Life, then and now

This weekend we had a great family outing. We have not done much of that for the past seven months of winter. First because the weather is too cold, all you can do is go to the mall or indoor. Second because hubby worked almost every weekend. Now the weather got nicer, (well it’s not that nice today) we decided to go to the zoo on Saturday.
Saskatoon zoo is very tiny. There are only few animals. But it is close to our home, a five-minute drive.

We had a great time. We walked around looking at animals. The tigers fascinated us as always. We played at the park and watched a goose sitting on her eggs, talked about the birds, watched the buffalos eat, eat and eat some more, then we watched the monkeys jumping from branch to branch then we ate ice-cream. The weather was great to be outdoors.

On Sunday the kids played downstairs with the neighbour’s kids. This does not happen often here. Then we drove to the dam; it was a 1-hour drive so hubby and I got to chitchat. . It was another perfect family day. We looked at the dam, and talked to the kids about it, we played at the park near the lake, and watched the geese swim, and yes we ate ice cream before driving back home.

This was the best weekend for us in a long time. See why I hate winter!

This got me thinking about how our weekend would have been pre kids. We would not have gone to the zoo; we would not have driven to the dam. We would have probably gone out on Friday night, stayed out too late and slept most day on Saturday missing out on a beautiful day. Then on Saturday night we would have gone out with our friends for dinner, to a club, or just hung around at someone’s house playing cards and goofing around until the wee hours of the morning, again sleeping in on Sunday and missing out on another nice day.

Not that the no kids thing was bad; it was just different. We used to have lots of fun being carefree and spontaneous. I loved every minute of it. But then we had to grow up and move to the next stage of life.

It would be great to balance the two. Doing all the fun things with kids, then having some kids free outings and doing adult things every once in a while is great. Unfortunately living in Saskatoon without any family or friends has not allowed venturing out alone without the kids.

I cannot wait until we are back home (Ontario) and we can leave the kids at my mom’s for a night or two every month or so and spend time alone doing adult things.

And sometimes, I wish I could leave my three boys with mama, and go somewhere alone for few days. I would have to leave them with mama otherwise; I will come home to a very messy house and I will need a vacation after I am done tidying up their mess. Mama will keep them under control while I am gone on my dream solo vacation. I think I would go to Veradero, Cuba. One can dream eh??

face book

Wow is it ever addictive. Like I need one more thing to be addicted to eh?

I found few of my friends, but the ones that I have really been wanting to get in touch with are not on face book : '(

I am so sad that my best friend is not on there. I have been trying to find her for a year now. I know, I know, how do you lose a best friend. Well I lost my best friend and I really want her back.

We met grade 7. At first I hated her. She said something mean to me. I was wearing a skirt with panty hose. And she pointed out that I have leg hair sticking out of the panty hose. O how I hated her that day! How dare she points that out. We met again on my first day of high school and we became best friends, we shared a lot of happy and sad times together. She was there for me during 2 horrible engagements, and through few break-ups, and was there to listen to me vent about my parents, sister and brothers, and life in general. She always pointed out who was checking me out when we were together, it was cute, it was annoying then though.

And now I lost her :o( I wish I can find her, I am not sure if she is still in Canada. Last time we spoke she was in a long distance relationship with someone in London, England. Maybe they got married and she moved there. Damn it. I wonder if she is looking for me too.

*Sniff, sniff*

I want my best friend back.........waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh...

bye bye winter!

It is official, winter is over!

Not even one bit of snow is left.

I just cleared out our closet of winter clothes and hung up our summer clothes. So if the cold decides to come it is too bad for it, because we only have summer clothes out:)

I have 4 garbage bags full of clothes to give away, I hope the diabetes association come pick them up soon, I am running out of room.

yippy, I love spring/summer. I do not mine fall, but it the season that leads to winter so I do not love it.

I guess I would not mind winter if it was not the longest season in Canada. It is especially long and hard in Saskatoon.

I have been house bound for so long, it is taking me a while to get used to going out again. :o(

Ok no real reason for this post, excpet to tell the world that I am soooooooooo glad winter is over!

My Dream

I usually do not like to share my dreams; you know the real dream that you have at night while sleeping.

But I have posted about procrastination few times already and like some of you know I am the procrastination Queen with a capital Q.

In my dream I was paying for procrastination. I was in Toronto at my parent’s house, my bags all packed to go to Jordan. Then a friend of mine comes over and she looks at me and says wow you have gained a lot of weight, haven’t you. So of course I felt fat, and was annoyed at myself for not losing those 10lb before I go to Jordan. So I guess this is hint hint #1to exercise a bit more, and no cheating except on Saturdays

Then in my dream I realize that I have not packed any skirts, all the clothes in my bag are winter cloths. But there is no time to go out shopping because it was 2pm and my flight was at 3pm. I guess this is a reminder that I need to do some shopping and not wait until I lose the weight.

Then in my dream I realize that I have not recharged my MP3 player. I am panicking what am I going to listen to on the plane. But really my mind was telling me to recharge my MP3 player because I cannot workout at the gym without it.

And at the last minute I realize that my passport is expired, why, why did I procrastinate. I was so mad at myself. In reality I do have to renew it ASAP. It expired in March. So I have to go take a picture, sent it along with the application our friend to sign it and then head to the passport office to get my new passport. I hope the passport office is not as busy as it was last month when the you need a passport to cross the boarder came in affect.

I do not want my dream to come true, so I have to resign my position as a procrastination queen soon!

can not think of a title.

I just remembered this and wanted to share it, if my son reads this when he gets older he will not be too happy. But he is only 5.5yo now and could careless.

In the summer we take lots of road trips around the province. Right now we are living in western Canada, close to the Rockies so we like to take advantage of that and we drive to the mountains as much as we can. Once you are out of the cities here, you are in the middle of nowhere for quit sometime. Especially while driving in the mountains. This means that if one needs to use the bathroom, it is too bad one has to wait. But you cannot expect a then four years old to hold it for hours. So we would park the car on the side of road and let Zozo do his business.

I wanted to emphasize to Zozo that he could only do this while we are driving in the middle of nowhere. If we are in the city he will have to hold it until we got home or to wherever we going to use the bathroom. Hubby would jump in and say ma tidakhali it is a man thing, and when the boy has to go he has to go no matter where he is, he should not hold it. Then start with his I am older therefore I know better speech.

Next life I am marrying a younger man!

Fast forward to July of last year, we were in Amman. Hubby, the kids, my sister in law and I were at Mecca mall. We walked around, did some shopping and left the mall. We were waiting for my sister in law’s car to come outside the mall, when zozo decided he needed to go peepee. I guess he remembered his daddy’s words, the kid can pee wherever he want to, he should not hold it blah blah blah *shaking head and rolling eyes at hubby*. He pulled his shorts down and did his business. He was four years old; he was told he could do it anywhere as long as he was outside, and we were outside the mall. So really it is not his fault, it is hubby’s fault!

It was so embarrassing; I wanted to crawl under a rock. Poor zozo didn’t know why everyone was laughing. Hubby learned that he should watch what he says our son, and that wifey (me) was right like always! So I had to go back and explain that we only pee in the bathroom because we are human not animals, and the only exception is when we are in the middle of nowhere with no bathrooms around. Now Zozo knows better, and I guess so does hubby. MEN!!!!

New look

what do u think of my blog's new look. Isn't it puuurtier like this? pink is so much cooler that whatever colour I had before eh?

I was inspired by the pink on Dima's blog. I am too much of a girly girl to have a blog that does not have pink in it.

Ok 3an jad I am off the computer, damned face book, and baby center and blogs. I gotta go get dinner ready and take the kids to to the park.

My pro list for living in Amman

My kids will learn Arabic.

My Arabic will improve

My kids will learn more hands on Arabic 3adat

I will have Arabic neighbours, who I will say hi and hello, come over for coffee. A lot better than my neighbours here, not even one damned hello.

I might go to UAE and meet my cousins whom I have not seen since I left Lebanon in 1986.

I will travel to Lebanon and see my extended family that I have not seen since 1993.

I’ll go to Egypt and visit with my favourite hubby’s aunt. She should be in Canada next month, but I probably will not see herL

My kids will get to spend time with their father’s family.

My mother in law will get to see her baby’s kids whenever she wants to in that time. Hubby left Kuwait when he was 17, and since then he has not lived close to his family. He was in Germany for 14years and has been in Canada for the past 10years.

My kids will have Arab friends for sure.

I will be able to eat fast Arabic foods whenever I want. We will not have to go to MacDonald’s when we need to eat something quick. MacDonald’s in Amman does not have grilled cheese sandwich with the kids’ meal, and their MCchicken sandwich sucks! So not worth the 400calories! So my kids will not want to go and I will not want to either.

If I stay in Amman for the whole winter, I will not see snow for a whole year! But knowing my luck, Amman will have a record snow fall for this coming winter.

Winter will be cold, but it will not be –30 feels like –45 degrees Celsius cold. So I will not shatter my teeth whenever I step out.

I will be able to wear any pair of shoes I want in the winter, not only the ones that have gaps and designs at the bottom to so I will not slip on ice and snow.

I will get to meet some of the bloggers in Amman.

Ok I guess that is it; does anyone have anything else to add to my pro Amman list? I have a cons list as well; I will post it when I am ready to type it out.

Update

Summer had some good pros to add that are important to me too especially the maid one and the food delivery since we all know by now, I am not the best cook and I do not like cooking:

You can get a live in maid in Amman that will cost you about $200 a month and will do all the housework for you and maybe baby sit occasionally!

You can get food delivery to your home anytime you want other than pizza!

You can cater all you want if you have unplanned visitors, it does happen in Amman!! and you do not have to slave in the kitchen cooking for hours in case you plan to invite anyone for lunch or dinner! And remember, even if you cook, you will have the live in maid to clean after all the mess you make!

You can get kusa and small eggplants that is already cored and ready for stuffing! But you will have the maid to core it for you!

You can get mulukhyya that is already prepared for cooking; you might have to cut it if you like it na3meh instead of wara2! (althoug I get the frozen na3meh one here and it not bad)

You can get fresh Araby bread daily...anytime of the day! ( a big plus, since we all know how I had to drive all the way to Edmonton to buy some Araby bread!)

The little ways men can be annoying…

This post is more specifically about the little ways hubby can be annoying.

Few days ago I went to the video store to rent Pride and Prejudice. I took Ziad with me and of course he has to rent a video too. He chose Dr. Seuss’s Green eggs and ham. Does anyone see anything wrong with the movie title??

HAM!!! He had a problem with the word HAM! Sometimes for such a smart and open-minded man, hubby really surprises me.

Seriously to all the Muslim readers, do you have a problem with a video that mentions the word ham??

This is not the first time this issue about pigs came up. Whenever I get the kids books about farm animals, he starts with the sho hada, leesh jaybi hada lektab feyo sowar khanzeer?

For a while when he was younger, Ziad was very much into Pooh bear, so his room was decorated with pooh bear and friends items. He had huge stickers on the wall, and of course there were few with piglet on them. Piglet does not even look like a pig; he actually demanded I take them down. That did not happen of course, because that was a very silly request and eventually he forgot about them. I think it was one of his I just got up, and do not have caffeine and tobacco in my system so I will say whatever I want moments.

Ya3ni 3ana jad, this is so annoying! Allah forbad us from eating. He did not ask not to look at the animal and learn about it.

Ziad knows that we are Muslims and therefore we do not eat pork. I explained to him that Allah has asked us not to eat it, because pigs eat garbage and other yucky stuff. So it will make us sick if we eat it. Short and symbol, without the yucky yucky crab hubby was trying to pull. He now knows not to eat pork and to always ask if he is served meat. I do not have to ban picture, movies or anything with pigs to enforce the point.He is so cute; whenever they are giving out sample foods at Costco or Sobeys he always asks them “does this have pork? I cannot eat pork.”

Ya3ni seriously, does hubby think that if our kids watch charlotte’s web they will think yummy this pig looks delicious, I want to eat him?

This is another way of how I am not Arab enough. There is no way a woman who lived in the mideast all her life would allow pictures, movies, books of pigs into her house. Or so he says!

But really if we are going to get be so technical it means that lions, tigers and all the meat eating animals should be banned from our home, because we are forbidden from eating them as well. So why stop at the pig?

I admit, I was raised to be grossed out by pigs; I cannot look at something that has pork without being disgusted. But now I think it was very silly to raise kids hating an animal because we are forbidden from eating it. It is one of Allah’s creatures.

Off to Amman we go, to Amman we go, maybe?

This morning I was having a weird dream, I did some shopping, and other stuff and then I look over and I see a blazing fire in an unfinished basement. Not sure where, I am just hoping it is not my beautiful house in Toronto. Before I could find out where I was, I wake up to hubby talking to his sister on the phone. It was 4:00 am Saskatoon time what was he doing up so early? Damn, I wanted to go back to sleep and finish my dream, it was a nice dream, except for the unknown blazing fire, ok maybe it was a good thing I woke up, I hate fires.

So now we have found a place to live in Amman. It is not in the same building my mother in law lives in, but in the building hubby’s sisters live in. That is actually better, because then I can be without a car for a while. Did I mention how much I am prettified of driving in Amman? No stop signs, dowars, very little parking, uggh the list goes on and on…did I mention the crazy drivers and the so much honking and the no where to park?

This building is so much nicer and more mratab and I like the area better, and it is not off a main street. It is close to Amman mall, and there is lots of shopping close by. And did I mention that I could get rides from my sister in law and her kids when I need to so I might not have to drive in Amman, yeah OK I know I mentioned that, but it is worth mentioning again. I do not mind taking a taxi, they are so freak in cheap, and I will not have to drive or park in Amman.OK fine I do hate taking taxis and I love my car, I loooooooooooooooove my car, yes I really really do love my car, a big mwaaaaaaaaaah and a hug to my baby. But I love my car in Canada, where driving is actually a peaceful relaxing experience. When I need to relax I hop in my car and drive for hours, I love driving on the highway when it is not busy especially on nice summer days; hubby and I have our best conversations while driving, this is why we love road trips.

Seriously though is it possible to live in Amman without driving?? I am having nightmares about this! I do not want to drive in Amman!! But I cannot live without a car! I love the freedom of just hopping in the car and going wherever you want. And really I could be there for three to six months max, I very much doubt that we will be able to stay for the whole year. Not that I will not like living in Amman, I am sure I am going to love it. BUT, there is no way hubby will be able to tolerate us being so far more than that. So it will not be worth it to buy a car, for that little time.

So yay, I guess we are going to live in Amman, maybe! And damn it, I do not want to go there fat, so I gotta hussle up and lose those stupid winter 10lb, wish me luck!

Annoying People

I just got off the phone with my friend. She has been married for 11 months; she got married last June. We are chitchatting and she tells me that the inevitable has already started. She is already being asked about when she and her husband will start a family. I am not sure it is not this bad, but she says wherever she goes, weddings, mosques, friends and family gathering she is asked when they will have a little nono. They have not even celebrated their first year anniversary yet for god’s sake, khalas leave them alone!

I would understand family member wanting grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, but to strangers, really what the heck is in it for you? And really, you do not know, maybe they are trying and it is not working, so why make them feel worse about it??

I am sure it is just an Arab thing, I’ve never heard any of none Arab friends complaining about this! Ok maybe it not just an Arab thing, I am sure the are other cultures who nag about this as well..

I remember going through this and OMG was it ever annoying. Hubby and I decided to wait for at least one year before having children. We really wanted to get to know each other better, and to do fun things together. It was important especially for me, as I come from a somewhat strict family and I was not allowed to do lots of things. So hubby and I got to lots of fun stuff. We travelled a lot, we partied, and did what couples only did, we had lots of fun and I am glad we waited.

In those 3.5years before we got pregnant at every gathering I had to hear about it, some even suggested I see a doctor about it. We were working on preventing pregnancy, I do not know if we do have fertility problems or not, but for some it is hard to understand that not everyone get married and they start working on having kids from the first day. Ufff!

It was especially hard for my in-laws. Every week my mother in law would call and ask, do you have anything on the way yet? She said just try to have a baby now, jarbo 7alkom, and then wait to have another baby. Hmmmmmmmm wouldn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? Once you have one, it is not different than having 2 or 3 really. Apparently my mother in law was being tortured more than I was by family in Syria, making her feel bad, that maybe her son or his wife are not fertile, which alhamdoullah was not the case, actually we had our first son the first time we spontaneously said what the heck, lets try and see, and with our second son the month we decided to get pregnant it happened.

As much I love my kids, I am glad we waited those years. It was so much fun doing all those adult things. Now when we do things it is more kids geared, and forgot about spontaneous road trips, which hubby and I are famous for. One minute we would be driving around Toronto, and in few hours we are in Montreal or few hours away from home in northern Ontario. Now there is no way we could do that. Our trips have to be planned with kids’ entertainment here and there.

So now my poor friend has to endure this, and the do not have an plans to get pregnant soon. Of course it will not stop after the first baby, the minute the baby is born, starts the so when are you planning on having a second, do not wait too long, have them all together, blah blah blah..then the second baby comes, and they start asking about the third and so on. Ya3ni 3an jad, I do not understand what it is to them, why can’t they just mind their own business? I am at the when are you going to have a third baby stage, and I am being scolded for waiting too long, OMG my baby turns three in July and I still do not have a third, what am waiting for, until he turns five, maybe sho feeha ya3ni?

Eyes

After getting Lazik a month ago one of my eyes was red. Not normal eye red but blood in the eye red, I know ewwwwwwwwwww! It had to happen to me, ya3ni five other people had the surgery at the same time, and their eyes came out white but not mine. Anyways alhamdoullah, it did not hurt; it just looked freaky! Slowly the redness went down shwai shwai and now a month later my eye is as white as white milk? Well, with the brownish circle in the middle of course.

One day I stupidly researched the red in the eye after online. Note to self, never ever search online for medical stuff! There was a question posted about the flab getting dislodged :o That freaked me out; I did not even read the answer. When I went to see my eye doctor (who is a hottie!) to check that everything is in order with my eyes I asked him about this.

Me: I was reading on line that the flab might get dislodged, is that true?

Doc: well it is very rare, I’ve only seen it happening twice, but it was caused by a sever trauma to the eye, one guy was playing hockey and the hockey buck hit his eye, and he other had something to do with a dog’s nose

Me: *in shock* so it is true!

I went home and I was super paranoid, no one was allowed near my eyes. So the next week I went in to the my doctor again to check my eyes and I aske him about this again

Me: so let’s say the something happens and the flab does get dislodged, how does it look like, so I know what to look for.

Doc: *annoyed* the flab is stuck to your eye, it will not come off, it is stuck there, for it to come out you have to get a knife and cut it!

Me: o ok, so if someone accidentally hit my eye, it will not come off.

Doc: No it will not, it is stuck to your eye.

Me: OK, now that is the answer I am looking for, thank you

Well why did he not just give me this answer the week before, making me all paranoid. I am trying not to think about. And well I am safe, I do not play hockey and from now on will never go to a hockey game (unless my sons decide to play it, but by then I’ll be over this flab dislodging paranoia inshallah). I do not own a dog, and I am terrified of dogs so no dog’s nose is coming near my eyes or me.
:o)

Taxes all done!!!

yippy...I can sleep tonight!!!! It only took two days. I have not filed them yet, I want to check and make sure everything is ok. I will file then on the weekend so hubby can look them over and check if he is satisfied with his return. We put lots in RRSP's this year, so our tax to be paid is not heat attacky!:) The GST is a bit high, but we paid throughout the year so it is not too bad.

I feel bad though, I could not work on taxes at night because my pc is in the bedroom, and lately the whole family has been sleeping on my bed, so I do not want to wake the kids up. So for the past 2 days I have neglected my kids like crazy. I did not read to them at all, no hullaboloo games, I did not help my 2.5yo with the puzzles, but the az3ar suprised me and he did then on his own, and even though the weather was nice we did not make it to the park or the gym. So the kids are bored and im feeling fat, but it was all worth it. Taxes for 2006 are done!!! I will start 2007's in March next year, damned procrastination! I probably will not start then untill after mid April like I do everyear, but hey this time they are done and ready to go April 17th, a big improvment than the previous year's April 28.

phew, a huge weight off my chest. I can sleep tonight! Ok fine, so I was not losing sleep over it, but you know what a mean.

Arab generosity ??

Why why do Arab men have to do this?? Whenever we go out to dinner or coffee with our friends at the end of our stay hubby and friend’s hubby have to fight over who pays. OMG it is the most annoying thing. Same thing when hubby goes out with any of his friends. Can they not just make a schedule and decide who will pay each time before hand and spare themselves and others the hassle? This is why I love going out with my Canadian friends, unless someone is inviting the other to celebrate something, everyone pays for what they ordered, no hassle, no embarrassment khalas nice and simple, no one owes anyone anything.

One of the things that make me not Arab enough according to someone is the fact that when I have guests I offer them food, drinks and if they refuse I do not push. Ok you do not want it fine. I am not a mind reader; I do not if they are refusing to take what I am offering because they are shy or whatever, when they really do want it. When I invite people for dinner, I say tfadalo and I do not watch if people are filling their plates to the max or how much they eat and I do not push them to eat more. I invited them to eat, so they should, the food is there and plentiful why do I have to keep on bugging them to eat? Ya3ni am I to suppose to assume they are mest7yeen?

I hate it when people do that; I have been forced to eat more than I need so many times at friends’ houses. Khalas when I am done eating, I’m done, I did not stop eating before I was full in hopes that host is going to ask me to eat more. Wala mani mest7eyi, I’m just full, and then I have to put some more in my plate and force it down my throat, ya3ni lasho kol hadi leglabeh?

The other when we went to Edmonton, seeing how we do not have any Arabic stores in Saskatoon, I brought out friends some Araby bread and some stuff they requested. Hubby did not want to take any money from them. One friend was ok with and was persuaded with just few la khalas mish benatna and he took his stuff and thanked us, his wife called and thanked me for the gebna roomy she has been craving for a while. It is not big deal. The other friend would not accept it, hubby told him la khalas mish benatna, blah blah and he insisted but he did have cash. The next morning his wife calls me and I can tell that they have had a fight over this, and eventually she came over and brought $30. Their stuff cost $24.5, so now I have to give her back $5.5. Anyways, hubby was annoying with this, khalas some people do no like this, so after the third no I have to pay you take the money and end it. And our friend was even more annoying; khalas if you feel so strongly about it you can pay us back in a different way. Next time you go to Calgary or Edmonton just get us some stuff, or next time we see you get a small toy for the boys, anything. Bas ya3ni it should not be a big deal.

It is much easier dealing with this matter with our Canadian friends. No mish benatna wala bateekh and no wasting time arguing about paying. If I owe my friend a quarter I give it back to him/her and he will take it without no it is ok crap. And when someone at the office goes for a timmy’s coffee trip they collect money before leaving, no I pay now, you pay later crap everything is out in the open. Makes life so much easier!

so pathetic!

Well I guess Quebec, Canada is slowly becoming a second France regarding the hijjab, I’ll give it few years and Muslims will not be allowed to wear hijjab in school and other places, hopefully the rest of Canada will not adopt this silliness. This is so sad and pathetic!!! Seriously who makes these stupid rules! Safety aal!! Yroo7o ywalo…3an jad toz feehom...I feel bad for these kids!! Finally a smart ass found a reason to justify their banning of hijjab, o lets blame it on saftey. pesssshhhhhhhhhhhh..on them!

I feel very sad because we practised so hard," 11-year-old Bissan Mansour, who wears a hijab, told The Canadian Press on Sunday. "We pulled out for a useless reason."
The team has been practicing the Korean martial art for three years, and some members have won medals in competition. The team said on Sunday the hijabs -- which five of its six team members wear underneath their helmets -- have never been a problem until now.

Right before the competition in Longueuil, the team said a referee told them to either remove their hijabs or leave the tournament.

"In the past few years we used to compete, and there was no problem," team coach Medhi Sbeiti told CTV Montreal. "What's the problem this year?"
International referee Stephane Menard said on Sunday that the decision was made for safety reasons, and that it came out of a referees' meeting in Longueuil earlier in the day.

Menard told CP that the hijab isn't included under the equipment allowed under World Tae Kwon Do Federation rules.
"We applied the rules to the letter," he said.
The feat is that part of the hijab could come loose during a about. Taekwondo involves kicks and throws.
The team is made up of six girls between eight and 12 years old, and is affiliated with a Muslim community centre in Montreal.
Team member Batoul Atwi told CTV Montreal that she was angry and disappointed after she and her teammates were sidelined at the Raymond Mourad tournament.
Tournament founder Raymond Mourad said he wanted officials to let the Muslim girls compete this time, but his pleas were ignored.

"They should have let them fight," Mourad told CTV Montreal. The girls withdrew following the decision. A boys team from the same centre also withdrew. The $35 tournament fee each member paid was reimbursed.
Tournament founder Raymond Mourad wanted the officials to let them compete, but he couldn't sway them.
"The kids who came today, we could have let them compete and warned them for next time," Mourad said.

Other controversies
Sunday's incident marks the second time in recent months the hijab has been the centre of controversy at an amateur sporting event in Quebec involving pre-teens.
In February, an 11-year-old Muslim girl from Ottawa was asked to remove her hijab at a soccer tournament in Laval, north of Montreal, due to safety concerns. She refused and her team pulled out of the tournament.
And a Montreal Muslim woman recently complained that she was forced to choose between her hijab and a job as a prison guard. Authorities also cited safety concerns in that case.

Debate over "reasonable accommodation" of racial, cultural and religious minorities surfaced several times during the Quebec election campaign.
It has become such a hot-button issue that Premier Jean Charest has former a committee to study it.

Spring is here, it is really here! 3an jad!

Ok so the grass is still brown and the trees are just twigs and there are no flower in sight...but for the first day in months I have gone out without a coat, without putting mitts and hats on the boys ...just put shoes on go! I felt so light! But now that I do not have my jacket hiding the few lb I have gained over what has got to be the worst and longest winter in the history of the few years I have been alive...I even heard birds singing when I got up this morning! Yay!

Yesterday it reached +20, a big change from the -20 we have been having for soo long! The kids and I went out for a walk to the grocery store, a nice 15min walk. Hubby picked us up and we went to the park. What a difference from last summer, the kids are really growing up. The two of them were on the big kid swing, but of course bolbol had to eventually go on the baby swing because I wanted a turn. It was so nice playing with the kids. Last year I had to walk with bolbol on the play set and would not let him go down the tall slide, this year I just stood on the side and was with him only when we had a sliding race. *Sniff, sniff* my baby is growing up.

Today wasn't that nice, we were planning on going to the tiny Saskatoon Zoo, but hubby decided to shampoo the carpet, so the kids and I went shopping.

Ok seriously this bad, I came on my computer with a purpose right now. I was planning on doing my assignment. I had it all planned out at night, I even got up and got some paper and wrote down my points and I just have to elaborate on them to make a 750 word essay about a woman who goes through midlife crises and eventually commits a suicide, now I have lots to say about it but I just do not feel like it…and those damned taxes, hubby keeps on reminding me to do them, like I have forgot, they are haunting me, damned procrastination, it is not fun anymore

It is none of your business

Why do people make it their business if a woman wears the hijjab or not?? It goes both ways.

I always hear about how women in hijjab are treated badly. At stores they are not helped, at the malls they are stared at, some have been even spit on, and yelled at. Many see the hijjab as a sign on oppression, which is not! I have heard people being told you are living in the west now you do not have to wear a scarf. This was told to American converts who have lived in the states all their lives.
Even after told that they chose to wear the hijjab, and were not forced to wear it by her male relatives, some still make it their business and will not let it go. It is a piece of cloth for god’s sake; it is on her head not yours. Why do you make it your business, let it go for god’s sake! If it is a hot summer day, she is the one wearing it and if she is hot, it is her problem not yours! Just let it go!
I not understand why people are so bugged by this; they should be used woman covering their heads by now, since there are Muslims everywhere.

The same goes for hijjabis. I do not wear the hijjab; sometimes I am not the most modestly dressed person in the world, but still nowhere near Britney Spears outfits. It should not be anyone’s business whether I wear the hijjab or not. I have not really had any problem from Arabs, many of my friends cover and we still hang out and we are good friends. But I have met few reverts who will not have anything to do with me because well yeh I do not wear the hijjab. And who is to say that a person in hijjab is better those not veiled?? I know many girls who wear the hijjab that do not pray or fast; they just wear it because everyone else is or because their parents want them to.

I was reading a forum and one girl said how she wants to scream when she sees Muslim not veiled and blah blah blah, and how annoying it is blah blah blah…well seriously relax! What is it to you?? It is none of your business really whether I chose to show my hair or cover it. My head is mine, and your head is yours, you do what you want and I’ll do what I want, and we all answer to Allah. And im so sick of older women telling me that I should not be wearing what I am wearing, and then they go to say how they used to dress like that when they were my age but now regret it, that is just annoying. It does not make me want to go throw out all my short sleeve shirts and buy a more modest wardrobe, so really there is no point to their advice. La tahdi man a7babt, ina Allah yahdi man yasha’ , and who knows maybe one day inshallah.

I won, I won, nay nanay nanay neeeeeeeeey

I really hate placing bids on Ebay because I get too anxious while waiting to see if I win or not. So I only buy things if they have the buy now option. But today after looking all over for a leapster Pencil learn to write all over the stores and online stores in Canada, I decided to place a bid. I told zozo that I am not getting him any more cartridges khlas he has six now, that is more than enough these thing are expensive. This morning he comes to me and says

“Baba gave me money to throw in the wishing fountain at the mall yesterday and I wished for pencil learn to draw game for my Leapster, I hope my wish comes true soon, how long to you think it takes, I put lots of money not just one because I really want it to come true fast”

How can you say no to that?? So after giving up on finding it in Canada I placed a bid on Ebay, and his wish did come true! I hardly ever win any bids :)

Home sweet home!

We got back home last night; we had a good time in Edmonton.
We left on Sunday morning, hubby wanted to leave at 9:00 am…hahahhahahahahah, yeh right…I had to pack, dress the boys, get them breakfast, have my breakfast, take a shower, do my hair, makeup, get dressed, make sure the apartment is tidy enough, I really hate coming home to a messy home. Now I do not know, but I think I did great, I woke up at 8:30 and was 100% ready to go by 11:00am!

Our drive was eventless, we chitchatted, I read a book “pride and Prejudice”, which I am loving so far and do not mind writing few essays on it. We stopped for coffee and smoke four times! I had four cups of coffee in seven hours! But it was ok; I like stopping at rest stops here and there. We got to Edmonton at 8:00 and were so bad, the sun was in our eyes and we could not see a thing so we got lost. We finally made it to the hotel and I have to say I made a booboo!! The hotel sucked!!!! We like nice hotels, with nice room, but this one was sucky, we wanted to leave but then decided it is not worth it and since we will be out all day next day and leaving the day after we decided to suck it up and stay. Next time I will do more research before booking the hotel!




We went to Edmonton mall the next day, but not before driving all over Edmonton because we got lost. The first time we ever really need the GPS and we leave it home! Thankfully it was hubby’s fault this time. Hubby lived in Edmonton for five months you would think he knows his way around but he doesn’t! we finally make it to the north, went to an Arabic bakery and got manakeesh for breakfast. I found an Islamic store beside the bakery so while hubby bought manakeesh I went in and bought a 3abaya, I have wanted one for a while but have been too scared to order one online. Anyways so we finally make it to Edmonton mall, and I was in shopping heaven! Hubby and zozo went to the play area, which is huge! Bolbol was sleeping in the stroller and I had the whole mall to myself. I have been shopping at Saskatoon’s tiny malls for a while so I loved being in a huge mall! I shopped until I dropped, for five hours I was shopping while hubby and zozo played. I walked through the whole mall, and it is a huge mall, my feet were about to fall out when I was done. I could not buy any clothes for me, since I was feeling fat and I would have cried if I tried anything on, but I did buy two pairs of summer shoes, clothes for the kids, and I even got a great deal on kids shoes I bought two kids winter shoes for $14, now that is a deal! After shopping and playing we met up with friends and had dinner together and off to bed at 12am.


The next day we checkout, the first time we are ever out of the hotel by 10am, we are usually still getting ready to leave by 11:00. We went to the Arabic food store, and bought all the Arabic foods we do not find here in Saskatoon. And once we were done I have a dumb moment! There is an Arabic sweets store next to the Arabic grocery store, so I asked hubby to see if they have mamoul madd, YUMMMY! So of he goes and I decided to throw some of the garbage in the car out. And I grab the keys just in case zozo decides to try driving the car. While my hand is in the garbage can getting ready to throw the stuff away hubby come out and yells SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM….so I got startled and I threw everything out of my hand, yes including the keys! I tell hubby I think I threw the keys out, but all he cared about is whether I wanted the mad with dates or walnuts. I say walnuts but the keys are in the garbage, we’ll deal with it later he says. But I am trying to get them out of the garbage when a nice Sudanese guy passes by and asks what is wrong. I tell him about my keys and he helps me open the garbage can, which is closed very good to keep the homeless people to go into them. Finally he get it open and take the garbage bag out, and thankfully it is almost empty except for few Tim Horton’s cups and the stuff I threw out and of course my keys. So I get them and when hubby come out he asks are the key in the garbage and I say nope they are in my pocket. So phew! That was the end of that; I do not have to live with the teasing for few months or maybe years. Remember the day you threw the keys in the garbage? Well thanks to those nice guys I will not be hearing thatJ

Our drive back was very tiring, it felt so much longer than the drive to Edmonton and my back was so tired. I was glad to finally get home. But we bought so much bread; some of them did not fit in the freezer,I spent an hour organizing the freezer over and over, we can not buy iceceam for a while now!

Now I have to start planning for our next trip to Vancouver, and booking hotels along the way.

off to our mini vacation

So tomorrow morning we are going to Edmonton.. I know it is not the carribean, but I am actually exited to be getting away for few days. I have had the worst winter ever! We had sooooo much snow this year, and in Saskatoon snow means me staying home for few days untill the roads are driveable...and since it snowed at least once every single freakin week, I have been house bound for a long time. I even gained NINE pounds! Damn it! I have never gained this much weight when not pregnant in few months. I have been depressed and stressed out, so it nice to get away.
Hubby left his laptop at work, so we will not have a computer for THREE days! But I am glad, I have been spending too much time online so it will be a nice break.
Of course the main reason for our trip is still to buy pita and Arabic groceries. I think I will buy Jameed and make Mansaf, any tips on how to make it?? I have never made it before and have only eaten it three times.

Damned procrastination!!!!!!

Seriously there has got to be a cure for this!!!! Maybe some pills one could take?? OR maybe, just maybe if I stopped checking things online when I should be doing my jobs, I may be able to get things done!! NAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH, there has got to be a better solution, some pills sound good.

So taxes are due in about three weeks, and so far my progress so has been:
-Get the invoices box out of the closet
-Sort the receipts, throw out things we do not want to claim and put everything in labelled files
-Open last year’s excel sheets, save it as taxes 2006, erase last years numbers, and the sheets I will not be using this year.
-Bought quick tax for business and ink for my printer!


And then I have an assignment to do, everyone has handed in their assignment 3 and I am still researching assignment 2! Damn it!!! I have everything in my head, I even did the whole essay on To room nineteen what every paragraph will say while I was in bed last night, when I come to put it on word I get distracted by other stuff on the computer.

But it all has to wait right now because I have a chocolate bar to eat and nails to do, then some shopping and back home to find time to do my two current top priorities.

I hate tax time!!!

Random thought on our move to Jordan

So far our move to Jordan is a go, but you know there are still three more months to and who knows what happens in those three months.

How the heck am I going to drive in Amman, sure the area where we will be living in is not as busy as say downtown Amman, or so I have been told since I have never been to nos elbalad.

And what is up with those sidewalks?? My son is a runner, so unless he is sitting in a stroller I will be chasing him. And those darned sidewalks and stroller just do not go together. If there aren’t any steps here and there, there are trees right in the middle of the sidewalk, which apparently the city is getting rid of. How does a handicapped person live in Amman? You see people in those cool wheel chair, my son is so fascinated with those, and they can go anywhere, but I can not see a person in a wheelchair being able to get around in Amman, same with strollers. I want to get my son one of those so he will not run off, he so ma besma3 elkelme and the minute he is out of the stroller he wants to run all over.

Now I know that people are different in the mideast. Few years ago in Jordan we went to this restaurant, gosh I do not what it is called the one inside a cave. Anyways we were sitting outside, it has a million stairs here and there, lots of rocks and very unsafe for a child unsupervised. My husband’s niece was 18 month old and she was left alone to roam all over the place. Now I will let my five-year-old roam around but with my eyes on his constantly though, but not my 2.5yo. I just do not get it, how can an eighteen-month-old baby be left alone to roam freely! In Syria I saw kids in diapers, playing on the street with their older sibling, who were about three or four years old, if someone sees kids this age playing alone on the streets in Canada, the police would be called within minutes.

Then there is the no central heat thing. My mother in law keeps on saying ya welli 3aleekom in this cold. But I’m thinking ya weeli 3alikom into in Jordan. It may be –40 here, but we are very warm at home. I do not own long sleeves PJ, my kids are inside with very light cloths on, their PJs are short sleeves and they are mostly in shorts and T’s at home all winter long. But in Jordan well at least at my in-laws homes I was freezing all day long. I think I will take freezing from my home to my car, and the car to my destination for few minutes rather than being cold all day long and wearing tons of clothes, which I really hate.

Ok so I guess since I promised I will go and spend at least one year in Amman, I will go and I will get used to it. BUT I do plan to drive my husband crazy, I will call him everyday and complain, ok maybe not everyday, just Saturday morning to get him back for driving us crazy with his Canada sucks whines (which it doesn’t, Canada is awesome!). Even if I do end up love living in Jordan, which who knows, I might love it once I get past driving, and the wearing a million things all day long:)

where did my tears go??

wow, I was told that eyes get very dry after Lasik, but not this much. I have to put drops in my eyes few times a day. Yesterday I made Msakhan. I was cutting all that onion, ok only four onions, it is just for the two of us, the kids eat hummous sandwiches, and although my eyes wanted to cry and got painful, but no tears came out! I HAVE NO TEARS!!!! Now when my husband upsets me, how is he supposed to know I am sad???!!!! NO tears mean no guilt trips!! o MAN, I want my tears back....

Araby bread

We are thinking of driving to Edmonton this coming weekend. Are we going to see friends, well we will see friends but they are not the reason we are going. Do we want to go to Edmonton Mall, yeh we will go there, but it is not the reason we are going, although shopping in a huge mall will be a nice change from the tiny big mall Saskatoon has.




The main reason why I want to go is so I can buy Araby bread! Like my son calls. There are no Arabic store in Saskatoon. Superstore does carry some Arabic items, along with some pita bread, but a Greek bakery in Calgary makes them, and they suck!! It is hard to make them into a sandwich because they betfatfato (break apart). Lately all of us only want to eat araby bread, my son wants his peanut butter, cheese, hummus sandwiches all made with pita.

Since it will be spring break and my husband has a day off. Well make it into a four-day weekend, and we might even drive to Jasper!!! So that will be fun, I know once I mention jasper my husband will be sold on the idea!

Edmonton is a five-hour drive from Saskatoon. But hey spring is here (well not today, it is snowing and a –9 feels like –18 degrees, what the hell?!!!!!) this will be our first mini vacation this year, and next month when the weather gets nicer we’ll drive to Vancouver a good 12-15hour drive through the mountains, our dream trip!

So yeh the main reason for this weekend getaway is to get araby bread, but it will be fun tooJ

Reverse Psychology

OMG I am sooooooooooo stupid!! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?? I would have saved myself so much whining, and fighting!

For the past two years all I have been saying is how we will be moving to Jordan, and dumbo little old me was fighting it all the way.
Now that I have finally said sure I will go, and I am preparing myself, I have already spent $500 on clothes since yesterday! And now hubby is kind of backing off the idea. There is no way he will be able to stand us being so far away, especially in a country where safety is not a #1, and everything is very different than what the kids and I are used to.

Two years ago in march my husband decided to finally accept an offer in Edmonton and try it out. The kids and I stayed in Toronto. We went to Edmonton in mid April and stayed with my husband for three weeks then came back home in Milton. He came to Toronto every for 2-3 days every 2 weeks or so, we went back to Edmonton in July and stayed for three weeks. In august he accepted an offer in Saskatoon and moved here. By then he was going crazy without us, and whining about how this is no life, blah blah blah and finally I agreed to move to Saskatoon, which both the kids and I hate!

So imagine how much harder it will if we do move to Amman. In Toronto he knew I was used to the area, everything was accessible to us, my family was a 30min drive away, and I could drive without having to deal with too many bad drivers who do not always follow the rules. But with all that he was always worried about us. If we are in Amman he will not be able to come visit too many times, other than the cost, it is a very tiring trip. He complained to no end about the flight from Edmonton to Toronto for god’s sake and it was a 4 hr flight!

See if I said on Saturday morning, no way I will not go to Amman like I always do, we would have been fighting about it until today. So now I am not the one holding us back from fulfilling his dreams on living in Jordan :)

To me I would love for nothing more than to go back to my house in Toronto where I am near my family and friends. I hate apartment living so much, and I was hoping to never do it again. I miss my back yard, my brand new appliances, and my almost brand new house. I want to go plant some flowers some pushes in my garden, although I have the brownest thumbs ever so I will probably end up hiring someone to do it.

You never know, where we will be next year. In Toronto or Amman, I am not cancelling my son’s preschool registration. I even registered my older son for camp this summer in Milton, and he is looking forward to it. My son has been so looking forward to going to Canada’s wonderland, the kids are finally old enough to go.

We’ll see, I guess it will be fun if we do move to Amman. To live with Arabs, it will be a nice experience, something I have always longed for. My only concern is driving. I do not even know how to parallel park! I learned how to do it in driving school, didn’t do it on my exam because it was February and the sides of streets full of snow banks. And ever since I never really needed to parallel park. Parking is plentiful in Canada that I have hardly ever had to Street Park.

my first tag!

Thank you 7aki fadi for tagging me! :p

so here goes :)

1. If there was a fire at your house and you could save only one thing (item)
what would that be?

I do not know…I do not even want to think about it…few months ago the fire
alarm went off in my building and holly crap. I was working on potty
training my son and he was naked and it was –40 degrees out. How the heck
was supposed to dress my baby in his clothes, snow suite and all the
required clothes for the damned cold. Thankfully the fire alarm stopped
after a minute, false alarm! Needless to say my son is still in diapers
until the warm weather comes and we are able to potty train.
Ok back to what I would save, if it were during that cold time I’d grab
everything from our coat closet and warm clothes to put the kids in. If it
were summer I would save my purse, because I’d be lost without my ID’s and
credit cards :)


2. What is the most embarrassing situation you have been in?

This was
pretty embarrassing. You should have seen how red my face was.
But even more embarrassing was when I was in grade 2 in Lebanon and we
were in the middle of a test in English class and I had to go pee. I asked the
teacher and he yelled at me and said that I had to wait after the
test. Well I was 6/7 and I really had to go, I could not hold it so I peed in
my pants. I lived far away from school, so I had to go my uncle’s home,
walking in my wet pant and borrow my chubby cousin’s clothes that were 3
sizes bigger than me. Now that was super embarrassing!!!!!


3. If you can do over a part of your life, what will you change?

I would not really want to do anything over. Everything that happened in my life
taught me a lot and made me more understanding. Ok maybe not, if I could have my
son back to being a baby and not speaking any English with him at all like I see
a lot of parents do with their kids, I would have saved myself a lot of hearing
my husband’s na’na’(whine)

ok I guess I tag nido,maioush and Summer

Palestinian Children

I borrowed this video from Summer's blog

I still have no idea how to post a clip on my blog..if anyone knows feel free to help me:)

anyways...this is so sad, I feel so helpless not being able to do anything to help these kids out. I lived in a Palestinian camp in Lebanon for few months, and I went to school there from preschool to grade 6. The camps were horrible and at some places disgusting, but they are 100000000000000000x times better than the camps in palestine, so I can not even begin to imagine how horrible their lives in these camps are.

The URL to the video is:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.fullscreen&videoid=1380469430

panick, panick, panick

Today my husband woke up to his usual saturday angry whine. "What are we going to do about this?" "what is your solution to zozo and bolbol not speaking arabic like an arab"
I want to invent something for my husband that prevents him from talking before drinking his morning coffee and his smoke. Such a nice guy other times..is a big monster on saturday morning before his coffee and smoke! I should have stuck to my I will never marry a smoker plan, why did my hubby have to be so freakin cute and so sweet...o well what is done is done, I guess having to live with his pre smoke mood is not too bad...considering all this other great traits. I really dread Ramadan for this reason, OMG do not talk to him, do not look at him, get out of his way, well at least for the first week.

Ok so enough about hubby, and back to the point of my post. Our solution to this problem is to move to Jordan. I guess living in Jordan for one year is worth it if I never hear this arab/move to Jordan weekly whine.

Since hubby can not work in Jordan, and most of the arabic countries the kids and I will move to Jordan, while he stays here.

His sister has a mission to find us a rental apartment very close to my mother in law's house, a shagalah, and a car! Me drive in Jordan, OMG!

Right now my biggest worry is buying clothes for the kids, in Sept they will need a whole wardrobe. It is so annoying how kids grow so fast. I want to go to the mall, I hope they still have winter clothes still! clothes are so expensive in Amman, it is outrageous! I will have to buy enough clothes and shoes for me, I will not buy a pair of shoes for 250-300JD! Damn, those shoes were not even that nice! I love shopping in Canada.

Now problem#2, I have to find a hair dresser....I do not want another hair disaster! I cut my hair every 6-8wks.

Problem#3 GYM! I have to find a gym close to where we will be living. I am thinking gyms with daycare are not plentiful eh? But I will have a shagalah..this is the only reason I will want a helper.

Ok I have a million problems to post about our move I will post them later, I gotta go shopping now before the mall closes. But at least we finally established that I will not live with my mother in law! So at least this is not an issue anymore.