What is Your Guilty Pleasure?

This post is a super quick one. I really mean it.

The Merriam-Webster.com defines the term Guilty pleasure (Noun) as follows : something pleasurable that induces a usually minor feeling of guilt.  

We all have those things that we secretly do and greatly enjoy. We enjoy them so much that they are deemed a guilty pleasure.

Here are a couple of mine:

• Watching YouTube Gurus when i should be doing something more important.

• Watching Star Trek, Eureka, Sanctuary, Syfy movies is general. Everyone around me thinks i am weird but i just love them!!!!

• Reading Harlequin romances when i should be reading Caribbean Literature text.

I did say a couple didn't I? I would love to hear about your guilty pleasures.

The GREAT Divide

I have been thinking about writing this post for a while now. However, I have not been able to sit down long enough to allow the words to flow.Here goes. I have been comparing my everyday personality to the blogger you see. Somehow, i have been seeing a divide between Lioness and Antoinette.

When I think of Lioness, i think about the part of me that always tries to put the best foot forward. The part of me that is more welling to take risks, more willing to bare my soul to the world. Lioness is an extrovert, with smart ideas, great tips, and lots of positive vibration .

Whereas, Antoinette is very private with build in walls of steel. My family will tell you that i speak my mind and i am not afraid to burn bridges. I love to taken the unbeaten path. I am strategic in my planning. I often pretend that things slip off me like water; but truth be told, i internalize every single thing. I have very few friends but many acquaintances.

I know that some of my readers might be doing a double take at this point. But thinking about my own situation  brings to the fore the fact that we all have layers to our personality. We have the face that the world sees, the face that our husbands, boyfriends interact with and then if we are honest enough; we have our true selves coming out when we are alone. For some of us, that is when all the layers are peeled away and the great divide is bridged into one raw highway of truth and reality.

On the other hand, all of this could be a page from one very active imagination. However, think about it and let me know, do you have a great divide?    

In Time!!!!!

The movie 'In Time' has got be thinking how much we relied on time as a people. It almost seems now that i do not have enough hours in the day to complete the tasks i have to do. I thought about what we would do if there were no time pieces to regulate every hour, every minute, or every second. Would it really make a difference? 0r would it still feel like we are in a crazy rush to met our time quota? Would it still be like our lives depended on meeting a time deadline that we or society as set?

For me, it's like in the mornings i feel like i am in a crazy competition with my watch to get to where i am going. I often feel like time is cheating. It's like the seconds are rolling away, in essence slipping trough my fingers like gains of sand. Then, there are those days when i refuse to acknowledge that the system (time) really exist. I love those days!!!!! 

Unfortunately, today i will be rushing against the system. If your reading this today, November 23, 2011. I will be at work here is my day. Come and walk with me.

 

5 am: Wake Up

6: 30 am: Departing home for work

7: 30 am: at work

7: 35 am: Going to my home room

8: am -8:45am : Class 1

8:45 am-9:30 am: Meeting

9:30 am-11: 45am -Classes 3 &4  

11: 35 am- 11: 45 am- Afternoon Homeroom Session

11:45am- 12: 30 pm - Lunch

12:30 pm- Visit trophy place for prizes

1:30 pm-4:00 pm staff meeting

4:00 pm- 4: 30 pm Mark Papers

4: 30 pm-5:00 pm- Pick Ups

5 pm - 6 pm- Journey Home

Let me just say today is my light day.

Fall in the tropics..........

It's like the heavens knew i needed a relaxing day. So, from last night it has been raining none stop. This i think is crazy awesome!! I live in Jamaica and i must say the weather has been unbelievable hot. With this in mind, a rainy for us is like a refreshing fall day.I know it sounds crazy but it is true.

Therefore, it is back to bed for me. I will snuggle up under the covers and cough my throat out. I promise i will not feel pity. I will just smile at the knowledge that today will be one of those days when time stands still. Even if it is only for me.

Cruel to be Kind?

Lovelies,

Your girl had a rough week and an eye opening day. I really wanted to cry because i could not believe people can be so hateful and cruel. It makes me really wonder what has this world come to, when people tear others down just to feel good about themselves.

I really don't want to go into details because, to be honest, they are not worth my blogging time. So i will wipe my tears and COUNT DOWN the weekend. Have a fabulous weekend!!!!!

Have You Found It?

Guys i am feeling so blessed at this moment in time. It is unbelievable! I have always heard that you should find your passion and stick with it.  I am excited because i think i have finally found my passion. Guess what,  it is blogging. This is coming from a person who went through a period of not wanting to write even a sentence. 

But, i am loving it. Recently, i had to take a little time off because of personal and professional engagements. Guys i literally ached. I know it sounds crazy. But i did. That is how i knew. I LOVE this!!!!

So thank you all for coming to my blog and reading my rants, my thoughts and just for sharing in my personal journey. I am blown away that people actually take the time to read my words.

Thanks You All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Journey Continues!!!!!

Firstly, Somehow i feel like i have been saying this quite a lot but nonetheless i will say it again. I have not given up on blogging and sorry that i have been M.I.A. There are days when i want to blog so much it hurts. But, I am finding it hard to pencil in blog time on my busy schedule. I would like to think that this situation is a work in progress. I am sure, you will be tired of seeing me pretty soon. Just to say however, that I am currently working on some personal projects and i look forward to sharing them with you soon.

Secondly, I know that for my United States readers, especially, you are preparing for fall and then winter. But, i just wanted to know if the climate has changed for you as yet. I swear that the sun is literally sitting on Jamaica.The days are blazing hot! I know that the summer equinox was on the 21 of September and therefore summer has officially ended. However, i am still waiting for summer to go to sleep or at least take a nap; so i can get a breath of air.


Thirdly, I want to remind you to keep positive. It might sound like i am one of those annoyingly happy persons. the reality is I am far from it, trust me. Like you i have days that kick me in the stomach and drain the energy from my body. Yes, i have those days when i don't want to get out of bed. However, I have learnt that all of this is apart of the human condition and we just need to learnt how to control it. 

Here are three quick tips that i use daily:

Surround yourself with positive energy. I have been hearing this quite often. However, i did not begin to understand the concept until recently. I woke up one day and i said today i will not dwell on the negatives and i will not accommodate persons who do. So for that day i did exactly that and i realized that by the end of the day i felt refreshed. Then, i continued that week and the week after that. I realized that i was able to get more done, i felt better and i was more focused. To me this was amazing after all, my typical day would begin at 5 am and end at 10-11.

Another thing is, before you leave your bed in the morning breathe positive energy into your day. I find that i take 2 minutes to exhale the tiredness, pains, doubts and anxiety in the morning as well as to inhale good things that i want for the day. I generally speak good things into my day. For example: today is going to be an awesome day i claim it! or today i will laugh, i will be happy, everything will be great! I find that when i center my energy i am able to have my contact sessions with an average of 150-200 students daily and still maintain sanity and inner peace.

Finally, get a personal organizer. I am still wondering how i survived so long without one. First of all, no one taught me how to be organized. I have always had the notion that you just get up and do what you have to do. Fullstop. However, thank God for the internet. Through the internet i have discovered the value of a personal organizer. Now, I have my new organizer (my first one ever) and i find that i am less stressed, more focused and procrastinating less because of it. I think i will write a post about my journey.  

Just remember its up to you to create the environment that you will thrive in. No one will do if for you. After all, no one knows you like how you know yourself.

Update + Awards

So i have been off the grid for a while. A number of things has happened and a lot has changed. So, here are my updates.

9/11
I wont say a lot because every time i think of September 11 i get very emotional. But what i will say is let us never forget.

Burglary
I mentioned in a previous post that my home was burglarized. I am happy to say that my hangbag was returned with the papers to the car and all.  The only thing that was missing from my bag was my MP4. I am feeling very blessed.

Work
I am back at work with my kids. By now most of you might have guessed that i am a teacher. One of the reasons, why i have been away is that the new school year started September 5. I have been busy  in one meeting or another for the last two weeks. It's a lot of work, my average class is 45 to 46 students. I most say i am finally getting use to the idea. It's crazy i know but it works somehow.

Awards
While i was here and away i awarded a couple of blog awards by my follow bloggers. I must say that whenever i am given a blog related award i am extremely honoured. I started blogging to fight the blues and i never thought that i would have so many readers much less recieving any kind of award.

My First Award is from Kassandra one of my new followers. This award is the Versatile Blogger.

My second Award comes from the wild child herself  Stacey. The Liebster award (“Liebster” is the German word for friend or love) originated in Germany. The aim of the award is to bring more attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers. I feel especially honoured to be given this award; since it is for bloggers with under 200 followers and she still choose to give me.

   



Please click on the link and check out these blogs. Who knows you might just make a friend.


Stay tune for part 2 when i hand out these award to my fellow bloggers.

The Great House Experience

Jamaica being a former colony of Britain there are a number of great houses in the country. A great house is the main house on a plantain and Devon House is one of the great houses in Kingston. According to the Devon House's website the site is 127 years old.  The property is 11-acres, its lush sprawling lawns provides an ambiance that soothes the mind and soul, and offers an enviable shopping experience for both local and overseas visitors.  What i love most is that Devon House was built by Jamaica’s first black millionaire George Stiebel. Just in case your wondering  I m not getting paid or compensated for this post.

The truth is I have fond memories of the grounds because i attended high school up the road. I remember swinging from the trees (literally), having Devon House I- Scream with school mates on Fridays and most of all selecting a tree and craving my name in it. 

Now it's a place where i take my daughter to make up for the terror of swimming class. To her it is the oasis where pastry and ice cream is always available. To her Devon House is a place with the huge tree cover in lights at Christmas time.  Just thinking about it,  over the years there must be hundreds of memories created and shared at Devon House.

Pictures from my recent visit to Devon House.

Play the video for more images of Devon House.

The Dreaded Blankie Syndrome

I have been wanting to write this post for quite sometime but life happened. You know what i mean.

For the last year i have been dealing with the blankie syndrome.When children are babies it is extremely cute seeing them cuddled up with their blankies.However, as time progress, those cute babies often grow into busy toddlers, who cann't live without their blankies. Parents are then caught in a do or die situation. I think i am in that situation now. My daughter is 4 and she is totally hooked on her blankie. As i write this post, she is fast asleep with her blankie in hand. 

I find myself caught between taking the blankie and putting it up or allowing her to grow out of it. I guess my fear is she might not grow it out. Yet, i do not want to take it away and cause her to be psychologically in balanced(i know it sounds crazy but that is what i think). This is what i mean when i say i am caught in a do or die situation.

I am also aware that i am an enabler and most parents are without realizing it. I often try to rationalize my daughter's blankie syndrome by comparing her to other kids. I went to pick up my sister at work and saw this lady with her daughter. The little girl was clad in a school uniform with a blankie in hand. Immediately i asked her age. 7 years old the mom replies. Some how, i started thinking that my situation was not so bad, after all my daughter was only 4 and she does take her blankie to school. 

At the end of the day, i guess i want my daughter to be happy and healthy. 

Leave a comment to share your thoughts.