Mama Mona: February 2009

Photo Tag

>> Saturday, February 28, 2009

The lovely Jasmina tagged me for this easy fun tag!

The rules for this tag are :

1) Find your fifth photo file folder, then the fifth photo in that file folder.

2) Post the picture on your blog.

3) Tag five other bloggers to do the same

So the picture that came up was this of Dawood and Salwa last spring showing their colorful tongues after pixie sticks!

OOPS! I forgot to tag anyone! I tag whoever wants to do it!

Trees

Classy

>> Friday, February 27, 2009

I've always adored Audrey Hepburn. As a teen I saw Funny Face and just wanted to be her. So glamorous, so chic, so cute. I read her biography and I loved that she was a humanitarian as well as a movie star. I watched all the movies I could get my hands on. Funny Face and Roman Holiday are still my favorites. She was said to be such a gracious and kind person and that's always admirable.

25 things....

>> Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Sonia of Toss Salad tagged me for this. I've been trying to avoid doing it for a while...OK 25 random things, here goes.

I'm sitting here looking at this empty blog post and my mind is blank...

Ok a couple of days later now...This is HAAARD

I love animals and when I see a tiger or lion on TV I wish I could go hug them.
I also want to hug Big Bird and The Bear in the Big Blue House.
When watching TV I have to have the volume on a number divisible by 5.
I love newly sharpened pencils and reams of paper and smelling new books.
I enjoy my alone time
Teen jobs I had: Sears, Old Country Buffet, Filled in at Acura several times, and measured/cut fabric at The Rag Shop
I like silver jewelry more than gold (but I wouldn't say no to white gold)
My favorite color is Blue
I'm addicted to lip balm.
I hate the sound of tape being torn off of a card board box or the feeling of biting into a popsicle stick...same feeling..ugh just typing it makes me cringe.
I'm an arachniphobic
I like baking better than cooking.
I like to vacume. I love that sound of stuff being sucked up in there and the lines on the carpet, however short lived.
I love feeling sun on my face but I try to stay out of the sun because I already have some freckles from sun damage.
I can make a reaaally funny bird face and no I won't show you.
I'm fascinated by Tokyo and Japan in general.
I'd also love to go on an African Safari one day.
I love blogging mostly for all you great people I've met through it.
I like coloring, its relaxing.
I have to put my money in my wallet in order and all facing the same way.
I like to eat icecream when I'm at least kinda warm if not hot. In the summer I'll turn of the AC so I can enjoy it more.
My sister and brother are 2 of my best friends.
Small talk makes me uncomfortable.
I'm kind of a night owl (see #2) but I also want to be more of an early bird.
I'm so happy to be finished with this list!

I'm not tagging anyone, unless you really really want to.

TotLol

Safiyah Loves this one.
If you have kids that like to watch online videos on YouTube, like mine, you might also worry about what could pop up on any search they do there. I found a kid friendly alternative. TotLol. It's good for preschoolers and up. They have Disney stuff, Sesame street, Funny animal videos, Bear in the Big Blue House. and other little kid shows.

The videos are taken from youtube but here I can let Zayneb search, say, Big Comfy Couch and not worry about her clicking on something else.They don't have a tonne of videos but plenty to entertain your little one for a bit.

It Can Not Be Avoided

>> Monday, February 23, 2009

Laundry. It's a necessary evil. You and your family would like to wear clean clothes, yes? Well someone has to actually do it. That someone is me. Laundry is just one of those things that have no end in sight. With a family of six, It's rare i ever see the bottom of the hamper. That's what makes it so daunting and frustrating.

I miss the days in the US when we didn't even have a washer and we sent it to the fluff and fold. Since then I have hand washed for some time and thank God for a washer but we're never satisfied are we? There's no telling what I would do for a dryer right now. Fluffy soft fresh from the dryer clothes! Ahh! It's not really feasible right now anyway and for reasons other than the cost. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone here in Egypt having a dryer...it must be really rare and maybe just a few expats. Washers are usually in the bathroom, sometimes in the kitchen. And with how wet bathrooms here get, a dryer in there would not be a good idea. You'd have to build a special room with the right pipes and exaust vents.

I hate laundry. Let me rephrase that. I hate hanging laundry and ironing laundry.

Chucking it into the washer isn't hard , I don't even mind the folding. It's the whole hanging of each item one by one wrong side out on the line out in balcony is what is so tedious. Where did the idea that hanging clothes outside gave them a spring-time fresh scent or was in some way romantic? Not from Egypt anyway. Then you have to go and collect all the newspaper like clothing items with out dropping anything into the street. Ironing is what I really loathe. It's so BOOORRRING and repetitive and I always procrastinate it.

I'm convinced if I had a big pretty laundry room complete with a fancy shmancy washer/dryer it would be a pleasure instead of a chore. Maybe not....but, a girl can dream.

In the Past Few Days...

Zayneb turned 9 a few days ago and she requested brownies. I always use this recipe and they come out great. We added a bag of m&m's and as you can see I had to place them so the m&m's were distributed evenly to avoid the "SHE GOT MORE M&M's THAN I DID!" The kids were disappointed when they disappeared into the brownies but we later found them inside, sans color.

Salwa and Zayneb bought some butterfly stuff and went crazy fluttering around the apartment.

Zayneb had to make this potato stamp for school, thankfully I had one semi soft potato hiding in the back of the basket behind the onions.

I picked up a couple of pieces of gateaux for E and I one night and man was it good.

My kids brought me these flowers! Yea I don't know why the florist put glitter on them either!.

I found this little gem for a mere 6LE and you know I love anything with my Kitteh on it.

I took these the other day when I met a friend for coffee at the promenade, I thought the cloud formations were pretty.

Safiyah got this Apu toy from Burger King today...The Simpsons movie was how long ago? It's funny though.

Horrid Conditions

>> Friday, February 20, 2009

UPDATE: Thanks Cairo Wife for the numbers, I couldn't get any number to answer for SPARE and their site isn't working but I called Mona Khalil and she told me to Call Blue Moon here in Hurghada. I found their site and called them. The woman was very nice but told me there is nothing they can do. They know about that pet shop and there's nothing legally they can do. She's gotten calls about it and she said if I know anyone coming on holiday here to have them complain about it to the Egyptian consulate in their country and if enough people do then maybe something would happen. Also to give the shop owner a piece of my mind, which I plan on doing. One of the dogs pictured below looks a little like this one reported stolen on their site. I tried the number listed but it wasn't in service but I told the lady at Blue Moon that there was a similar dog there in case they wanted to take a look and see if it was her.

I feel so utterly helpless and angry about this. I was under no impression that pets in pet shops here were treated completely fairly and well, but I didn't know it was this bad.

Look at the conditions at this pet store. Those dogs are in there all day and all night. Look at the 2 larger dogs eyes. I'm not a vet but there is something seriously wrong with that. They are so red and the inside of their eyelids seem to protrude too far. Most Egyptians aren't pet people anyway so they are selling these animals to a small fraction of Egyptians and/or foreigners living here. I can't imagine anyone thinking this is ok. The kittens are 500LE each. They are all dirty and the dogs were sitting in their own waste. The little brown gerbil/hamster? 's cage is full of waste. The second picture is hard to tell but its an older cat curled up in a birdcage. I'm really angry about this and I don't know what to do.

A Bit of Shopping

>> Thursday, February 19, 2009

This morning, I went to go find a gift for a friend around 11:30 am and most of the stores hadn't opened yet, so I killed some time and walked to the end of the road of shops and got this cute little note pad for my purse and this box of papers from a stationary store. Yea it's not real Sanrio but it has the image of THE KITTY!

So then I walked back and picked up a rose colored scarf for my friend and the eyeshadow palette in this pretty gift bag. I loved this eggplant colored scarf but I had to tear off some lame-o plastic flowers. I also got some nice cheap make-up....the pigments on the eye shadows are surprisingly nice and the gloss is smooth and non sticky. The blush turned out kinda bronzer-ish but it's ok...All together the 3 were like 15LE. *oh yea edited to add: The scarf's tag said "Miss Dior" because, yea the house of Dior makes hijabs in Egypt for 25LE.

My feet are killing cause my shoes didn't turn out to be very comfortable and the road is all uneven and broken up, but I will suffer for shopping.

Biscuits

>> Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What a food filled day.

They came out pretty good for a first try. Reminded me of Pillsbury pop'n fresh dough. Thanks Noor for the recipe...You can find it here. It was actually really easy but I think if I had a biscuit cutter they'd come out higher but I just used a glass. They were still yummy and we had them with dinner.

A Blog Worthy Breakfast

Just had this beautiful sandwich so pretty I had to take a picture.

A schmear of mayo, lettuce, smoked turkey and mozzarella , pastrami and some mustard.

High School

>> Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Wow, that's a nice school.

What kind of person were you in high school? Which lunch table did you sit at? Were you in the popular crowd? Sporty? Nerd? Band Geek? Were you a loner? or a Stoner? Lol, I guess I was just sort of invisible. Not really popular and not in any particular crowd or anything. I doubt many people from my high school class would even remember me. That's fine with me you know? I was just passing through. I went through a short hip hop phase then I was all about grunge. You know, the flannels over waffle shirts and Doc Martins (wannabe Doc Martins that is) I'm thankful the style back then was loose fitting and pretty modest. I didn't wear hijab yet but still, I'm glad I didn't have the pressure girls today have of low rise jeans and tiny tops etc.

A lot of people think that high school is the time of your life that defines you. I suppose that's true to a certain degree, but most people I know change a lot after high school and you would never guess they were the same person. There are a few people who I think of and wonder about what they're doing now.

Mom of The Year

>> Monday, February 16, 2009

Khadra @ Crab Goggles has so kindly given me this award, really it's undeserved but I'm not one to turn down an award. This is a tag type of deal so I'll be passing this on to 5 other blog mamas.

The Rules:

1. Admit one thing you feel awful about (involving being a mom). Once you have written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. Remember you are a good mom!
2. Remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list 7 things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you.
3. Send this to 5 other moms of the year that deserve a reminder that they too are the best moms that they can be.

Remember to send them a note letting them know you have selected them, and also add a link to your post that directs people back to the person who nominated you.

Here's my 3...

1. I feel bad for yelling sometimes. It can feel like I'm invisible and I resort to a higher volume to make my point. I need to stop that.

2. 7 positive things...

I enjoy playing with the kids. Sometimes we do water colors or play dolls or board games, whatever, I always feel glad that I did.
I'm pretty sure my kids like that I like to bake and make treats.
I like that one of them looks a lot like me;)
My kids still think I'm pretty cool...for now.
I love when they say something really funny or so smart out of the blue.
I like watching movies with them, age appropriate of course, but it's always fun to see how they'll react to something I loved as a kid or discovering a new fun film together.
I love listening to them talking amongst themselves at night in their rooms when they don' know I can hear them, it's great to get inside their heads.

Moms I want to pass this on to:

Flowers

No the flowers were not for Valentines. Just a nice surprise when E came home from a business trip.:) I like how the match the kitchen!

CD Case Eyeshadow Palette

>> Saturday, February 14, 2009

I got this idea from s2pandapple on YouTube. She is an adorable girl that does some makeup and hair tutorials. So I thought this was such a cute idea and it saves space too. So I had some older eyeshadows that I carefully took out of their packaging and hot glued them in a CD case. Her video has more detailed instructions if you wanna try this.

Back to the Old Grind

The kids went back to school today and here I sit all by my self, it's kinda nice, if I dare say so. After my last one got on the bus I did a little happy dance. Honestly they were really starting to get bored towards the end of the mid-year break. 3 out of 4 kids were exited to go back and see friends and teachers. You can probably guess who wasn't as enthused. None are exited to get their mid year report cards but that's inevitable.

So it was back to the old grind again. Ironing uniforms, making lunches and doing school hair. Nagging about homework is always fun right? At least I'll get some things done without anyone in the way. I've got a sink load of dishes waiting for me and I need to straighten up and vacuum later and try to catch up on laundry as always. Are you jealous?

I have to say that I do feel a better sense of purpose when I get up early on school days and get things out of the way. The day feels longer and I get way more accomplished. Plus there's more of a routine to the day. Kids thrive on routine, I feel. Gotta go now and actually do something.

Forwarding

>> Thursday, February 12, 2009

My brother sent out this email today and I was in total agreement, I said, Word!!. I got one email with so called "quotes" from Hollywood celebrities about Arabs and they were obviously fabricated. I'm sick of getting emails telling me things I just know are not true and trying to bully me into forwarding them. I never do. Here's the email from my brother:

I recently learned something that is quite important that I wanted to share. We often receive emails that state different things; from Starbucks giving profits to Israel to this celebrity said this or that. I personal delete such emails right away and not because I can't be bothered to read them but because there is a great danger in forwarding such emails.

By sharia, Islamic Law, a lie is stating or expressing something that is not true intentional or UNINTENTIONALLY. So if I receive a piece of information and pass it on with out checking it's veracity, I am written as a lair by Allah. As you can see, this is very crucial.

I say this only because I did, indeed, received an email stating something like 'Starbucks sent its last months profits to Israel' so please don't buy Starbucks. I looked into this matter and found the below press release stating that this is actually false.

http://starbucks.com.my/en-US/_About+Starbucks/_Press+Room/Starbucks+Rumor+Response.htm

I'm not stating this because I'm a Starbucks fanatic or supporter. Slander is a serious matter in Islam and we should really not participate in such talk.

People say anything these days, I humbly advice myself and all of you to not take this lightly and not to forward anything that you can not prove its veracity.

There's also a page devoted to this matter HERE and they even have an Arabic language statement. And I've never even been in a Starbucks.

Please check if the emails you are forwarding are true. Coca Cola doesn't say anything but just that! There's no pork in it either. By the way, forwarding something to whatever arbitrary number of people the email claims will NEVER cause anything to "pop up on your screen" It just doesn't work that way! [/rant]

What boredom in a 10 year old produces

>> Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dawood bought a bag of rubber bands and we made this super bouncy ball out of them! I don't know how many there were but it didn't take too long. I didn't think it through obviously because this because this is not an indoor kinda ball. It fell behind his bed the other day and that's OK for now!