I’ve been having sleeping problems during the past couple of days 🙁 I get home so tired, and no matter how much I try to stay awake I just HAVE to fall asleep for half an hour either at 8:30 or at 10. This half an hour keeps me up all night long. Even if I managed to sleep, I keep waking up in the middle of the night… Anyway, just came across a cute poem that explains what I’m going through these days. Enjoy 🙂

Night Without Sleep
– by Ellen Bailey –

Have you ever had a night
when you just couldn’t sleep?
Even when you’re so tired
you could fall off your feet?
You get up for awhile,
and then you lay back down
And just lie there,
watching the clock go round

Have you ever had a night
when you just couldn’t sleep?
And you remember that old adage,
“Try counting sheep”
After some time has passed by
You decide you’ll give it a try

Have you ever had a night
when you just couldn’t sleep?
And you start counting sheep,
even their feet
Since sleep won’t come,
you get out of bed
And decide to have some
roast mutton instead

It’s been really cold the past few days. Going outside my home is a nightmare. It’s really windy, and I feel my whole face is about to break like ice! And no matter what I wear, I always feel cold 🙁
Anyway, I try to keep myself warm by drinking a lot of hot drinks, mostly Coffee and “Sahlab”. “Sahlab” is a drink that tastes somehow like a milk desert! It’s white, and tastes so out of this world. It’s served with drops of coconut and a bit of cinnamon topping 🙂 It’s well known in the Middle East, and I bought the material with me from Jordan, but I ran out of it. The last “Sahlab” drink I had was last night 🙁
As usual, my appetite goes crazy in cold days, so basically my life these days revolves around eating and drinking a lot of caffeine, which by the way has no effect on me anymore. Not to forget the loads of work I have to do… aaah, don’t wanna even think of this! It’s the year’s closing, and seems like employers remember EVERYTHING in the last week of December!

I remember last year I was sick I thought I’ll never recover anymore, but the reason was that I had to go for my French course after work, meaning a lot of effort, and little rest, which really destroyed my immune system and turned me into an easy catch for the many diseases of the hundreds of people I meet daily at work, in the bus, in the institute and while visiting!
This year, thank God, it’s better. I still work a lot, but it’s all between my job, home, and my in-laws’ place. So no big chance of catching illnesses like last year. But still, the weather is so cold, and humidity makes a 9 degrees weather feel like –9 !
I hope my family in Jordan are fine, I know it’s cold there too… just wonder how my bro & sis in Canada are managing to live with winter in their part of the world!

Ok,let me get back to work. Hope all of you are in great health and are not suffering from cold as much as I am 😛
And let’s just hope my umbrella will be strong and brave enough to keep open against the heavy rain and the terribly strong winds…

The other day, after work, I went to get a cab. I waited for almost an hour. The weather was so cold, it was getting darker and darker. And when I almost lost hope, I found a taxi approaching me. I stopped it, got in and told him where I was heading to.
Frankly, I couldn’t but be shocked for the size of his eyes. He had unusual tiny eyes. Never saw eyes smaller than his. We drove to the main highway, and 5 minutes later, while I was trying to enjoy the sight of raindrops falling on the street, I felt the car moving rapidly to the extreme right! I freaked out! We were about to hit a passing car, I suddenly looked at the driver, only to find out he was in deep sleep! I woke him up, and shouted at him to take care, since we were in a highway. Thank God we didn’t have an accident. Anyway, I realized after waking him up that he had normal eyes, it was just him ABOUT TO SLEEP that he couldn’t keep his eyes wide open!
I kept watching him to make sure he’s awake! But no use, it happened again… twice! I asked him to pull over, but he refused and apologized every time I woke him up. Anyway, I wouldn’t have any other cab in the area we reached, so I kept talking to him to keep him awake till we reached the place I wanted.

As angry, as scared and as tensed as I was in the taxi, a thought kept me wondering that day. The thought of this old man, and many others like him, who are working so hard, day and night, having no time to rest, no time to sleep, no time to eat, and trying not to miss any client, just to go back home with a loaf of bread, some water, and some vegetables. Or maybe to go pay the rent, or buy medications, or, or, or…
It’s true they’re risking their lives and the life of others, by driving in such a state of exhaustion. And I don’t tend to give them excuses for what they do. But if we all help each other. If we care about people’s health, their survival and their needs! If responsible people care to save the lost money and use it in helping the needy, I’m sure this guy wouldn’t be out struggling to keep driving asleep, risking both our lives. He would be resting at home, knowing that he’ll be up in a while, active enough to drive a car, and that he will get his money in the end of each ride.
But in our time, every one of us is focusing on getting their own money, even if it meant stealing away other’s chances, ruining their hard work, or simply playing blind to ignore their calls for help.

Would there be any hope in making things better? Or will I encounter more and more sleeping beauties?

These days I have unbelievable work pressure. Not to forget that my husband and I are having the BUSIEST week EVER.
So we’re not getting enough sleep. We’re working very hard, and we barely have time to eat.
As if that’s not enough, today I woke up with a very weird phenomena. My right hand is as cold as ice, while my left hand is like a burning hell.
Being right-handed, it’s getting on my nerves to use my freezing hand. While typing for example I have to stop every 2 minutes to blow warm air into my right hand, or put it in my suit pocket, or rub both my hands together. Meanwhile, I try to do the opposite to my warm left hand in an attempt to cool it down.

Apparently all my attempts have failed. And I also have no explanation to this. If any of you experienced this before, or have an idea about the causes, please let me know.

I just hate this! Hope it wont last any longer 🙁

Ah, gotta get back to work…

All of us know that having a baby changes everything in the life of the parents. Some look at it as a positive change that will help stabilize the family and enhance marriage, whereas others fear that change, considering the responsibility a threat to their life, free time, and love.
I personally think that having a baby could be both positive and negative. It all depends on the timing. And for a couple to reach the right time for a baby, they must be ready to handle the challenge of having a kid. And being ready means reaching a very advanced level of love, trust, maturity and understanding that will make the couple feel secure and stable regardless of any other circumstances. When they reach that level, they’ll consider their baby a gift from God, and will feel their life being blessed. They might cry at times, get tired some nights, feel old some days, but in the end of the day, they know, it’s worth it. They know, nothing beats a true smile of their own child or a loving look from their baby’s innocent eyes. They know, they’ll do the impossible just to be there for him all the way as he grows…

Johnson & Johnson’s “Having a Baby Changes Everything” advertising campaign has succeeded in providing truly adorable ads that convey a very beautiful message: Before having a baby, you are the center of your universe. Then you have a baby. And the center of your universe moves from you to your baby.
The ads are worth watching. Check them out here! 🙂
Via: The Journey Starts Here

Everybody Knows:
You can’t be all things to all people.
You can’t do all things at once.
You can’t do all things equally well.
You can’t do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else’s.
So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.
Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you’ll be a most vital mortal.
Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it’s more than a right, it’s your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you’ll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
~ Author Unknown ~

Inspired by Subzero Blue:

The other day, after work, and as I was opening my apartment door I heard this cute little Meow so close to me, and before I could see the source, I felt something rubbing my shoes, and voila, it was this little kitten. I just love cats, but I’m scared of them when they’re too close to me and I don’t know where they came from. It was really weird to find it there, it was so dark and we live in a relatively high floor. The cat started doing these “trained-pet-movements” which indicated it was owned by someone, i.e. it got lost by accident, or maybe they decided to get rid of it for some reason. It seemed really hungry, and since I didn’t trust its cleanliness, I thought I’d just get it something to eat outside. But it didn’t let me go, it stuck to my trousers and kept staring in this innocent irresistible way. After around 15 minutes I managed to escape and locked it in the stairs, I ran to get it some milk. It took some milk, but seemed wanting something “better” 😛 so I spent more 10 minutes chasing it till I locked it again and got it a small piece of chicken. It started eating, but while that it didn’t stop looking at me. I had to get inside and prepare dinner eventually, so had no choice but to lock it again. I started cooking on the melodies of those little “meow” it kept screaming.
When my husband came we found out it was no longer there. We went upstairs and searched for it, hoping its owners found it. But we found it on the doorstep of an apartment, left in the cold. We thought it was the apartment of its owners, so we left it and went back to our place, and before we got there it was with us rubbing its little head into my husband’s trousers. Yes, it followed us. It was so cute to be left outside. So we took it inside, we created a cozy warm “bed” for it and put it in our kitchen balcony, which is always warm and has a space for the cat to play. The pics above are of the cat in the balcony. It seemed enjoying the warm piece of cloth and the whole place. We went to have dinner, and after we did, we went to check on our visitor to find it has managed to climb and find itself a spot to hang half its body outside the balcony, so we immediately took it inside before it threw itself and get itself killed. And the chase begun! It kept running in the house, discovering the new place, it grabbed the furniture and started scratching it, messing around with the plants, dolls, and almost everything. We almost went crazy 😛 But honestly, we enjoyed watching it get familiar with its surroundings. Anyway, it kept scratching till the poor couch almost got ruined, that was when we finally decided to get it out again. So we took it out, this time next to our doorstep, put some food for it and left it in a warm place. It was a very hard decision to take, but we couldn’t keep it, specially that both of us will leave to work next time, imagine what it can do to the house when it’s left home alone!
Next morning, we found no trace of it, not inside nor outside the building, most probably someone kept it. And that was our story with the little cat, which came to us out of the blue…

I love the sound of the waves tickling the beach…
I love the sound of snowflakes kissing the ground in a calm night…
I love the sound of a stallion’s confident steps across the wilderness…
I love the sound of raindrops playing their happy melodies…
I love the sound of tree leaves when they hug each other…
I love the sound of a teapot whistling for me to pick the boiling water…
I love the sound of a laughing baby…and the sound of a singing canary…
I love the sound of a ringing phone when I’m longing for my family’s voice…
I love the sound of an honest, straight from the heart “I love you”…
And I just love the sound of a sincere heart praying: God Bless You…