attitude of gratitude

I woke up today feeling amazingly blessed and grateful for the life I have and the people I have in it.

It's been a while since I woke up feeling so much like this, and it almost had me a bit worried....not because I'm not glad for the blessings I have, but more because of how overwhelming the feeling was. I honestly kinda feel the need to express all the love I have and hug all the people who mean a lot to me and who have supported me thus far.

I took a few minutes to consider all the challenges and setbacks I've had since January, and weigh them against the blessings and things that I'm still fortunate to have.....

Some time after delving into my thoughts, I heard about the two little girls who were burnt to death in a fire at their home in another parish. The only person rescued from the blaze was their younger brother.

Then I heard of the 15 persons in a community some miles away who lost their homes to a crazy fire.

Few hours later I got news that a member of my community was shot and killed in the early morning while on his way to a friend's house. His 8-year-old son was with him and his wife and 4-year-old son was home...assuming he would get back home safe and they would enjoy their Easter.

The killer just drove up and shot him....they took a chain...but no item of great value; and they didn't even touch his son. He called the friend he was to visit, and the friend came to rush him to the hospital. He died while there.

It really is true that some things don't really become reality until it hits home...and while I am aware of the distressing crime situation here in my island home, it really didn't sink in until it hit close to home...literally.

I worry about how his wife will adapt to this new life she is forced to have; about how those boys will feel knowing that their dad was taken for little to nothing; about how the elder of the two will cope and I worry that he will live in a sense of fear based on how senselessly his father's life was taken.

In the midst of this, I hope that they find the person who did this; faith that these little boys will grow up to be strong men fighting for what is right; I can only hope that the family will find peace in the midst of their storm and that they will feel comforted by the overflowing love that is coming from friends, family and members of the community.

 

As bad as things are, I continue to have faith in a country that I want to see change in. I have hope that corruption at all levels and many of our societal ills will be reduced or preferably eliminated.

Until then, I'll have an attitude of gratitude for the things I do have; and continue to do my part to change things however I can.

organisation ahead

Lately, more and more persons have been asking how I manage to get everything done with my many hats...my response is 'I'm organised.'

This seems to be a figment of imagination for some, but as I see more persons talk about their challenges getting everything done (and I overcome my own), I've decided to share some of my organisation tips and strategies that help keep me on track.

I'll make one post each Sunday in March (so that means five posts in total). Each week I'll focus on another method, tool, or area of your life that you can try to pull together with just a little organisation.

Now here's my disclaimer to all readers: 

Don't feel that because I've got these organisation methods and techniques going, then it means I don't have a few spells of disorganisation. I can say though that based on my own experiences and the experiences of others who have adopted these tips and tricks, things stay all organised once you maintain the structure put in place.

To be honest, over the last two months or so, I've been the least organised ever! I assume that it's because I was sick almost twice in a row during Christmas. That definitely caused some setbacks with the things I needed to get done and keeping up with everything I needed to focus on. Fortunately I'm getting back on track using the same methods that helped keep me sane over the last few years!

.......And I'm super excited to share them with you!

I'm also hoping to get some sample docs together so you download and print for yourself.

BarBQue for a cause

The Syndicate BarBQue Lyme Series kicked off this year with the first staging on January 27th.

It was great fun with a good vibe and a-mazing food! How good? Lets just say I'm not keeping up with hiphop music, I have overcrowded spaces and I'm not a fan of fish..........but.......the DJ's had me enjoying every mix, the crowd was good but not to make the venue stuffy; and the escoveitched fish was amazing!

I was also glad to be out with the Bloom family....that's never a bad thing really. =)

You can click here for more photo highlights from the January 27th staging courtesy of J-Dash Labs.

So you're probably wondering how the charity part of it works...For the 2012 event they donated a cheque to the Jamaica Association for the Deaf with proceeds from the event. Since the event is now a series, the funds donated to charity will be handed over once per year instead of after each staging. This means that the bigger each staging is, is the more help that charity can get.

With that said, I'm excited to see the menu and DJ lineup for the March 10th staging. Also excited to see even more folks coming out to enjoy a different kind of Sunday afternoon.

On a slightly different note, I want to say that I really do appreciate the Syndicate Events team who are by extension a part of the Bloom family. They have much faith in our mission and it means a lot to know that even before things were all in place, they thought it important enough for them to #GetInvolved and help make a difference for special needs students in Jamaica.

Thanks bunches!

Sooooo in a nutshell....all I'm saying is.....once your in Jamaica on Sunday March 10th, the Syndicate Events Charity BarBQue is 100% where you need to be!

#ReadingChallenge: The Weird Sisters

#ReadingChallenge

If this is your first time tuning in to my #ReadingChallenge, here's the skinny: For 2013 one of my personal challenges is to read one book a month. This has in turn become a blog challenge where I review each book I read and where necessary get some influences from each book.

My first book of the year was The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. While the ending was a bit predictable, overall the storyline was interesting, and the 'page-turning feature' was that I had the lives of 3 characters to follow while not really knowing what they will each do next.

While I get that the story is told by the sisters themselves, I really don't know which sister it is because it's written in third person narrative. A tad bit strange...for me at least, but it was a nice change in comparison to other books I've read.

To be honest I picked up the book while in a pharmacy with my little sister. When I read the summary on the back I gave her a look-see and her first comment was "Oh 3 sisters like us! Sounds good so buy it." I'll admit I was a bit skeptical (at that time I hadn't 100% decided on my reading challenge) but decided to run with it....I was definitely not disappointed!

I see the birth order theories come out in the sisters and the dynamics of a close family and sibling relations. Also in the mix is the toss up between staying close to home and going as far away as possible. Outside of that you get even a bit of romance with each sister taking on relationships in their own very distinct way.

The first drawback I consider with the book was that some things just seemed to take forever to get explained...or got unnecessarily repeated at times. The only other challenge for me personally was the Shakespeare references. I've read 'concise Shakespeare' but never really delved into the various stories so sometimes the references left me up in the air about what the heck they meant lol. But the summary of the novel did clearly state that the father was all about his Shakespeare soooo I really kinda put myself in this position.

I can't say that the sister's represent exactly how my sisters and I are, but there are some similarities that more often than not had me laughing about it all. The plan is to have my older sister read the book next and get her to give me her thoughts on it...she's much more of a reader so I know she'll be done with it in no time. 

My #ReadingChallenge rating for The Weird Sisters:

Worth checking out, and I figure that if you're into Shakespeare it'll be a great read for you.

If you give this book a read, comment on this post and let me know what you think of it!

#ReadingChallenge: my review system

Just in case you missed the first post, my blog challenge for 2013 is to review the books I read for my #ReadingChallenge.

Since the plan is to read one book a month, that means each month I review the book I read and mention what I'll be reading next.

Before I post my review of any book I've read I want to post the rating system that I'll be working with so that we're more or less on the same page.


So first of all glittered stars are pretty...so I chose these as my visual for the rating scale.

As one would expect, 1 star would mean not so great while 5 stars would mean amazing. The ratings are based on my own opinion and though I don't take into consideration other reviews of the book, I may just mention the average rating that the book got on goodreads.com.

But I'm rating books here...and to be very honest my opinion of the book may be totally different than what someone else thinks. So in a nutshell, here's a simple rating guide!

Now let's get to rating! Here's what I thought of the books I've read. (as the year progresses and I read more, more books will be added)

The Weird Sisters (Eleanor Brown) - 4 stars

The Happiness Project (Gretchen Rubin) - 3 stars (incomplete)

Sunday's at Tiffany's (James Patterson)  <coming soon>