When I was twenty, I thought thirty was old,
then I became thirty and it wasn’t so bad.
Lo Presto! Forty came calling and looks good on me,
that now I realize fifty isn’t old at all.
I realized that age flies and are only numbers when you count,
‘cos these numbers don’t depict the essence of who you are
and the miles you’ve walked in life.
I’ll embrace fifty when it does come round
with grace and a lot of gratitude
for to age is a blessing
that many don’t live to see.
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Angelas‘ brisk steps slowed down to shorter strides as she tussled with her mind to stay focused and not to give in to the nudging temptation, but by the time she had walked a few more yards, her taste buds desire gave up on the battle with her mind and she quickly retraced her steps back to funky munky, promising herself all the way that after the treat she would resist future temptations.
Savouring the burst of sweetness that hit her senses, she closed her eyes in delighted appreciation of each sip of the trademark chocolate combo drink and chewy chunks of chunky monkey.
Satisfied with her quick, sneaky indulgence, she silently chastised herself for not sticking to the plan and got up to leave, only for the door to open and Tim her diet partner and husband walked in.
They both stared at each other in chagrin and burst out laughing sheepishly.
The challenge is simple. Find beauty in everyday mundane things, capture the beauty and upload the photographs.
After meandering around some nooks and crannies of Deira, I was hungry enough to want to buy the roasted chicken. From experience, street food tastes good 😉
“We take small items from the wholesaler on credit to sell. We only earn commissions and maybe extras from the profit of the original amount. Some days sales are poor, but it’s better than doing nothing.”
“It’s difficult to make savings from this, but I hope one day to save enough to have my own small kiosk.”
I ended up buying a whistle 🙂
I have found that once you approach people decently and engage in a conversation, within split seconds, you learn not only a bit more about them, but these little conversations make me pause and be thankful. They make me smile, laugh or sober.
Healing starts with the first step of acknowledgement of your issues and positive reaffirmations. It becomes your beginning. A starting point to the journey of self-forgiveness and reconciliation. The affirmations open up your subconscious by telling it ‘that you are in charge.’ You are taking ownership of the changes that you need to make to get where you need to be.
I connected with Joe in this space many months ago and not only has he been supportive, I find his articles inspiring. I never visit his blog and come away empty handed. Today, he has agreed to share more personal details about himself with us.
Thank you, Joe for obliging my nosy inquisition. My regards and best wishes in your endeavours.
Tell us about Joe. Your background, short biography and general outlook towards life.
I am originally from the Bronx, New York and of Puerto Rican and Scottish descent. My Puerto Rican heritage dominated my life. Yet, I do not speak fluent Spanish. I know nothing about my Scottish heritage.
Me as a baby.
I currently live in Florida with my husband of seven years and our two fur babies Maddy and Lotis.
A dysfunctional family life and living in the Bronx helped to make me one of the statistics. I was a dropout from the school system by the age of 16.
I later returned to school to get my High School Equivalency diploma and went on to college to study Culinary Arts.
I subsequently changed my major to Psychology. I made this decision because I started studying metaphysics and saw a correlation between the two. In my opinion, Cognitive behavioural therapy is very similar to using affirmative self-talk.
I never completed my studies but continued to explore these subjects independently. To this day these are two things that interest me very much.
I am the one on the right.
I love understanding how the mind works… what makes people tick… how habitual thought patterns can be changed.
I love taking a recipe and making it my own… cooking for others and seeing their faces when they are enjoying the meal I created.
My other likes besides cooking and psychology is gardening.
These are some of my plants in my garden.
Some of my crystal collection.
Photography: Some of my shots below.
For my singing, you can check out this post for that.
Pollyanna
Nobody is perfect. But, for the most part, I am a very optimistic person.
I have a strong faith in the goodness of my Creator and I believe that there is a reason for everything, because of this, I tend to look for the silver lining in every situation, even in the midst of hard times I look for the reason and try to adjust my attitude to not resist what is going on. Some might call this being a Pollyanna, but I like to think it’s just having faith that I am always where I’m supposed to be in life.
Transitions
Like all people, I have experienced some events in my life that have changed the direction my life was going.
Miracle On 42nd Street
One such incident happened in the year 1990.
It was the day after Christmas that my life changed as a New York City bus jumped the kerb in Manhattan. I only remember seeing the bus coming toward me. The next thing I remember was being on the corner of 42nd street and Lexington Avenue.
The next day I saw myself pictured on some of the major New York newspapers. There I was, laid out on the corner of the streets of Manhattan. The headline read, Miracle On 42nd Street. I survived this accident only by the pure Grace of God.
I have the belief that things happen for a reason and that this accident was to help prepare me for what was to happen next in my life.
Instant Family
Two months after my accident, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and she lasted only 8 months after finding out about her condition. This resulted into my inheriting the responsibility of raising my two younger brothers.
I wrote a little about this here if you’d like to read about it.
Oops! I Did It Again
After raising my brothers, I eventually ended up working with special needs people as an education coordinator, coach, and trainer. However, my work with this community ended on October 9, 2013, when I experienced another accident.
I bet you thought I was going to say something about Britney Spears 🙂 I won’t go into what happened with this accident, but if you want, you can read about it here.
This latest transition in my life leads to the next question.
Tell us about your blog and your purpose for starting it. Did you have any set goals in mind when you were setting up your blog? What do you think about the blogging phenomenon itself?
After having my last accident my self-image and everything I thought I was changed. I was physically unable to do most of the things I once did. Being physically unable to live as I once had affected me emotionally as well. I soon found myself in depression. The only outlet I had was my journal. One day while writing in my journal I got the inspiration to share my writing and so, “What I Gotta Say About It” was born. However, there’s more to the story.
My Intentions
When I first started my blog, I was really interested in informing people about things they might not have known about. Things like the NSA and our privacy, whistleblowers, our civil liberties being taken away, and the like. I also wanted to discuss spirituality and self-improvement. As time went on I realised I like writing about these things but I needed to focus on something concrete. So, I decided to focus on helping people to realise their highest potential but, I also want to take it a step further.
Building A Community
I have had an awesome experience interacting with the blogging community. So much so, that I created another site in the form of a social network. It is my hope that I will build a community where everyone can share their knowledge and resources with each other. I’m also researching how to create online courses and would like to offer that. It’s not completely finished yet, but soon enough hopefully.
Take us with you on a typical day spent with you. Show us a bit of your World and yes we love photos of your pets if you’ve got any.
My Daily Quagmire
My typical day consists of
Looking for a job.
I was released to go back to work. However, I have limitations. So, this has been quite challenging.
I’m contemplating studying to be a life coach. I think some sort of credential would help me on my mission to help other people.
Taking Care of Maddy & Lotis
Maddy is our dog who is 15 years old. She has random seizures and is prone to getting attacked by Lotis. Lotis is our brand new puppy, who is a handful. We recently lost one of our fur babies (read about that here) and added Lotis to the mix. He is only 3 months old.
Maddy
Lotis
Thank you for the opportunity for the interview Jacqueline.
P.S.: Would you like to grant an interview or guest posting? You can send an email to me at JacquelineObyIkocha@gmail.com
Dates are not only delicious, they are filled with healthy surprises. Abundant in the UAE, Egypt and parts of the Persian Gulf Region/Middle East, this highly nutritious, cholesterol-free fruit has so many varieties that are endowed with nature’s bounty of providing you with various health benefits, though it’s downside maybe it’s richness in sugar for diabetic patients.
The fructose that it contains is far better than the refined sugar that we consume these days and I am exploring using date syrup as my go to sweetener instead of sugar.
A quick look at the health benefits:
Contains vitamins like B1, B2, B3, B5, A1 and C
Boosts heart health.
Anti-Inflammatory properties
Reduced Blood Pressure
Promotes Digestive Health, Relieving Constipation
Boosts Brain Health
Bone Health and Strength
Dietary supplement for anaemic people – increases energy
Increases sexual stamina – when soaked overnight in goat milk and consumed the next morning.
Helps reduction of night blindness
A quick remedy for alcoholic intoxication.
Great for hair and skin.
How to make date juice:
Contents: Water, Dates, Vanilla essence or lemon juice, (Almonds and ground Cardamon are optional).
Note that the quantity of dates that you use depends on how many people you are serving, but for 2 refreshing glasses, a handful of dates will suffice.
Remove the seeds and soak a handful of dates in warm water for 3o mins to 1 hour to soften.
Once the dates have soaked, drain the water then add the dates, One and a half cup of water, lemon juice or vanilla into the container of a high-speed blender and blend for 60 seconds or until smooth.
If desired, you can add ground cardamom or almonds into the mix and blend.
Oh! My dates! I smiled when I saw the prompt ‘dates,’ that Linda gave us for SOCs. How apt! It’s as if she knew that I had some homemade date juice last night – I’ll share the recipe in another post tomorrow – and now I hasten to finish my blog posts, respond to comments, read some blog posts and get ready for my date night with my one and only Dear Himself, my main Boo-Gatti 😉
I need to kick up my dancing heels a wee bit and having young children means that date nights for just the two of us are not as often as they should be. However, to keep stoking the embers of our 16year old romance, we get to squeeze a candlelit, stare into your eyes mushy stuff now and again.
On the other hand, I also try to construct cheap and cheerful stay-at-home dates as well.
Enjoy the weekend folks and a sweet date; be it the fruity type or one with yourself, a book and a delicious cup of beverage 🙂
The more rare an item is, the more expensive it becomes in some cases like the pot of honey below. Even the savant Pooh Bear will attest to the finest taste of this honey. There’s definitely something about it.
Sidr Honey
Sidr honey from Yemen is the rarest and most expensive honey in the world. Sidr honey is sought after because of it’s exquisite taste, it’s health benefits as a natural medicine, and it’s even known as a powerful aphrodisiac. The demand for real Sidr honey from Yemen is so high that it is known to sell for up to 1000$ per Kilogram and if one is not careful to purchase from the right sources, they can be sold the fake product.
Rare Coins
Money has evolved in value over centuries but coins still retain their basic round shape. I wonder what the real cost of these coins found at an archaeological site in Baghdad will be.
Gramophone
A year ago, I saw this grand lady sitting in a corner of a hotel ballroom, whilst music floated through the speakers of the modern CD player. I closed my eyes and imagined the fine & country classics that breezed through the gramophone and the nicely dressed gentry to twirled and twisted to the jives 🙂
![Grilled_chicken[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/grilled_chicken1.jpg)
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a cooking pot and twisted tales 