An Ode to Egypt

Leavin' on a Jet Plane (yeah, it's to the tune you think it is)

My bags aren't packed
But I'm ready to go I'm standin' here right by the door
I won't hate to take the bowab from his shai
But the adhan is blarin'
Its early morn
The taxis waitin'
He's blowin his horn
Already I'm so trunky
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll change for me
Don't hold me, oh, you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
I know I won't be back again
Oh babe, I won't hate to go

Theres so many times you've let me down
So many times I've waited around
For the services that you never bring.
Ev'ry place I go, I won't think of you
Ev'ry song I sing, I won't sing for you
If I come back, well, I think I may just scream.

Chorus again

So yeah, that's as far as I got. No, it's not the whole song, but it's enough. I thought of it in the shower (great ideas hang out there) and intended to post this ode quite a while ago, but just couldn't seem to finish it. There. Here's another. In the words of Kelly Clarkson,

"Hey Egypt! My life (my life) won't suck (won't suck) without YOU!"

Alright, this hasn't been the most coherent or positive of posts, but part of me had to say it!

my life would suck without you full virsion - kelly clarkson

Leaving On A Jet Plane - John Denver


**p.s. i published this without double checking the post date and it popped up on 24 Feb. procrastinate much?**

A confession . . .

I am in love. I never fell out of it, I'm just deep in it right now. The saying goes that mothers are biased, that may be true. I'm not trying to brag about my kids, I just want to proclaim a few facts! I am so in love with being a Mom right now. I could just eat them. (Yes, all mothers are cannibals.) Mairyn is such a riot. The other day she said,

"Mommy, if we're driving you crazy, what kind of car do you have? Sophie D.'s mom has a Paseo. It says so on the side."

Grant is starting to read. Eliza is just so . . . Eliza, articulate and patient. And Jacqueline is pulling out new vocabulary left and right. She'll insert new words like "now" at the beginning of a sentence like, "Now the water is cold!" When did my pipsqueak learn that? This is quite a comfort to me at this time. I am up to my eyeballs in moving minutia and packing peripherals (hello, alliterate much?). We are down to t-minus 13 days and I am pretty much annoyed and harried every moment. So when my children choose to shine and bring me a little bit of happiness, it gives me the perspective I need to continue on. And to remind me why I do it all.

The Egyptian Museum

Of course, no trip to Egypt would be well-rounded without a trip to the Egyptian Museum. I think they were all adequately overwhelmed by the content and chaos. Fortunately, it's still March and the weather is very pleasant. Since the huge, dang place is NOT air conditioned, it can get quite sticky & stuffy in the warmer months. The first time we went to the Egyptian Museum, it was the second week in August. Awful, just awful. There was the crush of tourists, lack of circulating air and general disorganization. The dinky early 80's era electric fans placed about every 50 feet, oscillating weakly and barely stirring the stagnant air. Ugh. Not a place for a claustrophobic like me. The soaring ceilings and immense rooms are occupied by case upon case of dusty, poorly labeled artifacts. That all said, it is still quite an experience to walk among the contents of King Tut's tomb, stare at the painted on eyes of Pharonic style Roman mummies and marvel at the woven baskets that have stayed together for at least a millena. I was able to take them on a well-rounded tour, hitting the best places and skipping the not-so-worth-it areas. (Although, having spent 4 years here, I have been to the Egyptian Museum many, many times. (foreign residents get in free) I don't know if there is a "boring area" of the museum. I love museums.) Then we hit a popular Lebanese restaurant called Taboula and called it a day.

Floating the Nile

There's nothing better than lazily floating in a sailboat with family. We had a sunset felucca ride for their first evening in Cairo. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Really, truly perfect.

Family Adventures

My family has come to visit. Mom, Dad, Hannah, Elizabeth, & Matt. The whole shebang. (she-bangs, she-bangs!) Well, we are short two sisters, but it's pretty darn close. First day, we took them to the big attractions, the Giza Pyramid complex and the Sphinx. Of course, everyone did the classic photo opps.


Matt was left out of this collage above because there wasn't enough room for him. We don't love him as much, sorry, it's the truth. That and his picture turned out REALLY awful; eyes closed, mouth half-open, think DMV photo, but at an ancient necropolis. But this next batch at the bluff was very flattering for all. It was a beautiful day to visit the Pyramids. Very clear, AND there weren't very many tourists. No, we're not tourists, we live here. BIG difference.

Over to the partially revamped Sphinx. Now, there is no need to buy a separate ticket. Nice. And there are boardwalk trails all over. They did the same thing at the main Pyramids. No more shuffling through sand or tripping over huge boulders sticking out. There was an odd sight, though. A camera crew was at the foot of it, doing panning shots and filming for something. What, I don't know. I tried yelling at the crew to find out what they were doing it for, but they didn't respond. (wouldn't or couldn't, don't know.) And Matt did his "tourist pose" for us all. He can be quite a ham. Also, you'll see Hannah making out with the Sphinx on the bottom row. Digits were exchanged, we'll see who calls who! More adventures to come.

Giddy Up!

With only 3 1/2 weeks left in Egypt, I feel the need to do everything just one . . . more . . . time. Why, oh why do I listen to myself? Sometimes, I really don't know. We started a new Enrichment activity called Tour & Explore. I thought, well, why not? The first excursion was horseback riding in the desert near the Pyramids. First off, it was an amazing trip up there because I didn't have to drive. A friend's driver drove my vehicle and it was heaven! Everything was organized wonderfully. Then we got our horses. The horse dudes asked if we knew how to ride. Well, yeah, I've ridden before, but not for about 12 years. Ok, you get a good horse. Well I'd hope so!! Madonna the horse was bestowed upon me. Yeah, they like to name the horses some pretty interesting names. Michael Jackson, Sugar and Coke were among a few of the monikers.



We started out toward the desert by way of back streets full of garbage, mud, and other camels & horses awaiting assignment. Madonna kind of had a mind of her own, but I didn't mind. She really responded to the reigns and some of my posting lessons were coming back. She didn't really canter; there was plodding or prancing. For now. Once we hit the desert, Madonna, Michael and Coke decided to race each other. Yeah. With all of us (barely) hanging on. I yanked back on the reigns, not really ready to break out and run yet. The other horses began picking up speed and once again, we were all going along at a full gallop. We were actually getting into a beautiful rhythm, the wind was blowing, the Pyramids whizzing past, it was exhilarating! Then my right stirrup broke. Great. I scramble to switch my reigns from right to left and grab the flapping straps at my knee. So I'm holding onto the stirrup with my right hand and trying to control the reigns with my left. Not easy or comfortable. Just scary. We made it to our destination on the bluff overlooking Giza.



Picture taking was done by all, my stirrup repaired and we all saddled up again. Oh, did I mention that my horse was stick skinny and had no withers whatsoever? Withers are basically the ridge between a horse's shoulder blades. Good withers on a horse keep your saddle from shifting and/or falling off. My horse's withers were nonexistent. So that meant my saddle would creep up her neck. And the more you lean forward on a horse, the faster she thinks you want to go. Think horse jockeys at the races. Another tidbit, once some horses know they're headed home or for the barn, they become very unresponsive and just want to go back. Barn sour is another term. (sorry, for some reason they don't have that in wikipedia.) Madonna was about as barn sour as they come. She would break into a full gallop, I would reign her in, turn her in a circle (to show her who was boss) and then we would continue on and she'd begin the gallop once again. All. The. Way. Back.

Since I'm here writing this, I obviously survived. Barely. What with the stirrups all turned around, a saddle that was too small and a crazy horse, I am in pain to say the least. I've got huge matching bruises on the insides of my thighs (sorry people, no pictures of that) where I was squeezing the tiny saddle to keep it in place. And when I do anything with my right arm, it shakes like a geriatric parkinsonian patient. Will I do that again? Obviously not since One: I'm not that crazy and Two: We won't be here long enough for me to forget and do it again. **Disclaimer** This was the first time I had tried these stables. Other horse desert adventures weren't as exciting as this one.

Sailing Through Life

On Saturday, the Relief Society ladies had a birthday bash on a felucca. It was the 167th celebration of the organization of said group. It was formed on March 17th, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Initially, the original intent was to assist & organize support, supplies & relief for the workers on the Nauvoo Temple. The Relief Society was officially formed soon after the implementation of these efforts. There were 18 women at it's inception and it has now grown into a worldwide organization of over 5.6 million women. I feel very blessed to belong to such an organization. Each baby I've had, there they are with a meal and a hug. It was the most unique celebration we've ever had. I'm sure our felucca captain was more than entertained by our singing and copious emotion sharing. He really enjoyed the sandwiches and strawberries we shared with him!

Sunday Quotables

This week's quote is an excerpt from a talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard. The article is about the importance of mothers. I love how he gives such a glowing review and supportive words about being a mother in this day and age. I encourage you to read the whole article; warm fuzzies all around.

“I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood.“There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. The choice is different and unique for each mother and each family. Many are able to be ‘full-time moms,’ at least during the most formative years of their children’s lives, and many others would like to be. Some may have to work part- or full-time; some may work at home; some may divide their lives into periods of home and family and work. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.”

Very Fitting

paraskevidekatriaphobia (noun) : fear of Friday the thirteenth

I didn't even know this was a word!

The Very First

Mairyn had a stellar day yesterday. She lost her first tooth. It has been a day that she has yearned for, and whined for. Every time Eliza lost a tooth, Mairyn would lament the fact that she still hadn't lost one yet. (she was 3 for Eliza's first.) We have been wiggling and jiggling this little tooth for a couple weeks. Finally, last night, we yanked hard enough and voila! Out it came! Flying across the kitchen floor, we thought (disastrously) that we had truly lost the tooth. Great, what kind of a Mom am I? I lose her first tooth. Eliza recovered it on the floor by the stove and Mairyn held the prize victoriously aloft. Much like her tonsils this last summer! We took pictures, put the tooth in a glass of water and went to bed. (well, the kids went to bed. I stayed up until I was good and ready to sleep) Yes, we put the tooth in a glass of water. This stems from my childhood. I think there were a few too many teeth lost under the pillow or the child was roused in the tooth envelope extraction. I just know that when I was about 9, my Dad switched us over to putting the tooth in a glass of water and the Tooth Fairy began leaving copious amounts of change at the bottom of said glass. Also, one time I got a letter from the Tooth Fairy. I thought that was the coolest thing. Ever. She even left inky footprints because she had trodden in her wet signature. In reality, my parents had forgotten a few nights in a row. There had been some recent snowstorms and the T.F. said she had been held up by the awful North Dakota winter weather. Likely story, but I was 6. I lapped that up like cream in a saucer. I saved that letter for quite a while. I think it was the key to figuring out who the T.F. really was; I noticed the handwriting matched up with one of my parental units. I was 7 or so. Anyway, I loved that tradition and that's what we do in our family. Anyone have any unique Tooth Fairy traditions?

Wordy Wednesday: crepuscular

I ran across this word while dictionary surfing earlier this week. I am in the midst of trying to figure out a new name for the blog, so I need all the help I can get. I liked this word because it just sounds so gross and yet, describes such a beautiful time of day. I had never heard this word before and decided that it sounded great for my Wednesday Word. I know, I know, this picture is right at sunset, not twilight, but hey, it's close. I took this when Spencer & I went to Luxor in December.

crepuscular • \krih-PUHSS-kyuh-ler\ • adjective

*1 : of, relating to, or resembling twilight : dim

2 : active in the twilight

Example Sentence:

"The whisper of his conviction seemed to open before me a vast and uncertain expanse, as of a crepuscular horizon on a plain at dawn…." (Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim)

Did you know?

The early Romans had two words for "twilight." "Crepusculum" was favored by Roman writers for the half-light of evening, just after the sun sets; it is a diminutive formation based on their word for "dusky," which is "creper." "Diluculum" was reserved for morning twilight, just before the sun rises -- it is related to "lucidus," meaning "bright." We didn't embrace either of these Latin nouns as substitutes for our Middle English "twilight," but we did form the adjective "crepuscular" in the 17th century. At first, it only meant "dim" or "indistinct," often used in a figurative sense. In the 1820s, we added its special zoological sense, describing animals that are most active at twilight.


**information on word of the day, courtesy of merriam-webster online **

The Polls are now open!

Alright, I've got the finalists listed in a brand spankin' new poll on the sidebar. I decided to keep our last name out of the title. If you're reading it, you already know it's about the Penrods. No use in being pedantic. Sorry, just had to squeeze another "P" in there. If you'll notice, a majority of the titles are not 'P' related. I did pick and choose from some of the suggestions. A bit of one, a dash of another. See, I've got plenty of blog names for different themed blogs if I ever started another one. A food blog, a picture blog, a dog blog. (nah, not serious about the dog blog, i just like saying that. dog blog. heh.) But my time is already sucked up by a myriad of tasks, I'm just barely treading water keeping this blog afloat. So, without further ado, let the voting begin! And if any of these choices spark another brainstorm, let me know. Also, you can vote for more than one title.

Saqqara

Today was a national holiday. The prophet Mohammed's birthday, to be exact. So no school or work for us!! We decided to venture out to the Saqqara pyramid complex. Believe it or not, in all of our 4 years here, we hadn't been out there yet. We've been to Dashur and the Bent Pyramid loads of times and seen Saqqara from a distance, but never gone. It was a blast. The weather was beautiful, high 60's, a bit windy, but sunny and clear. We also had to search out a tomb that we could "go down into". Geez, my kids are spoiled.

"But Mommy, when I visit a Pyramid, I have to go down inside the tomb!"

So we hunted down the tomb of Teti (whoever he was) and the kids trooped on down. Why didn't I go in? Simple. I. Don't. Do. Tiny. Spaces. Period. 15 minutes later, the clan came traipsing back out just raving.

"You have to go down, Mommy. Really, it's great. You would like it!"

I caved to peer pressure and went down in. I actually liked it. The tunnel wasn't too bad and the carvings were very unique. We also went to the desert and had a sunset bonfire, flew kites and had s'mores & hot dogs. All in all, it was a wonderful family day. Why can't it be the prophet's birthday more often?

Crybaby

I do not know what is wrong with me! Everything makes me cry, lately. Someone says, 'See you later,' and I tear up. How many more times will we say that to each other? We watched Baby Mama yesterday, I cried. We sold our television. I cried. We bought bath gel and debated about the size of the bottle because we don't want to have a huge bottle of soap to leave behind. Yeah, I cried. I figured that since I'm on the crying theme, I would share a song that just gets me every time I listen to it. I have this on my iPod, but I have to be careful when I put my songs on shuffle. I was driving down Road 83 and this song pops us and suddenly, my eyes well up and I have to quickly change the song so that I don't crash the car! It doesn't make me sad, it just touches a special place in my heart. I think it's also because I have three little girls. The song is called, "What Heaven Sees in You" by Mindy Gledhill. Some "inspirational" music doesn't do it for me, but this song is special. I thought about just posting the lyrics, but then again, we are all about having a "complete experience". The song describes three events in a young girl's life; blessing, baptism and temple marriage. A white dress for each event. Eliza has already experienced 2 of the 3 and I don't even want to think about how fast her marriage will sneak up on us. Denial, that's how I make it through life!


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What Heaven Sees in You - Mindy Gledhill

Overheard

I walked in on the kids watching T.V. this afternoon.

me: "What are you watching?"
Eliza: "Animal Miracles!"
me: "Why?"
Eliza: "Because, it's these animals that do these awesome things! Like this dog hunted down a man that wanted to kill a woman."
me: "What? I think it's time to turn this off."
Eliza: "But these dogs are so awesome!"
Mairyn: "But getting killed is not awesome."

True 'dat, Mairyn. Getting killed is not awesome.

The Complete Experience

Wherever we go in the world, we always take plenty of pictures. Some (maybe me) take way too many! But I just see so many great shots. **tangent** Spencer was wiping my laptop clean and said I have 35 gigs of just pictures. Hmmm. **tangent done** The point being, I think wherever anyone travels, you are trying to capture everything about the experience. We also get out the video camera (** another tangent ** What do I call my video cam? It doesn't have a video tape in it. It's a 30G hard disk drive that records.**) We try and remember to record when we have the chance. Just the visual of a panorama or a kid smearing spaghetti in their hair! The movement, sound and pictures.

Last summer, we met up with some friends that used to live in Egypt. We were reminiscing about the craziness that is Cairo: traffic, pollution, pyramids, etc. But then they brought up a very valid point.

"We have gigs of pictures, more video recording than we can handle and oodles of souvenirs. But what really rounds out an experience is the smells."

And you know what? That's very true. We've shown family video of the city, traffic, pictures of pyramids and the Sphinx, but they still don't get the whole picture. Smell is the last sense that rounds out an encounter with a different country or city. Don't you smell fresh baked bread and it immediately transports you back to your Mother's kitchen? Or some not so nice smells? Like the putrid piles of garbage bags on my way to the gym each morning?


I was driven down this road of thought when I dropped Grant off at preschool this morning. It has been a little warmer this week, maybe low to mid 70s. Nice. So some trees are now blooming. The garden area of his school has quite a variety; lemon, papaya, some tree that grows green fruit, and a few other shade trees. We walked through the gate and I was immediately overcome by the smell of blossoms. Like a physical curtain when I walked from the street into that walled nursery. I discovered that it was the lemon tree in the corner right by Grant's little classroom. It was such a gem of an experience. I looked up at the sun shining on those pink blossoms and inhaled that sweet scent. I noticed bees buzzing from petal to petal and just felt transported out of this country! It felt like Spring! (We don't really have noticeable season changes in Egypt. Just Hot, Warm, Cooler and Windy.) Oh the wonder and magic of our senses! I think I will miss some smells about Cairo. One of my favorites, the spice shops in the Khan el-Khalili. Open barrels filled to the rim with saffron, cumin, vanilla, ginger, vanilla. The list goes on and on. Even the stinky fish section at Carrefour will have a small (very small) place in my heart!

Easiest Chicken Enchiladas. Ever.

Corn tortillas
boneless, skinless chicken breasts (sliced & uncooked)
1 bottle (10 oz.) green taco sauce
1/4 C. dried minced onion (or minced fresh onion, green onion for less liquid)
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup, condensed
1 can (4 oz.) diced greed chilies, with liquid
cumin
2 cups grated cheese
salt & pepper, to taste.

This is someone else's recipe. But I did it all different. I'm going to tell you how I did it. This is all in a crock pot. You just layer things in. I even used one of those crock pot bags, and I didn't have to wash the crock pot afterwards. Hey, easy. I don't have a number of tortillas to use or amount of chicken, it depends on the size of your crock pot and how many people you are making it for.

Since I used a bag, I didn't lube the crock pot, you may want to spray on some non-stick spray. That's what her recipe recommended.

1. Put down a layer of tortillas. My crock pot fit 2 with the middles overlapping.
2. Then put in the raw, sliced chicken breast and then salt & pepper & cumin to taste.
3. I combined the taco sauce, onions, cr. of mushroom soup and the chilies with their liquid in a separate bowl. Then just pour on a reasonable layer.
4. Sprinkle on the cheese.
5. Repeat until you fill your crock pot.

The Layers:
Tortilla
Chicken & dry seasonings
Sauces
cheese

Turn your crock pot on HI for 30 minutes then low heat for 3 hours. I messed up and forgot about it and left it on HI for an hour and then I turned it down low for an hour & a half and then I was worried that the raw chicken wasn't going to be cooked, so I turned it back on HI for the last 45 minutes. I would recommend HI for the first hour, then low for the last 2 1/2 hours. They are really, so good. The cumin wasn't in the other gal's recipe, but it's an ingredient that I can't omit from my enchiladas. So add and tweak all the flavors for your family. They inhaled it, we had leftovers for only one night. I served it with a salad and Mexican rice. I have a great recipe for that too, but I'll save that for another day.

Wordy Wednesday: Incarnadine

I ran across this article the other day about an albino bottlenose dolphin in Lake Calcasieu, Louisiana. The rest of the members of it's pod are normal colored. He's being dubbed Pinky. Yeah, that's original. I think that 'Incarnadine' would be more befitting. I mean, let's get a little more creative here. Case in point, Blue's Clues, she's named Blue, wow that's a shocker. It is a little deeper meaning seeing as how she's a hound, 'Ol Blue, but still, wouldn't Azure have been a bit more educational? I mean, she has a pinkish friend named Magenta. Kids will pick up on anything. You teach them about squares, circles & dodecahedrons, they'll find those tricky dodecahedrons! But I digress, all in favor of Incarnadine, the albino bottle-nose dolphin, raise their hand.

incarnadine • \in-KAHR-nuh-dyne\• adjective

1 : having the pinkish color of flesh

*2 : red; especially : bloodred

Example Sentence:

"Tavel [wine] … is noted for its assertive fruit and magnificent rich and brilliant incarnadine color." (Vick Knight Jr., Press Enterprise [Riverside, CA], August 11, 1999)

Did you know?

"Carn-" is the Latin root for "flesh," and "incarnates" is Latin for "flesh-colored." English speakers picked up the "pinkish" sense of "incarnadine" back in the late 1500s. Since then, the adjective has come to refer to the dark red color of freshly cut, fleshy meat as well as to the pinkish color of the outer skin of some humans. The word can be used as a verb, too, meaning "to redden." Shakespeare used it that way in Macbeth: “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.”


** word of the day thanks to merriam-webster online **

Cougar Fever

This is something that I could not have predicted. Who knew 11 years ago how addicted I would become to football? That's American football, not soccer. I started BYU pretty unaware of the whole popularity of it. I grew up away from the heart of Mormonland and all things related. I was thrilled, of course to be accepted to BYU, but I had also applied to the U of U, thinking one school in Utah was just as good as another. Boy, was I wrong! Those two schools are the biggest rivals in the Intermountain West. (but let's face it, there isn't much more there besides them, either. ;) )

I started my freshman year and was immediately immersed into everything BYU. I had a great next door neighbor in the dorms, Jamie, that introduced me to the love of BYU football. Her father had played BYU ball as well as her grandfather, and if Jamie could have played, she would. We bought student price season tickets, wore completely blue clothes and cheered till our voices were gone. At first, I wasn't sure what exactly we were cheering for. If a guy in those little, tight pants made to our end of the field with the football in hand, I knew that that was good. Other than that, I was pretty clueless. Through her tutoring, and maybe another boy or two along the way, I was being taught the ways of the game.

When Spencer & I met, it was at the beginning of the school year and football season. I found out that he was a die-hard BYU fan as well. I impressed him with what little knowledge I had accumulated, but I had much to learn. Teach me, you big hunk! And so he did. Now I find myself drawn even to the off-season. I am waiting, with baited breath, for the Cougar football schedule to be released. So far, they only have 4 games announced on the schedule. They said the complete schedule will come out in a couple weeks. A couple weeks? Aww, but I want it NOW! But you know what's even more exciting? September 19th, BYU vs Florida, playing at home and I will be there! Tickets aren't on sale yet, but Edwards Stadium in Provo, UT is where I will be on that Saturday in September.

A Proclamation!

It is that time! Time to start thinking about a new blog title. I'll still have the same address: www.penrodpos . . . . blah blah blah. But the title, "Life, Kids, and Pyramids" won't apply after mid-April. So, I need suggestions. I like alliteration. P, p, p what begins with P? But I don't like cutesy, syrup-y gaggy stuff. "The Peripatetic Penrods" has come to mind. We're going to the US, but just for a year. Also, I've thought about not having such a location-centric title. That way I won't run into this problem again. Hah! I've been brainstorming and have a few ideas, but I'd like to open up the sphere of imagination and hear opinions. Give me some ammo and then I'll put all the options in a poll on the side bar.

** I know, awful quality picture, but my computer is having some upgrades done and I don't have my picture archives right now. **

Random Thought, Pet Peeves etc.

I couldn't actually come up with enough fully formed ideas to make one complete blog post. Since I'm drowning in projects and annoyed up to my eyeballs, I'll group them all together in one place.

--> I'm turning against my own kind. Although I'd rather not be counted among other MMB's (mormon mommy bloggers) some think that I should just "Semper Fi" . I can't stand the stupid pseudonyms ('Mr. Choopy-woopy & I watched offspring #7 feed #3 a pop tart. Yummers.' Gag me. What are they, the Borg?) acronyms (although, can't blame 'em for that. it's programmed in every LDS's DNA) bad grammar & spelling, over-sized fonts and brightly colored texts make me want to vomit. I'm no nit-picker and I'm not out looking for a fight, I'm just annoyed. I will use the occasional slang word or abbreviation, but come on people, make some coherent conversation. These are smart, intelligent (I think) women that can do better than pander to a stereotype. Yes, I do read NieNie. That's different. We both have some common grounds (barely out of our 20's, 4 children, religion) and, you know, I just feel for her. I'm usually able to overlook most of my pet peeves. 'Nuff said.

--> Grant's new favorite expression. ". . . put off my shoes." Well, you put on your shoes, the logical response would be to "put off my shoes." "Mommy, I need help to put off my shoes." I've made it over the initial lost-in-translation barrier and it makes sense now.

-->Turn right to go left. This is rule number one for driving in Egypt. If there is a left hand turning coming up, go around all the people to the right and cut right in where it convenient for you. I think watching the movie, "Cars" is a prerequisite to receiving your driver's license in Egypt. Following Doc Hudson's advice of turn right to go left!