The Quietest July 4th Yet..

Once in a while, we have a year where July 4th falls on a weekend and we get to have Friday if the 4th is on Saturday off. If it is on a Sunday, we get Monday off.

Today is the 4th and there are no wooshes, bangs, or loud sounds coming from fireworks going off. The place we live in actually had notice out saying fireworks were not allowed 😢

Last year at this time, we lived in Florida and my family was visiting another family in Florida. In the neighborhood they lived in, the celebration began at 9 pm. I will say that if I have a long weekend again on the 4th of July, that is the neighborhood I want to go to.

The fireworks were plentiful, loud, and did not stop even after we left the home of our friends. My toddler and theirs had fun and all the kids that came had fun. I went to bed with a smile on my face.

This year is different, due to Coronavirus, there are no gatherings- and even if there were any, we chose to stay home to be safe. Some states like Arizona, New Jersey- that had reopened or lifted the ban are noticing there are seeing a spike of cases and the authorities are trying to contain it.

With all these in mind, there is a sour taste in the mouth to go outside and see fireworks if there are any. I am planning on turning on the TV later tonight to see if there would be any fireworks shows broadcast as they are happening.

Maybe next year will be different!

Maybe soon, Corona Virus will be done and gone away and we can return to some form of normalcy.

Maybe.

Even without fireworks, and outside barbecues; I hope you do something special so that for next year, you would say: “2020 was the year we….

This is the year, the year, we stayed home on July 4th and watched fireworks on TV…

Happy 4th of July and to all our military and servicemen and women; thank you!

Stay safe and have a Happy 4th of July my friends🎆🎉🎇

Always,

Ezanya

Remembering...

I hope this finds you well!

This is a unique Memorial Day as most places are closed and families might have been unable to gather due to gathering restrictions from Corona Virus and or for safety reasons. Either way, I hope you were able to rest and or do what you needed to do.

Regarding Memorial Day, here are a few quotes that stood out to me:

G.K Chesterton said: “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.

Ronald Reagan also said: “ And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men (and women), surely, with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and final sacrifice.

With these short words, I want to thank all who served and their families too.

Thank you for your service and God bless your families.

I Tried Something New and You Can Too!

I hope you are doing well, staying safe! I give more details in the podcast- the link is below.

I had mentioned that I would share a bit of what we were doing and I decided to go the food route.

I had gone to the grocery store to get black-eyed peas and there were none in the dry food aisle- only red lentils- I picked them up.

Hurray! for Google- I found this link and this recipe from Sonja and Alex! It looked so easy that I told myself I had to make something with my lentils. I did; with a few items that I had at home, I made it mine, I would say it turned out delicious.

Thanks Sonja and Alex for the recipe and for giving me faith to try something different!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoon Ghee

1 Cup Red lentils (softened)

Chopped Onions

1/4th tsp Mustard seeds

dash of Tumeric

1/2 tsp of Chopped/ crushed Garlic and Ginger ea

1/2 of curry powder

1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes

1 Bay Leaf

1 Knorr Bouillon Cube

Pickled tomato (optional)

Salt to taste

About 3 cups of water

FYI!

I listened to the podcast and I had mentioned that I had put two tablespoons of dahl in the pot- oops. I had put two tablespoons of Ghee in the pot.

Steps

I softened the lentils by letting it soak in water for 30 mins and setting aside.

I put the ghee in the pot and let it get hot then added the onions, garlic, ginger and let simmer. When the onions were golden

Add red lentils (drained) to the mix, add mustard seeds, curry powder, and the bay leaf. Let this simmer for about 5 mins. Add 2 cups of water and let cook.

Add chopped onions and turmeric powder to the mix. Add chopped tomatoes too.

Season with salt and the bouillon cube.

Let simmer.

The meal is done when the red lentils are tender and or mushy- you can cook yours to a runny liquidy consistency or cook the lentils until it is nice and thick.

Eat with Rice/ paratha or Naan.

Enjoy.

And let me know if you try it.

I had gone to the store to get black-eyed peas but found red lentils and I am happy to say that this meal will be a staple in my home. With Corona Virus, we are now in a situation most of us do not want to be in or planned for. My word for you is to take what we have and make the best of it.

Maya Angelou said: “ If you do not like something, change it. If you can’t change it; change your attitude.

We cannot change whats going on in the world now but let us not let it define us, but make something good out of it.

Have a great week!

PS

I am not being sponsored for any of the items shown. Use your fave brands and go ahead and enjoy yourself 😊

Bag of Red Lentils

The Set up

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All Ingredients in the pot!

After adding water and letting it simmer

Paratha- follow cooking instructions on pack

Tomato Pickle (optional)

The end result. My ratio of paratha to dahl here was off- my excitement to eat over powered my thinking 😝

Working in a Hospital amid Covid-19 Fears

Hello Friends,

How are you doing? I will dare say that you are very aware of what is going on in the world today. Usually, when I start the podcast I ask what is happening and today, might be different as I will ask you, what is your new normal? Hoping you do not have COVID-19 aka Corona Virus nor a loved one. I am also going to hope that you are not being sick and or quarantined due to the virus.

 How has your week been?

The news and the buzzword on every news station is Corona Virus-https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html Please go to the CDC website and read accurate and timely information on the virus. I work in healthcare, but I would rather you get accurate and detailed information from our state and health organizations.

Let us talk a little bit about what is going on around us. Living in the US, most of us have had some form of change in our ways of life. Some of us have had jobs, schools, daycare close/ shut down, travel affected and so much more. We have had to go shopping for necessities (or maybe go because we have heard rumors of store shelves being emptied.

Doctors, nurses, lab technicians, phlebotomists, researchers, daycare workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers, cleaning staff are the ones in the front line. Thank you for all you are doing.

So, you might ask, what is it like working in Healthcare during this time?

I would also say healthcare/ hospital workers will do what we always have done. I work in the histology lab and at this time, we have not been affected much. Most of the surgical procedures and or cases that come to us are critical. Elective procedures are not being performed as most health facilities are working hard to keep supplies, and spots available for people who need to be seen immediately due to Corona Virus.

We have always used PPE (personal protective equipment) because of the work we do; however, at this time, we are being more diligent to wear them. For instance, we are making sure that gloves are being worn, counters are being wiped down, phones are being wiped after calls are taken and so on.

At the doors, visitors are being screened and temperatures are taken of visitors- only guests who are not running a temperature can visit. There is an abundance of hand sanitizers at entrances and there are lots of corners by doors that have hand sanitizer stations too.

I will say that it feels like now, everyone is doing their best to make sure the work gets done. When Staff who must be off due to kids being home from school, other staff and or techs step up and do the work without complaining. It is a beautiful thing to see this selflessness and I am hoping that this teamwork continues.

You might ask, how can you help the people working in healthcare?

I will say:

1.        Stay home. If you do not need to travel or go places, stay home

2.       Listen to what your city/state says you should do- stay home, practice social distancing

3.       If you use Google, the home page had a hand saying “Do the Five”: https://www.google.com/search?q=coronavirus+tips&fbx=dothefive

See the link and click on it if you have not seen it.

Here is the Izora Podcast five:

1.       Do the five Google says you should do.

2.       Check on the elderly, call, text, email. And if you need reasons to do that see Psalm 71:9

3.       Share what you have with the needy- Proverbs 22:9 and if you can afford to, support local businesses

4.       Do not hoard. I have gone shopping and not much is left in the aisles. I mean, just the super expensive stuff. Please just get what you need not much more, let everyone be able to get what they need.

5.       Pray for the healthcare workers, pray for our cities and the nation that this will pass.

  My last word for the day is: do not fear my friends… Do not fear.

Let our faith be in the God who is faithful and hears prayers.

 Until next time,

God bless you and stay safe!

Ezanya

How Did You Celebrate Valentine's Day?

Hello and welcome back to the Izora Podcast.

How did celebrate Valentine’s Day?

I did something that I had not done before; I went to the store the day before Valentine’s Day and I was surprised at how quiet the store was.

When I was at work, some ladies at work were scrambling to get things for their spouses and family. When I got to the store, there were lots of candies, flowers, and cakes for people to purchase for Valentine’s Day.

I am not sure what camp I belong to, but I am more of a Christmas “is my favorite holiday” and plan ahead kind of gal vs I am Valentine’s day can be any day. Depending on what part of the world you are, you might celebrate Valentine’s day differently albeit we now can see that even in Nigeria, Valentine’s day is becoming Westernized.

I went to an all-girls boarding and secondary school and that was my first exposure to Valentine’s Day. Some of the girls got teddy bears bigger than some of us; candies were snuck in and so much more. I wanted to be part of the next year’s celebration and the person I was crushing on; reached out on Valentine’s Day and it put a sour taste in my mouth.

I learned then there were 2 camps:

1. The bragging folk- who showed what they got

2. The folk who did them- they did not care what they got and just were themselves.

When I was in college, my friend then, and husband now gave me a box of chocolates and I panicked and did not eat it for a week. He told me it’s what people do, had no ulterior motives. I ended up eating the chocolates with friends.

I will share some of my favorite things:

1. I love Coming to America the movie and the scene with Lisa and Prince Akeem dancing is my favorite scene. Go to YouTube and find Jackie Wilson’s Someone to Care and check out those lyrics.

2. Do not waste your love on somebody who does not value it- Romeo and Juliet. Do not spend your time and money on someone who does not value it.

3. As a person who believes in God, I always go back to 1 Corinthians 13:5-7

This is what Love is and or what it means to me.

However you celebrated your day, I hope you enjoyed yourself and spent time with the ones you loved. Feel free to reach out if you have any suggestions about topics to talk about - find me on Instagram and here is my email too: theizorapodcast@gmail.com

I will see you in the next episode.

God bless,

Ezanya