Being 30+ is cool

I love to read interesting tweets and I got this one from one interesting lady @littleginiK who defines being 30+ as being cool and I totally agree with her. These words are not mine but I had to share them with other women approaching 30 or 30+ because they are very inspiring...

A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom.

Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her or what she's doing.

Women over 30 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 30.They always know.

They are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one!

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick

So there you go! Big 30 is not bad after all :)

Thanks @littleginiK very inspiring :)

The latest in African Themed Weddings- Part 2: Wedding Reception

In part 2  we get some snippets of the the wedding reception 

Notice the brooms on the side of the cake tent? With an African themed wedding there are lots of items you can explore and play around with 

The uteos at the front side of the tent is another aesthetic representing the flowers.

I loved the fabric on the high table tent 

Hay was used as the walk way as you headed to the gazebo

 The entrance to the reception area, a lot of this stuff is locally available and easy to access.

There has been a new trend of Ankara dress designs. Check out this guide to buying Ankara Styled dresses online

The latest in African Themed Weddings- Part 1: Church Ceremony

This was an interesting look at how quickly our African wedding themes are evolving.

Church ceremony

Where the exchange of vows took place

The ceremony walkway

A great way to minimize your budget spend by having both the church ceremony and the reception at the same venue.

Church ceremony set up 

I loved the concept of having hay as part of the stands, I think this bride save alot of cash on flowers.The úteos represented the flowers 

The twelve songs of Christmas

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

Well a friend of mine Wakanyi shared this which was quiet insightful for me since i love this song

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Merry Christmas Everyone

Ovarian Cancer Walk

Please do not interrupt her trip ... She must reach every woman with this message about Ovarian Cancer......


She is walking for Ovarian Cancer. Please pass her on so that she can reach her destination.
Say a prayer for all those who are affected by this terrible disease.
She's walking around the world --- via e-mail!!
Pass it on so she can reach every woman in the world!

Please hit your forward button, so this woman stays animated

Ovarian Cancer Whispers - so listen carefully ...

Watch for Pelvic or abdominal pain or discomfort;
· vague but persistent gastrointestinal upsets such as gas, nausea, and indigestion
· frequency and/or urgency of urination in the absence of an infection;
· unexplained weight gain or weight loss
· pelvic and/or abdominal swelling, bloating and/or feeling of fullness;
· ongoing unusual fatigue;
· unexplained changes in bowel habits.

If symptoms persist for more than 2 weeks, ask your doctor for a combination pelvic/rectal exam,
CA-125 blood test, and trans-vaginal ultrasound.

A Pap Test WILL NOT detect ovarian cancer.
Please keep her going.

21 things that change when you have a baby

These changed when I became mom, including what other moms said courtesy of www.babycenter.com

1. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

2.You finally respect your body

3. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

4. You respect everyone who is called a mother.

5. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

6. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

7. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

8. Every day is a surprise.

9. You become a morning person.

10. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

11. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth." — Anonymous

12. You'd rather buy a plastic toy than those shoes you've been dying to have

13. "Silence? What's that?" — Anonymous

14. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had." — Ronin and Brookie's mom

15. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule." — Thomas' mom

16. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one." — Jaidyn's mom

17. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late." — Tracey

18. You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution. — Anon.

19. Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING! — DylanLsMom

20. No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!" — Anon.

21. You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo." — littlehulk2008

Security Awareness

A friend of mine forwarded this information on email that I thought I should share.


START TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF "REVERSE PARKING "
READ THIS MESSAGE AND UNDERSTAND WHY YOU MUST GET INTO THE HABIT OF REVERSE PARKING

Warning..!!!!
Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public
car park. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the
rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home,
it was a receipt for petrol. Luckily my friend told me not to
stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the
car Then we received this email yesterday.

WARNING FROM POLICE
THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN
BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE--
NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating... You walk
across the car park, unlock your car and get inside. You
start the engine put it into Reverse.

When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle
of the rear window. So, you stop and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.
When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically run you over as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.
So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your
money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are
now compromised!


BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, lock your doors and just drive away.
Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you
read this e-mail.. I hope you will forward this to friends and
family, especially to women.
A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.
Please tell all your friends

Lunga Lunga - Lessons NEVER Learnt

Yesterday was yet another sad day for Kenyans. Another large group of Kenyans perish: an accident that could have been avoided. Questions racing on my mind: is it really poverty? or is it apathy?

Photo courtesy of Jammii Forums

People leaving on top of pipelines that transport petrol? Are they not afraid or is it indifference? Then the pipes leak and people actually run to where the danger is, instead of running away from it. You want to siphon fuel....who buys this fuel any way? There seems to be a market for it because people always run to siphon fuel whenever there is a leak.

According to residents this is not the first time its happening. Happens all the time but this time round someone just lit a ciggarrete and that was it.

Its sad that we live in a society where people never learn from past tragedies. Sachangwan enough people died but the people in Sinai did not seem to care at the time the fuel leaked.

Apparently government has begged these people to move from here. Poor planning I must say. You ask people to move ...to where? I guess that is the question that comes to their minds once they are asked to move.

Its sad that this tragedy will still happen again. Why? because there are no systems in place to have these people move out of here. Government is always reacting to such problems. Government says they will be compensated. But all this would have been avoided had the govenment had proper planning.

Kenya Pipeline will take no responsibility because they took action immediately and this leak happened on the storm water drainage system that flows outside the KPC systems.

We need leadership with action. Leaders like John Michuki who enforced the traffic rules and ensured that they were followed to the latter. He is the same leader while at the Internal Security docket had the Mungiki Menance in Central put on a leash. We need such leaders or leaders who can emulate them

Can it start with me as an individual and what can the middle class Kenyan do to help make a difference??

Guide Through Nairobi's Uhuru Park

Take a walk with me. This is the experience I had this weekend as I was leaving a meeting at Uhuru Park.

The place was a hustle and bustle of activities. It was the last weekend before schools open and during the week was IDD holiday so children and parents alike were taking advantage. I realized this is a favorite hang out for kids the ages between 0-15 years.

Remember these boats? When I was growing up we had someone take us using the row but now they are advanced you just take the boat and ride yourself.


And the cue that was waiting was to ride on these boats was long

A lot was going on from children being taken round in these large toys, to camel rides:

Remember this place? This is where landmark events in our history happen like the signing of the new constitution, the Narc revolution of 'Who can bwogo me?' and 'Yote ya wezekan bila Moi'... yeah alot has happened and continues to happpen here. Even public holidays are held here. Freedom corner is also here a place where Wangari Mathaai and mothers of political prisoners came to demand the release of their sons who had been arrested for political reasons.

Before the era of digital cameras this is how it worked....

Nothing is talked about this Monument but there is another one across the road called the Nyayo Monument

Nyayo Monument

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia


That was a trip down Memory lane for me I certainly enjoyed my afternoon here:-)

Tuju Sheng

The elections are around the corner ....or so you may think. Elections are a year away and we have twenty something presidential candidates. Of all only a few stand a chance. Now there is one man..Raphael Tuju who just launched his presidential campaign. This guy should go back to the drawing board and re strategize on how to connect with us.Actually he needs a few tricks here and there on how to marketing himself to the youth and presenting himself infront of a camera.

httpv://www.youtube.com/raphaeltuju#p/u/1/xiePiD8iiQ8

Marketing himself to the youth

1.First lose the sheng talk does not work at all.
Im youth and you certainly did not communicate to me when you spoke in that language.
2. Start connecting with your audience emotionally: That presentation just looked blank; you had a blank face no emotion, enthusiasm at all.
3.You assume you have been there...Nope you havent we are are from two different worlds and certainly the youth (us) are from a different school of thought from you.
4.We have solutions to the problems you think which I know for sure you have even bothered to ask us what we think.

Presentation

TV producers call this PTC -as in; piece to camera i.e The person in front of the camera.

1. You need to be yourself and by speaking sheng he was not himself.
2. Your face tells alot and on this one you were struggling to just express yourself
3. The director should have said cut to the gazzillionth time until you got it right...but I guess they got tired of your boring tone going on and on and on.
4.You sounded so bored and mundane

Parting shot

Tuju needs to re strategize or look for a strategist that is in sync with the youth he so badly needs to connect with; he was President Kibaki's advisor in 2007 elections on media relations and former MP for Rarieda Constituency. What milestones has he achieved in both positions which he can sell to us?

He has failed in trying to connect to the people who at least do not believe in tribal-gods.
If he does not turn around soon, he will lose my vote which he has potential of getting, and grace my list of Shenzi Types and Political Comedians and Quacks