Happy Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for lots of things. Here's just a few.

This goofy guy who's loved me through thick and thin all these years.

And her. I'm certainly too young to have a daughter that grown and beautiful! She's my favorite. Don't tell anyone.
And her...........my angel on earth. Shhhh........she's my favorite.And this big lug. I love him best!

And then there's this guy. The sweetest thing in the world. I love him best of all.

And this little princess. She'll never grow up in my eyes. I love her more than anyone!

Then of course there's Granny and Papa. The ones who made me crazy as I am today.

And my brothers. I'm so proud of both of them. (And they're lots of fun). And my sisters in law. Mimi- who Jenna decided has an eternally sweet smile planted on her face. Nicole- who can make me cry with laughter on my worst day. And my nephews- Their inspirational acheivements and personalities! And my home. And my friends, nutty and sane. And I'm most thankful for being able to live the life I do............make my own schedule, do what I like. I'm thankful. Everybody be thankful.

The Art of Living

"the master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play,
his labor and his leisure,
his mind and his body,
his information and his recreation,
his love and his religion.
he hardly knows which is which. he simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.
to him he’s always doing both."–-james michener

My Random activities of the weekend

In no particular order:
Mazin and I went to our favorite restaurant and found out it moved so we ate at Subway.
Food auction...........ketchup, fruit roll ups, tomato sauce, chocolate. That's it.
Home in plenty of time to watch Monk (only 2 episodes left) I'm so sad about that.
Jenna and Baba went to the livestock auction Sat. morning.
I dropped the boys at Arabic school and the girls at the movies.
Went to visit a sad friend with a drug addict, thief loser of a son.
Ate some hummous and chicken.
Dropped the boys at their friends house for the night and brought home the girls with their friend.
Ate veggie stew I crock potted in the morning. Very tasty with cheese tortellini from granny's bargain basement.
Played scattergories and watched a mean trick be played on Baba. The girls put on Brokeback Mountain and told him it was a nice cowboy movie. (He likes John Wayne) Ouch. That came to a quick end. They got payback though. He gave them the corrupt Hollywood speech.
Fired up the new bread oven with the help of Bill and Nicole, all of the Abu G's who brought the boys home Sunday,and a three generation Syrian trio who through a series of unusual events got into the mix.
All this AND Mazin left with two of the boys to bring home a trailer full of sheep and goats for Eid slaughter this week.
The bread was a major success as far as I'm concerned. We did some white, whole wheat and meat bread. Thoroughly fascinating process. Hopefully I'll be getting some pictures soon to post on line. The livestock is settled in the barn.
Managed to cook 2 big pots of chicken bariani and salad and Bill brought a great ricotta cheesecake and some clementines. Fun and interesting day.
Moving on............bought 2 tickets to San Diego for next month. I can't even think about that yet.
I'm now off to deliver a birthday cake to school.

Found this poem while helping Yousef research Immigration after Industrialization. I never thought I liked Walt Whitman much but he's my latest obsession.

You, Whoever You Are

You, whoever you are!...
All you continentals of Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, indifferent of place!All you on the numberless islands of the archipelagoes of the sea!All you of centuries hence when you listen to me!All you each and everywhere whom I specify not, but include just the same!Health to you! good will to you all, from me and America sent!Each of us is inevitable,Each of us is limitless—each of us with his or her right upon the earth,Each of us allow'd the eternal purports of the earth,Each of us here as divinely as any is here.
Walt Whitman

Here's what he looked like.

I'm finally beginning my week and it's only Wednesday! Had a great time in Youngstown last weekend, but I'm still readjusting to being back home. (That's just how psycho I am)! That's less than 2 full days away! I've gotta get out more. Laila did a great job of keeping the house in order but I still worked all day Monday to organize. Yesterday was the most interesting day I've had in ages. Ali had a field trip to the science center and I had originally offered to go along if needed, but he assured me it wasn't necessary. Oh...........for the days when they rushed home with the permission slips so I'd be the first to volunteer and get on the bus! Well............as it turned out the field trip couldn't take off without chaperones and he reconsidered. Actually asked if I'd go. Being the forgiving and generous mom that I am I agreed. I'm not a fan of the science center for high school students but I went with an open mind. They had too much down time strolling around the center and lunch was a bit chaotic, but the main event turned out to be a special exhibit from Guanajuato, Mexico, here in the U.S. for the first time. Accidental Mummies. I've never seen anything like it in my life! Here's the story:

In 1861 this city had a cholera outbreak. They couldn't bury the people fast enough so they opened this cemetery before it was completed. Put the people stacked in crypts and decided that to help maintain the graves that the families of the deceased should pay taxes. If the taxes were neglected for more than 3 yrs. in a row they exhumed the bodies to make room for paying customers. In 1865 the first to be exhumed was a French doctor who had died there. He was mummified naturally. It seems the people buried towards the middle of the stacks were protected from rain and underground water as well. More than 100 mummies were found and the ones that weren't claimed by family or caught up on taxes were placed in a museum in Guanajuato. The whole policy of taxes changed in the 1950's. 36 of the mummies came to Detroit Science Center and for a mere $25 bucks you can take the tour. Luckily, we got a super group rate. When you enter the exhibit it is a recreation of the courtyard to the real cemetery. Crypts line the walls and they're all decorated with marigolds and other flowers, some placed in refried bean cans and lots of religious statues and such. It was incredible. Then you see a couple of the mummies still in the crypts. Through forensic science they have determined how old the people were when they died, how they died and there's an artists rendering of what they probably looked like when alive. When you enter the next room it's the rest of the mummies in individual cases, many of them in an upright position. Once you get over the creepiness of the whole room it's utterly breathtaking. At least 10 0f the mummies are babies, one complete with eyeballs and they're often dressed as angels or saints. There was a lady who died in childbirth. Many men who died of lung disease; Guanajuato was a mining town. One of my favorites was a lady with a long braid who was called La Bruja. She was like a witch doctor, healer and was buried with her amulets around her neck. After going through the whole room you go into a forensics lab of sorts and see the science of how all these discoveries were made. Now I want to go to Mexico. I'm sorry to say I'd never even heard of this town before. Former Mexican president Vicente Fox is from Guanajuato as well as Diego Rivera. Oh, and on the way out there's a mercado where you can buy lots of goodies and also some modern day ofrendas complete with bread of the dead. I LOVED it! I was the last one out. If anyone's interested please take me along. I'll be the one weeping at every mummy stop.

Anyhoo..............Yousef picked his prize hubbard squash over the weekend and last night we finally made the pie! It was gorgeous. And I hear it was pretty tasty too. Mazin brought home a box of apples last night and my crock pot is full of cut up apples and cinnamon. Who needs candles? Baked potato bar for dinner tonight.

And now.............the major news of the week......................preliminary reports that Laila was accepted to Wayne State University. That's really what she wanted. She applied a while back and a representative came to her school on Monday and met with her. He said a letter would be going out in the next 2 weeks, but congratulations early. She was really so happy and wants to study Psychology. I'm so happy with the whole thing!! She can still bring her parents to tears!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-1863

I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat, Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bow'd my head: "There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."
'Til ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime, Of peace on earth, good will to men!

What's on my plate today

Well literally what's on my plate was a whole onion bagel with an egg and cheese. Now I feel the need to drink large quantities of water to wash down the carbs! It was yummy though. I would like to get myself in the mood to go to the rec center and exercise a little. I'll have to talk myself into it so in the mean time I'll finish my cleaning and laundry. Heading to Youngstown tomorrow evening so I'll cook at least one meal for the poor urchins left behind to fend for themselves.
In Jenna's reading class this year each student chooses a book for the month that they read and then complete a project on. This month they have to choose a book written by a Newberry award winning author. I think J has settled on Trumpet of the Swan by EB White. Luckily, we have a small library in the house and rarely have to head to the public library for a book. Last night, while searching, she found so many interesting old books that I'd nearly forgotten about. Sitting on the table beside me:
The Three Javelinas- a southwest take on the story of the three little pigs. Favorite memory re. that book- Yousef singing the javelina song in Arizona to the tune of Thomasina.
Be Nice to Spiders-1967. I remember reading that when I was little. My kids all liked it too. Didn't change my view on spiders though.
Maudie's Mush Pots-Another Arizona themed book that came from Papa's school library.
Robert the Rose Horse-I remember this one when I was little too. And my kids all liked it. Robert is allergic to flowers and his parents send him away from the farm instead of cutting back on the roses in their yard. Distrubing.
Corky Learns a Lesson-I love the illustrations in this book. Cute little rooster story based on a Czech cartoon and very cute. The text, however is small and way too long. It doesn't match the theme and pictures.
So there's my review of the 5 books sitting beside me. On the other side of me is the new Good Housekeeping mag with holiday recipes. I think I'll go bake the whole grain ginger snaps.