Hey remember when I bartered my Ninjago cookies?

Did I tell you about the time I bartered my cookies for delightful handcrafted jewelry?  Well, I think I did tell you.  It isn't my fault if you don't remember. Are you having a senior moment?  Anyhoo.  I made sweet Ninjago cookie favors, and my friend Jamie sent me these sweet Doctor Who inspired bracelets. Jamie has super cool stuff, and she will custom make stuff as well.  Not only that, but she is reasonably priced.  I would highly recommend her for custom gifts.  I am thinking Jennah may need some (more) custom jewelry from Jamie.  So, if you are not into looking at my old posts, (I linked to it in the first line of this post, how much easier do I need to make it?) here are her links.  Justahausweyef 's Facebook Page and Justahausweyef's Etsy Page.  Check her out and give her a like!

I feel some crabs coming on...

Creative funk....

Well, I am just about pooped out.  I baked and delivered a lot of orders these last 2 days.  Now I don't want to bake again for a while.  At least one day. *shifty eyes*  The next project is bridal shower cupcakes, and bridal shower cookies for favors.  The shower is Saturday.  I have already started the cute little picks that will go into the cupcakes, I only have 12 more to make, However being the procrastinator that I am, I have not bought all of the things for the cookie favors.  I just had an idea (like literally just this second) so I am going to hash that out and I will post the results with delightful pictures when I have some.

I am going to get crabs....

My mother, father, brother, sister in law and husband and I are going to a crab feed this weekend.  I am so looking forward to it.  I haven't stuffed myself full of mercury since I was pregnant with my daughter! Woo Hoo!  I love crab feeds.

I had a date....

With my son.  Jennah was off being a social butterfly last weekend, with a sleep over and a play date.  Ayman and I went and caught Phantom Menace on Saturday, and spend some quality time grocery shopping in Wal-Mart and then Best Buy.  I remember when it was just he and I, doing our stuff together.  It is so easy to forget about those times after you have a second one. It is important to get that alone time.  Jennah is usually stuck to me like glue.  Ayman, not so much.  It was good to just hang with him. He even held my hand a few times. *sigh*
Good times.

I had no idea.

Blogger has this nifty thing called "stats" that i never much noticed before. It has only been tracking my stats since last May and since then i have only had 1k+ hits. Before I changed the design over, I had a counter (which, stopped working, but was around 30K+) I liked. Anyhoo, now i like to look at the stats. I can see from them that I get random and bizarre traffic. A lot of the traffic comes from a post called "Katb al Kitab (the paperwork)" I have also found that my top five traffic sources are as follows:

1. United States
2. Germany
3. Brazil
4. Russia
5. Canada

That is just weird to me, But hello to all of you, I am glad you stopped by. I also get traffic from: Luxembourg, Spain, UK and Finland. Hello and welcome to you folks as well. Hope you come back by sometime. Although it is ridiculously boring.

I can also see that although most of my spouses family is in Egypt, I have only had 9 hits from there since May, so clearly I have not been posting enough content for folks over there to care to look. Hmmm. I don't really know why I shared this.... It just seemed interesting to me.

Meh.

Woo Hoo! video of a race, starring Ayman and Jennah

Up Late With Netflix

Yeah I went ahead and did it. Netflix subscription. Last night I watched a documentary called The Union: The Business of Getting High(it was about the British Columbia pot trade and misinformation about mary jane) Tonight it was Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past- not the greatest movie, but entertaining. Whoa I am having a de ja vú. I think when I first started this blog I had a Blockbuster membership. We lived in our ghetto apartment, with no cable. Whew, I digressed a little there.. Saturday I watched The Invention of Lying, which might I add, I really enjoyed. Sunday I attempted to watch New York, I love You- despite of the nice scenes with Bradley Cooper in them, that movie sucked sack- couldn't finish it. Thank goodness it was in the instant queue because lemme tell ya, I would have been totally heated if I had that one sent to me. Sunshine Cleaning- Billed as a comedy, So. Totally. Not. A. Comedy. Even thought it wasn't a comedy I still liked it. So what is on tap for the future? Well, I have Funny People on the way, which my brother assures me is a whimsical romp, and Star Trek. In my instant queue I have Donnie Darko and Interview with a Vampire. Like I havent seen that one a million times. Oh well. So that is it. I cannot update you on my licensing, as I do not have it yet, but rest assured, I will fill you all in (maybe) when I get it.

Now here is something. People who know me know I love me some Lady Gaga. This kid is seven years old. his name is Timmy DeMott. He kicks ass. His mom taped him singing Bad Romance (acapella, and man can that boy snap!) The first time I saw the video the kid had 3k hits. Now he has 953,035. Seriously. If you watch it keep in mind the boy is 7, and posted this himself, and no, I don't want to hear anything snarky about him. He is fabulous.

Tomorrow I am getting a pedicure- probably the only one I will get for the remainder of the year, so I hope Ann drags that sucker out. I am looking forward to being down a shoe size after she uses the illegal foot shaver. Yay me!

That is all. Thanks for joining me in a little pointless babble.

Cass and Daph go to The Soup

Photo time! This was done at turbo speed, apparently Mr. McHale needed to get back to the set of Community right away....It took literally 2 seconds, Daph has mad IPhone skillz.

This is before the show taped, We are in the front row, and if you click on it you can see Joel McHale and Guiliana Rancipandi on their phones.. I was soooo excited, *squee*!

So this past January 29th, the family left for a nearly five week trip to visit Amr's family in Egypt. When they were gone, I got to pop on down to Los Angeles (plane ticket and good times compliments of longtime BFF Daphne.) Daphne wanted to know what I wanted to do when visiting. I immediately answered "I would love to see a taping of The Soup." I have loved this show in several incarnations. I first fell in love with it in the heyday of the Talk Show, the late 90's. Back then, they called it Talk Soup, aired every day, and an hour show on Friday. Then , it was hosted by the awesome John Henson. (skunkboy!) Yes, Greg Kinnear hosted it before that, but I didn't watch it then, and I don't pretend like I did. After Skunkboy left, there was Hal Sparks, but I always thought that they should have hired fill in host Roger Lodge of Blind Date fame. Both were funny though. Aisha Tyler hosted it for a minute, then I kind of lost track. In 2005 I posted this with a tiny blurb about John Henson and the new incarnation of Talk Soup, The Soup, with host Joel McHale. When I wrote the post in 2005, I had never watched the new version of the show. I don't really know when I did start watching it, but the important thing is I did. It is still a great show, and Joel McHale is HILARIOUS. I knew Daphne had gone to a taping before and one of her co-workers had a hook up over at E! so it was on.

When we arrived at the E! Building on Wilshire in LA, we met Daph's co-worker Kate. Shortly after, someone from E! came out get us for the taping. We walked in and were met by Joel himself which was OMFG so cool. He insulted us a bit, and then we were taken to the green room to wait before the taping. While we were waiting Joel came back to the greenroom and chatted Daph, Kate, and I up for a few minutes before he had to go to wardrobe. We were also introduced to Mankini at that time. Very nice. Once finished with wardrobe, Mr. McHale came back to the green room to escort Daphne, Kate and I to our reserved front row seats for the taping. The taping went very smoothly, and Joel McHale was hilarious. I had a great night. More than I expected by far.

So, thank you, Daphne, and Kate for making my year. This is right up there with the news of how I am going to get my license in May (ISA). I will not blog about that until it is a done deal though, so stay tuned.

UPDATE: I got my license on June 21st.

Vintage Get out the vote.

I found this on one of my favorite womens websites, Jezebel.com. It is called "It's Up To You!" (1958) by Gil Elvgren. I love vintage advertising. (Dork)

Disregard the fact that my puntuation is nonexistent

Last night i couldn't sleep. Not only was it damn hot, i just couldnt sleep. I went to bed at 0130. at 0300 i gave up and read some email, then went back to bed. At 0410- still awake. finally i got to sleep then something woke me up at around 0730 and guess what ? i have been up ever since. Sheesh. I think when Jennah wakes up i am gonna take them for a walk up to the store to get some lipliner and a can of tiny shrimp. I am going to make Shrimp Louie for dinner.
Could this post be any more boring? I guess I could talk about my period or something. Naaah. Jennah said thank you to me yesterday. Today I am signing up Ayman for general education preschool to go with the special education preschool he also goes to. He is off this week but next week he starts going 4 days a week. I am still trying to decide if i want him evaluated for autism. I am scared of him being labeled for the rest of his life. The special education teachers are not even sure if what is going on with him is autism either- they always talk about "splintered skill sets" he knows all of his abc' colors, numbers, can cross a line at midline, but then some basic things he doesn't do. Or the fact that he repeats things ALOT. 3 1/2 year olds do repeat. I dunno, I guess i am in a mild state of denial. It is just that i have seen so much improvement in the time that he has been in preschool- 6 months that i am at a "wait and see" phase right now. He was only gong 2 days a week. Let's see what the 4 days, and then 5 days starting in August, coupled with the general ed preschool will do for him. I guess. hmmmmph.
ranting, ranting. I have started a multi faceted approach to thinning my fat ass down- eat less, eat more fruit and veggies, less crap, no regular soda, more water and exersise, then if needed dabble in bulimia. I think it will work.
so there you have it rants of a sleep deprived mother of 2....
thanks for taking the time.
ps oh, that kid. he just smoked past me and went into is room, and closed the door. that means poop time. if that kid doesn't turd i am bulking up his gatorade with benefiber.

This is funny, and wrong. But more funny.

That video was funny but it was driving me batty, so I removed it and will give you the link instead.
Here is the link.
The Landlord
If you have not seen it, you have too take a look.
Hilarious.

Double take

Oh yeah, these two are related.

I invaded a blog.

I went ahead and invaded my sister in laws blog, so if any of you want to check it out, here is the link. Living vicariously through siblings And if you are feeling super generous, you can donate to her Walk for Diabetes fund. There is a link in the post somewhere. Other than that i just kinda rambled.
See ya!

This is better.

I woke up this morning to find this tidbit in the news. A judge overturned the wiretapping that has been going on on innocent (Muslim) Americans. Good. Now when I talk on the phone maybe I won't hear all the clicks and beeps I sometimes hear. If you think I am being paranoid, I have proof. Last week, I was talking to my mom on the phone and there was a click and a beep, like someone was using old call waiting to get in to the conversation. I don't have any call waiting, old or otherwise. It wasn't me hitting a button on my phone, (it didn't sound like that) and it wasn't my mom either. I have had this happen a lot in the last few years. So has my husband. I think I wrote before about a conference call he was on with his friends, one in the bay area and one in North Carolina. At one point, A recording of half of their conversation played back in their ears. Not smart, NSA. Oh well. I guess it is time to look for bugs in my house too.

You have to do this.

Snakes on a Plane! Have Samuel L. Jackson call anyone you want to pimp Snakes on a Plane. Must hear it to believe it! Thanks Colleen! Click Me!

For Colleen

Okay I know that it has taken me a while to come up with this list, Colleen, and I am sorry. First I forgot, then I was in a whirlwind of drs appointments and such lately. So here goes.

here are a few things that have nothing to do with my family, but make me happy:

Watching TV, after the kids are asleep, whatever I have on the DVR. This is such a chunk of what makes me happy that I will list what I love to watch:
Medium
ER
My Name Is Earl
The Office
Project Runway
Kathy Griffins Life On the D-List
Top Chef
Anything that Bill Kurtis narrates
Entourage
West Wing reruns on Bravo
Law and Order of anykind but Criminal Intent.

*whew* it just occurred to me I watch way tooooo much TV.

I also love to listen to music, these days I just get favorite songs here and there, but here is an example, my playlist on Rhapsody right now:

"Bebot" by the Black Eyed Peas
"Don't want you back", by Backstreet boys
"What I got" and "Santeria" by Sublime
"Hate me" By Blue October
"Change" by Deftones
"Rio" by Duran Duran
"It's my life" by No Doubt

I love to bake things, usually quick breads and cakes, and eat them. (no wonder my ass is fat.)

I love my flowers. Mostly impatiens but I picked up a mini rose bush with pretty steely lavender flowers, and killed half of it in the trans plant. It is blooming 4 flowers now and I just like to look at it.

I love to sit in my living room with all the lights off and only candles burning, after I have cleaned, dusted and vacuumed. I feel like I have accomplished something and it is peaceful. Oh did I mention, I do this when the kids are not around?

I think that is all I can think of right now.

Oh yeah, something I have been doing for me for a long time now- blogging. I love it. It rocks.

Pain pain p a I n

Well, I decided that a visit to the doctor was required. I tweeked out some ligaments in my knees. My Dr. gave me a cortisone shot and put me off of work for a couple of weeks (darn!) But I am kinda bummed. I was doing good. I will try more when I am better. I think I will have to start all over though. Oh well. It is all good.

Yesterday I went on a tour of the new Morman temple in Sacramento. It was kinds neat. and a little weird. I don't know how to really describe it. Ask a Mormon I guess. It was a good opportunity, since after the temple is dedicated you have to be a Mormon in good standing to get in there. Obviously, being Muslim, I am not going to get the opportunity again. It was beautiful and as I expected, the mormans were very nice. Plus I found out who the hornblower is on top of the spires. Cool.

So everything was going good.

I was running on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Then I get this idea, "hey why don't I try to wear these shoes to run? They are lighter."
Big mistake.
My knees are totally jacked up now. I mean seriously. I was hobbling around like an old woman at work last night. I had this brilliant idea on Wednesday. I haven't been able to run since. I am going to go back out on Monday though. I don't want to give up. I am a day behind in the training now, but I am still gonna try, no big deal, what is one day? Early this morning I finally broke down and took some Tylenol. Whew, I felt so much better after that. I don't think carrying around my 40 lb son helped matters either. Ayman is into tantrums right now, and has to be physically moved from place to place on occasion. It's fun! Screaming toddler, in public! Everyone should have one. So, to sum up, stupid shoe choice, knees hurt, on injured list until Monday.
Crap.

Guess who has an anniversary on Sunday?
Amr and I! Five years, 4 moves, 1 trip to Egypt together, 3 apart, an appendectomy (Amrs) Rotovirus (Aymans) 2 carthefts and 2 wallet thefts (mine) and, Two beautiful children. Time flies when you are having fun.

Amr and Cass, at Alex and Renees wedding, July 13th 2002. 

Man, it is really hot.

It is too hot to do a darn thing over here. I am crazy. I'm cooking dinner. With a hot stove. Totally idiotic. Still running. Last week, four people in addition to myself had their hands in my mouth. I went to the dentist and the orthodontist. I am going all crazy over here with my dental insurance. Aside from that and a nursing home closing in my town, and causing a mass casualty disaster (one person died, you might have heard about it) due to no air conditioning, I have been laying low and trying to keep cool. Oh, and I found out I don't get to go back to school until January. What a bummer. It is probably for the best though, that is all folks. Gotta go get dinner on the table.

Okay here we go.

Today was the first day of my two month starting to run program. I nursed the baby at around five, was done by 0515, got out to run walk and was home by 0550. Lemme tell ya, it was 73 degrees outside when I left for my little odyssey, and it was 80 degrees in my house. You have never seen anyone get in the shower quicker. By seven am I will have to turn on the AC. But it is all good if my ass ends up a little less fat. By the end of this two months I should be able to run 3 miles. Thank you to the wiki how page "How to start running." Only three days a week. Maybe if I keep telling myself I can do it I will be able to do it.
Wish me luck.

I am going to Hell.

this is killing me.
Click on this and read the kids names. Totally worth it.

Ugh.

Today has really sucked over here on the pregnancy front. My back, is KILLING me. I have been uncomfortable all day. The baby is trying to kick her way out of me, Alien style. I was pretty concerned earlier this evening, so I had my girlfriend check with L and D at our hospital. They told me to, and I am serious here, take two Tylenol and call them later. They also wanted me to drink 32 oz of water, just in case what I am experiencing is dehydration. So I did this. The nurse also told me that if the contractions come 3-4 minutes apart for one hour to come on in. This whole pregnancy is very different than with Ayman. I don't know what to make of it. Oh well, I will do as I am told, and see what happens. I will keep every one posted to be sure.

Also today, at Amrs job they gave him a surprise baby shower. They all chipped in and gave him a 200 dollar gift card and a cake. I thought that was soooo nice. He said that his boss told him that she needed to speak to him in the conference room when he came back from his afternoon break. Everyone was in there with the cake and they all said "Surprise!" Amr still didn't get that it was a surprise for him, they had to tell him, "No, Amr, it is for you, the surprise is for you." So he really was surprised. Cool.