lazyjmom

Recent Thrifty Finds

2012-01-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

Can't get enough thrifty shopping these days. I've invested in 4 designer dresses with their tags, a couple pairs of shoes, men's pants, undergarments, and scarves all to sell on ebay and I can't wait to list them. The problem is that I need Jenna's camera and computer and it's difficult to coordinate with her for some reason. Anyway, hopefully my paypal account will grow soon. I also bought myself yet another pair of awesome shoes. My girls accuse me of having the worst taste in shoes. Well, I go for comfort as well as class. I've found it all in these little beauties. Kitten heel, strap across the top, and just a few small beads to bring it all together. The girls are pleasantly horrified.
Plans today included going to the mall which I actually despise but I planned to be a trooper and I've been sick for a couple of days so anything sounded better than another day in front of the tv. Well, 2 of the girls woke up with my virus, poor dears, so we're home again. I guess I'll switch gears and try to cook a nice dinner for those able to eat.
By the way, I have no idea what's going on outside. Last time I was out there we were checking the bee hives which have been winterized to survive the tundra. They're all packed together and wrapped, as well as insulated with straw. We also have a small steer roaming around out there who was supposed to be in our freezer by now but his future is undetermined at this time. And the "duckies" we acquired last year have turned out to be a couple and we're getting duck eggs every day.
I guess I will go try to eat something nutritious to start my day. I've lost 6 pounds in the last 3 days but alas, I fear it will come back in the next 3 days! Oh.........I forgot to mention that it's COLD outside. I'm embracing the beauty of winter though. Really I am.

New Year, New Blog

2012-01-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! 2012 came in with a real bang. I woke up on the 1st with the flu or something close to it. So many hours of sleeping and lousy dreams. January 2nd has been a little better. I'm coherent and able to sit up and watch movies. Luckily, Lifetime network was running their "Perfect Monday marathon". That means (I'm sorry to admit) I've watched "The Perfect Babysitter", "The Perfect Neighbor", The Perfect Marriage", "The Perfect Teacher", and part of "The Perfect Murder". I can't take any more perfection at this point so I've moved on to "Jackass" with Laila. I'm also consuming my 2nd glass of iced tea and some saltines. I hope this doesn't represent the direction the new year will take me.
If you're reading my blog, check in and say hi. I hope to update regularly.

Sarah Palin: Paul Revere Warned The British

2011-06-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

2011-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Zainab and Steve!

2011-05-17T04:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not alone anymore. The girls are both done with school now and home for the summer. No jobs, no school, no ambition...........I could go on. Well, hopefully they'll get busy with job hunting or volunteering or some form of interaction with humanity. It would beat the life of a vampire in my book! (I mean the hours they keep, not a taste for blood or anything that disturbing.) The other kids have a few more weeks of school. 17 days to do the whole miserable morning routine which really gets old by this time of year.
In other news, Ali started his new job this week and he's happy with it. He also had an honors appreciation night at school tonight which was very nice. He got awards for Honor roll and most improved in physics. Yay, Ali.
I cooked the most disgusting dinner I've ever made last night so I'll now share that recipe. Do NOT attempt this. EVER!
Sautee 2 large onions and 2 cloves of garlic in a pot. Add a couple of pounds of shrimp, plenty of spices and a few cups of brown rice. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Add a can of mixed vegetables and simmer till the water is evaporated and the rice is done. Eat and gag.
Today I made some lentil soup and mexican lasagna. It was a relief to most. They really take their eating seriously. The chickens liked yesterday's dinner so it all worked out.
Random news:
Laila said our van has a DNR on file so any further problems and it just wants to be let go peacefully. Baba disagrees.
There are only 2 more weeks of my Sunday morning breakfast that I've gone to all winter. I'll miss it.
I finally put my new tv in my bedroom and I like it. I just don't watch much tv though. I guess I'm out of the habit.
Mazin went to a tax tribunal today to complain about our rising property taxes. He will find out if it got him anywhere in the next couple of months I guess.
I'm going to try to reduce my stress with deep breathing and meditation starting tonight before I go to bed.

2011-05-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

I've been on a hectic schedule over the last week. Nothing very exciting but busy anyway. I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with my mother for the first time in a couple of years but I hear she had a good weekend. I went to a Mother's Day brunch on Saturday which turned out to be lots of fun. I was invited with a promise of meeting lots of fun and interesting people. It was true..........I did. And as a bonus I won the grand prize door prize which was a flat screen television. Yahoo!
We went to a Mother's Day breakfast on Sunday. Why does everything have to involve food? It was also very nice and the food was better than the fancy brunch on Saturday. You can't beat foul, labne, olives, zataar and cheese pies, spanish cheese with fresh vegetable and hot chai! That's always my favorite. We heard a nice talk as well, which covered so many aspects of motherhood. I liked it a lot.
I'm also in the midst of some big spring cleaning and I finally emptied out a giant cupboard I have which houses the largest collection of games, movies and other debris. It was completely emptied, washed and re-organized. I'm trying to finish some inside jobs before we get too busy outside this spring.
In other random news:
You know that purple stamp on butcher shop meats? It's edible. (Made from grape skins) Most people probably knew that already, but I just learned it while reading a Rachel Ray magazine.
Two hens hatched out a bunch of eggs and they're all roaming free and digging up the garden already.
A skunk got hit in front of my mailbox and the odor has been seeping into my house for the last 12 hours or so. (Some people are just sickened by that smell, but I don't find it that bad! Weird, huh?)
Z has 3 more days of high school.
I'm finally getting my hair fixed today.
I'm having company for dinner this Saturday. One of my guests is the granddaughter of the Shaklee founder. I never asked her if she uses Shaklee products regularly, but I do know she's never tried to sell me anything.
Ms. Shaklee gave me a rabbit last spring which I promised to keep or find a good home for. Wouldn't it be funny if right in the middle of dinner I said, "Remember that rabbit named Furby? Well, enjoy that next bite of..........". Oh never mind, I would NEVER do that!
I had homemade goat cheese for breakfast. It was delicious.
I'm making red beans and rice for dinner and I think little Labne will be here. He and Yousef were in class last week and the teacher was busy or something so the kids were chatting it up. Well, actually if Yousef was involved the teacher may have been in the middle of something important. Anyway.........Labne randomly invited everyone over to our house. He said "Yousef's momma throws down a good burrita". Thanks little Labne. I appreciate that.

2011-05-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Location: My Kitchen
Tunes: La Bamba
Cooking: 2 giant spinach and mushroom pizzas. 2 dozen burrigs(Iraqi eggrolls). 2 pans of zucchini quiche. mixing up my own bisquick baking mix.
Praying for: Light- at the end of the tunnel and coming from a hot sun in the sky (both kinds are needed in a hurry)

My Random Thoughts This Morning

2011-05-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

I stayed up past my bedtime last night to wait for the President's address regarding the killing of you know who. I can't mention his name cuz then everyone who googles it will end up on my blog and they would definitely be disappointed with their search results. So...........anyway, I'm missing regular U.S. news. Al-Jazeera is repeating the same footage over and over. I guess other stations would be doing the same thing but I'm going to the gym and will see for myself. (Great incentive to get exercising)
I warned of randomness so here it goes:
It has been brought to my attention by one of my offspring who will remain unidentified that I am old. I will present evidence to support my argument that "old" does not apply to me. (At least not to my spirit)
1. I can ride shotgun on a big tractor driving through the field at full speed and not fall off. (Done just 2 days ago)
2. I can out-dance all 3 of my daughters when we hold our Indian music dance parties when the boys are all at the gym. I may not have the moves, but I do have the energy.
3. I can wake up before sunrise and have the whole nightly kitchen mess cleaned up before my lazy bum children who made the mess are even stirring for the morning.
4. I can wrestle an unruly goat to the milk stand and perch on a little baby seat to milk that goat, followed by releasing her and her dumba** kids back into the field. (Done just 12 hrs ago)
5. I can take a kickboxing/fitness class taught by an MMA guy with tattoos and not look like a total idiot. (OK- I look like a partial idiot, but I can still do it)
6. I power walk faster than almost everyone I know. My kids can't keep up with me at the mall.
7. I can help dig fenceposts and mend fences (I love to say that since it applies literally and figuratively)
Well, I could go on but I'm just too modest to brag any further. You get the picture. I have made my point.
I plan to leave for the gym shortly and work out this morning followed by a glorious respite in the Arizona heat room. I dream of this room regularly and last night when I went to bed and my feet took extra long to warm I thought of the first day we'll have when it will be so hot and sunny that I can warm my lizard body until I feel human. That first warm from the real sun (not the fake one at the gym) brings tears to my eyes literally. It's not fun to feel reptilian, expecially since I'm not a fan of the reptiles.
I also have to cook a mega dinner since tonight is wrestling night which means my little Labne will be coming over for dinner. For the second time since I've met Labne I told Ali that he couldn't come over to eat. Jenna didn't feel well and was laying on the couch and I just didn't feel like company. Well, that day in school Labne and Yousef had been in film interpretation class and watched a movie about 9/11. I'm not sure what it was but Yousef said it was slightly offensive since they showed Muslims praying before they showed the terrorists doing their thing. Well, little Labne looked over at Yousef and said something like, "This isn't right how they're showing your religion. If you want I'll go with you to talk to Hoke" (their teacher). "Your family's the nicest family I ever met" and so on. He told Yousef he loved him like a brother and Yousef said he almost cried. Keep in mind this guy is quite large and quite black and could possibly look a little intimidating in the right situation. He seems to have a heart of gold though and when I tell him not to hurt my boys in wrestling he just says "no ma'am, I wouldn't". I'll never turn little Labne away from a hot dinner again.
It looks like it's going to rain any minute now. I will try not to weep.

The Right of Your Mother - Ahlulbayt TV

2011-04-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

Balance or I admit I never actually did yoga in my yoga pants

2011-04-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

I realized yesterday that my very favorite pants I've ever owned in all my life, the gray yoga pants that I bought at a garage sale for $2, are dead. I remember the moment I spotted them and said to myself, "That's a hefty price to pay for yoga pants at a garage sale, but they're just so perfect for me". So I bought them without ever looking back. I've worn them summer and winter, spring and fall. I've worked outside in them, worked inside in them and even slept in them under my nightgown when I've been chilled to the bone. I've even tried to "dress them up" with a nice top which is no easy task! They've served me well. I'm not ready to say goodbye. I'm sure there will never be a proper replacement. Is it a coincidence that they died the same day as that guru in India? Is there some transcendental meaning behind the timing? Maybe I'm grasping at straws here. I can hardly wait for garage sale season to begin.
I had a dream last night that Aunt Nicole walked into my house. She told me that she came home from Lebanon early to conduct some research. What could that possibly mean?? I do miss her. I just realized that Cinco de Mayo is approaching and we have no party to attend. Bill and Nicole always host that party. I will make a flan and a tres leches cake. Anyone want to make some quesedillas and invite me over? I'll bring dessert.
It's so important to maintain balance in your life. I've got none right now. I guess it all comes full circle because I want to search for balance but now I've got no yoga pants.
Cue that 3am Matchbox 20 song that goes, But outside.............it stops rainiiiiiiiiiiiiing................
Well anyway..............it's actually just starting to rain and I must save something or other that's been left in the yard and can't get wet.

All I've got to say is "Peace"

2011-04-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Vacation at Granny and Papa's

2011-04-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm spending a couple of days in Ohio with the boys and Jenna. We traveled down the turnpike in pouring rain and it hasn't stopped much since we've been here. Not lovely, but the visit has been great. Got some projects done and baked a little. I think I'll head home tomorrow and check on the Mazin and the girls who were left to go to school and work. Some one's got to keep a schedule! This morning I was dusting an end table with a shelf underneath and happened to reach down to remove the stuff on the shelf. Now I've been aware of the beautiful stuffed armadillo that's lived at home for as long as I remember. The problem is...........I guess I've always kept my distance in a subconscious kind of way. I just reached down and grabbed it! Mistake number one. Note to self...........stuffed, shellacked armadillos should never be touched. Just heed my warning. Mistake number two happened to take place in the cellar when I went down to get some laundry from the dryer. It's never been my favorite place, let's face it. In the second room where the laundry facilities are there's a light, but you can't pull the string and light it till you're across the room in the dark. There's an abandoned shower stall down there and as I approached the area, a shadow caught my eye. It was a hanging cactus of sorts, about as big as Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors and dangling there in the shower stall. Unsettling. Well, I'm heading home tomorrow with a truckload of goods from the ebay rejects to the garage sale no-sales and everything in between. It'll take me the week to incorporate it all into my home. More stuff-just what I need. :)

2011-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

See my previous post and know just how bored I am this evening. So.............I continued my food network challenge with 3 pizzas. There's a pepperoni, a cheese, and a mushroom, spinach and feta. I feel sure that the spinach will win the bake-off. The carnivores are spending the night at their friends house so pepperoni will come in 3rd. Plain cheese will be a favorite of Jenna. So, I hope I win this contest too! LOL. The way I see it I've got a chance.

The other photo shows my thrifty purchase of the week. I thought it looked like spring and would make a nice fruit salad bowl. I paid 3 bucks for it and looked on line tonight. Hey, it's bringing a little more than 3 bucks on ebay. The problem is that I like it, so I'll keep it I guess. I put tabouli in it today but I'm thinking that colorful fruit salad would be lovely. Mazin should be home from the gym soon and then we'll dig into our goodies and watch Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. I don't know why I do it to myself but a little suspense sounded good when I saw this classic at the library yesterday.

2011-04-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

It's too blustery this afternoon to spend it outside. I tried for a little this morning but there's a real chill in the air. I've cleaned, washed dishes, made tabouli with chicken breast and feta cheese, made bean and cheese tacos and even given myself a makeover. What's a girl to do? Have a bake-off with myself of course. And so.........I've made 3 loaves of quick bread. They are all of the same basic start but have different add-ins and different glazes. When Mazin gets home from the gym and the girls get home from their friends house, we'll cut them and everyone can vote on which one's the best. I hope I win! Fingers crossed. I have watched way too many Food Network battles! LOL Oh, it's sad to be bored on a Saturday evening!

And here's a shot of Jenna. She's practicing for a speech tournament and has to memorize a poem. She's coming along nicely. Doesn't she look very studious?

OneThing Leads to Another

2011-04-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a little window into my mind today. It's sometimes a scary and confusing place, but here it goes. First of all, here's what I've done today as of 2 pm. I woke up at 6:15 am and woke everyone else except Laila who was already eating honey combs at the kitchen table. I packed lunches for 6, breakfast for 1, showered and dressed, ironed 1 pair of pants, ate some labne and drank some tea. By 7:30 I was out the door with L and Z. Ali had already left for school, Mazin followed me out the driveway to work and J and Y were still fumbling. I know they eventually got out of the house, cuz they're not here now. I stopped for gas and headed down the highway to drop L at school. Then I took Z to pay her registration fee at U of M Dearborn (Yahoo! She finally committed!) and sign up for placement tests and orientation. Then I dropped her at school and headed back home. In the mean time Mazin already called me to say there was a problem this morning in the field and I had to check a gate in the back of the property next door. Arrived home and armed myself with some twine and a box cutter (tools you can't live without). I took Molly with me for company and we repaired a gate problem. Then I came back home and left to pick up Ali from school. He had his first interview for a job at 10:45. I think he did well and hopefully will hear something good soon. The job would involve wheeling elderly or handicapped people through the airport to their gates. He has heard that tips are quite good with this job and he has a connection so our fingers are crossed. When he was done we swung to the mall and finally got his birthday shopping done. Yes, I realize his birthday was the end of January! So I'm a bad mother?! It's his fault too, he's always busy. Well, he was back to school by 1 for the rest of the day. I then sliced eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and onion and I put a big tepsi tray together. It's in the oven and the rice is on cooking. I made a big pot of yogurt to get somemore labne balls going by the weekend. I washed dishes and swept the kitchen floor. That's the major points of my day so far. Now, I often complain and rant about my kids, workload and such. I just want to say that today has been lovely. I rarely get tired of cooking and when I'm home alone with a job ahead of me there's nothing better than a radio, some tea (cold or hot), shoes off, sun shining in and some good ingredients and plans for a meal. I love it. My mind starts with singing along to whatever is on the radio and it always wanders to other things. Here's where it gets weird. The first song I heard was Drops of Jupiter.

Now she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair hey hey

You know what that reminded me of? Of course, Bill and Nicole and our day in Baalbeck. Obviously...........temple of Jupiter, rain falling, I remember it like it was yesterday. Then I thought of Lebanon and how much I'd like to go back. Then it was all about the kids going. Then it was how nice it would be to send the girls for a graduation gift for Z. Then it was about their college educations. Then it was about their futures. Then it was about them getting married and how I am NOT at all like Mrs. Bennett. (Although I can say "they have no compassion for my poor nerves" without thinking twice). You know, Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice? Then I thought of the soccer game last night (girls, high school, nice weather so we walked over for the 2nd half) Then I thought of one of the boys that comes over for dinner several nights a week. I told the boys he couldn't come yesterday because I was frying fish and I hate to fry fish and didn't want to make any more than I absolutely had to. Then I felt really guilty because little labne asked both boys if he could come over and they told him no. Then I thought of the fries I made in the oven with only sea salt for seasoning. They were good. I usually put pepper and sometimes other spices, but not last night. It was pure salt. Contrary to poplular belief, salt and pepper are not actually married. They're just dating. I crack me up! My mind makes me tired. Well, it's time for our first installment of kids to arrive which includes Ali, Jenna and little Labne. Yousef and Nick will come at 4:15. Then it's Baba. I have to pick up the girls tonight at 7:30 unless Mr. Darcy brings them home. There I go....cracking me up again!

2011-04-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

I'm over the whole Tony Shalhoub catastrophe. Really. I've moved on. I'm sure I'll meet him next time he's in my neighborhood. Soooooooooooo the weather has been so beautiful lately that I'm focusing my attentions on spring cleaning inside the house and outside as well. 9:30 am and I've already finished my laundry room, bathroom, dishes, laundry, and I've had breakfast with 2 cups of tea.

Yesterday was a blustery day and I opened up all the windows and doors and let the wind in. I love Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. The gopher tells Pooh it's Windsday but Owl tells him the wind is due to "a mild spring zephyr". Owl is hilarious!

Last night Mazin and I were in the barn. He was tinkering with his tractor and I was offering my usual moral support. These 2 arabic speaking gentlemen showed up at Betty's house to load up some horse manure for their garden and when we poked our heads out to see what the commotion was (horses, dogs and geese all get excited when strangers come to call), Mazin strikes up this arabic, yelling conversation over the fence regarding manure quality. Well, the result was that these 2 guys decided we must have better manure because of our animal variety. Betty just has horse manure poor thing. They actually left and came over to load a whole truck with manure from our barn. This was a huge snub against Betty who proceeded to tell me I thought my manure didn't stink. It may or may not stink but half our barn is cleaned out so it was a win/win situation as far as I can tell.

Yousef has a real make or break test tomorrow in chemistry. It will take place at approximately 2 pm. Everyone please send prayers, good karma and anything else you can think of sending. Money to bribe the chemistry teacher will also be accepted.

It really is a jungle out there

2011-04-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

2011-04-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

The weekend is almost over and I'm thoroughly exhausted. Lots of work has been done though, which was necessary. I feel like a pioneer having hauled and stacked logs, raked and moved yard waste, burned "stuff", cleared a whole section of the yard that was neglected for at least a year and managed to make sure everyone was fed, even if it wasn't my usual style. Whew! Looking forward to my sauna tomorrow!

I've got a small rant which is just cracking me up because I can't believe I'm so bothered. Yet, here I am dwelling on what could have been when I have better things to do. I am a huge fan of this actor named Tony Shalhoub. He directed and starred in my favorite show of all time and, ok, I'm a little obsessed. This guy literally helped me through one of the toughest ordeals of my life. It's hard to explain but I owe him a lot of gratitiude. Well, he was in town this weekend to accept an award. I knew he was coming. I read about his schedule while here and faced the fact that although he was probably just a couple miles down the road at least twice, alas, I could not meet him. OK. I wake to find that several friends of mine not only attended his award acceptance, they also met him, socialized, had photos taken etc........Well, I'm peeved. I guess they couldn't have known my story. I never shared. It's my own fault. But geez.........it would have been nice.

I've got to let it go and move on.

Please disregard the pictures of jarred honey. Or, just go ahead and enjoy them. They aren't supposed to be here but I don't know how to make them go away. The other pictures show my Saturday morning creation. I made goat milk yogurt, strained it for 2 days till it was nice and dry and then rolled it with olive oil hands, dipping the balls in zataar. Then they were jarred in olive oil. Huge success. Delicious!

Oh, did I mention it was 80 glorious degrees today? I actually had to ditch my sweatshirt by noon. Hope there's more where that came from.

2011-04-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended conferences at school for Ali, Yousef and Jenna. Not too many surprises and looking forward to finishing up the last quarter of the year! I wasn't going to go but I'm so glad I did. It's always enlightening to hear strangers tell you all about your kids. It's been raining for 24 hours and it's feeling COLD but I hear the temperatures will be up by the weekend so I'm holding out for that. Today I'm homebound so I'll be cooking most of the day. I hope to make grape leaf and hommus sandwiches for dinner plus do some baking and preparation for tomorrow since I have to go out for much of the day. It's become a tradition that 3 days a week the boys bring 2 guys from their wrestling team home for dinner before they have to go to practice. I may try to adopt one of these boys. He weighs in at about 250 lbs. and likes my cooking. He's the little Labne I was never allowed to adopt. Fingers crossed.

Here's some things I'm liking lately:

Greek yogurt

Iced tea

Getting every bit of laundry done on a daily basis

Reading

Sitting in a very hot sauna 3 times a week

Things I'm not liking so much:

Teenagers

Trying to lose weight before summer

Cold feet

My lack of cable tv

My last thought: Did you ever just want to look at someone and scream "What's Wrong With You?????"

2011-04-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a poem I came across yesterday written by Z. I place it here in my blog without asking permission. I hope she doesn't mind, but I thought it was lovely and worth sharing.

"I Am from"...

by Zainab

I am from the antique oak table

from the player piano and scented candles.

I am from the comforting

smell of cookies baking.

I am from the lilac bush

The maple tree

whose long gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I am from summer bon fires and brown eyes

from Anna and Mazin

I'm from sleeping in on the weekend and

planting a garden in the summer

and from hanging out with family and friends.

I'm from putting teeth under my pillow

for the tooth fairy and not talking to strangers

and singing "where the watermelons grow"

I'm from family movie nights

I'm from Detroit and Iraq and Italy

from homemade pizza and fresh bread

from the time my sister had pneumonia

and being so worried

from thousands of family pictures

in a treasure chest

in the living room.

Lovely

2011-04-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the rec center with the boys. I usually stick to my girls gym but Ali talked me into attending a class taught by one of his former muay thai teachers. I hate to disappoint when Ali's got such high hopes for my acceptance of his favorite sport. And so......an hour later I had no bruises or broken limbs, very sore arms, lots of sweat and my sons' admiration. Who could ask for more? So now I guess I'm going to try to go at least twice a week in addition to my 3 times a week at my gym. wow. I'll be fit in no time. My biggest fear was that the teacher would kind of look me up and down and say something like, "How could a very unfit lady like yourself give birth to athletes like these guys?" Well, he didn't say it and he was really pretty nice. I'm not planning on entering the ring any time soon though. This morning we were up early and visited the grand opening of a new thrift store. It delivered all I thought it would. I bought a new vacuum and now my carpets are clean once again! The boys went with Mazin and I and they purchased some perfect pushup equipment. I came home and ate my second breakfast which involved some foul with the usual toppings plus some rotels. Quite tasty. First breakfast was greek yogurt and olives. We're going outside to brave the cold and do a little fence repair before summer and then planning a taco bell lunch and going to see True Grit FINALLY. I'm one of the only people on earth who hasn't seen it yet. Here's a snippet of a conversation I heard in the backseat of my car this morning. I kid you not. It was a real conversation. Yousef- "Ali, do you think there will be a zombie apocolypse in our lifetime?" Ali- "Maybe. That would be cool" Yousef- "I hope it happens while we're still alive" Ali- "If it happens, I hope it's in the next few years while we're still in our prime" I chose to just listen and not participate in that one. I'm glad they still think about things like that even though it's a little bizarre. Last note of interest. While making foul for my second breakfast, I heard my husband singing "Little Red Corvette". It went something like this (roll your r's please)..........."Leetle Red Corveeyet" I also chose to just listen to that one. And ditto.............glad he still thinks about Prince songs even though it's a little bizarre. LOL Well, I'm off to mend fences. Literally.

People living like they ain't got no mommas

2011-03-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

I'm not a political commentator here but I have a few observations regarding the news. First off, while watching my favorite and only news channel last night I saw the footage of the Libyan rebels at their front lines and a hasty retreat from the gov't forces taking back a city from them. I don't know if "regular tv" carried this video but my station had a reporter pretty much standing in the midst with a bullet proof vest and he hit the road with the guys when they needed to retreat their position. So in the middle of a "war" you'd think it'd be like in the movies with tanks and uniforms and helmets and boots. Well, these guys were for the most part dressed in jeans, sweatshirts and tennis shoes. Their war vehicles appeared to be whatever they had parked in front of their houses earlier in the day. The cars and trucks had spray painted windows kind of like what you'd see during graduation season here when the senior class goes wild. They fled in their toyotas and chevys. I guess my point is that real war is nothing like Hollywood war. It's real average looking people eating dinner one night and out in the middle of hell the next. I also saw some cell phone footage of a truck load of rebels captured by Libyan forces. They were tied up, abused and being driven away, most likely to their deaths. Young, scared guys. Sad world. And then there's the news of Japan. Radiation levels thousands of times higher than the acceptable limits. And yet, it's still not dangerous to humans??? I'm just not buying this information. Also, I'm still not seeing the outrage, looting, bad behavior that would go along with this tragedy in many other places in the world. What's up with Japanese people? How can they be so patient and polite? Wouldn't we be on the streets screaming and demanding to be airlifted to another world? Well, anyway, my vacuum broke 3 days ago and my carpets are very dirty. Today it doesn't seem like much of a big deal.

Fun Facts

2011-03-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hmmm. These facts may not be as fun as I had originally thought. Well, anyway, here they are. 1. I've had 5 cups of tea since I woke up this morning. 1 was a green tea peach which wasn't so tasty. 1 was a meijer decaf bag which was quite good, and 3 were earl gray decaf. That was surprisingly good. I'm so glad I'm not hooked on caffeine. I just want to drink something warm and decaf works just as well. 2. I don't have cable tv so I'm left with arabic satellite which carries al jazheera in english. I also get local fox tv which is worthless except for mondays at 8 pm and that's not a good time for me to watch television. 3. Tuesday is a day of great organizing for me so I've already done some good stuff. Now comes the time for my side list of things I've found and that need to move from my house. a. numerous matchless socks b. molded plastic packaging materials from a purchase about 8 months ago. c. 2 winter coats that will never fit anyone in this house ever again. d. a broken juicer OK, back to my original list of fun facts. 4. When your kids talk you in to watching a scary movie on the weekend and convince you that it will be fun because you can sit on the couch with a blanket over you surrounded by your loved ones and it will all be good.....and it is...............and then you're home alone for the first time after that and you turn off the tv cuz you can't stand to hear al jazheera anymore................it's scary. Damn you, Case 39. 5. I just finished lunch and ate the exact same thing as yesterday. Yellow bell pepper, onion, hot pepper and spices with 1/2 cup maftoul. Otherwise known as israeli couscous I think. Cooked like a pilaf but the maftoul is firm balls so it's not really fluffy. I love it with plenty of spice! 6. I'm stuffing chicken for dinner tonight. And since I'm talking about food, I just found some recipes for a delicious brunch. Would someone like to visit for brunch one day??? Brunch torte made in a spring form pan, Irish oatmeal brulee, fruit salad with a nectar dressing. Any takers? 7. I got my big check in the mail for my jury duty and mileage. Yahoo. I'd say I'm going shopping but I may have to use it to pay for the illegitimate traffic violation I incurred that week.

And a little Homeschool humor

2011-03-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so about our time after the bee conference. We stopped for a quick visit with Mazin's sister and her family. Found out during the visit that she is planning a trip to Iraq after 30 or so yrs. away. That would be one heck of a trip. We then headed to new friends who were introduced to us by Bill and Nicole. That was a great time! They have three young and energetic children who are homeschooled and it was fun to hang out there for the evening and be throughly entertained by the kids. We also had a delicious barbeque and didn't get home till well past my bedtime. Especially since we'd been out since early morning. Looking forward to a few days with Granny and Papa and a very late birthday celebration for Ali. (17!! yrs. old)

A Little Bee Humor

2011-03-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I'm just trying to finish some chores and begin winding down from a busy weekend! Friday night was our bi-monthly meeting with a friends who also have a large family so when we get together it's quite a crowd. Good time was had by all I think. Saturday morning we were up bright and early for the ride to our bee conference. I took red beans and rice with yogurt and a chocolate sheet cake with candy bees stuck in the frosting. Nice touch, I thought. All three girls came along but they each had a lap top and dreams of wi-fi in their heads. (and of course free donuts and cocoa) The kick-off lecture was terrific. It featured a guy who's specialty is chemical-free hives and he talked about the history of kind of "organic" bee keeping which I thought was great. The highlight of his talk featured varroa mites, of course which I know I've mentioned here before. I've never actually seen one in person but I have seen many slides of the little buggers. Well, here's the fascinating steps to get rid of them without the use of chemicals. By the way, before I go on, we've never had a problem with mites. We did once have a problem with moths of some kind which destroyed a hive and we often house field mice over the winter, but that's about it. Anyhoo.........to get rid of the mites without chemicals you have to get a small jar with a screen top and put a spoon of powdered sugar in it then scoop exactly 1/2 cup of honey bees at a time into the jar. You give them a little shake to coat them up with the sugar and then precisely 1 1/2 minutes to start spinning around, (I guess to clean the sugar off?), create heat in the little jar, and then miraculously the mites fall off of the bee bodies. Then you turn the jar over and gently shake the sugar and mites through the screened lid. Then just dump the bees in some kind of holding tank and move to the next 1/2 cup of bees. I guess you repeat this about 8,000 times to get through the whole colony and you're all set. I must say I'm glad we've not had to deal with varroa mites. Oh, and if 15 or more mites fall out of the little jar at one shaking then you might as well scrap the whole process because chemicals WILL be necessary to rid the batch of mites.

The next session I attended was a class on what flowers and plants are most attractive to honey bees and in what season these particular plants and flowers live. That was really interesting and I did learn a lot. Tulip trees are nectar factories!! I did not know that. I have no tulip trees. Honey bees like pussy willows in the spring. I didn't know that either! I have no pussy willows. We do have lots of other things that they like though. And I took a few ideas of things I'd like to plant this year and in the future. Good deal. We had our potluck lunch, talked with a few other people (always an interesting bunch) and then realized by 3 that we were set to go. I didn't catch any other lectures but I enjoyed what I did attend and it was plenty for me! We went visiting after that and didn't get home till 10 pm. LONG day for me. I'll blog more about our very interesting and entertaining evening with friends who are tons of fun. Must get back to my chores and chicken that's in the oven.

2011-03-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Fun weekend is in store for the Malallah family! Some aren't feeling it as much as others. Everyone is off school today except Z who is not officially "off" but has taken the day in solidarity. Poor Baba had to head to work but we've got things to do today that wouldn't please him anyway. First off...........Laila has to go argue a ticket she got a few weeks ago. Driving with only parking lights on at night. Well, she will argue that the dashboard was lit and the roads are so illuminated that she was not aware. Hmmmm. We'll see how that goes. I'm weighing options for the rest of the day. Several things are in the mix including the gym, shopping with Ali, cooking dinner, making a dessert to take to a friends house tonight, and the usual cleaning. So, tonight is a get together with friends, tomorrow is the bee conference (all day), after that we'll do some visiting up in the area of the conference, and of course the boys want to go to watch UFC with their buddies. Lots to do. Oh, and I have to make a dish for the bee pot luck lunch. The bee people seem very easy to please so I'll be making bechemal lasagna and a cake. Word is that ALL Malallah's must attend the conference. I'll get back to you on how that all goes down. I'm not optimistic. Sunday I hope to make it to our weekly breakfast if we're not too exhausted from all that bee information swimming in our heads.
The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday and now I'm feeling really spoiled. I don't want any more cold air blowing on my face. I got some fall yard work done and now I'm feeling great about starting into the winter work and wrapping it up right in time for spring. The temperature must cooperate with me.
The judge is waiting for Laila so I'm off to the courthouse. Why do I feel like I'm spending too much time in the courthouse? I'm not a fan.

2011-03-16T05:42:00.000-07:00

I'm home this morning and trying to complete a few projects in the house before running to the gym and at some point making pepperoni rolls. I've got 2 kitchen cupboards emptied and cleaned and ready to organize. I wish I had a better organization process. I'd like to have a house like the ones featured in Martha Stewart mags but it's just not happening. So, I'll live with the 57 bags of random spices that look like I run some kind of illicit drug ring out of my kitchen. So I've got 100 pounds of flour and 25 pounds of sugar and 50 pounds of basmati rice and a jug of oil as big as my washing machine and bulk dry beans of every variety known to man. I've got to find storage for things like this besides my collections of dozens of rolling pins, kitchen gadgets, club aluminum pots, endless fiesta ware and a useless tagine that's cute as a button!

Moving on............the 73rd annual beekeepers assoc. conference is this Saturday. How time flies! We're trying to get geared up for the bee season and so far I'm not feeling the love. I guess the weather has to cooperate a little more before I get into the spirit of it all. Maybe I'll be inspired on Saturday. I've had bees on my mind for a few days, for an odd reason though. I happen to LOVE The Secret Life of Bees and I'm always reminded of Miss May, one of the sisters in the book, when tragedy surrounds. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and when it becomes unbearable she writes down her worries and heads down to her own personal wailing wall she's created on the property. I love her character and the way her sisters take care of her and send her to the wall when she can't cope with sadness. There's lots of sadness in the world this week.

Can you imagine?

2011-03-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

When my kids were this size it was really difficult for me to do things like take them to the doctor for immunizations. Heartwrenching things like a booster shot sent me over the edge.

Cat Stevens - Moonshadow

2011-03-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist.

2011-03-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

The lighter baby is named Areesha. You can call her Ree for short. We plan to keep her.

The darker baby is a boy and his name is Brutus.

And here is an updated shot of ShawnTodd. He's doing great.

We had a nice day weather-wise so we were able to get out and do a little initial spring clean up. It gave us a chance to realize that there's an awful lot of work to do out there.

The boys went to the gym and the girls are home keeping Laila company. She's feeling a little better but still not herself. I've got 2 squash pies in the oven and dough raising to make some cheese pies for breakfast tomorrow.

I just want to make sure everyone understood the crazy dream I had last night! Do you all realize that I have NO knowledge of maps and latitude and longitude? I know what that is but the info. stops there! I actually dreamed of the map position of Seoul, South Korea!! I have NO IDEA where that came from. I haven't looked at a map for a long time. I have no connection to Korea. This is a really strange phenomenon!

South Korea and The Craigslist Killer

2011-03-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

To save time and energy I'm just going to run things down quickly as I see them. Yesterday Laila woke up and was quite sick. I'm not sure what's going on but we're monitoring the situation. She's had a fever, sore throat, upset stomach, shortness of breath, and aches and pains. I'm nuts when my kids are sick. Jenna went to "Mall Madness" with the girl scouts last night. They meet at 10 pm outside the mall and it's closed off to the public. That leaves it open to thousands of screaming girl scouts for the night. She got home around 4:30 am! Good times had by all- sorry I missed out on that one! LOL! Mazin has decided he likes Craigslist better than ebay so he's listed several things he wants to sell. That means when people are interested in the merchandise, they just call and head over to check it out. He's obviously not seen the Craigslist Killer movie. Why do people complicate my life??? OK- here's the weirdest thing I've had to say in a long time................Last night Mazin and I both had specific and disturbing dreams. I'll do his first. I'm not sure of how it all played out in his mind but it had to do with the mafia and skinning people. OUCH. Glad I wasn't there for that dream. Here's mine. I was searching for a specific location on a large map. I had the latitude and longitude written down and it was very clear in my mind. When I woke up I immediately told Mazin the numbers and we googled it. I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE................It's Seoul, South Korea. Somebody tell me what it means! And now the Ides of March are in 2 days and the Mega moon is in 5 days. I'm going back to bed.

2011-03-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Well, my jury duty is over and I can't say I'm sorry about that. However, I can say that I rather enjoyed it. I hated the driving part, the parking part, the walking in the cold part and the wind. I liked meeting some very interesting people and seeing how a diverse group of 12 can work together. In the end we had one hold out who couldn't be convinced but she finally gave in and it all worked out. I was there for 4 days. I can now end the suspense and tell you all that the case involved this guy who was charged with embezzlement and fraud at his place of employment. It involved dirt, as I mentioned before, because he worked at a landscaping company. (and the deadly sin was greed) However, we all came to the conclusion that he was more likely guilty of being a crappy paper work guy.
In other news the natural disasters taking place around the world are really disturbing. Now I hear there's some kind of "mega-moon" occurring later this month which some are predicting will cause more unusual events. I find myself making plans for local tsunami trouble (can tsunamis form on the great lakes?), earthquakes, whirlpools and the like. What if my sump pump stops working and the house floods and then it spreads outside and the barn floats away? What if a cyclone lifts my house up and deposits me in a land with little people and a green witch? Don't even get me started about the locusts! I'm going to bed now so I don't have to think about it anymore! I just need to find a few more pillows to place around everyone's beds just in case we run into problems tonight.

Turn up your volume and give a listen

2011-03-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Such a funny memory came to me today of listening to this song in the van with all the kids one summer. They loved it and used to sing along to all my music with the sweetest voices. I realized after a while they were singing "Leave me Breakfast"!

2011-03-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest rants in no particular order:
1. I'm still on jury duty. I really haven't hated the whole process, however we are in the deliberation phase of this trial and I feel like I'm in a movie. It's not even a fairly split decision holding us up. It's 11 to 1! Well, I don't even have the energy to discuss this any further right now. I'll be heading back down to Greektown tomorrow, parking my car in this stupid little lot and walking 3 blocks in the cold, wet streets of Detroit to the courthouse. I don't know when it's going to end. My cupboards and counters need to be cloroxed. No one cares.
2. I got a ticket this morning on my way to drop Z at school and head to jury duty. I would be able to accept this if I wasn't 100 percent sure that the guy who gave me the ticket was wrong!! I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that I didn't go through a red light which he insisted that I did. I know this as a fact because I have this "thing" about going through traffic lights. I won't go into this in detail for the same reason I referred to in item number one. I'm just too weary tonight, but believe me.........I know I'm right. He was kind enough to tell me I could go to court and fight this ticket which I will surely do, but I know (and told the guy) I'm sure I won't stand a chance against him. Injustice!
3. I've got a whole list of things that need to be done at home and they can't get done if I'm not there to do them.
4. It's snowing tonight.

Say Hello to Juror no. 11

2011-03-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

Yep! I got assigned to a criminal trial. The judge said he estimates a few days at most. They got started right before lunch and zipped through several witnesses already so we're on a roll. Truth be told.......I love it! I think I found my true calling. "I'm juror #11, who are you"? The case is about.......oh, wait, sorry.....I can't discuss details of my case! It's just soooooo interesting. I really wish I could share with everyone. There's this guy who........oh, sorry again. I know my readers are so jealous of my insider knowledge. I'm thinking of taking a big giant bag of popcorn tomorrow. Maybe a jug of unsweetened iced tea? My fellow jurors will appreciate the refreshments if I bring enough to pass.
I can't help but think that I could cut this process time in half if given a couple of minutes with the defendant. Somebody just ask him if he did it, and if he's denying it...........how do you explain the evidence? Let's just all discuss it openly instead of this formality. Well, when it's over and done with, I'd be glad to devulge the details of this fascinating case with all interested parties. It involves dirt. There I did it. I gave out info. I hope it's not too much. I wouldn't want to jeopardize the outcome. It also involves a deadly sin. Oh, I'm sure I've said too much now and you've got it all figured out. I better move on before they come knocking at my front door.

I Heart Atticus Finch

2011-03-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

I've got jury duty tomorrow. That's never happened before and I'm just so excited. Well, actually I'm really nervous and have to keep reminding myself that the court cases I may see tomorrow have nothing to do with me. You see, I have court anxiety. I haven't had tons of courtroom experience but what I have had has left me with a real phobia. So, I'm all set to go tomorrow morning. I tried to watch Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty to relax me but I can't find it on line. I still have to pack my lunch and book and reading glasses. What if I just get dismissed and they don't want me? So much to worry about.
On a brighter note I'm going to try to stop at the Fisher Theater when I'm done and purchase tickets for Les Miserables which is happening the end of this month. I'm taking all the girls and we're so excited. They want to take it a step further and get a hotel room downtown and go to Greektown as well, but I don't see that happening! I think we'll take the show and leave it at that. I've only wanted to see Les Mis and Phantom for the last 20 yrs. so I'm ready for this! Glad to be sharing it with my girls too!
OK I've just got to spit this out. Here's the thing...........I am often too sympathetic with the "criminals" in court. I'm not talking cold-blooded killers or anything like that. They scare me to death! I'm referring to the people that are down on their luck and always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the small lapse in judgement that has disproportionate consequences.
So does that make me a poor choice for juror? Oh, I'm taking this way too serious! I'm off to read To Kill a Mockingbird. Remember when Atticus says, "A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up". (Or women for that matter) See...........this is a big deal! Am I sound enough?
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." I hope my case involves the killing of a mockingbird. I'll know just where I stand.

Here Comes The Sun - George Harrison

2011-03-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, what can I say? When I'm sad for the world, a little George Harrison is necessary. Give a listen. Go ahead, really do it.

2011-03-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

Did everyone listen to the music video I posted yesterday?? When we were in Lebanon our room didn't have any English channels unlike Bill and Nicole's apt. sattelite which had all sorts of choices. So, of course Dad had to watch tv and it seems every time he turned it on this Nancy Ajram video was playing. We watched it many times! :) Laila is a Nancy fan and I guess Dad is too. I'm grounded for the day (every Tues and Thurs. I'm vehicle-less) so it's my time to get lots of extra chores done. Today I cleaned the landing to the basement and all the way down the steps. Seems that's the latest holding house for every one's junk from boxing gloves to empty honey jars. I've reclaimed the area and now it's neat and clean and smells like sugar cookies. You're welcome everyone. I'm also making that Greek chicken soup with rice and lemon. I've never made it before and for some reason I think it may be tricky. Well, my broth is done so I'll get to it shortly and report back later as to the outcome. I've also done the laundry, washed many dishes, swept, vacuumed, dusted, cooked, browsed through my new soup and bread cookbook from Nicole (inspiration for my soup today), was reminded I have jury duty next Tues. for the first time in my life, walked the dog, measured the small tractor in the barn and played 3 games of Pot Pies. Speaking of the small tractor: The following measurements were taken with my sewing tape measure and leaning over lots of other stuff so it's kind of "give or take" if you know what I mean.
Length- just over 7 feet with the plow attached.
Width at the tires- 3 feet
Width of the attached plow - just short of 3 feet.
Most readers will wonder why it matters. One will appreciate the info. You know who you are.
In other news: last night my husband put an end to the impending adoption of "Labne". He had the nerve to say we had enough trouble or something like that. Well, I never! I can't imagine why he would say that. Ok. So the girls and I were discussing little Labne at the dinner table! What of it?? We were just eating our burritos and figuring that he would learn to eat refried beans just like us! And the boys thought he would come with a pretty strong accent for an infant. I know that because they were imitating his little voice asking for more picante sauce. Oh, another shattered dream!! I think SOME people are just worried that little Labne would take time from my bee mistress job which will be starting up in full force in a month or so. Our annual conference is in just 2 weeks. Must try to rally the kids to do this one thing for their father. He really wants everyone to attend the all day function where the keynote speaker is usually some retired apicultural specialist who knows way too much about varoa mites. The highlight for the kids is the free donuts and cocoa in the morning. And of course the potluck lunch is a major draw with lots of kielbasa and sloppy joes. I noticed there was a memo in the newsletter to identify dishes with pork so thanks for that all you beekeepers. They must know we're coming! Speaking of food, I must finish cooking before the troops arrive home. Packzi day is next
Tuesday and I'll be frying. If anyone's intersted, come on over. (Packzi are basically jelly filled donuts that are quite popular around here in the Polish neighborhoods on Fat Tuesday). Ever notice how when it comes to food, we do it all! Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu.........any religion or ethnicity.........you name it. If there's good food attached we're there.

Here's our favorite music video in Lebanon

2011-03-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

2011-03-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

The sun is shining again! Not that I'm going to switch up religions or anything but I can really understand why there have been sun worshippers in the past. It's a great and powerful thing! It makes me happy. And now, just because I'm happy, I'm going to make beef and bean burritos. I usually just stick to bean and cheese but I'm acknowledging the carnivores in my home today. See what the sun can do! Today is "wild Wednesday" shopping day in Dearborn and I don't have to go. There's another plus. Mazin does all the Dearborn shopping and now does much of the "regular" shopping too. He got used to it when I was on vacation and I guess he sort of likes it so I made him a big long list for the 2nd week in a row and we just wait and see what comes home. Sometimes he makes some minor changes like "I couldn't find asparagus so I got an eggplant", or "I didn't see tomato paste but I bought tahini". It's all good! By the way............does anyone out there know how much food is consumed in this house??? We buy about 4 jars of peanut butter a week and I've been out for 3 days! Bread? Cheese? Labne? Don't get me started! Last night I made a double layer german chocolate cake and it was wiped out in seconds! I cooked about 7 pounds of cilantro potatoes and L and Z didn't have any by the time they got home! Yikes! It's a full time job to feed the zoo!
In other news: I don't have regular tv anymore. It's been months and we just have arabic satellite. Thank God for al jazeera in English. So.......I'm watching Colonel Qadaffi's speech which has rambled on for an hour or so. Man oh man. This guys is messed up. Whenever I see leaders like him with actual supporters I always think of the wicked witches army in The Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy throws the water on the witch and she melts and Dorothy thinks she's going to be in big trouble from the army and then they rally in relief that she's dead! I kind of thought that would happen with Saddam Hussein but it really didn't. Hey, that's the second time in 2 days that I thought of the Wizard of Oz. Yesterday I was thinking of Miss Gulch. I remember thinking that Miss Gulch/Witch of the West was about the scariest thing on Earth, but I've re-evaluated that now. There are much scarier things than her. In fact I really feel for her now. That's a story for another day though.
And so..............I'm going to the gym this morning and trying a Zumba class if my nerve doesn't fail me by the time I get there. I plan to spend as much time as possible in the dry heat room and steam sauna without burning myself. I spent too much time in the dry heat room last week and figured I had first degree burns on my legs from the heat lamps. No real ultra-violet sun rays- just heat that feels like the sun. But it does get hot! Then I'll come home so Laila can go to school for an hour and then go pick up Z from school. The boys will have gym night tonight after burritos so the girls are left to clean up and watch a girls movie while the guys are gone. It's incentive to finish homework early and get the dishes done.
One more random piece of information. The girls have just about decided that we should adopt a baby boy from Africa as soon as possible. They've already named him and planned for his future. They aren't planning to tell him he's adopted until he reaches college age. Which by the way should be interesting because he's black and we aren't. His name will be Aqeel-nickname will be Labne (which means thick yogurt in arabic). They're really set on this notion so if you see a new kid around, don't be surprised.
OK. Here I go to the gym. I'm going to Zumba my head off.

Miss Gulch

2011-02-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

2011-02-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am cooking an Iraqi comfort food today. Here's the star of the show. It's an unlikely star!-turnips! I'm not a huge fan of turnips but they're just right when cooked in this dish called Kubba Shalgam. (Shalgam is the cute little name for turnips.) So............you peel and quarter the shalgams. They are just so adorable with the little purple skin I hate to take it off but I think it's necessary.

Next you chop two lovely packs of spinach leaves and wonder where it goes as it cooks down in the giant red pot with the turnip quarters.

Now it gets interesting. The next bowl shows ground meat, spices and rice flour mixed with water and kneaded like bread dough. You also brown some more ground meat with chopped onion, spices, raisins and parsley. Basically whatever flavors you enjoy. Now.........at this point I'm not sure how the little kubba patties are going to turn out because Mazin informed me this morning that he thinks the "rice flour" he bought yesterday may actually be some other kind of flour. Well, we will see.......

At this point I have also added tomato paste and a little sauce to the spinach and shulgam pot. It's simmering away nicely.

So I'm off to make the kubbas which is the hardest part of this dish. It takes lots of water to keep your hands moist. You then break off chunks of the "dough" and make a hole in it. stuff it with the meat filling and close them up. Don't forget to "burp" it so there's no air inside and then let them rest. I sometimes pop them in the freezer for a short time to help them firm up.
Ok. So here's the finished kubbas. I made several dozen. When the soup is at a nice rolling boil you drop the kubbas in and hope for the best. Yay! They held up! Plenty of fresh lemon gives the soup and really nice tangy taste.

I'm making a big fattoush salad and some homemade bread to have with the kubba shalgam.

2011-02-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

Today is the day I clean my bedroom. No skimping either, I'm dusting behind furniture and everything. Hey....I never promised this blog would be interesting. You asked for it! It's been a long haul trying to reclaim my home after vacation. The family did a great job, don't get me wrong. I just have a habit of needing to put my own flavor on everything so it's a long process.
I always debate in my head about which season is harder to clean during. It's really a toss up! The winter is complicated because whenever anyone goes outside there's all this stuff that has to be dealt with. You know, gloves, hats, boots, coats, scarves, extra pants. And the inevitable socks in socks in socks pile that I find in a ball in a corner somewhere. Who trained these people??
In the summer there's less stuff but dirt is dirtier than snow and ice. And then there's the obvious manure element that knows no season. The goat had her kids two days ago so someone goes and checks on them several times a day. It goes something like this.....dress in many layers which takes 10 minutes. Go out the door usually leaving it half open. Let Molly out. Go in the barn and cause a flurry of feathers, flying manure and animal noises. Terrorize the mother goat who's just trying to get by without a noisy dog stirring the pot. Come back inside the house reporting that all's well and drop socks in socks in socks in a corner somewhere. And so goes the story of my life. There's a big coat rattling around in my dryer as I type which I am to understand fell victim to a "turkey sh*t bomb" . Anyhoo......I've got some final touches to put on my bedroom before moving on to dinner prep which includes pepperoni pasta and garlic bread. Jenna needs a ride to girl scouts for their trip to a candy factory. Ali needs a haircut. Yousef's foot hurts. L and Z went to school. Mazin went to work. Can I just wrap this up with an observation. Work with me.
Did Aunt Eller ever have to think twice about whether Curly was good for Laurey? NO! I don't think she had a thing to worry about.
Did Nellie Forbush have to wonder if Emile de Becque was a good guy? Not really. I mean he was a little mysterious but it was all ok.
How about Anna and the king? Maria and the captain?
Trust me......life was so much easier when I thought that real life was a great big Rodgers and Hammerstein movie!

Back by popular demand

2011-02-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I may actually be exaggerating a bit. I'm really not sure anyone cares what I have to say but here it goes anyway. If someone out there is reading this and doubting their memory let me assure you........I did recently say I would never blog again. I guess I lied. So I could start by blogging about this fantastic vacation that I had a few weeks ago but I won't. There's not much to say that hasn't been said already. I will just let it be known that I'm very thankful that I went and it was truly the best.

I could also start with updates on all the kids and their adventures. I'm not going to do that either because there's just too much to say and that would lead to a possible carpal tunnel situation so I'll just point out that they're all doing pretty well. The usual struggles and triumphs that happen along the way. So...........what do I have to say. Well, here's what drove me nuts this weekend. Friday afternoon, home by noon with Laila and Zainab, dinner cooking and laundry done. We decide to watch our Friday movie and choose an old favorite, The Phantom of the Opera. This isn't the slouchy old black and white mind you. This is the latest production with Gerard Butler as the phantom and it's spectacular. I should know because I've seen it about 7 times! We know all the words and Z and I sing which drives Laila crazy! I can't explain exactly what happened this time around but somehow I know I'll never watch the Phantom again. I mean everyone knows the story, right? The phantom was this poor abused gypsy kid with a facial deformity who was exploited by his gypsy community. He runs away and is saved by a dancer at the opera house. He lives underneath the theater and creates this world of music and he's a genius! To make a very long story a little shorter he coaches Christine from behind the scenes and she thinks he's the voice of her deceased father. She finally learns the truth and the phantom battles this other guy who loves Christine. In the end the phantom releases the kidnapped Christine from his underground home and "gives his blessing" for her to marry the other guy while he remains under ground in despair. It was just too much this time around! I ranted all night and drove everyone nuts. Conversations sprouted up randomly throughout the evening and I couldn't stop. I mean really.........he calls himself a gargoyle at one point! Maybe the production team should have worked harder to make him monstrous but he was Gerard Butler with a scar on one side of his face for God's sake! Women just don't judge people like that. Has anyone heard of Andrea Bocelli??? Christine was a jerk. I know he had issues with his tormented gypsy abuse background but he could have coped better with a little encouragement. He could have written better operas than the dark one he produced. In fact, there was lots of sheet music down in his hole and I bet most of it was beautiful things he had written over the years! I made it clear that I would never leave my husband for the likes of Raul even if he chose to wear that stupid little white mask that sticks to the side of your face. I'm planning to re-write the Phantom this spring. Heads up............Christine will marry the phantom and they'll live happily ever after. The end.

Listen! They sound like Simon and Garfunkel!

2010-10-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

2010-10-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

So much to say, so little time. First off................apple butter was so fun this year but I don't think I have any pictures downloaded. Oh well, if you weren't there, believe me, it was good. Granny gave me a set of new silverware too so..............here it is.

All shiny and new. And now I think we have enough forks! She threw in that lovely pastry cutter which puzzled most of my family members. Why? Because this is the only pastry cutter they've ever seen.............

Well, I immediately put my pastry cutter to good use and made some baba ghanouj.

Now I also mentioned at Apple butter that I was going to make a caramel apple cake but couldn't locate a 3 in. tall cake pan. Well, Granny and Papa almost left apple butter and made a trip to Pittsburgh to one of their supply house secret locations and mailed me not one, but two 3 inch tall cake pans. I baked the cake and here it is...Gooey and good.

Moving on............we've had the opportunity to attend 2 very large lebanese weddings this fall so I've put up a couple of pictures. The first is one of the couples entering the hall. Both weddings had the same emcee who is like a circus ring leader. He's got a microphone that produces the loudest voice I've ever heard and he not only comes with a house band, he's got a drummer who looks a little like Captain Jack Sparrow and jumps like a monkey with his big drum enciting the crowd. It's really something to see.

Ok............Note to Nicole..............I gazed around at the tables surrounding us to see if I recognized anyone. I noticed a man who looked so familiar but I couldn't place where I'd seen him. I nudged Mazin who said he must be a doctor in dearborn or something. Then..............he turned his head just so...............and it all came rushing back! Say hello to Patchy! He seemed to recognize us in a similar manner but we didn't speak. Too funny! I had to snap a picture for you! For those of you who don't know Patchy...........long story, weird guy, nuff said.

Here's a shot of Mazin and me. We had more fun than we appear to be having. Oh yea, and while in line at the extensive dessert bar, here's a cell phone conversation I overheard.

Guy: Hey, can you go pick up mama and take her to the hospital? She was being nosy and went in the fridge. Precious (who seems to have been a dog) had some medicine in a tube. Mama thought it was a sausage tube and fried it up and ate it"

Oh man. It doesn't get better than that. The guy was really into his desserts. I wonder how it all worked out.

New Blog Design

2010-09-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

Check out my new blog design. I'm feeling really talented about now. I've spent the morning doing my best to wrap up honey bee season by marathon jarring mass amounts of gooey honey. I'm happy to report that it's almost over with the last bucket draining into the barrel as I type. My garage will once again transform from temporary honey house to disastrously messy garage with hopefully enough room to park a car or two soon. The last remnants of garden produce are being picked today too. There's definitely a feeling of fall in the air. Lots of clouds and wind and blue toes so it must be coming.
We're heading out to a movie and pizza late this afternoon to wrap up Z's birthday celebration. We had cake yesterday. I have two 18 yr. olds for a few weeks so congratulations to me. Also on the agenda this weekend is a big fat Lebanese wedding tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to some great food and fun. Father of the bride just left our house and reported with some sense of apology that it's looking like a wild wedding by most standards in Dearborn, which means there will be musicians accompanying the couple and lots of dancing. I say no apologies necessary here. Bring it on and loosen up everybody. I bought a new dress for the occasion and plan to look something like a large eggplant. Maybe guests will be so appalled by the musicians and dancing that they'll overlook the veggie in attendance. Either way I'm looking forward to it all.
Next weekend is Apple Butter which is sure to be a barrel of fun. Hope to get a few hayrides in and lots of visiting too. Plan to take some pictures and blog when it's all over.

Ramadan Update

2010-08-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

All's well on the cooking front. Just heard a discussion about how Ramadan isn't about the food. The message was to get out of the kitchen and make a difference in the world- you know, that kind of thing. I guess that's easier said than done. I'd love to go out and do good deeds all day. However, at the end of the day the eating machines still have to eat! I was feeling a little under the weather this weekend so the kids decided to take on dinner yesterday. I was sacked out on the couch and Baba came in to take a nap and those little sweethearts got it all under control. They drove to Taco Bell and spent 35 dollars on beans! Gotta love the effort! I woke up this morning at 4:15 to make breakfast and the girls were in the kitchen. Pancakes on the table, fresh fruit cut up, tea made-the whole deal! It made up for the bean fest last night.
Feeling much better today so I'm back to the old routine. Like I always say, it's a good thing I enjoy cooking!
The weather has become much more comfortable today after a couple days of humid misery. Unfortunately, I don't have the mood to go outside and enjoy it. Maybe that will happen tomorrow but for now it's all about cleaning my room and watching The Barefoot Contessa. I'm inspired to make a peanut butter chocolate bread which I'll double and freeze a couple of loaves for the future.
In other news:
Next weekend is baby girls' 2nd annual girl scout camp. I think she's going although she may be getting cold feet and need some encouragement.
She's pretty much in charge of selling veggies from the garden and has set up a table on the road which she stocks and organizes. Z helped her yesterday. Loads of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers of several varieties and a brief try of flowers until Baba decided that would deprive his bees so the flowers stay in the garden!

2010-08-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a whirlwind vacation in West Virginia with the whole family and diving straight into Ramadan activities. What a couple of weeks! First off......the trip was a huge success. There was plenty of fun for everyone with swimming in a gigantic outdoor pool being at the top of the list. The cabin was big and lovely and the food was plentiful and yummy. It was amazing to get everyone to one place for a great event and I'm hoping it won't be the last time!
Ramadan is in full swing. How do I know that? I live in my kitchen. I raised eating machines. Yesterday morning we began with 2 huge trays of cinnamon rolls, egg sandwiches, juice and tea, harissa (long story of what it is and my fingers are tired from rolling spinach pies). Ali left the table saying something along the lines of, "too bad on the first day of Ramadan I didn't get enough breakfast and have to go the day hungry and thirsty". !**+#@! Some people!
Dinner was two flat cooked chickens ala The Barefoot Contessa. One was bbq'd and the other marinated in lemon, rosemary etc. scalloped potatoes per Ali's request, greek salad, pizza and breadsticks, lentil soup and mixed fruit cobbler for dessert.
Breakfast today was cobbler, labne and zataar, chicken sandwiches, juice and tea.
Tonight is spinach pies, eggplant tepsi and basmati rice, lentil souop, burrittos, and salad. I feel like a short order cook! Jenna made a chocolate cake for dessert too. Enough about my cooking frenzies.
Funny stories of misunderstandings..............
Laila went to the University yesterday with her friend. She had some business to take care of, book shopping, questions about tuition bill, mapping out class locations etc. She went to the financial aid office to ask about her bill and what some of the items were on the statement.
Question 1- Why do I have to pay the omnibus fee? I'm not riding a bus.
Answer-Giiiirl! Omnibus ain't a bus. That's so fuuuunny!
Laila wasn't necessarily amused and still doesn't know what omnibus is. Anyone?
Background for story number 2- Last Ramadan Yousef bought a gigantic cup (mega ounces) from Speedway or somewhere like that. He pulled it out yesterday and drinks one full of water in the morning and one at night. Sooooo......he storms into the kitchen this afternoon and says, "Mama, where is my cup?"
I say, 'Yousef, Zainab put the dishes away today. Ask her"
Yousef- "Not that cup! Why would I need that now? "
He was headed to the gym and needed his sports cup. Be specific man! (And keep track of your own crap!)
One more thing.........
Some day I'll explain, but for now can I just hear an AMEN!?

Very Large Hive Removal in Porch Post

2010-07-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

This was a gigantic hive that lived in a porch post for a couple of years. The comb was more than 6 ft. long. It was successfully boxed and will be picked up and driven home late tonight. InTRESting.

2010-07-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

I just realized something. Every time Molly goes outside and runs around she comes back to the garage with a new bone in her mouth. Where are these things coming from??? Sometimes it's a leg bone, sometimes it's part of a jaw bone, sometimes I really can't identify what body part it is. I can assure you that they rarely look human. Are we perched on a burial site that I don't know about? Have we just butchered and buried way too much? Sometimes she brings back chewy things which I like to call jerky. Some of my favorites are opossum jerky and that classic-turkey jerky. She's a great dog.

The Perfect Terror Trifecta

2010-07-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Monday I had the opportunity to be assistant when adding honey boxes to the hives. I enjoy it for the most part. I definitely wear the gear and I tend to sing and hum whilst in the hives. It relaxes me and the bees. The most important factor at the hives is to remain calm- Not necessarily my strong point. I'm standing there humming Phantom of the Opera and pumping smoke and a very large daddy long legs is running up the side of the box. Not the worst spider specimen in the world so I'm good to go. The hive is suspected of being motherless for a few minutes because the bees seem agitated and are buzzing a lot. Both signs of a missing queen. Well, we eventually spotted a very large queen so maybe they were just annoyed at the singing lady pumping smoke at them. Then the trifecta is complete................a large snake slithers very close to my toes and right under the hive. I was the picture of serenity.
Speaking of terror.............last Friday we had what I believe to be a tornado sweep through yet again. I don't know if there was actually a funnel but the result was a loss of power, flooded basement, trees in the neighborhood uprooted, and 6 of us spread out in 3 different locations and all huddled in public bathroom/locker rooms. When I emerged from my hiding place there were grocery carts from Meijer flipped all over the area.

2010-07-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Things I'm currently liking:
1. The movie "Date Night". Finally went and saw it we LOL'd.
2. Snyder's sourdough nibblers. I had to buy the whole pound bag. Somebody stop me.
3. Power washer! I'm willing to power wash about anything at this point. Trying to figure out if there would be some way to power wash my kitchen floor. The house is almost done. The sidewalk looks positively white. In fact when Mazin and I were eating out sunday night I looked out the window and said, "Wouldn't you love to power wash that sidewalk?" He said no. I need to get out more!
4. All my kids are home today and no one is leaving any time soon. They actually all had to complete at least one chore.
5. I have 2 weeks worth of trash to the street already for tomorrow morning's pick up.
6. When Mazin gets home he's starting up the power washer for me so I can finish the deck. OK. At least I admit it........it's an obsession.

2010-07-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention last week that Mango, our beloved *AHEM* bird died last week-cause unknown. Well, rumour has it that someone poisoned her but I'm not confirming or denying that. She will be most remembered for murdering her mother in cold blood and saying "Hi baby". RIP
Side note: She was actually so beloved that I dragged her cage onto the back deck many hours after she kicked off and she remained there until I insisted that someone dispose of her before her stench seeped into my house. I was cleaning after all! Will she be replaced any time soon?? NOOOOOOO!
I attended my picnic yesterday and didn't even make the cake I intended to. We took a watermelon instead. Well, I came home refreshed after some yummy food and excellent company with the only people on earth besides family that I can totally relax with. I may be a loner but thank God for the few really good friends I have. They are gems. My boys are on an extended vacation with said friends and won't be home till tomorrow! That's 5 days! They are having so much fun (I got to have some visitation time yesterday) and realistically I know they don't miss me but I can dream! I miss them horribly but not their mess!
Today is the World Cup finale. Soccer is about the only sport I enjoy watching. Can't wait to finish my numerous, sometimes gruesome chores around here so I can catch the game and then get ready for my well-deserved night out. ;)

2010-07-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

Let me explain. It all has to do with Wacky Wednesday fruit and vegie sales in Dearborn, a guy who works at the fruit market and misses his farm back in Iraq, a husband who can't say No, wait............you know what? There really is no good explaination for this. We've got a boat load of watermelon and that's all I have to say about that.

Next pictures are easier to explain. Lots of good work going on in these hives. At least someone knows what they're doing!

This sideways picture is of some hot bees who've been spending too much time on their veranda.

Here's a shot of the back of the truck. Molly and Baba got the cool seats.

This is my baby girl driving the bee truck.

And Molly wanting to move up to first class seating.

In other news, Bibi and Gidu rolled into town last Tuesday and left this morning for their own apartment. Not feeling the empty nest syndrome at all. I am now home alone (well z and J are sleeping so I'm not really alone). Must get to cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen and then make a cake for a picnic today. I'M GOING TO A PICNIC AT SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE. I AM NOT COOKING FOR IT OR CLEANING FOR IT OR WORRYING ABOUT IT IN ANY WAY! That's my happy shout out for the day. Tomorrow is the World Cup final game and then I'm going out with my husband for dinner and a movie. Life is looking better all the time.

2010-07-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is Baba's best friend. They've known each other for a very long time. We all went to college together. I haven't seen this guy for 20 yrs. or so. He came into town once when I was out of town and fell off of our horse and broke his arm. He is married now and has 2 kids. He is here for a big reunion of guys who knew each other back in the day. Tonight he is sleeping over with another guy who went to college with us too. It's a very funny night. He told the kids their dad was old fashioned but very cool.

I took the girls to the movies, mall and lunch today. They got to choose everything. Guess what movie we saw??? Eclipse. It's about vampires and werewolves. Everyone chooses if they like the vampire boy or the wolf boy. I hate the twilight movies even though I LOVE a good monster movie. They are just not good, but I did choose a side. I'm definitely on team Jacob which is the wolf. I really don't like either but I've decided that the vampires are just too cold. They are pale and always look freezing. The wolves get warm and like the sunshine so that's what I base my decision on. I feel good about it.

We ate at Cedarland and I had hummous with chicken on top. Good choice again.

So it all comes full circle. Tomorrow is a family picnic with all the reunion boys. Not sure how that will go but we'll probably all attend. The weather is hot and sunny and beautiful. Very un-vampire like. See how it all comes together? And my hummous had lots of garlic. To keep the vampires away. Good night.

My day in pictures-no particular order

2010-06-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

This first one is a beeeeeautiful portrait my husband found and brought home for me. Thought it may have some value. Well, value schmalue.....I'm not parting with this beauty. Does anyone have a name suggestion? I'm leaning towards Juanita (that's phonetically spelled Hwanita, not Wanita) She lives in the garage next to the John Deere mower.

Next is self explanatory I guess.

Number three would be the same garden. English Cukes

Number 4 is the same garden. Theme going here. You'd think someone would get off their butt and put some cages around these tomatoes.

Here's some bee balm I planted this spring that got knocked over in the storm. It's so ugly, I like it.

Sunflowers..............

Fava beans!!! We'll do this yet.

Beans doing well.

A plate I bought at a garage sale. Poppies!!!!

Z's teeth that were pulled today.

Jenna's broken toe.

Welcome to my world. Hope you liked the pics.

In my backyard today

2010-06-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS: Neighbor in New Boston takes pictures of funnel cloud

2010-06-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

Fun weekend is almost over. Friday night Mazin, Jenna and I delivered 2 beehives to an Italian guy named Julius. Of course that has to be done late at night when the bees are sleeping so we left after 10:30 pm. Jenna brought a game so we passed the drive playing, eating nuts and seeds and watching that the hives don't tip in the back of the truck. Funniest moments of the night were the deer in Julius' back yard with glowing eyes. Jenna was so scared of them. Also frightening, the parked cars on the dirt road called Weed Rd. Jenna was also terrified of the cars and thought they were abandoned by victims of the W.Virginia mutants. Then there was Baba calling Julius when we were almost there and yelling because of course Julius was somewhere in the South Pacific I guess. The conversation went something like this.......
"Julius, I am on Weed. I'll be there soon."
Of course Jenna and I were hysterical by then. Combination of fear and laughter.
Good times.
Saturday Jenna had a summer party to attend. I was summoned back to pick her up after about 45 minutes because she had apparantly broken her little toe.
Saturday night was the drive in movie with Bill and Nicole. They brought grape leaves, pizza and pasta salad. I really loved that. It was so tasty and I'm sure no one else brought such good stuff. It's all about the food to me sometimes. The movies were fun too though. They brought their truck with pillows and blankets in the back. Fun Fun. Except we didn't get home till almost 3 am and I can't sleep in much in the morning so I'm running on empty now that it's almost bed time.
Sunday....no major plans. We had whole wheat pancakes and foul madammas for breakfast. (That's fava beans with olive oil, lemon, garlic, onion, tomato and parsley). Two stuffed chickens for lunch and a strawberry cake for dessert. 2 of the kids' friends came over this afternoon and it looks like they're hanging out for the long haul. They've played soccer, eaten lunch and dinner and snacks and are on their second movie. I took Z and J out for ice cream and that was my only outing today. We also managed to play in the rain and I didn't even freeze.
Tomorrow is Z's wisdom teeth removal. Not looking forward to that but............got to be done.

My latest news in a nutshell

2010-06-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

What's cooking:

Homemade vegie burgers with black beans and wheat germ

hot dogs (Real ones............ugh)

three bean salad

crepes with strawberries and cream

In the house:

My fridge was "on the fritz"- I love that saying. It's been fixed and will be re-stocked by the end of the day

Laundry is out of control and I don't know why. I guess now that school's out, we change clothes at least 8 times a day.

There was a tornado warning last night and I was really glad we have a basement. A little disappointing was my kids' responses to the sirens and news. In the old days we would have piled into the dirty crawl space. Now they have to be dragged to the basement and it's an inconvenience. "If they see a tornado, they'll head down"

Outside:

Garden is growing like weeds. Oh wait, it is weeds.

Making lots of yogurt and cheese with goat milk again.

Kids:

Ali is taking a life guard/Cpr/first aid class this week.

Yousef is work out at the rec center while Ali is at the class

The witches of Eastwick (wait, I mean my lovely daughters) are sleeping in and bickering.

Me:

Taxi driver, maid, chef, gardener, housekeeper, laundress, referee, family counselor, etc etc etc.

Baba:

Gardener, beekeeper, mechanic, referee, taxi driver, oh yea, mech. engineer too I guess.

Waiting for word today on whether Bibi and Gidu aka Pookie and Bean will be rolling into the country some time soon.

Getting really hyped for the camping trip/50th wedding anniv. fiesta in West Virginia this summer.

Going to the drive in this Saturday! We used to live a couple of miles from the drive in and go at least once a summer. Haven't been there for years and Bill and Nicole have orchestrated a movie night.

I dare you to not tap your toes and wish you played the harmonica

2010-06-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

2010-06-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a story for ya. Once upon a time I had this baby boy and he was the sweetest little thing. He used to make gorilla nests in the living room out of blankets and pillows. He'd say "I love you mama" before he slept every night. He broke his front teeth not long after he got them and had to learn to eat apples without them till he grew the big ones. He memorized the whole Jabberwocky poem and read it in front of his class when he was in grade school. He grew to be much taller than his parents. Then he decided to train to be a UFC fighter. I appreciate his physical fitness committment and wish I had a small portion of his stamina and determination. I don't want him to fight.

Then there's me, his mother. I like to bake and garden and take pictures of the things I bake and grow. I like to wear skirts with sparkles and sequins, fruity body sprays and dangly earrings. I like to go to garage sales and thrifty stores and find treasures. I don't like to fight.

This weekend there was a horrible collision of worlds that should have never met and it wasn't pretty. These worlds must never cross paths again.............ever. The end

FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 Official Theme Song

2010-06-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

Poll: How many times a day do I hear this song? Hint- definitely more than once!

2010-06-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

First off it's garbage day and all the garbage made it to the street. Anyone who knows me, knows how much it means! You see, last week NOTHING got to the street in time. I know, it's disgraceful. Well, I made up for it this week and the recycling just went by. ALL gone! The miracle of garbage pick up in all it's glory. Good day!

Today is the LAST day of school (1/2 day) for everyone. Yousef is the only one who has finals today. Everyone else is done with work and just wasting time till 12:30. Laila and I will go exercise this morning and be on our way to do pick up. She is scheduling her drivers test for tomorrow I think. Wish her luck! (She may need it) Her road skills are not bad but parking lot skills are a little rough. I guess they do the parking lot first and if you don't pass, you don't even go on the street. We will see. We did lots of practice across the street in the church lot yesterday and then did our walking there and also picked some grape leaves that I need to stuff this morning before we leave home.

I've been cleaning and trying to empty the freezer this week so we're eating interesting things throughout the process. Guess what I found. A hidden package of Uncle Bob's giant hubbard squash. I ate it last night with my salmon patty and it was delicious! I would have made a pie but it wasn't enough for that so I lucked out. Ali loves pumpkin/squash pie and did you know it's hard to find canned pumpkin if it's not Thanksgiving time!!! I've looked several times. How bizarre!

The gardens are doing great and have had just the right formula of sun and rain to make them go wild. Onions, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard and lots of herbs are hot right now.

The World Cup is going strong and the fans are managing to watch a couple games a day.

I'm at it again

2010-06-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

L and I are starting a program tomorrow to be more conscientious about what we eat and how we move. So...........I added my old weight loss ticker again. I guess it's good to be accountable and I want to set a good example. 23 pounds would be my ideal weight. I hope to get close if not make it all the way. 15 would be super de duper. L's goal is about 20. We can do this. I hate falling into old eating habits and this is a great time to commit to more regular exercise. So glad I can't eat sweets and fried stuff. Everyone please wish us luck!

2010-06-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

The weekends movie choice was Where The Wild Things Are. Does anyone realize how much this book was a part of our lives for many years? Probably one of the top 3 favorites of my three oldest kids. Yousef was a semi-fan and Jenna never really loved it. She was more a Blueberries for Sal gal. But that book was memorized and repeated many times a day for a long time. I was intrigued when I heard a movie was being made and commercials looked promising. Z finally rented it and we tried it out Sat. afternoon when it was too hot to be outside. I hated it. Emotionally draining and disturbing. I couldn't even finish it and I finish everything. If this would have come out 12 years ago, we would have been there opening day and I would have wept and left. Instead of watching the movie I googled what Maurice Sendak thought of his book's movie adaptation. Wiki said he loved it and if parents didn't like it they could go to hell. I'm so drained and sad.
Yesterday also brought us a house full of kids and way too much food. I think we made about 15 pizzas, 3 pounds of pasta salad, a huge pot of stuffed swiss chard and lots of chips and dip. We also made a double pan of peanut butter bars and a square pound cake. The last guest held on till about 1:30 and I think everyone had fun. Even managed a soccer game, fireworks and a campfire in the heat.
The World Cup has begun and I say If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, so I've watched several matches. I keep a book close by and only watch the games when everyone starts yellling.
Someone just arrived to buy 2 bee swarms which is great cuz I think we're up to about 14 hives which is way too much!
2 1/2 more days of school. Tomorrow is the honor roll luncheon and 5th grade graduation and Mazin is taking off work cuz he promised Jenna he'd go to the last luncheon. Should be a busy week as usual.

My Weekend at a glance

2010-06-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

We're preparing for another little graduation party for Laila with just kids. Cooking pizzas by the ton, pasta salad, dolma, chips and dip and cake. Plenty to do today for preparation. The weather is supposed to heat up to close to 90 with lots of humidity. Sounds delightful. Today is shopping for the event, a rummage sale and yard work.
Ali and Z are both staying after school for various activities and won't be home till evening. J has a field trip to the middle school to have lunch and take a tour-kind of get a heads up about middle school life before next year. We went to Greenfield Village on Wednesday and it was really fun. I don't think I was there at all last year so I really missed it. Things were about the same. Highlight is usually Firestone Farm and all the lambs and such. They also had a cute calf. Laila went too and because of high chaperone turn out most parents didn't have to watch anyone but their own kid. We were lucky enough to have Jenna's friend Gianna who happened to break her leg jumping off a dock and was in a full leg cast. Lots of arm work out pushing the chair but we did it all and managed to have fun.
Hoping to finish up a couple things in the yard today like planting a few more flowers and sunflower seeds. I thought we were going to be early with everything but now it seems almost late.
Boys will be gyming tomorrow and then probably having a couple of guys home with them to join the party.
Mazins back has healed quite nicely from the sickle incident and I think we're out of the woods regarding infection. Laila picked up the slack though, with some kind of wound on her hand she got at the beach last week. Doctor put her on oral and topical antibiotic so it's looking better. Never a dull moment I guess.

What I Cooked Today

2010-06-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

I've never baked a cake roll before today. My mom makes a pumpkin roll with a cream cheese filling and powdered sugar that is really delicious but I always thought it would be nearly impossible to roll up a cake. It just looked like it went against the laws of gravity or something like that. Well, today I defied gravity. I made the cake and of course had to do a little adaptation here and there. I had no wax paper so I greased up the pan like crazy. The batter looked way too thin to bake but it was a success. Rolled it up in a kitchen towel and made a filling with whipped cream, cream cheese and a little powdered sugar and vanilla. I had some blackberries to put on top and it was a work of art!! Now I'm obsessed and must make every variation of a cake roll known to man.

I also made this super salad with roasted vegies including potatoes, asparagus, brocolli, onion, carrots tossed in a little olive oil and herbs. Then I cut up a couple of tomatoes and threw in some basil and tomato feta cheese and marinated olives. Drizzled a little apple cider vinegar over the whole concoction and it was yummy.

I also made some marinated chicken chunks and a couple of spinach pizzas.

Spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, onions, herbs and strawberries are going nuts in the garden. All the recent rain has done good things for the stuff that's growing.

Speaking of rain.............we had some wild storms around here a couple of days ago. The bad stuff hit after dark and we did have the tv on. The weather guy kept showing maps and swirling clouds but we never took cover and it seemed to pass without too much trouble. I only ran to the front porch three times and heard sirens coming from the airport but it really didn't look that bad! I guess I'm glad it was dark! Dundee got hit really bad and Cabela's almost flew away! Imagine the looting of all the guns and ammo and stuffed carcasses! Many homes were destroyed but no one died. There's still plenty of flooding too. I've run into a couple of detours due to flooded roads over the last couple of days.

Oh, let's see. Three bee swarms over the weekend, one of which was the easiest (snip a branch about waist high with probably 4 pounds of bees hanging from it) AND one of the worst (bees made a home under a second floor veranda).
There are officially 6 1/2 days of school left!
Looking forward to:
*I could almost say sleeping in once school gets out but I'm sure I won't so why say it?
*Greenfield Village field trip with Jenna on Wednesday. We have the daily ride pass so we can ride the old cars and carriages all we want. Should be fun even though the student in our group has a broken leg and is in a wheelchair!
*Making my annual, meaningless summer schedule. Just cuz we won't stick to it doesn't mean it isn't fun to dream!
*Another "graduation party" on Saturday with some of Laila's friends. The guest list is evolving, menu is growing, and now "Ali is allowed to invite some of HIS friends that he doesn't even seem to know very well. Hmmm....I smell trouble. So Baba and I have decided to pull out all the stops. We're planning our own backyard fun so guests beware. It WILL involve honey bees, gardening, bizarre animals and a campfire with lots of campfire songs. Bring it on:)

Does bad stuff really come in threes?

2010-06-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

Here's our three bad things in event order which also happens to be the order of bad to worst.

1. Yousef comes home from school with a cut above his eye. Not horrible, yet noticeable and red. He scratched himself playing basketball. Glad it wasn't a fight.:) He didn't seem to mind much.

2. Yousef, again. Goes in the field to hunt for a missing sheep (oh, wait......I just realized we've got 4 bad things going. I'll add number 4 as a bonus.) Anyhoo.....Yousef gets stung on the bottom lip. He looks a little like the Nutty Professor when he starts to blow up. Once again, he doesn't seem to mind. It's earned him lots of respect at his gym, lol Until they hear what really happened.

3. Here's the worst one. Wait..........I think I'll cut to the bonus event first because it hinges. Monday morning Mazin, Jenna and I went to the livestock auction and bought a sheep. It was sort of a mistake bid but it was ok. He weighed about 100 lbs. and we decided to either sell him or butcher him later. On the way home with the sheep in the back of the truck it began to rain. It rained 5 times on the poor guy. We get him home and put him in the field. Next morning I don't see him. Afternoon comes and we look around with no sign of him. Walked in the humid field and neighbors field and no luck. Yousef goes out and says he sure he can spot him. He did find him in the tall grass in the back. That's when Yousef gets stung. So the sheep has diarrhea. Laila and Mazin give him some pepto bismal at night but he's dead in the morning. Which leads me to the final event.

4. Mazin ties some twine, yes, twine to the sheeps legs. Then to the twine he ties a yellow rope. Then he decides to tie the rope to the truck and drag the sheep out in the field. Laila and I are in the truck talking while he's preparing the set up. We get out to see what's going on in the barn and he has begun to pull the sheep but he's dead weight and hasn't budged. I put on gloves to help him and he gives one more tug without me. The twine snaps and he tumbles backwards and falls. Ok...........please sit if you aren't already. There are many hazards on our property and one of them happened to be an old cooler with no lid full of various things. One of those things happened to be an old sickle with the blade facing up. Yes..........he fell backwards and landed on the sickle. He let out a yell and I think I may have blacked out. He got up and wasn't impaled fully but had a nasty group of surface injuries. Very little blood but sore and needing a good disinfecting. I will now quote Forest Gump. "That's all I've got to say about that".

I Have a Dream

2010-05-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

......That some day my kitchen counters will be smooth and sparkly and not cluttered with old mail, many keys, cups and glasses, bread crumbs, peanut butter, an over-flowing "chicken bucket", freshly scrubbed eggs OR eggs yet to be cleaned, used tea bags etc, etc, etc...............

......That I won't stick to my kitchen chairs after my family eats at the table..............

...............That when I sit down on the couch to rest in the evening I won't find apple cores, sunflower seeds, silverware, or scrunchies stuffed into the cushions.....

.........That my laundry baskets will be empty and neatly stacked, waiting for a dirty load to gather.....

.......That when I get in the shower I won't discover that someone has stolen my shampoo, conditioner or body wash...............

.............That pots and pans won't fall out of my cupboards and off my freezer when someone lumbers by...............

............That goats won't eat my garden..................

.................That when I open my fridge it looks beautiful and organized like the ones on television..........

.............That there is a proper home for every article of clothing in my house including socks..........

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T16:46:00.000-07:00

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

Uncle Bob

2010-05-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

So we're at Cedar Point yesterday and Zainab and her friend Lamia are in charge of picture taking for the day. We were reviewing the thousands of pictures already stored in the camera and all of a sudden Lamia is astounded by a picture of Granny and Yousef Estes. Wait a minute..........who's Yousef Estes and why is he at Cory and Kelly's wedding standing with Granny?????

This is the real Uncle Bob with Granny

This is the Yousef Estes guy

What do you think???

Where have I been?

2010-05-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, where do I begin? First off..........Laila graduated and it went off without a hitch more or less. A little confusion as to the location of the graduation, a little downpour during the event, but much fun! So glad Bill and Nicole could come and Granny and Papa came and stayed in town for more than 15 minutes which was wonderful. I think Laila is adjusting to life without her beloved high school and keeps in CONSTANT contact with her friends. Not actively looking for a schedule in any way, just hanging out and doing her thing. Hopefully we won't kill each other any time soon! We had a fun little party Sunday too which was only interrupted by a swarm call in which 3 cars caravaned to the bee site for removal. And no one got stung! Bill held a teetering ladder with bees swarming everywhere, Ali got hit in the back with a saw and one of our guests donned the bee suit and helped out. Good times.
Bill got confirmation that he and Nicole will be heading to Lebanon next year. Lots of preparation for them and lots of excitement too. Now I've got to figure out how we can all get there for a visit! Don't know how we'll survive all that time without them. Who will I put on forms for an emergency contact?? Can you tell me that? I lived for years not having anyone to list and it was so depressing. I'm still listing him. They'll have to call him long distance. We're really very proud of him!
Tomorrow is our annual trip to Cedar Point. Oh, gee. What can I say? I thought we weren't going this year so I can't figure out how this happened. I'm cooking today for the troops and we'll take lots of goodies for the day. Chicken shawarma and calzones are already done. I need a couple more things and then many snacks. You'd be surprised how much people eat even when they're flipping and flying all day. The weather has been gorgeous this week and seems like it'll last through tomorrow. Hoping for the heat so I can ride the water rides which are our favorites.
We're planning to put some tomatoes and peppers in the garden tonight to get started in the heat this weekend. It wouldn't be a good day for the goats to find a loophole in the fence situation! And we have our last goat due to have her kids tomorrow too. Oh, when I consider the possibilities for trouble! I'm pulling out of the driveway and not looking back!

Once In A Lifetime

2010-05-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm hooked on this...what of it?

2010-05-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Finally some pictures

2010-05-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from a swarm hunt last week. It was located on the edge of a corn field behind our house. Shawn Todd and I were there for back up but didn't help much. Zainab was on camera duty.

Here's a short video of Jenna shaking the swarm from a branch into a box. It got cut off just as she was shaking it. The camera ran out of space because our "camera woman" took too many pictures of

shawn todd!!

Here's a swarm from last week that we caught from our yard. It was a big one and not in a great location.

I don't know why there's so much room here. La la la la la la................................................................................................................

2010-05-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again. No, I'm not talking about bee swarms yet again. It's that time before school ends when the 5 youngest members of my family begin the loss of sleep fretting about WHEN we are going to Cedar Point. 3 have field trip opportunities with school but a couple don't so they of course want to combine a family trip with one of the school trips. And of course it should happen on a weekday before school ends to avoid crowds. (And of course it should happen on a pre-summer day when Mama can ride a water ride and magically turn into a blue smurf for all the world to see). Oh....what to do. Baba swore he wasn't going this year but last night it certainly looked like we were heading in that direction. Everyone's getting revved up about what they're riding, who's able to bring a friend etc. etc. etc............My nervous condition hasn't been in line with a trip to Cedar Point so far. I have a solid feeling it won't matter what I want though. Good times...........much screaming............possible chills............much food to prepare and pack...........I'll do the rides that no other mom will do. I'll sail through the sky with my feet dangling in space. I hope they appreciate me some day.
Pesto pasta and shrimp for dinner tonight. J has her girl scout graduation ceremony in the evening and the boys may go work out if homework gets done. Tomorrow we're keeping free for a cowboy movie on TCM.

Here Comes The Sun - George Harrison

2010-05-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

I realize this seems like an odd song choice given the current weather! Contrary to popular belief I am not obsessed with George Harrison either! It just really has been a long, cold, lonely winter. And this song is one of my favorites and makes me feel hopeful. Enjoy it.

All the updates

2010-05-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

* Two swarms yesterday and I promise pictures very soon. Z says she can help me out with the new system. Jenna put both swarms into boxes by the way. Swarm 1 went very well. Swarm 2 was pesky and she got stung but handled it like a trooper. A small sting on the arm that I'm not sure went all the way in. She says it won't stop her next time.

* This afternoon is J's spring concert at school which means I've got to go out in the torrential, cold rains to attend. I can't complain. For the first time in a week I've done my thing at home today. Much cooking and cleaning and laundry and heat and cocoa and Jane Marple mysteries on TCM. After the concert I'll bring Jenna home, prepare final touches on dinner and help with homework for J and Yousef. Then it's off to buy shoes for Laila with all the girls. Boys will be gyming.

* The weekend was lots of fun with the Cinco de Mayo party at Bill and Nicole's. So glad Granny, Papa, Kathy and Bob could come. We also had breakfast for Mother's Day and spent lots of Sunday out in the sun even though it was cool out.

*Laila has 5 days of high school left.

*Summer break for everyone else starts mid-June and it's coming fast.

My menu today:

Timen bagilla (one vegetarian, one lamb)

House salad

Whole wheat bread

Triple chocolate cake

On tv:

Miss Marple

LOST

In other random news:
I had lunch at Habib's yesterday. I liked. Shish tawook (chunks of boneless chicken), lentil soup, & salad.
My laundry is 100% finished AND tomorrow is trash day. If I can get all the trash to the street in the rain and do tonights laundry by morning. .............ooohhh...I'm sensing some good vibrations. This could be great!

2010-05-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

I've got to write this all down or I'm going to forget! Monday night we caught a HUGE swarm of bees which brought us to swarm #3 for the year. It was in the forest next to us and was pretty difficult to get, involving ladders in trucks and lots of thorns. I did take pictures which I'll eventually post. Yesterday Jenna and I went for an evening walk to specifically look for swarms while the boys were at the gym. We came back with nothing (which was a good thing). 15 minutes later the boys came home and Mazin said he was going for a walk. I assured him that we'd just gotten back and there was nothing. He went anyway and spotted a swarm! It was a small one on a fence that he collected this morning at sunrise. It's definitely bee season with 4 swarms in a week!
In other news we got a graduation dress yesterday. Still need lots of accessories but we're getting there.

2010-05-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Did everyone like yesterday's song choice? I can't get it out of my brain. I'm a gypsy. I'll steal your clothes and wear them if they fit me". I find that hilarious for some reason. Well, over the weekend we collected honey bee swarm number 2 for the season. It was such and easy one. 15 minutes from home and hanging from the lowest branch on a tree. Just about shoulder height from the ground. It took about 5 minutes! And the people who discover the swarms are always pretty funny and freaked out. More good times...........
Tonight I think we've got to go graduation dress shopping. That will probably involve all the girls after picking Jenna up from girl scouts. Wish us luck with that!! The guys will be going to their gym I suppose so we'll all be busy.
I think this will be a trying week but it's all leading up to the annual cinco de mayo party at Bill and Nicole's on Saturday. We're really looking forward to the good times and company.
And now...............on a more gruesome note..............DO NOT read the rest of this if you are the least bit queasy about things. I really mean it. Don't do it. You've been warned. No Joke!
I went to Yoga this morning and then to get my hair cut. Came home and let Molly out and went for my barn check etc. Seems Bubba, one of our small goats snuck out of the fence for the millioneth time. Yes, it's that time of year when I HATE GOATS. OK Here it comes...........last chance to get out of here..............he must have thought it was a good day for a little soccer and he was goalie. Sorry.........not funny at all..................He has, Um..had...little horns and he tangled in the soccer net. AAAGGGHHHH It looks like one of those giant spider movies where they wrap up a whole human body in their web. He is deceased and he is totally coccooned in the soccer net. I know............a better person would go and get his carcass out of there before anyone else has to see it. So far I haven't decided to go and do it. Everyone ok? It may not be so bad for you to read it. I had to see it. And I knew the guy!

Gypsy - Shakira Listen to my song of the week

2010-05-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

2010-04-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ha! Didn't I call it yesterday?? Our first bee swarm was found and caught yesterday! It was a huge one too. We should be on a roll from here on out. I'm hoping for one a week for the next month or two! Maybe that's too much to ask for. A couple a month maybe? I went to the first rummage sale this morning too. It was pretty good and I ended up spending a grand total of $12.25. The weather is great today and better tomorrow so we're on for a picnic if anyone's in the nieghborhood. "Picnic" is probably a bit misleading. I'm not sure what we're eating but it's usually not the usual picnic menu. It may involve rice depending on the butcher shop. Meat doesn't excite anyone in our family except the boys. I figure that's 2 to 5 with the vegie lovers winning. Bill and Nicole are coming too. I know they like vegie options as well! Tofu weiner anyone?

2010-04-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday and all is well. I'm working for the weekend lol. Day 2 of spring gardening with everything I've got. I've decided that it's slightly more therapeutic than baking so I'm seizing the moment. We planted a peach tree for Earth Day last week and that got me going I guess. I cleaned out my flower garden and herb strip and I've done some re-arranging and new planting. I started with gloves but realized nothing can be done well without the use of bare hands so my hands aren't looking so good at the moment. I love the solitude and peace of gardening alone (well, Molly hangs out with me) and I have that strange feeling again that I'll turn into a recluse some day. Oh well, I'm enjoying it.
Yesterday wasn't much of a cooking day and in fact Yousef and I made last minute burritos when he came home from school. I'm doing much better today and already made 3 huge spinach ricotta calzones and a pizza. At least that's a start in case I get too involved outside this afternoon.
I'm not sure what's going on this weekend but Friday is supposed to be beautiful weather so I hope to have a small picnic after school. We just checked records from last year and noticed that the bee swarm collection last year began on April 27th. Nothing so far this year but we're ready.
I have some great spring pictures to post but the connection wire is problematic so I hope to get that done some time soon. Z helped take pics and she captured plenty of a grown up Shawn Todd who's been sheared and looks pretty funky. Also Rachel Ray who's doing great. A slew of baby goats are still around and we've had our annual kitten litter. They also took a couple of earth day pictures that are real classics. I wasn't feeling well that evening and was particularly cold even though it wasn't really cold outside. In most of the pictures I've been caught in the background laying in the grass with many layers of clothing including a red flannel nightgown with scotty dogs on it. Great shots.........good times.
Big rummage sales tomorrow and Sunday. Planning to attend both. Moving on to my gardening while the sun shines bright.

The latest news

2010-04-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

The weekend is nearly over and here's what's been done.
1. The grass is cut.
2. The barn is clean. Not just picked up, but manure-less clean.
3. My house is relatively clean.
4. I've cooked kubba soup with turnips and spinach and big fat kubbas that didn't break open when I dropped them in to boil. (Kubbas are big dumpling like things with meat and onion filling and rice flour and ground meat mix on the outside)
5. I've watched 3:10 to Yuma and I liked it.
6. Went to see Avatar finally. Loved it.
7. Ate baja fish tacos at Long John Silvers. Not so good. When will I learn?
8. Played Life with Jenna. I dislike that game greatly. I always avoid it but somehow got talked into playing. I ended with lots of debt upon retirement. I had a loser of a husband who just rode around in the car with me. I made him move to the back seat cuz I couldn't take him anymore. I had two kids who didn't amount to much. My house foreclosed and I couldn't afford insurance on my house or car. I didn't go to college but instead chose a career. Guess what it was............police officer which changed to artist mid-game. Jenna had to remind me several times that it was just a game.
9. I tried to forget that it was way toooo cold. I experienced blue feet for the first time in weeks.
10. Took a nap Sunday afternoon.

I also took Laila driving several times. She did well and probably drove a couple of hours total. She hasn't attempted to drive at night yet or go on the highway. We must do that some time soon. She's graduating next month! Hopes to get her license before graduation and I think she'll make it.

There's no earthly way of knowing......which direction we are going.......

2010-04-15T05:32:00.000-07:00

Remember that fabulous scene in the old Willy Wonka movie with Gene Wilder? Willy and all the candidates for the prize are on a boat going through this horrifying tunnel with flashing images of giant bugs, fire, evil-doers....... It's still scary to this day. I LOVED that the whole little poem Wonka says on the boat, including the references to the grim reaper and the fires of hell was the preview for next weeks LOST episode. It put a smile on my face. I love that show. Even though I'm pretty "lost" as to some of the plots and I'm glad it's the last season, I'm still as hooked as ever.

I've been spending lots of time working around the house these days. Lots of flower beds to clean and plenty of yard clean up. It never ends yet I'm determined to some day finish all the work so we can just relax. Wish me luck with that one. There's lots of spring stuff popping up though. It's supposed to be 80 degrees today! I'm almost done with housework and then it's outside for the afternoon! Warmth.........heat....sun........iced tea............it all equals happiness.

Oh, the day before yesterday I had this baby boy and named him Yousef. Wait...how could he be turning 15 this summer?? He's very nearly pulling straight A's this trimester. He's a good guy. Remind me to tell anyone who'd like to hear the story how he saved my life one day a long time ago. Don't ask me for a long time though.

The barn is still full of too many spring babies. I'm not so worried about the 3 lambs. They're cute and dumb and relatively harmless. I am however concerned about the 5 little goats. I'd like to make a documentary this summer called When good goats go bad because they always do. My plan this year is to plant lots of expensive shrubs and flowers in the yard. Every time the goats escape and eat them I buy replacements. After the third replacement, I hire a landscaper to come in and do it professionally AND I hire a builder to replace all fencing and make it goat proof. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it. Hardee har har.

What I've been cooking:

Spinach pizza-a hit

Falafel-also a hit

Banana cake with cream cheese frosting-can't go wrong

Looking forward to:

Spending the warm evening with my girls

A peaceful weekend

Bill and Nicole's annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta in a few weeks.

2010-04-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter and Happy Spring

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

2010-03-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very random lately. I'm watching "Say yes to the dress" with the girls. I need to run to MidSib (our local convenient store) to buy a bag of chips for Laila to take to school tomorrow. I will also buy some ketchup so Z can eat her homemade chicken nuggets. The boys finished the ketchup before leaving for their kickboxing class. I want some SF ice cream but I bet they don't carry it there. Vickie came over this afternoon and watched me make chicken nuggets. She laughed so hard she made me laugh until we felt sick! Maybe I need my own cooking show cuz I never knew my techniques were so funny. I made some coleslaw too, with purple and green cabbage and lots of carrots. It's yummy.
AAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Anyway..............why IS a raven like a writing desk?
Listen to my song of the week. You know I make it worth your while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO3gg2cVfxg

2010-03-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

So much going on and so little blogging. Where to begin?? Saturday was the annual beekeepers conference for SE Michigan and it's a command performance for the whole family. We only do a handful of things which EVERYONE participates in so this is a big event on many levels. We started off bright and early and arrived in time for a continental breakfast and registration. Last years keynote speaker discussed mites in the beehive for 2 hours and it wasn't a big hit with some members of the family. This year was a guy who talked about Bee Natural History. It was much better and I learned a lot. I also attended his lecture on reading hive frames and it was great too. Less impressive were the talk on building your own honey house which focused less on building and more on government red tape complaints and the Apitherapy session where the guy started out by having a honey bee sting his gums. EWWWW. J and Z went to a class on bees wax soap making and enjoyed it. L caught up on her beauty sleep. The boys floated in and out of classes and ate sweets for hours. Mazin was in his glory.

Sunday morning the weather was beautiful and we ended up doing some major yard clean up and a little planting in the front garden. All the outdoor babies are doing well. One more sheep is ready to deliver and then we're done! Stood at Krogers for 2 hours selling girl scout cookies with J Sunday afternoon. I got a head start on housework Sunday night since the guys were busy watching this LOUSY movie called 300. It really stunk. How many times can the spartans and persians battle it out??? Z and I were about to make some anti-war signs and start a march. We ate smoothies instead and waited it out.
I just heard that these guys will be at the Palace of Auburn Hills this summer. I'll only obsess for a short time. I promise. Give a listen. I only suggest songs that are worth it, you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od66bhNzBtE

It's worth it. Turn up your volume and hit the link.

2010-03-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

My message of the week. Be back next week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmj04CsTyg

2010-03-06T11:24:00.001-08:00

The sun is shining today and it's in the mid 40's. It feels like spring and I just came in from the deck where I was happily pretending it was summer and I was laying in the sun. If you wear some layers topped with a green down filled jacket and red beret with the sun beating on your face...............(with me so far?)...............you can almost believe it's summer if you keep your eyes closed tight. Really. Until the neighbor comes to the fence and disturbs your beautiful dream by stupidly asking if you've come out of hibernation or some ridiculous comment like that. Then you make a mad dash for the garage because you realize your neighbor just saw you laying on the glider with a green jacket and red beret pretending it's summer. Of course I wasn't alone either. Rachel Ray was out for her first big walk in the world and Shawn Todd joined her because they have a lot in common. And Molly was there too. And Jenna and Laila and Baba were there taking part in my dream. Oh well. It can't be the first time the neighbor thought we were a little odd.
In other news the boys are in their way home from arabic school and lunch is ready. We're having okra soup and rice with lots of leftovers from yesterday. I had some inspiration yesterday morning and began a cooking frenzy which produced 3 dozen spinach pies, a tray of kibbe with ground lamb, a tray of potato kibbe, fattoush, a big plate of burriq (arabic egg rolls), and a large spinach and mozzarella pizza. I made the high school pick up at 2:30 in Dearborn Heights and went to a dr. appt. After dinner we went to a religious gathering/celebration which was really fun and interesting too. They had an emcee of sorts who hosted a jeopardy trivia game, some musician/singer entertainers, way too many balloons for my head, shish tawook sandwiches and goodie bags etc. I'm glad we went cuz it turned out to be pretty nice and the emcee was so hilarious. He looked a little like peewee Hermen and had some catch phrases like "Clap it up, people". Also, kept encouraging people to buy raffle tickets to win "lovely, lovely and expensive prizes". He must have said that 15 times. This is the same gathering where we went last year and the emcee told the children to sit still because it was getting "very sweatacious". I LOVE this occassion. Must mark it on my calendar for next year!
Outside news:
We now have 8 baby goats in the barn. Key words being "in the barn". Two of them have a mother with no milk so they must be bottle fed. In a brief episode of common sense I vetoed bringing them into my kitchen. Their mother clearly loves them, just can't feed them so she will maintain custody and I'll just feed them many times a day. Since I have to make the trip anyway, Rachel Ray has moved to the barn with them. She seems to be doing fine. It's a little degrading for her to be surrounded by animals but she's holding her own and getting used to it. Shawn Todd is her role model.
Mazin voted in the Iraqi elections yesterday and has a purple finger to show for it. Wonder how long that will last??
Hoping to make it to the rec center for some exercise this evening. I made a little mistake today which didn't seem like a big deal at the time. I haven't eaten corn syrup for over two years and it's a good thing. Today I was so hungry for some cereal and I was out of fiber one so I had some total with skim milk. Hmm.... high fructose corn syrup feels like crap in my stomach. I won't be doing it again any time soon.
We had a great time with Granny and Papa this past week even if it was a short visit. We managed to eat at Yasmine Bakery and do some shopping. Hope they can come again soon. :)

2010-02-27T06:57:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm trying to figure out the fine line between being someone who just enjoys hanging out at home doing my thing and crazy lamb lady in fuzzy socks who obsesses over cooking lots of food and rejoicing over things like getting all the trash to the street by Wednesday morning and having absolutely no laundry to wash. I don't know. I've got to give it some more thought. So anyhoo..............the boys had arabic school today and Z spent the night at her friends house so Mazin left this morning to drop the boys and do some errands till it's time to pick everyone up and come home. Laila is still sleeping and J is being her productive self laying on the couch eating a Big Top chocolate cupcake slice and watching Sponge Bob. She's also trying to lose a loose tooth before her sleepover tonight. I've offered to yank it out but she's not agreeing so far. I am making a pot of turkey stew which will eventually become turkey pot pies. Rachel Ray has had a bottle and seems to be content for the time being. I must make a quick run through the house and pick up a little. Then I plan to put the pot pies together and get them in the oven early and possible work on a new salad I'm concocting. Pesto Nicoise (baby potatoes, fresh green beans, tomato, boiled eggs, olives and pesto) Coincidentally, it's a Rachel Ray recipe. The cook, not the lamb.

Current thoughts swirling in my head:

Can I get my hands on a pizza oven and accessories when St. Anthony's pizza production shuts down soon?

I'm committed to attending court with a friend Monday morning and how on earth did that happen? I'm nervous about it.

Why do I eat so much cheese? It's just so yummy in my tummy.

I guess I have to emerge from the house this evening and go exercise with the boys. Somehow my husband has lost several pounds and I've found it. It's upsetting the status quo.

Is summer real or just some fantasy I've created to ease the pain of spasming (is that a word?) fingers and toes? Oh, and there's a hole in the bottom of my smart wool socks! I need a sign.

OK. Enough babbling. There's pot pies to be made. Onward and upward.

Snow Day

2010-02-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

I'm actually not snowed in. I just pretended like I was today. It felt right to be in my pink fleece pants, gray sweatshirt and smart wool socks. So I wasn't exactly the picture of fitness and productivity... So what? Who cares? I did manage to go through several cupboards and drawers in search of a lost envelope. I didn't find the envelope but I managed to gather two full garbage bags of stuff to pitch. Yes, I could be on the hoarder show and I'm not proud of it. I have such a hard time getting rid of garbage sometimes. I also made some spaghetti and eggplant balls for dinner and I'm ready to cook tomorrow's dinner already! I made a double recipe of rice krispy treats. I consumed 6 cups of tea and that must count for something! The boys have gone to their class at the rec center and the girls and I are watching old home videos. I don't know what they were originally searching for but we've been sidetracked and now we're just reminiscing about how cute they all used to be. They're wondering what happened? I can't help them out with that one. I'm wondering the same thing! :)
Looking forward to:
A happy weekend and granny and papa's arrival on Monday
Next weekends Alice in Wonderland premiere

I'm Still Standing

2010-02-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

I may seem to have disappeared, but never fear (or, sorry)- I'm still here. Just busy with the nothings I do each day.

I've been:

helping with homework

cleaning my house

cooking massive quantities of food

grocery shopping

filling enrollment applications

making and cancelling appointments

surviving snow days

keeping warm

AND..... taking care of our new kitchen lamb who just turned a week old yesterday. She now takes 5 bottles a day and requires lots of attention or she cries. After great debate she has been named. Rachel Ray. Her deceased mother was named Rachel and since she lives in my kitchen, the Ray part made sense. Pictures to come. She's white with some brown spots. A little more colorful than ShawnTodd, but alas, she doesn't seem to be any smarter. There's talk that some family members want her to move out but I don't see that happening in the next week.

The other rumor floating around is that Granny and Papa may be coming up for a couple of days soon. Hope it proves to be true. Wacky Wednesday is just around the corner.

Random TV reviews:

Lost-YES

American Idol-NO

UFC-NO

TLC's Baby Story-oddly YES

Psych-YES

Arabic Satellite- No comment

Latest food obsessions:

Fattoush with purple cabbage

Popcorn

Cocoa

Wheatena with sugar free syrup

Post game

2010-02-08T05:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I survived the super bowl and although I wasn't glued to the tv the whole time, I managed to see a couple of the funny ads and the half time extravaganza. The only thing I have to say about the ads is that I couldn't help but think of Uncle Bill every time the screaming chickens came on. Must have been his worst nightmare! The half time show was pretty fun and as expected, I was almost ex-communicated from the family. Here's some comments that streamed while I watched:
"My head is dizzy. Is this almost over"?
Loose translation of one- "Just lay the egg already and finish"! You can guess who said that one!
"Aren't they old enough to be grandfathers"?
"They're gonna need some chi by the time this is over"
"Doesn't R0ger Daltry look like he could be Hugh Grant's father"?
"Mama, your obsession with Hugh Grant has got to stop"
"Do you wish you were there"? "No, not at all. Oh, wait, how hot is it in Miami tonight"?
Super bowl snacks were tasty. Thanks to Z the assembly of fiesta triangles was a breeze and we were done in no time.
Back to school, work and exercise today.

2010-02-07T13:36:00.001-08:00

Just got back from the beautiful Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. J and I had a great time seeing the Little House on The Prairie play and tooling around ann arbor for a short time. We managed to find great parking and little frigid walking to the theater and also stopped at the candy factory for a quick bite of chocolate. I found a sugar free peanut butter cup that tasted very sugar free but it was a treat none the less. Not so much like the Reese's Cups of my past, but what the heck. Now we're ready to hunker down for the evening and watch the Super Bowl. Yep, I said it. I am NOT a football fan but feel compelled to watch the game anyway. Looking forward to the half time show for the most part. Last year was Bruce Springsteen and the kids thought it was HILARIOUS that I actually liked the guy. This year should have them rolling on the floor with The Who, but I don't care. It'll be a fight to not have the tv muted for the only worthwhile portion of the evening. Hey, I'm making the snacks. I should at least get my few minutes of entertainment! I'm making fiesta triangles with wonton wrappers and refried beans, cheese and olives inside. Dip them in salsa and they sound pretty good. Veggies and dip, chips and salsa, popcorn, and cheesy bread are on the agenda. I still don't have the sweets lined up so I better go get busy. Yesterday I made a triple layer brownie but somehow it disappeared. I may get by with no bake oatmeal or rice krispy treats. I'm cooked out for the weekend. I did double duty yesterday and last night and even cooked dinner to send to a friends' house since she had surgery Friday. Tomorrow's Monday!! Sometimes I look forward to the start of the new week, so shoot me!

My baby boy turned 16 and a day in the life....

2010-01-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my kid turned 16. The third one to turn 16 by the way. How could that be? I'm still trying to figure it all out, cuz I'm just not old enough! Well, we had a great little party with Uncle Bill, Aunt Nicole, the 7 of us, and 3 friends of Ali and Yousef who spent the night. I made 2 pans of lasagna, one plain and one spinach and ricotta. Also had chicken and salad. The cake was a masterpiece of chocolate called Triple Fudge Brownie Cake. 3 boxes of semi sweet and unsweetened baking chocolate, heavy cream, and a hershey bar shaved over the frosting which was made of cream and semi sweet chocolate. Wow! A little rich to say the least but it was magnificant if I say so myself. Lots of fun to make too. The first half of the day Jenna and I were home alone and decided to use the time to take on jobs we have no business doing. Not only did we cook everything, clean the house and do the laundry.............we also moved an antique player piano completely across our excessively large living room. Yes, the two of us did it. We laughed, we cried, we slid on the carpet, we were left in the middle of the room with no leverage but the piano was moved! The living room has so much more space now. I'm very happy with the result and our backs are recuping nicely.
And a day in the life.....
Sunday was company and lots of it. Haven't done that for a while so it was fun. Mazin decided that it was also the perfect day to slaughter a goat. Of course we were in the midst of a deep freeze too. I made a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, 3 loaves of bread, yogurt, salad, and a pumpkin spice cake. Someone else brought a pot of timen bagilla which was really nice. So we ate, talked, played Uno Flash, processed goat meat, and one family stayed long enough to eat again! Just a normal day around here I guess. Oh and of course an extra kid stayed for one more day. She just left last night at 9:30! Finally we're back to a perfectly normal life. :)

When the day turns crappy..cook

2010-01-26T10:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, my day stinks. For several reasons which I won't bore anyone with, my day is really crappy. There's only so much hot chocolate one can drink in a day, even if it is sugar free. So, what to do? I might as well cook. I've made a big pot of okra soup with lamb chunks. This may sound disgusting to non-okra eaters, but it's actually really delicious. Nice thick tomato base with a little garlic and dry lemon. Over rice it's a tasty thing. I'm also baking massive amounts of cinnamon rolls. At least I can enjoy the aroma. Some are being frosted with a cream cheese frosting and the rest with a carmel frosting.

I'm also making some good old rice krispy treats, a couple loaves of whole wheat bread, a pot of brown rice, arabic salad, and some homemade applesauce.

Ali's 16th birthday is Saturday! That's kind of bizarre to me. Hoping to have a little gathering for dinner and maybe go swimming at the rec center, then back home for cake. He's all about Tap Out so I may break down and buy him something from "The Fight Store". Can't imagine I'm even going to walk in the place, but I'll try. J's invited to a birthday party the same day and I'm hoping I can figure out how to bow out of that one without making her feel too bad. Not thrilled with a couple of her friend choices from school these days. Way too much drama. I think I'd like to return to the good old days about 6 or 7 yrs. ago.

Well, I'm getting back to my cooking. The one thing I can depend on. A little effort and you can't go wrong! God help the first person that complains about the okra!

Todays Ramblings

2010-01-23T14:05:00.000-08:00

I used to have this friend who would always say, "What to do". It seemed to fit into any situation. Like if we had a problem she would say, "What to do". Or if we didn't have anything to talk about she might say it. Or if we were cooking together (which we did all the time) and ran out of an ingredient she would say it. Seems like it was a part of every conversation we ever had. She moved out of the country a long time ago and we lost touch. If Bill goes to Lebanon to work next year, I'm definitely going for a visit and looking up Rabab. Last I heard she lived there and was teaching elementary school. I imagine she's still saying "What to do" to her class every day. I was thinking of her today because Jenna was eating scrambled eggs this morning and remembered the time Rabab made her eggs and they were runny. She came home and threw up in her long curly hair. Good times.
The girls are watching Titanic on television. I've never seen that movie except for parts here and there. I absolutely hate it. I know.....everyone else in the world loves it. I'm not sure why I hate it so much but I do.
I baked Blondies today. I was inspired by throwdown with Bobby Flay yesterday and I had to try them. I guess they were a hit cuz the pan is about gone. They're like brownies except made with brown sugar and butter instead of chocolate. I added white chocolate chips and chocolate chip swirls. The smell was fabulous. I also cooked a big pot of timen bagilla (rice with fava beans, a big bunch of fresh dill and lamb).
Another old friend of mine that moved to Houston years ago is trying to move her family back to Michigan. For the life of me I can't figure out why but it would be great to have her back around here. Her plans thus far are to open a yoga shop in Dearborn but live out of the city. Her husband has promised their children a cow so I guess she'll need a little land. She plans to make cheese and yogurt on the side. She's also a licensed doula/midwife and may get back into the business. I hope she moves to my neighborhood!
Currently waiting for sunset and then heading out to the gym for an evening workout. Fun Fun.

Diaper Man and Fish Boy can't communicate

2010-01-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

This was a conversation at the fish market this morning. They do have a small line of groceries and other things in the store.
OK- a guy comes in off the street and asks the guy behind the counter how much the huggies are on sale for. Of course, the guy doesn't understand him cuz his command of the english language is not so good. (the fish guy, not the diaper guy)
So, the fish guys son comes out to help. Again the guy wants to know how much the huggies are on sale for. There's a sign outside that says they're on sale but no price is listed.
Mazin intercedes and tells the fish boy what the diaper guy needs. Fish boy doesn't even know what huggies are so he decides to check out the sign on the window. The sign reads.......................are you ready for this ? Huge Sale inside!