Money Well Spent.

I know, I know - the "beanie bag" story is getting a little old. I promise that this will be it's final mention.

Last night Phil suffered a sports injury and had some rather severe knee swelling. Of course, I encouraged him to ice it (duh!) and, of course, he said "I'm fine". Of course, my encouragements with Phil do not stand solo. Of course, I keep going until he finally understands that I am right (haha). Well....he remained quite persistant with his "I'm fine" until I said, "hun.......try the beanie bag then."

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

"Okay" he said with a big smile.

Our "On-EXIT" Routine.

You know that double check you do before you leave your house? You know....the one where you make sure the lights are off, the doors are locked, the dog's inside? Well, ours goes something like this:

Lindsay: Do you have the keys?
Phil: Yes.
Lindsay: Do you have 5 L.E. for cab fare?
Phil: Yes.
Lindsay: Do you have your wallet?
Phil: Yes.
Lindsay: Do you have __________________? (The blank is filled in according to excursion. In terms of gym excursions, I would ask if he has gym cards and water bottles).
Phil: Yes.

(Role Reversal).

Phil: Do you have the keys?
Lindsay: No.
Phil: Do you have 5 L.E. for cab fare?
Lindsay: No.
Phil: Do you have your wallet?
Lindsay: No.
Phil: Do you have __________________? (The blank is filled in according to excursion. In terms of gym excursions, he would ask if I have gym cards and water bottles).
Lindsay: No.

Consider us checked, checked, and double checked. Haha - God bless his exceptional organization skills.

"Legs"

That is what we did at the gym TWO DAYS AGO.

OUCH, OUCH, OUCH. Thank goodness we purchased that beanie bag!

MAGNOON!

Yesterday an unusual thing happened in Cairo....it STORMED! Yes - we had pouring rain, thunder, lightning and.......(the most unusual thing)...HAIL! Luckily, Phil, our two friends and I were in a taxi with Egypt's worst driver..........and on the road with millions of other well-experienced storm navigators (baha - insert sarcasm HERE).

Eyes-closed seemed safer last night, so here are some photos from our eyes-open walk this morning:

Surprise! (or should I title it...Surprise Wrecker?)

Phil has been trying his darn hardest to surprise me lately. However, for some bizarre reason, I just won't let him to do it! Allow me to share my two most recent incidences of surprise-wrecking:

Incident #1:

PHIL'S MISSION - To purchase flowers.
HIS PLAN - To make a quick purchase and speedy return while I was otherwise engaged.
WHERE IT WENT WRONG - Just got home from the gym. I usually shower STAT, but decided to go on Facebook for a brief gander. Frequent inquisitions about the "WHEN" of my shower caused him to get BUSTED. (The flowers were REALLY pretty though!).

Incident #2:

PHIL'S MISSION - To give me a book that relates to our upcoming Kilimanjaro climb.
HIS PLAN - To surprise me with it at an "appropriate" moment.
WHERE IT WENT WRONG - There is a book fair this week at our school. I saw the book he purchased for me...and I wanted to purchase it for myself. Poor guy. He had to say SOMETHING. BUSTED (again)! (The book is REALLY thoughtful though!).

Cheers to preemptive "thank you's". AY AY AY! Fingers crossed for more surprises (haha) that I can leave un-wrecked :)

LUCKY! Bus rides are never this hilarious :)

Today Phil got really excited about a teaching resource that he found online. He introduced the topic in a really excited, leprechaun-like manner - a side of him that I rarely see. In fact, when it comes to us as a duo, I am usually the overly-excited leprechaun.

Of course, I could not let this "never ever happens" moment just pass us by. I had to let him know that he was acting this way. He responded well, and made a great attempt to re-introduce his resource with a leprechaun voice. I use "attempt" with intention, as Phil's do-over sounded much like that of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

We're STILL laughing...

SURPRISE! Another Long Weekend :)

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear PROPHET,
Happy birthday to YOU!

Boys and their sports....

Phil has been updating some sports website every few minutes for the past two hours. This is the way he “follows his teams” in Egypt, as we have no television here at home and the internet connection is really too poor to do anything superior.

Tonight it was an Ohio State versus Michigan State basketball game. Phil was cheering for Michigan State and I really think his cheering was effective, as the differential between the score got less and less with each browser refresh. Too bad an impressive comeback doesn’t equal a win. The final update broke his heart as he realized his team had lost the game. I made the mistake of saying “at least it was a close game, hun”. And now I know – that is “one of those things” you simply do not say to your boyfriend :)

Oscar's First Birthday Party

It was getting really exciting around the house with Oscar's big day approaching. Balloons were inflating, meat was marinating, and baking supplies were itching at their chance to produce masterful cupcakes. Lindsay and I left for school in the morning knowing that we had much work to do to prepare our house for Oscar's guests. We got great news when we were told there would be a bus leaving the school at noon for all high school staff that wanted to head home early for the weekend (exam week). We jumped at the chance knowing our schedules were tight, what with our friends Alex and Lulwa hosting "Games Night", weights that needed lifting, and food that needed to be eaten. We arrived at our front door, and I was in a fantastic mood, happily explaining to Lindsay my plans for tomorrow's party, describing all the things I would do to make my best friend's birthday one for the ages! We opened the door expecting our usual loving greeting but Oscar was nowhere to be found...

The feeling that encompassed me as I heard Lindsay sadly whisper those two horrifying words "Oh Dear", can only be described as gut wrenching to the point of fatigue. I nearly fainted as my eyes made contact with what looked like a war zone in our living room. I quickly scanned the room both to find out what had been torn, and to find out where the culprit was hiding. Our couch was missing its third back cushion with foam thrown this way and that, spread out over our tile floor. Oscar had his eyes closed, head down, and was slouched pitifully under the kitchen table with his tail between his legs.

It should here be noted that I never over react :)(Ha) In fact I'd like to think that I'm known for dealing with such situations in a calm, collected manner, never to jump to conclusions...

"What a Jerk!" I screamed, pulling him to the garden where he would be spending the next few months. "Get on the internet, we're putting him on Craig's List!" I panicked. "You love him honey", Lindsay repeated but it was in one ear and out the other. "I don't, I don't, I can't believe he'd do this, and the day before his party. You know what, cancel the party, we're not hosting!" I murmured under my breath, head deep in a pillow, shuttered with sadness.

Trying to find the words to bring me back to earth must have been a tough task, but Lindsay in her wisdom was able to do so. She convinced me that our guests were coming to enjoy a bbq with us, and that the party for Oscar was indeed with "our" friends. "It's your party!" she said with a smile, rubbing my back just right. "I don't care Linds!" I responded, "I don't want to have the party anymore!" Immediately, as if she had set me up in the moment, Lindsay began to sing "It's your party, you can cry if you want to! Cry if you want to! Cry if you want to!"

Her song and positive response to the situation eventually made me realize that the party must go on, and go on it did. Oscar had over ten guests, and each time the door rang, he would race to the door to see what treats were being brought. It ended up being a great day, with unbelievable weather, good food (courtesy of Uncle Rolando on the grill), and great friends. Oscar pulled in a pretty good amount of loot too!

I just hope Oscar doesn't associate ripping up our couch with receiving parties and gifts! Oh, and every time someone rings the doorbell, they better be bearing treats!

Singing for HELP!

Last night we watched "Enchanted" - one of my movie favourites! Phil had never seen it before and I think he quite liked it :) We laughed a lot together, especially this morning when we reminisced the funniest parts.



There is one scene in particular that had a certain relevance to our day. In this segment, the leading lady calls on all of the city's creatures to help her with some cleaning. She does it with a simple "aw, aw, aw, aw, aw....aw, aw, aw, aw, aw....aw, aw, aw, aw, aw!".......and what do you know?! In come the pigeons, the rats, the cockroaches, and the mice of New York City. Within minutes, the apartment is a SPOTLESS abode!

So today Phillip tells me we need to do some chores. Chores, eh? Well, alright! To the window I went, with a simple "aw, aw, aw, aw, aw....aw, aw, aw, aw, aw....aw, aw, aw, aw, aw!"...........

Bad news - it didn't work! Not a single pigeon, rat, cockroach, or mouse came to help out. Not even a house fly, a street cat, or a stray dog.

I tried it out again tonight at Phil's basketball game. Can you believe that his team was down 30 points and not a single creature came to the rescue?!

Perhaps I don't have the song down right. I will practice and get back to you :)