I made ONE cup of coffee this morning. I hate making coffee for one. It comes out cold and flavorless.

 

I could not sleep at all last night, my husband left to the airport at 1.00 pm. I thought I'd get some sleep after his plane leaves at 3.00, but by then there was only 3 hours left before I had to wake kids up and get them ready to school, so it wasn't really worth it. I can never get any sleep when the kids and I are alone at home. The slightest sound can get me all agitated and worried, and those water turtles they just dont settle down and sleep do they? And how about our old lady neighbor? what's an old woman like that doing awake after 1.00 pm? isn't it way past her bed time?I've decided I really hate having an old lady live right under our apartment, (YES, I'M MEAN,shoot me!!) But screaming voices from egyptian series resonating through my house all night long is not exactly my idea of relaxation.

 

 

As expected, I fell asleep less than an hour before my alarm rang, and I had to rush things ready to get kids to school on time, we are always late, even with the two of us racing through the morning, so how am I expected to do it by myself. We were late, but managed to get my daughter in the school gate seconds before the janitor locked it, otherwise, I would have had to do the walk of shame from the school's main gate to her classroom and apologize for being late, AGAIN!

 

I miss my husband already and counting days till his return..5 days from now ( AGAIN, I'M SPOILT, CAN'T HANDLE BEING ALONE FOR EVEN A FEW DAYS, SHOOT ME NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY) I felt weird ordering just one cup of coffee from Cups and Kilos before heading to work,my coffee at home turned icy cold before I had teh chance to drink any of it, and this turkish coffee we have in the office does nothing to wake me up, absolutely nothing, and gives me heartburn, so unless someone is ready to read my cup, then I usually pass. and how weird is that that people actually do stick those bumper stickers on their cars: "I buy my coffee from Cups and Kilos"? They do a great job, I know, but so does "Shaher" with my laundry, so would I want to stick this on my car: "I do my laundry at Shaher's?"

 

Sipping on my coffee in the car, and pasing by my kids school again, I saw this mom who I always bump into there. She just carries her children around like an accessory, I've decided. She's always walking and looking around at people, checking out what  reflections her image leaves in their faces. Never having a bad hair day, never with the same handbag two days in a row. And today, she has her dog with her, dropping kids off to school..HOW CUTE! iffffff well maybe if she went a bit easier on her hair and makeup this morning, she might have been able to avoid having her child miss the first class. And the dog, what's with the dog? Didn't she ever hear that even Mary's lamb was kicked out of school? and HE's a celebrity! She's really into this Legally Blonde role, it seems, except Witherspoon did not match her pink stillettos with her eye shadow, nor with her bling bling handbag and track suite. (Track suite, stilettoes?no matter how many other women you see doing this, this just does not make it right!!)

 

I made it to the office, finished my coffee, had some mint tea, did not pass on the turkish coffee, inspite of the heartburn and the absence of any coffee cup fortune tellers, did not do much work, hardly concentrated long enough to type this post, talked to my husband twice, sent each other 6 messages, and will be rushing back home to pack my bag and head to mom's..I certainly need to get some sleep tonight.

I came across this article in this website that I have just discovered: www.aaramnews.com

 

My questions are: 

 

        Who is this guy who merely owns Two Tears and A Rose?

        Where is He Running?

        And is he for real?

 

 

 

 

 

I am so jealous.

 

Jealous of modern countries, where kids have such exposure to Art and Architecture.

 

I was looking at some of Zaha Hadid's work, when I came across her blog, and across this workshop, which was held in the Design Museum, where kids could come over, enjoy looking and hearing about Zaha's work, then design buildings inspired by her methods and techniques.Such Creative designs the kids came up with..I just wished my kids could have been there. When one is exposed to good things, one learns how to appreciate them..Beauty is relative concept, but when one's eyes are used to looking at things that are in harmony, that have great proportions, and that are so enjoyably creative, one learns so much..Ah, the things my kids could have learned if they'd been there..the things I could have learned if I had been there!! In every museum I have been to, there were school children, enjoying art..being taught how to appreciate it, and how to behave themselves in such establishments. I am wishing for a day where art classes at school stop being a hopeless case of trying to get the kids to copy a bad drawing that the teacher did on the board...I am wishing for a day when my kids  come home with projects of this sort:

 

 

 

 

 

However, the bright side is that there are a lot of initiatives happening around town that are promising..I should not make things sound this bad..The Children's Museum in King Hussain Park, is an amazing place, and I think they do hold art workshops for children, at least there was this one time where they had an activity in Eid, and the art room was full of  children experimenting with shapes and colors..and enjoying it.

 

 

The museum itself is so nicely designed, everything about it is beautiful, its ceratinly one place that can have a great role in motivating the children to appreciate both arts and science .The shapes, colors, spaces ..everything out there is simply amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

And there's something in there for everyone, physics, chemistry, archaeology, practical life skills..everything, everyone should go and have a look..Their site is still under construction, so a visit to the actual place is a must.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for some election-related humor!

 

 

 

 

AL Mankal Chicken Tikka has this ad in Al Waseet, it roughly translates as :

 

Support Committees, represented by the eloquent rooster and the local chick, declare their full support for the Mankal restaurant because:

 

-Everyone's for Mankal..I believe it is candidtae Khawla Armooti whose slogan is : Everyone's for the Country..(Al Jamee3 lil Wa6an)

 

-Mankal is for Everyone ..Candidate Mamdoo7 3abbadi has the slogan of : Country is for Everyone ( Al Wa6an lil Jamee3)

 

-All the Fried Ones Are Fried...Candidate Najati Shakhshir's slogan: All Jordanians are Jordanian ( Jamee3 Al Ordonion Ordonieen)

 

-Mankal is our Restaurant, all of us..One Candidate, not sure who, has this slogan, Jordan is our country.

 

-We Do Not Accept less than Mars for Our Mankal..Candidate Raed Hamada, who is incidently owner of Hamada Falafel Chain, has this slogan: We Do Not Accept Less Than The Stars for Jordan ( Lan Narda Lil Ordon Doon Al Nojoom)

 

And Their Final Reason: 1 kg Chicken Liver to be distributed per Vote, as a reference to the rumour (or is it) of votes being sold!

 

The final sentence is that from a popular peasants jingle, Our chickens and Yours are Grazing Together (Jajatna w jajatkin yer3en sawa)..isn't this light hearted?

 

Don't you Just Love Wasee6?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing view, lousy food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You want to be the fun parent, but you also want to be the firm parent!

 

You want to be patient, but you have so little time to let things go at your kids' pace!

 

You want to make sure you never compare your kid to others, but it's such a competitive world out there you can't help it!

 

You want to be fair with your kids, but you often end up taking the naughty one's side to get rid of his nagging!

 

You want to teach them to be humble, but you also want them to have pride!

 

You want to teach them to be nice to other kids, but you also want to teach them to stand up for themselves!

 

You want them to be bold and frank, but you also want them to be polite!

 

You want them to be natural and spontaneous, but you still want them to think ahead!

 

You want to guide them, but you also want them to be able to make their own decisions!

 

You want to offer them the world, but you don't want to spoil them!

 

You want to help them, but you also want them to learn to be independent!

 

You want to have them so close to you, but you still want to give them their space!

 

You want to have them so close to you, but you still need YOUR space!

 

You want to show them off,but you don't want to embarass them!

 

You want them to be normal kids, but you also want them to be special!

 

You want to give them their freedom, but you can't deprive them from your protection!

 

You see yourself in them, so you push them to fulfill your own dreams, but you still want them to be happy pursuing theirs!

 

Does it ever get easier?