We are in November, and I finally booked the annual check-up I wanted to book since the beginning of the year. Phew! I really wanted to check myself since the beginning of the year, but I don't even know how we are already in November and I haven't done it. Finally, this week I decided to go. 

I used Medi-ideas because my husband used them a few months ago, and he came back with raving reviews. I love that instead of going with symptoms that you tell them, they check your full body and tell you all they see that is wrong using their quantum kinkan machine. I was really wowed. If you know how our medical system can be, when you tell a doctor something is wrong, some of them will make you feel like it's all in your head, and sometimes they do test, and it doesn't even show anything, but this test goes down to your nails, it will analyse everything. 

I was mind-blown.

 It's pricey, but because it takes the guesswork out of what might be wrong with you, it's worth it, absolutely.

They will then treat you or recommend lifestyle changes for you based on the results of your test. I am still waiting for the outcome of my test, but they've been able to tell me one thing that had really been bothering me, and I felt so relieved because I was almost thinking it was in my own head sef after visiting the hospital for a while. 

I went to the popular Item7 to get lunch afterwards, and I was in and out in 30 minutes, and it was because I wanted shawarma. The rice took about 15 mins wait. I was so impressed by the process and system of the business. The taste of the rice and shawarma wasn't alllll that tbh, but I guess they are really selling convenience and affordability, and they delivered on that front. 

I have stopped walking since the rains and dirty environment put me off, but I am still on my quest to find a sustainable way to keep moving because I need to let go of this sedentary lifestyle. 

we bought books from her

A friend of mine came over to visit. She was visiting from Abia, and it was so good to see her, you know, when you meet someone as a stay-at-home mum, you talk and talk and talk because you don't know when next you will have the chance to have such conversations again. I am really looking forward to when I will stop having conversations around motherhood and business, sha. Lol. I want to talk about something else. Who wants to talk about quantum mechanics? (Not that I know anything about it. LOL) 

Once in a while, I have a photoshoot, and this past week was that "once in a while". I shot 17 wigs on a white background, did the shoot outside of my studio without an assistant, and it was amazing. You can view some of my works here. I was away from the kids for about 5 hours that day, the kind of work that takes me away once in a while, and I am still there to tuck them in at night. This is the life for me. I am grateful for it, contented by it and will continue to grow it. 

Tonight, I have packed our load, and we are going to Ibadan this coming week so if you are in Ibadan, holla at us! 

Dilemma and reflections from this week:  

 It's been 2 weeks, and I still haven't made writing this segment a priority. I was so preoccupied with the field trips that we organised @ Cuddle Africa. 

Let me catch you up for 2 weeks, yeah? Let's go! 

I decided to take my walks outside of the comfort of my estate. I decided that safety wasn't good enough for me, I needed to gamble with where there was a possibility of me being hit by a car, bus or Okada. I was so disappointed to know that the long one-hour walk was just about 4km, and I got 7k steps in. Phew. I made the mistake on one of those days to walk when it rained, sigh! My very not-so-picky self noticed all the trash, dirty puddles, smeellllll Gosh! I've not been motivated to take that walk again. This Lagos is DIRTY! That's all I would say about that. 

We are STILL homeschooling because the new question I get now is "Are you still homeschooling?" Well YES! My older son is learning about bridges this month, and my younger son is learning about a cocktail of different things. We have a trip coming up next week to Ibadan, and I have been working on our itinerary so far, and it's looking good. I have a budget and I am hoping to stick with it. Fingers crossed. 

I made a cinnamon roll. I bake mostly with the kids, and you can imagine it's always chaotic, and I never get to enjoy my process. They had a birthday party that Saturday, and I took the opportunity to enjoy and bake without chaos. I enjoyed myself, the treat was yummy, and I think I am done with my cinnamon roll phase. This was the 2nd time baking it, and now I am so over it. Lol. 

Our field trip. My company, Cuddle Africa, now organises field trips for parents and their kids during the holidays. This time we went to Mindscapes museum, Jaekel house & Lagos state fire station. We had an amazing time. I finally met my assistant, who has been working virtually with me for a while now. We wrapped up the field trips, took our lessons and planned for next year. You can join our waitlist here. 

My dilemma and reflection: 

I really don't remember what my major dilemma was last week, but I found myself reflecting on how people/vendors are increasingly becoming unreliable. I just need consistency in the quality you deliver and the timeliness. I don't think that's too much to ask in 2025, right? Right. 

Can I rant a bit? I paid 20k for a taxi from the Island to the mainland and 17k+ back. Every time I see the fare these days, I just feel so surprised. I remember paying N500 for a taxi, N1,000 and a maximum of N6,000 to the mainland. It's so crazy. They keep saying it's getting better, but the cost of everything keeps going up. I was truly overwhelmed by it all, and it's not like I can do anything about it. Sigh! One has to just keep making money. Feeling so sad for my beloved country 

This past week, I headed to Ijebu-ode and Ijebu-igbo to honour my cousin's mother-in-law, who passed away earlier in the month. As I sat listening to the testimonies of her life and people who had interacted with her, I saw her passion for a cause she believed in, someone who believed in God and put her trust in him. 

One particular man stood out to me, who, from what I heard, was her good friend. Aside from what he said, there were the hymns he sang. He had a hymn to buttress the things he said, and that was fascinating to me. The service took place at an Anglican church, and it's their custom to sing hymns, but I am not used to that I just know praise and worship songs and the types of songs we sing nowadays don't even have the depth of words or the richness. I made the decision in that moment to find a hymn book and start singing hymns in my home. 

The Bible talks about how it's better to go to a house of mourning, and I get why. There's the reminder away from your busy life, how fickle life can be, the reminder that we are mortals, here today and can be gone tomorrow, a reminder to keep our mission on earth as the focus and not get carried away. I was reminded of all of that this weekend. 

I was with my sister, and she asked a question 

This got my thinking too, but my answer to her is that we are all more connected than we realise, and eventually the people who need to know will find out. She said that's one of the questions that keeps her up at night. I, on the other hand, am not worried about the people finding out, just ensuring that I do what needs to be done before I leave this earth, and I don't mind leaving, honestly. This earth is too stressful, but I don't want to sound like I am sad or depressed. Lol. 

Parenting away from home

Road to Ijebu-ode 

Before we got to Ijebu-ode, we had to go to Ijede first to my parents, because I am still a child and I had to follow my mum to Ijebu-ode instead of going myself. The road to Ijebu-ode was not very smooth. It's sad that in this time in our country, we still have bad roads. This bad road lengthened our trip to 2 hours. I think it should have been 1 hour maximum. Phew. The road trip was nice, though. Sights and sounds are not so bad. It was interesting to hear my mum complain so much about the bad roads, more like lament, really. I think the woman is over this country. Notably, we saw so many "estates" with just a small fence that the real estate people would've used to sell and collect millions from people who want to "invest in their future". They just had a small gate and vast lands. Maybe I will be the one crying in 10 years when the place "opens up". 

Home

What meal I enjoyed this week.

My husband got me this Salad from Foodies in Lekki Phase 1. Chicken salad. I think it was the pepper that made me enjoy it. 

My current dilemma

I want to start walking next week. I chose a long-distance walk in the morning. I am contemplating whether I really want to do this because it's supposed to be a long-term commitment and not a one-off. I have stopped walking in my estate because it gets so boring seeing the same thing. I figured if I walked a longer route outside the estate, it would be more interesting for me. I am trying to choose now if I want to help my lethargy or just continue with my sedentary lifestyle. I will let you know what I decided next week. 

I am trying to blog more about my progress, so I will share about my week more often here in as much detail as I can. I really hope it helps me scratch my blogging itch. 

PS: We have 3 field trips this coming week, you can check the options out here, book your slot!