Lend your hearts

2007 has arrived fresh and just a few days old squirming in its diapers like a new born baby.It was welcomed by some, scorned by some and treated with indifference by some.But its here to stay and leave its mark again on all our lives as the years always do.Lot of resolutions would have been made and lots of hopes and dreams would have been built. The most important thing however the world needs today is peace,somewhere we seem to be losing out on the basic humanitarian values which binds all of us together. In a battle of means and hatred the innocent victims are the ones who suffer the most. My heart goes out to all those millions of innocent children caught in the cross fire of a fight of which they never were a part of,paying for a crime they never committed,having to face hardship and tears at a age which ought to be filled with laughter and joy. Maybe this year we can begin a fresh chapter by keeping them in our hearts and prayers. Let's make an effort to break down the walls of prejudice and hatred within our hearts and reach out and make a difference in any small way we can. It's something we owe to ourselves as well as our children,to make this a better place for them. I pray the coming times will bring in a better future for those who are less fortunate than us and heal those broken little hearts and bring hope to those innocent eyes which seem to have found none. If the images can move even a single person's heart today and motivate them to stand back for a minute and reflect this post would have accomplished its purpose.


"If we are to reach real peace in this world...we shall have to begin with the children" -Mahatma Gandhi


What peace means to these kids:

“My name is Eric. I am nine years old. For me, peace means having a family, eating, being healthy and living with the people I love.”


“My name is Hasina. I am 12 years old. I wish there was no violence in our schools, in our homes and on our streets. I wish that thieves didn’t come to steal from us at night, and that all children went to school.”


“My name is Tiana and I am eight years old. My friends and I want our parents to stop fighting, to stop hitting us, to stop drinking alcohol and getting drunk, and to stop taking drugs.”



“My name is Heriniaina. I am 10 years old. I wish people would stop forcing us to work on the streets and instead let us go to school and play.”




What it means to the kids in this part of the world,words wise beyond their years and putting even us adults to shame with their sincerity and honesty.



Peace on earth.
Everyone should stop fighting.
As one race there are no Blacks or Hispanics.
Come everyone. Put down the guns and stop killing.
Everyone has to take care of the earth for it to take care of you.
Frank P. Age 10 Florida

People of all sorts, Chinese, Japanese, English, Scottish, Irish, etc., are not meant to be fighting because some are loving parents who need to be home with their children, holding and loving them, just making sure they are OK! But, some are just people who need not to die of war, but to die of old age! They need to be home, being healthy, not firing cannons at opponents! Please try and keep it this way! Jade C. Age 9 North Carolina

Let no child stand in the separation. Let no child stand alone all aroundthe earth. Bring the children home.Cristina C. Age 11 California

I think that we should not have war. I mean, have you seen the children whose fathers have gone to fight just for peace. When I see those children whose loved ones go to fight, it's sad. I think we should have peace treaties to solve these fights. God gave parents because he wanted children to be taken care of. We shouldthink of the children and their families, whom God loves very much. I am a Christian and I wish the children could know the wonderful Lord. I hate war. Those people are willing to die for their country. You may think that children don't really care that their loved ones go, die, and no longer exist. Think again. Give these children hope, faith, and unconditional love. They love their fathers and mothers.
Veronica D. Age 11 Georgia

Pray that we all can work together to build a new world of trust and love,respecting ourselves and nature.
John I. Age 12 Pennsylvania

In the end, we are all dust in the wind. But that doesn't mean we should act like it and be careless all the time as we blow over this world.
Ben Age 14 South Carolina



Peace is the coming together as one, a love, no hate relationship. You haveto look deep down to find peace, when you do you'll find true happiness. Nofighting, no hatred. People think they see, but they are truly blind because they can make the peace inside themselves, if they stop and lookwithin. People also are blind because they see people differentlythan themselves, but isn't everyone the same?
Melissa Age 11 Georgia

If roses could make peace, plant a garden wide;Let its beauty bring peace where soldiers died.For roses don't fight or point a gun;If rose could bring harmony,Plant many and be done.--Catherine Lee

People that walk the earth have a heart inside,Put aside differences and join hands, When prayers and dreams are answered, Only then will we realize that World Peace and harmony make us one.--Brandy Smith

Plant a seed of peace,water it with love and happiness,don't let the evil in the world destroy it.Keep away trespassers,scare away birds of prey,harvest peace, Now a beautiful blue flower of peace, joy, and love blooms--Sharon Maendel

Peace is very good for youAnd for everbody else too.--Greg Keiderling

Peace is something special that everybody deserves in their life.Each of us should be thankful for what we have in our lives and care for one another like brothers and sisters.As all of us try to make a difference for our surroundings, we can make a better life for ourselves.Can we make peace happen in our life?Earth is your family, so if you want peace you can make a great difference by building more happiness on our Earth.
Monica G. Age 10 Florida


Peace begins with saying sorry. Peace begins with not hurting others.Peace begins with honesty and trust. Peace begins with showing cooperation and respect. World Peace Begins With ME!--Halley Hall

Wish of an Iraqi Child

When I look
at the purple-blue sky at night,
I want to see stars,
not the bombers,
circling in the moonlight,
or comets instead of the flare
of the crashing bombs
on the streets out there.
Stars are the angel-bridgesof comfort -
nothing should block their light.
--Avalyn Mathis

"I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war." -- Cicero.

(do listen to the song on this link)

We are children of peace. We are the children of the world

Nah-nu awladdul salaam, Nah-nu awladdul aalaam(arabic translation)

Saying goodbyes

Another year is going to roll past us very soon. 2006 should be busy packing up its bag and baggage and maybe some will be sending it out with a tearful eye and some with a big smile happy to get rid of the guy who seemed to create nothing but chaos. How would you be bidding this guy a goodbye? I for one think I'll be saying farewell to the guy with a mixed feeling.I'm happy to usher in a new one but also sad to see him go. This year is a very significant one for me. It was such a mixed bag,there were highs and lows,excitement and ecstasies,loneliness and tears,goofiness and fun all in all a very memorable year. From the beginning to the end it has made me cruise through a rollercoaster ride.

I was nothing but a happy go lucky,impulsive,stubborn,hot headed,always on the go kind of girl the previous year and then came 2006 and I found myself cast into a role of a mom which turned out be a whole lot bigger deal that I thought it would be. You know everyone tells you how to take care during pregnancy and how things will change once the baby arrives in the picture but really no one can tell you how BIG a change that is going to be. Everyone paints the rosy picture first but never tell you how tough the going can get at times. You have to work it out through the mistakes and learn from them. You will make mistakes,you will lose control,you will breakdown at times,you will try hard to be all perfect and drive yourself up the wall. To me perhaps the hardest thing was to learn not to be so perfect and to let go of that sense of control. We were alone and far from our loved ones and both of us were amateurs. And I had to study and give 2 professional exams while taking care of the baby side by side.But now since a year has passed by we have made it good!I'm proud of myself and my husband.Myself for having achieved a level of patience which I never thought possible before, having given up being such a control freak ,learning to live with a dirty house, for managing to ace the exams while handling the baby and not let all that tension get to me, most of all enjoying the joys of life which comes from being a parent. I'm proud to see my husband who has changed from a carefree partying young man into a responsible and lovable dad who not only takes care of his little girl but also in dealing with her frequently-flying-off-the-handle mom !We have been rewarded generously with those wonderful gummy smiles,those tinkling laughters,those adoring looks,tiny hugs and sloppy kisses by a little angel who fills our lives with such brightness which we never knew before.

She made us step down the fast end of life to a slower lane and enjoy the things we had missed before. Thanks my little Ina,we owe a lot to you.You made our lives more meaningful than ever.

You have served as a alarm clock and woken up us at the wee morning hours and making your I-hate-wakingup-early lazy mama watch those beautiful sunrises she missed for so many years.

You have taught us how beautiful and wonderful day to day things are when we looked at it from your wonder filled eyes which we so often took for granted.

You have helped move our asses which spent wasting time on the couch watching the idiot box to move away from it and look around to appreciate how far we all have come and appreciate the wonderful life we have together.

You have brought out the sensitive and sentimental side of mom and dad which we had put on a back burner when dealing with the harsh outer world.

You have certainly made your dad and mom more careful drivers,we were driving now with such a precious cargo!

You taught your mom not be such a control freak and to let down her hair ,relax and take it easy

You have showed us how even simple things in life like even taking a bath or blowing bubbles or taking a walk in the park can be such fun

You have showed your mom how a little smile can make a difference to even a stranger's day.

you have brought out the kid in mom and dad and helped us relive our childhood

You have showed us the beauty of moonlight and starrry skies

You have made a world of difference with your tiny hugs on a hard day

You have helped us connect with so many people who seem to get drawn to you and your sincere innocent smile.

You have made us appreciate truly how much our parents mean to us and be thankful for all that they have done

You are the reason a grandmother got a new lease of life and hope to fight her disease so she can see you grow up.

You have made us both finally grow up and realise our responsibilities.

You have filled our lives with such pure abundant love that we feel blessed

You have moved our heart with your innocence in a way we had never known before

Hope you will always know how much you are loved and cherished and how very lucky we are to have you in our lives.


One of my friend always gave an analogy that being a parent is lot like sifting dirt,you do it everyday and every now and then you find those moments which strike like gold and which makes the journey worthwhile and so memorable.Those perhaps are the moments which I call the magical moments!and I've found so many of them!

I'm already getting nostalgic about 2006!As I said it has been a great year personally and we have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.I'm also thankful to the virtual blog world and the friends I have made here. You all know who you are and I wanted you all to know I truly appreciate that I met such wonderful people out here even in a virtual world. Hope everyone of you has a wonderful and fantabulous NEW YEAR 2007! Let this year usher in peace and harmony in the world around us.

Laugh,have fun,party hard,share a lot of hugs and kisses with the loved ones,don't drink and drive! And let's welcome the new year with open arms!

Skinny-I esp hope and pray the coming year will bring in hope and happiness to Kimbies and success in her fight,I'm sure she will emerge a winner!Hope the year will be wonderful for you and your family my friend.

Singleton-Hope to see you back in the virtual world soon along with your lovely paintings!have a great new year!

Baron-you have made me smile with your posts a lot many times when I needed just that and I'm glad you are here in my blog world.I hope the snow keeps its ugly hands off you and your cattle and you and your family have a wonderful new year!

Ahoy Cap'n Spadlow, hope this year brings in a whole lot of loot of happiness to you and your family!

le taureau,wish all success in your further studies and hope you have a great new year!

Orhan,Anne,Cruel Virgin,Rayshma,Say na something,Sanjay,Just me and all my new and old blogger friends wish all of you a fantastic new year!

Ring out the old, ring in the new,Ring, happy bells, across the snow:The year is going, let him go;Ring out the false, ring in the true.~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

Hunting down Bargains

Being far from family for us here friends are our mainstay for support and they have become another new found family now.So come Christmas and any holiday we all huddle around together and have a good time.Yesterday ofcourse was the Boxing day so most of them were out hunting down whatever good bargains they found.They had found and researched it well in advance as to where the good deals were and there were quick and continuous calls made to and fro just to catch those stratergic places and who would go where:)The guys ofcourse were looking for bargains in some electronic and geeky computer stuff whereas the ladies were busy with the apparels and accessories stuff.This time around I refused to accompany them,I just wanted to snooze and have a lazy time at home.And who wants to trudge along a crying, babbling baby and go out in that maddening crowd,I didn't even want to deal with that.So after much pursuit and no luck they all gave up on me and started making the plans without me.I sat there listening to them as they made their action plan.One guy was stationed at the popular electronic store to hold the fort from 6 am for those good bargains.Another guy was stationed at another similar store so he could catch on the bargains just incase the other guy missed them.They ran out of one person to station at one more stratergic place and then there were many calls made and finally they found a guy who was willing to go there but he demanded some share!!everyone scratched their heads and decided that the share he demanded didn't quite amount to profit so they dropped him like a hot potato and proceeded without him.Well this was all done on 25th night!
Come next day morning alarms were ringing at 4:30 am at our house and my hubby not one to wake up anyday before 7:30am come even a natural disaster was up on the first ring(surprise!surprise)!All set and ready by 5:15am he was out to his station:) and then the next 6 hours I was seized by phone calls from each and everyone of them calling me up and asking me to check the so and so website again and tell them the directions,they told me this was my share of contributing to the team since I was not there doing it in person!So I spent the day instead of my dream of snoozing and lazing around just answering the calls and giving them their info from all those damn websites and catalogues!Finally I got a call that the mission was accomplished and there were only 2 casualities aka deals which they couldn't get their hands on.The girls were ecstatic and the whole gang came home in the afternoon ravenous for food but with big smiles on their faces and loads of shopping bags.They sat and admired their booties like a bunch of pirates admiring their loot(Spadoman,meet the modern day Pirates,we all have the Pirate blood in us):).I then whipped up a quick lunch and we all sat around and then they began sharing all their day's experiences. The girlfriends were so sweet,inspite of my refusal to join them they had managed to bag me some of the goodies and I had a great pair of dresses and a lovely pair of shoes which I had wanted for a long time,how can you not love such crazy folks:)There were funny tales as to how the girls had to watch and manage to wrestle out a lovely coat from another customer at the store who was also eyeing the item,how one store had refused to accept the gift card and how they all managed to convince her to finally accept it,how one guy managed to even get a free deals,how one more almost fought with another person in the line at one store or how they even had to steal out spots to park the car at the parking lots.But all was not hunky and dory,there were ofcourse disagreements,one friend got a nice earful from his wife(the other team member) for having gotten a DVD player when they already had one at home,one more friend felt the deal he got on his hometheatre was not good enough on second thoughts,one more girl was already thinking of exchanging her fur coat for another colour while the other contemplated whether she should have bagged the other bag she saw at "Guess".There were mock fights amongst the couples about why and whether the things the other half bought were over indulgence and some frivolous banter about how the day's events unfolded and there was a deeper discussion about what things would they want for next Boxing event!Whatever they had done they were all a team. There were some who really didn't have anything to buy but still had gotten up early and came to stand in the line for their friends and happily sat across my table grinning ear to ear and laughing and sharing everything.Looking at all of them around me and sharing the smiles and adventures I felt a warm glow and a nice and happy feeling. They are crazy,wacko and sometimes outrageous bunch of guys and girls but they are all adorable and I wouldn't exchange a single one of them for anything in the world.I also had a bargain on the boxing day,I got a day of fun and filled with love and laughter around me and I think that one too was a pretty good one!:)

Ho,Ho,Ho

It's been crazy these few days!Hence the blog break.I have had people coming over all the days and though I don't celebrate Christmas but I have so many of my close friends who are like family who do and so I have been busy with them and helping them around and having a great time.Yesterday my friend the lazy bum she suddenly remembered that she had some last minute shopping to do and hence dragged me into the mall.I hope everyone were wise enough to have done all shopping before unlike my annoyingly late friend.It was a tsunami of people out there that it was freaking crazy!We had to wade through sea of humanity to get to the store we wanted to buy from and a task which would have taken 30 minutes on a normal day took 3 hours to get done and back at the parking lot it was as if there was a car fest going on,this snap on the side was the actual scene!not to mention that it took us one hour just to search the car! It was unbelievable but my friend actually felt better that she had so many people who made her feel completely normal about shopping at the last minute!

Apart from all that its been a great time!Hope everyone else are also enjoying the festivities and loving every minute of it.May the Big man bring in a whole lot of goodies to the kids and ofcourse let their smiles(in above cases little tears) melt away the hearts and heal the pockets of the elders:)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

I will leave you with some memorable Christmas quotes to ponder:)

"Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?~ Bill Watterson,Calvin & Hobbes

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~Erma Bombeck

“Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness:

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect."~Oren Arnold

May Peace Hope and Love be with you Today Tomorrow and Always !!

(I seem to have majorly messed up my template..bear with me till I fix it,ugggggg!)