Happy Wednesday

[Jenn! 918]

Hello all! I thought I'd start the daily today... I'm back from Italy - and I missed you all. Although not as much as I missed my hubby!

I'm up early with jet lag. I'll probably go into the office a bit early and start catching up.

I was happy to be home in time to watch the Italy/Germany game with Wadi. Then we drove around the North End ("little Italy") section of Boston flying the Italian flag and joining in the celebration down there. Not the same as actually being in Italy, but alot of fun nonetheless!

I've been trying a bit to catch up on VJ, but there's so much to read! I see there's been a lot of controversy since I've been gone. Sad to see good people go, but we'll do our best to keep the place great, right?

Have a wonderful Wednesday. I hope to read lots of good news as I catch up on the forum!

Jenn

[noura 0]

Good morning all... and welcome back Jenn! I'm sure you missed the hubby alot. I'm awake early cuz, well, kids, kids, kids! My sis-in-law got up to leave early to sit in on the Regis & Kelly show. Mom and I will join her in Manhattan in a few hours to go shopping for a while. It's been mostly good here in NY, but there is such a thing as "family overload" - and I'm there! We've been eating way too much but it's been so delicious - my sis & bro are both such fantastic gourmet cooks. I was hoping to get in a dance class while I'm here, but that's not looking so feasible now . Anyway, I miss my dogs and I'm kinda ready to go home.... such is life! I'm looking forward to the time I can meet Said here when he flies in to America! In other news, our RFE was recieved on Monday and our case was "touched" yesterday! Moving along....

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Noura B)

[chiquita 0]

Good Wednesday to all!

Still wating to hear the good news about AP being done!

Bought a new car!

2006 white and chrome HHR all souped up for us to go cruising!

Hey, couldn't resist the 0% financing!

chi

[dollface41601 0]

Good Morning everyone.......

I had the most wonderful 4th of July ever....not only was it sofyans first, and also our first together, but...........SOFYAN STARTED A WONDERFUL JOB YESTERDAY.....he is selling cars up in Willowbrook. Our sister in law is head of leads there and got him hooked up....The money is AWESOME and finally sofyan feels a little bit of independance. He worked yesterday and drove up there without getting lost (i was impressed) and made it home just fine. He finally feels really good about himself, and that things are going to work out. Its hard for me to let go of him.....Like he is my baby or something I dont know....I WORRY ALOT ..but i guess that will fade with time....It was soo cute when he woke me this morning, looking his best in a shirt and tie, and asked me for 10$ for lunch....lol...We are both feeling so optimistic now...and so blessed.. life couldnt be better...it really could not..I wish everyone the luck sofyan and i now have......well sorry about all the bragging..

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT 4TH

Kelly

[Veiled Princess 1]

Congrats on the car, Chiquita and the job for Sofyan, Dollface!!!

Wow 0% financing? I would go for that!

Welcome back Jenn and Noura, I hope the rest of your trip is pleasant.

I woke up this morning, got me and both kids ready to go, called the baby sitter to say they're on their way and she said... Oh, I can't watch them today! So I've had the day off... had to call in which sucks because now I'm only going to get a three day pay check!

On a brighter side... I've had time to clean my house

[Together4ever 1]

Happy new car, Chi!

Welcome back Jenn, nice to see your posts again.

Welcome back Noura too.

Congrats to Sofyan and Layla too for an extra day off.

I was getting ready to head out the door to get my drug screen done for my job on Monday. Had one of those pauses, put the keys down and called the screening facility to be sure they had my paperwork. They didn't. So.... I go tomorrow instead. It's lovely and cool and rainy here today. A real nice break from the heat.

I spent the evening doing fireworks with the kids and we had a blast. The teenager was in 7th heaven because he was exploding things. He got back from his summer visiting Sunday night and it is SO GOOD to have him home. Tonight we have our weekly Ghost Hunter's date. I was missing those. We scare each other and sit and giggle like kids. I was thrilled to discover Mohammed has been watching it in Egypt and he's just as addicted. We're really going to have a ball when he gets here!!! (when, when, when, when....????)

[~Jess~ 0]

ughhh hey everyone!!

sorry i havent been around, stupid me decided yea im really really white and i want color and im gonna get it, yea well i got it alright, and a lot more.

we went to the beach Sat, the trip that we have been putting off...we got there at 12pm and stayed til around 4:30, with the last half hr in the showers, okay so yea i knew i would be sore, for maybe a few days......wow i was wrong. Sat night i was sooooo sick, throwing up, getting dizzy so i took some tylonel and had cool compresses put on my legs, well my legs, my arms, my chest and my face were all burnt soooooo much worse then i thought. the pain didnt go away any on sunday and by this time my skin tightened so much i couldnt walk, did the cool compresses again all day long, no help, monday same thing, pain pain pain......still cant walk. monday night i look down and my feet and legs are all swollen and i look at my face and it is swelling and i have a blister starting on my lip....woke up tues morning and it was all so much worse, went to the er, dr said it was sun posion and i had a staph infection, put me on an antibiotic, a steriod, a cream and a pain med and said if it isnt better i will have to come in for iv meds................today is wed, 24hrs on the meds, not much relief, but i am up and around a little, just a tad little more then yesterday, and my face looks hidious, but hopefully it will clear up within the next 3 days, i dont want to stay in hospital.............................so end of story, no more sun bathing EVER for me, and i mean that from everything i am, i have never ever expirenced so much pain in my entire life, and i have had a csection to a 10lb baby!!

hopefully everyone else is wonderful. i hope to see yall around soon.

[Together4ever 1]

Ohhhh Jess! Jess jess jess... Don't play games with this. Take good care of yourself so you can get better. My gosh you did it up right. I'll keep you in my prayers that this heals up quickly for you.

[MHandMB 0]

Ouch, Jess, that sounds awful! I know how painful sunburn can be (I am still itching after a moderate burn 3 weeks ago), but that's way worse than anything I've ever had! Take care of yourself, and please, if you feel like it';s not getting better, listen to the doc and go back in for a follow up!

Hope everyone is doing well. We enjoyed our first 4th in the U.S. together. We went swimming, watched the world cup on tv, barbecued, and saw some fireworks.

I hope all of you had a great holiday!

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Had some delicious kabobs, kofta and shwarma yesterday. My tummy is rumbling and asking for more. I arab food.

[MHandMB 0]

Oh my gosh, shwarma, yum! I wish we had some good middle eastern restaurants here. I might just have to make my own. Anyone have any good recipes?

[tatedaoudi 0]

We had a fun first 4th for Othmane.

Our family tradition on the fourth is Lobsters and Steamers... mmmm so serious.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Hey Jenn,

I didn't know you were going to Italy! Did you have fun? Where did you go? Was it for work? Anyways I'm glad to see you're back.

[Jenn! 918]

Hey Jenn,

I didn't know you were going to Italy! Did you have fun? Where did you go? Was it for work? Anyways I'm glad to see you're back.

Thanks, Sarah! I did have a lot of fun! I went to a friend's wedding and then hung out for a few days with other friends and visted our old stomping grounds.

Very good to be back though. Funny that when I first came back to the U.S., I was so homesick, and now I was so homesick when I was over there. I guess home is where the heart is...

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Oh my gosh, shwarma, yum! I wish we had some good middle eastern restaurants here. I might just have to make my own. Anyone have any good recipes?

I have a few that I'm going to try out this weekend

kofta - I think that some spices should be added, some parsley and lemon, maybe a little cinnamon, some cumin? I'm hoping to make several small batches with different seasonings to see what tastes best.

This Shish Kebabs with Cinnamon Clove Rub looks delicious.

I also have Chicken and chickpeas on my list to try.

Here's a shwerma recipe, but who has filet mignon lying around the house I doubt it can match that fresh sawed off the hunk of meat taste one gets in the middle east. mmmmmm

And also, here's a tribute to my favorite all time food - koshari. My husband has almost made so it almost tastes like what you get on the streets of Cairo, but it's never exactly the same.