Beware rambling rampant.....

Interesting couple of days I've had. Alhamdulillah. Friday morning I got up early with my darling 12 yr old and we went to the farmer's market. I guess I wasn't in top form, because rather than being there just a couple of hours.....we spent 4 hours there! WOW! I don't know how we managed that!

But I got a lot of groceries, and made a lucky find! I found red potatoes. I love em! But here in Egypt, red potatoes aren't popular or well known.......so when I do happen to find them in the farmer's market....you see lots of people standing around them asking the seller..."But why are they red?" The price for red potatoes is always cheaper than just white ones. Again, another good thing for me! LOL! My lucky find on Farmer's market was not only red potatoes....but that they were the small ones.....you know the kind that you are going to boil and eat whole....HOLY YUMMY!!! 1 KG for .50 LE. I got 4 kg.

We made it home, exhausted......and I quickly made breakfast for the girls......and went to go take a nap......then the phone rings...it's my SIL with all the girls.....she wants us to come to Cairo for dinner at their house.....she's made Mehshi Cabbage.......so I get up, we get dressed super quick.....and to Cairo we go!

What a nice time we had there...all the girls were glad for the outing. SIL and I got into some discussion about the state of the family right now....sigh....and then she got a phone call. Someone had died. It wasn't a relative, but rather a man that her family all knows. His wife died 4 yrs earlier......and now him....leaving 2 children...a girl 25 and a son 22.

My SIL wanted to go to them....I told her, let's both go. So we left and went......it was such a sad situation. The son looked like he was in shock, the daughter was going between sobbing to freaking out and telling everyone to leave her alone......subhanAllah. Being there makes you think about your own life.....and death. Who will wash my body? How will they manage? Should I start making preparations now? It became very sobering when the uncle arrived and was holding white cloth under his arm........subhanAllah.

So we left from there....and I told my SIL, I want to see your mother. Her mother is 75 yrs old....and when I used to live in Cairo, 10 yrs ago.....she was always very kind and friendly to me. So we went to where she was and stayed with her for a while. She was pleased we went to visit. After that, we decided to make a final stop, and went over to another SIL's house...this is the wife of the flitting brother. (The one who goes around with all the info, but never stands up for anything). We didn't stay long.

Finally we make it back home...and then....a huge storm hits Cairo. Sand and rain.....and I realize that I"m in a difficult position. Should I leave or should I go home? Driving in a raining sandstorm is like driving in a hail storm.....the ground is slippery too. It happened that hubby calls and I told him about the storm....and he told me to stay there. So I ended up sleeping over.

I had this horrible sleep....not my bed, mattress doesnt agree with me.....LOL! OH....did I tell you my SIL was laughing at the size of my stomach? When I got there she said to me...."No way on earth you are going to term honey!" LOL!

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So here's something I need to share.......the daughter of the flitting brother is a compulsive liar......and now....a thief. When they were at our house during Eid....my daughter showed them her new MP3 player.....and then she put it back in her dresser. She went out of the room, and came back and found her cousin listening to the MP3. She had taken it back out of the drawer. My daughter got upset and told her cousin that she shouldn't go thru her drawers and took it off her again, and put it back. Later that day, she caught the cousin listening to it again.

Again my daughter got upset...this time very much so......and took the MP3 from her.....put the headphones back in the drawer and then took the MP3 out to the livingroom and hid it on a shelf. And she thought that was the end of it. 3 days after they left, she went to get the MP3 from the shelf....and guess what? It's gone. She became frantic, and searched her room thoroughly, went over her steps........the MP3 was only with her for less than a month and she was crestfallen.

She immediately told me that she thinks her cousin stole it. Knowing that this cousin is a compulsive liar....I told her that we can't accuse her of anything over the phone. She'd throw it out, or get rid of it super quick....she's not stupid. And just maybe.....it's in the house somewhere.

Every time we've cleaned the house, we've had hopes of finding it. But no.....it's not in the house. And look what happened when we went to Cairo.......

The compulsive liar cousin comes over to play with everyone.........and at one point in the evening....she turns to one of the cousins and says...."I was going to bring my new MP3 player but...." Then she notices that my 12 yr old daughter turned her head at the mention of the MP3. She stops talking, and grabs her lips and starts fiddling with it. She doesn't say anymore....and within 35 mins...she leaves.

So now my kids feel like they have the proof! But how to do this? My hubby calls.....and I tell him the whole story....he tells me to send the girls over to the other house and confront her....give her a chance to own up. But I back off from that.....can u imagine what the entire family will say about ME, if I do that? If hubby was here, it would be different....but because he's not....it will look bad on me. I really don't think this cousin would own up....she'll lie her way out of it.....I'm almost sure of it. Oh heck...I know she will.

So in the end, we left the issue alone.....and I told my husband that when he comes, he can see if he can do something.......if she still has it.

I've caught her stealing in my house before......one time when she was here she asked me for hair oil to comb her hair......and when her mother was leaving, her mother found the oil in her purse and asked me if I gave it to her daughter. I was surprised, and said..."No, she asked me to use some..." The daughter quickly explained that she mistakenly put it in her mothers' purse.

So what would you all do with a niece like this? What moves would you make? I'm really at a standstill as to how to deal with this girl....truth is....I don't want her in my house anymore. SIGH!!!

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And another side issue....about the downstairs SIL! OH JEEZ! She's precious! Well, she has a bag of those "laring oranges". Which are the bitter oranges that you make marmalade with. (I have a tree at the villa).....someone gave them to her, and she calls me up and tells me that they are going to go bad, cuz she has no idea how to make marmalade. Then she proceeds to tell me how she was told to make it....(seems like she knows very well how to make marmalade!)......and then she talks about how much work it is, and her arm is hurting her. Blah blah blah.

So being the generous soul I am....I tell her....I know how to make marmalade....send it up to me and I'll do it. So she does.

And when she sends the oranges, her daughter tells me...."Mama says for you to cut the oranges all up for her, but that she'll cook it downstairs." HAHAHA! I laughed when she told me that, and I told my niece to tell her mother that she's funny.

Now I didn't make the marmalade like she said....I got this super duper easy way from the net, and it's what I did. I cut all the oranges in half, and then threw them in the food processor.....ground them up good....and then put them in a heavy pot....I added 3 cups of water and let it boil for a good hour.....then I added 2 KGS of sugar and let it boil down. It looks great! But I didn't taste it because of my diabetes. I then sent it down to my SIL. And I called her......I told her that I only added 2 kgs of sugar, and that it probably needs more.....but I wasn't willing to taste it to find out. For her to taste it, adjust the sugar and let it boil some more. I didn't take any of the marmalade, and she asked me if I wanted some of it....I told her that I like marmalade a lot, and I didn't want to have it in the house, because I might not be able to stop myself from eating it.

Okay...u with me so far? So then, the next day, we are off to Cairo.

The day I get back.....I find her daughter bringing me the pot back upstairs. "What's this?" I ask her....she says her mother tells me that the marmalade is bitter. Ummm....yeah...okay? So why are you bringing me the pot? She says her mom says to me....."you take it."

So I say thank you and take the pot from her. I'm pissed. She doesn't thank me for doing all the work. She doesn't try and fix the marmalade by adding more sugar. And she doesn't even have the guts to call me......and she knows I don't want it because of my diabetes!! If she had any "adhab" in her, she would have given it to someone else. SIGH!!

So I bagged it all, and put it in the freezer. I can do other things with it. I can make a plain cake and add 1/2 cup of it....and make an orange cake. I can do many things.

But what I won't do......is be a fool again and try and do something good for her. She really, really drives me nuts. She's not an easy person to like.

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And finally......I slept good at home last night.....and after the girls went to school, I fell asleep some more.....I've got many things that I have to get done....which will be another post.....