Ottawa, Ontario

Last week Monday, my family and I took a special holiday to Connecticut, Ottawa, Canada. this was my first time in Ottawa, but I have visited Toronto in 04. The main difference between Ottawa and Toronto, almost every Canadian you meet speaks both English and French in Ottawa. All the products I've seen have facts in both English and French including Candies. The television shows programs in French including news. One interesting observation was that both in Toronto and Ottawa the television is influenced by the American culture, almost 8o% of the entertainments shows I saw in our hotel room were Americans. MacDonald, Tim Hortons and many other American fast food restaurant where everywhere. Everywhere I looked including on the MacDonald logo I saw Canadian flag. Perhaps because Ottawa is the capita. In summary, Ottawa has a British feel, and the Canadian greet you with a big welcome smile. Tourists were scattered everywhere. While we were pulling our languages upstairs, two young Canadian girls joined us in the elevator. Our son Berhane greeted them by saying, "Hi there, we're going to Canada." We all giggled, and reminded him that we were in Canada already. The trip was really fun! More pictures coming soon!

Happy Birthday to a very special person in my life

How do I begin to tell you how honored I am To have you in my life? I'll start by saying it was a dream come true The day I became your wife.

You're my best friend in the good times And my rock in times of sorrow. You're the reason for sweet yesterdays And my promise for tomorrow.

I never thought I could feel this loved Until I became your wife. You made this year and each other year

The best of my life.

Happy Birthday my Love!

Yambekelwa esi ku lyoye

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Easter Crafts 2009!

Crafting with your kids is fun. Berhane was hopping up and down decorating Easter eggs! Its never too early to get in the Festival spirit. Here are some of our Easter preparation crafts.

Baby outside

Ndamona wants to be outside running all day long. am forever on my toes trying to keep up with her.

Billionaires women

Oprah is one of the inspiring people I would love to meet one day.

Oprah Winfrey

$2.7 Billion United States

One of just 44 billionaires who increased their net worth through the financial crisis. Used cachet to help influence votes for President Obama. Her foundation has funded 55 new schools in 12 countries, and she has donated millions of her personal fortune, earning her the top spot in Forbes' list of most generous celebrities.

Learn about the other billionaires women

World's Billionaires 2009

by Luisa Kroll, Matthew Miller, and Tatiana Serafin Wednesday, March 11, 2009provided by

It's been a tough year for the richest people in the world. Last year there were 1,125 billionaires. This year there are just 793 people rich enough to make our list.

The world has become a wealth wasteland.

Like the rest of us, the richest people in the world have endured a financial disaster over the past year. Today there are 793 people on our list of the World's Billionaires, a 30% decline from a year ago.

Of the 1,125 billionaires who made last year's ranking, 373 fell off the list--355 from declining fortunes and 18 who died. There are 38 newcomers, plus three moguls who returned to the list after regaining their 10-figure fortunes. It is the first time since 2003 that the world has had a net loss in the number of billionaires.

The world's richest are also a lot poorer. Their collective net worth is $2.4 trillion, down $2 trillion from a year ago. Their average net worth fell 23% to $3 billion. The last time the average was that low was in 2003.

Bill Gates lost $18 billion but regained his title as the world's richest man. Warren Buffett, last year's No. 1, saw his fortune decline $25 billion as shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) fell nearly 50% in 12 months, but he still managed to slip just one spot to No. 2. Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helú also lost $25 billion and dropped one spot to No. 3.

It was hard to avoid the carnage, whether you were in stocks, commodities, real estate or technology. Even people running profitable businesses were hammered by frozen credit markets, weak consumer spending or declining currencies.

The biggest loser in the world this year, by dollars, was last year's biggest gainer. India's Anil Ambani lost $32 billion--76% of his fortune--as shares of his Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital all collapsed.

Ambani is one of 24 Indian billionaires, all but one of whom are poorer than a year ago. Another 29 Indians lost their billionaire status entirely as India's stock market tumbled 44% in the past year and the Indian rupee depreciated 18% against the dollar. It is no longer the top spot in Asia for billionaires, ceding that title to China, which has 28.

Russia became the epicenter of the world's commodities bust, dropping 55 billionaires--two-thirds of its 2008 crop. Among them: Dmitry Pumpyansky, an industrialist from the resource-rich Ural mountain region, who lost $5 billion as shares of his pipe producer, TMK, sank 84%. Also gone is Vasily Anisimov, father of Moscow's Paris Hilton, Anna Anisimova, who lost $3.2 billion as the value of his Metalloinvest Holding, one of Russia's largest ore mining and processing firms, fell along with his real estate holdings.

Twelve months ago Moscow overtook New York as the billionaire capital of the world, with 74 tycoons to New York's 71. Today there are 27 in Moscow and 55 in New York.

After slipping in recent years, the U.S. is regaining its dominance as a repository of wealth. Americans account for 44% of the money and 45% of the list's slots, up seven and three percentage points from last year, respectively. Still, it has 110 fewer billionaires than a year ago.

Those with ties to Wall Street were particularly hard hit. Former head of AIG (AIG) Maurice (Hank) Greenberg saw his $1.9 billion fortune nearly wiped out after the insurance behemoth had to be bailed out by the U.S. government. Today Greenberg is worth less than $100 million. Former Citigroup (C) Chairman Sandy Weill also falls from the ranks.

Last year there were 39 American billionaire hedge fund managers; this year there are 28. Twelve American private equity tycoons dropped out of the billionaire ranks. Blackstone Group's (BX) Stephen Schwarzman, who lost $4 billion, and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts' Henry Kravis, who lost $2.5 billion, retain their billionaire status despite their weaker fortunes.

Worldwide, 80 of the 355 drop-offs from last year's list had fortunes derived from finance or investments.

While 656 billionaires lost money in the past year, 44 added to their fortunes. Those who made money did so by catering to budget-conscious consumers (discount retailer Uniqlo's Tadashi Yanai), predicting the crash (investor John Paulson) or cashing out in the nick of time (Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberte).

So is there anywhere one can still make a fortune these days? The 38 newcomers offer a few clues. Among the more notable new billionaires are Mexican Joaquín Guzmán Loera, one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the U.S.; Wang Chuanfu of China, whose BYD Co. began selling electric cars in December, and American John Paul Dejoria, who got the world clean with his Paul Mitchell shampoos and sloppy with his Patrón Tequila.

The Top 20 Richest People in the World

© AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey

1. William Gates III Net Worth: $40 billion Source: Microsoft/U.S. Age: 53 Marital Status: Married, three children

• Software visionary regains title as the world's richest man despite losing $18 billion in the past 12 months.
• Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last summer to devote his talents and riches to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Organization's assets were $30 billion in January; annual letter lauds endowment manager Michael Larson for limiting last year's losses to 20%.
• Gates decided to increase donations in 2009 to $3.8 billion, up 15% from 2008.
• Dedicated to fighting hunger in developing countries, improving education in America's high schools and developing vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS.
• Appointed Microsoft Office veteran Jeffrey Raikes chief executive of Gates Foundation in September. Gates remains Microsoft chairman.
• Sells shares each quarter, redeploys proceeds via investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of fortune invested outside Microsoft.
• Stock down 45% in past 12 months.
• "Creative capitalist" wants companies to match profit making with doing good.

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Home and Garden Show

Yesterday, we explored the home and garden show in Columbus. The layout design was superb, we had a marvelous experience.

Japanese landscape (garden)!

Remeber Tom Hank in Cast Away? About to enter the scene in Cast Away Ratatuouille is truly one of my collections. Inside the Kitchen Berahne meets the chef

Baby Ndamona @ 11 months!

She loves Vegetables and fruits!