What A Party !

 WOW !

That was some party huh ??? LOL ! I can't believe it is already the 10th of Jan. The last thing I remember is getting ready for New Years Eve . 

No , ok , for real ...... I was sick ... AGAIN ! I thought that was all behind me last year but food poisoning had another thought or two instead . Well , I survived and am back .

After living through that HELL , I was so excited to get back to the computer to see what I have missed  while lying in bed this past week .BUT ... I couldn't get the thing to open . The reboot menu continued to open every single time I tried to open the computer . Now for many of you this wouldn't be a problem , correct ? But for some one like me that is totally ignorant of computer speak , this was a crisis of major proportions .I was so intimidated by it all.

I was so determined to get on the computer that I took matters into my own hands and tried to fix it myself .Completely terrorized, shaking( really),I read down the menu of possible existing disasters awaiting me if I stupidly clicked on the wrong thing . You never know , like .. click here to lose all your pictures ... FOREVER! Or maybe ... click here to erase all existing files.Or .... you are such an idiot that you deserve to have your entire hard drive wiped clean, hahahahaha ( my computer might decide to channeling Evil Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey )! I am a genuine scaredy cat and things like this make me decidedly nervous ! I clicked . 

A miracle happened . The computer opened . I felt like I had been on the roller coaster ride of my life . My heart was pounding. I was breathless the way you are when the roller coaster ride is over and pulling back to the starting place . My knees were clacking together,but ,by golly I did it! The thing was working !

That was all well and good UNTIL... I tried to open the Internet. It wouldn't open .Ok , I remained calm .... sorta .I didn't know why it wouldn't open and couldn't figure that out either .I gave up and called MS. FIX IT , Khadijateri . I threw myself upon her tender mercies and begged. She came today and told me I needed a new battery . Now go figure a computer would need a battery ! God Help Me !

On top of that , I couldn't believe that we have had temperatures of the mid 70's to 80's F. the last few weeks . It is snowing ALL OVER  North America and Europe. It is after all, winter in the northern hemisphere and it is expected to be at LEAST COOL , if not freezing ! 

No rain, no snow( Just wishful dreaming on my part I know ) just miserable , relentless warm sunshine day after day . Do you believe it was actually colder in Havana, Cuba than here in Tripoli the other day? Havana , not Savannah! Miami was colder than here! Cairo was colder than here . Now what is that about ?Until last night , he he he ! We had a cold ( ok , we are talking Tripoli , Libya here , not Europe ) snap . It is windy and cold tonight and I am loving it . Pretending it might snow , well what the hell , right ? LOL ! SO FAR..... no snow .I have my fingers crossed though . I will keep you posted on that snow ,lol! Gotta go and find my snow suit . Ciao !

New Years And Other Celebrations

It is New Years Eve of 2008 . I honestly can not believe that tomorrow will be the beginning of 2009 . Really . I can remember when Prince's song 1999 came out in the 1980's and we were all thinking , yeah right that will never come . It was too far into the future to imagine as a reality for most of us way back then . And now it is 2009 .New years Eve and New Years Day is celebrated around the world by most people tonight and tomorrow . New Years Eve being the last day of the month December in the Gregorian calendar year , with the New Years Day being the beginning of the month January , in a new Gregorian calendar year.

The Islamic New Years is celebrated on the 1st day of the 1st month of Muharram in a moon cycle based calendar year that has 12 months also . This year , according to the moons cycle , the 1 st. day of the month of Muharram , in the Islamic year of 1430 Hijrah , the Islamic New Years fell on Dec. 29 , 2008 of the Gregorian calendar . It is not celebrated as New Years is in the Western countries, by most Muslims , but rather in quit prayers and family gatherings , maybe . Sad to say in all my years here in Libya I have never seen this day being celebrated either in prayer or as a family gathering . Maybe that is just my experience but I don't think so . It is the observance of the Prophet Mohamed's migration from Mecca to Medina .This picture says in Arabic Peace and Love which is a good beginning for a new year huh?

Then there is the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa that always starts on Dec.26th and accumulates into a week long celebration to Jan. 1 st of the New Year . The word Kwanzaa is Swahili for 1st fruits . It is a holiday who's tradition was started in 1966 by Ron Karenga , a social activist for the African Americans and a scholar . This holiday has even had a special stamp designed for it by the U.S.A. postal department .As I grew up my mother had special observances we kept . One was on New Years Eve Day we cleaned the entire house from top to bottom . Nothing was allowed to slide in the cleanness department with my mother on that day . After the house was nice and spotlessly clean , she threw away all our cleaning tools , like the mop and broom , replacing them with new ones . This was so we could start our New Years off with a clean beginning .

We ate on New Years Day black eyed peas , corn bread ,any greens , like collared greens or mustard greens , usually a vegetable soup of some sort to go with it all . This was to remind us that being humble , living simply was healthy and would be enriching for the soul .

I have tried to carry on these simple traditions with my children also . Handing them down to my children as my mothers mother handed them down to her and she to my sisters and I . I wonder did my great grandmother receive them from her mother too ? I won't be able to do the house cleaning part this year but will definitely be doing the cooking part . I love black eyed peas but haven't found any this year so will substitute them with beans , just as delicious !

I want to wish all of you a very happy , healthy , and extremely prosperous new years for 2009 . If you made any new years resolutions , good luck lol ! Talk to you next year !

Quiz Time

Try these quizzes to keep you busy . See which one is the real you for chuckles and grins . Have fun !

What Does Your Personal Rainbow Look Like ?

Your rainbow is shaded indigo and yellow.

What is says about you: You are a proud person. You appreciate optimism. Friends count on you for being honest and insightful. You're good at getting people to like you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

What Do The Stars Say About You

How Do You Feel

More politics quizzes on pollsb.com



Just How Much Of 2008 Do You Remember

You Remember 50% of 2008

Okay, you were somewhat paying attention during 2008. But you're not going to impress anyone with your knowledge of what went down. You know the basics about what went down, but little else... Let's just say you won't be writing the history book for 2008.

How Much Do You Remember 2008?

Merry Spring !

Today March 20 , 2008, is the first day of Spring , which means it is the Spring Equinox . The Norooz which is the Iranian New Years is tomorrow . I think tomorrow is Mother's Day here in Libya also , so be sure and see or call your mom ! Good Friday is tomorrow too .

Many civilizations had, or still have special celebrations on this day .Life in it's many forms were worshiped in all sorts of holy ceremonies around the world . This is also when day and night are supposed to be of equal hours , that's what Equinox means in Latin .... equi( equal) nox (night) . Some say on this day , and only on this day , you can balance an egg on it's end to stand all on it's own . I haven't tried that yet .

And guess what else ? Tonight is the full moon too . Go celebrate life , have a moon dance . Do something crazy to welcome in the Spring ! Go out in the countryside to see the flowers that are all in bloom in a explosion of color . Merry Spring ! Go have some fun !!