Broken Circles

Life recently for Moe and I has been a lot like the above painting , one minute you think things are going smoothly , in a nice neat circle , the next , the circle is broken to bits in disconnected fragments .

Moe has been ill now for about 2weeks with his heart .We spent one entire day at the Tagura Heart Hospital waiting to see the doctor in the emergency room . Trouble was , the emergency room was also being used for patients with appointments to see doctors , in a non emergency capacity . So , even though Moe had suffered a heart attack , we were made to wait until the last patient with an appointment was seen, a total of 5 hours . He was finally seen by the doctor about 30 minutes before sunset . Moe went in to see the doctor alone . He of course did not tell the doctor all the facts or his entire medical history , so the doctor was going to send him home with a pat on the back . Luckily the doctor walked Moe out of the room and I asked him what was being done for Moe . He looked at me like I had 2 heads and told me nothing .I then asked him did Moe tell you about.... this ? Or that ? Or this too ??? No , he hadn't . SIGH !!!!

So , back into the examining room we went as I filled the doctor in on ALL the facts .He ordered all sorts of tests . We waited for the results while wondering what we were going to eat when we got home , since it is still Ramadan and we were fasting .The results all said , according to the doctor , that Moe was just fine . Nothing wrong with him at all . Ah ha, I said , but what about this pesky little ole heart attack he had this morning ? Oh , don't worry about that, he said .You have to make an appointment tomorrow to see the heart specialist . In the mean time , just take a pill if you feel bad .Long story short , it will be until the end of the month before Moe see's a specialist . So , that has happened .

A good thing , we have heard from our oldest daughter that her baby girl doesn't have a heart murmur after all, as was suspected . YEAH !!! The other grand children are all well .

I have declared war on the men in the condo building . The septic tanks from their condo's are all over flowing.They refuse to have a septic tank car come and empty them .This is a problem that has been on going  for over a month . The sewer water is pooled underneath my car , which means I have to walk through it to get in my car . I have talked to them all, to no avail , so last night I moved my car into one of their nice and dry parking places when they went out .The man came home to find me in his place . To say he was unhappy is a complete understatement .He came to me screaming and yelling . I told him once he and the others empty the septic tanks , the lake dries up , I will move back to my place gladly , but until then , I am staying in that spot .He threatened me , I told him to take his best shot . So far he hasn't .

But on the plus side , Ramadan is almost over and it has been lovely this year . Friends and neighbors have sent over many delicious dishes of yummy food .Moe has spent several nights with his family having much needed fun .Other friends have come to visit us .We have spent time in prayer and giving thanks for the riches in our lives .I am going to miss Ramadan .Only 2 more days until it is over and we have the 3 day Eid that is spent visiting friends and relatives .Hope all is well in your lives .OTE

The News In English

The last several post have been pretty negative I have to admit .Things have started to look up again, I am happy to report !The people in Tagura are so nice and helpful I am proud to say . Moe and I were out shopping and I can't count how many times we had different people help us carry our bags to the car for us . Or offer to go into a store to do our shopping for us,because the store had steps leading in to the store that were difficult for either Moe or I to climb .The man that owns the laundry we use reprogrammed Moe's mobile phone for him when Moe had to install a new Sims card into his phone . Moe nor I could figure that out and Nuri offered to do it for Moe . Now how nice is that ???

Yesterday I was brought to tears as we were out cruising Tagura when the car in front of us stopped traffic , the driver got out of his car to walk a elderly blind man across a very busy street .God bless him .The coffee bar we go to brings the coffee out to our car for Moe after he orders it , so that Moe may go sit in the car  with me.One of our neighbors carried a heavy bag of groceries up the stairs for me the other day , even though I told him I could carry it myself . My friend that is ill and her sister in law have decided to send over little plates of goodies during Ramadan this year so I won't have to stand so long in the kitchen cooking . I am so over whelmed by the goodness of the people that have touched our lives .Thank You God !

On a different note and not so positive ... it is that time of year now when it is warm enough to open your house , so many of our neighbors , 3 to be exact , are remodeling their Condo's . So , all we hear morning noon and night is .... KA BOW ! BAMM ! BOOM !KABOOM !! Over and over , as the entire building shakes in rhythm  to the hammer blows .Yesterday as I was trying to put up the groceries , the man underneath us wanted to come through my kitchen so that his plumber could climb out my kitchen window to drill his new water pipe to the outside wall . I said ok , but had to walk out of the kitchen . I couldn't stand to see that poor man dangle 4 stories above the ground out my window , possibly to fall to is death . He didn't thank goodness !And here I was worried about the sound of my vacuum cleaner waking the baby upstairs up!  LOL !

The weather here in Tripoli has been the strangest I can ever remember for this time of year .The last several weeks it has been mainly dusty and hot , or cloudy , dusty ,hot and humid . Normally it is still coolish/warm and mainly sunny.Today it it was sunny and warm .Nice . I did the laundry that stacked up while the sand was flying around .

It is also beach weather here . With so many of the public beaches walled off from public use this year , the beaches that are open are packed even though the weather has been uncooperative until today .There are water ski's for rent . I think there might even be boats for rent by the day . I heard rumors to that effect anyway .No life guards in sight so far though .

Whatever your summer brings your way this year , be safe and be happy .OTE

Patches , Le Chat !

The cat went in heat 2 weeks ago . She was yowling one night so bad I stayed up to shush her up so the neighbors wouldn't complain . I KNOW.... I should have her spade but I am afraid to do it here since I once lost a loved puppy due to a wrong injection given to it and said never again . We never let our cat outside , never.... ok ? No chance of baby's .

Moe and I had been out and was huffing and puffing up the stairs when the two busy bodies in the building were standing in their door way, stopped me to chit chat . One lady asked me was my cat still alive . She is 10 years old now . I told them yes . Then the other lady asked me did she go out side ? I said No NEVER ! She said to me I am sure I heard her outside last night in the hall of the building . I looked her right in the eye and said NO! Not my cat ! She is strictly a indoor cat !

We talked a little bit more to be polite, since the real reason they stopped me was to ask about the cat , then I went on to our apartment . The minute I opened the door , Patches , our cat , starts to meow as loud as she can ! LOL ! I slammed the door shut hoping against all hope that the neighbors didn't hear her !! Oh well , I guess the cat's outta the bag ! Hahahahha , get it ? LOL !

In The Beginning- The Wall

Today ushered in the Beginning of the building of The Wall on our property . This is a very big step toward building The House .I have nagged for several years to get this far and I am so excited that it has finally happened !!!!!

It started out I nagged Moe . No Joy ! Then I nagged my son . Still no joy .What to do? A couple of weeks ago when I was out taking pictures of wild flowers I thought I would just drop in and visit The Land , you know to see what's new and say hello.I found that the Aunts surrounding land had all sold and been built up for starters .That was a shock .I am so out of touch with Family news I didn't know that had happened ,but the good thing was I could see clearly for the fist time how large The Land is and where the boundary's are located .

I went home and told Moe all about the new developments on The Land .He got all excited too ! So the next day we went together to visit The Land .We were talking about what we wanted to do in the future , what we dreamed of building .The new neighbor from across the way came out to say howdy .Well .... one thing lead to another and bim bam boom , Bob's your Uncle ! We are building a wall !

Today we went to see The Wall grow . That meant the men folks had an excuse for a conference .Next thing you know several curious neighbors come on over to see what we were doing .That lead to more conferring , kicking the ground , spitting and scratching places I won't mention here .Several times hands waved around in circles rather excitedly . I wondered what was being discussed but it was a closed conference
and I stayed my distance for once .In the end everyone looked happy and pleased with themselves . The dust had settled and the building of The Wall started again to my relief .

My son and daughter in law came to visit later in the day . I nudge a visit to The Land so my daughter in law could see it for her first time . Her eyes lit up and shone like I haven't seen before after she took a tour around the four corners of the property.She felt she had introduced herself to The Land and I think it was love at first sight !This land that has been in Moe's family for over one hundred years continuously will once again have It's Family living back on it soon , Inshallah !

Moe talks about how he and his siblings would go visit their grandmother in her old house on this land when they were little .The games they would play on the farm .The size of the pomegranates that she had grown , how the juice would run red all down their chins as they ate the succulent ruby fruit . She would laugh with them and tell them not to worry , she would clean them all up before they went home to momma .Moe says she would whisper ghost stories to them in lantern light until they were scared senseless and beg her to stop .The nights they spent with her held secretly hiden stashes of candy as special treats for the child that was cleaver enough to find their hiding places .He has so many special memories of her on The Land .Now I can't wait to start to make mine with my grandson on The Land too .