Desert Magnolia

The Middle East is in turmoil. Again. It happens with great regularity, and this time there's a multi-country momentum building that's probably going to change the face of the region. New leaders. New government. Less oppression, more freedom. At least that's the goal. The journey may be rough. Projections are all tentative, but at this point unrest of this magnitude is expected to take years, yes years, to resolve/settle. Some even predict a generation for a democracy to take hold, if that is indeed how Egypt goes. Which would be awesome, but I bring Western perspective to it, and as a friend shared with me this morning, Ted Koppel once said that 'Democracy is like toilet paper in the Middle East. You use it once, then you're done with it.' That said, my first born is over there. In a 'safe' zone, at least for the moment, but when it comes to the Middle East and safe zones and all that? I don't have a lot of faith that everyone will ke...

Photo borrowed from: http://mathildasweirdworldweblog.wordpress.com/ Cairo. (Before the protests that began this week.) Pyramids. The Sphinx. My son and five of his friends. Horses. Camels. Awesome food. Picture riding toward the pyramids at a gallop on a beautiful horse. Picture how...amazing and memorable that would be. In a life sense. My son, well, he just did that. Got to ride to the pyramids on a beautiful horse. Across the desert. The trip back to town was on a camel and we all know how slow they are. And they spit. And the ride is really lurchy. But that didn't even matter at that point, because he was still elated by his horseback ride. He's decided to do more horseback riding. He used to, then he stopped, but now he's hooked again. That's kind of how it works. They studied the monuments, basked in the history, then enjoyed dinners in rather sketchy yet mostly cool parts of Cairo at the recommendation of locals. His timing was fabulou...

A text from Son yesterday: "I'm sipping a martini, enjoying wonderful food, looking out my window at the world's tallest building." Today's e-missive string: 'How cool does this sound; "I'm on a business trip in Dubai." "Oh, working for NYU!"   "I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty cool right now." Ya think???  I don't know where he gets the attitude, I really don't.

Things that contributed to my mood on Friday? Hair ambiguity. I'm in the process of growing out my layers, and while it still feels short short, it's actually grown a bit, and looks pretty good due to Sweet Melissa's trim and highlight ministrations last week. The crux of my problem stems from the bigger, 'should I really grow it out at my age, or just keep it short?' question. I haven't really worked that out, though am practicing envisioning myself with a slightly longer than chin-length do, very chic, that will, when we finally get there, make me glad I stuck with it. In the meantime, every time I walk by a mirror I go, 'Ugh, how long is it going to take until I actually like my hair again????' My emotions, on Friday, courtesy of www.stuffintheair.com PMS . I'm not going to blame my emotional, mental state, and screwed up cycle on the obvious, but isn't it strange that this summer, one in which Son graduated from college and just depa...

111 degrees outside. Because that's what it is in Abu Dhabi right now. That's hot, no matter how you look at it. But, it's not too hot for mac and cheese. At least not for my son. Who called me from the grocery store just now requesting my guidance as he purchased ingredients for one of our favorite comfort dishes. flour butter milk seasoning noodles cheese Simple list. Simple instructions. But I have to say, of all the advice I've ever given, recipes I've ever shared, this tops 'em. I'm pretty sure the United Arab Emirates have never seen the likes of my boy, and the thought just makes me chuckle.

The emotions, to say they're wildly fluctuating would be an exaggeration, but they are certainly not balanced and I am so not centered and I'm finding it really hard to maintain my train of thought and I'm now even more worried about my son moving to Abu Dhabi now that they're further limiting Blackberry communications, and my daughter has a stomach bug. But other than that, everything's cool in my world. Son heads to Abu Dhabi this Saturday, early evening my time. Daughter heads to Providence, RI, this Saturday, before lunch. Hubby just informed me we're committed to a dinner at his department head's house Saturday night for a 'casual evening with the new headmaster and his wife.' Are you kidding me? WTF? Of all the things I want to be doing Saturday night, I'm pretty sure schmoozing with the new guy (hub's boss for hell sake) is NOT on the list. My list looks more like this: Take a nap after first wave of absolute searingly...

Today is one of those days when the ridiculous blends with the serious. When, at nearly a quarter to five on a busy day nearing the end of a highly productive yet slow moving week..I want the day to be o.v.e.r. This evening I wish to contemplate the following: Whether one should, in fact, wear a colored lipstick with a purple blouse or simply go with a clear gloss. Whether purple of any shade is really a good idea for an olive-complected lass like myself. Tomorrow's outfit..pick a theme, ensure it's ready for prime time, then assume the character of the outfit by the time it's time to don it and hit the freeway for work. Throwing pots on the wheel. Reruns. Netflix offerings of the week. Library offerings. MUST replenish my reading pile...I'm thinking of picking up every single vamp novel I can find and comparing them.  Don't ask what will comprise my rating scale. The weekend to come. Without the son. Who leaves early early on Saturday. And who wil...

So, next week is the BIG WEEK for our family. Son escapes from graduates from NYU. With a double major. After working his ass off for the last four years. Literally. He's skin and bones, and one of our agenda items while we're in the Big Apple is to feed the boy as often and richly as possible. Seriously. Now, while he's making light of the fact that a: he's graduating, in four years, from a very good school, with a double major and has b: managed to work and learn some really great life skills along the way, we're kind of freaking out in the high desert. Our college origins are certainly more humble than Son's. UNM, after all, is a solid state school, but it's no NYU. And graduations take place in the Pit, which is cool, but isn't Radio City Music Hall or Yankee Stadium. I mean it. The College of Arts and Sciences is having their commencement in Radio City Music Hall. I don't have a photo of this venue handy, so I borrowed this one from A...

It's a new year. Hope springs up as the clock strikes midnight on the 31st of December. 2009 sucked for a lot of reasons. 2009 wasn't so bad for a lot of reasons. It sucked because: The economy was mostly in the toilet and we held our collective breaths for the entire year hoping against hope that we'd hit bottom. The prospect of falling any further was incomprehensible. Fear accompanied the sucky economy and stressed us all beyond belief. Preoccupation with negative 'what if's' prevailed,  jobs were lost, sleep was a distant dream and confidence faltered everywhere it could possibly falter. Daughter hurt her knee. It actually wasn't all bad because: I work for a young, energetic company steered by a man with cojones of steel and an absolute vision for our baby company. Thank goodness. Hubby is a teacher, albeit at a private school, but he's pretty secure in his job so long as the school continues to fund technology/yearbook. Son expe...

As the biggest storm of year, 'a whopper!' by national weather standards, makes its way across the West and into the Midwest today, we find ourselves making a few wishes: 1. Please let it NOT impede Son's journey home. He needs (ok we need him) to be home in time for Christmas Eve. 2. Please let it wait, just 12 more hours, to superchill us. We love hanging out by a crackling fire, sipping cider, playing Scrabble and backgammon and super silly card games. Together. 3. Let it allow a white Christmas. A beautiful, peaceful, serene Norman Rockwell-ish holiday. That's all. Just three wishes.