....And I can't wait for Sunday Morning

Morning Guys,

I just wanted to share this song with you as Miss Oprah did this Friday. When you think about it, what can we really do without God's grace? I've been running from him, hiding, yet he picks me up whenever I'm down, he cares for me. Can you imagine if God was like us? the way we drop people when they do something contrary to what we think they should do, what we think they should've done...It is his amazing grace that wakes me up in the morning, that restores, that heals, that protects, that keeps loving even when we aren't worthy of that love.

So here's Bebe and Cece Winans Grace from their new album Still, be blessed Blogsville

Apparently the only thing that doesn't change is change itself

Noni Moss
Mr Fine Boy
Baba Alaye
LondonBuki (Might be back)
TLK
NDQ
Taureanminx
Olawunmi
OluwaBitchy
Adaure
Ubong the Randy one
Oseyi
Idemmili
Confused Naija Girl
Bimby Lads
Azuka
Discombobulated Diva
Boorish Male (Apparently back)
Omohemi
Daddy’s girl
Catwalq
Afrobabe
Pink Satin
Nyemoni
Uzo
Ababoy
Abbey
London Naija Chic
ZEPHI
Bobby Taylor
Arewa
Smaragd
Jarrai
Guerreiranigeriana
9JAMOMMY
Onydchic
Princessa
Anonymous Gal
Naija Chickito
9JA Opeke
Unshined Congo
Moody
UnNaked Soul

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power”

After all is said and done, I still miss them

The weekend in Retrospect- Real Housewives of ATL, Bread-Pudding and Sangrias

Hey Guys,


How was your weekend? Well mine started out great and then ended with a crash. I've had this craving for bread pudding for the past 4 weeks, so on Friday I just decided that I'd make some, and then I ended up making sweet potato fries, with hamburgers and sangria's to go with it, and for some reason I have relatives that know when I cook, its like they sense it or something, I don't know how else to explain their sudden appearance when I decide to cook. But we had fun, we karaoked, ate and drank to our hearts content and generally had fun, I only got away with taking pictures of bread-pudding, and I tried to crop it because there's a massive hole at the side from them pinching it. I'll put up pictures, when I can find that Camera Cord , but here's the recipe if anyone wants to take a stab at it:



Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups cubed Italian bread (Well I used dinner rolls, so don't stress if you can't find Italian Bread)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup chopped pecans
For the sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup brandy




Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.
Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.
In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.
Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.
For the sauce:
Mix together the granulated sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the sugar is melted. Add the brandy, stirring well. Pour over bread pudding. Serve warm or cold.


Am I the only one that watches RHOA? and Am I the only one that thinks Nene should be shoved into a huge pit with no water and food for a week? I mean what the hell is her problem? I loved her last season but this extra whatever it is for attention is becoming a bit too MUCH!!!! All that shouting wasn't necessary, poor Kandi I'm sure she's regretting ever signing up for the show. And I'm ashamed, but I love "Don't be Tardy for the Party" I can't stop singing it, it has a catchy tune.

Jumping ship, I just picked up, The Time Traveler's wife by Audrey Niffengger and I haven't been able to put it down yet, I almost missed my stop. I just refused to see the movie until I read the book and I'm totally in book heaven, so if you haven't read it or seen the movie yet, and you want some light reading in between your textbooks or for long train rides like I have, then go borrow it from your library, or better yet buy it, its worth it. I also picked up Adaobi Nwaubani's I do not come to you by chance and I can't wait to read that yet.

In other book worthy news, Oprah recently picked a book for her book club by Nigerian Author, Uwem Akpan titled "Say you're one of them" the book is said to be a collection of five short stories set in different parts of Africa. I cannot wait to get the book, I've always wondered how they choose or make their selections...she needs to pick up an Adichie book. I'll tell you guys when I get it

So that was my weekend and it was perfect, I loved Church,the music, the sermon, everything was on point and I was on a serious high and then I had to come crashing down, A friend called me yesterday and said an old acquaintance of ours had been going round spreading rumors that we'd slept together and it had been circulating in their church, that just..... I don't, I don't have time for this crap, and I won't say It didn't bother me, it hurt...a lot. and I'm trying to distract myself and not think about it, or look for the bastard and castrate him, but I'll just leave him. We all will be talked about at a certain point in our lives, what matters is that you don't let it hinder you in any way, you dust it off and keep it moving (It's easier said than done, but God dey abi?)

But before I go, Our Great Country is turning 49, and though many will argue that there's nothing to celebrate about, and that this is the time we must sit and plan the revolution, many will use this as an opportunity to go partying, so in NYC there are about 3 or 4 after parties, but there will only be two popping,





This

and This

Which one will you be going to?

Just Checking In

Hey Guys,

I know I haven't been posting as much but come to think of it, I've never been the blogger that updated frequently, I'm the sporadic one. It's just that my blogging reflects the way I feel inside, If I was to write or type about my feelings, you'd be reading a lot of...honestly to put it bluntly depressing posts. I said I wasn't going to talk about my brother, because seriously it's become a lot more gloomy, and I'm trying not to dwell on things. My only distraction these days is reading your blogs and school. Speaking of school, its as if something always happens to distract me from it..... But as I was saying,you guys make it worthwhile with your posts, I read Mgbeke's post on her bride price calculator and it had me in stitches for some days.

I forgot to tell you that I also met a blogger, its the funniest thing. We were sitting in the same class, we found out we were both Nigerian during the last days of class and she's been in love with me ever since, I can't stop this girl from following me everywhere(lol)

So I'll be back soon, pray for me, pray for my family, keep writing hilarious stuff and stay blessed

Bisous

You Know You're getting Older When.....

On your birthday or any other occasion you have to speak to an aunt or an uncle, the old prayers of excelling in school, the favor of God and the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and high I.Q turn to delivering like a Hebrew woman, calling forth your womb to be fruitful and appealing to the bone of your bone and the flesh of your flesh to appear. This is where I have found myself blogsville. I hope you guys are doing well, and it seems thats the hottest topic in these zones.

I just spoke to my aunt, my mother's cousin who we haven't been in touch with in a long time and you know the normal drill, "How are your siblings? how is school? I hope your planning on doing a masters? " and then out of nowhere, the woman asks how old I am? I told her and the next thing she asks if I'm in a serious relationship and If I am, is he Nigerian. She then goes on this rant about how long I haven't been in Nigeria and how I needed to let the Lagos people know that I'm single, ready and available. She proceeds to mention primary school mates, secondary school colleagues, cousins who are either settled,engaged or with kids and told me I had to get to Gidi this December in top shape.

I was getting a bit frazzled then she asks me to close my eyes. My people, she bursts out in-tongues and starts praying for a full hour, demanding that the spirits of not settling down should COME OUT!! FLEE!!OUT!!OUT!!!
I would've busted out in laughter if mumsy wasn't so close to me.

Another one of my favorite Uncles, Uncle Owen is on the same form of rare drug that my Aunt is on. My family is HUGE, and when I mean huge, I mean you have to do serious research to make sure you're not marrying a cousin. Uncle Owen is a 54 year old man that doesn't look a day over 30 and dresses as if he's appearing on the cover of G.Q. Anyways, back to the fam....a good percentage of them live in Atlanta and they've been bullying me to move down there, well Uncle Owen took it a step further.

We arranged to have lunch on Tuesday at noon, and we did. I met him at the spot and before we order, he asks that we say a short prayer. "Our Precious Lord and Master, we thank-you for safe journey and we ask that you open our ears, our hearts and our minds to new thoughts, and new ideas in Jesus name" I already opened one eye to look at him. He smiles and tells me he invited someone else to join us (It was more like 2but according to him, 1, 2 what's the difference)

And we were having fun talking about the health care reform, M.J's doctor when my eye spotted this scrumptious piece of chocolate and he smiles our way, he's actually walking towards our table. He comes over and he gives Uncle Owen a hug and there begins the torture.

"Do you know David is going to be a Neurosurgeon and he's a born-again christian with vales and ambition" "Zena plays Tennis, and my Niece is a feisty one". "She lives in New-York, David you frequent New-York don't you? and on and on he went until gentleman number 2 walks in....I felt like I was on a singles game show " I got hooked up by my Uncle"

I was upset, I told him marriage wasn't in my cards just about yet, and I needed to know who I truly was as a person and as a woman first, to which he tells me "Shut-up my friend, you think you're starring in Sex and the City abi"

How do I respond to that?

Hope everyone is well, off to your spots

Bisous

It's been ages

"What about your friends will they stand their ground
Will they let you down yeah, yeah
What about your friends are they gonna be low down
Will they ever be around or will they turn their backs on you"


I haven't been here in awhile have I? and it looks as if blogsville has become ghost town. It's funny that I blog more when I'm in school than when I'm out of it and on holiday. Is it me, or those anyone get the feeling of being a blogsville virgin when they haven't posted anything up for ages? I'm quite nervous actually. I was going to update last week and I've been trying to type this out for about 72hrs now, I swear immediately I sit down, someone needs my help. I was going to write about my summer reads, Songs of Enchantment and The Thing around your neck by Ms Adichie( a must read if you ask me), but Man proposes and God disposes abi?
My birthday was last week around Wednesday or Thursday( It was such a busy and shitty day that we all forgot)and for the past ten years, my friend Michael would be the first to call,infact I didn't wish or need anybody else to call as long as he did...I'm going to be all over the place with this one so bear with me, I'm going somewhere(or at least I think so, lol)You never miss your water till the well runs dry you know, I was going to share with you people the wahala Michael and I were having but I never got around to it (yes I did, but Kem, Third world profashional and the rest of you thought stealers went ahead and posted on friendships)
About 6 moths ago, he called after one of his many mimi- odysseys and I told him point blank that I didn't want to be friends anymore, that I was tired of worryig and I had too much on my plate, there was no space to wonder about someone who was too irresponsible and disregarded the feelings of people who loved him. As far as I was concerned , this quest to find himself and God was taking a bit too long (How Ironic)
He laughed and told me he had been warning me since we were younger that my madness would manifest sooner rather than later and that it had finally come to pass(see insult)Only Zena, he said would throw away a 10 year old child(our friendship)away. He kept on talking and talking (as he is prone to do) and after awhile, I hung up.
Our relationship has always been a strange one, When I'm sad, or anxious or I have good news to share, this boy would call me before I had a chance to say "I'm going to call this boy" (the boy uses jazz)
We consulted eachother before any major decisions, helped me overcome the death of a friend, words can't really describe the special bond we have. There are acquaintances, friends of convenience and then there are FRIENDS... When I need a word of encouragement or a prayer, I know he's there interceeding for me. But Zena, being the true human that I am, forgot about all that.
There's a proverb my people say, that you know the ones who love you when katakata(problems)is around, not when its all good and rosy. The trouble with my brother came, I lost my job and my scholarship....I was bitter, tired and quite frankly, that saying stuck with me and I started weeding out people one by one....in my mind, if they weren't here for me now, when would they be?

I called the he-goat, and stalked his skinny ass, but I was getting no response...that was when I decided to cut the whole thing off....I should've know love is stronger than pride....

Okay, honestly I'm tired of typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading, so I'll stop here, its 2:01 Am and my Aunt Chinwe and I have been sitting here bidding for Ab rocket on ebay, the horrible thing is from $5.00, the thing has gone to $40.00, I've told her we should stop and she's still swearing and screaming eziokwu!lol

Love your friends, or in my case Friend, forgive....don't let anger hold your heart, don't be afraid to tell people you love them, you're not flawless and neither are they

Bisous

Children say the Darndest Things

Hello Starshines,

I apologise for being M.I.A , I've just been painfully busy, I have a new sheriff now,and she's very hard to please, In fact the girl is a terror, her name is Commander in Chief..my niece and nephew have taken over my life completely, when that little girl even sees that I'm headed towards the computer she screams her head off, demanding my full attention all the time, lol....and I thought I was ready for kids, so NOT!!!!!!

My brother has had 2 more seizures since I've been here, they believe it's his reaction to radiology, and hopefully (Well not hopefully, It is done) after the radiology, we'll have no more cause to be worried, can I get an AMEN!!!

On a much lighter note, guys dey this place full, as in my eyes have been going out their sockets,I might just move down here or something.

So back to the title, before I came down here, I had to spend the night with one of my mums friends and she has 3 boys, the oldest is about 14, followed by Josh who is 6 and then the little monkey (his mum calls him that)who is 2

They're all cute children, but Joshy takes the cake, he's 6 and this child uses words like fiasco, and catastrophic and eradication...who does that? The other day he learnt the word, Treaty and he comes to me an says "Aunty Zena, we've been fighting for awhile now and honestly even though it's your fault, I'm willing to sign a peace treaty with you" as in I was just looking at him, who talks like that?

The day I was leaving, the boy had refused to do his home-work and then he left it in the garage, I saw when he left it there, I just wanted to see if he'd remember....So his mum is getting him ready for school and she's asking him where his home-work is. So he starts looking and for 20 mins we're all looking for his home-work, after awhile he goes to his mum and says

"Mum, I know we're Christians and we believe in Jesus Christ and Magic doesn't exist, But honestly my home-work levitated away, there's no other explanation"

I couldn't help my self, I bursted out laughing

There's another little girl, we'll call her Mimi..Mimi's another smart little girl, she's 3 years old and we had a night vigil or festival of life as redeemers like to call it now, so the Pastor's wife was praying. She was saying something about Jesus having the key and when he gives us the Keys, no one can take it from us, so she's shouting

"You have it!! You have it!!, Don't let it go, none can take it from you, YOU HAVE IT!!

Mimi is looking around and she walks up to the front of the altar and she screams

"I really don't have it!!" and she has this expression on her face and she's showing the Pastor her pockets, lol

Children.....

Hopefully I'll be able to make blog rounds, if not understand

Love you guys,
Bisous


Can you Imagine the News? Michael Jackson Dead? wake me up someone