Accumulated Points…Streams of consciousness Saturday.

September 4, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

I love accumulating points or funds in the kitty and watch it amount to something that’s useful later. I also have favourite things such as books that I tend to hold on to but over the past few years, due to our moves from Continent to Continent, I have learnt to minimise my pile by giving them out and the thing is that once I’ve given something away, I don’t miss it. socsbadge2016-17

A number of times, I have been privileged to use the points accumulated from my travel miles to purchase a treat for myself from the flight’s tempting catalogue without paying a dime extra and the feeling from such freebie is totally awesome 🙂

As a thrifty spender, I keep my eye’s peeled for great bargains on food stuff because a penny kept, is a penny saved and the accumulation of those pennies come in handy. On Friday I used the 50 Dirhams (14 dollars) bonus credit that I accumulated from previous purchases to buy 2 dozen oranges, some strawberries, mangoes and grapes; the fruits tasted extra good 😉

Naturally, it’s a challenge to accumulate anything because it takes time and patience to build up anything and this equally applies to the finer points of human relationships such as trust.

The only thing I don’t fancy accumulating is stress, anger and lest I forget ‘weight.’ 😉 I’d rather address an issue that’s getting on my nerves and move on rather than to keep ignoring it until it gets too much and all that accumulated emotion comes bursting out one fine day.

Such an approach of storing up negative emotions tends to lead to overreactions and it takes just mere minutes to tear down that which has been built over time.

Accumulation – SoCS

The Daily Post

Mirrored Images…

September 3, 2016September 3, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha27 Comments

The mirror does have a way of distorting images, so it’s important to make peace with it especially when you are looking at yourself. Remember that the mirror of your mind is by far more important than that of others because their views might be distorted due to the specks in their eyes 😉

Mirrors, The Daily Post

Dark nights – Friday Fiction in Five Sentences.

September 2, 2016September 2, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha13 Comments

Image result for a man smoking in the dark

Mark sat in the dark smoke-filled room, the only light came from the red glow of his cigarettes.

Silent nights were his worst companions but he couldn’t stand the meaningless drone of the TV, where everyone looked cheerful and conversed with the ease of those who led normal lives. He hated the silent nights.

PTSD. That was what the doc said. PTSD. An easy blanket name used to describe his postwar struggles, and a handful of prescription that didn’t take away the recurring booms of explosives, the pungent stench of charred human bodies, the severed limbs, and the blood; so much blood.

The heroes welcome had been short-lived, for in the land fit for heroes there’s hardly any jobs for those like him and he wished he was back in Afghanistan, where he knew his place.

Now, he just didn’t know himself anymore.

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Writer's Quote Wednesday

Comic relief – WQWWC

September 2, 2016September 11, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha15 Comments

By the time I’m done living, I want my entire being to be thoroughly engraved upon with laughter lines of hilarious moments stumbled upon. Jacqueline

Truth comes out in moments of laughter and real life circumstances serve as fodder for comedians who turn them into amusing anecdotes with the underlying truth nicely or sometimes not nicely veiled.

I certainly love a hearty laugh for life can get too serious at times but there are times that we’ve got to be truly mindful of things that we laugh at, for not everything is a source of comedy. Crass jokes about rape, molestation et al are distasteful, to say the least.

I enjoy searching out good funnies every day and laugh till tears run down my face. My husband and I get to share jokes that we find and that also serves as a warm moment for us when we are together 😉

On the other hand, if not for the seriousness of the issues at hand, the state of the World politics has become a comedy of sorts. The political commentaries have been thoroughly entertaining to read and watch and beneath the deluge of opinions that everyone seems to have, the truth lies somewhere.

I prefer comedy without the tragedy

for laughter is a sweet melody to the ears

and rhapsody that enriches the soul.

****

Comedy – WQWWC

A Click A Day

Random couple – A Click A Day.

September 2, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha15 Comments

Midnight motivation and musings

Midnight Motivation and Musings 107

September 1, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

Change is difficult to embrace most times because of the fear of the unknown and this fear leaves us clinging to old habits, experiences and even harmful situations that we should let go of.

When we fail to let go and release these things that we need to leave behind, we are unable to create room to receive better experiences.

Support Me.

Echos Of My Neighbourhood

Tea At TWG – Echoes of my Neighbourhood.

September 1, 2016September 1, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha19 Comments

On Thursdays, I share pictures about ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple and you can find out more about it through this link.

Absolutely sublime and smooth diffusion.

In search of the health benefits of more antioxidants, I decided to make a conscious effort to reduce my coffee intake and replace it with tea, so I went tea tasting the way a wine connoisseur would go wine tasting 😉

We all know the benefits of tea but it’s worth recapping them briefly:

Tea is a superfood whether black, green, white, Oolong and other types.
It’s rich in polyphenol antioxidants that detoxify all damaging free radicals in the body.
Helps to lower LDL cholesterol.
Reduces the risk of heart diseases and possibly helps to prevent various Cancers and Alzheimer’s.
Contains disease-fighting flavonoids.
Soothes stress by reducing the stress hormone, Cortisol.

I visited TWG, a Tea house in this area that has a plethora of different types of tea from all corners of the World and I must tell you that I sampled some cups of tea that were so smooth they didn’t require cream or sugar. Of course, I made some purchase of several interesting flavours and you are welcome to join me for a cuppa. To our health 🙂

Let’s zoom to Munich through our e-portal on a quick trip with Lady Lee. Absolutely gorgeous photos 🙂

So what’s your neighbourhood and week been like? Feel free to share with us.

P.S. Any place that I feature on my series of Echoes of my neighbourhood is my singular choice. I don’t receive any form of incentive to give my opinion or to promote the establishment.

Support Me.

A Click A Day

Night Carpet… A Click A Day.

September 1, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha10 Comments

I thought I saw Aladdin’s magic carpet.

Gratitude

When The Cock Crows At Dawn…

August 31, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha23 Comments

Phew! We are halfway there before the first weekend since school resumed. Thanks to the alarm clock we have been able to crawl reluctantly out of bed again, even before the rooster crows – not that I have heard or seen any rooster in this concrete jungle that I live in; except on a plate – but this hardwired brain of this African child still remembers the cocks crow at dawn back in my fathers’ house.

I recall those days when we would wake up early, sweep the house with the broom made from palm fronds and bent to the waist, after which you dusted the furniture and ran several errands for my mother as she prepared the meal before you could get ready to go to school.

Things haven’t changed so much except the broom sweeping part – thank God for vacuum cleaners – I still wake up early to do the necessaries before we set off for the days business of school, work, after school etc.

It’s ironical that when I was back in my parents home, I thought that when I got married and had my kids, I would become what we refer to back home as ‘Thick Madam,’ who would roll around in bed and rise like an indolent Cleopatra with a retinue of handmaiden’s waiting to rub cocoa butter on my feet 😉

Well, the opposite of Thick Madam is the case. I hop out of bed, reluctantly resisting tossing the alarm clock out of the window whilst I hustle the children to get ready like a Sergeant Major as I run a mental list in my head of all that needs to be attended to for the day.

Today as I watched my trio file out after the runaround of getting ready, I acknowledge once again the beauty of having these blessed children. My house might be a bit messy most of the time but I wouldn’t have it differently. I appreciate the daily shebangs as these young souls grow, for I know that one day in the near future they will fly my coop, no longer littering the counter with breadcrumbs, dumping their stuff where it shouldn’t be and warming the house with their noise.

Who knows maybe in the near future, my house would look like the pages of an interior decor catalogue and I just might get to become a ‘Thick Madam,’ after all, but for now, it’s all wonderful and I am thankful to be like a Sergeant Major rising when the cock crows at dawn.

There are several gratitude/thankful platforms in the blogosphere that you can tune into and get your ithankful going on. I can’t express in words the enormity of Joy and fulfilment that comes from having a heart of gratitude. Please check out Maria’s blog, Colline’s blog and Bernadette’s for thankful/gratitude challenges.

InLinkz

Featured Blogs

Featured Posts 119 – Share your post links.

August 31, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha1 Comment

‘PLEASE KEEP SENDING IN THE LINKS.’

Today’s featured blogs posts are:

Story from the corner of the street: there are stories that simply upset you and still teach at the same time. No matter the grouse between parents, their children should never become pawns caught in their game.

Books n Magic: No magic like it. Short, precise and sweet 🙂

Land Under Water: a beautiful song dedicated to flood victims. Hearing it for the first time 🙂

Wednesday Day 4 – A little down: Well done girl! Getting weight to go down can be real work – the struggle is real and we don’t need any negative comments to the mix.

She wished upon a star: a lovely, encouraging read.

Do step in and show some love.

‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’

Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.

Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.

Thank you for your understanding and regards.