Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy 2008


Wishing everyone a happy new year! Inshallah 2008 will be a good year for everyone....


Bye Bye 2007, it was good knowing you!


We are not doing much today....I wanted to go out and party, but then decided to have an small gathering at my house with my friends and family so the kids can welcome the new year with us.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Pink eye


oh oh!!


For years I have been hearing about my friends' kids getting the pink eye, and I thought I hope my kids do not get it!


Well guess What??? I GOT IT!! yeh on Christmas day when I can not go to the doctor to start treatment! BTW does anyone know of a good eye doctor in the tla' el3ali area??


I should have gone to the doctor the minute I noticed one of my eyes is too red, but I thought maybe it is because I am tired...uggh! Now my eye is red, and one is significantly smaller than than the other...not a very good look!


Lets go back in my history...this is the third time I have gotten this in my eye. The first time I was about 6-7 my eye was very swollen though! Everyone was being nice to me, and I recall being in a car going to some one's place in a hill and my neighbour was driving. For some reason I picked that time to put my hands on his eyes blocking them..playing the guess who! Thankfully he did not kill me, because I would kill anyone who does it to me while I am driving!


The second time I was in Lebanon on vacation...I was not allowed to wear makeup for a whole week! But thankfully the week was over the day we went to a Khathem Alsaher concert, and I looked all pretty when I took a picture with him, but my idiot cousin took a picture of us with his body cutting his head off! Unfortunately that was 15yrs ago before we had a digital camera so we found this out too late! I am still mad!


This is the third time in Amman...Hmmmmm it seems my eye gets sick in the middle east...INTERESTING...


Well now when hubby comes on Friday night he will not only see a fatter wife, but one with a pink eye as well and maybe no makeup for few days! crab!

update: Thank you Anon...I totally forgot about the eye hospital,it is a 10min walk from my home! We went there and saw a doctor. I am glad it was open today!

After I finished this post I checked Ziad's eye and yup, he has the pink eye...he is the one who gave to me! His eyes have been red since Sunday, but I thought it was because he was going to bed late and waking up early. DAH at me! Well now we are on antibiotic drops and getting the drops into Ziad's eyes is a pain in the rear!

I had to tell him about the consequences of not taking the drops of course I exaggerated a bit, and I think I scared the hell out of him. He is scared of the drops but he does not want his eyes to get worse so he is letting me put the drops in his eyes, the first time it took us 1hr, the second time it took 10min..hopefully next time it will take the less than 1min it is supposed to take to put a drop in each eye...

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas to all my friends.


I hope everyone is having happy and safe holidays, and that everyone is enjoying all the decorations and lights.
p.s. I hate snow, but I love this picture. So cozy, I want to be in that little house by the fireplace sipping some hot chocolate then going for a walk in the snow, building a snow man , having a snow fight, then going back in for more hot chocolate and a cozy nap.

My Eid post...


I have lots to blog about but I have been too lazy.


First let me say how cold I am and how this cold is making me extra lazy! Like I can afford to be any lazier! I can’t wait to be back home to the land of affordable heating and insulated houses. I just can not see myself spending $1000 for solar to heat this apt! You know how many shoes and clothes I can buy with that money instead?


Ok now I am done with my obligatory I’m so cold rant...lets move on...


Eid was fun, Ziad was upset that he did not get to go to Eid prayers, poor guy. We got dressed, went downstairs to be with the rest of the family. Hubby’s sister and brother arrived from Saudi shortly after, so it was nice to hang around together. Everyone left for their traditional Eid lunch while the kids and I went to Mamabean’s house for the cookie party.


It was great, the kids had a lot of fun and it was great to meet the bloggers who attended. I finally got to meet the famous Rambling Hal. The cookies were yummy. I had a hard time eating them; they were too pretty to eat.


The next day we went to Aqaba. Few weeks ago my sister in law went to Aqaba and did not take Ziad with her. Ever since he has been driving her crazy, every time he sees her he asks “why didn’t you take me to Aqaba with you” so this madness can stop we decided to take him there. Of course he still asks her the same question saying that he wants to janenha (drive her crazy) and zahea’ha (bore her) with this question because she did not take him with her espoo3 elmadi.


We had fun in Aqaba; Although we did get up at 4 am to get ready for the bus to leave at 6 sharp, which was changed to 7 sharp! yeh right, does something sharp exist here? We left at almost 8. the bus ride was not too bad, everyone was joking around and we chitchated with my sister in law's friend. Bilal slept most of the time, and Ziad was all over the place talking to everyone.


We went on the horse carriage, something Ziad has wanted to do forever! And we went on the boat and saw the underwater, very very cool! It would be so awesome to dive there...or at least go snorkelling. We really wanted to go for a camel ride, but did not know where to go, poor Ziad and Bilal they were really looking forward to riding on a camel. (So was I)
When hubby comes we want to go Petra and Wadi rum. We did go to Wadi rum, but it was at night time. There was a party, we danced and chitchatted then went back to Aqaba to sleep!


O wait, I have got to talk about our room in Aqaba! It has the tiniest two beds I have ever, ever seen! I was sharing the roon with my sister in law along with my two kids! My sister in law has a house in Aqaba, her husband and sons were also there, so she just went there for the night. Bilal and I slept on one bed, while Ziad slept on the other bed. Sometime during the night Ziad joined us on the tiny bed! Eventually I got up and slept on the other bed all by myself! What a night!


We also got to go shopping! All my shopping experience in Amman has been at the mall! And this souk we went to reminded me of Lebanon when we were little and went shopping with my parents,so that was fun.


All in all it was not a bad Eid. With the cookie party and our trip to Aqaba it was anything but boring.


The whole time I was writing this post I was listening to a song on Rotana Zaman! I am done with this post and the song is not done! People 30-40 years ago had so much more patience than we do today eh?? Songs were way tooooo long! I am changing the channel, this is torture!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Eid Mubarak!

Eid mubarak to all ....Inshallah everyone will have a safe and happy Eid...
All I heard today is how horrible we are for not taking Ziad to hajj and how unfair it is that there no ka3ba in Amman! OMG


We got past the hajj thing and he realized this is eid is the famous kharoof eid, how come everyone , and he means everyone in the world has a kharoof except for us! sheesh! Now I have to go out and buy a kharoof or everyone will laugh at us...(kharoof=sheep)


Then he made me feel guilty because I have been saying that baba will be here when Eid comes, oops sorry for not being so specific, he comes a week after eid, "I was all excited that Ami(rami) will be here on Eid, now he is not...blah blah blah"


Eid does have a whole new dimension when you have kids...


This Eid the kids got educational arabic games....that is all they wanted, they picked them out themselves so do not look at me like that, I am a fun mom OK! Hubby is bringing them toys they chose from Toys r us's website, and I bought them a couple of leapster games from Ebay. I do not get how people can buy their kids presents and keep they a secret until eid, christmas, bdays. I have been trying to do this for six years and so far no good...I get too excited and show them...O well..maybe next year!


Sunday, December 16, 2007

nothing to post about


It is official; I have run out of words! I do not have anything to blog about!! NOTHING!

I have had the most boring weekend ever!! Bilal is sick...the sickest he has ever been! He has not moved off the sofa for four days! And neither have I! Well except to tidy the apartment up a bit, and to take a shower and to get some food from the kitchen. We have watched so much cartoons, my brain has turned into mush! And I am feeling super fat! I just had to throw that in there...The feeling fat thing I mean.

Today we overslept; we were awakened by Ziad’s bus missed call! OOPS! This happens when you use your cell phone as an alarm clock! Note to self, buy an alarm clock. So Ziad had a day off today as well, since I could not leave a very sick Bilal and take Ziad to school.

I was going to post about something serious today as a matter of fact. I wanted to post about the Pakistani Muslim girl murdered by her father in Toronto, but I decided I was not in the mood for posting about something so depressing. The poor girl; Allah yer7amha.

Then I was going to post about something I read online the other day. I can not find the article, but apparently people are whining about the drive thru, mainly Tim Horton’s (kiss, kiss miss u Timmy) drive thru! What am I going to do without the drive thru??? Those little windows have been a life saver for me! If it was not for the drive thru I would have bygone so many eating outs! There is no way I will take two kids out of the car seats, and order while making sure the kids do not bother others, and do not decide to leave the store, and then try to balance holding two kid’s hands, while holding the coffee, and food to the car! I only have two hands for god’s sake!

I guess this is why Tim Horton’s take only cash in Ontario, since they are a lot busier than those out west! I have to say I am going to miss being able to use debit and credit cards for my coffee and treats! I will go back to keeping a Tim Horton’s cash on hand! How inconvenient! There is one Tim Horton’s in Mississauga that is right beside a Scotia bank with a drive thru ATM! I love that location, whenever I am shot on cash I just drive to that one, ok so it is a good 10min drive from my house, but so worth it! Really I am not that lazy, I hardly ever used the drive thru before I had kids, ok that is a lie, I hardly ever used the drive thru in the summer before having kids.

So much for not having anything to say, what was I thinking; I always have things to say!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Too much Rambling here..


We are leaving Amman on Feb 01, I am sad about leaving so soon, I have grown to love it here. I am not even minding the taxis, the indoor cold and the annoying guys.



I am not looking forward to our flight home! We go from Amman to Abu Dhabi, then a 14hr flight to Toronto. OMG! I booked a hotel at Abu Dhabi airport, but I am having a hard time justifying spending $140 for less than five hrs! We get to Abu Dhabi at 9 pm, and leave at 2:00 am. I will try very hard not let the kids sleep until we board the plane from AD to TO...hopefully they will take a nap on the plane from Amman to AD so they can stay up late...... I AM NEVER TRAVELING THIS ROUTE AGAIN!


My baby is sick, I feel so bad because I let him go to school today. He was fine in the morning, but when he got off the bus he had a fever and was sleepy...he will be missing a trip to dream park tomorrow...:(


Ziad stayed home because he missed the bus today... it is so annoying how they left so fast, they were few minutes earlier than usual. Bilal's bus is so much better, they never leave without calling...



I have finished Eid shopping, I got clothes and presents for the kids, they were all educational toys, in Arabic, I still want to buy one more toy, maybe we will go to the mall on the weekend...hmmm maybe not, I will go alone on Sunday.



I need to buy a pair of black pants, but I am having the worst luck finding the right ones. I really hate pants shopping! I did buy a cute black turtle neck sweater from mango (what a funny name) to go with the black pants I am planning on buying...so I am happy about that.


Spring shoes (formally transit) do not have boots yet in Amman! I left Canada on august 01, and they already had a good selection of boots on display in the stores. I need to buy a pair of black boots and a pair of knee high boots to go with my skirt, sheesh! Hurry up already!


I think I am getting sick, I should start taking cold FX, hopefully it will work its magic and I will not end up getting the kid’s cold!


I have been going to the gym once a week these past three weeks! How horrible is that?? Something always comes up preventing me from going...*sigh* I am so going to be fat :’(


I bought a cute pair of pink socks. They are so warm cozy...my feet love them!


Ziad loves Barney! He told me that this morning, he thinks Barney teaches us good thing...*screaming*


Hubby is coming in two weeks, yippy...

Sunday, December 9, 2007

bye bye goldie...


Well our gold fish (goldie) passed away this weekend....usually when the fish dies we go out and buy a new one before the kids realize that the fish is not sleeping. This time Ziad is older and more fahman! The fish is sleeping bit did not work on him...*sigh*




We had a small funeral for goldie on Friday, we had to decide where to bury her. We finally decided to bury her in the garden at his aunt's house downstairs. It rained on us, so we had to make it quick, we read the fate7a and put a flower to mark her grave, it was the shortest funeral ever! I hope the cat will not dig her out!




So now our fish bowl sits empty, and goldie is in jennah with her fish family and friends.




She was a good fish, always hungry! Anytime someone got close to her bowl she would come up and wait for food. I think she may have died because she ate too much. Right before bedtime on Thursday, Bilal decided to feed her, which is a big nono here! He put too much food, and being the faj3ani she is, she ate too much I guess...I was planning on cleaning her bowl in the morning....*sigh*




This is why I hate getting pets for the kids, their death too soon is inevitable...




Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Kids and reading


Before Ziad was born I stocked up on children books and I would read him a book every night. When I went to Syria he was seven months old, when I went into a book store to buy him Arabic books to read to him the girl has to hide her giggles when I told her I am buying these books for my seven months old baby. It is not like I was buying him novel, they were cardboard books with 2-3 words on each page, sheesh!


Now Ziad and Bilal love books, we buy 2-4 books from Ctown every week, Arabic books of course, and we read 2-6 books every night depending on how early we settle down in bed.


I love reading! One day when I was eight or nine years old I discovered a room full of books and magazines in my grandfather’s house. That is when I realized my love for reading. I was in heaven; I would sit there for hours. They were books collected over the years, my young uncles, my older uncles, my aunt, and some for friends of the family. My favourite books were a series about kids who solve mysteries, kind of like Nancy Drew. Loza, nossa, atif, bakheet and takhtakh, those were their names, I wish I knew what the series if called. There were also some romantic novels, Ghassan Knafani books, the Red Crescent magazines (they had the saddest stories about Palestine), and few other novels for Arabic writers. Before I left to Canada I had read every single book, and magazine in that room. I wonder if they are still there! I hope so! I want to take some books that I would love to reread.


When Ziad was in preschool the teacher read them a book everyday, and they had daily library visits. Everyday he would bring a new book to read, he was always excited about it, and most days we read the books before he even took his snow suite off. On top of that we visited our local library everyday, we borrow 20+ books each visit. In KG they were still read to everyday and had daily library visits. Everyone in the school had to log the books they read. KG kids were to read 11 times a week. Ziad loved it when we read, and dare I forget to write the name of the books he read in his log every night.


In Jordan Ziad never comes home with a book to read. They have a library at school, but it is not important for grade one to read so they do not have access to it, until they are in grade 3. I do not get it, the library is there, why not let grade one and two students borrow books to read or to be read to them?? No wonder the girl laughed at me for buying books for my seven months old baby in Syria!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Introducing the first girl in the family...


This is Miss Maya....my new niece, she was born on Nov 30th.

She is the first baby girl in a family of four boys, well my two boys, my sister's son, and my brother's son. Now my sister has a girl. Is she ever going to be spoiled , especially by me, you know how much fun it is to buy baby girl clothes and toys?? It will be a lot of fun!:)

Random Rambles


It is official...I am a lazy person, and winter gives me an intensive to be lazy...I am too guilty to just sit around and do nothing all day in the summer but in winter nah no guilt.

I need to buy more sweaters, I am not a sweater person, but now that I am in Amman, it is different, and I actually like turtle necks now... I need to go shopping!

I just register for my second last course, gosh I forgot the name of course...ok business policy and strategy, hubby will bring me my course material and then I get busy, I wanted to take the two remaining courses, and I really really wanted to take finance management, but it is a paced course and being out of the country I worry because it is not flexible, o well...next time the course starts I will be in Canada inshallah and I will take it then! And I will be all done with my degree! YIPPY! I have to decided what to do next, restart CGA or go for my masters...we will see...I plan on doing both eventually , I think I will start with my CGA and then masters ba3deen I will be done with those when I am 60, bas ya3no sho warai sa7??...yes I do not think I will ever stop studying, as much as I hate it, I love it, but I will never go for a PhD...It is not my thing.

I have been eating well for the past two days! The cookies called me none stop all day yesterday! But I totally ignored them! I had a carrot, not very yummy! I miss baby carrots and celery, has anyone seen baby carrots and celery in Amman?? And although I did not go to the gym, I worked out at home...So yay...

Yesterday my mother in law made ma7shi! She bragged about her ma7shi to her daughter and her grand daughter for hours, I make the best ma7shi, no one makes it better. Last time I made ma7shi she said it needs more spices ...it was yummy everyone else said so and it was all gone! Well her ma7shi sucked yesterday! The sauce was not even red, and it tasted so plain and blach no spices at all, and no salt, a waste of calories! So never brag about something until after it is has been done and you know it is good...then brag away!

We are talking about going to Egypt during Eid holidays, but I am not sure about it...hubby will not be here, so I am not looking forward to dealing with the kids without him, but Ziad is dying to go to Egypt and see the pyramids.

I hope we can go to Lebanon when hubby is here! Stupid situation in Lebanon I am so sick of this! I want to see teta and the rest of the family. Inshallah we will be able to go. Ya3ni being in Amman, I am so close, but so far! *sigh*

O yes her comes the complaining!! This weather is horrible for my hair! I am having a horrible hair day everyday! I blow dry my hair and it looks nice for a total of five minutes then it gets all frizzy and looks ikky! Grrrrrrrrrrr.....

Ok that is it for today folks...

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Am I a bad daughter in law??


I just finished getting the kids lunches and clothes ready, did the after kids go to bed tidying up and checked my workout and eating schedule for tomorrow. I am about to sit down and sip a cup of tea with maramiya and when my mother in law called. She wanted me to go with her to her sisters house tomorrow morning. Her sister is having a get together with her friends. I almost said ok no problem, but it just so happens my mobile was in front of the mirror, and naturally when I was talking I snuck a peak at myself, and realized how fat I am getting! I had to choose between going to the gym and sitting with a bunch 60-70 yo ladies I have never met!


The thing is this week I can only go to the gym on sunday, monday, and thrusday as I have previous engagments on tuesday and wednesday that I can not get out of, and of course on the weekend I can not go to the gym because of the kids! I am starting to really get depressed about my weight and need to feel better, so I can not afford to workout less than three times this week.


So now I feel bad, but really I do not feel like going to hubby's aunt's house tomorrow morning and would rather workout! I hate this! My mother in law does not understand this, she does not think that one day at the gym will make a differnce, but it seems there is always something getting in the way of me going to the gym. The first week it rained , and the second week my son was sick, and now the third week this! grrrrrrrrrrr! I only have five hour to myself everyday, and one hour is spent tidying up the apartment, and 1 hr getting unlazy and ready to go out so really I have three hours to do things. I always try to be home 30min before the kids come from school so I can be sure to be home to meet them, and get their lunch ready, so really its only 2.5hrs, and I would rather spend it working out, OK? ah I still feel bad! damn!

Decision, decisions!


Ok seriously I hate this!! I have to decide when to go back to Canada. Hubby wants us to go back ASAP! He is negotiating with companies in Ontario and will be moving back there soon...so this post is really me thinking out loud...or whatever you call thinking through writing..I am loving Amman, I knew that I will like it here and that hubby will be the one whining...hahaha few months ago when we decided to come here hubby said in a stern voice, you will be staying there for a year , so prepare yourself for that! So I did...but he didn’t!
So the pros of moving back to Canada:
I will have a car to drive wherever I want to go! I am looking forward to car shopping...I will either lease new, or take over a lease...we will see...
No more waiting for taxis
Crossing the streets will not cause me any stress
I do not have to worry about losing too much weight and that my jeans will be too loose, there are old navy and the gap there...
Grocery shopping is a lot easier, again because I have a car
I will get to see and spoil my new niece, I don’t believe it, we are not an all boy family anymore...i have brand new niece...
I will be having fun decorating my house which is what got me all excited about moving back..buying new furniture, painting, I can not wait! My beautiful house, I miss it! I was washing the dishes this morning and making plans for what I will buy, and how I will set up the playroom/office...and o yeh we need to buy a new TV, a nice TV for our cute family room. I am beyond excited about buying stuff and decorating not thinking about who I will be giving this away to when we move again...
I will be with my family and friends again.

Central heat that does not cost an arm and a leg

Hot water without worrying that the boys turned the sakhan switch off, and good water pressure.

Better hair days, my hair does not like Amman water!

Drinkable tap water.

A big washer and dryer! O and my dishwasher!!

Baths!
But I will miss the friends I made here in Amman, and I will miss everything about Amman (except for the no driving and the stressful street crossing) I love how I can just call the 7ares and he buys us whatever we need, yeh hubby does that, but he does it while complaining and 70% of the time he gets the wrong things. Since we have leased the apartment her for a whole year, we will be losing about $4000 if the guy will not be nice about it. *sigh*

There is no or very little snow in Amman! I can live with that!

Bilal is happy at his school, I found him a preschool in Milton, but he will be going for 3hrs 3x a week only, and I have to drive him. Ziad will go to the neighbourhood school, and he will take the bus, I hope it is the stop right across the street from our house, how cool would that be? Ok so now I do not know, do I want to go before the end of the year?? Or wait until February which is when our ticket are booked, or wait until the summer... I really can not make up my mind! Ziad wants to go back to Canada, but he changes his mind so frequently it is hard to tell....what do you guys think?

Friday, November 30, 2007

weight loss vent again...Enter at own risk


Warning! Another girly weight loss venting post, guys and gals read at own risk! There, you have been warned!

Now that I am no longer posting on baby center’s weight loss board since I got so busy with blogs, I have no where to vent, so I will vent here on my own blog....sue me! :p

I am so disappointed in me! I have joined a gym and have gone a total of 2 times in two week! ok the reason I did not go much was for a whole week my arms were way too sore, and the week after bolbol was sick so he was home for three days...Ok yes I know excuses excuses...but not to worry I have an excel sheet with an exercise plan! I will go to the gym three days a week, and workout at home for the rest...I know I know I need to go more...but gyms here do not have baby sitting so two days a week I can not go because of the kids, and I need one day a week to do other things while the kids are in school, you know shopping, going out with friends....
This is my workout schedule, I am sharing it with the world...Ok the few visitors I have on my blog...so I will be shamed into sticking to it, rain or shine! Ok if it is raining I will do a video at home for cardio.

sunday cardio 30min, upper body 20min, crunches 10min
monday cardio 30min, lower body 20min, pilates 10min
Tuesday dancing 30min, crunches 10min
Wed cardio 30min, upper body 20min, crunches 10min
Thurs cardio 30min, lower body 20min, pilates 10min
Friday dancing 30min, crunches 10min
saturday free day


What makes me even more disappointed is the quality and quantity of foods I have been eating! I am finally feeling the affects of all the junk; I am feeling so blah! I need to drink a ton of water now to cleanse my poor system! In the past two weeks, I have not even had an apple or anything equally healthy. ..Shame on me....*slap, slap, slap*

Starting today I will follow my meal plan. It is not a diet really, just healthier eating. I have three meals and three snacks! How hard is it?? It is just my snacks are fruits and other yummy healthy foods instead of chocolate bars, and my meals are healthy wholesome foods instead of 5 slices of pizza...and of course if I do good during the week, next Friday will be a free day, so I can eat whatever my heart desires. Of course I have to keep up with my water, not just because I want to lose those icky lb and tone up , but because the benefit of water are countless! All I have to do is fill my 600oz bottle 4 times a day, how hard is that??? Sheesh! To be good to my bones I will have to go back to drinking my three cups of milk! I am starting to get used to baladna and hamouda .

Ok I will share my meal plan so I will stick to it as well...I am so boring, I will be sticking to this for weeks and weeks, until I get sick of it one day.

Bkfast: cheese sandwich/bran cereal/omelette and one cup of milk
Snack: BFL bar and an apple
Lunch: a turkey or tuna sandwich, a carrot, a cup of milk
Snack: banana, 12 almonds
Dinner: whatever I cook for the day (some rice/bread, meat and veggies)
Snack: a cup of milk/2 cups of popcorn

It is hard to count calories since things are not labelled great here, but these should be about 1500-1800 cal give or take.... :)
These days I’m clueless on what to cook without my cookbook...so today I will buy a cookbook! It is hard cooking for three, when two of the three are little kids.. so we throw out alot of food *sigh*

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

annoying!


Do you know what is more annoying than Barney??? Barney in Arabic! OMG kill me please!


Pre kids I always said I will never let my kids watch Barney! I also said my kids will not use a pacifier, will be breastfed for 1yr, will be talking in full sentences in both lanuages by the time they are two, will not watch more than one hr of Tv a day, will be potty trained by two(hahahhahahahahahahahahahah), will not throw tantrums in public(haaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa)! Will never be allowed to sleep in bed with us, will not eat candy except on occasions, and they will do whatever I tell them to do...but things do not always go as planned, especially when you make these plans as a naive none parent and you think you know it all!


My kids love Barney! I am starting not to mind it so much, we sing the I love you song a hundred time a day! But I will put my foot down to Barney in Arabic! Now that is beyond agony!

Saturday, November 24, 2007


“Where is the fine? I need fine right now, where did you put it??”


“What the heck is the fine?? I don’t where it is, what are you talking about??”

“It was right here, why did you move it, why do you have to move everything?”

“I am sorry?? Honey I have no idea what you are talking about, is fine English or Arabic word?”

“Arabic, I need to wipe my nose, where is it, I need fine right now”

So finally we established that he was looking for the paper napkin box, he has caught on and is calling it fine now like everyone does here...hahaha

I call it Kleenex, after a long time of using this term I found out that Kleenex is not the product name, but the brand name...it got so famous that everyone started calling the product by the name of a certain brand even when using a different brand, I mean I’ve never heard anyone say hand me a Scott’s.

I know there is a marketing term for this, but it escapes me right now...

Ziad cracks me up, he is learning so many Arabic words, and sometimes he butchers them so bad; like few weeks ago his teacher asked him to get a daftar(notebook)and he was saying I need a daff...It took about 10 minute for us to figure out that he was saying daftar..

Thankfully he has not learned any vulgar words!! I guess kids are becoming more polite! My friend came from Lebanon to Canada and it is unbelievable the words her 3 year old son said! Words that I would never even think of uttering at this advanced age. She thought it was cute, but I’m sure she will not find it so cute when he is 10-12 and calling her by those words!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Ouch , ouch ouch


Like I said yesterday I loved going to the gym! I am so sad that the kids are not in school today so can not go to the gym :( although I am soooo sore!! My biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest...but it is a good pain because it means my muscles are getting restored. Since today is lower body workout day, I guess I’ll do lunges, squats and Pilates at home...and hmmm for cardio I will dance! I love dancing! No more flabby Sammy!!


Speaking of working out, my mother in law is so cute! Every time I say I want to go to the gym she pushes that I should go out walking instead of the gym! She is always advocating walking because when you go to the gym, dance or do any other exercise as soon as you stop you gain the weight back, but with walking you do not gain it back. I am all for walking, I think it is a great, simple , refreshing exercise and have plans (yes with my sister in law so it may not happen) to go out walking every night when the kids are in bed. But walking is like every other exercise, if you stop doing it regularly for a good period of time at a good pace your body will stop losing weight, and being fit! The benefits of walking do not stay forever just like any other form or exercise. Of course she does not think I should be strength training, she thinks I will look as buffy as a man! *LOL* seniors so cute?? I gave up trying to explain things to her, but other times I am in an arguing mood.

Monday, November 19, 2007

my first day at the gym


Well that was 32 JD down the drain...upon my sister in law’s insistence I joined Nadi amman. She likes to swim for exercise, I’m not much of a swimmer, since I do not know how to swim; ok I do a bit but not enough to do a whole 30min cardio workout. I only went once! The workout area sucks, it is in the basement and so depressing and the change area is all blah! It is kind of depressing. It is a walking distance from home, but it is annoying to walk carrying my workout clothes they are heavy! Yes I know excuses excuses...o did i mention that my sister in law has not even joined yet....


Yesterday I joined flex, now this is more like it! It is nice makes u want to go workout....there are windows all over the workout area and the change area looks very nice...now this is my kind of gym, mish araf! Hopefully I can go 4x a week while the kids are at school and lose those annoying 5-8lb and tone up big time, after six months of no or little exercise, I am feeling super flabby :( so not nice! My muscles are slowly disappearing are being replaced by fat and we all know how fat weighs less but takes up more space.


So please wish me luck, because in addition to being “fat”, I am also huffing and buffing after climbing up a couple flight of stairs! So my poor heart is also feeling the affects!


This is not too much of a girly post is it?? I did not feel the need to put any warnings, so I hope Q will not throw up, and Maher (hmmm I have not “seen” him for a while) will be more thankful he is a guy, although guys have to workout as well.
updated
My first day at the gym was great...the gym is nice, clean and specious. The equipment are all new and very good! I just do not like that they do not have cold water,but I will be taking my own super cold water so it does not get warm while I am working out, I hate drinking warm water...blach! They have nice beaty arabic music, I did not even need to use my mp3, yeh I like working out to arabic music! so overall I loved it, I can not wait to go back on Wed.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Puhleeeeeezzzzzzzz


Few days ago as I was walking down the street in search of taxi, I had the misfortune of running into a very obnoxious,rude and annoying person. It was during the noon athan, and I hate to wait for a cap in front of the mosque so I decided to walk to the gardens. It is two blocks away. A car passed me, and then he turned around came back and stopped me. he asked me for my number and I said no and kept on walking, but this idiot would not take no for an answer, he kept on driving beside me for the two blocks asking for my number and trying to give me his number ! It was creepy! I was glad I was on a busy road in the middle of the day; otherwise it would have been scary!! He did not get lost until I got into the taxi and somehow we lost him in the traffic, yes he followed the taxi!

I was very grossed out and very offended by this experience.


The man in the car was from Saudi Arabia, I did not really look at him, but I’d guess he is in his late twenties. He is riding an expensive Mercedes, with which he is aparently trying to impress. What the hell makes him think that he can come to Amman, and pick random girls off the street. Does he think Amman girls will be so impressed by his car, and will give him what he is apparently here for? This is very offensive in my opinion. No?

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Punishment hair cuts


Well, it seems that my parents are not the only meanos around!! One of the most used search key words that bring people to my blog is punishment hair cuts! Poor girls! Beware there are lots of parents out there that will cut their daughters hairs to punish them, so if you love your hair, think before you do something punishable!


My sister was very upset for few days; she cried every night, ah the pain! I shared a room with her! It was so annoying! It is just hair for god’s sake and it was not that short! Eventually she got used to her new hair style and actually kept it that short for few years.I do not believe how cruel parents can be!! I wonder what cruel punishment I will come up for my kids. Think people think, what are good punishments for boys? If I am ever blessed with a girl I know to cut her hair if she dares do anything like skipping school, unless she is a tom boy and prefers short hair!


OMG I’d better not have a tom boy girl, I’d rather just have another boy. I want a girl who is girly, wants to wear dresses and would let me do her hair and buy her all those cute outfits, and do girly things with me! But knowing my luck I will get a tom boy girl so this is why I will not even try, besides I do not want to be fat again, and o that all sickness for six weeks, the back pain, and what if something happens and I get to the hospital too late to get an epidural, yes so not worth it! Hmmmmmmmmmmm ok darn it I think I am getting baby fever! I am so glad hubby is away

Saturday, November 10, 2007

keeping warm...


To keep your head warm you wear a hat, to keep your hands warm you wears gloves, to keep your body warm you wear a sweater, to keep your feet warm you wear socks, to keep your neck warm you wear a scarf, but what do you do to keep your nose warm without looking silly????


Friday, November 9, 2007

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...and other blah blah


Is anyone else cold or is it just me??


It was nice and warm in the sun, but at home I am freezing! I am still in my PJ’s. They are long sleeves and fleece, and I’m still cold!! I am even wearing socks!! I never wear socks at home...and I never wear long sleeve, long pants PJ’s either, so there you go! Ah my laptop’s keyboard is nice and warm, it is warming me up! Is it too early to put on my electric and gas heaters?? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Maybe a nice cup of tea will warm me up! This is going to be one cold winter, not as bad as the
last two winters in Saskatoon, but still! Yesterday I saw few people wearing winter gear. Heavy coats, hats and gloves! It was cold, but gosh not that cold!


Yesterday we went to Amman mall. We ate at MacDonald’s... blach...the kids wanted that...and then we went to dream park for Ziad’s bday. After that we went to Ctown to get cake...but oops, the cakes were all gone! Zozo was very upset, I finally convinced him that it is late and everyone is probably out so we will get cake tomorrow and have happy birthday for him on Saturday. This kid has some temper! When we were all done we waited and waited, and then waited some more for a taxi! It is moments like this that I have being here and want to be home where I have a car! O speaking of cars, I’m so looking forward to buying a new car!! I think I’d like a burgindish red one this time! I want an Acura or a Toyota...we will see, I love buying new cars!! And after spending so many months without a car, I so appreciate having a car, I promise I will keep it clean, I will take it for washing once a week, and I will kiss it everyday morning and night! She will sleep in the garage and will go to for maintenance regularly.

So back to waiting for a taxi, a taxi finally came and a jerk that just got out of the mall just went in, the guy that works at the mall told him that we have been waiting for a while but he did not care, stupid jerk! I hope one day he is stuck out in the rain and does not get a taxi, and when one finally comes I happen to be going out and hop and he is left out waiting....how cool would that be??! I hate annoying people who only care for themselves. I was cold, the kids were cold, and we had been waiting for over 20 minutes and he just goes out and hops in...What a 7mar! I hate him! I was so glad to finally get a cap that I gave him the whole 1JD, I guess that was good because he actually got out and helped me take my groceries into the building! It is a trip worth less than 0.400 JD.


So right now Zozo is at the farm...he left this morning. I guess it was not a bad birthday. Playing at Dream Park, ice-cream, having an adventure while waiting for a taxi, and then going to the farm, he is hoping his uncle will allow him to herd the sheep! So now we have cake, but the birthday boy is not here yet! O well...


Wow I guess typing warms you up, I am not cold anymore...but wait my hands are still cold and so is the tip of my nose! Never mind!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Happy Birthday







Finally it is November 08, Mr. Ziad's Birthday.






He is sad because he will not be having a big party, and sadder that his tiny birthday party will not have any kids. It sucks when your cousins are all adults, ok not always he does get to go with them for a rides and to the mall, but there is no one to play with.






So yup, 6 years and 2 hours ago, after 4 hour and 18 minutes of labour an angel was born (more like the devil in disguise) he was so cute! he was such a happy baby, he only cried when hungry or sick. He was and still is super social, he loves to talk to everyone and is so full of questions, he drives me crazy!!






To mark that is he is a big boy, he lost his first top tooth! so he is toothless Ziad. The tooth fairy visited and lgave him 1JD, I know she has gotten cheap since he lost his first tooth.






Happy sixth birthday Zozo!! You are the cutest , and sweetest kid, and I love you so much!



Saturday, November 3, 2007

The Burned Cookies


My house smells like burnt cookies....you are thinking o Sam decided to stop being a chicken and light the gas oven! Well no, no way! If I ever decide to live in Jordan for good, I will be getting an electric stove, at least one with an electric oven.


I love chewy chocolate chip cookies, but they are only chewy when they first come out of the oven right? So I put chocolate chip cookies in the microwave for 30 seconds and traaa they get soft and yummy! Yeh yeh I know what you are thinking, shame on you for eating cookies when you are constantly whining about losing weight...but in the past week I have been like a bottom less bucket, I have been eating and eating and eating! I have got to stop! And of course I have to start going to the gym, I have only gone once! Shame shame shame!


O yes back to the cookies...I forgot and set the microwave for 1min, and Ziad called me to see something in his room, and oopsi! 1 min was a bit too long! The cookies turned black! YUCK! So moral of the story, never leave chocolate chip cookies in the microwave for longer than 30sec.
O I think I did it! I wrote a short post! Ok since we are on the subject, I would like to very quicky say how much I love having a microwave, we did not have one for two months! Now we can eat popcorn, I can get my chewy chocolate chip cookies, no more burned rice, and no more burned pot from heating milk!:)


There you have it, a simple short post that is full of blah blah blah!


o one more thing , I could not let Ziad know about my burned cookies. One time we bought a cookie dough, we were all exited about eating cookies. We got home, put the cookies on the cookie sheet and into the oven they went. Ten minutes later we took them out and oops they were burned at the bottom. It was not my fault, I followed the directions...We still ate them, but now whenever we buy a cookie dough, Ziad suggests we eat it raw, so you won't burn them he says! I will never hear the end of it if he finds out I burned already made cookies in the microwave!


ok so this is not a short post after all...well I tried!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

a farewell??

I guess wont not be staying in Amman for too long now!

I got a call from Ziad’s school today, I have to go meet with them on Sunday, and I think this is it! They will tell me that they can not handle him anymore.
His reaction to this change has been horrible...he loves Amman. He has a lot more freedom here; he is the center of attention wherever he goes. But at school he did not do well at all. He did not even allow himself to try! He is a very bright and smart kid and has an awesome memory. By 2.5yo he could name every car on the street, but would not bother with his Arabic ABC’s.

He has been behaving so badly at school. He will not listen to his teachers, he even hits kids! Ziad has never ever hit anyone before. Even his little brother whom he is very jealous of, he has never hit, pinched or pushed him. We were actually very worried about him being hit in Amman!

So if Ziad is not in school here any longer we will be going back home. He does not deal well with change at all. When I first went to Canada I had some issues and had a bad couple of years, but my way of dealing with things is to make myself invisible, so no one notices me, but with Ziad it is the opposite, he wants all the attention on him by acting out, so no one would think he is upset about not knowing how to read and write. In Canada they are still learning to read cat, bat, bear...but here he is expected to do a spelling test with purple, white, and black. He is just learning his Arabic alphabet while the kids know how to write madrasiti , bostani and 7asoob in Arabic.

I should not have listened to hubby; we should have put him in an international school. Things may have been different. The thing is though, we chose this school because they have a special class for kids coming from abroad, but later we found out that they do not start until grade 2! He would not have felt out of place in a class like that. Of course on top of all these changes we have to add to the mix the fact that his daddy is not here! He is very attached to his dad. One of the people at school stupidly said o this should not have a big affect on the child and is not a reason for him to act out, there are lots of kids whose dads live elsewhere. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, what school did she graduate from??

I don’t know; I am just so sad for Ziad. First we moved him from Toronto, where he was starting to make friends to the middle on nowhere, aka Saskatoon. We did not have friends, family and it was too cold and snowy that we could not go out much. Then we brought him here to Amman, where he was like elatrash belzafeh. He loves his dad’s family here, but it is a big change. He is an angel at home, but the devil at school. Hubby is talking about getting a job in the gulf. An Arabic country...seriously sometimes I feel Canada is more of an Arabic country than Arabic countries. I mean really, is Dubai an Arabic city?? It is hard to tell.

But now I will not move anywhere else. We have not felt any stability in the past 2 years. In Saskatoon we were there temporarily. I could not buy anything for our house and know that I will be enjoying it for years to come, and it is the same here in Amman. I want to move back to my house. I want to plant a tree and watch it grow and maybe one day my kid will build a tree house on it or at least a swing. I do not want to be living temporary here and there.

Canada is our home! Nowhere else will be home for us...not Jordan (we do not have anything Jordanian, not even an iqama...Just Jordanian family members), not Lebanon, not Syria, not Palestine unless a miracle happens or any gulf country. At the end all these places are not our home; we do not belong in any of them. It does not matter how long you live in UAE or other countries eventually you will retire and have to leave the country. This sad reality hit hubby’s family when they left Kuwait and now his aunt will be coming back to Jordan because her husband’s work gave him the, thank you we do not need you anymore.

Hubby worried about being old and alone in Canada...but hmmmmmmm if you are living in Canada, you have friends and family. You grow old with your friends, so how is that different than living anywhere else?? You may be alone if you move to Canada in your 50’s, but you know what?? I see my friend’s parents who moved to Canada in their 50’s and they are not alone! There are always people visiting and there are always get togethers. You social life is what you make of it! No matter where you are. Hubby had an older friend when he lived in Germany and this is what caused him to go into this frame of mind, but really there is a big different between the city he lived in Germany and between a place like the greater Toronto area where there is a huge Arab population. So I can guarantee we will not have his friend’s fate inshallah!

I will miss Amman, yesterday I was looking around and thinking how much I love it here, but I love Canada equally but in Canada I can drive, and I do not feel like crying every time I cross the street. So I guess either way we are ok. I am looking for a preschool for Bilal in Milton as we speak. We will come to Amman every summer.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Where is the fall?


I guess Amman is just like Canada...it seems to only have three seasons. In Canada we are missing spring, and in Amman the fall seems to be missing. Although I am enjoying the warmth and the no need for jacket between the hours of 10am and 4pm, but I am kind of missing the fall colours and the crispy weather. Besides I bought a cute long light coat and so far I have not had the chance to wear it! But at home I am already in my “winter” pj’s since it is cold at home after the sun sets. I get tempted to put on my heater, but then what the heck will I do when the cold weather hits?? I am so not looking forward to winter in Amman this is the first time I have ever bought long sleeve on the heavy side pj’s!


Ok for once I will keep my post nice and short and about one, only one subject...there you go this is my missing fall post, and yes the no Halloween for kids thing...it is a good thing Zozo still does not know the days of the month or else we will be in trouble...o speaking of Halloween, 6 years ago today I was a very anxious, very pregnant lady! Waiting for something, anything a tiny contraction any thing to show that the bun in my oven is cooked and ready to come out! But October 31 came and went, and I was still a huge 32lb heavier person. It was not until a whole week later that I was induced and my “bundle of joy” came out, and I was only 10lb lighter to my dismay! Ah first time mothers! I took my pre pregnancy jeans to the hospital to wear home *LOOOOOL*, gosh was I ever delusional! It took 10 months of working out and eating right to fit into those pre baby jeans! Now I know better!


Ok so it is hopeless, I can not only talk about one thing in a single post. O well, since I am at it, yesterday/today is/was my brother’s 30th bday, ha-ha old man!! Happy birthday to my brother! We always fought like cats and dogs, but I always loved him.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Random Rambles

Crossing streets in Amman is making me not like Amman! I wish that there was a traffic light where I live instead of those stupid crossing places that no one notices...it is driving me crazy!

Why is the mouse always the good guy in Tom and Jerry?? Why does he always win? I am starting to feel bad for tom! I have not watched the show for so many years, but it is on every night here. I noticed that there are few things on that did not make sense to me back in the days. Not actions but items, like the Christmas tree balls, the sprinkler , the fire hydrant and so many other things we did not see much of in Lebanon. Kwim?

Why do some Arabic channels think that everyone is so anxious to hear news??? They interrupt a movie to put on a mowjis or the whole news?? Why can’t they time it right? If someone really really wanted to hear news at this time they can log on line...dah! It is super annoying, who the hell came up with this idea??

Why do we have to wait for two weeks know if we are pregnant?? Uggh!

My mother in law is driving us crazy!! Sure she has to take a hundred pills a day, but she is 74 years old. The doctor told her to take two pills of the medicine which stops water from going to her lungs; A very important medicine. What does she do?? She only takes one pill! I do not get it, why take only one when she is asked to take 2?? Is she trying to save money? All four of her children are very well off and can afford to buy her the medicine. Sheesh! So today she was back to the hospital because of water in her lungs again...and you know what? If she was trying to save money on the pills the hospital bill is going to be enough to buy that medicine for few months! And do not forget the worry she has caused everyone in the family...uggh! Well let’s hope she won’t play doctor and pick and chose what medicine to take and what not to take next time!

The kids drove me crazy today, up until an hour ago they were still fighting over the damned play dough! Not to self, always buy two of everything!! Ziad has exams this week and he does not want to study, uggh! The minute we open the books he gets all sleepy! Speaking of test, why do grade one students need to be tested four times a semester? On top of all the homework and the dictations they do everyday. If grade one is like this, I can thank my lucky stars I did not study in Jordan imagine how horrible high school would be! I suck at tests! I do great on assignments and presentations but tests are my weakness! In the Middle East tests are what determine your grade. I would not have been an A student in Jordan! Although some how I was always first or second in my class in Lebanon.

O o o,I finally joined a gym! I wanted a nice fancy gym, but my sister in law wants to swim, so I caved and joined Nadi Amman it is nice to have a workout buddy and now that I do not wear contacts I will learn to swim. It is a 10min walk from our house. If I do not like it I will change later but for now I need to workout so I do not gain those few lb I lost in Ramadan and tone up which is something I need to do so bad! Although I’m kicking myself for not buying size 4 of the jeans I am wearing now! I had a rule, if you find a pair of jeans you love buy two, current size and a smaller size but I was too cheap. So now my jeans are kind of baggy on me! So not nice!

I have three phones at my house. They all different ringing tones, but every time a phone rings I have to guess which phone to answer! The phone in the living room is our Amman landline, and then my mobile which can be anywhere in the house and in the bedroom is our Vonage line. So I have to prepare myself as to who is calling. Will it be a call from Amman or Canada? O speaking of Vonage, I love it! It did take me a while to get it to work. The device is wireless so it is a plus, now my internet connection is wireless. I have to say orange is great! My sister in law has batelco , I was getting wireless from her and it sucked! It disconnected so many time, not just here but downstairs at their house. Orange has not been out of service at all since we got the connection! o no! I hope I did not just jinx it!

Friday morning


It is 8:30 am on Friday in Amman. The whole city is still sleeping. I wish I was too!
We have already been up for 1.5hours. I already broke out two fights. One fight was over play dough and another over Zozo’s wallet.

I put a nice breakfast on the table, labnah, cheese, olives, was getting ready to make eggs, but my kids did not want any of the above. They wanted to eat hotdogs! Yes we have gotten out of the eggs phase, it was followed by the labneh and zaatar phase, now it is hotdogs! Who eats hot dogs for breakfast? O well...at least they are eating them with whole-wheat bread and I make them to put a cucumber and some tomatoes in the sandwich so it is not all bad...

They will be wanting hot dog for lunch as well, so I will not bother cooking today...not that I ever cook for lunch! I just can not see myself cooking tabeekh in the morning...i can’t! And I won’t! When the kids are in school I want to do things I can not do while the kids are home, go shopping, exercise, guiltless computer time, or go see my friends and neighbours without demanding kids around...so we eat a light lunch, turkey, or tuna sandwiches. For dinner at 6pm we have tabeekh, just like we did in Canada, why do we have to change just because everyone eats tabeekh at 1pm here???

There used to be a time when I liked weekend and used them to sleep in and catch up on lost sleep, but these days are long gone! I hate weekends!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

do no eat all the honey

I have so much to blog about...but when I come to my laptop to write I forget what I wanted to write! Uf!

See it is happening about, so I am just going to write about something silly because I can not think of anything at the moment.

Ok since this is all hubby can talk about these days, I will complain about his friend.
You know the saying iza 7abibak 3asala ma taklo kolo... (If your loved one is honey, do not eat it all at once). This is exactly what this “friend” did.

Like I mentioned before our house in Ontario is vacant...my poor cute cute house! I did not get to enjoy it at all! Hubby’s friend Y went to Syria a couple of year ago, he got married and stayed there for almost a year. Last march he came back to Canada, and was looking for a place to rent. Hubby and I felt bad for him and told him to stay at our house until he got a job. We said he can stay for free, just look after the house, and clear the snow and stuff until he gets back on his feet.

Few weeks after he was there we got a letter from the municipality with pictures of our house saying the snow has to be cleared off the side walk or else, so Y did not even do this simple task; he was not even working at that time! Uf!

Fast forward to august, Y got a good paying job in May. He is still living at our house. He did paint the fence, when hubby asked for his account number to send him money for what the paint cost he sent it!! And once we got a bill from the lawn care company, $150 and he mailed it to us, did not even offer to pay the amount. All this time we were paying utilities. In July the hydro bill was very high, $200some. Hubby got upset and called Y to ask him to pay this bill; it is not fair for us to pay this bill so he can stay cool.

We were ok paying bit extra of hydro and gas he was using, but this was a bit over the top. When hubby told him that this is too much, we still have to pay mortgage on our house, rent in Saskatoon, and rent in Amman. Hubby asked Y to pay rent. Y stupidly said to hubby, “but I will be going to Syria in December, so I will not pay you for that month!!” WTF! This guy has been living for free in the past six months and he has the nerves to make a stupid command like that? If he was renting elsewhere he would still pay the amount, he would have no choice.
So finally he started paying rent, what he would pay for a one room in a house with a shared bathroom mind you, $500/mo.

Well hubby finally gave him a notice to leave, in December he goes back to Syria and will not go back to our house, he will be leaving his crappy car in our garage though, and it leaks oil!
I do not get people!! My mother in law is staying at her daughter’s house for a while until her maid arrives. She is paying for utilities and for the 7ares. Few years ago while waiting for her house to be ready she paid all that and installed a solar heater for them... my sister in law is not expecting her to pay anything, but for her to feel comfortable she feels the need to pay for what she uses. Mish like other people! Use and abuse. Y has this weird mentality, thinking that since hubby makes good money it is ok to let him pay! Sheesh! So no more MR and MRS nice guy here! Y has been kicked out

I'll talk about something more exciting soon ...promise:)

Monday, October 22, 2007

bye bye


I hate goodbyes, especially when you are saying farewell to your husband. Well it was not easy on my mother in law either, so I guess it is hard on mothers too...one day I will find out how hard it is...but lets stay in the present for now.


Hubby left today. He should be on the plane headed home as we speak, unless RJ is late which is very likely...I pray it is on time, since there are only two hours between RJ arriving to Montreal , and his flight to Saskatoon taking off. I wish I was leaving with him. Not because I do not like Jordan, once I get over the stress of crossing the streets, the jerks I have to meet whenever I go out shopping in the neighbourhood, and the fact that my hubby is thousands of miles away, Amman has been a lot of fun and I love living here.


We had a nice visit with hubby, but it was too short! I am not looking forward to the kids coming home and not finding their dad. Ziad knows that hubby is leaving today, and he was not happy when we told him few days ago. He cried and broke our hearts, saying that he does not want his daddy to leave. Bilal still does not get it, I told him that baba is going to Canada today, he just stopped smiling. I can see him mopping around the apartment looking for his daddy, he did this for few days when we first came here.


we did not get to go anywhere. one week was during Ramadan and all hubby did was sleep all day , his mother's orders! so annoying, everytime she sees him she would tell him to go sleep, 7aram inta sayem! we also could not go anywhere because my mother in law is not feeling too great and hubby did not want to leave here, so there goes our planned trip to egypt or lebanon...hopefully next time he is here we will get to go.


It was so much easier for me when he was here. He did a lot of things for us and took the kids places. He did drive us crazy few times, and I wanted to push him off the balcony on few occasions...but I already miss him so much. I booked his flight for December. He will miss Eid, but the tickets during that time are outrageously expensive, since it Eid, hajj, and Christmas time. O well...he comes on the 27th of December and stays for a bit over three weeks. The count down begins. This is the last time I will live away from my husband!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

private tutoring...how much??

I have a tiny delimma...like I said in a recent post Ziad is having a problem...ok problems at school. His biggest being that he is in an all arabic class, he was supposed to be in a special class for foreigners, but it will not be ready until next year..so naturally he is waaaaaaaaay behind in arabic.

His teacher has agreed to tutor him for two hours , two days a week at school. He will only be in school for an extra hour, since she is free for the last two periods on those two days.

She will not tell me how much she wants, and I have no idea what is a decent amount of money to give for about 2-2.5hr 2x a week of tutoring. I can not even think how much private tutor charge in amman.

does anyone have an idea? help!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

to have a party or not to have...


My baby is turning six next month....he has been lying about his age for six months now!! Isn’t it too early to start lying about your age at 5.5yo??

Last year we had a party for him at fun factory in Saskatoon, but only few people came! I had no idea that Remembrance Day is a holiday in Saskatchewan! It is a normal day in Ontario, and since it was the last long weekend during what is supposedly good weather on the year everyone was going away to Calgary, Edmonton and other neighbouring cities to visit family... to top it off Ziad was constipated on that day, the first time he ever gets constipated so he could not even enjoy his time with the four friends that did make it.

This year Ziad is upset and going through a hard time, he is not doing well at school, as I expected but my annoyingly stubborn husband would not acknowledge. But I think he is finally convicted that putting Ziad in a mostly Arabic school, with kids that have had exposure to the language for the past 3 year is not fair for him, so hopefully they will allow him to go into KG2 where the kids are supposed to write and have dictations with words simpler word than bostani and madrasiti in Arabic. He is only two months older than the oldest kid in KG2...but he is 10months younger than the oldest kid in grade one. So he may be more comfortable with KG2 kids than with grade one kids, especially that they are way ahead of him in Arabic...he is still learning his alph ba’ and they are way past that point, so I want to do something fun for him...

Ok back to the birthday party thing...I think I want to have a birthday party for him somewhere...but I don’t know what places I can have it at...

I know it is not fair for Bilal, since his last three bday were not really celebrated. His first we were in Edmonton so we just had cupcakes and sang happy bday...for his second bday we were in Toronto so we got to have a nice party at my parent’s backyard so that was ok, but his last bday was on July 20, so just before we left for Amman and I was too busy doing this and that and getting ready for our move here....the only thing that makes it ok is that he is too young to care now at 3. Although he does love singing happy bday to you and would start singing any time he sees a lit candle...hint hint to me??

I promise that I will have a nice bday party for him next year; I guess having a summer bday is not that much fun after all! People are too busy and away in the summer! But it is better than my birthday, in middle of January is bad, and it never fails Allah always sends me a snow storm on my bday! One year I decided I do not care, I am not staying home even with a snow storm...hubby, my then fiancé had a surprise for me in Mississauga and no snow storm was going to let me miss it! Haha...I did miss it because just few miles on the highway my car skidded my daddy’s car was ruined and I came out with some scratches and bruises...while I was in the middle of my car was skidding un controllably all I could see is what could be written on gravestone...born January 15, 1976 died on January 15, 1997. Ok so as you see I did not die, I was lucky that there were no cars on either side me, and my car stopped in the middle divider of the highway facing the opposite way after turning few times...and did not keep on going to the other side...but ever since my back has not been the same and I still petrified of driving on the snow...I do not make any plans for my birthday anymore not that I want to, who wants to celebrate being so old?? I do not even plan on going anywhere not even to work... my old boss knew about my birthday curse so I always got the day off for my birthday...I wonder if there will be a snow storm on my bday in Amman this year?

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

some blah blah


Finally Eid is over and the kids are back at school. I hated Ramadan school hours...now we are back to normal...More mommy time for me...yippy!


Yesterday we spent the day at the Marriott at the Dead Sea. It was so much fun. I could not swim but I got a message and got to sit around sipping on a pina colada and enjoying myself. Of course we got there too late so we could not get a tan. O well!!


We stayed there until 12 am...there was a dancer and it was fun...Zozo drove the dancer crazy last year, he was following her all over the place while she was dancing and during her break. This year he was better he only danced with her few times...so cute!


It is annoying how everyone here is so into everything foreign. Everyone brags about their kids going to American, British and other foreign named school...what is up with that? Some people I have spoken with brag that their kids live in Jordan and Egypt and do not speak any Arabic. I do not see anything good about this...why are we so impressed with everything foreign.
At many stores you find all sorts of books and toys that teach English hard to find Arabic ones. I looked all over the place for a work book that has Arabic letters you trace, but I did not find any. I wanted to buy Arabic DVD’s for the kids, but there are so few.


I hope and pray that leapfrog makes Arabic cartridges for the leapster game; I wish I wish I wish!


Everyone frowns upon us for putting Zozo in an Arabic school. They may be right since he is having some issues, but the school is great. When they dealt with some of Ziad’s behavioural and academicals issues they dealt with them as good as they would have in Canada. The whole school is involved and working as a team to help him overcome the problems he is facing...I am very impressed! I did not expect this from a school in Jordan. I actually heard lots of bad stories about schools neglecting children and causing them to hate school.


Ok I know the last paragraphs have nothing to do with what my post started out like. But since this was the main topic we were discussing while argeeling and drinking bad American coffee last night at the Dead Sea, I thought I’d throw that in there.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Eid Mubarak


Eid mubarak!!!


Yippy Ramadan is over...I love it when it is 29 days instead of 30....we all sat near the TV with the windows open last to hear if it is Eid or one more day of fasting...we had a jumping up and down party when they announced Eid ...I love Ramadan...but it gets to me near the end. The waking up early for suhor (hubby not me) and the dehydration and all...


Anyways...I just wanted to shout a quick happy Eid...Eid Mubarak to everyone who reads my blog!


We bought the kids dishdashes and white hats to wear in the morning...it was different and they loved them!! Hubby and Zozo went to Eid prayers....I wanted to go but got lazy....the masjid is right across the street so I could see them praying. The prayer was done right in the middle of the street...cool eh?


I have so much to post about...Ok not so much just two things...but I am so busy with hubby and all...and yippy I got Vonage to work, so now I can call Canada and my newly found best friend (I will be posting about this soon) in the US as much as I want...Without breaking the bank.


So much for a short post!

Monday, October 1, 2007

sho badik?


Isn’t it enough that I see them on the streets wherever I go...They are taking away my precious change that I need for taxis. Now they are bothering me at home!! Nothing be3abi 3eenhom! You think I will give them 1JD and they will 7elon 3ani! Nope! Bel3aks they betma3oo feeni aktar! From now on I will not give any beggar more than 5 or 10 kroosh! No more Ms generous! I have had enough of them!!


Today I was sitting peacefully sipping on a cup of coffee! Ok yeh I am not fasting because I did not sleep all night due to my baby being sick. At 9am my head was pounding like crazy so I decided I will break my fast and give someone poor 1JD. Someone knocked on the door. I opened the door thinking it is my mother in law or my sister in law’s maid. Oops it was a woman holding a paper saying that someone in her family is in the hospital and needing surgery or whatever! So I gave her 1JD. She made me feel bad about how bad his case is...ok I did not believe her but I did want to give a maskeen money because of my broken fast. Then she asked me if I have any clothes I do not need. I did actually have some clothes my kids have outgrown so I collected them and gave her a bag full of clothes. She talked and blah blah blah...I ended up giving her another dinar. So that is 3JD in less than five minutes plus a bag full of clothes from old navy, Gymboree and children’s place. These clothes are worth at least $150 all almost new bought from Canada few months ago. But nooo it is not enough...She wanted to read my palm and take the 7elwan. Three other women came up...to tell you the truth I got scared at the point... She asked me to get a thread... to break a si7r or whatever...she did say some accurate things when she read my palm so I was shocked about that...but then again “kathab elmonajemoon walaw sadako”..I went in closed the door and called the 7ares to come kick them out. I am never opening the door for these people... Allah gave us plenty Alhamdulillah and I would love to give to the needy...but someone who is really in need does not do this...ya3ni 3an jad uuf!


This is my third post venting about this...I really did not expect it to be this bad here. So tell me when someone stops you on the street or comes to your home, how much do you give them??

I am not used to giving less than $1...because in Canada $1 does not buy much. But here 1JD can buy few things. I mean I feel silly giving someone 25 kirsch...But then again a taxi driver gets about that much for a good distance...so it should be more than enough for beggars eh?

Friday, September 28, 2007

Rambling on various subjects...



Arabic coffee...yesterday I made it for the first time...i can not say enough yucks about my coffee...yes it was bad! My poor mother in law and sister in law drank it and said it was good (liars)...i almost threw up when I drank my cup. So my first attempt at Arabic coffee turned out bad. This is what I did..I put 3 coffee cups of coffee in the ghalaya...let it boil and then put 3 table spoons of coffee...maybe I was supposed to put 3 teaspoons of coffee??? I will keep on practicing until I make the perfect cup of coffee!
Ants! I hate those little buggers...i used to feel bad and not step on ants. Now I step on them on purpose when I see them. I officially hate ants. Hard working or not, they are annoying!! Few times I was happily eating a piece of fruit or a cookie...i get a phone call or do something for the kids so I leave my food on the counter. A bit later I go to get my yummy plum or cookie and guess who beat me to it!! Yeh the stupid ants! And it was a very yummy plum too! Grrrrrrrrrrr!!! It also happens with bread. If I dare and forget the bread bag on the counter the ants get to itL I hate those ugly tiny creatures!

Ramadan: this Ramadan I’m not feeling very spiritual...I am fasting, but that is about it! I’m not reading the Quran, although I put it on for a while during the day...and my prayers...hmmmmm...don’t even ask! Some Ramadans I become a sheikha... others I just do not feel it...like this one! Shame!
Hubby: he is coming in a week!! Yippy! Poor Rami Ramadan is getting to him...he is very tired! He goes to bed late, and then at 4am he has to wakeup for suhor...his suhor is coffee and smokes plus a bit of water and maybe something small to eat. He sounds very tired...hopefully he will be able to sleep good when he gets here.

Weight: I have lost three lb since the beginning of Ramadan. In order to keep them off I have to join a gym as soon as Ramadan is over. So now I am in search of a gym near by. Any one know of a gym in tla’3 el 3ali

Blog spot: It has been so slow and annoying latley...what is up with that?


Google reader I love it! It is saving me so much time checking blogs...instead of checking every single one on my favourite now I only check ones that have been updated...pretty cool eh? I have been wanting to do it for a while..but I was too lazy...

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Questions to ammani gals..


*warning!!!...this is a girly post...guys continue at own risk!*

So it is time to get my hair coloured...the roots are starting to show and I’m getting sick of it. I high lighted my hair few weeks before I came to Jordan. Hubby hates my hair light...he likes dark red. So I thought since I will not be seeing him for a while I’ll go for a change and lighten it. Well now I am sick of it, and like I said the roots are showing...and I want to look purrtty for hubby...

So for Ammani ladies...do you know someone you absolutely love that does great hair colouring?? Last time I cut my hair at Emad’s in the four seasons and he was good...but my sister in law says he is not too great with hair colours...I also want to cut ½-1 inch off my hairs... so pray for me...after last year’s hair cut disasters I am very paranoid, but I’m so sick of my hair, it needs to be cut a bit...

Also does anyone know a place that waxes eyebrows?? I hate hate hate hate hate hate threading! It hurts and you get too many ingrown hairs after. With waxing it is one ouch and you are done...with threading it is ouch, ouch ouch a million times!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

remembering friends


When I was in grade 12...o so long ago...there were two older students in my class, a mother and son combo. When I first saw them I though, ewww what are these old people doing in high school, stay away from me please! When I got to know them I realized how nice and sweet they were it would have been a pity if my initial feelings towards them did not change. They were very dedicated to their studies. At first no one wanted to work with them, we were all too cool for them... but eventually they were the most sought after partners. They were both bright and hard working so they were always acing the projects. They both graduated with proficiency standing!


The older I get the more I admire their courage for going back to school to better themselves and getting better careers and improving their lives. I am sure it took a lot of guts to take this step.

The son... I can not remember his name now...was in his mid 40’s, married with two or three kids. Evelyn, the mother, was in her 60’s but had the spirit of a twenty year old.


I was thinking about them the other day, I wonder what they are up to. Did they go on to college or was it just the high school diploma they wanted. I wish I have my year book, who knows maybe they are on facebook... everyone else is on it...except for my exish best friend...annoying Shazia...get on to the 21st centrury and join for god’s sake!

Monday, September 24, 2007

so far , so not good...(warning complaining ahead...enter at own risk)


So Ramadan in an Arabic country is not really that different than it is back at home!! This is my conclusion so far! I have had iftar by myself almost everyday. It does not feel so ramdani...the only thing that reminds me that it is Ramadan is the amount of cars parked in front of the masjid. So I guess more people pray at the masjid in Ramadan.

But really this is not any different than Ramadan in Canada. Since I got married Ramadan started being different; especially because the first few years of our marriage my husband did not fast.

When I was living at home with my parents Ramadan had a different feel...I guess it does not matter where you are. It is the people around you that make it special. My parents had people over in Ramadan at least 3 times a week. And we were invited to people’s house at least 2 times a week. And on days we did eat alone, it was the six of us; so really it did not feel lonely at all.

Even after getting married we still had iftar with my family and friends few times a week. On Saturday we used to rent a hall with seven or ten other families and we each brought one dish and we ate iftar together. Those were fun iftars...the men went for tarawe7 prayers after eating while us ladies sat around chatted and munched on yummy Arabic sweets!!

In Canada during Ramadan I can wear whatever I want without hearing idiots telling me how I should and should not dress...if I am not fasting for any reason I can still eat wherever I want. If I am at the mall and get thirsty I can buy a bottle of water and drink it without anyone looking at me and estagfering Allah.

I really thought it would be different here...but it is not! Maybe if hubby was here we would be invited to places and do more things after iftar...but I don’t know...so far so not good! So tell me, what is so special about Ramadan here?? Am I missing something?? And btw the atayef here! Yuck! My mom makes them a million and ten times better!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Do not even think about it


Yesterday Ziad and I went to visit my mother in law at the hospital...she is doing great the way and is home now...thank you for all your prayers!!


We were sitting beside the nursery and Zozo made me go look at the babies!! They were sooo tiny and so cute and I got baby fever for a while. I wanted one of those tiny babies. My mother in law thinks we should definatly have a third baby, go for a girl this time. Like we have a choice.


When we got home my stomach did not feel right...i felt blah...I could not even eat mskhan (yuck!) at iftar it made me want to puke, so I just stuck to salad. When I went home I intended to put the boys to sleep and go down to argeel with the gang...but my stomach could not handle it anymore ...I hate hate hate hate hate throwing up!


I guess I caught a stomach virus, and so did Ziad...we did not have a fun night! Ziad was feeling all better by morning...but I was not. I’m so tired, my stomach is feeling blah and I have no appetite at all. All I can eat is fruit and drink juice. If someone was to give me a Ferrero Roches right now I would not even touch it. And me saying no to chocolate especially a Ferrero Roshes is big!


It brought back those first six wks of my pregnancy . I guess it is a sign not to have anymore babies. Remembering that awful all day sickness, no puking, just feeling nauseous all day long and the water aversion. Who the heck gets aversion to water...yes I know I’m weird! All this and I still gain 34lb! Well I guess I do make it up once the 12th week is over and I’m back to my old self. I do blame Tim Hortin’s for at least 15lb!


So I guess this was a wake up call. Do not even think about getting pregnant again. This stomach virus feels exactly the same as those awful pregnancy weeks felt, right down to the water aversion thing. The thought of drinking water makes me sick. If hubby was not away I’d think I was pregnant! I hope I feel better tomorrow. My house is so messy! I need a maid!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

so scary

Last night my mother in law spent the day with us, I made iftar and we ate together then by 8 the four of us were sleeping...at 10 she got up and went to my sister in laws house and then I woke up and pigged out on food since I hardly ate at iftar...Then my mother in law came back , we (mostly I..She was falling asleep sitting on the sofa) watched a movie and then she finally gave up and went to bed. I could not sleep until 3am...note to self, never take a nap at 8pm!

At 6t:15 am the kids and I woke up like we do everyday...Ziad went to school, Bilal and I watched cartoons. While I was getting Bilal ready for school my mother in law called me from her room. I ran to see what is wrong, since she sounded horrible!

Ah it was so scary! She could not breath at all...she looked like she is dying right in front of my eyes! I called my sister in law and she was no help! She was so worried about her mom she started crying and then she went to get the neighbours and her kids. Everyone came to my apartment, thankfully I tidied up the night before so it was not messy...phew...always keep your place tidy, you never know who will show up unexpectedly even at 7am! I called the ambulance, took Bilal downstairs to his bus and waited for the ambulance to come...I was so worried about my mother in law.

The ambulance came about 10-15min later. I have to say there is a huge, huge difference between calling an ambulance in Canada and in Amman! I would not have had to give 911 the directions to the place in Canada. The staff would have come in knowing exactly what the situation is so they would not waste time deciding what stretcher to bring up. They guys were very flimsy... it took a long while to get her into the ambulance. They definitely need more training! And elevators in Amman are way too small, they had to sit her on a chair in order to take her down...somebody did not think about emergencies on the top floors when they designed the building...unfortunately that somebody is my husband’s uncle.

She is doing ok now, she had water in her lungs so she was not able to take enough oxygen I guess. It was sooo scary though watching someone who is unable to breath. She was very sweaty and cold at the same time. Her hands were turning blue. And you feel so helpless! I am just thankful that she spent the night her and not alone at her apartment! I do not even want to imagine what would have happened if she was all alone!
My mother in law is 74years old. But we are not ready for her to go yet. She is one of the reasons I wanted to come live in Amman. I wanted the kids to get to know their tetta before it is too late.
Please keep my mother in law in your prayers if you pray. She is a very nice and sweet person, and is a great mother in law and tetta.