The Graduate!

At last, my baby has graduated from high school. If you have been picking and dropping your child to and from school, you'll understand the huge sigh of relief my husband and I expressed a few weeks before her graduation.

I remember my husband one night just before he fell asleep whispering "Oh I can't wait for her to graduate then I'll be able to sleep longer every morning." I burst out laughing knowing how stressful it had been.

Talking about stress, mine was worse. My daughter is a very active girl and participated in many extra curricular activities, namely TRi-M (the Honor society for Music), Scholastic Bowl, Mosaic, Chamber Choir and the like. I had to be picking her up on activity days, bring her home and then take her back in the evening or at night depending on whatever activity she was involved with.

The worse part is knowing she closes at 2.24 pm and whiles I'm halfway to the school, I receive a text "Mom, can you please come at 4?"

Hmm! So what do I do? Our home is far from the school and because I do not want to waste gas returning home and then having to go back, at times I'll just go to the Mall and whiles walking around whiling away the time, I shop against my best judgment and spend money on un-budgeted items!

Or at times, I would just go and park at the school, read, listen to the radio or just fall asleep. This happened during winter as well so I had my little red blanket at the back of the car and covered myself to keep warm.

What wouldn't a mother do for her child? But now, it's all over. The baby of the house is about to enter college and may be, just may be, my husband and I will be able to take the needed break from running her up and down to and from school.

But it was all worth it when we saw her as one the few out of 900 students wearing a gold cord, honoring her as an Indian Prairie Scholar (having a GPA over 3.8) and also a pink cord honoring her as a member of the Music Honor Society of Tri M, walking to go and receive her diploma as part of Class of 2010 from Waubonsie Valley High School; The Warriors!!! It was a great day!!!

Have you ever gone through such a thing? How did you feel? Just share your 'frustrations' with me and everyone.

Cheers!!!

Sophie is One month old today! Hurray!

My grandbaby Sophie is exactly one month old today. As I opened my eyes today at 6.30 am, my mind went back to that day in April when she made her debut into this world of ours and into our lives. I started thinking about how tired I had been on that day because I had hardly had a wink of sleep due to the excitement.

You can see her with her grandparents from her dad's side on the left and her grandparents from the mom's side on the right.

But look at her. Isn't she lovely hmm, do you remember Stevie Wonder's song?

She has really proved to be a spunky little gal like her grandmama and I believe we are going to have a very grand time when she and her Mama come to visit us here in Chicago next weekend. They are coming to attend the high school graduation ceremony of my last child.

Speaking about my last child, have you noticed how stressful it is to get your child into the university these days? Hm! She had to be coached to excel in her SAT and ACT tests. After this came the applications to the many schools who kept sending tons of materials to her to persuade her to choose their school. Well I kinda felt proud that among the schools were the Ivy League schools like Columbia, Yale and Brown. It was like a competition; all because my girl had scored very high marks in both the SAT and ACT tests! Whew!

Of course I didn't want my baby going off to school on the east coast because it is too far from home and I will not be able to visit whenever I missed her. So you know what, I prayed and the schools closer to home offered her more scholarship which we couldn't afford to reject. So, she will be going off to a school in the very next State where her older sister, Sophie's mom is an alumni. Infact, they can't wait to see her 'cos Sophie's mom did so well there and graduated from there with a Magna Cum Laude! Yes, man! She excelled and is now in medical school. I thank God for His merciful kindness to me. I always pray that He will continue to keep me and my family safe from the storms of this life.

Do you pray at all? If you don't then you are one of the few people on this earth without any problems but I won't go into it now; another time.

Cheers!

I'm A Grandma!

Hi guys, I became a grandma for the first time on April 12th 2010. One of my daughters gave me this blessing and this pleasure of enjoying a grand child.
Her name is Sophie Marie. She was born at 1.48 am, weighed 8lbs and was 18.5 inches long.
This baby was late for one week.

I had taken time off, exactly 3 weeks off from my p/t job to go and be with my daughter. I had selected the time based on the due date proposed by her doctor and midwife. I had thought that at least Sophie would be born during the first week of my time off so that I'll be able to spend two weeks with them.

Not so. Sophie refused to arrive on her due date which was supposed to be the 6th. But the 6th passed and the days just kept on passing by. You can imagine my frustration but my daughter's was worse 'cos the baby had dropped very low and was resting on her pelvis, so walking had become a chore and of course sleeping had become impossible!

Everytime we went to visit the hospital, they would say, "Oh don't worry, we are sure that you will not visit us next week; the baby would be here then but just in case, just set up another appointment for next week." We did this twice and we were very frustrated. We were made to know that the baby always decides when she wants to see the world! The baby is ALWAYS in control. Whew!

Then the contractions started on the 4th and then disapperaed. This continued till the 11th. During this time, anytime we thought the baby was coming and we rushed to the hospital, we were told that my daughter had not dilated enough to warrant her stay in the hospital so we were always sent home.

On the evening of the 10th, around 12 midnight, the contractions were so painful for my daughter that we just had to rush her to the hospital. She was tested and we heard the same story that she had not dilated enough so we should go back home. This time I made them to understand that we were not going back home and that I wanted my daughter monitored since I was afraid that something could go wrong. They gave us a place to rest but in the morning the contractions had slowed down considerably. So we had to leave at 6 am, disappointed.

Then the real McCoy began, I say the real McCoy 'cos I saw the difference between the type of contractions we had been seeing before and this latest one. This time, my daughter could not even stand so around 12 noon we went to the hospital for the 'last' time. This time, she had dilated enough and she was admitted. Whew! Was I relieved. The contractions stretched out till after midnight of the 12th when she fully dilated and they asked her to do the push.

O thank goodness that this didn't take long 'cos by 1.48, Sophie had decided to exit her mama's womb. And guess what, she came out with both eyes wide open! Yes, everyone was surprised. She was just looking around and then she finally gave a yell, loud enough to wake the dead all in her 8lbs glory. Oh, it was a beauuuuuuuuutiful sight!!!

I am very proud of my daughter who is a medical student and who went back to school just a week after giving birth, strong and ready to face her books once again.
So people, I am a grandmama and my mother has finally received her first great grand child. Mind you, this is not new in our family. God has been good to us that He makes us to live to see our great grand child and believe you me, I am very sure that it will not be different in my case.

Cheers!!!

Breast Cancer Survivor

It's been a long time since you heard from me. This is because I was diagnosed with breast cancer! I was in shock when I received the diagnosis from my doctor because it blew away all the misconceptions I had had about breast cancer and how one could get it.

I had been made to understand it is hereditary. How wrong this is because no one in my family has ever had breast cancer or any other type of cancer for that matter! I know 'cos I saw my great grandmother before she died and she died from old age at 103. My grandmother also died from old age at 96. From my father's side, my grandmother lived to be over 110 they say while my father died at 98.

Spewing all the stats above does not make me old. It just happens that my mom was very young when my father married her. So!
I know that when many receive such diagnosis, they regard it as a death sentence. I didn't. I was determined to find the root cause and fight it. It was during my reserach I discovered that 85% of women who have breast cancer do not have it within their families and that only 5-10% of breast cancer is hereditary. What? I could not believe it because such misconceptions can lead many to ignore the signs of this disease or take precautionary measures to prevent it.

I also discovered that women who have more than 3 drinks daily are at risk of getting breast cancer. Another cause is stress from everyday life. Women who are between ages 40 and above who have a lot of body fat and do not exercise are also at risk.

So these are only a few of the causes of breast cancer. So now that you know this what are you going to do to prevent having this disease?

A monthly self-breast exam is key to discovering the lump which indicates the presence of cancer. We need to cut down on drinking alcohol; we have to watch our weight by watching and being careful about what we eat. We have to stay away from processed foods like canned goods and eat more of fresh fruits and vegetables.

After these things, just keep your fingers crossed and pray to your God and believe that you will live to testify that you are one of the few increasing survivors from this disease.

Till then, write to me and share your experiences with me so that others may learn from them.
Cheers!

How to identify an abused relationship – 24 Tips

By Rita A. Coker

Every human being needs love and a relationship. We are made this way. No one wants to live alone except they are forced to do so due to one thing or the other. Because of this, many people, if not everybody seeks some form of a relationship.

Unfortunately many of these relationships end up very badly because we fail to see the signs of an abuser or a potential one. Is this a classic example of what they say that love is blind? Hopefully, the tips below, which are by no means exhaustive, will help mothers to counsel their daughters and friends to counsel their friends.

If you want to test your relationship to see if it’s a healthy one, watch out for the following signs:

A very possessive partner
They always want to know who has called you
They try to read your mails
They read your text messages
They try to listen in on your conversations with friends and even family members.
They sulk when you don’t give them what they request for
They are bad tempered
Refuse to forgive easily when offended
They are not friendly with your friends or even family members
They try to get you to break up your relationships with friends and even family members
Highly jealous whenever you speak with the opposite sex
They discourage you from responding to party invitations from friends
They start complaining about your job
They are very domineering
They complain about how you dress instead of making suggestions
They throw things and destroy things when they get angry
You cannot question their actions and if you do they blow up
They refuse to let you meet their family members or friends
Whenever they misbehave, they accuse you for making them do it
They cannot give you compliments
They speak harshly to you most of the times
They never appreciate whatever you do
They stalk you
They do not trust you

If you are seeing more than 2 of the above, please run for your dear life. You are definitely living in an abused relationship or you are heading for one. Your happiness is very important. Go
and find someone who will truly appreciate you and love you. Love yourself. Be your own boss.

To be your own boss follow the link below:

http://paydotcom.com/r/38495/nanao/20481081

Are you suffering from Domestic Violence? Learn More…

By Rita Coker

Domestic violence can be defined as any form of abuse against another person in a relationship in a domestic setting. It is all about power issues and control. It can be between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, parent to child and vice versa.

There are different types of domestic violence even though more people are aware of the physical type of violence which leaves obvious marks on the victim.

Other forms of domestic violence which are less obvious are mental or emotional abuse whereby the perpetrator uses words or actions to humiliate the victim and leaves the victim demoralized and can lead to inferiority complex in the victim.

Economic or financial abuse: whereby the perpetrator does not allow the victim to work outside the home and can even ask the victim to stop working regardless of their profession. In this case the victim has to depend on the perpetrator for every single thing and if it’s a woman, she may depend on the perpetrator even for sanitary towels. The victim can be punished by not receiving anything they request for be it clothing, shoes etc and having no money, they are kept under the control of the abuser. You need financial independence to survive!

Social abuse: this is the situation whereby the victim is not allowed to socialize with anybody, not friends, not family members. The aim is to cut off the victim from anyone who could counsel the victim to report the abuse or leave the relationship.

Cultural abuse: This type of abuse appears in the form of racial statements and racial slurs against the victim. Some perpetrators often force the victim to dress in a certain way.

Sexual abuse: This type of abuse manifests itself in both obvious and non-obvious ways. The obvious one is rape and incest but the less obvious ones are sexual innuendos to victims about part of their bodies or rubbing themselves against the victim.

All the above forms of abuse except physical abuse are not obvious and are more deadly according to psychologists because they are internalized and could cause the victim to self destruct.

More often than not, the victims are made to think that it is their fault. They are told that it is because of their bad behavior that has caused the perpetrator to abuse them. This is the reason why many victims of domestic violence refuse to report their abusers because they blame themselves. Another reason why victims fail to report the abuse is that the perpetrator would often become remorseful and promise never to do it again. This misleads the victim into thinking that the abuser would change.

What people do not realize is that an abuser never changes not unless they receive counseling and show a definite turn around in their behavior.



You want to be financially independent click the link below for more information:

http://paydotcom.com/r/13514/nanao/20479942