Since today is Valentine's Day, I'd have to have the soul of a warthog not to be moved by a song that makes me think of the AED!

Happy hoppin' y'all!

The Farmer's Daughter Lyrics



Wishing everyone a great week!

It's just a bit past 4 on this Tuesday morning in the OC and on any other Tuesday, I'd be blogging random thoughts. But in a few hours, the Amazing Egyptian Dude (AED) will be home after what has been the longest time we've spent apart since we got married almost 30 years ago.

What should have been the usual 5 weeks trip to get a container of products on its way from Cairo to Alexandria and from Alexandria to Long Beach became a nightmare of red tape the likes of which we have never experienced in the eleven years that we have been importing goods from Egypt to the US. The end result was that the AED had to extend his ticket once, then twice in order to get paperwork taken care of in Egypt so that we wouldn't have a similar problem for the next shipment. While he was doing battle with the bureaucracy of the Egyptian government, I struggled to hold down the fort at home.

Since he has been gone, the elderly lady for whom I have been responsible died and the battle over her estate has begun; I inherited a new rescue kitten that was so tiny when I got him, he literally fit in the palm of my hand; my sister, who has been here with me from Texas to get some much needed dental work done by a dentist friend of ours (she's a diabetic and has no dental insurance), was served with divorce papers out of the blue a few days ago and has been an emotional wreck ever since. Needless to say, with all the stress and excitement going on here, seizures have been an almost daily occurrence for me.

So no random thoughts on this Tuesday -- heck no! I am so ready for the AED to be back home because I have surely missed my pillar of strength!

Way back during the audition phase of last season's X-Factor (UK), I went out on a limb and predicted on my Facebook page that Matt Cardle would win. As the season progressed and the contestants were selected, I began to doubt myself and even to go back and forth between Matt and two others whom I really, really liked. But Matt was consistent throughout, and my prediction was correct -- he won! Today, I am moved by his first single which, I am thrilled to say, has retained the #1 spot on the UK charts for its 3rd week!

1. Container Arrivals.

We've had nothing but grief over the shipment of this latest container from Egypt to the US, which explains why the AED has been in Cairo since the beginning of October and won't be back home until next Tuesday. At long last, however, the doggone thing -- complete with dozens of damaged cartons and yards of green US Customs tape -- was delivered to our warehouses at 9 this morning. Now all the brother-in-law and I need to do is to get this 40-foot monstrosity unloaded within 24 hours, LOL! Did I mention that I am also very grateful for forklifts, pallets, plenty of warehouse space, and the friends who are willing to help get all

of those boxes out of the monstrosity?

2. Spayed Kitties.

Wilbur, the runt of the litter of rescue kittens I found in my backyard last July, became so attached to me that I had to keep him. With an already very quiet and squeaky voice, Wilbur began making very strange chirping noises, climbing up on the counters in the kitchen, hanging out on top of the fridge, and knocking the plants over when he "needed" a bird's eye view out the kitchen windows a couple of weeks ago. Turns out Wilbur is a girl and that (s)he was looking for some lovin'! Being the responsible pet owner that I am, I nipped that right in the bud!

As of Tuesday morning, Wilbur is no longer looking for love in all the wrong places. Wilbur is now a member of the nipped and tucked club. Just in case you're wondering about her name, I have no plans to change it. She knows it too well for me to do that now. Johnny Cash had a boy named Sue, so why can't I have a girl named Wilbur?

3. Netflix.

Ok, so I am a bit behind the times as far as this one goes; I didn't get a Netflix account until December 2. Since we did away with all the satellites that lined our roof and have been using only the free-to-air satellite channels in conjunction with our local ones, I have been a much happier camper. With the Netflix account and a nifty wi-fi hookup thingy, I can watch the BBC shows I love, as well as hundreds of documentaries, whenever I want. And when the AED comes home and finds all the old TV shows with cowboys that are available, he'll think he's died and gone straight to Roy Rodgers heaven, I'm sure.

4. Peach Rings.

Gummy Bears hold the key to my heart, but the peach rings sold at 7-11 rock my world! I'm sure that my dentist loves them just as much as I do, LOL! If there is a 7-11 near you and you haven't tried them already, then you should. These little gummy delights are simply amazing! I have never tasted an artificial peach anything that comes so close to the real fruit. Mmmmm....my mouth is watering just from writing about them!

5. Fridays.

'Nuff said on that one!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and that I actually make it through next week to post again!

It's so hard to start a post on the first day of a new year without sounding cliche! Here it is with the first day of 2011 nearly over, and I haven't made a post yet because I can't come up with an opening line that isn't corny, LOL!

This is the first New Year that the Amazing Egyptian Dude and I have spent apart. He's been in Egypt since October and won't be home until January 11th. I suppose if we were much younger it would have been horrible to have spent New Year's Eve on different continents but considering that we seldom make it past 10 o'clock anyway, it's not such a big deal.

The kids came over to spend the evening with me and Melody. We enjoyed our traditional jumbo platter of Red Lobster shrimp cocktail and various other finger foods through the evening and although we were prepared to play games and watch movies until it was time to ring in the New Year, I pooped out somewhere around 9 after having a sleepless night on Thursday. They, along with the niece, will be back in a couple of hours so that we can finish what we started yesterday and this time, I am determined to make it until at least 11!

I don't make New Year's resolutions but for those of you who do, I wish you success in fulfilling them. I pray that 2011 is a better year for all of us than 2010 has been for most of us. And for myself, I hope that I can get my blogging mojo back and post more frequently like I used to!