All the singlemarried ladies!

Once upon a time, when my mind brimmed over with naivety, I assumed marriage was an institution for old folk.
Time inched forward (like it always does) and brides and grooms adopted faces of people I knew. They were not contemporaries per se but people I related with. Suddenly I felt the urge to walk … away; I preferred them at a calculated distance. They complicated life. We were cautioned to steer clear of married men, innocent friendships were suspect. Wives huffed and puffed when younger girls engaged in conversations with their husbands, cordial relations ended on that note. It was a zone to tread carefully, if at all.

Balding

 You look into the mirror and notice the receding line, oh my gooness!
Maybe the action starts in the middle, like a smooth iceberg slowly emerging from the water – your hair is thinning, now what?

Job Search 101

We resigned our jobs in Kampala to come to America. For a couple with 2 children, it sounds coo coo! Especially considering the sick economy. But alas this is our story. Well, the economy is still under the weather with bouts of wellness in a few places. How is that for a walk of faith?

Halloween trials.

It’s Halloween torment in the Ongwen household. I’m having sleepless nights with Mich literally pestering me for a Halloween costume. I wish he would forget about it but no,there are calls from eve ry corner – the stores are filled with Halloween costumes, it's all over school, TV doesn’t spare us either, the neighborhood is covered in cobwebs, spiders,

2 months in America

It’s been 2 months living in the US.
Right now the leaves are beautiful shades of red, orange, green, golden brown, and yellow. Fall is gorgeous!Watching the leaves sway to the ground reminds me of my childhood days when the wind blew the leaves off the trees, they would sprinkle down and  I would run out and try to catch them, it was so much fun.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Lei Yixin is responsible for this incredible work of art. It's located in the vista between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
I was elated to visit the site a day after President Obama dedicated it.

What not to say to an expecting mother

Her body is consumed with the details of creating a human being. As we celebrate her, we make careless statements without full awareness of their impact.


“You have put on weight!” She knows and is probably not feeling too thrilled about it. A compliment on how good she looks is welcome but only if you mean it, otherwise just smile and wave.

“You are still pregnant?!” If she wasn’t it would be obvious. She is exhausted, 9 months is a long time you know?! She can’t do much about it and she doesn’t need the added pressure, so be gracious and encourage her along.

“Are you sure you are not having twins?” Simply because she has a specially extended tummy doesn’t mean there are several babies in there, babies sit differently in utero but if indeed she was having twins, whatabout??

“You look like you are about to pop!” You can’t get more unkind. She might be a close friend who lets your jokes fly over but let’s not push it.

Don’t touch her tummy without permission. Pregnant women can be extremely irritable and sensitive and would appreciate the personal space.

So, tread softly.

When it’s all done, do not …

Focus on her flaws. Concentrate on the baby, direct your concern to whether she is healing well.

Tips on how to raise her child are welcome if she asks.

Rat lovers

At 7, boys are curious, discovering the world and the creatures around them.
Mich wants a pet, a creature he can own and look after, it's in his dreams and prayers, Santa Claus is going to have pressure.
Some of the book titles he’s borrowed from the school library include;- “Guinea Pigs”, “Training older dogs”, “Brave Dogs, Gentle Dogs” …
I don't know how to handle this.

His Dad is not a "pet fan", I am, but it depends on what kind of pet. It's not particularly comfortable having frogs and grasshoppers stare at us through plastic bottles placed on the dinning table and I have politely asked Mich to keep them somewhere else. This time I was handed a book on pet rats.

Here are a few excerpts from the book;

Choosing the right rat; These creatures come in more than 20 color variations; black, white, brown, grey, caramel … A healthy rat doesn’t sneeze, wheeze or have diarrhea. Okay!

Making a rat habitat; An aquarium works best. Buy aspen chips and hay to line the bottom of the aquarium, don’t forget rat food pellets, food dishes and a water bottle with a tube – apparently rats get pretty thirsty.

Working on your relationship; When rats are angry or afraid they bite, so play with the rat, make it comfortable and safe.

Cleaning up; Rats are neat freaks, so make sure to clean their little house, that involves removing droppings and stuff.

Exercise; Rats love to run around and are particularly interested in racing, especially towards food.
Tips on how to build a race track, a good rat diet and so on.

At this point I’m thinking, if I read any further I will catapolt into a feat.

Mich nearly mailed this book to grandma because she needs to read up on how to care for rats. She killed a rat the last time he visited her. He was traumatized and reduced to tears at how inrat (my version of inhumane) she was.

Wait a second - Ratatouille, Despereaux, Jerry, Stewart, these are all rats of some kind.

Come to think of it, “Rat race” is not a new phrase either.

Oh my goonness!! There are plenty of rat lovers out there.

What low maintainance, cute pet can get for my boy?

We are NOT getting a rat.

The National Book Festival

Last weekend I attended an amazing event organized by the Library of Congress - The National Book Festival. I was thrilled to be there on two accounts; I love reading and an amazing woman/writer/author/poet/Pulitzer prize winner was going to be there – Tony Morrison. I wanted to listen to her and later have her autograph a copy of her book for me.
The Metro (DC train) is incredibly jammed over the weekends, the connotation of being packed like sardines was quite appropriate. I imagined everyone was heading to the book festival and in fact many were, but many were also visiting museums and historical sites. DC has many attractions and being the Nation’s capital, it seems to draw the world.

I dashed towards the National mall only to find the crowds were already comfortable – as though they had spent the night or something. I was only 5 minutes late for Tony’s talk but her tent was over flowing. I stood at the back; tip toed and cringed my neck to see the lady. She looked just like I thought she would; light skinned with grey locks. She is in her 70’s and still looking great, sounding strong and very informed. Her interviewer kept up to a good pace, asking where she grew up, which schools she attended and why, and how did you end up doing what you do? - the kind of questions anyone would love to ask. The audience was glued to her, almost suffocating as they held on to her every word, they laughed in excitement and listened keenly.

When asked which people had impacted her life the most, she mentioned Angela Davis and Mohammed Ali. Angela who? Ali I knew but Angela Davis? Never heard of her, and just what would Angela and Ali have in common? - Nothing.

Angela Davis is an African American Philosopher and a civil rights activist. Mohamed Ali is the legendary boxer who “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee”. She was fascinated by his humility and willingness to take instructions from her without questioning.

After the talk, I rushed out to buy her book but everybody was thinking the same thing, by the time I queued, the line was winding for miles like a giant python. The pretty ushers assured us that we would all have our books signed, so we waited patiently. One hour, two hours, the line was moving alright but maybe not fast enough. We kept hope alive, we were going to stand in line no matter what, we were going to meet this amazing woman, she was going to sign our books, shakes our hands and we would never be the same again, perhaps in that handshake we would be transfused with her talent and become the best writers yet. In the third hour it became apparent that some of our wishes wouldn’t be fulfilled, Ms Morison could not sign any more books. The line dispersed. I was disappointed. At least I saw her live, and listened to her speak - I could live with that. I found something to eat and strolled through the other tents. There was so much going on – Family storytelling, contemporary life, children’s authors, poetry and prose, history and biography but as you can imagine only 1 hour to drink it all in. I had to get back home and the bus service is none existent on the weekends, don’t understand why.

As I waited for my ride at the Vienna station, I was approached by a Mormon – never imagined this day would come. He talked about a new prophet called Joseph Smith, who with 12 other disciples wrote the book of Mormons, a somewhat contemporary bible. Why would I need another Prophet and an extra bible? Jesus and the original Bible work just fine for me. It made for an interesting conversation at most. So I’m home, thankful that my mind has been exposed to magical number of authors and genres of writing out there but mostly grateful that I know whom I have believed and I’m persuaded beyond a shadow of doubt.

Have a wonderful week good people.

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