Still Alive!

Yep, people, still here but way too busy to blog-- and no internet at home. i am at my moms once again. i tried to post a week ago, but i guess blogger was messed up again and it didn't publish. i will be back after the begining of the new year, so don't give up on me!
Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Well I am here at my moms again, for a second. I come to pick up her thanksgiving crap, as a daughterly service. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at my brothers house. I love my sister in law she is the coolest, so I am verrrry lucky, (ilhamdulillah) so we party over there this Thanksgiving. My husband is bringing the baby later, so I can help her out and put together my dishes in peace with out a an ankle biter in the kitchen. My brother is bbq-ing the turkey this year, so we are totally un-responsible for that. YAY! Here is a handy link in case you think you have screwed youself on your turkey, they may be able to help. No need to thank me, it's all part of the service, people. Although, i don't think you would be sitting here reading my blog or surfing Blogexplosion if you think you screwed yourself on your turkey, now would you? Didn't think so. (wink wink) Well,. It is time for me to get going, On your mark, get set, set STUFFED!
Brrrrrrrffff.
Is there any cranberry sauce left?

SBC Yahoo Dial up sucks!

On Friday November 12th my internet service was suspended by SBC. They said we had not paid the bill. Total crock. My husband is an ACCOUNTANT. The bills get paid on time, if not early. So when I called I put this out to them. However there was nothing they could do because they were undergoing some "system enhancements" and nothing pertaining tot billing could be fixed, until the 16th of November. So I waited. And waited. Then I called. I was told that my account would be reestablished in 2 more hours. That was 7 days ago. I have called 4 times, my husband has called once. They don't care. And guess what a supervisor is always "in a meeting" how f-ing convenient. I am just a tad bit peeved as I am sure all of you can tell. So, as of now I am at my moms house which has comcast high-speed and I love it. But I cannot blog here forever! No internet sucks. They just cant seem to grasp the idea that I spend like 5-6 hours online a day. I cut in on my sleep to surf Blogexplosion. I can say that I am better rested than previously, but I would rather have my internet back. Screw it I am going to get net zero, until it is time to get comcast when we move in February. SBC! Pffft! Bastards!

Permanent post--Scroll down for recent.

Ramadan Mubarek 
Peace and Blessings Everyone.
Kol Senna Winta Tayeb.

Peterson frustration

one more juror gone
conducting her own research
scott peterson squirms

in honor of Kari anne at Haiku of the Day, My first ever haiku post (it may be my last.) I am trying to voice my frustrations for this case without making such a big deal. It happened so close to home, only about 40 miles away. i mean, this girl could have been a relative of mine (both portugese which isn't too uncommon in this area) I know we are innocent until proven guilty buthey, the most obvious explanation is usually the explanation, -or- if it walks like a duck....

please don't let them declare a mistrial.

BUSTED!

Gramma has cooool things in her cupboards. 

Freestyle dinner at Grammas

Looking back, dont think the bib was necessary. Taken at grammas house, eating a nutritious dinner of Spaghetti-o's and peas. With grape juice. 

Be WARNED!

The following pictures are graphic.

Grumpy Eid Baby

what Ayman was doing Hubby and I took turns consoling "Inconsolable Ayman" he was in a bad mood the whole time we were in Egypt. This resolved about 4 days after we got back.

Division of the meat

separating the meat into 2 kilo bags.  In this case it is the cow, but they measure it out- 1/3 for family, 1/3 for friends, 1/3 for the poor. then they distribute it over the next few days, and did i mention there is a great big dinner as well?

Blood, gore, death, PARTAY!

My niece, Nada and nephew, Ahmed. When they butcher the animals everyone comes to watch. Kids included. It is seriously like Xmas morning. Grown-ups are giving kids money, they are running all over the place, and watching the "Eid butcher show". Everyone was really sly about asking my husband if I was gonna watch that mornings events with out vomiting. I did.

Oh yeah, there was a cow.

Did i forget to mention? My husbands mother and aunts had a cow butchered. By the time we got there this is what we saw. When in Rome....or Egypt.

Two sheep Pt II

baaaah don't sic PeTA on me... 
Our friend the sheep. They tasted good. Sorry, Vegan people.

The mom in this story sucks.

This really irritates me. this past week there was a news story here in Northern California about a woman who had gone missing.. They had the story on the news broadcasts (for several days mind you ) with her worried children. The kids were saying how they had called, and called, and called their mom and only gotten voice mail. She was supposed to have gone to a leasing office for a new home and fill out paperwork--she missed the appointment. It was beginning to look like something bad had happened. There was all points bulletins, media coverage.
Last night, a few days after she had been missing, she turned up in Bakersfield. She only said that she was reunited with her family.
What?
Ok, i am glad that he woman is ok, lets just get this out of the way right now. Where the hell was she? Did she not think that her kids would be worried sick? How irresponsible is that? Flaky, very very very flaky. I would be seriously perturbed if my mother did that. I mean, does this woman have a history of disappearing acts? The news story didn't mention that. He kids were just sick with worry because this was supposedly out of character for her.
Shoot, I don't know what my point is. I am just disgusted that a mom would put her family through such grief.
Bad mommy.

Scaredycat

Thats Mr. Scaredycat to you. 

Reason #422 for therapy

My dear son has turned into a scaredycat. I don't know exactly when it happened, but it is really cute. Someday it may not be, when he decides he is deathly afraid of Gramma or Grampa, but right now it is cute.
Example: Three weeks ago I discovered that when I get the vacuum out the baby will crawl up my husbands leg, screaming, shaking and crying to get away from it. Mind you, a few weeks before (the vacuum had been broken for a while folks,) he used to sit in his high chair and happily watch as I vacuumed back and forth. Sometimes he would even be on the floor getting in the way of the vacuum. Not anymore. I have never seen anything like it. The look of sheer terror on his face when he sees the thing is almost heartbreaking.
Almost.
We keep the vacuum in the hall closet. In the same hallway, just opposite of this closet there is a nightlight plugged into the wall. That baby tries to pull it out of the wall whenever he gets a chance. Now, instead of just unplugging the nightlight (too easy) we tell him "no, don't touch that" and remove him from the vicinity. That usually gets tiring. I came up with a new method of nightlight protection. I like to call it "vacuum cleaner guardian". The last time he tried to pull the light, I opened the closet, and showed him the vacuum. He high tailed it out of there, and quick. So now all I have to do is open the closet door when he is in that hallway. I guess that this sounds really cold blooded. Or maybe it seems like psychological torture. I am not beating him with it, I don't make him cry, and it works. He is not afraid of the hallway itself, because if he was, he wouldn't feel the need to go in there to open and bang shut the towel closet.
Moving on.
Last Monday I was at my sister in laws house kind of late, so I decided to give the baby a bath over there. When I put him in her bathtub, he freaaaked out. Totally. He would not sit down. I had to bathe him standing up, holding on to my neck, chattering like a monkey. (the baby was chattering, not me) This was so strange. Just a couple weeks ago he was actually frolicking in my mothers bathtub, but not now. At home, he takes a bath in our kitchen sink, easier on my back, and arms. (We live in an old-ass condo and the showerdoors are those kind on a track with glass that has never seen Lime Away, ever. I guess I could clean them, but we are getting out of here shortly so why bother.) In the sink the baby only has room to splash. I guess he feels more secure in the sink. I thought it was because my SIL tub is huge, but he did basically the same thing at my moms the next night. Go figure.

This parenting thing is really neat. It seems like every couple of weeks some new and improved quirk, or personality trait pops up. I love it. It is fun being a mom. When I am not complaining about it, that is. Even then I am loving it.

I love you baby, someday you can read this and see what a freak yor Mommy is, and why you have to go to therapy.
xoxoxox

Totally Drained

Sorry i haven't posted my egypt pics until now, i was engrossed in the travesty that is American Politics. Now i am suffering from a depression due to it. I will expand on my pics from Egypt later. Hope everyone got out there to vote....

two very cute sheep purchased for the Eid Sacrifice. 

The enormous ship they found buried next to the Pyramids. reallly old. 

Random picture of Ayman, 6 weeks old. 

At the base of Kufu looking up. 

Me in front the Pyramids on a stinky camel 

Something to Ponder

Is there a certain age when Tater Tots are no longer age appropriate to eat? I hope not, I love them.

Babys' First Halloween activities.

Halloween was fun. Ayman started the evening at grammas house,(picture #1) where we got him dressed for the evening.(pic # 2) This was followed by a trip to Auntie Renee and Uncle Alexs' house.(pic #3) There, we had a dinner of Tasty Enchiladas ala Renee, and Ayman got to frolick With his dog uncle Petie and dog cousin Cosmo. After the fine dining, we went on up the road to the lovely town of Manteca. Ayman got to visit with his great grandparents, Donna and Art.(pic #4) Uncle petie waited out in the car. Ayman was entranced by the way his great grandparents coffee table top rotated and proceded to bump his head on it several times. After that visit, it was on to Uncle Jim and Aunt Cindys house (also in Manteca). There, Auntie Renee and I took the baby out to some of the houses that actually had porch lights on. For only a few houses, Ayman took in a pretty good haul. I have been partaking of it since we got home. When we got back over to Aunt Cindys house, her boys, Jacob and Adam were just getting home from Trick or Treating, so Ayman got to visit with them too.(pic #5) All in all, a fun night had by all. I made pizza, we snacked on candy and had a nice time. Aunt Cindy declined the picture though,(pic #6) Maybe next time. These are some pictures from Aymans first Halloween. Thanks everyone for sharing it with us.

Time to Get Dressed! (1)

Ayman and Grandma before comencing Halloween activities. 

Grrrrr Trick or Treat! (2)

Ayman at Grandmas on Halloween. 
All dressed up for an adorable action shot. He was such a good boy all night, even if he was cranky when he got home, and didn't want to sleep. Happy 1st Halloween Baby Ayman!

Auntie Renee and Uncle Alex (3)

Aymans first Trick or Treat Stop. 

Great Gramma and Grampa (4)

They're Grrreat! 

Very Scary Cousins (5)

(l-r)Adam, Ayman, and Jacob 

We'll get Aunt Cindy next time. (6)

Ayman and Great Uncle James.  

My Blog Life and Blogexplosion.

Surfing Blogexplosion, again. Some would say "get a life." But it is addicting! I know lots of people have made posts like this, but here is yet another one on the adventure that is Blogexplosion.
I am now noticing a lot of blogs by kids in school. I didn't notice so many of these before. I have also noticed that these blogs seem to be the hardest for my poor computer to load. It seems like they are always junked up with a lot of crap that takes too long, weather pixie, polls, that kind of stuff.
People, I have dial-up, ok? It takes a long ass time to load this stuff.
I ran across a cool site called Jeni's Journal, Whew! She is a good writer. She has some excerpts from something she has been working on for a few years up there and it had me hooked this morning when I surfed in. I really hope that she posts more soon.
There are the conservative republican weblogs. Pretty much the second I see a Bush-Cheney button on a site, I zone out on banners for the rest of the 30 seconds. I wonder how many people do that when they read Stay At Home Mom on my blog? (" oh crap some more pictures of some losers chubby kid") But anyway. I have to do that, if I don't, my blood pressure goes dangerously high. I can't wait for the election to be over because it has caused me to be more political in my blog than I ever wanted to be.
there is another site that I like to check out and that is Motokis log. I blogged a blurb on it with a link last week. That baby is a cutie pie, and his story is nothing short of amazing. He is almost ready to go home, so I can't wait to read about that. I am so happy for that family. I check it daily. I like the mom blogs; Cranky Mommys Rant Site, and Dooce. I think lots of people read dooce, she has a wide appeal. she has really gotten famous in the world of blogs because of her background story. I didn't forget the dad sites either, like Genuine, and Got Twins? ( actually I surfed into Genuine just now.)
Then there is the couple of dude blogs, as I like to call them . I like one more than the other. They are Niteowl.tv and A View from the Bleachers. Niteowl has a picture that changes on the top of the blog and one of them is a picture of a guy and a girl sitting at a cocktail table in what looks like a bar. The guy is totally ripped and has tattoos. I mean excellent arms and chest. The picture is only from the neck down, so I don't know what the face looks like but, I don't care. his writing is entertaining and makes me feel compelled to comment when I visit or surf in on BE. View From the Bleachers I don't read as much, but is entertaining. Speaking of entertaining, there are two blogs that I enjoy. One is The Impulsive Buy the writer(s) there crack me up. I like to see what they are reviewing, even if I would never buy it in a million years. And finally, there is the blog I found perusing someone else's blogroll. I found it on the blog Haiku of the Day, it was called, Steve don't eat that! I have to admit, my curiosity was piqued so I clicked it. It redirected me to a site called "the Sneeze". I was seriously laughing my ass off at this guy. He eats questionable food and writes about it, taste, smell consistency. He made a BLT out of Beggin' Strips. Yes, the doggie treat Beggin' Strips. Need I say more? I am going to attempt to put links in this post, but I am just not that smart, so sorry if it doesn't work. I am not as crafty blog wise as Jeckles Geek. These are my blogs of note. Most on BE, but some not, check 'em out if you haven't already, and to those of you I mentioned keep up the good work, you all are part of the reason I am soo hooked on BE. That, and the fact I am an insomniac that has a short attention span and likes to read. Oh yeah, did I mention I am a mystery prize junkie? Well that is my post for the day, for once, not about my darling baby boy or that damn election or war.
I'm OUT!

Crying Idiot.

Ok, when did I become such a sap? Last night I was watching ER and crying copiously. I felt awful. The reason I was crying is because the character Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney, love her.) was doing a rotation thru the NICU. There was a problem with one of her tiny patients and the infant was going to die. She gave the infant to its parents to hold with their small daughter for the last hours of its life. Miserable. It made me want to go and hug my son. The irony here for me is that in my mid 20's, I worked in a NICU in a military hospital. I saw a lot of things. A lot of the things that they talked about in that episode of ER.
Why the hell did it tear me up so bad?
I think that after you have a baby, you automatically turn into a blathering emotional idiot. I mean, I cry every week watching Extreme Home Makeover. My husband even knows this. He asks me, "did you cry during Makeover last night?" My mom got my brother a childrens book that she found at a junk store. She told me that she read the book in the store and was crying in the aisle as she read it. So of course, I have to read it when she got it home. Oh crap, was I crying. It was embarrassing. My throat hurt because I was trying to be a badass and hold it in--which did not work. I wish I could remember the name of it. It was a gratuitous tear-jerker. Is it the hormones? I feel like Carmella Soprano watching that TV commercial in the last season of The Sopranos (or was it the season before?) I just don't really remember ever being this weepy.

I know I am not the only one. I hope I am not the only one, at least I know my mom is with me, i usually blame this stuff on her menopause. What's my excuse? Anyone have a comment that will help me feel less dippy? God, I hope so.

Try this, It is fun.

Go to Google.
Type in WMD, click I'm feeling lucky
READ the page, it looks like a "page cannot be displayed" but is not. Enjoy.

How pretty

Awww 
Reason #581 Why Ayman will be in therapy.
Shucran Tanta Nancy for teaching my mom how to wrap hijab.

No sports fan.

I am no sports fan by any stretch of the imagination. Having said that I will say this: I am so glad the Red Sox won the World Series. They sooooo needed it! I am glad the curse is broken, and I am betting the absenteeism rate for employers will be skyhigh in Boston tomorrow. Yay Boston!

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning
Want to know what a real live iraqi living in Baghdad thinks of the elections? Click here.

The Sphinx

The Sphinx and Me. 
You have to walk down a huge hill to get to it.. Me being postpartum, and lazy, we decided to take a picture from this spot. By the way, there is a KFC right across the street.

Kufu and the moon

wow 
Ok, if you think of the tip of the pyramid as the center of the clock, you can see a full moon in the sky at about the 8 o'clock position.

Tour raquet

My dear husband and I on a camel. When you go to the pyramids, a bunch of Egyptian guys will stop you on your way up to negotiate a "tour package" with you. The tour package we got included a carraige ride for my husband and I, a horseback ride for my brother-in-law Maged (you can see the back of him riding a horse on the picture below). When you are almmost to kufu they stop you at "the camel guy" this is a guy who has a camel all dressed up with these fancy pompom things on its bridle, they get you to sit on the camel, and your tour guy takes pictures of you on the camel in front of the pyramids (not very good pictures i might add.) But the camel guy costs more money. the bad thing about the tour package is that his doesnt include a ride down to the Sphinx, and it also doesn't include the ride back to where you started. all this for the low low price of 80 Egyptian pounds each. I think, Maged if you are checking this out and i am wrong, let me know.

Kufu

The Great Pyramid Kufu as seen from our horse drawn carriage. 
The guy riding the horse is my brother in law Maged. He was reaaaaalllly good at the horseback riding. Poor guy. It was a fun day and he was a great touring companion for my husband and I. Whats up, Maged!