The New Pope Francis had a Childhood Love

Some priests are born, and some are made, some fall in between. The new Pope Francis seems to be in the latter categories. As a young 12 year old, he had a crush on his class mate and sent her a love letter. Their puppy love became not so secret anymore when teachers discovered the note, and sent for the girl's parents. That girl is now 76 years old Amalia Damonte. She told newsmen,

...it was clear from the start that he was thinking about dedicating his life to God.

Damonte especially remembers a handwritten letter he left for her, because it got her into a lot of trouble at the time.

"I remember perfectly that he had drawn me a little white house, which had a red roof, and it said "this is what I'll buy when we marry."

She said he also told her "If I don't marry you, I'm going to be a priest."

"These were childish things, nothing more," she said.

So sweeet, reminds me of this short story - the secret love letter :)

Kate Middleton Wants a Boy, Prince William a Girl

People often ask pregnant couples, and the woman in particular whether their coming baby is a boy or a girl. And it's not much different when you're a royal it seems. Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, at an official St. Patrick's Day ceremony honoring the Irish Guards made the revelation to a soldier she was chatting with.

"I asked her 'do you know if it's a girl or boy?' and she said 'not yet,'" said Guardsman Lee Wheeler.
"She said 'I'd like to have a boy and William would like a girl.'"
Wheeler said the duchess told him the couple had not settled on names for the baby....

At the baby shower I attended, I also asked the celebrant the same question. She too didn't know, as they wanted to wait to find out at the birth. I know it's easy enough to find out and I sometimes wonder whether I'll like to know or not. I think curiosity will just kill me, so I'll go ahead and ask to know.

BTW, isn't it the other way around with the gender of the baby, women want girls to play dress up with, and the husbands want boys?

Chioma Nnani - Forever There For You [Author Interview]

Chioma Nnani is the author of Forever There For You, a Christian Fiction novel. She describes herself as a blood-washed, feisty, passionate God-chaser, born to tell stories, and very creatively too. She says she often shoots from the hip – mainly because she's still trying to pass classes in ‘tact and diplomacy’.

She holds a Law (LLB) degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury (in England). Of her stories, Chioma confesses they are character-driven, and she will obsessively look up, build, mix and match psychological profiles to get exactly the personality that will best deliver her message and touch her characters. She is a people-watcher, and draws writing inspiration from those around her, and their reactions to events. Enjoy our interview...

What inspires you to write?
This is going to sound really clichéd but I’m inspired by God, events, and people. Sometimes, I’ll get up really early because I have to write, so I can’t sleep. This would normally be between 1 and 3am – that time when you’re sleeping, but you’re not really sleeping. When I look back at some stuff that readers claim constitute some of my best work, I find that they tend to be the ones I’ve written during such periods.

Again, sometimes I’ll be reading the Bible, or listening to a pastor, or even praying, and I’ll get an idea that could range from really simple to pretty outrageous. I’ll jot it down, knowing fully well I’ll return to it later.
Also, sometimes I’ll be in the middle of a conversation with someone, or even hear something in passing that strikes me. I’ll park it in my mind, to be revisited at night, or even days, weeks, or months later. With some statements I hear, I just know that they will form the basis of future material.

My husband doesn’t want me to sleep in his room

I read this post and my mouth dropped open in shock. A lot of the comments were trending towards cultists, rituals, prayers, but my mind said no! This could just be an upbringing and personality thing. Maybe the guy just feels that being too close to his wife may bring disrespect to him from her. I also know that some traditional men who are close to their culture feel this way.

What actually baffled me more was how the lady never saw it while they were dating, is that possible? Does it mean the topic of how men treat their wives never came up? There's probably no easy marriage, but in my opinion, it's easier when the husband and wife can agree with each other's beliefs and personalities, no matter how wacky they may sound to outsiders. When there's a gap or they don't agree, things may quickly become sour like in the story below;

When my husband and I were dating we used to share his room and bed so I assumed after marriage we would share a room. But to my amazement, after a week, he told me to move my things into the next room. Even though the rooms have doors that link them together through the bathroom and toilet, I didn’t like the idea of sleeping on a separate bed from my husband at night.

Naeto C and Wife Celebrate Baby Shower in the US

Naeto C got married to his beautiful wife, Nicole, last year [see wedding pictures], and they are both currently in the United States as they prepare for the upcoming birth of their first child. Family and friends got together to throw them an intimate baby shower. I wish them a safe and healthy delivery.

May This Be Love - Christine Ben Ameh

May This be Love was Christine Ben Ameh's recorded song that caught my attention when I first heard it, and it made me quickly buy and download the album. I've since heard Christine perform twice, she seems quite well loved in the book-reading and live performance scene in Lagos. Each time, she wowed me with her powerful vocals and quality lyrics. I love her style of music, hope you do too. Enjoy...

Vertical Challenges - A Short "DOCUMENTARY"

I laughed so hard when I first saw this quasi documentary, some of you may have been wondering why the issue of my height came up in some of my earlier posts, it was this video, I watched it with Atala a few days ago. I was just nodding at some of the points raised by the main actor, who happened to be short too, and the comments on the Youtube page, hahaha...

tunuoyelola - It's not a real story? :( I was getting so carried away with the "Happily Ever After" ending, until the credits started to roll! LOL.

Kaffy Saibu - I love your story I'm 5'3 myself, and I hate it too. lol I wish I was taller "wishful thinking". but at least I'm taller than my mom lmao. And I love tall guys too...I only date tall guys, winks

Alyssa Darden - I love this! I'm short too.. just barely 5 "

TAYOR FARYEM - She likes tall guy!!!!!!!!!!!

Google Reader is Closing Down - What Does That Mean?

I don't often have to use Google Reader for the blogs I follow, I check out the summaries on the Blogger dashboard, and go on over to the ones that catch my attention. But I do use it to organize my subscriptions, to remove those I'm no more following, or those who aren't blogging anymore. Also, if I'm only with my phone, I default to GR than doing blog rounds. So imagine my surprise when Google said they were shutting it down because not enough people were using it and it didn't make financial sense to keep it. The announcement from Google read;

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

I'm not happy about this development because I know a lot of us here in blogsville use Google reader to follow blogs we love. I still follow about 600 blogs, and have more than 2000 followers on the Google Friend Connect, many of whom I'm sure read my posts on their GR. BTW, the Google Friend Connect has also been rested and I guess it may be time to take it down, no matter how much I like those numbers. Feedburner too may be on the way out.

Bring Back My Husband To Me By Bubblinna

I wake slowly to the strains of ’Marry You’ by Bruno Mars set off by the alarm. As I search for the offending machine, a clear thought penetrates my sleep-fogged mind; Wedding! Just then my hand connects with the phone. I hit the stop button and break out in a wide grin.

Today is March 16th 2016 and it is my wedding day. I am going to be married to my sweetheart, Lionel. The thought of him makes me blush, ahh; the things we did in dreamland not so long ago. There is a throbbing at the apex of my thighs and I feel heat spread through me; this usually happens when I think of the things I want to do to and with him.

”Patience, girl. You’ll have him for the rest of your life to do with as you please starting tonight.” I tell myself. That is enough to reassure me.

Smiling, I lean over to turn on the bedside lamp at the far end of the bed and my hand touches a wet patch. Quickly, I turn on the light and a puzzled look steals across my face. There on the undisturbed part of the bed is a wet patch which looks as though one sat on it with wet shorts. I throw a glance at the door; the bolt is still drawn across. My hand goes to my butt which feels really dry.

10 Ways to Make "The Other Woman" a Non-Issue

I realized that in my last post on the other woman, it seemed like I thought women had no responsibility or a role to play when their men cheat. Of course we do. Also, I was speaking very generally, and it would have been better if I gave some action points. So I'm doing it now.

Am I now blaming the other woman? No. I'm saying all women have a responsibility to themselves to be prepared to face and deal with infidelity. Not to face  the other woman, mind you, but how to deal with the unfaithfulness, the betrayal and breaking of trust. I'm saying let's not make the "Other Woman" the bogey man, in fact, the cheating husband or boyfriend is not even the bogey man. The bogey man is YOU.

At this point you may be saying, Myne you've come again, or, Myne you're not serious. I am serious. And that is why I made this list. Whether single, about to get married, or already married, if you follow some of the principles below in a way that works for you, I believe "The Other Woman" will be of so little importance to you that she becomes a virtual non-issue.