First day, first grade.

Uneventful. Except for getting lost after school, things were old hat to her.

Before school she had the sneezes, as usual.


Danced around a bit.



Complained about her shoes.


And then got on the bus.


In class they read a few books she already has and got to know each other.

Not too many calories

The rocky road near the drainage area of our local pond.

Thinking about: Funny things about my fun kid

1. She saw a commercial about Libman mops and said, in all sincerity, "Cool! Did you see THAT?!"
2. Her current favorite show is "If Walls Could Talk"
3. She goes around the house with her spy kit and desperately tries to lift my fingerprints
4. She likes doing laundry
5. She's oddly methodical and process-oriented about playing, of all things
6. Listens to music and actually asks me what the band name is when she hears something she likes:
Her: What's this band?
Me: The Ramones.
Her: The Moans, that's good stuff.
Me: It's a cd, do you want to borrow it?
Her: Yeeeaaaahhhh!!!!

Two of the Five Ws

What did you get?


Who gave it to you?

The Zaffa

The wedding procession or Zaffa involves an exotic band leading the wedding with a group of people holding candles, and then the bride appears with her groom. It's spectacularly hypnotic. The music involved about 40 minutes of playing instruments and everyone seemed to know the words. This song is similar to the one at my friend's wedding, except instead of the horn there was a bagpipe-like instrument. (Sorry about the photos. My camera was too much to carry so I brought the point 'n shoot.) YOU MUST CLICK HERE AND LISTEN!!!

Mehndi Pre-Wedding Party

My good Egyptian friend got married! Here are some photos of the pre-wedding mehndi party at her sister's place downtown. My Muslim friends get these temporary skin decorations made from henna stain as part of wedding celebrations. The women who do the henna are so artistic and fluid!

The views from the deck... not bad!!!




Her mother's henna...




And mine...

Mundane