CHRISTMAS- WHAT IT MEANS TO ME

There are jingles in the air, I'm just feeling them. Not really, I've been feeling them since the 1st of November. Its the holiday!!!!! Yaayyyy!!!!!! Lots of activities are lined up for a lot of people including myself and the excitement is electric.

However, I have been forced to ask what Christmas means to people; trust me, you've heard this question more than you've thought about it. What does Christmas means to you?

To me, Christmas is much more than a season. As a Christian,its important because it is when we mark the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Chris; but it is much more than that.

I feel Christmas time is a season for reflection. Before you hack me and write me off as a horrible bore, listen to me. By the way, if you think I'm a bore, then you obviously haven't met me yet. Anyways, I said Christmas is a reflective time for me because it is a time when I look back and appreciate everything I have.its a time foe me to 'count my blessings', its a time of giving and sharing; a time to remember....

I'm not a preacher neither do intend to give a sermon but really, have you thought about it? December is the last month of the year, do you know what that means? It means that EVERYDAY, you woke up in the morning, went about your daily duties and got home to sleep, to wake again and continue the cycle.... thats called LIFE

You passed the first quarter of the year and still kept at it and you're fortunate enough to witness the LAST QUARTER of that same year and there is this calmness around you that tells you you're going to witness THE FIRST QUARTER of another year..... thats called HOPE.

I also believe that its a time spent with family. You would be quite short sighted if you think that I'm talking about your relatives alone. Now, if you've got relatives that care about you, you are more than a lucky individual. To me, family is any set of people who share a mutual bond of care, love and trust. Your family should have some form of dependence, that is much more than material. Family denotes friendship; true friendship. If you've got that, then giving and sharing won't be hard for you to do.

Giving- I might not have money, or gifts or anything of the sort, but if I am able to make you smile, then I have given you something; if I can make you laugh or have fun or do something worth remembering, if I can help you, if I can talk to you, more importantly, if I can listen to you, then I have given you something.

Sharing- Now this is where the fun comes in for me. I wanna share my moments with as many people as I can so I'm starting with you- I have decided to share, daily, my activities on this portal. I'v titled it 'Christmas Memoirs'. 

So thats Christmas for me in a nutshell, the essence, the appreciation, the family, the giving and the sharing.

Merry Christmas people. Have fun and embrace the warmth the season brings.

CURTAIN CALL 1

Staring at the scene right below me, I find myself laughing out loud. I was looking at a hospital ward with a splendid view of a beautiful young woman writhing with labor pains. Her husband, an equally handsome, young man was beside her, panicked and almost white with anxiety. I ask the hefty old, white-bearded man, who is seated beside me " Why must I come out amidst all this pain? If she knew I would be such a bother, why did they conceive me?". The white-bearded man whom I've come to know as God, smiles gently and says, "Its painful for now but you'll see the smiles hereafter".

Looking sadly down, I say again, "But she's crying so bad, I must be a mean child for causing her tears". God doesn't reply me but looks down wards. We are both silent for quite some time looking at the drama unfolding before our eyes, the woman who I'm going to grow up calling 'mother' has her legs spread open, my father is sweating and holding her hands by her bedside, a nurse is mopping my mother's brows and there is this huge man (God calls him a doctor), standing between her legs. Sometimes I find it quite confusing you know, God tells me that between my legs lies a very special place which I must take proper care of and not let anyone see it, especially men, but here is my mother, with a man standing and putting his hands there and nobody seems to want to say anything.

God looks at me and says" Its almost time, you know, the world is awaiting your arrival". I shake my head and bury it in his shoulders; I don't want to leave where I am, God has been so nice to me and my friends are here also, "I don't want to go to a place filled with strangers who keep staring at me like they expect me to do something". He smiles and ruffles my hair "You have to be on your way child, your new family is expecting you". He looks at me and says,"You're going to do very great things in your time, but you are going to be trouble. Be gone then, its time for your grand entrance."

Placing a kiss on his cheeks, I give him one last hug and I begin to float down as things begin to spin out of control. Next thing I know is i'm being pulled out by a pair of gloved hands, very gentle. A very cold breeze wafts by me and I let out this piercing scream. As I begin to kick and throw tantrums, a voice says "Welcome Little One". With my unfocused gaze, I look up at God who seems very far now; I try waving to him as he slowly disappears but I feel myself being placed in another set of arms. This one is soft, gentle and loving: warm as well. I turn and look into my mother's eyes for the very first time and she is the most beautiful person I've ever seen. With her hair scattered and teary eyes, sweaty brows and strained muscles, she still finds the prettiest smile to give me. 

Another face comes into view, this one is well structured but with tears as well. My father looks at me and says," We shall name you Tamar" and kisses my forehead. Enjoying the warm embrace of my mothers arms, I snuggle closer and begin to suckle with my eyes closed.

This is day one in the life of Tamar, as I have been called...

About CURTAIN CALL

This is a series I'm starting. It's titled CURTAIN CALL. In a nutshell, its about the everyday life of a young lady. You see the world through the eyes of this twenty-something year old, her crazy lifestyle and I hope it turns out to be some thing really nice and entertaining.

Also, I hope its a series that you all would find yourselves anticipating.

So wish me luck and happy reading.

Marie.

A WEEKEND HANGOVER?

When exactly does the weekend start?
I have been looking for the correct answer to that question.
I personally, am of the opinion that Fridays should be work free days; I think I can get more than a few people to agree with me on that.
Well, this weekend for me was one which required a lot of 'Me Time'
Those 'Stay At Home Doing Nothing' kinda days.
I really needed it I guess, I had  been under pressure the past week.
My major goal was to dissuade everyone from coming over to see me so I start telling people about the wonders of hanging out and having fun, and not being boring and old and dry.
It actually worked because by the time I was done, nobody wanted to come check on me or even offer to take me out;which was OK  by me.
I got home, released my hair from its clasp, changed into something very comfortable and entered 'Garfield mode'.
What Would Garfield Do? Hint: go watch the movie.
I watched movies till me eyes ached, filled my tummy with all sorts ranging from iced cream, to fruits, to Chinese, to popcorn.... different ridiculous combinations really, but I didn't mind.
I had made up my mind to unashamedly enjoy my own company and I was gonna do just that.
However, there are some people that this doesn't apply to; Your Significant Other.
How do you tell him that You don't feel like company, not even His own, Especially His own.
'Baby, I'm sorry I don't wanna see You tonight, no, not tomorrow either..., You know what, I really don't wanna see You this weekend... no, You've done nothing wrong...'
A recipe for break up and serious heart ache if you ask me.
So He comes along and stays... and stays... and stays....
Till he decides He's gonna spend the night!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? SPEND THE NIGHT?????
There goes my 'Me Time'.
I try all sorts; Frustrating Woman, to Drama Queen to Sick Lover... didn't work.
So he spends the night.
Saturday morning, You wake up, expecting to see Him on His way out then He asks,
'What are we doing today, baby?'
MR. YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR MIND!!! THERE IS NO 'WE' IN THIS EQUATION, ITS JUST ME, ME AND ME GET IT?
Instead, I smile and say, 'nothing really darling, just clean the house and do my laundry and go to the market.
Aha, the market is a sure way of getting Him off my back but instead,
'Alright baby, I'll take you to the market and we'll make lunch together'.
How romantic? NO, HOW SAD! *sob....sob*.
We end up going to the market and we end up cooking lunch and He ends up staying THE WHOLE WEEKEND!!
Its a Monday tomorrow and looking back, I think my weekend was fun.
Not what I planned but, things don't always go according to plan right?
I had a splendid weekend, hope you did.
Would love to hear about it.

A Note From Monday!!!!!

I am Monday, the first working day of the week,
I should be happy since its a day to look forward to, but I'm not.
I am met with so many mixed feelings, it breaks my poor heart sometimes.
People are mean to me, they say a lot of mean things about me and mock me.
Like yesterday, I was in my friend, Sunday's place and I was shy to come in.
Sunday had a lot of friends, just lazing about and and having fun; they were at peace with themselves.
Or my cousin Friday, sometimes I hate him, he is so popular among the crowd it annoys me.
I must add here that I get a tad jealous of Friday sometimes, he is the most anticipated day of the week.
Friday is just the opposite of me, he's much more jovial and he's a bit of a stud.
I hear you asking silently, 'why am I not a stud as well?'
Its not my fault that I have a lot of responsibility you know, try being the first child and you'll experience the things I go through.
Tuesday doesn't have so much pressure because I have most probably taken the brunt of the fire and the heat.
I don't think I would love to be Friday though; word on the street is that he has the highest death rate.
Ssshhhh!!!! you didn't hear that from me; but really I think there's some truth in that.
The things that go on at Friday's place: the booze, the sex, the drugs, the orgies... I shudder to even think about it.
I would love to be like my sister, Wednesday, she's in the middle of the equation. It would suck to be Thursday though, how would I cope with  the realization that people want me just to get to Friday; that I'm only tolerated because of Friday. NONSENSE
Saturday's just a lazy bum. she's like a pregnant woman who requires attention.
I cant force you to like me, but I can ask you to be a little nice to me.
Stop sending me death threats and mean letters ( I just received one: Mondays Suck!)
Stop using slogans and images and graffiti which do not paint me in a positive light.
I'm sure that if you got to know me, you'll find out that I'm not so bad after all.

A PICTURE STORY

and I thought my smile was horrible

she's got quite a big head right?

love beautiful places

kiss for......

two devils

wining and dining

hmmmmmm

on the beach

told you I got over my fear of airplanes

the mad one

the pretty one

artistry

naughty friend

Not tryna be vain you know

I call it CREATIVITY

A Special FRIEND

A Friend in deed

Like I said, I've got a Bestie

And and another friend

Yet another friend

My one time crush (he's a friend now)

 I love dresses

the only identical twin friend I have.

I ADORE FOOD

OFFICE

Did I tell you I did some modelling at some point?

Tryna relieve those days

I love you

*sigh*

A Birthday Dedication to Kemi Ibikunle

December 11, 19........
On this very day, a child was born,
A girl child, we cannot say for certain the particular time;
It could have been at half past day or quarter-past,
Whatever, the case might have been, she struggled to pass through a sublime passage and was birthed.
She most probably would have screamed and wailed with a piercing sound but she was here; she had arrived.


Saturday, December 11, 2010.
That screaming, wailing fragile child has been given another opportunity to celebrate life.
This time around, she decides to spend it with a few people who have come to share a special bond.
This time around, instead of a cake, and party hats and family with lots of kids scattered about,
She has the right to choose how she wants to spend her day, where she wants it and with whosoever she damn well chooses.

Welcome to the adult life of Kemi Ibikunle.
Now i sure as hell wasn't there when she was conceived. Wouldn't even wanna be there,
Didn't know her during her formative years, neither knew her through out her university days.
I knew her  during our service year.
Prior to coming to Abuja, I never knew such a one existed;
But then again, you never can tell where nature decides to point you towards, or toss as the case may be.

So this is how she decided to spend her day:
She got a couple of us together, asks us to keep our Saturday evening free because we were gonna be fed with some amazing Chinese cuisine.
Classy, you might add, Mature another might say; either ways you won't be wrong.

Your's truly decides to show up and make her presence count so I begin the ritual that all ladies are very familiar with:
Choosing what to wear; what combinations to match, what accessories to use;
just a confusing puzzle really.
Finally, I make up my mind and decide on a patterned mini dress and silver sandals
and off we go.

We are a small group of nine,
Most of us haven't seen each other in close to a year and it was an opportunity to just relax and let loose for some hours.
Of course, the menu was a welcome addition and very appropriate as well as the very pleasant chit chat.
Drinks flowed abundantly and the sounds of laughter echoed with resounding notes.
Flash bulbs never ceased to go off as poses were struck and smiles were plastered.

Menu's over, gist is dwindling and yawns are being suppressed;
A clear indication that our natural bodies are telling us to call it a night.
Oh what a night!!!
After a few more shared hugs and pecks and little jokes, we each retire to our different places of abode,
Each pondering about the gift of life and the pleasures within and wondering the next time we would all be together.

Kemi, I sincerely hope you had fun and we made your day.
I hope we didn't bore you with our utterly horrendous rendition  of the ' Happy Birthday Song',
I thank you for counting me a worthy enough companion; special enough to want to share your day with
and I pray we have many more reasons to celebrate.

Lotsa hugs and kisses

MARIE.

p.s pictures coming up  pretty soon...

The Bare Simplicities: AN UNUSUAL ADVERT.

AN UNUSUAL ADVERT.

Do you ever have those moments of amazing clarity?
Some people call them 'aha' moments,
Others call them 'moments of awakening'
A few others call them 'rhema',
While a good number of people call them 'revelations',
Whatever you choose to describe these moments, most of them become turning points in our lives.
I had one of these moments, I call them 'moments of clarity'.
I realised that in describing myself, there are some words you can never use for me,
Words like: timid, shallow...'
However, words are flat if there's nothing to back them up.
So, in my moment of clarity, I realised something:I have a heart!!!
Everyone has a heart, you might add; what makes your heart different?
I'll tell you.
My heart, can be described in colours:
White: for calmness which depicts a certain softness and ethereal quality about it,
Blue: for peace; there is no violence within and without,
Green: signifies nature which has the quality of being constant.
My Green Heart will never be at its best if it is not doing what it was originally created for,
Red: attributes life, not fiery anger or blood, but life which should be appreciated,
Yellow: true happiness

My heart can also be pictured in shades;
Shades of grey: its known some dark days
Shades of maroon: it has caused its fair share of pain and sorrow
Shades of purple: it has witnessed some wars and still managed to come out victorious!

My heart is enclosed in a shell like membrane which acts not only as a shield, but also a compass
This shield acts as a guard when my heart wants to exercise her freewill
My heart is not as strong as you all think; my heart yearns for things which seem a little hard to acquire;
My heart has known and seen many things and yet she still beats and pumps!
Another thing you should know is that my heart does not pump only blood
It pumps love, beauty, allure, wisdom, and at times, a little bit of vanity.
Amidst all these fine qualities, my heart is lacking one thing:
A Worthy Companion!
Loneliness is a foreign thing to this amazing heart so the other faculties of my being have come together to place an advert.
WANTED: A TRUE HEART!!!
A heart that sees in colours as well,
A heart that also has a vacuum that requires filling and
Most of all,
A heart that pumps both Blood and Love
Blood for life and Love to sustain that life.
If your heart meets the above qualifications,
You are hereby advised to forward your applications.
NOTE THAT ONLY SHORTLISTED HEARTS WILL BE CONTACTED.

A DIFFICULT CHOICE.

So here I am, seated at this table, thinking to myself: should I or should I not? It is funny how everyday we are faced with thousands of decisions. What makes this one so special?Is it because I cannot tell where it is gonna lead? or maybe because I already know the answer but choose to go on lying to myself.


Either ways, I'm standing at a crossroads; mind you, there's nothing dramatic about being here. It is just that feeling of desperate helplessness; my brain has refused to function or send commands out. I linger in this moment enjoying the calmness, or should I say, supposed calmness because the truth is I'm not calm; far from it. I'm in an active state of confusion with thoughts running all around like a very busy market.


You know the largest and busiest market where you DREAD going? Where the humans are much more than the cars and every one is caught up in their own little narcissistic world and thinks their requests should be granted first? That's how the inside of my head is; only there are no people here, just words and thoughts and little elements of madness.


Am I saying that I'm mad? Hey, before you pull out your self righteous facade, hear me out. what do u call someone that has several streams of communication going on inside one small box? or have you been there when a thousand and one people are trying to get their messages across ALL AT THE SAME TIME? yeah, crazy right? I know but thats how you are as well. As a matter of fact, if you are not part of the people mentioned above, then i think you are leaning towards a state of destruction. 


Anyways, I asked at the beginning; Should I or Should I not? If I decide to, there's gonna be enjoyment, fun, a lil sadness here, a few tears there but all in all, beauty. However, it is not lasting, it may fade away in a month's time or a few weeks or today; it might stay forever who knows? And if I don't, I would never know what I may have enjoyed or what I would have been giving up. You never can tell really the prices we pay for the decisions we make.


What have I achieved in the end? NOTHING absolutely nothing! A wise man once said "indecision is a decision; you have decided not to decide". So I think that best describes me right now. I have actually decided not to decide. I'l go with the flow, do what I've gotta do; do what is required; play my part to the fullest and if I receive shinning accolades in return, so be it. and if I do not? well, thats not a question I wanna answer.