A bit more randomness

Every once in awhile I look through the photos on my iPhone and it's a strange snapshot into what happens in our lives on a weekly basis.

So here's the past month in Cairo told from my phone's point of view.  I'll provide the captions.

Yeah, this is my sitting car.  I get a nice view and the other dogs leave me alone.

I couldn't resist, read the bottle's label if you can.  :)

Life can be really difficult sometimes, luckily there's a comfy chair for that.

Have I mentioned he's not even a hamburger fan?

A gift from Brussels!  See, we didn't need to travel over spring break.

I can't figure out who's to blame.  It's equally likely that either of them made this happen.

Coconut ice cream served in a coconut.  Part of the reason Ryan loves the new Indian restaurant by our house.

I like the bibs... they're very manly.  Might need to steal a few for the baby.

As you do, why not take out the floor at the bottom of an escalator in the biggest mall in Cairo?

She likes his beard.  

The Joy of Pregnancy

When I was kid my mom had this huge white cookbook on the shelf called The Joy of Cooking.  Hopefully I'm not throwing her under the bus by saying this, but I never saw her open its' pages.  Don't mistake me, she's an amazing cook, and probably didn't need the cookbook.  But that book stuck in my mind all this time because of the title. Joy is a word that doesn't apply to many of the mundane parts of daily life, in fact I would dare you to point out 5 things that bring you joy on a daily basis.  I can think of few.  Ryan sliding over in bed to snuggle in the mornings, the first blast of hot water in the shower bringing instant comfort, how excited Cleo gets each and every time we come home, even if we were only gone for a few minutes.  These are the little moments of joy I can count on just about every day.

This pregnancy has been a coin toss of joy and trials.  And now that things are drawing nearer to the finish line I've been thinking almost daily about the things I'll miss and the things I won't. In the spirit of positivity, I'll start with the things I won't miss so we can end with the good.

5 Things I won't miss about pregnancy

1.  Only being able to sleep on my sides.  I miss sleeping on my back and stomach, and the easiness of rolling into any position I want to in the night.

2.  All the banned items, I miss you sushi and seafood and cold medicine.

3.  Everybody and their neighbor feeling the need to tell me how awful/scary/painful/debilitating/scarring childbirth is.  Seriously, what's the deal?

4.  The fact that all my pants pull on with a big elastic belt.  I miss zippers and buttons.

5.  Weird dreams.  So far I've given birth to a 4 year old girl, part baby part alpaca, large beetle like creature and many many normal infants that disappear the moment they're placed in my arms.

5 Things I will miss about pregnancy

1.  The special smile people give me when they see my belly.  

2.  Feeling him move and tumble around inside of me in a way that's more intimate than anything I've ever felt before.

3.  Ryan having very serious conversations with him that I am not allowed to participate in.

4.  Not being expected to carry/lift/hold/push just about anything.  It's a good thing pregnancy is replaced by a built in weight training program of lugging a baby around, or my arms would become useless noodles.

5.  Knowing that for now, he's safe and comfortable all the time. 

Oh Pinterest, you tease you

Have you heard of a little website known as Pinterest?

It's April 2013, so I'm sure this is huge news to all of you out there.  So let me fill you in.  Pinterest is this hall of mirrors website where you can see the ADHD imaginings of everyone in the world.

Oh wait, everyone knows about it and they're just as addicted to it as I am?  Damn, I thought I would surprise you.

I actually jumped onto the Pinterest (by the way Ryan had to teach me how to pronounce it) bandwagon very late.  I heard about it pretty quickly after it became a raging monster of time suck capabilities, but the first time I went to the site I became frustrated after about 2 min of browsing and gave up.  "This is totally stupid, why do people like this?" Mainly because I didn't understand that there was a way to go see the information being teased on the little descriptions.  Once I discovered you could use these Pins to travel around the web looking at recipes, design ideas, beautiful pictures and more, I was hooked.  Pinterest is like crack for people who like good ideas and inspiration.

But here's the dilemma...  Pinterest and Egypt are not a good combination.  They're not a good combination because there are so many craft ideas, recipes and things I want to do, that I can't do because I live in Egypt and am missing at least one of the needed items.  It's especially bad in the recipes area because so many of them require ingredients that are impossible to find here.

So far here are the list of items that have made it impossible for me to make something I've pinned on Pinterest.  BTW, I know some of these ingredients could be tweaked/handmade/substituted for something else/found in some tiny unknown shop in the bowels of Cairo for more money than anyone should ever spend on anything, but that's the whole point, I'm trying to avoid adding more hours of work to my already busy day.  I could spend 3 extra hours every week traveling around Egypt to find a single ingredient on this list, but it's just not worth it.

- Greek Yogurt (We've got regular yogurt, not the same)
- Soy milk
- Pillsbury crescent rolls
- Cool Whip
- Andes Mints
- Velveeta cheese
- Monterey jack cheese
- Colby cheese
- Enchilada sauce (I can find it sometimes, but it's been 10 months since it's been in stock)
- Ranch seasoning mix (I do have some of this, but it's brought in from the states and carefully hoarded)
- Lipton onion soup mix (same thing)
- Bacon
- Ham
- Oh wait, pork of any kind (I just skip these recipes entirely now, there's really no point)

The list could go on and on, but it makes me sad so it's time to stop.  What kills me the most is that all of these things could be found in one trip to Walmart, or Publix, or any other "normal" store in the States.  I bet I could even tell you the aisle #'s to find a few of them.

So there's the dilemma, good ideas close at hand, but the means to make them just out of reach.  Pinterest you've gone down a bad road here and become a tease.  I should really have 2 separate accounts.  One with pins I can use now and another for things I will have to dream about in a distant future where American household staples are easier to get.

Sigh... I know, my middle class problems are soul crushing.

In other news, school is back in session and we're honing in on the end of the year with great speed.  I can't believe how little time there is left until my Momma arrives in Cairo!  Hurry up June 12th, I need to find a good parking spot at the airport, oh and prepare to give birth to a baby.  :)