was going on and let’s just say it was just a messy situation. His father bellowed and scowled at him. I took over. I wasn’t trying to scare him into behaving. I wanted him to listen and understand, to know why it was important and not be scared or frightened into it.

I was frustrated, angry with his behavior and disappointed but… I loved him through it. I encouraged him through it and I talked to him constantly through it, explaining why he needed to be respectful of his teachers. Why he needed to be more attentive in class so that he could be successful in his future endeavors. I also got angry with him at times when I thought he should’ve understood but demonstrated otherwise… but as always I loved him through it and I prayed! Did I pray! I prayed for patience in dealing with him, I prayed for God to let him understand and I prayed some more because that’s what I know to do when all else failed.

It was his final day of the last semester in third grade and so I, like all the other parents out there was expecting report cards. I was hoping, praying and anxiously waiting (a bundle of nerves inside) but cool, calm and collected on the outside. I didn’t want to put all that pressure on him. When I came in from work that evening, my husband met me at the door and said “bad news sweetie, he has to repeat third grade.” I knew right away, he advanced! How? Because he didn’t even wait for me to put my bag down before all that came out and he didn’t look frustrated or disappointed enough. I asked where Mark was, he said, “I sent him to his room”. My heart sank, but I kept my cool.
I was a bit upset at him. “Why’d you send my child to his room, he needs to be comforted blah, blah, blah…”

I went to Mark’s room and he was in bed covered and smiling under the sheets. They had planned the whole thing and he was grinning from ear to ear! To make a long story short, he made it! He advanced to the next grade! He got four on the State’s math test and three on the English Language test (on both test four is the highest one can score) and for his regular subject scores he did well.
I gave him a high-five, big hug and told him how proud I was of him and how I knew he could do it. We hugged and rocked, grinning stupidly with me just loving him. Thank you God!

I took him to a neighborhood restaurant on the weekend and treated him to lunch, just us two, mother and son. It was wonderful. His dad who is equally proud of him took him to one of his favourite spot, “Chuckie’s Cheese where he had tons of fun. He came home quite exhausted.
He made it… Yeah!
Congratulations Mark, we love you!

Michael 'Prince' Joseph Jackson

Michael 'Prince' Joseph Jackson has moon-walked off the world’s stage. He died on Thursday June 25, 2009 leaving family, friends and loyal fans shocked and mourning in his wake.

He was truly a musical genius, an amazing and gravity-defying dancer as well as a uniting force, bringing people of various background and class together where his music was concerned. He was a shrewd business man. He was also a devoted father of three beautiful children. His parents has lost a son, his siblings has lost their brother, nieces and nephews lost their uncle and the world has lost an iconic, talented and amazing musician and dancer. It’s a very tragic and shocking death.

His fame came with the usual ups and down and his personal life was filled with scandals of the worst kind. There were court cases. He was acquitted. There was also talk that he was in major debt. He didn’t escape the negatives that came with fame. He was eccentric. He was brilliant!

He put his whole being into creating and executing his dance moves. He was magical when dancing. So graceful, so light and so powerful simultaneously!

Rest in peace Michael. May you be remembered for your positive contributions to the music industry and for your devotion as a father to your three beautiful children as well as to your family and loyal fans. You will be missed!

My favorite MJ songs

Man in the mirror (absolute favorite)

ABC- 123 (Jackson 5)

I Want You Back (Jackson 5)

I’ll be there (Jackson 5)

Heal the World

Billie Jean

“Let go and let God”
June 17, 2009


I’ve been trying to live, weave, intersperse if you will this concept in my life a lot lately and as simple as it sounds putting it into practice is the hardest thing ever, but it is possible.

Life has been challenging lately, basically for everyone whom this recession has affected and for whatever other reasons had to rely on one pay check as opposed to the two you had before, among other things. Personally my behind is sore from all the ‘kicking’ I’ve been receiving and financially my purse and bank book has been in an eternal recession especially since I was laid off and my savings had to go towards paying rent, and personal bills (read credit cards, medical bills, a small amount but still…) I have a child who’s growing like a weed out of his clothes and sneakers and for whatever reason, boy’s clothes are very expensive as compared to girls. I have a husband whose job was also affected by the economy’s down-turn. I am not unique in this situation and this is not a “woe is me” blog post, on the contrary, I’m happy and grateful enough everyday I’m allowed to wake up, live and breathe that day and to be thankful for my blessings those I’ve acknowledged and the ones I have not for that day. I know I’m Blessed!

This is instead a post about Hope and Faith. This is about having it, exercising it, believing it, releasing it and expecting that you will have a positive outcome when all is said and done.

There’s a saying… “When men on earth has done their best, only angels in heaven can do the rest” (or something similar) and I firmly believe that is the perfect time to ‘let go and let God’ and that simply means, surrendering all your cares and troubles to Him(whomever you deem Him to be), release your Faith, stand back and watch!
He knows exactly what you need and when you need it.
Surrender and release your faith, knowing that He hears, understands and believe He’s working on your behalf on what He thinks is best for you and not necessarily what you believe you want or need. You also have to remember He works on his time, not yours! When you make two steps forward and three steps back and constantly falling on your face and not for lack of trying or being uncoordinated, having two left feet, then it’s clearly time to ‘let go and let God’.

When you are used to being in control of your life, managing and micro-managing the day to day living, the tangibles and suddenly everything is falling apart at the seams and no matter how skilful you are it’s impossible to keep all the balls in the air, then it’s a whisper to ‘let go…’ You won’t be giving up, nor are you expected to, you are just handing it to Him in faith and keep on moving no longer worrying, having sleepless nights or panic attacks about the ‘what ifs’ life has to offer.
To “let go and let God” is a little like being a trapeze artist in the air without a net below executing expert and complex maneuverings knowing if your timing is off by a second you’re doomed…that’s what it feels like and it’s the hardest thing in the world to do but the minute you surrender in Faith, believing, releasing and expecting a positive outcome you’ll be amazed at the peace you’ll experience and most importantly how effortlessly and miraculously things fall into place. That’s when you know He’s working.

Sounds weird and unbelievable I know but I’m a believer because time and time again I’ve experience this and I know without a doubt it works! Of course this is after frustratingly trying to do it myself over and over fighting and being miserable until the light bulb goes off and I said “okay God, I’m done, I have no fight left, please help me!” That would be my way of surrendering.

Sometimes I have terrible arguments with Him too, oh yeah, about the ‘whys’(questions) and the futility in trying and he lets me goes through all of that and for what…terrible verbal arguments (crazy I know) but I do and in a quiet moment I’ll usually ‘hear’ and be humbled.
So whenever life decides to trip you up and it will, take a moment, breathe, pray, (meditate if that’s your thing) exercise and release your faith, believing and expecting that it will be taken care of… doors will be open, someone will just walk up to you or have a phone conversation or you’ll open a book and the answer, solution will be revealed to you. That in itself is the most exciting aspect to me because I usually can’t wait to see how He reveals Himself. Have a blessed day…Lata!

May 12, 2009


When Do You Say When?

Been going through some emotional, passive-aggressive, stone- walling experiences lately with my significant other and the above question popped into my head and I’m just wondering when do you just say, “to hell with this!” and walk away huh?

I know in every relationship, there are ups and down, good and bad moments and we more or less have to try to resolve same especially if child (ren) are involved and most importantly if we still have something tangible to hold us together. I know I love my husband and family unit, I also know that life is not perfect nor do I expect it to be, but sometimes I know I really, really dislike him too, or rather his ways, especially his passive-aggressive, behaviour which to me is infantile and just plain stupid!! Seriously the way he operates sometimes, he makes it easy, very easy to dislike him and his annoying attitudes, some days, weeks or even months. This problem is not unique to me and mine I’m sure. I know there are people out there with whom this resonates.

If there’s a problem I will speak up and I expect the same from him, but he hardly ever says anything, he will listen patiently and says things like, “why would you say that? Or he’ll say, “What do you mean by that?” but he never fully expresses himself verbally, that just makes me really angry!! Know what that makes me look like? A nag! Yeah that’s how I end up sounding when I am speaking and he has nothing to say, I sound and look like a nag, which I am most emphatically not! So now I shut up and nothing gets resolved. It can be a rather frustrating cycle.

I expect him to be responsible and diligent in taking care of his family and I really don’t tolerate excuses or mediocre explanations that cannot be proven and yet this is the same man whom when I was ill and in incredible and indescribable pain he was there for me, washing and taking care of me, making sure I had whatever I needed and woke up every morning, got our son ready for school and made sure I was set before he left for work. I can hear the whisperings, “but that’s his job right, the vows said for better or worse.” Yeah, about that, saying the vows is one thing, but when reality hits it’s something else. Seemed to me he’s at his best when I’m down. He knew exactly what to do and go about it seamlessly, but the minute I’m back on my feet, he’s back to the same old, same old “couldn’t- care- if- Sunday- falls- on- a- Monday- type of man.”
What is that about?

He’s a rather generous man and very even-tempered most of the times. He gets along great with his friends and is easily approachable. We get along great most of the times and he and our son do have a really good relationship full of life, laughter and special times together. But for the times we don’t get along so smoothly, everything is magnified times ten and I’m sure that’s not fair, but that’s how life is, sometimes it stinks!

Anyway, I guess deep down I know how much I can and will tolerate because everyone has a point of no return and truthfully I am now frustrated and pissed off but I don’t think I’m there as yet…lata!