So what was the world like in 1974?

 I checked the internets

and here are some interesting events that happened in 1974

1. President Richard Nixon resigns following the Watergate scandal - becoming the first American president to resign from office

2. George Foreman & Muhammed Ali boxing match in Zaire dubbed Rumble in the Jungle - Foreman was knocked out in the 8th round. Oct 1974

3. Riara Group of Schools was started in 1974 - the site for Riara road primary was once a kindergarten that catered for the European population that had moved to Nairobi before Kenyas independence in 1963. Prof Eddah Gachukia acquired the school and renamed it Riara Kindergarten

4. Post-it notes were invented in 1974!

5. The Rubiks cube, one of the most popular toys of all time, was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor, Erno Rubik. He used the cube to present info about spatial relationships to his students in a more interesting and compelling way!

6. The famous People Magazine hit the stands for the first time in March 1974

7. World Vision Kenya began operations here in 1974~!

8...others?

--end--

This is 50!

The day is here!

I am 50; 50 whole years

imagine that!

thanks be to God for allowing me to reach this my big age

My prayer for the next decade of my life is

Philippians 4: 4

Rejoice in the Lord always

and again I say, REJOICE!

What does rejoicing mean to me

 - i choose JOY

 - radical acceptance

 - self care

- to delight in my present moment

- inner peace

 and 

 - deeper connection to God

Amen!

Happy birthday to me :)

 - 

Reflections to 50 - How we got to be in Miami!

So years ago (2009 to be precise) when my twin & I turned 35 - we stumbled upon a (highly subsidized) trip by Standard Chartered newly launched pink Diva Debit card to South Africa! it was amazing and we were like 70 women from different walks of life. The trip was basically touring various parts of Johannesburg and shopping shopping shopping....my kind of trip! 

and with that we caught the travel bug!

My sis and I agreed there and then that we shall travel again together when we turn 40. This time round, we were joined by 4 of my sisters friends and we found ourselves in Dubai in 2014; i really enjoyed Dubai...

At the end of Dubai trip we agreed again that when we turn 45 we shall mark it in the BIG APPLE! and for sure we did it! but we were only 3 who made it for that trip.. (Life happened...) 

and in New York we once again discussed where next when we turn 50 and agreed...we plan for an experience that we have never had..and so the idea of a CRUISE was put on the table; and I roped in Chox gals -and they ran with it, and there were 11 ladies this time round!!! EPIC

who knows where next......

**oh, and one minor detail....we don't just get up and pay for a trip! we save intentionally for each and every experience :)

Thanks be to God that all these plans are laid by mere mortals and God allows them to happen right on schedule!!

Reflections to 50 - Cruise trip, a logistical marvel

 So we went on a cruise

Yes!

Imagine that...all the way to Miami Florida and we sailed for 7 days!

what an experience...loved every moment

so much to write about!!

as someone who is in Operations, let me just start with the sheer logistics of running such a tight ship....literally!

I can imagine that they sat down, identified all the point which would have bottle necks and resolved them!

 - at the point of entry, the large suitcases have to be tagged with tags that had already been emailed to us, which we were required to print so that once you get to the entry point, you simply just drop off your bags and they will get delivered outside your cabin within 2hrs - for all 4000 passengers!

 - when you enter the ship you are given a card that is the one that will help you deal while inside the ship. The card will be used to access your cabin, when purchasing drinks/refreshments, when exiting the ship when it docks..with this one card, they can have real time intel on so much information regarding movement of people (they will for sure know immediately who has been left in one of the stop overs!) and stock of drinks etc

 - the food was available in huge quantities from 6am to midnight! to prepare such quantities of food and it remains interesting and fresh till the end of the cruise is really something! Cant imagine the number of chefs and kitchen staff they need to have - they seemed to be everywhere..replenishing the food, clearing tables, bringing in new cutlery etc - no long queues to the delicacy one desires...amazing!

 - the ship is clean - I mean the rooms are checked twice a day and towels replenished, the corridors and other common areas are clean - all this is made possible by the staff - the brief must be  - clean continously!

 - the entertainment was so varied and planned for each night - from jazz songs, to large concert performances, to karaoke, to silent discos, piano music..to put together various performances  fit for every night and happening in various corners of the ship is just wonderful!

 - not to mention the sheer size of the ship...19 decks (floors)...weuhh!!

So many logistical angles that as we were enjoying ourselves, I wondered whether any crisis occurred while we were at sea....

Wow!

Reflections to 50 - missed many days!

Today is September 3 - 23 days to 50

I missed many days since I was away for close to 3 weeks

So i will pick this up from here

God is good!!

Yaani this experience to mark turning 1/2 a century was EPIC!

From Doha, to Miami, to the Cruise that passed Jamaica/Mexico/near Bahamas to St Louis

So many stories to tell

Muda ndio sina!

am thankful

Reflections to 50 - Day 37 The Summit

 Today is Tuesday Aug 20

Am thinking about my sisters Flo & Gety

we call ourselves The Summit

we are the 3 eldest children of Mzee Mawanda (the late) & Mama Grace

we fancy ourselves as leaders of the pack....hehehehehe

growing up we did a lot of stuff together

i love us!