The Truth about Cats and Dogs

I saw this movie again a week or so ago ( when I drafted the post), I loved this movie the first time I saw it years ago, but this time I saw it in a new light. Do guys really look for the personality and compatibility? Or is an airhead model their dream spouse, this side of the male brain configuration is still mysterious.

Examples of men falling in love with the personality are out there, but you don't see much of them, I see the typical beauty with little to no brains being the prize wife every one is looking for, as a single women I have may fair share of suitor stories, I got really mad when my mom told me what the mother of one " 3arees" told her over the phone I wanted to cancel their visit when I found out, but out of respect to mom I did not ask her to cancel, so what made me so mad ? " smi3na fi 3indek bit 7ilweh " and that translates to we have been told that you have a beautiful daughter!!

Is that what I am a beautiful daughter, they did not say successful, smart, well educated, socially active, philanthropist or even a simple religious. At least religious is what I made for my self not something I was born with (that is not entirely true but you know what I mean). All single ladies can share at least 10 stupid stories like that.

Again and again I wonder is it only physical beauty, family name (and connections) and income the only things, that are driving men in the direction of particular woman? don't they care what does she have between her ears ? Well I'm at my wits end a male input would be much appreciated.

Home Sweet Home ...

So I'm back from Damascus, the visit was filled with new things to learn, see and taste, I was planning that as soon as I get home I will blog all about it, but after a report and a gazillion emails on the issue, writing the details of the visit or even categorizing the events seems a dull thing to do and looks and feels more like work than fun.

The important thing is that I'm back home, I will share some photos with you from my visit and I will put in bullet points some of the fun, odd and crazy stuff that happened the story behind each one will be provided upon request : )

1- I can now be an official tour guide in old Damascus
2- Got proposed to …
3- Found proof that not all French people are snobby: )
4- A priest gave me a "masba7a" as a gift for my dad!
5- I had to convince people I'm not Syrian and that I'm not American

6-had Great food ...lots of it

This sums up my visit to Damascus, with luck I'm going to Turkey next month, if any one has tips or info on that it will be great.

Problem...

I seem not to be able to veiw my own blog ! Oh Wretched blogger what can I do about thy problem...

Sleepless in Damascus

I have been in Damascus for the passed two days and I think I will be here for another two days, the work we have to do is important but depends on other peoples courtesy to meet with us, and allow us to pick their brains as my colleague will but it. Thus we need to spend four days to do a two day job.

So this is my second night and I just cannot fall asleep, I have an early morning meeting, and tons of things to do yet, I'm not doing any thing besides watch TV !! this is crazy I have a good book with me I thought I would welcome the peace and quite to catch up on reading. I have reports that need fine tuning, and I always complain that at the office I keep being interrupted, and that I would love to work without the interruption. Yet her I am blogging not working.

The only thing I can think of is that I cannot function in this way, not being in a live environment, it takes a bit getting used to I'm quite busy all week and always. the extra time definitely gives you time to think and explore ideas. I'm just too insomniac to write any thing smart besides a shout out in the night.

I need Vs. I want

I read this article on MSN it’s about a "no buying month" the idea is basically to go for a whole month without buying any thing that is not necessary. No impulse shopping, no retail therapy, no going out and spending too much money in a restaurant, only essentials that you cannot live without. It is a bit extreme but it is an experiment for a whole month.

During that month you get to evaluate your spending habits, how much you spend on unnecessary things or outings that you really did not need which are too expensive. An upside for that will be all the saving you will do.

There are no guidelines for what is necessary and what is not, this is why it’s a personal experience. Each person gets to evaluate what is a necessary thing and what is not, " do I really need this ? " is the key question you ask your self before each purchase. Tracking the purchases in a small book or an excel sheet is a good idea as well for future reference.

I have decided to start from tomorrow! Its not the beginning of the month but I don't want to loose my enthusiasm for the idea and I will try to get my friends on board to see how much we can save in one month. And self revelation as well – you know me I cannot help it – a month of learning and appreciating the free things in life that are the most important any way.

Today is the day that I took a bold step and went to see the Mini Cooper dealership, I'm shopping for a new car but it is a necessity, I found that a Toyota Yaris is less than half the price of the Mini Cooper, so if I'm to go with this theme of Need Vs. Want, I'll have to go with the Toyota which is not a bad car, and forget – at least for now- about the JOD 28,000 Mini cooper.

So I will let you know in a month how are things going ...

A home made tag !

Well since I'm back, I feel like creating my first tag ever ! yes you heard me right, I'm creating a tag and putting together the rules for it and I will see how far it will go. But you know me I'm searching your soul and scratching your head kind of a girl, so fasten your seat belts and come along.

I will be answering the tag myself and the rules are easy answer the questions, try to give it a deep thought and give it your own personal twist.

1- If there was a fire at your house and you could save only one thing ( item) what would that be ?

I came across this question in an article and I could not for the life of me think of a one item, the thing that make sense is to save my wallet with all the ID cards, drivers license and bank cards, so forget about facing hell to issue new ID cards and drivers license and passport. I would most likely run to the book shelve and save my treasures, or it would be my gold ankle bracelet that I got from my brother.

2- What is the most embarrassing situation you have been in?

I broke a the plastic part if my heel one day, and it made a hell of noise walking on a solid surface, my office is fully carpeted so it did not make a difference only discomfort walking, but I had a meeting that day and I did not know that the person I was meeting was in an office that is all tiled ! and his office was the last office in the long long long corridor, and I was walking making the noise of the metallic part of the heel against the tile and the other one was a normal heel !! I was mortified!

3- If you can do over a part of your life, what will you change?

I believe that we learn from our mistakes as much or even more than our successes, and that I would not be me if I did not have all the mistakes I have made in the past. I was a person who would make a mistake and then beat my self up over it, loose sleep and really freak out ! then I made a conscience choice to think of the issues I have on hand as deep as I can, to make ( istikhara), take a deep breath and dive in. ever since I know that at the time of the issue I made the best choice I could at the time, so I feel better now even about mistakes or bad choices.

But the things I would like to do over, is finish all the unfinished projects I left, the half read books, get my masters right after graduation, and knock on those doors I never had the nerve to knock on.

I hope you find those questions of value and that the tag is fun to do.

I tag ….. Danah, Ammer ( vegetarian shark ).

Dima ( verbal alchemy) Qwaider, Mala2e6. and any one else who would like to do it : )

Back from the Dead

So my last post was about three weeks ago ! I cannot believe it has been that long since I last posted, or commented on other people's posts for that matter, I would read a few posts a day, but did not comment as much as I used to.

All this is due to being very busy at work, working for 10 to 12 hours a day, does not leave much energy for anything else, the thought of typing a post or a comment seemed to demand time and energy I did not posses, and after leaving the office when its already dark, I just was looking forward to a warm meal, a hot shower and my bed.

I did not loose the blogger syndrome, which in layman's terms its the " I'm going to blog about this" syndrome. But still I did not get around writing any of them down, and in my draft file I have at least five posts that need revision so they can be safe for human use.

In Short, I just want to say that the rough period is over and I'm back to the land of the living, back to the 9-5 flock, back to the having a weekend and a life for that matter. I will have some real posts soon and watch out I'm coming over to your blogs.

All for now ….