Mrs.O's writing room.

When I have time to twiddle my fingers my mind goes into flash back mode--to my childhood. These particular memories get tickled when I have to seriously screen and re screen what Mich watches.  Gone are the days when the mere mention of cartoon sufficed--when you knew that it was something for the kids to watch and it was safe. This is where my love for UTV (Uganda Television) back in the 80’s gets rekindled. I would rush home from school to watch “ Clue Club ” “ Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder ” and “ Scooby doo ”, any body identify? Ok, what about Electric Company and Sesame Street ? Yeah, I knew that would be more familiar. There was even a time I thought if I happened to land in Germany I would find my way “ Pappenheimer ” taught us basic German phrases. Then when the tapes were over and UTV had overly repeated them and finally got ashamed they brought “ Peter and His Toy Box ”. Oh! that was fun, he showed us how things like rubber, glass, and wood were manufactured and used (imag...

On Mich’s birthday we met some neighbors as he played in the compound, he told anyone willing to listen – “It’s my birthday today” “Oh, my! Happy Birthday! How old are you? What are going to do? What did your parents get you? Are you going out to dinner?” “I’m five years old”, is all he’d say, didn't bother to answer the other questions, were they too many? Did they fly over his head?, I don’t know. I got talking with this lady who was child sitting a friend’s 8 year old daughter. This girl (I forget her name) was apparently the best golf player of her age in the area, I thought wow! Golf at 8?!, back in the day Simon and I would run through the golf course shielding our heads with our bags lest a golf ball found a good landing spot on top of us. Then the lady went on to ask me what games Mich plays, “err …anything fun, whatever” I shrugged my shoulders, I mean he is still a kid right?. Then she says, “this would be the perfect time for him start golf training, he is the right age....

Fantastic day today. A beautiful, beautiful day. I took some pictures along the way. God be praised, is all I will say.

He suddenly sprung out of his chair- "Mummy, my tooth is out" "Really? how did it happen?" With the cutest, toothless grin I ever saw he said, "I just kept turning it around and around with my tongue". So, that's how it happened. I was just laughing at myself - by the time losing a tooth becomes a thrill then you know parenting is something else. With all the special days popping up these past weeks - what with the valentines party, his birthday, he got invited for a party this weekend... I couldn't quite make the whole tooth fairy thing work. He is not big on it anyway and since we still have candy around the house, it served well for the occasion. I didn't even try to add the mystic aspect, but we will see, still have 19 or so teeth to lose right? atleast he knows we rejoice with him.

I attended the Hello Love Concert featuring Chris Tomlin and Israel Houghton last night. Woooooo!!! now that was some really fine stuff in there. Israel Houghton got us off to a real good start, he pulled out " I am a friend of God ", " I am not forgotten "," Lord you are good " then sprinkled a few new songs here and there. I was dancing and singing like my life depended on it. But the crowd was not coming up to par, they were just not getting into the groove. Perfect surround sound, great music, musicians all in sync, I could literally feel the vibes under my feet, you know?! Somewhere along the way Israel figured they probably didn't know him, so - rewind, start again, my name is Israel ... I couldn't believe it. Here I was working up a sweat and people were still standing?, were we listening to the same music?. Anyway I decided not to look around, thank God the place was dark so I was able to really get jiggy with it and not have people looki...

It was a pretty calm day. Got up about 6:30am. The birthday boy woke up to a happy birthday duet by his dad and I. He was really excited, he said " I have been waiting for this day a long time". Turns out he had done his own decorating in the middle of the night so my balloons added to "his" touch. He had paper strings placed around his bed. That was about all the peace we had that morning before... "mummy, where are my power rangers?" We got him some really nice clothes but I hadn't wrapped them (my bad), then he says "mummy they are supposed to be wrapped", now I'm thinking what have I got myself into? little boy can't settle, is not too thrilled about the clothes ... I was tempted to start the "in our days" talk, but we had a whole day a head of us, so I told him to have fun at school and that we would be passing by. Sam and I had planned for him to celebrate the day with his friends at school and Ms. Dee was in on that....

Mich celebrates his 5th birthday tomorrow and it seems like he's in a hurry to hit some targets before he shows all fingers of one hand. For a while there school was like a horror story but things a looking up now. Yesterday, straight from school, bag still on his back he said "mummy 't', 't', 'in' - 'tin", I was thrilled, finally he is beginning to understand how words are created. A week ago he said, mummy, you know what?, "a consonant and a vowel put together make a blend". Yeee! thumbs up Ms. Dee, you are doing a great job. He told his Dad "reading is easy", but fell back on that one, every time we tried reading together he got really frustrated. Anyway, lately his favourite bed times stories have been "Elmo's alphabet" and "Eating the alphabet". Noooo!, I kid you not. Mich loves stories, long stories, stories that go on and on and keep him captivated to the tale until "the end" or ...

"There is no night so dark, so black as night in the country" When I step out of the house without a light, night wraps his arm around me and draws me into his pitch black belly. At full moon the village is illuminated by her rays, the stars dotted across the sky mirror the majesty of an awesome God. The magical glow worms darting, on the grass, in the air, on my shoulder – now I see them, now I don’t. Just when I think I have figured out their path they disappear, it's fascinating. I hear animals conversing in the dark, the owl hooting in the distance, birds tweeting goodnight. Sounds of the chicken, roosters, turkeys and ducks fluffing their feathers as they each look for a cozy nook in the tree. The drunken man's gibberish soliloquy as he stumbles home after an evening of ajon drinking with friends. Ah! The sounds of the night. I drift off to sleep in a world where silence takes centre stage. 5 o’clock in the morning, the roosters across the village dutifully cro...

You awaken my heart From slumbering Meet me in mourning And you speak to my grief You're the light in my darkness The delight of my eyes The hope of the daybreak When the sun's slow to rise I trust that every moment's in your hands You're the God of my days The King of my nights Lord of my laughter Sovereign in sorrow You're the Prince of my praise The love of my life You never leave me You are faithful God of my days You unveil my eyes Help me to see The arms of my Father Encircling me You're a constant companion I am never alone Your love is the banner That's leading me home My eyes are on You My hope is in You My faith is in You My eyes are on You My hope is in You My faith is in You By Gateway worship

You know? I found out that valentines day is sweet after all, (quite apart from all the candy), it's a fun day in children's lives. I have decided that it's best enjoyed in pre-k and kindergarten after that things take a different turn. Mich had a valentines party at his school today, you should have seen his classroom. It was decorated with all sorts of cute things, balloons, flowers, candy, red ribbons, candy, oh and candy :-). Mich said "mummy on valentines day you get so many candies, you can't even eat them all in one day". True, I nodded to that. All the kids were dressed in red except my main man (too much maalo on our part), thankfully he didn't notice, he was really excited about the day. Mich got some interesting presents, I thought they were creative, cute and curious. This one for example was from one of the boys in his class, thankfully there is nothing more to it. This was another one from a boy. Interesting... they are just pictures righ...

I didn't hear much about this day until I was at University. Over here it fits right in there with Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving I remember how during my first year on campus the place would go into a buzz as the day drew near - people praying for cards and flowers, others making sure things were good between them and their boyfriends. Me trying to fit in but not really getting it because I didn't have "a" boyfriend but had boys who were my friends. I shared a room with a girl who took this day a little too seriously, she sat up all night "val" eve waiting for the clock to strike midnight hoping that her boy friend would show up with flowers, or else . So while some of us tried to get some sleep she was checking the clock and talking away. Guess what?! it struck midnight, 10 passed, 20 passed, and there was no knock at the door. After a while she calmed down, figured this dream wasn't going to come true and resigned herself to sleep. On the d-day, ...

Church was just the best today. It's nice to walk into church and say hello to people, give hugs, handshakes, smiles that kind of thing. Since I'm still a newie I'm taking it slow but it's just great having all these people rushing over to say hello. It's clear they are not doing it out of duty but genuine concern. I like that after the worship we get to greet our neighbours. Which reminds me of what that felt like in KPC, I actually believe people prayed that Pastor Gary/Chris/Julius would not say "turn around and greet your neighbor". The times I was not in the choir I sat around some people who kept their eyes glued to the pulpit, kinda like they had neck trouble. Then it was like they didn't hear when the pastor actually said turn and greet your neighbor, but maybe it was just me. Okay, I was telling you about service today. So I walked in feeling a little distant from God, my prayer was "Lord, draw me close to you". Ann (the worship lead...

I just finished re reading one of my all time favourite books by Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart. Quite apart from the thrill of recalling the events in Umofia and Okonkwo's life, it was a fun trip down memory lane. Back to secondary school, literature class, the discussions, arguments and essay writing ... Coming across names like Ezeulu, Obierika, Ikemefuna was like stumbling upon old buddies . Hey, Unoka, I remember you, Okonkwo's dad right? boy was Okonkwo ashamed of you, you're probably the laziest man he ever knew. You just liked to party didn't ya?!, I hear you were most blissful drinking, playing your flute and dancing with the locals. Obierika, man! you represented the epitome of friendship, the way you stood by Okonkwo when he had been exiled to Mbanta ( his mathez home) was really commendable. Uchendu, you were one dry fellow, you didn't mince your words around your nephew Okonkwo. As you knew how to rub salt in a wound?!, but I guess it was sawa beca...

You turned 69 today, how awesome is that?! I thank God for keeping you around this long and pray that He grants you many more years of good health. It was great talking to you this morning, I felt the emotion sipping through the waves. Thanks for the reassurance that all will be well because you know a good God who never lets His children down. I was glad to hear you say, "this too will pass, life has ups and downs", you have been there and came through just fine. It was comforting. I now find tears rolling down my cheeks just thinking about you. We have been through some pretty tough times these past few years, sometimes I wonder how you kept your sanity because they were extremely dark for you in particular. I remember quite vividly the day I knelt down in my room almost 25 years ago, praying and asking God to please find you and mom before He called you home. I'm thrilled that He did. He answered my prayer, I didn't know when it would happen but I kept praying. Tha...

We all feel the pinch... pinch?? Sting certainly captures the emotion better and it's humbling. These people who start expensive avoidable wars and those trading in invisible cash have really done us in(my explanation for the financial crisis). Ok may be we were Living the dream and then some but reaaaalle, things have never been tighter. Chinua Achebe's book title " Things Fall Apart " doesn't even begin to describe the chaos up in here. I started smelling smoke when Oprah gave out some pretty odd favorite things this past year. CD's, treasure boxes, gift baskets, a nice book to read, she even encouraged swap parties where people exchanged items instead of buying new ones. Now I know y'all Ugandans would be going gaga on this stuff, seeing as gifts at Christmas or any other time of the year are like Nsenene (grasshoppers) in June. What you don't get is that, Oprah's favourite things in 2007 left me smitten, floored, speechless. Oh! how I wished...

Last week Mich picked up an apple to eat and gave up on it before I could say "when". He nibbled a bit and put it a side, when asked why he'd lost appetite so soon he said, "I tried eating it from this side but I wasn't biting, then I tried it on this side and I wasn't biting". He was basically trying to use his molars to bite into the apple. I did a dental check and found out that my baby, my little boy, my cutie pie, is about to lose his first tooth. Childhood memories came flooding back, I recalled the fun Simon and I had shaking loose teeth until they came off. Simon was the crazy one, he once tied a loose tooth with a piece of thread and attached the other end to a door nob, and... I leave you to figure out the rest. My elder brother Peter lost a tooth while munching on his bread one morning, I don't quite recall if he found it or just discovered it was missing - meaning he swallowed it :-). Emphasis was placed on the importance of presenting ev...

If music be the food of spiritual growth, play on, Give me excess of it; that ... Unlike Orsino I have not and do not want to reach the point of surfeiting. In about two weeks Chris Tomlin and Israel Houghton will be in Dallas for the Hello Love tour. These guys are on my list of favourite musicians, so I'm certainly excited and looking forward to attending the concert. Being a christian artist must be quite humbling because even though we love the musicians we are not in it primarily for them but for what they can do. They are mere talented people who God has chosen to use, so we gather to ultimately give Him the praise. Oh! but what really gets my adrenaline going is seeing a man passionate about God, a man desperately desperate (as I like to put it). A man who puts all dignity a side and says "I have got nothing to loose, Jesus, it is me and you". I listen to groups like Mercyme , Casting Crowns , and guys like Jeremy Camp and oh my goodness the lyrics to their song...