hop, hop, hop

Naief is learning to hop... I call it hop because it's such small little jumps, that it reminds me of a bunny rabbit. :) He's learning to pull his knees up, an ability to do so has never really entered my mind when watching other kids, and it's so dang adorable! You wouldn't think something so tiny would be so exciting, but it is and gosh darn it... he's learning to jump! He hops across the kitchen, he hops around on the bed, he hops while he's walking... hop hop hop :)

I've obviously taken for granted, all these years, learning to do such a thing... but excitingly enough, he'll soon be able to jump on those bouncy things that they have everywhere, which he longs to do...

He loves that he can do it. Calling to me and daddy whenever we aren't watching... and it's always a favorite thing to do when getting ready to change for bed. And, I'll tell ya, he's also a little daredevil. He loves to jump and then plunge himself face first into the bed, over mommy or into pillows. Nothing seems to stop him... gets me on pins and needles a lot of times, but I try to watch, clap, laugh w/ delight instead of keeping myself in a state of worry over him getting hurt. Little kids are so resilient.. I know I was when I was little, but I sure had bumps and bruises to prove it, plus, I remember LOTS of close calls... so... no wonder I worry.

He's also starting to repeat lots of words we say in English and Arabic.... jabbering constantly about this or that... Hashim says that once he starts w/ full sentences... he'll never stop. I'm just waiting for the 'why's'. I'm readying myself... should be full of wonder, excitement, laughing and probably some stress, but maybe not. I actually enjoy talking to him and answering questions... so am wondering how this will go.

Today was funny in that Hashim swept and mopped the kitchen floor, then after about 20 or 30 mins, he looked down and said, "I just mopped the floor..." I had to laugh, for now he, maybe, on a teeny, tiny level, understands what I've been saying. I feel like a little tornado follows me around, leaving a path of toys, plastics, wooden utensils, food, water... everywhere it turns... and I'm constantly on it's heels, picking everything up. phew. But at last... he sees! Or at least a little! :)

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Made some absolutely delicious Brussels (button) sprouts last night... they were so good. Fried some turkey bacon, saved the drippings.. altho there aren't any w/ turkey bacon, so i added addt'l oil during so that it'd make something.. then added vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, onions and the Brussels sprouts... cooked until sprouts were tender and liquid had thickened and cooked down... gosh.. it was good. Wasn't sure if Hashim or Naief would like it. Hashim loved it... Naief wasn't as sure... altho, he did eat some of it.

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Happy to say that the meditation has been working in that it puts me to sleep at night, every night so far. This is the first thing to ever work... other than pills or herbal tea (altho w/ pills, you often have the hangover the next morn... I hate that and w/ teas, they did nothing... even valerian didn't work)... so I'm very happy, to say the least. And it's good, sound sleep :)

I've started walking again. Took Naief to the park and while daddy kicked around the ball w/ him and played, I walked. The endorphins... these little babies are so wonderful. These alone make it all worth it! ;)

weather, food and fun

Nice that things are finally cooling off in our parts. Temps during the day have probably been in the low 90s and, at night, it feels like it could be in the low 80s, but not sure. a nice breeze has come on some days, and it's actually fun to go to the park, and run around w/out getting a headache from the heat. I'm dying to get bikes w/ the little seat in the back for Naief... so hopefully in the next few months, that'll be a nice gift for our family.

We've been taking Naief to this park down the way from us many nights during the week, where he runs around, watches the soccer game while trying to go onto the court during play many days :) , and where he can play w/ many different children at this one area in the park. Every day you'll get families or mothers w/ little kids... usually close to Naief's age or a bit older, and he soooo enjoys it. There's one little girl that's been there twice now w/in the last week, and Naief is smitten. She's precious. So cute. She's Egyptian... how I know this is one, she looks Egyptian and two, her momma puts a little kohl around her eyes and maybe a tad bit of blush (not sure on that one)... and yeah, you'd think she looks gaudy or ask why her mother might put make-up on the little girl... but w/ some Egyptians, it's a cultural thing dating back to the Pharaohs. And, I'll have to say, it really suits this little girl. It's not all pageant-like or anything... it's very subtle, but the eyes are somewhat dramatic, in a little girl sorta way.. if there is one.

But... it's really, really sweet to watch Naief w/ her. They stand looking at each other, almost seem to be talking, walk around the area w/ each other, kick balls around... follow each other here and there. There's also a little boy that's been coming, altho we haven't seen him the last two times we've gone.. but he liked this little kid a lot. One little girl pushed him away as he got close to her. He stood there, looking at her... makes me wonder what he was thinking. I'm glad she didn't do anything further aggressively. Her older brother seemed to keep her in check though, so that was good.

Tonight I made this yummy banana bread again. I can't wait to have a taste. If anyone would like it, I found it on cooks.com. It's a high fiber banana bread.. I think it's the only one they have. I add to it w/ white raisins and nuts... and I don't use the egg substitute or butter substitute... and it is just yummy.. obviously less healthy than the original recipe and higher in fat.. but I don't care. I also made baked chicken in the bag... why is it that turkey and chicken taste so much better cooked like that!!?? I also made a good recipe that my sister, Jahooni, gave to me w/ zucchini sauteed in balsamic vinegar... Naief loves this. I made my mom's baked macaroni & cheese casserole, which I usually only make during the holidays, but since Naief has been rather picky about what he eats lately, thought it might go over w/ him.. and he loved it. :) I scored some major mommy points tonight... and am starting to realize that he likes my down home cooking, American style, much better than most other things. Figure I'll stick w/ this a while, since hubby likes it too, and see if it makes a difference in his eating habits... altho, it's nice to change things up every now and again.

anyway... been posting a lot of music lately, which sorta fits my mood as of late.

I meditated last night. Thought I'd try a method from that Laws of Attraction book, and... it worked. Not only did it relax me, but it put me to sleep. I'm going to try it again tonight and see what happens. Hopefully it'll bring the same type of deep relaxation that it gave to me last night.

pigging out

Tonight I ate too much... this is the thing I have the most difficulty with at Ramadan. And for someone who doesn't eat a lot, this isn't a good thing. I feel like a stuffed pig.

We went over to my MIL & FILs tonight and there was soooo much food. One of my SILs made 3 or 4 different dishes, and my MIL made everything under the sun, it seemed. It was all delicious... but man oh man, I'm not used to eating so much. My MIL made foul tonight..... I LOVE FOUL!!!!!!! It was soooo gooood and she makes the best, bar none! On top of that, I had a samboosa, 2 helpings of rocket salad, harees, some kind of yogurt w/ hard bread, 1/2 piece of Bahraini bread and a piece of some kind of sweet chicken.... and then I had two helpings of halwa (a very sweet treat that one usually has w/ arabic coffee, and pictured above), which is what made me sick, I think. That and 4 cups of Arabic coffee would make anyone sick... so one might wonder why I ate so much... well, me too. Probably because I went into it too hungry, and I love halwa. Haven't had the stuff in over a year... so I figured, "what the hell." ;) Now.. my tummy is paying me back. Thinking about it... it's not the sweet part of halwa that makes me sick... I think it's all the ghee they use when making it! Me and oily foods don't get along. It's just so yummy... I can't resist!

Now... I'm at home... sick. But, it's getting better. A little Alka-Seltzer and water should do the trick. My MIL always suggests drinking margadush... but it never helps. I can barely stand the taste of it, but she swears by it. ;)

Tonight Naief saw his oldest cousin, whom he hasn't seen since the beginning of the year... if that's right. His cousin's in the 7th grade now and has a lot of patience for the little ones. Naief followed him around like a puppy on a leash. Showing off, calling out to him, standing close to where he was sitting.... it was so sweet. He's liked T since he was a baby. Always wanting his attention. It's really sweet to watch him interact with those he adores. There's some type of sparkle in his eyes.

It's weird, coz tonight when his cousin came in... I realized how fast, once again, time flies. I remember when I first met him.... back in 2001. He was 6 and adorable. Now, lemme tell ya, ladies... he has the eyelashes that any woman would die for... long and lush. Beautiful eyes, actually. Handsome young man. He's a lot taller now, has lost a lot of weight... and seemed more self-confident. I teased after asking what grade he was in now and told him that tomorrow he'd be going to college and soon he'd be getting married. :) He laughed... but a little bit of me was serious... in that I can't get over how fast time goes by. It's a bit scary, actually. But... since I'm really trying hard not to look at the glass half full (and for anyone who knows me... knows how hard that is!!! ;) ) .... I'll just leave it at that.

I've started taking these little hormone pills at the advice of my dr. It's to regulate things... and boy is it regulating. I've been in the crabbiest of moods lately. So... hubby has 3 more glorious months until I'm back to my loving and tender ways! ;) lol

And btw... since I'm on the topic of crabbiness, dear Sister Jahooni... MAIL MY BIRTHDAY BOX!!!!! Do I have to wait for mom to get back to Cali before it's mailed???!!!! Or would you rather I come there and jerk a knot?!

Peace, out! (gosh, it feels good to have my spunkiness back.. maybe I should take these hormone pills all the time!! :) )

Do you tip?

What is it w/ tipping in this country? Most restaurants that you go to have a service charge included, but I doubt seriously if the waiters and waitresses are seeing any of that money. So, where does that leave a person when it comes to giving a tip?

Do most ppl not tip in restaurants? How about your hair dresser? What about at hotels?

I know that my husband doesn't like to tip in most cases. Coming from the States where tipping is required, I usually cringe when he refuses to leave anything after a good meal.

In many restaurants in the States, you'll have the wait staff actually come after you if you don't leave a tip. I've known ppl to scream at their customers for not giving at least 15%, and you'd never think of not tipping your hairdresser, unless they were the owner of the salon, but, even still, I've always felt weird about not tipping - even if they're the owner.

My hair stylist, Kristin, worked at a place in Dallas; she wasn't the owner, but she rented out the space she had in the place, which is considered to be pretty much the same. I spent over $100 most times - if I dyed my hair - and I always left a tip. Thankfully those hair days are over and I'm not paying anywhere near that now, but I still feel odd if I leave and don't tip. I even feel bad if I don't tip the shampoo girl... seeing that she gives fabulous scalp massages every time she puts the conditioner on my hair. I'd actually love to hire someone like that to be my personal scalp masseuse.

Now... let's say you do tip... do you tip a standard percentage or just whatever you feel like? In most places back home, if you leave anything under 20%, you're considered stingy. I've known ppl to leave a few cents, and I mean pennies, after a meal.. but the service was terrible and the place wasn't a big place or anything... but even still, I think I'd rather leave nothing than leave a few pennies.

A few restaurants that we go to on a regular basis even charges a service charge if we pick up the meal and go, which I think is strange and not really fair. Hashim has complained and one place close to us doesn't do it anymore, but if we sit down inside, we get the charge. I don't agree w/ service charges. I can understand if you have a huge party, but if it's only you and your husband, why the service charge?

And w/ the rise in food prices at restaurants after the Ramadan holiday, I'm starting to think like my husband... maybe it's better to save that extra cash. I guess that's why us Americans are always hard up for cash... we're too busy tipping all of our money away!

noisy theatre eaters

We went to the movies the other day and after talking about how I always eat my popcorn before the movie starts.... it got me to thinking about my mom which, in turn, got me to thinking about ppl who are noisy eaters... especially at the movies.

My mom could be classified as such. She loves her popcorn - like me - but when she's eating it, she digs around in the box and digs around.... and it almost seems like it's always at the most quiet time during the movie. I've been known to "shhhhh" her.... only to get one of those dirty looks that only a mother can give. She's a loud cruncher too. It makes me smile to think about it.... because, really, it's a quality that I love about her.... even tho it drives me batty when I'm trying to watch a really good movie. But.... she's not the only one. Altho he'll kill me for saying it, hubby is a loud digger as well. I've also been known to dig at the bottom... but I'm courteous or try to be because I always try to wait until there's a lot of talking during the show or loud scenes and such.

So does that mean there are classifications of ppl who eat at the movies?

What about the ppl who slurp their pepsi's down to the very last drop... sucking on that straw like there's no tomorrow and you know, as the person listening, that there's no more pop coming outta that straw... but it seems like the sucker doesn't realize it. You can always tell when you're getting down to nothing in the cup... don't ya think? The ice is a dead giveaway... it moves around in a way that makes it clear that the soda is gone..... finished.... khalas. But these ppl.... I think that they think if they move the cup this way or that, that maybe... by some chance, a little drop of pop will fall w/in the straws reach and they'll get that glorious satisfaction. And... yes, me... well, I have done this too. But I usually save it for when I'm in the car w/ hubby or at home.... ;) Because he tends to drink all the drink and leaves me the tiniest drops at the end.... so I'm used to this desperate plea for more soda.... :)

And... what about those nacho eaters? I think these are the worst. I don't believe crunchy nachos were meant for the inside of a movie theatre. Since when do you need nachos? It's dark... sometimes you can't see even how to get to your seat... why eat something that takes great precision? You have to get that chip into a tiny little square box filled w/ cheese. I don't know... I'm not that steady w/ my hands... I'd more than likely wind up w/ cheese all over my face or all over my clothes. but... that aside... I can't stand to listen to ppl eating this stuff during the movie. And I usually wind up sitting next to someone w/ them... or even a whole family eating them. And they're not that good!

So... how would you classify eaters at the movies?
1) loud obnoxious eaters w/ crunch during the most quiet of moments
2) dainty eaters who try to be quiet for all the other viewers
3) slurpers
4) diggers who never seem to find the right piece to put in their mouth
5) droppers (I'm one of these)... always dropping the popcorn you get, so you wind up having to go back for more and make more noise because you can't seem to keep what you get inside your hand.

Are there any others you can think of?

I want to tell ya a funny story that this post made me think of. Long ago... me and my little sister went to see Aliens. I had gotten some gum prior to going in, so once the movie started, I unwrap my gum, stick in my mouth and start to chew it up. Well.... I don't know what this gum was made of, but it started sticking to all of my teeth. When I tried to use my lips to get it off of my teeth, it stuck to my lips. This is when I decided to take it out of my mouth and when I did, it not only stuck to my teeth and my lips, but then it stuck to all of my fingers. It was at this point that my sister turned around and asked, "what are you doing" or some such. I leaned down to her and whispered that my gum was stuck to all my teeth and to my hands, and then I showed her. She started to laugh... you know.... one of those laughs that you try to keep inside w/ everything inside of you (the kind when you know you aren't supposed to laugh which makes you laugh even harder).... and as I worked furiously to get this gum off of me, she'd give me that look of horror and total shock while she laughed.... this only made me panic. Let me tell ya... my sister can make me laugh like no one I know of. She is sooo crazy. And when she starts to laugh and then gets me to laugh... we can go on for a good 10 minutes. As we're trying to be as quiet as possible.... she gives me the brown bag that held this wonderful chewing gum, and I proceed, as quietly as possible, to take this bag and stick my gum to it.

Well.... you wanna talk about not being able to be quiet!!!! The more I tried to stick this gum to that bag, the more the sound, to me, started to penetrate the entire theatre, which made my sister break down..... I should have gotten up, thinking back on it now, but I was young and didn't want to cause a scene... I suppose... but as I tried to keep as quiet as possible and get this gum outta my mouth, from my fingers and off my lips.... well... it just seemed crazy loud. And as my sister kept giving me those wild out of control laughter looks, the more this crap wouldn't come off. It was like she had a bubble gum demon inside of her! ;) And I was the target.

Finally.... finally.... that gum came off. This is when I started to laugh .... the kind of laugh that you hold in... like when you're in church or at a funeral. Yeah... I've been known to break down in inappropriate laughter at funerals.

I know you may think, OMG, there's something seriously wrong w/ her... but... the cat's outta the bag. It's the truth! ;) I do it. Not all the time... but it has happened on more than one occasion. I guess the whole not being able to handle it is my thing.

So.... anyway... thought I'd share my words of wisdom today. The baby is taking his early afternoon nap. They're painting the outside of our house and started bright and early at 6:00 a.m. this morning. Today they sprayed the outside w/ water, to get off the old paint and such, and we had little floods inside the bedroom and bathroom when we got up. But.... the house will be nice and fresh in a few days... so that'll be nice.

Have a good day friends.

Love to Eat

I was tagged some time ago by a blog friend, The Moody Minstrel, to list 5 of my favorite restaurants here in Bahrain. Why it took me so long to think about this one... well, it's beyond me. But... after some long thinking, I finally came up w/ my list.

These are in order of preference:

1.) Senor Pacos. I love this restaurant. This is the first restaurant that me and Hashim went to when I came here back in 2001 for a visit. I was dying for mexican food and we came upon this place and fell in love w/ it. It's the one place on this island that reminds me of home. I love the weekends there w/ the singing and dancing, and they have the best holiday parties. Mexican food is one kind of food that I could eat every day. I love nachos, fajitas, enchiladas, tacos... you name it, I love it. ummm... it's just sooo good. So this is my most favorite restaurant.

2.) Cafe Italia. This is the italian restaurant at Seef Mall. They have some of the best spinach and cheese ravioli that I've ever tasted and their pizza... well, it's the best I've had in a long time. My favorite pizza place used to be Pizzeria Uno's in Addison, in Texas... but it was a different type of pizza all together - it was Chicago style. Cafe Italia's pizza is thin and they have so many different varieties. And... if you go there, don't miss their salads. They are sooo yummy. I love good salads though.

3.) Kei. This is a Japanese sushi restaurant at the Golden Tulip. We've been going to this restaurant for a while now and I really enjoy their food. I don't eat raw fish... not into that, but I do like their California rolls and many other dishes on their menu. They also have this fried banana dessert that is to die for... makes my mouth water just to think about it! ;) What I like about this place is that you have the choice of sitting where the chef cooks your food. They have this square area and I guess it seats about 15 ppl and everyone can watch as each dish is prepared. This is authentic Japanese whereas many of the other Japanese restaurants here aren't. I recommend this restaurant to everyone.. but I'm sure that most of you have tried this place.

4.) Hash House. This is a Thai restaurant in Adliya. I love their Red Thai Noodles w/ chicken, shredded carrots and cabbage... ummmm... just delicious. It's on the spicy side which I love... but also has a hint of sweet to it. I like the restaurant especially at night when you can sit upstairs on the cushions. This is the only Thai restaurant that I enjoy in Bahrain... the others ... well, I'm not all that impressed.

5.) Melh Al Zad. This restaurant... well... it could probably be my number 2 easily. It's an Iraqi restaurant that we've been eating at for a while now. We first went there some 3 1/2 yrs. ago w/ the in-laws for Eid. I love their hummus, and I must admit they have some very tasty lamb chops. They also have fabulous fattosh salad... I would say it's my favorite of all the restaurants that I've tried since living here w/ the salads, hummus and eggplant dip. Actually, I haven't had anything there that I haven't liked. I love Iraqi spices... they fix Arabic food like nobody's business. It's another place that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. YUM. It's located over off Exhibition Road.

Now... I'm hungry. I do love good food. I'm not a big eater but when I eat... well, I want it to be good. All of these qualify, in my book, as good food. I hope you guys like the list.. and if you haven't tried some of these places.... try them and let me know what you think.

Also... we watched the season finale of Lost tonight. I cried. I was sad to see one castaway get killed. I was hoping it wouldn't happen, but it did. From the things I've read, seems like a lot of ppl were happy to have this person killed off... but it made me sad. I'll write about it probably tomorrow. I'm upset because I really look forward to seeing this show.. and now... we'll have to wait until the next season comes along. This finale left a lot of things unanswered... and put a lot more questions in my mind. I thought it would answer a lot of questions, but it didn't. I'm bummed about that... but figured it would happen.