egianqueen

Have been home for about a month - sure is nice to be in my own bed and in my own place. Still have lots of things that need to do - need to clean out more kitchen cupboards and spend some time cleaning out drawers and closets. Also need to 'find' stuff. Having the place painted while I was gone was a great idea in on one hand - but on the other hand it was not so great as stuff has 'disappeared' and I have not really had the time or the inclination to get it all done.

Things with Aymn have gotten a tad bit better. He is certainly trying and he has made a big change - still lots of room for improvement and of course I am working on making a few changes that I need to do - although I am far from perfect. I still lose my temper and get frustrated. Not sure if I will ever be able to be perfect in that respect but I need to keep on working on it.

We made some progress on getting me my citizenship. But of course there are the invariable hiccups. We made one trip to Immigration here in Alex, then were sent to the courthouse here in Alex where we went, and then we were told we needed to go to Cairo. So off to Cairo we headed and unfortunately the Ministry of Justice was closed the first day we went - after asking Aymn numerous time if they would be open because it was a Saturday - and he assured me they would be open - well guess what - they were not open. But we went and spent a bit of time at Khan el Khalilee - where I got a couple of 'hats' for my dad. Then we went to the Mall of Arabia where I got to do some shopping at Spinney's. Ended up having a nice day. Then back to Cairo on the Tuesday and we spent the day running around. Got to the last place 15 minutes before they were to close and the woman we needed to see was not working any more. One of the 'bosses' took pity on me - he was quite concerned to see this foreign woman just about in tears and he prevailed upon her to process the paperwork for us - and now we need to go back in two weeks to pick up the copy of our Egyptian marriage contrast . Unfortunately Aymn is leaving today - so we will have to wait until he gets back - because there is no sense in my going to get it as we cannot move any further until he is back - as I cannot initiate the process at the Immigration office - that is up to Aymn. And besides I doubt I would be able to find the place again. But at least it has started. What a lot of hassles. But such is the bureaucracy here in Egypt.

Yesterday Shani FaceTimed me and I got to to see the boys - they are growing so quickly. Lincoln is wearing a mitten on his right hand because he burned his hand. They were visiting friends and the fireplace was on and Lincoln used the front of the fireplace to get himself up to walk - and got 2nd degree burns on the palm of his hand. It is healing nicely. Both boys are walking - Austin was walking before I left and Lincoln was just starting and he has improved greatly. Miss them so much - they are so cute - and I really do miss seeing them regularly. They will think grandma lives in the phone - which is fine - at least I hope they remember me and when I see them we will make up the time.

Weather here has been awesome. Still too warm for me - but it is slowly cooling down. Must admit I am not missing the snow and ice at all.

Am heading to Istanbul and Varna (Bulgaria) tomorrow - so am busy today getting ready to travel. Getting the laundry done and packing as well. Need to find a ride to the airport, as Aymn was going to take us, but he is leaving for Libya tonight as his scooter has arrived and he has to be there when it is unloaded so he is taking off this evening after spending the day in Cairo getting things done regarding his business. Wish he had made the time to get the things done around the house that I wanted him to do. Oh well. Need to convert him to the DIN DIN club instead of the DIL DIL club which then turns into the TIT TIT club.

Anyhow - a few pics of the boys before I left Canada.