Soul Time

The best part of my career is ...
My annual leave...


Have a Soulful time everyone...

Rita by Marcel Khalife

To Palestine...
To all victims of human rights violation all over the world.
Love,
SoulSearch

Israeli shoots Palestinian with hands bound point blank

Where are human rights today? Where is the world as this Palestinian is shot at point blank while blindfolded with his hands bound behind his back. In a most vulnerable state as a human being.
Where is the US from this? I wonder if this Israeli soldier will be thrown in jail for this blatant human rights violation. Though, I doubt it

Peace,
SoulSearch

Currently Reading ...

The Last Juror by John Grisham

The Whole Wheat Battle

Every morning,I wage a mini battle with my kids. They run to the kitchen, hoping to get there before me, to enjoy white bread or their favorite bleached cereal. But as soon as I am in there, I try to feed them what's good for them. I try!

For Lunch, its the same thing. They come home and expect white pasta or the more traditional white rice and can't imagine themselves eating anything with a tinge of brown.



What is a career mom to do? I need to rush to the office in the morning and don't have much time to argue, so I am sad to say that they win more often than I would like. HELP




I'm supposed to raise my children on whole wheat in a white bread world!

I hate white bread, who invented it & why? who thought of bleaching nature's beautiful bounties, nature's warm colors & goodness to deliver to our tables the un-nutritional white products? They must be evil....

Seriously... white bread is bad for you

The problem in Bahrain is not all nearby grocery stores (what we call cold stores) have brown bread on their shelves. I have to go all the way to a bakery to buy brown bread which is 5 times the price of white bread and then I come home to wage the Wheat Battle with my kids! & Brown Rice is out of the question. When you go into a shop to ask for it, they don't even know what you're talking about! Even whole wheat pasta doesn't seem to be readily available...

What's a caring mama gotta do to get her little kiddies to be whole wheat kids...

Peace,
SoulSearch

Home Sweet Home...Update III

Some images from the Home Front.

Our doors finally fixed. I love the natural wood color but apparently this has to be painted a darker color. Don't ask! Something about the wood panels used not being solid or something along that direction.



Our cars in the garage! Yipee!










I'm in love with these windows which are on top of the main staircase. They flood this place ith light!

Love,
SoulSearch

Summer Fun

I've been trying to get my kids into a routine since school has been out. They've been kind of bored, loitering around all morning, waiting for 2 really beat parents to join in games, crayons, and craft projects!!!

With kids around, you always need to be a Soul Mama, they need your undivided attention, love and care. And I can only give them just that.

Here is a list of what I plan to do for them in the coming few weeks...

1. Buy a few books; they love it when we read to them, Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss is one of them.
2. Craft Central, I've been thinking of putting together some projects for them to get busy with during the day, including painting, puzzles, math worksheets, etc.
3. I've signed them up for some Quran classes in the morning, a little bit of spirituality to open up their minds.
4. They love swimming and the beach, so maybe once or twice a week, a trip to AlBandar


Can't wait for my annual leave in August, I seriously need some quality family time!

Love,
SoulSearch

Home Sweet Home...Update II

Home Sweet Home...

Its been a while since I've updated you on what's happening on the Home Construction Front. Its been slow. That's for sure, but really annoying.

1. The carpenter is taking his time finishing the wood work,

2. The pipefitter still needs to fix all the piping,

3. The Aluminum guy is brings a window here & a door there!

4. A few odds & ends that go on and on and on and on and on ...

The excuses are endless.

The most intense part of construction is the finishing. Really. "Tanateesh" is what that's called in Bahrain... & we're being seriously "Tanateeshed" at the moment...

*That's Seif my son, peering in the second pic

But with the prices of construction materials going up like crazy, it has left us a little dazed. We barely missed the 20% 0r 30% hike in all construction materials.

Will update you soon with more images...

Peace,

Soul

When words get lost in my mind...

What do you do when words fail you? What do you say when you can't remember the words to say it? How do you continue or end a conversation if you can't remember the words to say it?

Kunafeh recipe... here it comes

Quite a few peeople have been asking for the easy Kunafeh recipe, I have finally had 5 minutes of free time to post ...

This is the express Knafeh recipe, which has subtitutes to the actual ingredients but the same great taste!

So here goes:

You will need:

1 & 1/2 cup fresh milk

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs of corn flour

1 tbs of flour (all purpose)

1 cup of fresh cream

1 cup of Mozarella cheese

1 tbs of orange blossom essence

For the Kunafeh you will need:

1 loaf of bread

1 cup of melted butter or ghee

>>>

First you will need to combine the milk, sugar, corn flour, & the flour in a saucepan for about 5 min on medium heat. Then add the cream, the cheese, & orange blossom essence, and turn off the heat. Allow to cool.

Then you will need to toast the bread and blitz in a food processor and line a round pyrex with the bread powder. add some of the melted butter (or ghee) over the bread. Add the creamy mixture as second layer, and then add the remaining bread powder on top to seal it. pour a little more of the melted butter which should give it a golden crust.

Bake in the 170 Deg C oven for around 20 to 30 min or until golden and pour sugar syrup on top of it.

Garnish with some pistacios and wait for the praise from your family & friends...

Love it, absolutely...

Try it & let me know the reults...

Love to all...

SoulSearch

Birthday Girl...The Fairy

She had 4 birthday parties, she was soooo excited.

I had to do one at school, one in my in-laws, one in my parents, and one at my grandma's!

She wore her cutie pie fairy costume, and she had a blast!!!

Birthdays have always been special to me, so I wanted her to feel very special on hers!

I love to see her smile, to jump around with happiness, innocence and beauty twirling, I love to feel her hug me and wait for my approving nod. She is my whole world. Both of my kids are, they are the air that I breathe, the light of my life.

Your loving mama,

Soul

Kunafeh >>> Stay Tuned

Quite a few people have asked fo my (or my dad's) Kunafeh recipe...

It was awesome the last time I made it... gone in a flash!!!

Promise to get you guys the correct ingredients tomorrow...

So stay tuned!

Happy 6th Birthday Sweetheart

To my beautiful daughter. May you have a happy happy birthday, today & everyday.

I love you baby...

Love

Mama

The Devil is in the details

Why do people indulge in the nitty gritty of things and try to dive into the gory details of things and forget the bigger picture?

Wake up people...There are children who sleep on empty stomachs day in and day out. There are mothers who can't provide, fathers who are imprisoned, people killed for their thoughts!

It doesn't matter if your blue file is on the red file shelf, or if your invoice was not processed sooner than later!

It doesn't matter if your stationary doesn't match your corporate colors, don't worry too much.

My goodness, the corporate world is driving me nutssssssssss

Peace,
Soulful Soul

Book Heaven

So many books so little time.

A list of new books for this month!

Here is a rundown of the books waiting in line:

1. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
   
2. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
   
3. The Juror by John Grisham
   
4. Harry Potter (the final book)
   

Can't wait to start losing myself in a good book!

Thanks Gardens of Sand for inspirig me to check out my list of books!

Love,

Soul

Soul Favorites

Soul Searching today, just a few things I have been excited about (& inspired by) and wanted to share...

1. Orange flowers in bloom: Come across this gorgeous tree very morning when I drop the kids to school. They love to watch the bold colors of the flowers, and I love the way they appreciate nature.

2. Really cool prayer rug: designed by Soner Ozenc, it gives you the direction of the Qiblah (Mecca) and it lights up the patterns on it in a florescent iry light. Its called Sajjadah 1426. Love it:

3. I love Weekends. Although I would very much prefer a 5-day weekend, I like spending my 2 days of freedom with the kids walking in the afternoon warmth, just around the block with the kids on their scooties, they love that!

4. Finalizing our kitchen layout: here is the model...

Honey cherry color for the cabinets and a white countertop, they've promised to fix it by 15th June... so fingers crossed!

5. The Kite Runner: By Khalid Hosseini, an amazing read, the journey of an Afghan boy through the tirbulations of childhood, adolecense and adulthood amidst the guilt he felt towards his best friend, Hassan, and the turmoil of the Afghan war and consequent downfall of the country.

Stayed up many many nights reading this book. Loved it!

6. Last but not least: Lebanon, has finally elected a president.

Michelle Sleiman has been elected as the 12th president of the Lebanese Republic. The country was on the brink of another civil war, but people have had enough bloodshed to last them many lifetimes. We already have a bloody warzone in Iraq & Palestine. We dont need one in Lebanon.

Love to everyone...

SoulSearch.

The world is just fine...

But my TV screen is bleeding...

Lebanon unrest, the country on the brink of civil war (again!)

China earthquake: 22,000 declared dead so far. 7,000 schools flattened!

Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis leaves 15,000 people killed....

And 60 years on, Palestine is still under the grip of the Zionist occupation...

The essence of my life...

Seriously. I think its around 3 or 4 pm that this sort of depression washes over me and I start thinking about my life and how I waste it on the mundane. These are the thoughts that roll inside my head,
what the hell am I doing in this job?
why do I leave my home, my children, my life, and sit here working my a** off?
how will my kids feel about me leaving them for so long every day?
how do I expect them to grow up and be successful and happy when I haven't been around to make sure they do the right things, think the right thoughts?
I miss their homework every day.
I miss discussing with them what they did in school every day.
I miss their playtime,
I miss their lunchtime

The only event I am there for every day is their bedtime.
They go to sleep and I sit up all night wishing they were awake so I could share their lives with them?

I wish it were that easy to quit and stay at home. I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
There's no escape.

No escape.

I feel seriously depressed. These long work hours don't work for me.
I am unproductive because I feel so emotional. I need a break.
I want to be with my kids.
I want to be around for my daughter when she cries, when she wants to brush her hair, when she experiments with my make up every day.
I want to be around when my son breaks his brand new toy and looks around for someone to fix it, with tears in his eyes.
I want to be there to tie their shoes,
to talk to them,
to walk with them,

I love my job, its challenging, its interesting, its thought-provoking, but my life... passes by

The distance between us. is both physical and emotional.


Soul

Lebanon...bleeding

The streets, the trees, the clouds, the human limbs.

Lebanon tearing itself apart from within...

There is no escape this time...

Lebanon is bleeding ... I can hear the blank screams...

on a child's face

the innocence violated

one more time

again

and again

Where are we going this time?

Why do you destroy a place where my ancestors once lived...

A country of beauty, of love, of family, of eternal culture.

I love Lebanon, always...

SoulSearch

Life Just Wasting Away

Somber Mood.

Life just wasting away.

I sit before a stupid screen

Typing my life away.

Hours...

Minutes...

Seconds...

turn to

days...

months...

years...

My life just wasting away...

An attempt to dull my fears...

An attempt to ease my pain...