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.