Birthday

Yesterday was number one son, Adam's birthday. Hard to believe that I have a 17 year old son. Adam is too big to give birthday spankings to so we just had to be happy with singing him 'Happy Birthday!'. Adam's pretty tall. The last time he allowed me to measure him he was 6 foot 2 and a half. He's taller than that now but when I say to him 'Hey Adam how tall are you? Let's get the measuring tape out and check.' he runs off in the other direction saying 'Bari imshi!' (Go away!).

Adam is at the age where he thinks his parents are so uncool. Yesterday morning I said to him 'Hey Adam, lets go shopping. I'll get you something for your birthday.' He looked at me like I was crazy and said, 'I can't drive around in the car with you. What will the guys in the nieghbourhood think if they see me in the car with my mom? How embarrassing!'

Yusef suggested that if I let Adam drive then he would probably go along with my shopping idea, but Adam still doesn't have his drivers license and I don't like him driving. He does sneak off with the keys and ride around the neighbourhood from time to time, but I had a big fit about this and threatened him with bodily harm if he tries it again with my car. A year from now he'll be able to get a license and then he can nag his father about getting a car of his own.

In the evening I suggested that we go to the bakery and get a cake. But Adam was against the whole idea.'Do you think I am a little kid?' he said. So no cake for Adam. I decided not to get too excited about Adam's lack of interest in celebrating his birthday because Nora's birthday is just over a week away and she wants to have fun. So we will!

Joe's visit

Joe Tourist has finally finished organizing his photos and journal of his trip to Libya and has posted it on his website. Click on the image to visit his site or on this link: http://joetourist.ca/Libya/. (I'm also going to add the link to my sidebar for future refference)

Are you happy?

Test your happiness with a test designed by psychologist Professor Ed Deiner from the Univ of Illinois. Click on the image above to visit BBC's site. They've got a whole bunch of stuff related to happiness. - I took the test, but in my opinion I think the results would depend on what kind of mood I was in when taking the test. What do you think?

Kittens

The cat had kittens a few weeks ago and they are now at the stage of running around exploring everything. Mew, mew, mew . . . all over the house. We fixed up a cozy box for the cat and her offspring outside next to the door, but she keeps bringing them inside. She's so proud of her little family.

In a few weeks the kittens will be ready to face the world on their own. Does anybody want a kitty? There are three of them. Free! To a good home only, of course.

Shopping in Libya

I've been out shopping again. Not that that's anything new in my life because I spend a good portion of my life on the quest for a bargain. I usually love shopping, but there are times when I get so disgusted with the people who work in the shops.

Today I went out to pick up a few things. Since I have girls to buy for as well as myself, I spend lots of time looking in lingerie shops. Today's quest was bras so I popped into a nearby shop to see what they had. There was a nice big countertop with loads of bras - different types and styles. A few years ago you would be lucky to find any bras. Still the choice is limited and you have to hunt to find things of good quality, but the hunt is part of the fun.

I found the style I liked and was looking for the right size. Hovering about 6 inches away from me was the sales guy. 'What are you looking for?' - I ignorred him. Again he says, 'What are you looking for?' I turned and gave him the look I save for people who have just asked a very stupid question and replied, 'Isn't it obvious? I'm standing here with my hands on a pile of bras - What do YOU think I am looking for?' He got the message because he said nothing and backed away.

Why do salesmen come and suck your air while you are trying to buy things like bras and panties? And why they are standing right next to you in a flash if you go anywhere near thongs? One day if I'm bored and have time, I will do my best to torture the guy and start making him answer a zillion questions about all the lingerie in the store . . .make him wish he never worked there . . . If I had time . . . I seldom have time for such fun and games.

Another thing that I noticed while shopping for shoes was that if I go alone the sales guys pay no attention whatsoever to me. But if I take my girls they are all over us, ready to help in any way they can. This is fine if I want to buy something for the girls, but I hate shopping with Sara and Nora. Only Jenna has inherited my 'shop until you drop' gene. Sara and Nora are awful to shop with, especially Nora.

A few weeks ago I went out to buy a skirt. I walked into the shop and before I could even approach a clothes rack I was practically attacked by the sales guy. 'What do you want to buy?' he asked. Actually he didn't really say this, it came across more like a demand. I acted like I didn't hear him and headed for a selection of skirts. 'What do you want to buy?' he demanded again. I turned and looked at him and said. 'Maybe I don't want to buy anything. Maybe I just want to look. You know, some people just want to look on their own. If I need your help I will ask you. Back off please.' Sometimes you just have to be blunt with these characters!

He decided to back off and leaned over a clothes rack while he watched a football match on the ever present television. The thought that he had draped himself over merchandise that I might want to buy didn't occur to him and he had no idea at all that I considered his behaviour rude. I wasn't interested in giving this guy any of my money so I left the shop empty handed.

Occasionally I get really disgusted with these fools, and on those days I take revenge. It's very simple, all you have to do is say to the guy, 'I think I saw the baladiyah about a block away. Have they been in this area yet?' The guy will imediately turn pale. 'Baladiyah!' - the word is out. All up and down the row of shops the guys are pulling the shutters down. 'Baladiyah! Baladiyah!'

I can shut down all of Shara Jaraba in about ten minutes. . . . hehehehe

Eternity....one hell of a long time!

All this business of going to funerals and contemplating life and death has got me thinking. . . . They say in Islam that if you die and go to paradise you will be with your spouse for eternity. Actually they say all kinds of things. . . and probably at the rate I'm going these days, I'll most likely find the bouncers at the gates tossing me out on my ear.

In any case, I'm not sure I find the idea of spending eternity with my husband very inviting. Will he still spend most of his time watching Aljazeera? Will he still complain about my cooking? Will he still have the annoying habit of stopping sentences midway - leaving me waiting for the end of the sentence? And what about the other annoying habits he has. . . . will I have to put up with THOSE for eternity too?

Eternity. . . why does the word eternity have such a negative connotation?

What would life be like if I couldn't torture my poor husband? hehehe

A funeral

I've been to a funeral today. My husband's grandmother's sister passed away this morning. She was probably about 100 years old.

Khalti Turkiya was an amazing woman. She was extremely intelligent even though she had no formal education. Typical of most Libyan families, our family is huge, but Khalti always knew everyone's name. She never forgot anyone. Not only that, she would remember all kinds of facts about everyone; what they liked or didn't like, any health problems they might have and any interesting stories they might have. She wasn't being nosey, she was just sociable and friendly. Always happy to talk to everyone.

In Libya when ladies get old and their children have all grown they 'go visiting'. This means they visit everyone's family, spending a few days with each. We always loved it when Khalti Turkiya made it to my husband's family home. We looked forward to her visits because Khalti was a storyteller! We would all gather around and she would entertain us with accounts of her life, stories that were true and also tales she made up in her head. She kept us mesmerized and because her stories were often funny we were always laughing. She also had a vast amount of poetry and songs that she had memorized, some going back to her early childhood years. I was always amazed at the things Khalti knew about. She was probably a genius in her own right - imagine if she had been given an education!

May God bless her and reward her for all the good that she did in her life!

Before leaving the house for the funeral I checked my email and found that my sister had bought me a subscription to flickr. So now I can upload pictures to my hearts content. Have a look. Thanks Sis!