text: ~“This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it."~ Dorothy Parker
  You know how sometimes silly little things just get to you.? Even though you KNOW that these little things amount to nothing in the grand scheme of all things.... you try and brush them off..let it go..life's too short etc. etc. etc. So, you hold it in, bite your tongue..breathe and try and focus on the positive...the good things...the silver linings. When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade...or do shots of tequila..it just depends on the lemons..
  The last time that I posted here was right before a blizzard...which led to a snow storm, then another snow storm...and another...and now we are under a blizzard watch...AGAIN. Even though my rational mind KNOWS that spring is coming....there is a part of me that is terrified that it won't. That we will be stuck forever in this perpetual winter of non stop snow.. arctic air and endless white,This perpetual cycle of shoveling snow and mopping the floor...It is really starting to get to me..making me tense...edgy...ready to EXPLODE..snap over react...something...*sigh*..
  I am a woman annoyed.
  Things that I would normally think nothing of- are sending me into a tailspin.."Hey Mama..there was no soap in the shower." .."Oh..sorry! you should have called out-I would have told you where it was.." "That's o.k.".."Well..at least you used shampoo.".."I didn't wash my hair." "Did you use the body wash?"..."No...I just spun around in the water."...Now normally, I would have calmly discussed the need for soap..perhaps suggested light heartedly that they were NOT salad and that spinning really wasn't the optimal way of getting ones body clean..that personal hygiene was "kind of important".... But these are difficult times..and I have become a difficult person. "Do you ever want a date? People are so NOT attracted to people who do not bathe! People who smell bad do not get jobs! Stinky people don't have careers!"....and on I went...My poor kid..actually, my poor kids..They all have had to bear the brunt of my unreasonableness...This weather is getting all of us down...With the exception of running to the market and going to school (between storms-and sometimes during) we have been stuck inside.
  Thankfully, there has been some brightness in our otherwise very dark winter. My brother in law has come to visit and It has been wonderful-especially for Omar as this is the first time he has seen anyone from his family in twenty seven years. What joy. He is one of the loveliest people that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. He's one of those people that you instantly like. So warm and kind. I'm blessed to call him my brother. The only drawback is-neither of us is fluent in the others language. Which can be tricky-but we are figuring it out-with a lot of help from Omar. We are both trying to learn as much as we can...which of course makes things....interesting..
  We were skyping with Omar's family the other morning. This was a HUGE deal for me-I finally got to meet my handsome father in law...see my mother in law for the second time-ever...plus his other brother and sister and niece and nephews. Most of his family was there.Omar and Taha were in front of the screen..So,I gave them a moment with the family...let everyone see them together..I left to get myself a coffee...and as I was coming back into the room I thought (all cocky and such) " I think I'll try out my mad foreign language skills...I walked in and said to Omar (in my best Arabic) "Have you seen my chickens this morning?"He just looked at me... kind of oddly..(I thought that maybe it was my accent) So, I repeated myself..this time slowly..."Have you seen my chickens?."...again a strange look..jeesh! ."MY. CHICKENS." I stated firmly...and then..(oh god) I realized...I wasn't saying chickens..No! .I was instead- naming certain female body parts...body parts that you simply DO NOT ask if your husband has seen- in front of his family! Of course I did what I do best in stressful serious times...I burst out laughing...laughing all by myself....Everyone who heard what I had said-pretended that I hadn't said it....families can be great that way...
  I am trying to find the bright spots to get through this seemingly endless winter...I'm hoping that I can hang on until spring...if it ever comes. Until then, I guess that I can work on my foreign language skills...or not.