Tell me about yourself?

Here’s a little something I’d like to share with you all.

These were my on the spot answers to those dreaded interview questions at the last interview I attended! I wasn’t super prepared and could probably done better, so as soon as I left I wrote down what I said to see how to improve on it later.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I’d say that at times a can be a bit too enthusiastic and spontaneous and try to run before I can walk but I’m aware of this and reign myself in to check briefs/number/programmes before rushing into things.

I’m also known for saying it like it is and sometimes that can be too blunt.

My greatest strengths are in my leadership and organisational skills. I’m good at getting things done and problem solving.

• Where do you see yourself in 1/5/10 years?

I’m a parent so stability is very important to me, so I envisage staying with my next employer for at least 4-5 years and if there is room for advancement perhaps a little longer.

Ultimately I’d like to run my own charity that would focus on providing health care and healthy eating in Africa.

• What is your leadership style? Please give an example of a real situation.

I participated in a management programme within XXXXX Pharmaceuticals and during this we did the disc profile. As a result I’m self aware and understand that team members need to be treated as individuals. I’d say that my leadership style is adaptable because how you lead can depend on who is to follow. I know that I’m a strong leader and able to motivate a team.

During my time as a customer services manager I had a very varied team. I established that one team member was not comfortable making decisions but was exceptionally good at analytical work so I gave him ownership of that area and slowly helped increase his decision making skills by giving him a sense of empowerment.

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Any and all suggestions as to how to improve my answers would be greatly appreciated!!!

Smoker? Me? I don’t think so!

( As written for works news letter published March 2010)

On the Tuesday 17^th of February 2009 I made my way over to the school of nursing in secret. Only my line Manager knew that I was heading that way once a week for the next six weeks.

I walked into the very first smoking cessation group pretty sure that I was not ready to give up smoking. I went through the motions of having my carbon monoxide levels monitored and (embarrassingly) read out to the other 11 members of the group.  We spoke about why and when we smoked. Surprisingly the group leader informed us that we wouldn’t be giving up smoking that day. I have to say I was quite relieved.

It turned out that our actual quit day was on the third meeting; we had three more weeks to get our heads round the idea.

The second session was quite frankly disgusting. We were shown a video of what long term smoking does to the lungs, skin, eyes, mouth and teeth. We had a long and frank discussion about why, when we knew how bad for the health smoking really is, did we continue to do it.

The third week was quit week. We were paired up as smoking buddies and asked to put as large a sum of money into an envelope. My buddy and I put £30 each in and if either of us smoked in the week we would lose all the money to the group. Some of us were prescribed 4 weeks worth of Champix, a drug to help dampen the nicotine cravings while others preferred nicotine patches or gum. We took turns in standing and pledging to the group that we would not smoke for the next seven days.

I committed myself to putting my cigarette money in a shoe box under my bed each day.

That first week was so difficult! Every where I turned people were smoking. I missed my first cigarette when walking to the bus stop in the morning so much! Oh and the walks from 

xxx Street

to 

xxx Street

were excruciating. I just had to keep busy and thinking of my £30 got me through the week.

I used the tactic taught at the meeting;

Delay               When the craving starts put off having a smoke.

Escape             When faced with temptation get away from it.

Avoid             Don’t go to the places when I might be tempted

Distract           Do something when the craving starts. (My house was super clean for the next two months!)

The second week I got my sense of smell back! My taste buds seemed to awaken and everything I ate was new and delicious. But the cravings were horrendous and I got a little snappy.

By the third week my lungs had begun the repair process and for the next three weeks were shedding their tar lining which was pretty gross. I lost concentration and found it hard to focus. I was told that this was normal as my brain had to adjust to working without the nicotine stimulant. Other group members suffered with constipation, some from nightmares or sever mood swings. Everyone had a cough and some people even had the shakes! Until this point none of us had really realised how much effect on the body nicotine really had.

On Tuesday the 31^st of March we had our last support group. It was quite emotional knowing that the six of us who had made it to week 7 were not going to be meeting regularly anymore.

With in the following three months I came across three of the six who completed the course standing outside hospital buildings, come rain or shine, puffing away. Unfortunately my stop smoking buddy was one of those but I understand how very difficult it is to give up the evil weed.

It will be my first year anniversary of the day I stopped smoking on the 3^rd of March. It’s been a long and hard road. I often still crave a smoke and had to control those urges. I remind myself of the £550.00 I saved in a box under my bed in the first 3 ½ months of not smoking and the wonderful holiday my little family enjoyed as a result. I remember the first time I felt the fresh air actually hit my lungs in a noticeable way six weeks after giving up.

I’ll always be an ex-smoker. It’s an addiction like any other and I know that I can’t have just one. I deal with my cravings one at a time and always will but as time passes they become less frequent.

Giving up smoking is not easy but if you’re thinking of giving up, get all the help you can. I’d highly recommend the smoking cessation groups, run either at you local GP’s surgery or over at xxxxx Hospital. Log onto www.smokingfree.nhs.uk or www.quit.org.uk  to find out more about what’s available in your area and details of the helpline.

Finally; if you need some support during the working day……I’m right behind you!

10^th February 2010

Post script; 01.11.10 I have never smoked since!!!

The Conversation

I stood in the kitchen at work this morning with a tall red-head who divorced her husband last year, lost three stone, has legs to die for and recently bagged herself a new man. They returned from a holiday in the med on Monday. She was telling me of ‘the conversation.’

Yes; ‘the conversation’ reared its ugly head whilst sipping cocktails in a bar on the beach.

The ‘where is this relationship heading’ conversation.

Oddly enough he raised the topic, saying perhaps they should move in together. She slowed him down with I’m alright jack kind of attitude. ‘After all’ she said ‘if it ain’t broke…..’

She has financial independence, her own place and a man she can send home. No 'put the toilet seat down' type irritations nor squabbling over the duet. Heaven is it not?

Is it always the case that two people are never truly on the same page when it comes to what they want out of a relationship? Is there always one person less satisfied with things than the other depending on the stage of the relationship?

I’ve lived on my ‘own’ i.e. without a partner since 2005. Four years now and I think I can safely say I like being the boss of everything in my domain (evil laugh!). I like having the king sized bed all to myself and don’t miss doing another adults washing. I don’t mind doing all the house work; there’s no one to resent for not helping out. I make all the decisions and my word is final.

I wonder if in the future I meet someone and we end up having the ‘conversation’ how I would react; my problem being that I’m a romantic. Oh yes I want to be swept off my feet and fall madly in love but that doesn’t sit well with the every day reality of getting things done.

For starters; where exactly does a single parent who works 8 hours a day, travels for a further 2 hours a day with a kid who’s in bed by 7.30pm actually find love? (or even lust!)

How many dates could I miss because the baby-sitter pulled out before a guy lost interest?

Where do I find the energy to be all smiley-smiley when I really want to just drop from exhaustion most days?

Where is Felicia?

In 1984 I was living in Mile 2 Lagos with my father and brother. My father met a woman who he took as his wife and in 1985 my little sister was born.

Unfortunately in 1988 my father passed away after a battle with cancer and my brother and I returned to the UK to live.

Shortly after our father’s wife, Felicia, approached or was approached by a member of our extended family about working in Italy. She left Nigeria, leaving our 3 year old sister behind.

It was about five years later that we received a phone call from Felicia. I am ashamed to say that her call was not well received. As a young opinionated twenty something I was angry with her for abandoning my sister. She asked for money and was given short shrift.

I, like millions of other Nigerians, assumed that Felicia had made a life style choice and gone off to sell the only asset that she had; her body.

I never considered what it must have taken for her to reach out and make that call. I never thought about helping her.

At that point in my life I had never heard the term ‘human trafficking’

Now almost twenty years later and with a personal work history that incorporates social services, counselling and the National Health Services I understand the terrible experiences that await women leaving Nigeria on the promise of a better life for themselves and their families.

In recent years, as I’ve watched my little sister develop into a beautiful young lady, I ask myself more and more often……where is Felicia?

Pretty Tough Tea Party

I love organising parties. In fact I’m pretty sure this is my real calling!  

This is probably because I like to go overboard!

It is like performing an unrestricted version of my planning job only with a smaller budget; in most cases!

For Inny’s 3^rd birthday we hired a small church hall and a clown and the whole nursery attended (36! and parents).  The ‘Aunty mafia’ (my ex’s three sisters! A LV wielding set of identical twins and another who is pretty much identical to the other two lol) had a face painting table and there were 3 long games of pass the parcel. My brother M was in charge of Piñata and drove the kids crazy with his on stage version of ‘there was an old woman who swallowed a fly’ as well as his impromptu fall on his backside. The kids found it very funny while he held back an agonising howl of pain!

I caught this on video and shall route it out for your enjoyment!

For Inny’s 5^th birthday we threw a pirate, monsters and princess themed party and held it at a local hall. My brothers were dressed as Zorro, a ghoul, and a 6’3 Spiderman. Leala & her lovely boyfriend came as pirates and I was a witch (of course). We had a bouncy castle and an entertainer called Ziggy.

Ziggy bought with him bubble and snow machines and a well of energy that quite frankly was exhausting!!

For her 7^th birthday we stayed at home and invited just 15 kids. I booked an animal show. By now word had got around school that Inny’s parties were pretty cool so 22 or so kids turned up and all but 3 parents decided to stay for the party!!

2 owls, 1 snake, 2 skunks, 1 pygmy hedgehog, a tarantula, a giant millipede, a lizard kept the whole lot entertained for over 2 hours!

This year, year 8, I opted for something small and girly. A tea party! How hard could that be? After much negotiation with the celebrant we settle on inviting 8 little ladies (and I made it very clear that tag along siblings/parents were not invited!). Daddy was engaged as the butler and granny and auntie K were asked to come along for momma-moral support.

I started off by buying a length of fabric from Ikea to cover the tables and then I trawled eBay for the cake stands and the unique party ‘bags’.  I popped into Oxfam’s Dalston branch and bought lots of lovely little tea cups and saucers for the hot chocolate and marsh mellows (instead of tea).

Inny and I had a practice run at making cup cakes the weekend before and they were lovely but come the weekend of the party I was just too busty to make them. I took a trip to our local Tesco and found they had a lovely selection of cupcakes at £2 for 4!!!!!

The dress code was fascinators, tea dresses and gloves and everyone made a lovely effort to dress the part!

The butler turned up an hour late and the young ladies called for him to be sacked ‘or at the very least not be paid!’ The game of Twister descended in to chaos and there was an unpleasant punching incident between two young ladies.

But over all the four hour party was a great success with lots of laughter and fun. It was so super worth it to see my little miss having so much fun with her friends!

Oslo's best kept secret...........

Yish! It's my first day back to work after 4 nights/5 days in Norway. I can't describe how miserable my face is! I'm sat here in my London office staring out onto a grimey Islington Street, watching the rain come down. Woe is me; my cup is half empty; bla-bla-bla. I think I'm on the brink of a tantrum!

Norway was absolutely beautiful! We, my little brother (32 and 6 foot 4!) and Inny flew out early on thrusday morning. When we stepped out of the house at 5.50am the blast of stupidly cold air prepared us for Norway's -3 degrees. The travel was seemless and we arrived at Olso Gardomoen around 12.30. A short hop on the flytoget high speen train and we were infront of the palace; waiting for my brother to meet us and walk us up to his apartment. He suggested we walk but neglected to mention that it was all up hill; Cheers bro.

The next day we all took a walk to the Vigeland Park. Whilst walking the short distance my sister-in-law pointed out a vintage shop called Tonica. I made a mental note to visit it the next day.

I was up and outside Tonica by 12 noon on Saturday. As I step through the door I knew this was going to be difficult! I was blown away! Every era in fashion was covered and you could find something from practically every designer you could think of. I spent a whole hour looking through the rails. The best three finds were a silk pussy bow blouse by Donna Karen; vintage bags by Prada and Mulberry and a vintage coat.

I had a long conversation with Tonica herself. She was very welcoming, offered me a coffee and explained the history of the store.
If you're ever in Oslo check out the store it's at Schoningsgt 14, Marjorstuen, 0362 or check it out online http://www.tonicavintage.com/