Tag spare time

TIME

trinimomindmiddle Leave a comment

Jeezanages…….

It sure has been a while hasn’t it? Ah too shame but you know what they say, Sometimes life gets in the way of having fun…..

Now I think Time is the most powerful force on the planet. I doh even know if Time is a force but it’s clearly pretty important and damn near priceless because we are all using it, some wasting it, racing against it, begging for more of it, wishing we could go back in it, wondering where it went and trying to spend the remainder of it the best we could.

I am in a persistent race with time simply because I value it so much so I don’t like to waste it at all. I am hustling every single day and at the end of each day I still beat up about what I should have done or what I could have slipped in. Then I plan for the next day and the cycle continues. Some people (read: my husband) get annoyed by this but it is simply the way I am wired. I hate leaving home late, I am always strategizing the distance and time to and from places, trips to run errands, workouts at the gym. Imagine I haven’t gone to the new Chaguaramas boardwalk yet because I seriously dread the outcoming traffic and I won’t even be the one driving! One of my closest friends suggested “Parang on the Boardwalk!” And as much as I’m a Christmas baby and I love anything Christmas-related and not to mention FREE!, my response was “Do you have a boat?”

Now October is the month of the year where I always think about Time, it’s my reflection month. My two gremlinz go up a year, Mamzelle on Thursday, Son-son exactly one week after and this year he is entering double digits!!! The big 1-0! (Cue ensuing staring into space trying to recall all memorable moments and frantic watching of baby pictures from now until next week…..) These days I casually observe them even more, I look at how he’s almost my height and she’s getting thick in the legs like me. I listen to them as they watch TV and enter into this university-level discussion about why pirates are fake, or why Flow trying to teach people Spanish in smart. I watch her storming his room and sleeping on his bed every…..single…..night and as frustrated as I am about this, (dis chile doh like to sleep a full night on her own bed at allll!!!) clearly neither of them seem to mind. In time to come that will change so maybe I should just cool it.

I try to remember what my freedom was like before I had the gremz and sometimes come up short. I know I went out and partied a lot but I can’t recall what I used to do in my spare alone time. I tend to study what the future would be like once they grow up and buss out God spare life. These days I’m starting to envision them in secondary school and wondering what their career specialties will be, my version of putting it out there in the universe I guess. I remember once I was in a deep reverie about them having their own children and their own lives and then I would be old and then die and they would have to put flowers on my grave in Lapeyrouse and I wouldn’t be around to watch them anymore and to tell them that I only want lilies and not dem cosquelle chrysanthemums that always appear on coffins in these wide-ass bouquets which I hate. I won’t lie, I shed actual tears during this stream of consciousness that happened only in my mind with my obsession about time. It didn’t help that I also had PMS.

Although October makes me stop and think, there’s no sense in me telling myself that I will slow down to smell the roses, this only happens when I’m on vacation. I keeps it real but neither will I ‘sleep when ah dead’ either. Life is about maintaining balance I suppose and I am certain I’m not the only one who feels the same. In the meantime I’m living and the clock is ticking.

WWW.TRUTHFORLIFE.ORG

Bless up

TMIDM

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Back in the Saddle

trinimomindmiddle 1 Comment

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So my at home fitness plan isn’t going as well as expected. 😦 It wasn’t totally my fault but I admit I was derailed by laziness and end-of the month eating shenanigans which included outings, a wedding reception and my own wedding anniversary which brought its own version of calories, carbs and fat in the form of a guiltless,well-deserved Italian dinner. My mom was measuring me the other day to sew some work clothes and I (secretly) balked when she wrote down the sizings. Not to mention  pair of pants that I haven’t worn in a while left me doing the skinny jeans wiggle to get into. I didn’t need much encouraging to realize that I needed to kick myself into high gear and (finally) haul ass to the gym.

I hate the gym. I hate the grunting and people pretending not to scope you out but who secretly throw glances your way.  I hate the fight down for machines. I hate the clanking of weights by the men and I hate the post-workout selfies by the women. IT BLASTED ANNOYING!!!…….but I started back. One evening last week, I gave in to desperation and thankfully I wasn’t going to train that day because I was severely startled by the SHEER AMOUNT of people there that afternoon. Why de hell it had so much people (women) there was beyond me but I figure it has something to do with the fact that Carnival bands launch already and clearly this year’s theme across the board is “Hail to the V”:

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And well of course……

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(Photos courtesy Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Costume Photos. For these and more check the page on Facebook here.)

I am sitting out Carnival next year.

So I’m back in the saddle for my own personal fitness and in order to avoid the sycophants, I’m going to the gym in the morning from as early as 5 a.m., a feat never done before but I’ve accomplished three days of rising and getting there by that hour and I’m damn proud of myself. Additionally I don’t feel the pressure in the day to train in between seeing about the gremlinz. The only thing is that when I start back work in September for the new school term, I may have to go even earlier. I have help though. The following video wakes me up every morning. I grabbed the audio and set it as my alarm so I’m roused from sleep by one of the most motivational get-it-done-now exercise speeches I’ve ever heard in my life.  Take a look:

I think at some point my husband will get annoyed hearing this every morning but doesn’t it make you feel like instantly bursting a sweat? I’m getting it done man!

Bless up

TMIDM

Chuck E. Cheese’s Review

trinimomindmiddle 2 Comments

20140716_142955With a catchy slogan and visual imagery of children having the most glorious time being run consistently on cable television, it was inevitable that the gremlinz would be begging me to carry them to Chuck E. Cheese’s.  Of course my focused reply would be “Of course! Whenever we go to the States!” This would be enough to end the whining…until I realised that the franchise was headed to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago. I decided to take in front before the national ads started so I let them know coming to the end of the school term that: yes, Chuck E. Cheese’s is in Trinidad, yes, it’s opening soon, no, we’re not going if your grades don’t shine, no, we’re not going if you don’t behave well, yes, I’m telling the truth.

I was fortunate to be invited as part of the family opening today before the official opening tomorrow and I was sincerely glad because I don’t generally do well with crowds and especially crowds of children spazzing on pizza, soda, tokens and streams of tickets clutched in their little hands. This wasn’t entirely the case today so I had a really good time.

Environment: Chuck E. Cheese’s is located in Brentwood which is on the highway in Chaguanas next to the Unipet gas station. Look out for this sign:20140716_140259

Some finishing touches were still going on on the outside but I suspect will be completed by tomorrow. Parking is more than adequate and compound is completely fitted with facilities for the differently-abled.  Bathrooms are clean and were well-maintained for the amount of time I stayed there and Moms would be happy to know that there are diaper-changing stations in sanitized areas, something not often found in kid-friendly restaurants.The play-area is carpeted and a lot of children were so comfortable that they took their shoes off, my gremz included.

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Restaurant: Seating areas were located from the front window booths to the very back of the restaurant where there was more open seating close to a large stage/screen. There were also booths in the centre separating the arcade games from the ‘kiddie’ section. Each booth was equipped with the usual condiments as well as a holder for your order number. So you place the order, are shown to a seat and given the card to fit in the holder. Your food is brought to you, the number card replaced with a ‘check’ card and then another server would check on you to ensure everything was alright with your meal and then take that card. A pretty neat system. I tried to be conscientious about this weight I’m trying to lose so I hit the salad bar first. A nice array  of choices although I wish they labelled the sauces. Eventually though that resolve went with the pizza and the buffalo wings. The food was ok and the wait was about 15-20 minutes. There was also the unlimited soda supply and dessert for those so inclined.

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Entertainment: Where a kid can be a kid they said, they didn’t lie and I am sure today wasn’t even Chuck E. Cheese’s at full throttle. Games in all forms, arcade, shooting,  car racing, motorbikes, test-your-strength, football, basketball, Fruit Ninja and Temple Run!!!. I tried to keep my composure. 😀 I loved that they had a play area specifically for the smaller kiddies and a jungle gym over everything else, Mr Cheese himself came out every hour and the children sang, danced, took photos and scrambled for free tickets as they were tossed in the air and floated to the ground. The screen in the back ran music videos, stories and jokes and there was an area that seemed equipped for live activity too. Additionally there are three separate rooms for birthday parties as well!

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Son-son in Gotham

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Mam’zelle in her Barrel of Monkeys

Overall: The staff at Chuck E. Cheese’s seemed to have worked very hard to create a great first impression and they succeeded in my books. There were officials from the US who I suppose were there to train and they kept it running nicely alongside our compatriots who seemed to take a great deal of pride in their work. Special shout-out to a gentleman named Bose from Texas, he was phenomenal with patrons, staff and children AND he complimented me on my makeup so he wins twice! Smiles were all around! I’m glad I roused myself and took the opportunity to go even after my “ah stayin home!” funk from last week. I honestly hope they upkeep and maintain the standard that they have set thus far. In Trinidad once something isn’t new anymore, the effort tends to wane you know? Fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen here and everything remains20140716_143124

Visit my facebook page for more pics: Trini Mom In D Middle and of course the Chuck E. Cheese’s website for more information and bookings.

Bless up

TMIDM