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9 Tried and True Beach Foods

It’s beach season. Do you have plans to head to the beach within the next month to soak up a little sun and have a little fun? When I head to the beach I stay for most of the day. That means I pack plenty of food, drinks and a good book. Over the years, I’ve had food fails and successes when packing our lunch/snack bag.

I’ve learned to invest in a good insulated food bag to ensure the ice doesn’t melt and having it on wheels doesn’t hurt either. My cooler has 4 plates, which is great for the kids. I pack it with plenty of ice so everything stays cool. Baggies are my best friend on the beach. I double bag everything to ensure the food stays dry and to help keep the sand away.  Sand somehow seems to land on everything, and we all know that it sticks.  I actually have a cooler for the food that needs to stay cool and tote for the dry goods like chips, crackers, cookies/brownies, wipes, small cups, forks, plastic grocery bags etc.

I’ve also learned to pack foods that can be handled by both children and adults. Finger foods are great beach foods. I can have the children sit and relax in their beach chairs and they can handle the finger foods on their own or with a napkin. Finger foods are also easy to obtain from a container or baggies.

Our favorite foods to take to the beach are:

1.  Lettuce Wraps – Lettuce wraps eliminates the need for bread and is a much healthier alternative. The wraps go over much better with adults. Anything green is still an enemy for the kids. Another reason we love wraps is because they are so versatile. You can wrap chicken or tuna salad, spicy shredded beef etc., and control the size of the wraps. If you pack anything with mayo make sure is housed on ice. I use plastic containers to house the wraps because they are water proof and I can cover the container well with the ice.

2. Pepperoni Slices – These are great for both the kids and adults.  You can pack low fat or turkey pepperoni.  Pack plenty, these are a favorite.

3. Fresh Fruits – I love freezing seedless grapes. They are so refreshing after being out in the sun. I also slice a seedless watermelon and cut each slice into 4-6 pieces. I place the slices into gallon zip lock baggies. The children can handle eating it, and the adults devour their share too. Chopped cantaloupe, honeydew or strawberries will work too. Just chop it and place in a gallon baggie. Use a plastic cup to hold the chopped fruit when you’re ready to eat it.

4. Mason Jar Salads – These are great for adults.  I would recommend chopping your ingredients into bit size pieces before you place them in a pint size jar. You can add your favorite dressing before leaving the house. A plastic fork is the only utensil you will need.

5. Fried or Baked Chicken Wing Pieces – These are a huge hit with the kids. They are easy to handle and eat without a plate. I double bag these in gallon baggies and just let the kids grab a few. Place the bones in a plastic bag and just throw them in the trash.

6. Cheese Cubes/Slices and Crackers – The kids love cheese cubes. I buy a bag of the cubed cheese and transfer it to a zip lock baggie. It’s easier to access them from the baggie than the package from the store. I also pack sliced cheese to place between crackers for the kids. They love it.

7.  Brownies – My family loves brownies. I cut them into small squares and place them into baggies. Nice sweet treat without the mess.

8.  Rolled Deli Turkey or Ham – I take deli ham or turkey and roll it. I take a long toothpick and place it through a few olives before placing it through the rolled meat. Both the kids and adults like this. You can also add a slice of cheese to the top of the meat before you roll it.

9.  Chips –  Not healthy, but always great at the beach.  You can purchase low fat or baked. My family doesn’t care. If the bag says chips, it’s on.

Be sure to pack plenty of water, Gatorade, or flavor infused water. It’s better than sugary fruit drinks. I also take a container of wipes that I purchase from the dollar store to whip hands before and after handling the food. What’s your favorite foods to take to the beach?  Please add them to our list, we may want to pack them to.

Virginia Beach Neptune Festival

Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, summer activities in Virginia Beach, Things To Do In Virginia, beach activities

If you’re looking for an event to attend with the family in the Hampton Roads area, check out the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, VA. It’s a great way to spend the day with the family, soak up some sun and end the summer with a bang.

First, the festival start in September.  So, be sure to check the site for up to date information.  You can stroll along the boardwalk from 18th – 29th street and find vendors under a sea of white canopies selling their wares.  Furthermore, the smell of delicious foods will engulf you. If you decide to attend, find the vendor selling the fish tacos. They are yummy in your tummy. Also, they sell veggie burgers, gyros, and a variety of other foods.   Musicians will gladly entertain throughout the day.

Next, what excites me about the festival is the artists who create the sand sculptures.  They are amazing.  So, the sculptors bring their skills from the USA and around the world.  I have seen sculptors from Russia, Holland, Canada, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Ireland and Singapore.  As a result, big money is up for grabs and big sculptures will rise on the sand. The precision that the sculptors use is incredible.

As a result, it is so much fun to walk along the beach and check out these beautiful works of art.  To give you a taste of what you will see here’s a few pictures from prior festivals:

As a matter of fact, the first time that I saw sand sculptures was in Venice Beach, CA.  I couldn’t believe that such beautiful artwork could be made out of sand.  I was hooked.  Fortunately, my daughter moved to Virginia Beach years ago.  So, I try to attend the Neptune Festival when I can.  The sand artists never disappoint.

Additionally, if you’re willing to pay an entry fee, you can sit under this massive canopy.  If the weather is not cooperating, it’s a perfect place to watch the artists sculpt.  The fee also allows you to mingle with the artists.

Last, mark your calendar for the annual Neptune Festival.  Parking can be found on Pacific Avenue without too much trouble.  And, it allows easy access to the boardwalk.  Be sure to bring a stroller for baby, hat and your sunscreen. You’ll want to spend the day.  Finally, you may also like 9 Budget Friendly Activities in Virginia Beach.

21 Must See Girl Flicks

Do you have a stash of girl flicks?  If you don’t have one, you should start a collection. I love watching old  movies either with the girls, family night or on the week-ends while I’m relaxing. While I was dusting off my collection of old DVDs and VHS movies, I thought about the good times I had watching them with my daughter when she was growing up. I love looking back on those days, and I’m so glad I created those memories for her and me.
Watching old movies is good for the soul? They make you laugh, cry and remember the time period when those movies were popular. For me, I remembered where I lived when I watch certain movies. Things were said or done when I watched them with family or friends. The last time I watched a few of the old movies, I remembered the old townhouse that I l lived in before I purchased the home that I live in today. I remember everything about that house and neighborhood so vividly. As you get older, you realize that so many things change. Unfortunately, we can’t stop change but we can always reminisce.
I’m always adding to my collection. I check out the movie boxes in stores like Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Kmart and don’t forget yard sales. I have grabbed quite a few of my favs for $5.00 at these places. I also look for them used on Amazon. There’s a shipping cost of $3.99, but if I can get the movie in good to excellent condition for a few bucks it’s worth it.
Here’s a few of favorite girl flicks from my collection:

1. The American President – I love any movie Michael Douglas is in. Annette Bening stars in this movie as well as Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox.  Who says the President of the United States can’t pursue a beautiful woman and run the country at the same time. That is exactly what happens in The American President, but not without hitting a few bumps in the road. My favorite line in the movie is Michael Douglas telling Annette Bening how he manages to give a woman flowers and be  President, “Well it turns out I have a rose garden.”

2. Baby Boom – Diane Keaton another great actress plays her role perfectly in Baby Boom. Diane stars as a Manhattan executive who inherits a baby. She buys a house sight unseen in Vermont and leaves Manhattan to raise Elizabeth, but not without problems. The house has so many issues that it nearly breaks her financially and causes her to have a nervous breakdown. She gets her bearings and decides to come up with a plan to sell the house and move back to Manhattan. In the mean time she makes homemade apple sauce for her little picky eater and decides to try selling a few jar in one of the country stores. It’s a hit. She starts selling the applesauce as all natural gourmet apple sauce and babies across the country love it. She also falls in love. Will she stay in Vermont or will she return to Manhattan? Best line in the movie Diane Keaton, “I can’t have a baby because I have a 12:30 lunch meeting.”

3. Boomerang – I normally don’t take pleasure in other people’s pain, but I don’t have a problem with a player when he gets played. That’s is exactly what happens when things are reversed and Robin Givens who is Eddie Murphy’s boss in the movie plays him like a fiddle. Yes Robin Givens dishes out the same treatment to Eddie Murphy that he has dished out to women over the years. Murphy finds her treatment humiliating. She leaves him in love and in despair. Halle Berry tries to help Marcus through his pain. They become close. Will he go back to Robin Givens or stay with Halle Berry? The best line in the movie is Halle Berry to Eddie Murphy, “What do you know about love? What could you possibly know about love? You know, I’m sick and tired of men using love as if it’s some disease you just catch. Love should have brought your ass home last night.”  Funny movie.

4. Driving Miss Daisy – One of my favorite movies with Morgan Freeman who plays Hoke, an African American chauffeur in the movie. Jessica Tandy is Miss Daisy and Dan Aykroyd plays her son. Morgan Freeman is hired by Dan Aykroyd to drive Miss Daisy’s, Jessica Tandy, after she wrecks her car. Jessica Tandy is not receptive to the idea for various reasons and makes her feelings know in various way. She soon grows fond of Freeman. A wonderful relationship is formed. She teaches Freeman to read and tells him that he is her best friend. The story line also touches on racial tension in the country. You have to get the tissues out a few times for this one. It touches your heart. My favorite line in the movie is Dan Aykroyd telling Jessica Tandy, “You’re a doodle, Mama.”

5.  Fatal Attraction – I have one word to say about this movie, Psycho!  As far as I’m concerned this movie has to be Glenn Close’s best performance. She has an affair with Michael Douglas who is a married lawyer with a child. His wife, Ann Archer, is out of town with the kid for the week-end. Douglas thinks he can return to his normal life, but Close has other plans for them. She wants to take things to another level, and she does. She tells Douglas she’s pregnant. He wants nothing to do with her and tries to that make that clear. She can’t process it and she’s not willing to accept that heart breaking news. She breaks into their home, kidnaps the kid and tries to kill his wife. This movie will have you on the edge of your seat no matter how many times you watch it.  My favorite line in the movie is Douglas to Close, “I’ll pity you… I’ll pity you. I’ll pity you because you’re sick. Close – “Why? Because I won’t allow you treat me like some slut you can just bang a couple of times and throw in the garbage?”

6. The Body Guard – What a team, Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Hold on for a second, I need to make the steam off the TV screen.  Great performance and sound track for this movie. Whitney Houston stars as a singer in this movie who is receiving death threats and is being stalked. Her manager hires former CIA Agent Frank Farmer, Kevin Costner, to protect her. Houston and Costner get close and sleep together. Costner finds it hard to protect her because he’s emotionally involved, so he breaks off the relationship. Houston defies his strategies to keep her safe, but learns that she must rely on him to keep her safe. Great performances by both.  My favorite line in the movie is Kevin Costner to Whitney Houston, “I’m here to keep you alive, not help you shop.”

7. Legally BlondeI loved Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. She plays a dizzy blonde who is dumped by her boyfriend. She’s crushed, she expected him to ask her to marry him before he heads off to Harvard Law School. She decides to join him at Harvard, hoping that he will take her seriously and they can rekindle their relationship. She finds out the he is engaged to his old girlfriend. After she comes to term with the fact that he will never take her seriously, Witherspoon decides to complete her journey through law school for her. She gets serious about her grades and lands a position on a team of law students who have been selected to defend one of her rich sorority buddies. Witherspoon ends up being the head lawyer, guided by a senior attorney on the team, and wins the case. She also wins the heart of the senior lawyer who guided her. Funny movie!  My favorite line in the movie, “Don’t stomp your little last season Prada shoes at me, honey.”

8. Maid In Manhattan – Jennifer Lopez stars as a maid, Marisa, working in a posh hotel. She is a single mother raising a son, and is working hard to get promoted. Her son often spends time at the hotel until she finishes her shift. A co-worker convinces her to try on a guest’s designer Dolce & Gabbana coat. Mean while her son has met and bonded with senatorial candidate Christopher Marshall, Ralph Fiennes. Her son wants to go for a walk with the candidate and seeks out his mother to obtain permission. She’s wearing the Dolce & Gabbana coat, and is mistaken for the socialite who’s room she is cleaning. She decides join her son and the candidate on their walk, and the candidate quickly falls for her. She continues to hide her identity and tries to avoid him, but he continues to pursue her. She is eventually exposed, but love conquers all and proves that dreams really do come true.  My favorite line in the movie is the candidate telling Caroline, who he mistakenly invites to lunch thinking she was Marisa, “The first lunch was a mistake. A second would be complete torture.”

9. Two Can Play That Game –  Vivica Fox, Morris Chestnut, Wendy Racquel Robinson, Monique, Bobby Brown, and Anthony Anderson star in this movie. Vivica Fox, an Executive, and Morris Chestnut, an attorney, are dating. Their relationship is threaten when it seems Morris Chestnut is crossing the line to straying. Vivica Fox considers herself to be a relationship expert and claims to know all of a man’s tricks. She develops a plan to get Morris in line. Let the battle begin. Funny movie with an all star cast. My favorite line in the movie is Anthony Andersonn, ” The CIA ain’t got shit on a woman with a plan!”

10. Monster In Law – Jane Fonda makes her return in Monster In Law along with Jennifer Lopez, Wanda Sykes, and Michael Vartan. Jane Fonda is a newscaster that has been replaced with a younger less intelligent girl newscaster. Wanda Sykes is Jane Fonda’s assistance. To put the icing on the cake after she is replaced her son, Michael Vartan, falls in love with Jennifer Lopez. Michael is a doctor, Jennifer is a dog walker, artist, and yoga instructor. Jane Fonda does everything in her power to sabotage their relationship. She fears losing her son to a younger woman. She works to make Jennifer’s life hell and almost succeeds, until Jennifer decides to fight back. Hilarious movie.  My favorite line in the movie is Wanda Sykes to Jane Fonda, “Fix your hair. You look like a damn cockatoo.”

11. An Officer and a Gentleman –  This is where I fell in love with Richard Gere.  Long before Pretty Woman. I do love a man in a uniform. Richard Gere stars with Louis Gossett Jr. and Debra Winger in this movie. Richard Gere plays an Aviation Officer Candidate who doesn’t see eye to eye with his training instructor Louis Gossett Jr. He also engages in a relationship with Debra Winger as he struggles to complete his 13 week training as a candidate. He’s been warned about the local girls who get pregnant or pretend they are pregnant in hopes of marrying a Navy pilot. He keeps his heart guarded, he doesn’t plan on being around longer than his 13 weeks. After graduating from the program, he plans to move on with his life and become a US Navy pilot. His heart won’t let him, he can’t leave without the woman he tried so heart not to fall in love with. Beautiful teary eyed ending.  My favorite line in the movie is Debra Winger talking to Richared Gere, “You know something, you ain’t nothing special. You got no manners, you treat woman like whores and if you ask me you got no chance of being no officer.”

12. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion – Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino star as Romy and Michele in this comedy. They’ve been Besties since high school and they’re heading back to their 10 year reunion, but not before they reinvent themselves. Neither have been ambitious, so they’re not pleased with who they are or what they’ve accomplished in the last 10 years. They borrow a friend’s jaguar and head to Arizona to celebrate with old schoolmates. While in route they decide that they will tell class-mates that they invented Post its. Mira Sorvino wants to take credit on the invention and thinks Lisa Kudrow should take credit for them being yellow. Lisa thinks that is an insult to her intelligence and by the time they arrive at the reunion they aren’t speaking. Making it through the reunion and living up to the Post it scheme proves difficult. Will their friendship survive? My favorite line in the movie, Mira Sorvini mocking the movie Pretty Woman – “Aw, look, poor thing – they won’t let her shop. Yeah – like those salesgirls in Beverly Hills aren’t bigger whores than she is.”

13. Waiting to Exhale – An all star cast stars in Waiting to Exhale. This includes the late Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, Gregory Hines, Michael Beach and Wesley Snipes. This story revolves around 4 African American women who share friendships through divorce, affairs with married men, an unwed pregnancy, and single parenting. They truly demonstrate that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. My favorite line in the movie, Loretta Devine to Gregory Hines, “Would you like to have dinner with us tonight? It’s just leftovers. Collard greens and corn bread, some candied yams, a little potato salad, fried chicken, peach cobbler and a few slices of ham.”

14. Sabrina – Harrison Ford just gets sexier with age. Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear star in the remake of Sabrina and do an excellent job. The movie revolves around the Larrabee family and their million dollar business. In the movie Julia Ormond is in love with Greg Kinnear; however, Julia’s father is the Larrabee family’s chauffeur. Although Julia is in love with Greg, Greg likes to play the scene. Sabrina is not on his radar. She decides to accept an internship at Vogue and travels to Paris. Once competed, she returns home a new woman in more ways than one. She attracts the attention of both David Larrabee and his older brother Linus. She also finds out that her father, the chauffeur, is worth $2.5 million dollars. Who will win Sabrina’s heart? My favorite line in the movie is from Julia Ormond to Greg Kinnear, “They say you think morals are pictures on walls and scruples is money in Russia.”

15. Steel Magnolias – What do you get when you have Dolly Parton, Sally Fields, Daryl Hannah, Julia Roberts, Olivia Dukakis, and Shirley MacaLaine? Fabulous!  Everyone of these ladies gave a stellar performance in this movie. They will make you laugh and they will make you cry as the prepare for Julia Roberts’ wedding day and all the festivities that go along with it. They also come together for the birth of Robert’s son and her death after her kidney transplant fails. My favorite line in the movie is Dolly Parton, ” Honey, time marches on and eventually you realize it is marchin’ across your face.”

16. Why Did I Get MarriedAnother great Tyler Perry movie starring Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, and Tasha Smith to name a few. The movies revolves around four couples, who are also best friends. The rent a house in the mountains for a week to help work out any marital problems and answer the question “Why did I get married?” It ends up being a bumpy ride, the couples don’t make it a week. Ugly revelations are spewed from one having a sexually transmitted disease and giving it to her husband, a husband having an affair with his wife’s cousin, one wife being called stupid for not have a child seat belted in correctly and the child dying, to another having her tubes tied and her husband not knowing. I loved it. My favorite line in the movie from Tyler Perry, “You women are so used to losing that you don’t even realize when you have won!”

17. Working Girl –  Harrison Ford teams up with Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl. Melanie Griffin is trying to work her way up the corporate ladder. She shares an idea with Sigourney Weaver who plays her boss. Sigourney tells Melanie that she discussed her idea, but the executives didn’t buy it. Melanie Griffith finds out that Sigourney plans to pass the idea off as her own.  She contacts Harrison Ford to hear her idea and help her sell it. He agrees. They also feel an attraction for each other and mix business with pleasure. Things get sticky, Sigourney Weaver has her hooks in Harrison Ford and wants to take things to the next level. He’s not buying, he’s into Melanie Griffith.  Melanie and Sigourney butt heads over Melanie’s idea, but Melanie is able to convince the executives that the idea was hers. Sigourney is fired, and Melanie and Jack continue their relation.  My favorite line in the movie is Melanie Griffith telling Harrison Ford, “I am not steak. You can’t just order me.”

18.  Pretty Woman – Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are magical together.  This movie made Julia Roberts a star. Julia Roberts stars as a prostitute who is picked up by Richard Gere on Hollywood Boulevard driving a Lotus.  He initially asks her to spend the, which turns into a week which turns into a lifetime. I could watch this movie over and over, which I do. Nice soundtrack and also stars Jason Alexander as Gere’s lawyer and Hector Elizondo as the Beverly Wilshire hotel manager. My favorite line in the movie is Julia Roberts to Richard Gere, “I want the fairy tale.”

19.  Something To Talk About  –  Stars Julia Roberts, Robert Duvall, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, and Kyra Sedgwick. Julia Roberts discovers that her husband, Dennis Quaid, is having an affair. They separate and struggle to keep their marriage together. Robert Duvall and Gena Rowlands play Julia Roberts’ parents who own a horse hunting and jumping farm also have problems. My favorite line in the movie is Julia Roberts asking, “Yeah, I just want to ask how many people here has NOT had sex with my husband?”

20.  Touch & Go – Stars Michael Keaton, Maria Conchita Alonso and Ajay Naidu. Michael Keaton stars as professional hockey player who is mugged by a local gang. He catches gang member Ajay Naidu, and takes him home to his mother, Maria Conchita Alonso.  Alonso offers to take Keaton to lunch for his troubles. He accepts and they become close, but not without a few struggles. Ajay Naidu follows him to an away game as a stow away on the bus and Maria Conchita Alonso is attacked by one of the gang members. Keaton returns to confront the gang member who attacks her. He brings her home from the hospital, sets her up in her own business and takes their relationship to another level.  Nice ending to an unlikely love story, great love story. Favorite line in the movie, Keaton telling Naidu, “I’m going to knock on all of the doors with your head.”

21.  Gloria –  This movie is more of a drama than a love story. I love Gena Rowlands, so any movie she plays in is a girl flick for me. Rowlands stars as a girlfriend of a mobster in Gloria. She ends up with the son of an accountant and his wife who have a hit placed on them. The accountant is an informant for the feds, but he’s also an accountant for the mob. The wife knows they’re going to die, so she asks Rowlands to take the children so they can live. The daughter won’t go with Rowlands, but the son goes with her. She vows to protect the little boy at all cost. Gena Rowlands to the mob, “You let a WOMAN beat ya, huh?”

These are fun movies to watch no matter your age. It’s nice to see some of the veterans actors at their best. Hope you can find 1 or 2 that peeks your interest or that you already love enough to curl up and watch again. Are any of the movies listed one of your favorites? If not, what’s one of your favorite girl flicks?  Stay tuned for my list of all time favorite movies, which is a series of drama, additional girl flicks, and westerns. Yes, I said westerns.

10 Dollar Tree Bargains

bargain shopping, frugal shopping

I love the Dollar Tree. I can always find a bargain, but the best reason is that I save tons of money purchasing various items. Everything’s A Dollar! Here’s a list of some of my favorite Dollar Tree items:

party supplies, paper party supplies

1.  Party Items – I purchase the majority of my party items from the Dollar Store. This includes tablecloth, utensils, cups, napkins etc. They have a variety of colors and they usually increase their color selection during the holidays and graduation.

flash cards, school supplies

2.  Early Learning Supplies – These are great for helping with math homework.

3.  Craft Items – I can find ribbon, glue sticks, greenery, and flowers etc. for a lot less than         Michael’s or A.C. Moore.

4.  Glassware – I have found adorable glassware at the Dollar Tree. I love the color of these glasses. I snatched up 6. I’ve also purchased wine glasses that I love to fill with candy and give as gifts during the holidays or as a party favor. I also purchase vases for crafts and cylinders for candles.

5.  Gift Bags/Wrapping Paper – I purchase my gift bags and wrapping paper at the Dollar Tree. They have a large assortment and various size bags for birthdays, wedding and seasonal selections.

6.  Seasonal Items – Great place to purchase seasonal decorating items, stocking stuffers or party favors.

7.  Packing/Mailing Supplies – I mail packages to my grandchildren so I purchase box tape, bubble wrap and mailing envelopes here. Cheaper than the big box stores.
Disney coloring books, kids activities

8.  Books/Puzzles – Great place to buy coloring and activity books for the kids.  They also have books for bedtime stories, notebooks, pencils, markers etc.

9.  Snack Items  – I find good deals on pretzels, popcorn, trail mix, pudding, apple sauce cups and other snack items much cheaper than the grocery store.

10.  Storage Items – I purchase storage containers to house my craft, gardening items and the kid’s coloring books and crayons.  I love the containers that I can stack in my craft room or their room.

You can find name brand items at the Dollar Tree as well as off-brand depending on what you’re are looking for. Either way saving money is the name of the game, and that you will do.

Photos courtesy of Dollar Tree.

Wordless Wednesday – Dinner Ready

No matter how old they get, they never really grow up. I feed the baby breakfast and lunch changed him, and held him all while they sleep until noon.  Now they want to know if dinner is ready?  Really!

Wordless Wednesday – Sunset

                                                                    Sunset in the Virgin Islands

10 Tips To Stay Healthy – Sponsored Post

It’s a new year and my main goal is to eat healthier, exercise and stay healthy. I’ve fallen off track on my healthy eating goals so many times I’ve lost count. This year I decided to pick myself up, brush myself off and get back on track. I made peace with the fact that there’s no quick fix, it requires a lifestyle change. I’ve tried fad diets, prepacked food diets, eating like a bird, not eating, you name it only to end up frustrated and returning to my bad habits.

They say timing is everything. When I was contacted by Molina Health Care to do a post on health issues that affect me and my family I gladly accepted. The first step to overcoming struggles is to talk about them. I had put together a list of tips to achieve and maintain a healthy eating lifestyle and I thought it would be perfect to share for this post.

The turning point for me to get healthy was when I looked at pictures and realized just how much weight I had gained. I reached a point where I hated to get my picture taken. I was missing out on three generations of family pictures with my daughter and granddaughter, because I couldn’t bear to look at the majority of the photos. If there’s a health issue blowing in the wind it will find my family, so I knew that I had to get serious and get to work. We have a family history of high blood pressure, diabetics, obesity, heart attacks, cancer and the list goes on.

Eating healthy was always a must in my home. A snack for my daughter was jello when she was growing up. I truly believe my high stress job took its toll on me over the years, but I knew that I could no longer allow my job to control me. My job was a means to make an income, not a means to end my life. Here’s the tips that I’m now using to stay healthy:

  1. Incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet –  I started a kitchen garden several years and I grow the majority of my vegetables during the summer along with fresh fruits. There’s nothing better than being able to pick fresh fruits and vegetables outside your door.
  2. Preserve fresh vegetables – I now preserve fresh vegetables during the summer to make soups and other dishes throughout the year. I also grow fresh herbs to flavor my dishes. If you don’t have a kitchen garden, visit a local Farmer’s Market. Seal and freeze the fresh vegetables for later use.
  3. Get a partner to help you stay on track – My daughter is a Beach Body coach so we have teamed up to ensure that I stay on track.
  4. Don’t deprive yourself – Give yourself a day or two to enjoy the foods that you truly love. Depriving yourself is a set-up for failure. Saturday or Sunday are my days to eat out and enjoy a burger, slice of pizza or pasta dish.  I look forward to it and I don’t feel guilty.
  5. Give up the excuses – Make your health a priority.
  6. Exercise –  Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. If you can’t get in 30 get in 5, 10, 15 or 20. Some is better than none.
  7. Educate yourself  –  Learn what foods provide nutrition and energy for the body. Prepackaged and junk food are empty calories and contain high amounts of sodium and sugar. I’ve replaced chips with popcorn, candy bars with fresh fruit, ice cream with frozen yogurt. Gradually add healthy items into your meal plan.
  8. Drink plenty of water and don’t skip meals – I love water, so drinking it has never been a problem for me. I replaced soda with water and Gatorade and eat 4 – 5 small meals a day.
  9. Learn portion controlI took a class at my local hospital on eating healthy. You will be surprised on what is considered a healthy portion. (I got my answer on how I gained the excess weight).
  10. Relieve stress and get rest – Know the stress factors in your life and eliminate as many as you can. Get plenty of rest. Replace bed pillows if they are old and purchase them according to how you sleep. I’m a side sleeper, so I purchased pillows made for my position. I sleep throughout the night now.
I have incorporated these 10 tips into my life and now they’re pretty much second nature. Getting healthy won’t happen overnight and there are no quick fixes, believe me I have tried them all. It requires a lifestyle change, which requires you to make your health a priority every day. Check out the Eating Well article on Molina Health Care. It discusses acceptable servings from each of the food groups and is worth the read. It’s great information for healthy eating.

The opinions in this article are my own. I do not work for, or with, any brand mentioned in this article, nor do I have any official relationship with them.  I have a relationship with GigaSavvy, for whom I create original editorial content.

Why I No Longer Use The Word Weak

This is a guest post did I for the blog A Peek Into My Paradise.  I’ve decided to no longer define who I am by Strengths and Weaknesses. Here’s Webster’s definition of weak:

    WEAK. 1 : lacking strength: as. a : deficient in physical vigor : feeble, debilitated. b : not able to sustain or exert much weight, pressure, or strain.

I have spent years defining what I have perceived to be my Strengths and Weaknesses.  There are areas that I wish to improve, but when I assessed my skills and qualities I had a hard time finding weaknesses.  Here’s why:

  • I have raised a daughter as single mother and college educated her
  • I’m helping to raise 2 grandchildren
  • I manage a home
  • I clean my home
  • I prepare the meals
  • I do the laundry
  • I work outside out the home 40 hours per week
  • I budget the income and pay the bills
  • I spend time blogging
  • I guest blog for other bloggers
  • I grow my own vegetables
  • I can summer produce for winter use and saving on the grocery bill
  • I maintain the outside of my home with the exception of mowing the grass ( I have lawn service)
  • I find time for family and friends
  • I take the car in to be serviced after I negotiate a deal on the vehicle I’m purchasing

I could continue my list, but you get my drift. Weak, how can I be weak. It takes strength and endurance to do all of the above on a regular basis.  Now I do have a few things that I have a hard time passing up like chocolate, coffee, and chips. These just happen to be things that I like to indulge in, they don’t make me who I am. Life beats us down enough, why contribute to the negativity by placing unflattering labels on yourself.

I have accepted that I am a work in progress and ever evolving.  Because I don’t always meet my goals or I’m not perfect doesn’t mean that I lack strength. There are many factors that contribute to how much I can accomplish and what I accomplish. I have found that if I set goals and continuously working toward them, it reduces the stress that I place on myself. I think as women we try to accomplish too much and often end up with the weight of the world on our shoulders. When we can no longer bear the weight we see ourselves as weak or society sees us as weak.

Because I’m not as physically strong as a man doesn’t mean that I’m weak.  That’s just the way I was made. The majority of the time, I don’t want to open the jar, hammer a stake in the ground, change a dirty tire or haul heavy items. I simply don’t want to break a nail, have back pain or prove how manly I am, ha.  Now don’t get me wrong, I can hammer, change a tire, shovel the driveway, and haul heavy items. I’ve been single for many years. I can get it done.
I have found that setting priorities has helped me meet my ever changing goals. Nothing is more important to me than my family, so whatever goals I set they come after my family.  If I don’t achieve them during the year, I continue to work on them the following year.

I’m adding weak to the list of items that I’ve tossed because I will never wear or use it again. Join me ladies, you’ll find that you will have a ton lifted off your shoulders and you will feel much better.  Replace the word Weaknesses on your list with  Things I Wish To Improve!

I visited Martin Luther King’s Childhood Home

Martin Luther King

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, I wanted to share a few pictures that I took when I visited his childhood home and the MLK Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta.  What a memorable trip. This is a picture of my sister and me sitting on the front porch of the home Dr. King grow up in. I will always treasure this picture and the feelings that I had when I stepped upon that porch.  Witnessing history was truly an emotional experience, especially since the Civil Rights movement impacted me and my family significantly. Sharing it with my sister put the icing on the cake. We always have a good time together.

The home has been beautifully maintained and has lots of character.  It is actually quite large, four bedrooms, dining room, kitchen, study, parlor/living room, a bathroom and a huge backyard. I love the wrap around porch.

Martin Luther King wagon

This is the farm wagon that carried Dr. King’s coffin from his Ebenezer Baptist Church to Morehouse College, his alma mater, for the second service.  The wagon was pulled by 2 mules through Atlanta for 3.5 miles.  If everyone remembers, Mrs. King walked with her children ahead of the wagon in the funeral procession.

Martin Luther King

This is Dr. King’s final resting place at the King Center in Atlanta.  His wife Coretta Scott King was laid to rest beside him.

Martin Luther King
Across from the Kings’ Crypt is the eternal flame.  There is also the Civil Right Walk of Fame. Below are a few prints from the walk which include Dr. Maya Angelo, Sidney Poitier, Magic Johnson, and Maynard Jackson.  Maynard Jackson was the first black mayor in Atlanta.  My brother, Dr. Robert Holmes, wrote Maynard Jackson’s biography. It can be purchased on Amazon.
I hope that we all remember and honor what Dr. King dedicated his life doing.  Be kind to and love one another. Have a blessed week-end.

Happy New Year 2015

Where did the year go?  It’s amazing that 2014 is about to come to end, but I’m looking forward to all that 2015 brings. Out with the old and in with the new, right.  I’ve met some great people in 2014 that have become an important part of my life, and I remained consistent for the most part with my blog posts. Consistency hasn’t been one of my strong points throughout my blogging endeavors, and has caused me to not reach many of my goals in the blogging world.

I hope to stay on track with Mother 2 Mother in 2015. I will officially retire as a public servant in 9/2015, so I will be able to dedicate more time to my blog, my family, gardening, crafts, travel, and all the things that I love. The thought makes me happy, I love writing and sharing my life with my readers. I’m looking forward to moving on to the next phase of my life and hope you will continue to follow.

I want to thank each of you for supporting me in 2014. Your comments and following is what keeps me working on Mother 2 Mother. I wish each of you good health, happiness, and love in the New Year.  May each of you be blessed.


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A New Orleans Tradition

My daughter and her family have been visiting all week.  My son-in-law is from South Carolina, and loves seafood.  I decided to do a small seafood boil for him.  Normally, I have a seafood boil when I’m having a large family gathering.  It requires using a large propane tank and burner along with a large stockpot with strainer basket.

Seafood boils are a Louisiana tradition.  I experienced my first boil years ago with friends who are from Louisiana.  I love being able to complete the entire meal in the same pot.  I was feeling lazy, so I decided not to use the propane tank and burner, but to prepare the boil in my kitchen.  It was the first time that I prepared the boil in the house, but it turned out great.  I have a small pot with the strainer basket, it was perfect for the occasion.

I pretty much used the same ingredients that I use for larger boils, I just didn’t use as much.  I used small red potatoes, corn on the cob, and large shrimp.  A lemon quartered is optional.  For the seasoning, I use Zatarain’s crab boil and Cajun seasoning. You can add mussels, crawl fish or whole crabs.

I used snow cluster crab legs, but I placed the crab legs on a cookie sheet, seasoned them with Obay, and warmed them in the oven on 375 for about 20 minutes since the pot wasn’t large enough to accommodate the crab legs.

This is a nice meal for large and small gatherings.  Even the children enjoy the small potatoes and corn. If you would like my recipe for the in-house seafood boil, please let me know.

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Our Brands

Lenasia Times
The newspaper is published Bi-monthly consisting of a mid-month edition (15th of the month) and an end-month edition (29th of the month).
The end of the month publication averages 48 pages per edition making for a very informative read covering many topics.
The mid month edition is distributed just to Lenasia & Lenasia South and is more appropriate for local advertisers.
Advertising is of a high quality in the publication and is vast, as well as varied. Whatever service/product you are looking for, you are very likely to find an advertiser in the Lenasia Times who would offer such. The newspaper also has two very exciting supplementary sections:

       The Lenasia Times Motoring supplement – A very informative, detailed section for the motoring enthusiast with a vast array of adverts catering for all your motoring needs such as Car Sales/Buys, Servicing, Repairs, General Maintenance and all Motoring related aspects.
Our Motoring section has an individual website www.motoringsa.com

       The Lenasia Times Travel section – A thoroughly enjoyable section which informs readers of ideal travel destinations, issues pertaining to Hajj and Umrah and pilgrimages as well as general information pertinent to those who love travelling. The section also has a variety of adverts catering for all your travel needs.

Soweto Times  is distributed in the greater Soweto area (click on COVERAGE). This exciting monthly read has proven immensely popular with residents of South Africa’s most famous and historic township – Soweto.

Eldorado Times the third sister publication of Lenasia Times is making tremendous inroads in the very vibrant communities of Eldorado Park, Ennerdale and other similar areas.

Benoni Times circulates in the Indian areas of Benoni. It is distributed in the towns of Actonville, Lakefield, McKenzie Park, New Modder, Rynsoord, and other surrounding areas going as far as Brakpan and popular estates that have been recently developed, and is distributed in Malls like East Rand Mall, Carnival City Mall etc…

Northern Times strategically circulates in the northern areas of Johannesburg. It is distributed to more of the more newer Indian areas that has come up in the north of Johannesburg like Greenside, Emmerantia, Houghton, Marlboro, Midrand, Laudium, Erasmia, Claudius, Christoburg and other surrounding areas such as the many new and popular estates that have been recently developed along the R55.

All our publications use the Heatset method for printing, the Heatset method, which quite literally meticulously burns the ink into the paper, ensures quality in the output, giving the newspaper an almost glossy, magazine-like look where even slight details are quite cleanly visible and apparent. Using the Heatset method of printing gives our publications a massive edge over other publications who use the lesser quality Coldset method of printing which doesn’t produce the same level of excellent detail, gloss, quality and print error-free aspects such as the Heatset method which is overwhelmingly the norm for all products.

The brand Lenasia Times can now boast to be circulated (through the main and associated publications) in almost the entire region of Western and Central Gauteng, and there are plans to enhance the historic brand even further by expanding into newer areas.

 SOWETO TIMES logoSoweto Times
Publisher: Soweto Editorial
CEO & Founder: Nisa Wajoodeen

 LENASIA TIMES logoLenasia Times
Publisher: Wazeefa Publications
CEO & Founder: Waheed Camroodeen

Eldorado Times
Publisher: Soweto Editorial
CEO & Founder: Nisa Wajoodeen

Benoni Times
 Soweto Editorial
CEO & Founder: Shiraz Wajoodeen

Motoring SA
Soweto Editorial
CEO & Founder: Shiraz Wajoodeen

Northern Logo

Northern Times
Wazeefa Publications
CEO & Founder: Waseem Camroodeen


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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Art Makes Me Happy...

Deb here from the Design Team....  What makes you happy ??  After a long day at work or taking care of your family, what recharges your batteries so you can get up the next morning and do it all over again?? Art makes me happy; creating a card is a process that comes straight from my heart. I also love to read and curling up with a book of new techniques or my nook (with approx 800 books) is heaven to me. Artsy/craftsy books and projects help me re-charge MY batteries.  Sitting in my Craft Room surrounded by my favorite stamps, new supplies and works in progress puts a smile on my face, even on the dreariest of days. The card below was such fun for me to make. The crayon box stamp brought back such happy memories of coloring as a child. Art was making me happy back then too. The Unity Stamp Company & Donna Downey Studios set "Art & Possibility" has some amazing sayings including "paint your dreams",  "Art is not a measure of skill but of passion" and "embrace possibility".. How do you paint your dreams?? Find what makes you happy and do it.. Re-charge your creative batteries as often as you can. Make time for YOU.. You'll be glad you did..

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Of the many seemingly quasiautobiographical elements contained in Jesse Peretz’s latest film “Our Idiot Brother,” there only seems to be one that’s accurate.

“There’s something I believe in this character that I play, there are qualities that are very inherent in who Jesse is,” says Paul Rudd, not referring to the “Idiot” part of his onscreen alter ego Ned. “Jesse’s the most universally liked person. He’s very sweet to everybody. Sometimes, I feel like he feels bad giving you direction.”

While it’s Ned’s sweetness that ultimately leads to the enmity of his three sisters (played by Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer), as he unwittingly and systematically destroys each of their lives without an ability to lie or turn down a request, there was definitely a consensus among the film’s cast that it was that very same quality in Peretz that brought out the best in them.

“None of us are shy and because Jesse is gregarious and patient and fatherly, I think he managed that very well because it was a zoo,” said Rashida Jones, who plays the girlfriend of Ned’s sister, before adding for a laugh. “A fucking zoo.”

Peretz, who indeed is quite the gentle soul in person, wasn’t always this way. Loathe to tell people he attended Harvard as he played bass for The Lemonheads as a founding member of the band in the early ‘90s, there was an evident streak of rebellion for the son of former New Republic editor-in-chief Marty Peretz that has since extended to his films. After finding success directing the ubiquitous Donal Logue-starring “Jimmy the Cab Driver” spots for MTV and becoming a favorite of the Foo Fighters to helm their cheeky music videos, Peretz made the jump to features with an ambitious adaptation of “Atonement” author Ian McEwan’s “First Love Last Rites” before settling into the comedies that one would expect, though his first “The Chateau,” which introduced him to Rudd, was hardly traditional, experimenting on digital video and pairing Rudd with future “40 Year Old Virgin” co-star Romany Malco as brothers.

“Our Idiot Brother” is no less curious, both in function and spirit, following the freewheeling and uncynical Ned from the goat farm he shared with a girlfriend (Kathryn Hahn) to the big city where his kind nature is routinely tested by urbanites who don’t understand his simple approach to life as they needlessly make their own lives complicated. As Peretz alludes to below, it’s a premise akin to the comedy itself, which isn’t necessarily an easy fit into the genre, content to make you smile the whole way through as opposed to giving in to the build for a big laugh, although there are more than a few as it gently probes family dynamics.

Written with his sister Evgenia, a famed celebrity profile writer for Vanity Fair, and her husband, documentarian David Schisgall, “Our Idiot Brother” was a family affair both in front of and behind the camera, which is where our conversation picks up.

OurIdiotBrother3 How did you and your sister come to collaborate on this film?

A couple years ago, she and I decided that we wanted to try to write a script together. Years ago, she graduated from college and had this thought that she wanted to be a screenwriter, moved out here [to Los Angeles], wrote three spec scripts, got disillusioned, moved to New York and sort of stopped it. But it was always there in the back of her head.

We ended up writing a script we haven’t set up yet, but hopefully it will someday and we had such a good time working together — we were close, but it made us get extra close. One of the things we realized was we created an obstacle to get it set up is that movie, the protagonist was 17 and the main characters were younger. We’re like, “Man, why did we do that?” I did this movie with Paul 10 years ago called “The Chateau” and I always wanted to work with him again and in fact, in the interim, he and I had three or four false starts on projects that we started beading out and never got them to script form. The first thought when I sat down with my sister, and then we pulled her husband in too, was that we wanted to write something for Paul.

Pretty quickly, we had the idea that we wanted him to play some hippie character, which was something that Paul and I had talked about in various forms in our unfinished project. Then we decided to do a grown sibling comedy, something that reflected a little bit of the life that we’re in. One of the big influences was “Hannah and Her Sisters.” And so we wrote the script with not only Paul, but Zooey [Deschanel] and Emily Mortimer in mind for those parts as well.

A funny thing I had heard you say a long time ago was that before you actually met Paul for “The Chateau,” you were worried he was nice, but perhaps not funny. It’s safe to say those fears were erased after working with him earlier, but since you’re pushing him to be the nicest person possible, did that concern come back up?

I feel like the degree to which he’s super-nice and trusting is beyond just being the nice, clean-cut guy. In a way, I know the comedy comes from that extreme. And the brilliance to me about Paul in particular is I think it would’ve been really easy just to play the dumb dude. I think Paul really made a choice not to play this character like an idiot or a dumb guy and the degree to which we call this film “Our Idiot Brother” and all his sisters calling him an idiot is meant partly ironically and the way that everybody’s sibiling is at one point in time an idiot brother or idiot sister. I’m my sister’s idiot brother.

The really neat trick I think this movie pulls off is not confusing niceness for stupidity. Is that a hard thing to grasp while shooting?

I do feel like the most important thing that Paul did was understand who this character was emotionally, but at the end of the day we tried to make the relationship between him and his sisters feel real. Even if your family isn’t exactly like this, you can relate to the dynamics there. So it was really important to me to create this satisfying emotional arc, but I do also think everybody knew that their other main job was trying to figure out what was funny about those tensions and dig the laughs out.

For me, tonally, that’s always my goal in terms of my taste of comedy is to figure out how to balance out those two things and never sell the emotional arc of the movie short for a quick, easy laugh, but also not to get so caught up in the emotional reality of the characters that you forget we’re trying to entertain people. I’m okay with letting a scene being kind of serious and heavy and not make you laugh for a few minutes, which is something that I think some comedies, especially some American comedies feel like those [punch] lines have to come out at least every 30 seconds. And I really don’t give a shit about that.

OurIdiotBrother2 You’ve said Paul’s character Ned is based on somebody from your real life and obviously, your sister is a writer at Vanity Fair like Elizabeth Banks’ character Miranda and her husband’s a documentarian like Steve Coogan’s character Dylan. I’d imagine their real-life counterparts wouldn’t paint such unflattering self-portraits, but when you’re basing the characters on real touchstones, is it enjoyable to fill in the details?

It’s not [Evgenia] and actually, the character’s more based on a mutual friend of ours, but then there’s things because she’s a writer that come from her experience. At the end of the day, that stuff is really helpful, especially when there’s three people working on a script. We’re three people who know each other really well because she’s my sister and he’s my brother-in-law and these people that we’d be sort of like, “oh, let’s just think about her kind of being like so and so…,” you feel comfortable because there’s a really concrete place where you’re all on the same page and there’s some lines you can steal from them. Still, I’m really happy to say that nobody in this movie is so completely based on anyone.

We already had an idea of who Ned was, but I met this brother of my friend who had worked on a medical marijuana farm. I loved this story of how he avoided going to jail by joining the Franciscan monastery in Oakland. He’s like the sweetest dude ever and he wouldn’t have done some of the more ridiculous, guileless things that Ned does to drive the plot, but he did have Ned’s awesome outlook about life. So what happens is I meet somebody like that and suddenly I get this really pure idea of what this character going to be. But then you bring an actor in and an actor takes all that information — the script, your discussion, whatever — and channels it through their own experience, so by the time you get to the movie, it’s so far away from that person that instigated the clarity on that character when you were sitting around beading out the story.

You’re making less of them these days, but coming from a background of directing ads and music videos where it’s all about the capturing the perfect image, are feature comedies where you’re being very improvisational on set different in how you approach them or do the different mediums inform each other?

I think they inform each other in light ways. I’ve really gotten pigeonholed into comedy commercials and the music videos that I do. I barely do music videos anymore, but I started off doing more photographic, intense music videos and I look at those and I laugh at how ridiculous they look now. At a certain point, I realized I’m more into taking a three-minute song and doing a funny little narrative thing.

Which you did recently with the Foo Fighters’ “Long Road to Ruin” video, for instance, which has a very different style than any of your films.

But that style is all about just trying to enjoy parodying a real specific look on something. Still, it’s fundamentally about the characters and creating a little funny narrative to go with the music. My feeling always is that people tend to exaggerate the degree to which directing music videos or commercials help prepare you to be a feature director. They help you get to play with a lot of tools, especially on commercials – cameras and things that you maybe can’t afford with smaller movies.

OurIdiotBrother4 I think you also learn what your job as the director is in terms of how you relate to the crew. You get over the fear of crew. I’ll talk to younger directors, especially younger directors that are thrown into something big early on. They feel like as the director, they’ve got to have the answers to everything. The more experience you have on set, the more you realize it’s important as a director to have as clear a point of view as you can and to be clear with people, but also that it’s really important to use the experts you’ve hired at what they’re good at. I don’t get visual effects, special effects and whenever I’m doing stuff like that, I’m the first person [to] be like, “I don’t really know how to do this, so guide me through.” That’s the place where having done lots of music videos and commercials, it sets you up going into a movie feeling like you know what your role is a little better.

Just a silly final question, but do you still play music?

Not really. I gave up the bass. I played my last show with the Lemonheads in 1991 somewhere in Berlin, and the road manager took my bass home for me because I was staying in Europe for a month. His house in Brooklyn burned down with my bass in it. I never bought another bass. I have an acoustic guitar I’ll play to get my kids to go to bed, but that’s about it.

“Our Idiot Brother” opens in theaters nationwide on August 26th.


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Digitised Image

Mascot for the New Zealand bowling team, [ca 23 April 1951]

Reference Number: 114/282/02-G

A carved kiwi, mascot of the bowls team to tour the British Isles, photographed circa 23 April 1951 by an Eve

Key terms:
1 image, categorised under Dry plate photonegatives, related to Mascots, Lawn bowls and Kiwis.

Part of:
Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper, Reference Number PAColl-0614-1 (5390 digitised items)
Evening Post :Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post newspaper, Reference Number PA-Group-00287 (5802 digitised items)

Extent: 1 b&w original negative(s)Dry plate glass negative 3.25 x 4.25 inches. Single negative

Conditions governing access to original: Partial restriction - Negatives are not available for viewing. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Citation: Any publication or exhibition must be accompanied by the credit "Evening Post Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library"

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Free Download Main Wohi Hoon Songs - Released Year: 1966

Download Main Wohi Hoon Mp3 Songs: Songs can be downloaded by clicking the download link given below.
Disclaimer: This free download service is provided by mp3craber.com which searches the songs from different sites. mp3craber.com is not responsible for download of copyright songs. If the owner of the song is having any issue regarding free download of song. He may contact to webmaster to remove it from list.

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1- Aankhon Pe Palkon Ke Ghooghat
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4- Main Wohi Hoon Jise Tum Pyaar
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6- Aaja O Zara Aaja Dilbar Jaani


text:
Call for the release of the writer and whistleblower Patrice NGANANG, arrested for political reasons

Patrice NGANANG is a writer whose style betrays his bitterness and anger in the face of the incompetence and negligence of those who have been ruling the country by terror for more than thirty-five years.

This deep anger is felt by the families of thousands of young Cameroonians who are forced into exile because of the poor systemic governance of the new deal regime, desperate migrants who have been reduced to slavery in Libya.

It is the same anger for millions of Cameroonians whose only certainty today is uncertainty: uncertainty about daily living, access to health care and education, etc.

It is the same anger for parents in the North-West and South-West regions who cry for their children killed and children from other regions, serving under the flag, being murdered on their doorsteps.

It is finally the same anger for these same parents who notice, helplessly, that their children have not been going to school for two years and that that situation does not upset President BIYA whose two children will soon be declared "admitted" to ENAM and dream, like their father, of a glorious administrative and political career.

This anger is aggravated by the fact that the governing gerontocracy does not miss any opportunity to live on public funds and that their offspring are "registered" in all the major schools of the country to succeed them within administrations and at the helm of the State.

The writer Patrice NGANANG angrily expresses himself with his own words on behalf of the ordinary Cameroonian. This is how we must apprehend the spout of frustration of this writer who, out of love for his country, is driven mad by the incompetence of a regime whose political objective is, ultimately, less to govern than to last in power, including by deliberately crushing by misery the people whom he holds solely by the terror betrayed by the cult of the personality pushed to its climax.

So, it is not the individual Patrice NGANANG who was arrested as the Government wants us to believe, it is the writer, driven by the rage of a people suffocated by a reptilian dictatorship, who is currently in the hands of those whose carelessness and crookedness he denounces, on behalf of the ordinary Cameroonian.

According to his lawyers, insults to the Head of State, forgery and use of fake documents, apology for secessionism and the threat of death are reasons for the arrest of the writer.

The insults to the Head of State and the apology for secessionism are eminently political reasons that reveal the authoritarian nature of the regime and indicate that the writer Patrice NGANANG is an additional political prisoner of President BIYA.

Since the regime is so quick to condemn those whom it accuses of insults to the Head of the State, what does it wait, for example, to judge and punish Mr. OKALIA BILAÏ, Governor of the South-West, who in a report aired on Friday, 22 September 2017 in the 5 PM newscast of CRTV national radio, called the populations, under his authority, dogs? What is he waiting for to remove the immunity of Ntem Valley CPDM Senator OBAM-ASSAM Samuel, who, in the midst of a civil war in the country, declared, according to the media, during a heated exchange in Parliament with his SDF colleague, Jean TSOMELOU, having ordered his son, colonel in the army, to kill 30 Anglophones? What is he waiting for to sue the journalists who, on a television channel located in Nsam in Yaoundé, openly encourage hatred against the Anglophones?

The regime takes an irresponsible risk of prosecuting the writer Patrice NGANANG for forgery and use of fake documents and illegal immigration when we know that at the heart of this regime are many dignitaries who, in violation of Cameroonian laws, are holders of multiple passports. At the eve of elections, this accusation against the writer may be an evil for the good. It can indeed constitute a unique political opportunity where could come to testify any person and all the accredited chanceries in Cameroon likely to help the justice to establish that among those who run the country in the executive, the parliament and in the Judiciary, there would be "counterfeiters" holding foreign passports. Clearly, this accusation will allow the trial of these dignitaries of the regime, many and unsuspected, carrying foreign passports and who, insincerely patriotic, refuse by mere selfishness and against progress, the adoption of the law on dual nationality likely to open to all the opportunities that they keep jealously for themselves and for their descendants.

The writer Patrice NGANANG, through his spout of frustration, simply wanted to say to the President of the Republic that the situation of the country is now unbearable, aware as he must be that he will never be given the opportunity to meet the President Paul BIYA that even his closest and most important collaborators only stealthily see at the airport when he gives them the "last instructions" before his numerous and expensive "private short stays in Europe" or, when he returns, they inform him, all fearful, on the situation of the country. The writer Patrice NGANANG is therefore a whistleblower. He must be released, and the depth of his anger lucidly analysed by President BIYA in a country that is now in ruin.

The Communication Department
Yaounde, 10th december 2017.


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Express Calibration Services

Booth: 877

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Express Calibration is an ISO 17025 Certified Calibration Lab. It calibrates/repairs air data, nav/comm, fuel qty., TCAS, XPDR/DME, RF, pressure, tensiometers and crimpers. It performs calibrations for general aviation, corporate aviation, FBO'S, OEMs, FAA repair stations, U.S. government agencies, as well as regional and air transport airlines.


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Pantone 2014 color

Did you hear? Recently, Pantone announced its spring 2014 color and PPG picked its fav for the entire year. First Pantone’s pick: Dazzling Blue, which is described as a “peppy shade of cobalt”

Use this color in small doses…. paint a focal wall add art work and accessories to complete the look

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4 5 The Learning Lab: February 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013

Resources to Teach Descriptive Language in Writing

I LOVE the book I Can Write Like That by Susan Ehmann and Kellyann Gayer.

I used this text to create a fun lesson plan around the Red Clover Books we read.

See my full lesson plan on this prezi:

In a nut shell:  I read some amazing examples of descriptive language, we discussed them, and then students found examples they felt were descriptively lovely from classroom texts.  The next day, we reviewed and students decided to edit their own writing; so, they highlighted text they wanted to spice up, then worked on adding descriptive elements.  Such a simple and fun lesson = lovely writing! :)

Here are some other GREAT resources for teaching writing!  Click on the pictures to find the books.

Here are some Descriptive Language Posters I made for my class.  I introduce one at a time.  I LOVE that I see my kiddos going up to the posters ALL THE TIME during writing!  It feels good to know I made something useful and that they are using these skills to intentionally make their writing descriptive!

When in doubt... Dry Erase Boards!

It never ceases to amaze me... kids LOVE using dry erase boards and markers!  Just when math class was beginning to look like a bust, we pulled out the dry erase boards.  My kids really perked up and had fun showing various division strategies!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Using Text Features to Read Informational Texts!

Captured on Film!
After teaching my class about the importance of text features, I caught two kiddos using the resource on their own accord!

In guided reading and whole-class reading, we have repeatedly discussed the importance of text features.  They enable us to understand the subject, locate information, and even gain new understandings!  These include: headings, table of contents, diagrams, captions, indexes, and the list goes on!!!

 Here is an example of Print Text Features:

Constructed Response--Writing about Reading (Freebie)

Fourth Grade students have been writing a constructed response nearly each week, during the second trimester.  They read a short article, consider the prompting question, plan their ideas using evidence from the text, and draft an one-paragraph response.

To begin this form of writing, I modeled the whole process (reading the text, highlighting or underlining evidence to support my answer, planning, and then writing my response.)

It is important for students to understand what it means to "construct" an essay or response.  So, we spent a great deal of time talking about the art of building your ideas, while using evidence directly from the text.  Students and I conference each week, and we score the pieces together!

Click on the Rubric image to get one for FREE!

Students have read science articles, texts about the writing process, and are now moving onto persuasive articles!

Native American Study--Using Semantic Maps

Fourth Grade students began their study of the Abenaki (Woodland/Algonquin Native Americans.)  To begin this study, each study filled out their own Semantic Map.  Students did a *think*pair*share--they did their own thinking, paired with a partner to added new ideas, and shared out as a large group.  I made a larger Semantic Map, which we kept up on the wall for the duration of the study.

After this, students began reading about the Abenaki, highlighting interesting facts, and recording facts. They had several jobs to do with these texts.  They needed to collect facts, which they used to create posters or Keynote presentations.  They also chose one area of study.  Each student worked on some sort of a performance task to demonstrate their findings.  We had hand-made transportation equipment, 3-D topographic maps, large-scale drawn maps, clothing made for dolls, model wigwams, and the list goes on!

This was such a great unit!

As an additional reading piece, students listened to and read many Abenaki and Pourquoi folktales.  Each student then wrote their own Pourquoi folktale.

Click on the Image here to get your own semantic map worksheet--for free!