Morning All-
Later this morning I start training for a job that I'm not really excited about but it should be okay. The work schedule will be good for me (4am to noon) and its really close to home, so I will see if it works out. So far my day is a little boring. Just watching tv and washing clothes. Its not too exciting yet. Maybe I can bring something more interesting later...Have a good day everybody!
Dawn

Good Morning Dawn...I think. It's 2:30 a.m. here and I have not gone to bed yet! My friends came over tonight for tea and hookah and just left an hour ago. Now I can't sleep.

I talked to my hunny on the phone for about an hour (just finished). I can't even believe how the dynamics of our relationship have changed since the interview. Even though he doesn't have the visa yet, we are both just so happy to be done with it. We both feel relaxed and back to our old selves again.

I am definitly sleeping in tomorrow, uh today. I need a day of relaxation for sure. Does anyone else here have an addiction to shoes? I just can't get enough. I don't even wear most of them. I have 3 closets full of shoes plus an over the door hanger that holds 36 pairs!!! I think I need a 12-step program.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

4:30 a.m. still awake

6:30 here. me too.
alright Miss Shoes....I'm raiding one of your shoe closets. I'm having a hard time choosing the right ones with my Khaki pants. blacks look too bold, browns dont look right, white is just wrong, and it looks wrong. I got this orientation at 10. My socks match my top, so I just want to go like that-shooless. thats the look I favor. Maybe some flipflops til I get inside so my socks don't get dirty. Can you tell I'm not excited about this?

I slept in and woke up to a frosty morning with gentle sunrise and mist on the lake. I wish I was a painter. Sometimes the colors just move me and I wish I could capture the feeling.

I was officially offered full time employment yesterday and a substantial pay increase. I am feeling a bit better now. That's a reduction on the ole stress load I was sorely needing. Nice to be paid what I feel I'm worth and working hard for, rather then scraping by. In 2 weeks I'll have medical insurance (hell I can substantiate my own claims now... ha) and that is also a huge load off my mind.

I have a few things to do today, but nothing pressing. Nice to sit in the quiet with a steamy cup of coffee and watch the colors of the morning slowly change. Hope everyone has a nice day.

Afternoon All! Well I am just baking away... occasionally looking online for an email I am waiting for...hopefully it is good news! Have good one everyone!

I'm off on a quick road trip to Houston. Wishing everyone a great weekend !



-MK

Happy Saturday! Good luck on the new job Dawn! What color shoes did you wear? I hate coordinating shoes with khaki pants. Now, khaki capris are easier cuz the shoe don't touch so I can feel your pain.

Today I have to measure 2 houses then CLEAN our house. On Wednesday I will be cooking for Mohammed and a few of his friends and his 2 cousins. Ohhhh today I will attempt Kanafa. Does anyone have that picture of the kanafa-maker for inspiration ?

Jackie

Good Saturday morning. My husband and I are hanging out this morning waiting for the plumber to get here to fix our dang shower. Not much going on today. Hope everyone has a good day!

At your service, ma'am !



Good luck !

I have the cheese and the shredded phyllo dough. I don't know what butter to use and what nuts to use! And the amounts of it all, like how much to use of everything!

JP & Dawn-----------help!!! (you have both told me and I forgot!) and what 2 colors make orange? I know blue and yellow make green, but what makes orange...oh I bet yellow and red! I will definately take pictures of my finished kanafa.

Jackie

I would use unsalted butter.... and usually the nuts are pistachios.

And yes you are correct -- red & yellow makes orange !

I don't have a recipe at hand, but I'm searching for one that looks right.



-MK

Morning all. Woke up at 9:30 am and that just felt oh so good!

I just gave my kids their "to do" list before I'll go shopping with them and I'm listening to the groaning and moaning now. "why do *I* have to be the one to put the laundry away?????", "mooooom....I don't WANNA clean the living room!!!!!"


I'm typing on my brand new laptop and lovin' it btw!! It's my early Eid present to myself. Figured I'll need one while in Cairo and also when we're at Disney in April so I can still talk to Usama each night. A friend of mine in our IT dept gets tons of special coupons all the time so I used that and got it for super cheap. The video on it is awesome....watched a few muslim comedians last night on youtube and laughed my butt off!!!

Once the coffee kicks in it's off to do a few chores then on to the mall to get the kids their webkinz. They're hooked on them!!!

Dawn - hope the job turns out better than expected. BTW I hate choosing shoes for khaki pants too.

JP - I used to be a shoe freak until I got Lupus and now I have to pay mucho $$ for shoes that don't hurt my back so I've had to cut waaaay down. I have like two sneakers, a brown, beige and black pair of sandals, brown and black mules, and a black and brown pair of pumps and a pair of flip flops (birkenstocks...yeah real sexy...not!) and that's it!

Henia - hope you get that email soon!!!

Jackie - I love anything involving philo dough!!!

Just waiting - you are so poetic! You should think of writing poetry....you never know when you might be discovered!

Mrs. Forgetful - there's nothing worse than waiting all day for a plumber/electrician, etc. They always seem to give you like an 8 hour window....like you have nothing else to do but wait around. I usually take that time to do housework that I'd normally procrastinate.

Nice blue sky and sunny out today, though the draft through the window says it's cold!!!! Usama was very depressed last night so I'm hoping he perks up tonight. It's so hard that I can't give him a hug when he is like this.

Good morning girls. I woke up to the realization that I'm a dork... a true dork. First thing I thought of when I woke up...my MENA crew. Then I thought wait a second...Omar's interview is not on the 20th...it's on the 16th!!!! (Sophie you should have fixed me. I told you the correct date on the phone!) I think I got caught up in wanting to be part of the group going to the consulate on th 20th or something..big slumber party....who knows the inner workings of a wild fiancee mind!? Ok now that I have that fixed, I'll continue my prep work for his arrival. I finally did plant the mint last night. Roommate made some smart comment about how it wouldn't grow just sitting on the porch, still in the seed packet.. Have a good saturday.

I saw the 16th on your timeline and was a little confused! thanks for the clarification!

uh, and i"m so jealous of you guys talking about new jobs... I'm a middle school teacher, and I am crying for a normal 9-5 job! I'm so sick of working long hours and the weekends and coming home absolutely exhausted every night and at the end of it all, wondering, "am I even doing a decent job? are the actually even learning anything?" Not to mention I teach 7th grade, and in Texas all 7th graders take both writing and reading stanardized tests. and I'm the English teacher... ugh... It's pretty sad that I'm already looking forward to May. After the school years over, I think I'll have to move on to a different line of work for my sanity... but I don't know what yet!!

Today is Saturday!

I do write all kinds of things. I'd explode if I didn't! Mohammed and I have written several songs and looking forward to writing more.

I want to mention something about the electricity in Egypt. If you take your laptop be sure to take a good regulator/surge protector with you. I fried a hairdryer, curling iron and motherboard in my computer in Egypt.

Yup Doodle got the email and replied...and working on it as we speak (or shall I say as I am type )

Ye Jean seems to be a very gentle heart... I would to read her peotry if she ever wrote any

Ok Henia... prepared to be bored. LOL

(Both of the following are my original works.)



Illusion

Clinging with that which has no hands
For fear of losing what can't be lost
Nor ever held
Bears a painful cost.

And seeing with sightless eyes
The other who is not
But the seer who stares at all and nothing
Division is now sought.

In yin and yang, and black and white
The existenceless chasm widens
Good and evil, left and right
Soul's confusion ever heightens.

Yearning yearns and longing bites
A lusting's never tamed
Hunger's hiding comfort's secret
It's true source is never named.

Until molehill becomes mountain
Crushing that which can't be crushed
Freeing sudden realization
The chaos now is hushed.

Waken the sleepless slumberer
New ears as old as time
To hear the grand illusion sing
The song which has no name.

Remember now the landless land
And skies which know no end
Rejoicing in the weightless freedom
To die and be born again.



And this a song Mohammed and I wrote. I wrote the lyrics and he wrote the music. I have the MP3 we recorded and mixed on the computer but of course no way to share it here. His voice is beautiful

Whisper To The Sky

Life is going by like a movie film
but I'm standing still
feeling like a tree in the wind
watching it rushing by
while I stay behind

Seems everybody's doing
and I'm only dreaming
with my head in the clouds
while they're busy moving mountains
I am lost in the colors
of a world I can't touch

I just whisper to the sky
because hearts never lie
I'm hoping it'll reply
then maybe I will know why
god made me this way
just a whisp in the wind

Yes life is going by like I'm not even here
but I'm standing still
like a shadow stretched acrossed a sunny lawn
watching the world rushing by
while I stay behind

Seems everybody's doing
and I'm only dreaming
with my head in the clouds
while they're busy moving mountains
I am lost in the colors
of a world I can't touch

I'm adrift
in the middle of a sea
I'm feeling so free
no one knows what its like
to be... what its like
to be me

Yes life is going by like a fast rolling train
but I'm standing still
a lone passenger standing on the platform
watching it rushing by
while I stay behind

Seems everybody's doing
and I'm only dreaming
with my head in the clouds
while they're busy moving mountains
I am lost in the colors
of a world I can't touch

Jean,

You can upload to a place like File Den and then place a link here.

Rebecca

SubhanAllah you are so wonderfully talented Jean!

I'll ask his permission. He's been busy reworking it so I don't know if he'll want me to use what I have or not. He's got an original work he did in Arabic that I am hoping he will let me share.