Fridays will be different....Thanks to Diana!

Time for Thankful Friday again! The week was very hectic and thus no posting in between! So time for someone to be thankful again! After me, Janine, Samantha and Melanie; I have Diana Simon doing the kvelling for us!

Diana

Through the same club, Diana has been such an awesome support for my blog and has got some absolutely brilliant ideas all raring to go! So what’s she thankful for? Here goes:

I am honored that Hajra has asked me to be part of this “Fridays will be different” series.  

1.       I am thankful for my family.

My husband is the most amazing person in the world and is always so patient in putting up with me. I wouldn’t put up with myself!  My sister is another saint who plays an important part in my life and it’s great when two sisters can also be best of friends. I am also thankful for my extended family as well as my husband’s. If you don’t already know, I have twin nieces who are 2-years old and I am thankful for their laughter and the joy they have brought to my life.

 2.       I am thankful for my health.

Four years ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and while it was a challenging period, it was a blessing in disguise. I now take better care of myself and it is important for me to be healthy as I intend to life a full life even at a ripe old age. I want to be able to do daily routine tasks without doing so in pain.

 3.       Talking about my health, I am thankful for my doctors.

In Italy, and it will shock many, my doctor and his team are extremely efficient and professional. My doctor even makes his team speak to me in English!  Did I mention, this is a public hospital?  While the infrastructure is questionable, my doctor and his team are god-sent. I am so thankful for him that I told my husband that if we have a boy, I am going to name him after the doctor.  That was until we found out his first name and my husband refuses!  LOL

 4.       I am thankful that my internet and laptop is working again.

Last week, I had two days where both my laptop and internet didn’t work at the same time.  I am glad they are both working now but the twist is that I was thankful that I had two days offline. It was a much needed break!

5.       I am thankful that I am on holiday for until September.

As most of you know, I teach and always make the most of my summer by taking 3 months off.  I am away for a month visiting family but that doesn’t mean I won’t be blogging

So now as always just tell Diana how much we enjoyed having her here! Do visit her Coaching Blog; she does wonders there! 

Fridays will be different....Thanks to Melanie!

So another Friday and another week to stop whining and taking time to being thankful. If you are new here then go check out the Friday rituals to see what we have been doing here: the first where I was thankful, then Janine and Samantha.


This week I have the grand Melanie Kissell of Solo Mompreneur. I met Melanie through a blogging club and it has been wonderful knowing the lady with the long comments! Yes, she writes the most amazing comments that are thoughtful, genuine and has taken effort. If you have a blog, then you should definitely have Melanie there to comment on it; makes your day! So here’s what the lovely lady has to be thankful for:

The lovely Melanie!

Migraines and dirty dishes.


Who can say they're thankful for those two things?


I can!
Now don't think I'm not grateful for things like good friends, nice neighbors, a wonderful blogging community, a reliable vehicle, and a pulse ... because I am!


But the following are what I'm REALLY thankful for.


1.) I loved kaleidoscopes as a child - all those really cool geometric shapes and colors. Now that I'm an adult, I'm so thankful I suffer with ocular migraines. I get to see all those beautiful shapes and colors flashing in front of my eyes again!


2.) I'm really thankful for the absolute *guarantee* it's going to rain as soon as I've spent hours washing and detailing my car. It's an amazing phenomenon. We get lots of "dry spells" here in Southern California. No problem. I've discovered a way to end the drought. Wash my car. How empowering is THAT?!


3.) The dishwasher is broken in my apartment. It's never worked since my daughters and I moved in almost two years ago, and I couldn't be happier. I'm so thankful to have piles of dishes to wash each week and the opportunity to prove Palmolive dishwashing liquid really does soften your hands! I've used so much of their product, I'm sure Palmolive is going to contact me to do a television commercial.


4.) There's nothing finer than paying almost $200 a month for T.V., phone, and internet service (you know, the infamous "bundle"?) and having your service fail on you at least every other week. I'm extremely thankful for those outages! I get to use my cell phone and talk to all kinds of interesting customer service representatives from foreign countries. I feel so lucky. Not everyone can say they've spoken to someone in the People's Republic of Bangladesh!


5.) I'm very thankful for the 7 - 10 loads of laundry I tackle every week. It's a nice diversion from dusting and vacuuming. With two daughters, seems like the dirty clothes bin is never empty. The only thing that's empty around here is the toilet paper spindle -- the minute "I" need to use the bathroom. I can't thank my girls enough for doing their part to make sure I never have any leisure time. And anyway, mothers weren't put on this earth to have fun (were they?).


So, that was Melanie’s thankful Friday moment. Say hi to Melanie and tell her how much fun you had reading the post! Also, do visit her blog and pretty please her to visit yours if you want some amazing input to your posts!
P.S. It was her Birthday…wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Fridays will be different....Thanks to Samantha!

Friday again! Time to pause the kvetching for a day and shout out our thanks! If you haven’t been following and are new here, I KVELL on Fridays instead of kvetching! The first Friday kvell was done by me and the second by Janine Ripper.

Samantha

 This week I have the lovely Samantha Bangayan to join us in doing her thankful duties! I met Samantha through a blogging club and she soon became one of my favorite bloggers. She blogs at What Little Things about her life in Huancayo, Peru.  

So here’s what “Sammy” has to say about her Fridays:

I haven't been spending the time to be thankful for all that I've been blessed with these days, so I was ecstatic when Hajra started celebrating Fridays this way and what an honor to be invited to share my "thankfuls" too! My first warm "Thank You" goes to Hajra for being such a supportive and encouraging friend!

Other tidbits I've been thankful for this week?

 Huancaino wear

1. I am thankful that they sell Pringles and Nutella in the one supermarket here in Huancayo. This is a new phenomenon and I don't know how I survived without them.

2. I am thankful that when my kitty, Fénix, bites and scratches me, I only get real wounds around once a week. He is so vicious for an innocent-looking 7-month-old! Any cat training advice would be greatly appreciated!

3. I am thankful my partner agreed that gifts for his birthday should be gifts for me too. We bought an electric heater for his birthday a couple weeks ago that I now use right by my desk.

4. I am thankful that the rooster on the roof sings cockle-a-doodle-do all day, so I never feel like I'm alone. When the kitty refuses to stay in my lap, I can always rely on the various sounds and rhythms around my apartment building to keep me company. If it's not the rooster, there are always other cats meowing or salsa and reggae ton playing at the bar just a building away.

5. I am thankful that I learned to braid my own hair into pigtail braids because it helps me fit in with the traditional look of women in the Central Andes. Now I just need to tan a bit more, so I don't look so gringa!

So, that was the lovely Samantha with her kvellings! Say hi to her and tell her what a wonderful person she is! 


Join in, tell us what you were thankful about this week?

Fridays will be different....Thanks to Janine Ripper!

So just last Friday I started a new weekly routine where, every Friday, instead of kvetching we will be kvelling (Thanks Roy for teaching me that word!). Yes, if you haven't read it, then do it right now! Every Friday I will be featuring a blogger who gets to be thankful for something! Last Friday, being the first, I started off being thankful.This Friday, I get to feature my favorite blogger, Janine Ripper.

I met Janine through a discussion on LinkedIn and from then on, it has been such an honor to read her blog, her reflections and about her beautiful journey through the crazy thing called life. 

So featuring Janine, the first blogger for my Thankful Fridays! Here's what she says: 

My blogging buddy and partner in crime - Hajra Khatoon - recently came up with a new way to celebrate Friday’s. For this I am thankful for. I mean, I love Friday’s - or rather, I used to. Lately, my Friday’s at work consist of a meeting from about 10.30am until whenever it finishes (the first week it was 6.30-ish pm)...of which for the last 4 weeks has left me feeling shattered for most of the weekend. I am endeavoring to change that, therefore, in the wise words of Hajra, here are my top reasons for what and why I am thankful for in recent times!

Janine at the Beach
Pic taken by her dear friend,
Ambreen Beg

1.       Hajra - If it wasn’t for Hajra I may have given up on blogging. I mean, we live in different countries, have never met, have never talked, but have struck up a great friendship and supportive blogging / writing relationship, of which I hope continues for a long time into the future.

2.       The beach - Over the past month I’ve managed to get out of the house on weekends with my Mum or friends, to hang around some of our local beaches. Of course, we are officially in winter here in Australia, but the days are still mostly stunning, and have presented some amazing opportunities to break in my SLR camera, whilst also experiencing some ‘natural’ therapy at by the sea side (the waves, breeze, smell, fresh air, peace...).

3.       My beautiful friends - I am truly blessed to have some of the most amazing, genuine, down to earth, beautiful souls as friends. I am one lucky person.

4.       Opportunities -  I decided recently to take this writing thing a whole lot more seriously.  I mean, I have always wanted to write, but I have never believed in myself.  Something seems to have changed in my thinking of late - I think it’s what some people call ‘confidence’ or ‘self belief’ (something I have lacked my whole life in pretty much everything). This has led to doors opening, and opportunities being presented to me.  Although I have also put myself out there to be noticed...which is what I probably should have been doing all along?

5.       Nature - As I write this post, I am watching a David Attenborough documentary on Gorillas. Even with their bulbous bottoms and big heads I think they are amazing. There is so much beauty out there in the world.


So that was Janine with her Thankful Friday! And she is thankful for me...Yippeee! See, that's how you get featured on my blog!

If you want to be featured, tell me! Please, just be as lovely as the amazing Janine!

Fridays will be different…. Thankfully!

Ok, enough of kvetching! Oh, no, no, I ain’t shutting my blog….just decided to add a new twist to it! Though I try to “kvetch” at least twice a week…life is happening pretty darn fast for me to catch up (there you go again….) so I thought we could crib and cry once a week and try to be thankful on Fridays!

Yes, everywhere I go I see people talking about how life is treating them bad, how they need to be inspired and motivated; how they feel the constant urge to prove themselves right, how plans are going crazy wrong and how everything is messed up. So although, all that holds true; we could still come by every now and then and kvetch! We could also, end the week on a happy and in your face laughing note on why the next week will be better!

So starting this Friday; here are my top reasons of why and what I am thankful for during recent times!

From my trip to celebrate weight loss!

1. I am thankful the world didn’t end as was “suspected”. I got to meet my nephew and niece. I would have missed that if the world decided to shut down.
2. I am thankful I came up with this idea to blog. Otherwise another week with no post!
3. I am thankful that I lost some weight this week; no not running, jogging and all that; just really bad summer is sweating it all off. I treated myself to ice cream to “celebrate”!
4.  I am thankful that humidity still hasn’t struck its high in my good hot city. July will be a month where I kvetch about humidity!
5. I am SO SO SO thankful that only one of my friends got engaged in the past five months. Yes, many of my friends are married or engaged to be married and that makes us not-ready-to-commit types feeling a bit “left out”. So thank God, just one “I am happy for you but OMG-not-you-too” situation!

So there, my top five for the week! Want to join in, comment below or get in touch with me! I might want to feature yours next Friday! Yes, saves me the trouble of coming up with a post and you do all the “writing”!

WHAT I LEARNT WHEN FACEBOOK DITCHED ME!

Don’t worry, not a philosophical post on why you should be unplugging – will do that later.

Recently, something went wrong with my laptop and nothing helped - kicking it, banging my fists on the keyboard, restarting a million times, cursing it, cursing myself on not being more technologically savvy, snapping at my mom, tapping fingers real hard and banging the lid shut – trust me, nothing worked.

I had to do everything on my mobile, no matter how huge they make the screens, the buttons are real small and it gets real tough to navigate. They should really think about attaching a life size keyboard to mobiles.

Ok, coming back, how was I to keep up with Facebook… that was the true question. That is where my 500 friends live! How do I know every single detail about where they are, what they are doing, how do I “like” everything they do, “comment” on everything they say and what if they need me. I mean like really need me, ya okay, my mobile is there, but what if there is a network problem and they can’t reach me; they might just probably update “Kidnapped…help me!” Then what… Panic, panic, panic!

So it took me fifteen days to get back to Facebook, yes, they are planning to feature me on some show talk show to inspire people. 

Logging in after 15 days, sighing with relief and all excited about sneaking into my friends’ wall I learnt some things:

1.       My friends were doing fine without me on Facebook. Apparently, everyone’s too busy with life goals to notice a person is missing.

2.       If someone does notice you “missing” they will call up to say this “You okay, haven’t seen you active on FB for the past 5 hours… seriously, everything okay your end?”

3.       If they are getting kidnapped, they are considering Police before Facebook. Apparently, the police are quicker is responding than the Facebook buddies.

4.       If they are getting married / engaged then they prefer to give you a call before creating the event and changing their relationship status. If they aren’t calling you up and have created the event, simple, they don’t want you there.

Hmmm… wasn’t such a big deal after all. But I am just as addicted to Facebook and will just panic the next time my laptop plans to take a break!

So over to you. Addicted to Facebook? Check your mail every 15 minutes? Did you panic when your laptop “broke”? Are your friends doing fine without you?  Or just about anything, any friend’s wedding you not invited to?

P.S. In no way am I criticizing Facebook, I can still be found there every 15 minutes. 

Has Life Made a Fool Out of You Yet?

So the world “celebrated” April fool’s Day. Apparently is all started because of a misunderstanding and thus the prank and practical jokes. What I really don’t get it is this: doesn’t it all start with a misunderstanding. I mean we really don’t need a day to let others make a fool out of us. Every, every day of our lives is life’s April fool prank on us. Everywhere we go there is something (not someone, but something) which is waiting to pound on you and have the best laugh possible!

 Don’t believe me, I can give you reasons!

• We are always cute as a baby and somehow it just vanishes as we grow up
• You are never the “coolest”, “hippest” kid in school / college. And even if you are “the one”, people have branded you as the “snob” or the “b***h” or the playboy!
• Family reunions will happen the day when you look the chubbiest, have the bout of acne attack, have run out of proper clothes to wear and your hair has gone all frizzy.
• By the time you figure out what you “really, really” want in life or from life, you are already on your second high paying but the most depressing job ever!
• The fat kid from high school is suddenly in the glamour industry and you can’t fit into the jeans from last month.
• Everything yummy has three figure calories.
• Everything really yummy has four figure calories! (I know it is repeated, but I am trying to stress the point!)
• Your waist! It has a mind of its own and a size of its own!
• The prettiest girl in town always lives right next door. Yes, just rub it in my face.
• The day your car decides to have a breakdown, it chooses the most crowded, god damn awful place to have its heart attack.
• All great looking men (great, I am not talking about good) are taken, dating impossible-to-beat girls, live on the next continent or are King in the making, getting married!
• If you speak your mind you are called brash, if you are being sweet you are diplomatic, if you have an opinion you are judgmental, if you don’t have an opinion you are just a dork. What’s with the branding? Who actually came up these words?

Image from Madonna Fans

See, isn’t everything just a big fat joke? Is life just lurking in some corner and laughing at us? What do you think is life’s biggest joke? And yes, what did you do on April Fools? 

Some Special Women...and a Big Sorry and Thank you!

I was recently invited by a blogging “buddy” Janine Ripper to participate in Emergen's Blogging for a Cause for International Women's Day. And it took me days to figure out what to write something which should suit the “mood” of my blog! So here’s what I came up with. This Women’s Day I am going to make the women in my life feel special…. By dedicating a whole blog post about them, by doing something I might not have done before: saying sorry to them.

Mom: Sorry for being messy, for not making my bed, for not saying “I love you too”, for not taking your calls or for not returning them, for not buying the clothes you wanted me to wear, for snapping back and for being the nasty person I always am! Thank you for surviving it all!

Sisters: For being critical, for being the spoilt younger brat, for getting you both in trouble… and thanks for covering up….always!

Best friends: Not surprisingly…all of them are girls! Sorry for not returning your calls, for not meeting up often and for all the times when I just couldn’t be there! Thanks a ton for being the most amazing, most giggly, gossipy and just the best friends always!

My niece: Sorry young lady…but I just don’t have anything to be sorry about…I have always been my best with you….probably, you might be writing a tribute about your wonderful aunt few years from now! Thanks for making me fall in love with babies!

So who are the special women in your life and how are you making them feel special?