***** Drum Roll ***** PAINTED!!!

Hi everyone...I am an ecstaticly happy hyppie!

After much deliberations and quite a few sleepless nights, I present to you Soul's Home Sweet Home... PAINTED!!!

We went all around Bahrain to get a taste of local favorites in terms of exterior colors. Beige wins hands down, but WHICH beige is THE question!


Thanks to everyone who helped me make this decision! Thanks Mr. Soul for all your running around. Love you sweetie.


These were the 3 options that we had...










We chose the darkest one (Bahraini Diva liked that!)














Thanks everyone! I love sharing every step of construction with you guys!

Love,
Soul =)

India

It was an amazing trip to India, incredible in every way,

I loved the scenary, the greenery, the uniquness and diversity of this place.

This was the view from my room at the Shangri La New Delhi:

I went on a quick excursion of the city, first stopping at India Gate:

Its basically a war Memorial, sort of like the Tomb of the Unknow soldier, commemorating the Indians who died in WWI.

My next stop was the National Museum, numerous Hindu gods and godesses, dating back to the 12th century!

Very artsy!

There was even an Egyptian artefact!

This one was huge!!!

I love museums!

This is the presidential palace, the parliament is nearby as well.

And on the streets of Delhi

Cute "buggy"

The bus states "Propelled by clean fuel"!!!

My trusty taxi driver Sukhjeet!

Alanis Morissette - Precious Illusions

One of my all time favorite artist...
Great Video too!

Gaza, the Arab's open wound

Gaza today continues to bleed, as you & I live on and pay no heed.
Soul


Ignoring the madness in Gaza is no different from approving it

The Daily Star

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Through its silence, the international community is effectively sanctioning one of the most shameful examples of inhumanity to have occurred in the 21st century. Some 1.5 million people, nearly half of them children under the age of 14, are being denied basic necessities like food and medical services for one simple reason: They live in the Gaza Strip
For nearly a year now, Israel has imposed a blockade on the territory in what it says is an effort to crush Islamist militants there. But without access to the outside world, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has rapidly deteriorated. Food prices have risen dramatically, garbage is overflowing into residential streets, children are becoming increasingly malnourished and basic health services are being denied for lack of fuel and other supplies. This week, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other international aid organizations were forced to halt many of their vital operations in the besieged territory, including food-distribution services, due to a lack of fuel.
Predictably, both Hamas and Israel have traded blame for the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Hamas has argued that Israel is at fault for having imposed its crippling blockade without regard for the welfare of innocent civilians. Israel, on the other hand, accuses Hamas of withholding vital supplies and dramatizing the crisis in order to score a propaganda victory. But it no longer matters which of the two parties is to blame for the events that have unfolded. What matters is that 1.5 million people are in living in a state of internationally sanctioned peril.
Those who argue that the blockade is justifiable for reasons of Israel's self-defense ought to re-evaluate their flawed understanding of security. How could the collective punishment of more than 500,000 children possibly achieve peace, or benefit either Israel or the Palestinians in the long term? Does anyone honestly expect that a generation of Palestinians who are forced to endure extreme hardship and depredation will one day want to live in harmony with their Israeli neighbors? Quite the contrary, these actions appear almost flawlessly designed to ensure that acrimony and violence will continue to flourish in the years and decades to come.
Opponents - including many Israelis - of Israel's traditional penchant for military solutions to political problems frequently note a sad irony, that of women and children being grotesquely mistreated at the hands of a state established in the historical shadow of the Holocaust. Fair enough, but it is not just the Israeli government that has failed to learn the right lessons from the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis: Western leaders are doing the same thing because just as their predecessors largely turned a blind eye to what was happening to European Jewry more than six decades ago, they are ignoring the plight of the people of Gaza today. Worse yet, the atrocities in Gaza are being carried out in the open - and nothing is being done to punish the guilty or protect the victims.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Khalooooood...

(belated on the blog but not belated in reality!)

You are now officially 17 years old...

I love you my tweet wittle brother!

Next step....PAINT!!!

Hey everyone,

I now have exactly 24 hours to narrow down my 3 choices for paint for the exterior of my home sweet home.

We had the final 3 colors painted close to the window frames to see how they would match the windows.

So people, here is your democratic right to vote... Which color do you think is best?

No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3? These are Cream, Buff and Coffee Pot.

Start voting Now!!!!

Also for your info, here are the inside steps to the inside of the house. We had to go all the way to Saudi to get these! Sorry about the dust, believe me I feel like hosing this whole place down every day!

A Tribute Blog

Taking a look at the Bahraini Blogs Agregator this morning, I stumbled upon a noteworthy blog, done by a loving and dedicated mother in memory of her daughter.

http://samaralansari.blogspot.com

I did not know Samar. But I was very touched by her mother's dedication in loving memory of a child who has so quickly passed away.

Its heartbreaking to read and watch the youtube tributes for a daughter who no doubtedly had left beautiful memories for a family that have loved her and probably always will.

Too close to home...

Just when I thought incidents such as the one that happened in Karzakan were a one time screw up, we wake up to very similar scenes in our own neighborhood. This time East Riffa.








This car belonged to the neighborhood's mosque Imam. Does that have any connection with what has happened?

Its sad.

I'll let the picture do the talking

Street Hooligans

What happened last night? What provoked a gang of 30 to 40 hooligans to do what they did last night? What's happening to Bahrain? When folks just want to get a good night's sleep to be able to go to work the next day and earn an honest living?

Does violence solve anything?

Majid Asghar Ali from the Police Force is dead. And for what? Does this help Bahrain in any way? Does this violence serve any cause?

It was a total shock to read the papers this morning. I almost choked on my coffee and sandwich!

God help us. Where are we going?

Peace people. You don't want to turn into another Lebanon. Trust me.

Peace for Bahrain.

SoulSearch

Enya - I Want Tomorrow

Amazing, Captivating. My song of the day.

Stomp till you Dromp

What an amazing performance! We loved the show by Stomp at the gorgeous Arad Fort venue. I loved their rebelious take on making music!



I like to call it "The Art of Cordinated Chaos"






The noise they were making was hilariously put together... loved it

Watching them gave me a sense of freedom, a non-conformist attitude always inspires me. I especially loved their choice of music at the end of the show ... Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Stomp was a fabulos grand finale to Bahrain's contribution to Art through Spring of Culture.
Love,
Soul...

War on inflation...

Just the thought of prices increasing in Bahrain has given the greedy guys running the market the idea of raising their prices...
So i guess there are no authorities monitoring the hikes...
Read below:

تشتط غضباً بسبب ارتفاع سعر كيس الأرز

اشتطت سيدة بحرينية غضباً عندما أحضر الزوج إلى المنزل كيس أرز من ماركة «هبة الطبيعة« بوزن 40 كيلو من محل سوبرماركت كبير بمنطقة سترة وحين قرأت السعر قررت اعادة الكيس إلى السوبر ماركت واستعادة قيمتها والتوجه إلى سوبر ماركت أخرى تبيع الماركة نفسها ولكن بسعر أقل.
المحلان قريبان من بعضهما.. ففي الأول يباع الكيس بـ 24 دينارا وسبعمائة فلس وفي الثاني بـ 20 دينارا و500 فلس والفارق كبير بين السعرين مع أن الماركة واحدة.. والمثير أن المسافة بين البرادتين قصيرة جداً. وتمكنت السيدة من استرداد المبلغ وذهبت في الحال إلى البرادة الأخرى وابتاعت الكيس الأرخص وقالت لـ «أخبار الخليج«.. أين لجنة مراقبة الأسعار التي يقولون إنها تحمي المواطنين من جشع التجار

وتجاوزاتهم المستمرة؟!

أخبار الخليج

Kudos to her. Smart lady ...

Project: Dream House Update 3

Ahhhhh, the fresh scent of cement... Its so refreshinging to step into my dream house after a looooooong day at work at see all these gorgeous developments in construction...
I've promised a few picture updates so here goes...

Love and Peace,
Soul...


The windows are fixed, the external kitchen is fixed (don't you just love the chimney?!), some of the Aluminum doors have been fixed, and I just love the window high up on our staircase - It lights up that whole area...
Can't wait to move in...

Project: Dream House Update

Our house has now seen some major changes, its exciting... we've received the Aluminum doors to the external kitchen and the back door... we also have a little cute chimney over the oven and I can't wait to get out of the office today and take a zillion pictures for all of you to see..



We've also now started to go around and get the bathroom accessories, we're looking out for Grohe fittings so we know its going to be quite expensive. I'm glad we're covered on this part of the budget.



Well, I'm going to have to admit. Last week, I got a shock when I discovered that I had made a stupid miscalculation and made us officially BD 4,ooo dinars short of completing the project and the actual moving in... Financial planning was completely my husband's responsibility ... but I was helping out when that mistake happened... But hopefully things will workout... Somehow, we'll find a solution...



I'm just in a good mood today and wanted to boast this gorgeous plant I bought yesterday...





Anyone knows what its called?



Cheers,

SoulSearch...





Could it be the decadant chocolate cake that I just had, thats to blame for my uplifted spirit?

On blogging and the world around me

I've been wondering lately about my blog...

What do I really want to say to the world?

Where is this going?

Should I just delete the blog with one simple click of a mouse?

Can I make a difference in the word, even if in the slightest of chances, to make someone realize the world can be a better place. Maybe not, I'm not that significant, nor my opinions, nor my talents, nor my communications abilities, not that exhilarating, not that breathtaking.

So what should this blog say?

Is it a parenting blog?

Is it a blog of special concerns?

Is it a political views blog?

Is it a feminist blog?

Is it a constuction project blog?

------------------------------------------------------

I've been wondering about life as well?

What do I want from life?

Where am I going? Where will I be 10 years from now?

Do I continue to pursue a successful career? or do I want to focus on my family? Can I make that choice?

Its sickening sometimes, to have to go on, or to even have these thoughts. Thoughts of my days becoming cumbersome, rather than looking forward to another day...

I've been feeling depessed, these past few days...

Its tough to balance parenting, a demanding career, construction project, life, and family, and extended family, and courtesies, and on and on and on.... Its suffocating sometimes...

But I have to move on..

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Well... after some musing I guess this blog is anything I want it to be,

Any thoughts, fustrations, triumphs, flops, disappointments, celebrations can be spilled out here, that is if I have the chance...

So here's to this blog...

May it be the vent of all emotions that make me human...

Peace,

SoulSearch...

George Galloway

A bow, a salute, to the Voice of Reason in an unjust world.
George Galloway
Welcome to Bahrain

The Good Earth

I'm currently reading this amazing book. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.

Its the kind of book that speaks to your soul. A story that is universal in many aspects.

I've been up many nights reading and wondering what would happen next...

Wang Lung and O-Lan working hard on their land, and experiencing life as it unfolds before them. A timeless classic

A Must read...

Peace,

SoulSearch

Dreaming of home...

The last stages of construction can be very frustrating. When we first started building our dream home, the structure of the house was completed in under 6 months... I was thrilled...I thought we could easily move in in the next 2 to 3 months, and that I was being realistic! But boy was I wrong... Its now been a year and a half and we're still no where near ready.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but everytime I go to our new house, I just wish I could live here already. I just want space for my children to grow, I want to be comfortable and happy, and I want to be as creative as I can get with its decor. I want to have my family and friends over, I want to sleep within the walls of that house and know that I am in my own home. I want to wake up and hve breakfast in the kitchen and laze around a cool afternoon with my kids and husband. I want to see those bloody movers come inand move all our stuff already...

We're going to start painting the exterior this week, so I'm excited that a major change will happen soon.

The windows are now fixed, so we will be able to fix the gypsum on the ceilings, as there are a few cracks here and there, due to the circulation of air inside the house.

The compound has been laid with the reddish stone that we loved... However, because we started from the other side of the house, it doesn't align with the walls in the front of the house... Its kind of odd looking but there's nothing to do about it now... Its already been fixed, and we can't remove all of the pieces that hav already been fixed.

I love the house sooooo much and love how it looks now... can't stop dreaming about it...

More updates soon

Peace,

SoulSearch

Blackberry blues...

...and just when I started enjoying my N95, I get a Blackberry shoved at me!

:(

I'm not thrilled. Now they can hound me anytime. No more work-free weekends, no more stress-free evenings...

Blackberry's camera sucks... I got the Blacberry 8300, which looks more like a calculator than my exciting, music playing, 5MP camera possessing N95. What should I do now? Should I just sell my N95 or keep 2 phones? I would hate to do that though. I can hardly carry one phone!

aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh

Why me?

I'm reminded of Alanis Morisette's song: Isn't it Ironic?

My new N95

its snuggly charging at home, taking its 16 hour charge while I dream of it at work... I can't wait to go home and start playing with it.

There are two main reasons why I bought it (on the spur of the moment) last night:

1. My son loves Spiderman 3

2. The 5 megapixel camera

But I don't know how I'm going to transfer my 500++ contacts from my memory chip...

The N95 doesnot have a chip place thing...

Help...