My apologies. I have had computer issues and Aymn finally got around to fixing it - not sure how long it will last for - is not working properly yet - still cannot download anything - ARGH.

Last Thursday I was invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with my friend Rose and her husband Dan and and eclectic group of people. Food was terrific. I made buns - yes have started making break - I make pocket bread for Aymn and I made my favourite 'Fermipan' buns - Aymn would not eat them - but I certainly enjoyed them and there were not many left after supper on Thursday. I got very brave and drove the car - had not planned on it - because it was Thursday and in the evening - and I do hate driving at night here and on Thursday it is even worse - there are even more idiots on the road - hard to believe - but it is true. Made it home in one piece - thank God. Had a lot of fun - meeting new people - listening to the conversations that took place - sitting outside - enjoying the weather.

Now I am trying to stir myself to do some baking for Christmas - just do not seem to have the initiative to do it- mainly because I know I will be on my own - so not much fun. But will try to work up some enthusiasm.

Aymn will be heading to Libya on the 10th of December after spending Eid with his family. Must admit I do resent the fact that he always has to spend Eid with his family - but he makes no effort to spend any holidays with me - and he cannot figure why I get pissy.

He has had to attend court twice - only reason he came back to Egypt when he did was because he had a court date. This case is a holdover from an incident that occurred two years ago - when a young fellow cut him off and he took exception and it ended up with Aymn beating him up - young man pressed charges and Aymn was found guilty - fined 50 pounds and a month in jail - he appealed the jail time - lawyer lied about his being in Egypt - so he had to go again and again to give the injured party a chance to show up - he did not - so now Aymn figures that it is over. Never ceases to amaze me how they can justify lying and cheating. Just boggles this little western mind.

He has one more court date - this one on another incident. When he sold his car he did not insist that the new owner get new plates. And two or three months after the car was sold the new owner got into an accident and a fight - and they used the plates to track down the 'owner'. So Aymn had to get a copy of the sales receipt for the car and will present it to the judge next Sunday.

Not much else to report - life is pretty much the same. Must admit this business having my finances mucked up sure do put a crimp in my life. God willing things will improve. Just have to be patient.

I am very impressed with myself - I FINALLY got the house all cleaned up after being vacant for two months - and in the process I even managed to part with 'treasures' that I no longer use - this is a very impressive feat as I am known to be a bit of a pack rat. Must admit that having to dejunk when I left Canada certainly makes it easier to get rid of superfluous 'stuff' - leaves room for things that I need and use. Even cleaned the microwave and toaster oven - toaster oven looks like it is new. Actually need to clean the stove/oven - sigh - never ending this business of cleaning house - but at least the bulk of the cleaning is done and now I just have the 'normal' accumulation to deal with.

Today I went out and got a few things at the produce market - got some bananas, grapes, lettuce (thank goodness it is lettuce season - soon there will be lots of romaine lettuce and the head lettuce will be great as well), tomatoes and cucumbers - the latter two are staples in an Egyptian home - as they regularly have a salad with tomatoes and cucumbers. Even got busy and made a salad - so now there is salad in the fridge - no excuse not to eat it - I always have good intentions and then the thought of making a salad just does me in - it is such a chore - not really- but do find it tough to 'cook' for one person - hope to work on that aspect of being on my own - I know I need to eat better - but it is so easy not to.

Today after the produce market I took Sharon to the post office - she had received an 'official' notice that she had something to pick up - a handwritten note on a piece of recycled paper - think all it said was her name - of course it was all in Arabic - she uses my home address as her place does not have a street name - let alone an address.

Looked like it was going to rain in the morning - black clouds gathering on the sea and coming inland - we got a few drops - but nothing that amounted to anything - so I was a good suzy homemaker and watered the garden - managed to get rid of two ant colonies in the process - now I need to restock on the Raid - although I am tempted to go with the corn meal -although I have yet to find any of what I would call corn meal - what they call corn meal is very fine - almost like flour - but should give it a try - a lot less costly than the Raid.

Last night went with Suzanne and visited Mom - Gehan was also visiting so it was nice - got to kill two birds with one stone. Gehan will be getting ready to head to Mecca for Hajj - I think she leaves in a week to ten days - she is very blessed - earlier in the summer she headed to Mecca for Omrah - a mini hajj - same procedures/routine - but not as 'important' as doing Hajj. She entered the lottery and won - so she and her husband are able to go at a subsidized rate - both of them can go for what it would normally cost one to go. Would be nice to be able to go over for a visit before they leave - but I doubt that will happen as there is no way I will go on my own. You have to visit in the evening and I refuse to drive at night in this city - parking is a disaster and driving is bad enough during the day - but even worse at night. Very few people drive with their headlights on - so ....

Yesterday Sharon and I went to AWA - was kind of nice to go - but expensive - had to pay my membership - 50 LE as well as the weekly fee of 15 LE and then paid for my ticket to head to Cairo on the 14th of December to take in the Maadi Women's Guild 2008 Christmas Bazaar - looking forward to the break - but will not really be able to enjoy it as I will not have any money to spend - but such is life.

Anyhoo - that is my big news for the week - not much to report.

This is my cuzzy Maurine - taken on October 25 - at her house - we are fonduing. Thanks for the fondue - was so yummy. Brings back many wonderful memories - and not because the pot and some of the dishes are mine - LOL - we joked that if I were to move back to Canada we would have to have joint custody of the the dishes.

This is a picture of Chris (Maurine's hubby) and Maurghan (their daughter) enjoying the fondue. Notice Chris's left arm - quite the contraption on it - he managed to trip over a tire at work and break his arm - and instead of a cast they put an outer device on it.

Have been back in Egypt for a little over a week - have yet to have the pleasure of my husband's company. From promising he would be here to pick me up at the airport - to having no idea when he will be around - why am I not too terribly surprised - upset - but not surprised.

Arrived safely bright and early Wednesday morning - the 29th of October. Was met by Aymn's best buddy Mohammed - thank God for him - he can be counted on. He brought me home and dropped me off.

Came into the house and was met by a plethora of very busy spiders and moths - have been busy killing moths as soon as I see them - my moth killing skill have come back and I am very good. The spiders are slowly but surely being brought down to a controllable number. Interesting the room where I 'left' my gecko has very few cobwebs and not many spiders have I seen - I think I need to get myself an army of geckos.

Wednesday I did a bit of unpacking then got a few hours of sleep - then phoned Sharon and we were off - made the mistake of driving down the corniche - what a zoo - had thought it would be down to a manageable 'roar' - but not so - seems the idiot's convention has lasted a lot longer than planned and some of them cannot find their way home - OMG. One of the benefits of everyone being eligible for a car loan - will be interesting to see what happens as the economy continues to nose dive. Must admit I certainly do miss the orderly driving in Canada. Made it to Fathalla and got a few groceries that I had to have.

Have been attempting to get my kitchen in some semblance of order - but it is tough when there are not nearly enough shelves in the cupboards - piling stuff just does not seem to work very well - would love to get more shelves in the cupboards - Aymn has said it can be done - but the big question is 'will' it get done - I doubt it. I have managed - with the help of a 'shelf' that I bought in Calgary got my spice cupboard in some semblance of order - of course would be great if there were more shelves - we shall see.

Even have managed to get the fridge dunged out - had to find room in the freezer for meat that I had purchased on Tuesday - had not much for meat in the house - besides canned tuna - also got the fridge nice and clean - must admit there were a few experiments that went awry - but all is good now - and hopefully I can keep things on the up and up.

Unfortunately Aymn's business has taken a serious nosedive along with the economy - he had 85% of his eggs in one basket - copper - and copper has dropped by just about 50% - so ..... he is madly scrambling in another direction - but the price of scrap metal has also plummeted - so he is madly running around trying to catch his tail - good luck on that one.

It is cauliflower season here - and I must admit the cauliflower tastes like nothing I have ever tasted before - it is 'buttery' - I bought a head of it and must get busy and make some soup. Also need to boil some eggs for pickled eggs - but for some strange reason my cooking desires have up and left me - but must push myself. Today on the list is to get the last two upper cupboards dunged out and tidied up. Then all I have left is the lower cabinets - not a big rush on them - but should get at them as well - clean out the cobwebs and whatever creatures have made their homes there.

Weather has been wonderful - warm and sunny - athough I must admit the humidity is taking a bit of getting used to - quite enjoyed the aridity (?) of Calgary - not much sweating going one - except when I was working out - but no snow. Garden - well the weeds are thriving - plants are holding their own. In one of the pots there are some volunteer sweet peas coming - so I guess I should get busy and plant some more seeds. Seems strange to be seeding in November - but such is life here in Egypt. Also want to try to grow some tiny tomatoes - they are so yummy - and do not take a lot of space - just a couple of pots.

I want to thank all my friends in Canada for their warm welcome - I had so much fun. These pictures were taken at my friend Tina's place - she bought me the hat - as you can tell I LOVE walking to the beat of my own drum - if Aymn had met me at the airport I would have worn one of my new 'hats' - but I restrained myself as Mohammed would not have been amused and he is a nice guy so would not want to embarras him - whereas Aymn deserves it - I am so mean.