the storm

Tonight there's a storm right above our house. This isn't a great photo, but... it's the 1st time that I've ever seen lightning here in Bahrain... and I've lived here for almost 6 years. I caught this just a few minutes ago while looking out the bedroom window. I had to stand for several minutes before getting a good sized one, and one that wasn't too fast for my slow little camera phone.

I must say, I'm a wee bit impressed w/ this storm. There's great lightning, rolling thunder, wind... what next??? Dare I mention the word rain???

Oh... please... let's have a downpour!!! One that lasts a few days even. :)

twilight, the movie

Was so tickled to get the chance to see this movie last night, but I'll have to say, my expectations were high in that I really loved the book. I wasn't sure about the two main characters... they were good looking enough, but could they act.

I now understand why one blog friend got up and left the theatre....!

I didn't like the movie whatsoever. Terrible, I thought. Very teen flicky, but I guess with the two main characters being 17 yrs old, it would be like this... but still. I don't like this Robert Pattinson guy and it doesn't seem like he can act very well.... just my opinion (maybe I had over the top expectations). Way too much make-up on his face, his lips looked like they were smothered in lip stick all the time and I hated his eye expressions. To me, he just didn't mesh w/ the Edward in the book. I hate it when that happens. Felt the same when I watched Interview w/ the Vampire. Absolutely HATED Brat Pitt and Tom Cruise in those roles, and hated the movie even more...

The twilight movie moved way too fast and wasn't true to the book in several areas, but seems like most of the books made into movies do this... shame really. I wonder if Harry Potter did the same. Haven't read the books so have no idea really. I enjoyed the movies... haven't seen the last, but I liked them, so wish I could say the same about this one.

I only hope w/ the new director that'll be coming up for the 2nd in the series will do a better job all around. I only hope this Robert guy gets w/ the role... but maybe no one could live up to ppl's (my) expectations. Seems like lots of ppl were against this Jacob guy, and he wasn't bad as an actor, actually, and I thought he fit the role quite well. So, maybe it's just me coz all the girls seem to be totally gaga over this guy who plays Edward.

All the vampires weren't right w/ me. Didn't like any of them and thought the make-up was terrible, the acting was terrible... just everything. And the 3 bad vampires that come into Fork later in the movie (once again not going along w/ the book)... really, the only good one was Laurent...

well... sadly, another one bites the dust!

Easter hats

These are a couple pics from yesterday's decorating fun. Me and a friend made six different hats, with two being these adorable chicken hats (she's so creative), for the weekend Easter Day in the Park.

We'll be going on a walk-a-thon, weather permitting, Friday morning and then Easter in the Park on Saturday. It'll be Naief's first Easter egg hunt and hopefully as fun as I'm imagining.

I've debated about doing an Easter basket for Naief this year... it's a tradition in my family, and since talking to my older sister, I've decided to do something fun and not loaded down w/ sweets... a few sweets... no Easter basket would be complete w/out candy eggs and such... right... but I'll add a few other things as well.

Gonna do little treats for his friends and cousins... :) I wonder what the in-laws will think about that???

reading 'twilight'

Started reading 'twilight' yesterday afternoon while Naief was napping and immediately got hooked. The first book I read about vampires was years ago (Interview With the Vampire) and just loved it. The movie sucked, but the book forever created an interest inside of me..... and now that I'm reading a whole series about the same... well, I'm wanting to be a vampire like you wouldn't believe! ;)

I must say that I stayed up last night until 2 a.m. reading and had to make myself go to bed... not wanting to put it down and not being able to clear my mind of it for a good long while, but finally, sleep came. This morning hubby took Naief out to play to give me time to read... yes, I adore him, and it allowed me to finish it. :))) I'm now starting the 2nd in the series, 'new moon'. Already... it's all I want to do... I think about it, long to sit, curl up, actually.... just anything to read ....

The sad thing is, as I told Hashim, I hate books like this because I always get so bummed after finishing them. It takes forever for me to find a book that entices me the way these have.... it's so nice to be able to escape into a world that sooooo interests me. Yeah, I'm a bit strange....

but really, I want to be a vampire! I told Hashim to tilt my head back this morning and run his mouth along the nape of my neck... he refused! ;) dang! hehehe

anyway... are any of you addicted like me???

what a fun party :)

Today we went to one of Naief's little friends' houses for a bday party (is the punctuation correct? - seems like nowadays, I can't remember my English grammar. Not that it was ever my strong suit... but still, and you know... I hate that I'm forgetting it. What is up w/ that?? Having a baby?). Anyway... what a fun time. His mother is such a good mother.. so patient, so calm and so good w/ her kids.... and she's so talented! She went to a carpenter here in Bahrain and had huge farm animals cut out of wood or some such and painted white, then all the kids got paint, at the party, and had a field day painting all the animals. Naief and all the other kids loved it and had so much fun. Must say that Naief loves the attention of others and especially adults, as he would turn around to see who was watching him and do his best Picasso impersonation! ;)

Didn't know beforehand about the painting, since all the kids were supposed to bring a change of clothes (didn't get the invitation since we've switched to the afternoon class at the baby gym, while my friend and her son go to a morning class... ), and since I didn't take any clothes for painting fun, my friend lent some clothes to Naief to paint in (how sweet, huh?!!). I felt bad though coz didn't want him getting his friend's clothes all messy... but I tried to go w/ it. And momma didn't wear the appropriate clothes either.... don't think white linen pants and a indigo linen shirt were the right attire for a painting party!! But, thankfully, didn't get any paint on me.... :)

They also had goats for the kids to enjoy. Had them in the side yard... Naief loved it. There was a little kid (baby goat) that was soooo adorable... jumping around and climbing through the gate, only to make his momma very upset. The whole little gang would cry for him to come back in, but he seemed to be having too much fun on the other side of the fence. At one point, my friend's hubby had to go on the other side to get the little guy. It was really sweet and a great idea. All the kids loved giving them food and watching them play. Got a text from my friend today telling everyone to bring any veggies to be thrown out... and crazy me wondered what that was about and thought maybe they were composting... !!!! yes... I did think this!!! Didn't even dawn on me that it could be for the party!!!!!!! lol

Naief was so well behaved as most of the kids, except a few. One little boy was being quite the bully... pushing kids and taking their things, and making several kids cry in the process. At about the time we were leaving, I was getting a telephone number and this little boy's mother brought Naief to me, crying. She told me that her son had pushed him outside. She felt bad and I felt bad.... but Naief was fine and stopped crying rather quickly. I think that he gets a little scared of kids like this. I just hope this little boy was having a bad day coz I've talked to his mom about a play date, but if her son is a bully and is mean... not sure if I want that happening to my little guy... but, can't shield him forever, right?!! Will have to take this slowly just to see how it goes.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon. I had a terrible headache when we got home, but probably due to my not having eaten most of the day and just being sorta stressed... but took some meds and it's gone now.

Went over to see my SIL. She gave birth to her 2nd child three days ago. He's soooo tiny!!! Only weighs 4 lbs! To me, that's too small... but so many Bahraini women have itty, bitty babies. From what I've heard, it's about not wanting it to hurt when they give birth, so they try to gain as little weight as possible to make it all easier. She wound up having a c-section... not being able to go into labor and even after they gave her the meds to induce, she still didn't ... so they took the baby. He has a huge, pointed nose.... probably from Hashim's father. They all said that Naief had this nose, but I knew he didn't, since it wasn't pointed. It still isn't... I think he'll have mine since all the baby pics of me and him look the same.... and his nose is identical.... poor little guy! I hate my nose!!! but... maybe it'll be cuter than mine. At least I can hope! ;)

Anyway... this week has wound up w/ two cancellations for engagements/play dates, so I'm relieved since I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed as of late. Tomorrow we have nothing and I plan to spend a lot of time w/ Naief and cleaning. Still having a difficult time balancing these two things, which causes me a lot of stress. If anyone has any good ideas on how to manage and tackle these two things, please do pass it on. I need all the help I can get.

A friend came over the other night to say goodbye, since she'll be going to Qatar to teach for a few months and before she came, I told her that my house was a mess. I'm not one for having company when the house isn't in tip top shape... but... I let her come anyhoo. She was fine w/ it and we sat in the kitchen, which was a mess... but she assured me she understood... I do have a two year old after all. Made me feel good that she understood.... but I was still a bit in that 'embarrassment zone' after she left... aaahhh... my constant task of cleaning.

Yeah.. I know this is a long post, and sorry for that... but... commenting on my first para, not only am I forgetting grammar, but I'm forgetting things like crazy. I've noticed lately that I'm doing things and not remembering to finish whatever it was. For instance, I'll turn on the water outside and forget about it, which doesn't make the hubby all too happy. One day I left it running for over an hour! Totally forgot. Then the other day, I was filling up the watering thing for the cats and I went off and forgot about it. Came back to see it overflowing all over the place.. then did the same w/ the sink and dishes. Started running hot water and soap to do dishes (which isn't done here, btw... nothing is ever done w/ a sink full of hot, sudsy water) and turned around to do something else and totally forgot about it. Left the room and everything. Don't know how long it was, but when I came back, it was overflowing onto the floor... actually was all over the kitchen floor. Ridiculous really... that I'm doing this. Have even done w/ cooking, which scares me a bit. Saw a show on Oprah today about women forgetting things when they have kids. I really need to slow down, breathe, relax and do one task at a time... or finish the task that I've started... but you know, it's hard.

have a good one everyone.... until next time. :)