Taking A Break

Well , lets see , what have Moe and I been up too lately ???? Last Thursday was Thanksgiving . For the first time in years I didn't cook Thanksgiving dinner .You can't find a turkey anywhere here in Tripoli , turkey breast maybe, but an entire turkey, no way. We have looked for months now for a turkey but nothing.We have even tried to special order a turkey, no luck .Sent Moe and our son out to buy some chickens , thinking maybe to cook chicken instead of turkey, but my son refused to buy any , saying that there was a bad/contaminated shipment of imported chickens in town. That they might have possibly been mixed up with Libyan chickens ?, Anyway, no luck with the chicken ideal. I thought to myself , why get so stressed over nothing .It's just another day on the calendar.

We went out that evening for a coffee run.While we were out Moe said why don't we buy chicken ( Yes I said chicken . Evidently chicken was safe after all !) shawarmas wrapped in fatera , which is one of our favorites .Then we stopped and got some gooey sweets . So this Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be one of my bests. I didn't have to cook it ! Any cook will tell you the best meal is one they didn't have to cook , lol .

Friday we went for a drive in the countryside around Tripoli. All the early rain we have had the last two months has tricked the grass and plants into thinking it is spring. There were tiny delicate little flowers strewn all over fields that haven't been plowed under for winter crops.Everything is so green . It is amazing how little water can turn the desert green.

Saturday, a  group of ladies I am friends with had a get together at Khadijateri's beautiful house.It was so nice to sit in some one else home , talking ,enjoying other women's companionship after months with no one but Moe to talk to , lol .Everyone brought tons of food.All sorts of delicious varieties that made one forget all about diets and other ugly words.We had a fantastic time.

I have started to read books again. I find I am able to concentrate once again now that there is more stability in the world around me. I have read three books so far and almost finished with the book " The Help". I am able to relate to this book being from the south of the USA and from the time period that the book is set in.Although I was raised in the south , my mother was from the north of the USA.She raised my sisters and I  not to be prejudice of blacks and other minorities. I was considered an "outsider" when it came to civil rights and "southern civil right philosophy" of the 50's and 60's .

While doing all this reading , I have taken a break from the computer , the internet , and the world at large.It has been actually nice not to be "so connected" to all the news , all the time .I feel less stressed , calmer , less worried about whether or not the world is going to hell in a hand bucket or not. I have stopped worrying about the Libyan political scene , for now.I have even taken a break from my daily household chores, doing only what is required.Yeah !I hate making the bed ! Life is good again.

Do You Belive This ???

Got this in a email from Khadijateri and thought it was so crazy , I had to share it with you .

Stella Awards

 It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those  unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get  burned doing that, right? That' s right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stellas for the past year:

  
*SEVENTH PLACE*

 Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

 Start scratching!


 * SIXTH PLACE *

 Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

 Scratch some more...


 * FIFTH PLACE *

 Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching.. There are more......

 Double hand scratching after this one.....


 *FOURTH PLACE*

 Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

 Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot..


 * THIRD PLACE *

 Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

 Only two more so ease up on the scratching.. ..


 *SECOND PLACE*

 Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a  nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000..... oh, yeah, plus dental expenses.  

Ok. Here we go!!


 * FIRST PLACE *

 This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was:  Mrs... Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down?
 $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

Some Reading For You

I was reading Khadijateri's blog and came across her reference to My Enchanting Sereeb blog post on her recent visit back to Libya and laughed myself silly because she is so real about everything she went through on her visit . Some of it was sad too because as some one once said , " you can never go home again " .

I also came across this post by My Being Days which is a pictorial composition of the similarities between Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jews in WW2 and the Israeli's treatment of the Palestinians now in Gaza . You should see the pictures . See if you can spot any difference between the THEN and the NOW . I bet you can't .

Taying In The Wind

Next Monday , Dec. 8 is the Eid Adha for Libya . That doesn't mean it is the same for the rest of the world , since our Ramadans always start a day or two earlier than the rest of the world. Maybe our Eid Adha is like that too ?Anyway , I am hearing all over town that same old thing ; whether or not families will buy a sheep this year or not to slaughter . Some say no , then they hesitate and say erm , maybe they will since it is Sunna to do so . That means it is a command from Allah to slaughter a sheep in honor of the covenant between Allah and Ibrahim . Some say they will do a cow or a camel since the sheep are infected . WHO knows what kind of sheep is being imported from Turkey , they say . I think we will be going to our sons house for the Eid , maybe ? So , it is his problem what to do , yeah !


Moe and I plan on sitting by the phone all day (Dec. 3) since our first granddaughter from our oldest daughter will be born later today . Sophia will make her debut at long last . We are arguing over who will have the highest blood pressure while we wait ! LOL ! Our son in law has instructions to send immediate photos to us after Sophia is born , lol ! Wonder who she will look like ? What a exciting time !


Moe has a new hobby . It is having a new survey map made of our land ever so often. It really doesn't matter to him that we just had this done several months ago . Or that it is already registered .Nope ! It keeps him busy I guess ? Maybe he is hoping that the land GREW since the last time , I don't know !


I have been reading other peoples blogs and came across several that I thought I would mention here .

Potpourri :

Potpourri writes of life adjustments after moving to Libya 6 months ago with her Libyan husband of some years , from her homeland of the Philippines . I find myself remembering many things I had forgotten ( how could that possibly have happened I don't know !! LOL !) that I and many of my friends have gone through as well . Really all foreigner women go through many of the same things whether or not they are American married to a Mexican in Mexico , a Lebanese married to a Syrian in Syria , or a English woman to a man from Timbuktu ! It is never your home , your family , your anything but you try so hard to adapt , to fit in, find your niche , and make that place yours . To be and to be happy . This some of the things she has faced .

Heba

Heba has brought to Libyan attention a new national identity card that will be in universal use by 2o10 in her latest blog post .It seems this might take the place of the family book now in use , BUT she DID NOT say so , it is just my assumption here . Anyway , everyone ( Libyan) will be required to have a ID card . If you go to her blog , you may apply for one now on line .


Desert Fences

She is a recent transplant to Riyadh from Pennsylvania , along with her Saudi husband and their six children .She is experiencing homesickness and transplant blues also .


It is just so hard sometimes to be in a constant state of flux or change , as our lives demand from us . All the while trying to stay true to ourselves in side , be a good wife / mother / daughter in law / sister in law / daughter/ superwoman ! AND ADAPT TOO !


Those of you that read Khadijateri's blog know of her trails and tribulation's over the years that she has posted about for a few years now .Even a native Libyan such as My Being Days had adjustments to make when she and her family moved to Libya after living all her life in the UK . There is my oldest daughter , Rosebud that was a transplant to Libya at the age of 15 , then she moved BACK to America 3 years ago . She has had to undergo adapting back to a very different life there ,marriage , PLUS the new baby coming tomorrow ! LOL ! So , as I love to say , ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS WRITTEN IN STONE . Anything can be changed and on occasion , has been known to actually happen .

Saw a movie once , I think it had Jodi Foster in it ? Maybe ? I watched it with the kids years ago . Jodi played girl that was deaf I seem to remember , but maybe not , lol memory is so subjective after time you know , but this character she played loved to say " Taying in the wind ". It meant ," swaying in the wind" . Or as Kaleidoscope once asked me , " Can you go with the flow "? I thought of "Taying in the wind" when she asked me . I knew I could flow ,and I knew how to go , but most importantly I knew I could "Tay in the wind " .Adapt , adapt , adapt ! Evolution !