Time for new clothes

I think it's about time I start buying some new clothes. Beach 2008 is coming up soon! I've had a look in my closet this weekend and that made me cry... My clothes are so old, so out of fashion and so worn out.... I really, really need a makeover of my closet! I've decided to give/throw away at least half of what's in there, maybe even more. Ok, so I'll be left with hardly any clothes but hey, I always wear the same items anyway so what's the difference? A closet full of ugly clothes won't make me happier than an empty closet, right?

I think I'll start from the inside out. So first priority, new underwear. I really really don't like buying underwear here in Morocco. Underwear are usually sold in tiny "shops" and run by bearded men. I don't know why all the underwear shops' owners all have beard. I think it's because Moroccan men believe that a bearded man is a good Muslim and therefor won't look at their wifes while they try on the bras. Well, my experience tells me that any man, beard or not, will look at a woman fiddling with a bra. And you know what, I don't want any man, beard or not, to look at me while I'm shopping for underwear. In case I find a shop with a woman selling the clothes that's where I'll spend my money. So far I haven't... So I guess I'll have to cross the border and buy my undies in Spain instead. I know, I'm really picky about this, but it really annoys me to have a man looking at me when I'm doing something that I consider "private". And not because I think I'm Miss Universe, it's just creepy to have a man selling lingerie. Well, that's my 2 cents on the matter, what about you?

No paper :-(

Well, in the end I didn't manage to send in my paper on Spanish literature because the ¤&¤"%# connection was so lousy all weekend so I just couldn't get on the university server and download the files I needed. This is making me CRAZY!!!!

So,it's Monday today and I should be doing my weekly Home blessing. Well, I haven't started yet. I will, in a little while. I have to get the laundry first and then I'll have a quick go at the living room (the Zone today). I really NEED to study but I also need to have a clean house. Help! Where do I start? *lol* 2 more hours before I have to go and get the kids. I think it's time I put on my cleaning shoes and get going. Go, go, go!!!

How much time do you spend cleaning your house? Do you do Fly Lady or some other method? Or do you have a maid or cleaning lady?

I'm not here ;-)

I'm not here actually, I'm studying like crazy. *lol* I have to send a paper about Spanish literature in the 15th century to my tutor before tomorrow night and I still haven't written a word. :-( I need to do a lot of research and my internet connexion is so lousy I just want to cry.... I've been trying for 5 days now to get on to the school's server but no way José. I need to download some texts, read them and make a resume but there's still no luck. I don't think I'll make it on time because if I was all alone I could stand a day without food and a night without sleep but I have to take care of the kids and they are almost bored to death at home. This is getting much harder than I ever thought it would be. But I'm not giving up! NEVER!

So, if you see me around here this weekend, please give me a hug and a friendly kick in my butt because I really HAVE TO READ several hundred pages instead of hanging around the internet...

See you on Monday after I've got a bit of sleep!

A new layout

My friend Linda has agreed to remake my blog. Woohoo!!! Linda is a very talented blog designer, so I'm really looking forward to working with her on this one. Things might look a little funny over here for a while, because I have to try different ideas. I've never worked with a pro designer before so I'm really looking forward to this.

I'll post a couple of polls at the sidebars.please help me out by voting. :-D

Spring clothes

Spring is in the air. Today is a fairly warm day, a little windy but the sun is warm. We are stuck indoors because the kids want to spend their last day of the holiday plugged in to the Play Station. Ok, so I let them. Am I a really lousy mom for not making them go outdoors in the sun? I don't think so... Because from tomorrow on they will be back in school and will spend at least a couple of hours outdoors each day. So why not let them decide? There will be lots of sunny days ahead, from May and onwards until October there will be hardly any rain at all so there will be plenty of tie to play in the sun.

I feel a bit stressed today. I guess that's just part of the PMS I'm suffering right now. :-( I've done quite a lot of laundry and in a few hours I have to go to work. I don't feel like working today. I guess we're been off school and work for too many days, I've just become a lazy Franny. Oh my! It's time to get back on the Fly Lady wagon again, I NEED it!

Over the next coming weeks I'll need to go through all our clothes. I will wash and stash away the winter clothes we might be able to wear next winter, give away what we will not wear again and throw away what's too torn to give away. I need a mayor make over of my closet. I'm so tired of my clothes! I think I'll be radical this year and get rid of all those items I keep, "just in case"... I've lost quite a bit of weight these past years and all my old jeans and sweaters are too big for me. I think it's time, once and for all, to get rid of my old big me and only keep what I wear right now. And if I gain weight again, well, then I'll just have to buy new clothes! A crammed closet doesn't make me a happier person...

So what's new in the fashion scene for spring? I'm sorry to admit that I haven't got a clue about fashion. I think I'd have to get addicted to a fashion blog so I'll learn. I want to be a posh mommy, not the usual Franny I'm at home. HELP! I guess I, too, need a makeover! So, where should I go first? Any suggestion will be very well appreciated, because I think this situation really has to change. Yep, I'm about to turn into a butterfly.... Or at least that's what I wish I could be....

Harry Potter

My mother brought me the last Harry Potter book - "Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows" in English last year. I didn't want to read it then, since I haven't read "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" yet but two days ago the temptation got too big and and I grabbed the book and I haven't let go of it yet. *lol* I should have done so many things today. Instead, I spent most of the day in my PJs, curled up on my bed, reading... *lol*

I just LOVE Harry Potter!!! I think J.K. Rowling is a brilliant writer. I've read some of the books in Swedish, in Spanish and in English and they are just great in any language. I prefer to read them in English actually, because of the british accent that somehow gets lost in translations. I'm glad I have three languages to chose from when reading because that way I have a bigger chance o read the book in it's original form. Translating a novel is much more difficult than people normally imagine. That's one of the reasons I became an interpreter instead. As an interpreter you just need to pass on the general idea of things, it doesn't matter if not every single word is perfect. Being a translator is much more precise and whatever you write will remain written and people will read it over and over again and have opinions about your work.

I will have to buy the remaining Harry Potter book, because there are several things I don't understand in this one, because the writer keeps referring to things that happened in the previous book. So now you know what I'll be doing next week.*lol* That's right, reading Harry Potter.....

Old and new

This is what my home town looks like nowadays. Old houses, almost destroyed by time and lack of care, side by side with supermodern blocks of flats. Most of the old houses, some of them with beautiful gardens, are gone by now. The whole town is changing and I'm not sure I like all the changes....

Payday around the corner

March is almost over and the payday is slowly coming closer. In a way it's a sad day because at least in my case the money is usually gone almost before I get it in my hand. It's like magic, the money just vanishes into thin air... It's hard when you don't have enough money. I wish I could teach at home too, but right now I don't have any free time so I guess I'll have to work all summer so I can afford to take the kids somewhere for a week before school starts again. I really do need to have a close look at my economy.

One way to get money quickly is to get online payday loans. I'm not very fond of loans but there are moments when one quick loan is actually the best way to heal your economy or your sanity. A friend of mine took a loan to get out of a really bad situation. She left her longtime boyfriend who was not treating her well and took a trip abroad, to get away from her everyday life and build up some strength so shoe could rebuild her life when she got back home. Those weeks in the sun, just taking care of herself, made wonders for her and she came home a much stronger woman. Without a quick loan she would probably still be saving money for that trip which changed her life. And who knows, she might even still be stuck with that stupid ex boyfriend of hers. In her case, that loan truly was a blessing.

Sugar rush

My boys and I are definitely having a sugar rush today! Since Lent is over and I'm able to eat sweets again we have been celebrating Easter all day. First of all we went to mass. Oh, how I love mass during Easter!

And then we went to Pizza Hut. For those of you living in America going to Pizza Hut is probably no big deal, but living where we live, going to Pizza Hut is a HUGE thing. There is just one Pizza Hut in the whole province and going there is a bit complicated because it's located in the only mall in the province. You either go by car, bus (which is always overcrowded and takes forever) or taxi. We eat at Pizza Hut about twice a year, on very special occasions.

When we got home we just went CRAZY!!! We have bought quite a lot of sweets, cookies and chips and we put it all on the living room table. A table full of candy! I don't think we'll be able to sleep until really late tonight. *lol* We watched the movie "Asterix and Obelix at the Olympics" and in a little while we're going to watch another movie. I'm glad they have the day off tomorrow. *lol* I think we'll have a sugar hangover. ;-)

Living in France

Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere else. I don't know why, I actually like living where I live, but on some days, when the sky is grey and life around here seems so dull, I daydream of spending time in other countries. To tell you the truth, France has never been high on my ranking of favorite countries - until lately. France is climbing higher and higher by the day, maybe because I've finally accepted that I need to get my act together when it comes to speaking French. That's a long story and I'll tell you about it some other day if you want to, but right now I'll stick to "living in France".

Well, I was bored last night and ran across a site that offers French property and I had a look around. It's not the usual estate agency, it's a platform for estate agents, developers and private sellers to advertise property. Honestly, I don't know much about buying a property but I like the layout of that website. It's easy to search for different criteria, such as most popular properties viewed, the nearest properties to the airport or ferry port of your choice. You can also find information on moving to France, which is very interesting reading, even if you're not interested in buying a property.

The girls

Our hamsters are referred to as "the girls" at home. They are really funny and are slowly getting used to us. Both Mochi and Chiquita know what the plastic rollerbowl means and they start to jump up and down as soon as they get a glimpse of it. They know that it means that they will go out of the cage and "have a ball" around the room. It's still a little too early to let they out in the rest of the house, in case they hit hard on something and the bowl opens.


A picture of "the girls" one of the first days at home, about a month ago. They shared a cage for the first week, until Chiquita had her babies.

The babies are almost 3 weeks old and in about 10 days I'll have to separate the males from their mother and sisters. I tried to have a look today as I took the babies out so I could clean the cage, but they all look the same to me. :-( I hope it will be easier to tell them apart in a few days because I don't want any more hamster babies. *lol*

The babies eat a lot of seeds now and don't depend as much on their mother anymore. They all have fur now and most of them have opened their eyes. They love to eat and play and for each day they move around more. It's really fun to watch them! They are so adorable. I wish we could keep them all...

Moroccan pictures

I just created a new blog - Moroccan Pictures. I will try to update it regularly but it won't be as often as this one. I love taking pictures and sometimes I just don't know what to do with them, so my new blog will be a place where I just upload pictures from Morocco. I hope you'll enjoy the pictures!

Happy easter!

Well, Lent is almost over for this year. Only two more days to go....

My experience this year has not been so good. I had so many plans for Lent this year, I would start praying every day, I would do my Rosary, I would read the Bible, I would stay away from internet, cookies and meat... Well, in the end I just managed to stay away from the internet (thanks to the internet provider that cut me off), meat (except for one day when I had to eat out and there was no non meat food on the menu) and cookies (except for a few days when I was on the edge of a total breakdown and needed a sugar rush). So in the end I guess I did okey. Not as good as I planned, but it could have been worse.

Life has been really chaotic lately. Lots and lots of problems and no solution not even close, so I feel really exhausted. I hope things will start to improve soon, because I'm really running on empty right now.

The kids and I plan to have a tiny party just for us on Sunday. I hope it will be fun, because we do need some family fun time to be able to go back to school and work again after over a week of vacation.How is it that I always feel more tired AFTER the holidays than BEFORE?

Anyway, have a great Easter!!! Don't eat too much candy and eggs. *lol*

First there were two...

Three weeks ago we bought two hamster girls. The kids named them Mochi and Chiquita. Oh boy, are they cute or what? I just love hamsters and these girls are no exception. *lol* They are not really used to being in the hand yet, but I'm working on it. They are probably around 2 months old so it's a bit late to get them used to humans but a lot of patience will surely do the trick.

Two weeks ago we got a chock! All of a sudden two baby hamsters fell out of the house in the cage! Chiquita had had babies and we didn't even know that she was pregnant. It really came as a chock for us. Yesterday I counted the babies and there are 8 of them.... One week left and I will have to start separating them from their mother because at eight four weeks the girls can get pregnant by their brothers and I don't want that to happen. That's what happened to Chiquita and I really, really don't want any more hamsters right now. 10 is more than enough. *lol* And now I just need to find new homes for the babies. It's a pity really since I'd love to keep them all, but that's too much job and money to keep 10 hamsters since they all need a cage of their own. We all enjoy watching the babies crawl around in the cage, eat apple and discover the world. They are so darn cute!!!!

I'm back!

OMG! This has been one of the longest months in my life... Ok, I said I was going to reduce the time I spend on line but I had no plans whatsoever to go cold turkey. I just woke up one morning and found out that the internet provider had cut off all the computers in my city area. Nice nice... NOT! Oh well, this is Morocco after all....

It took me 4 weeks, several official complaints, lots of tears and more stress than I would ever have believed to get my connection back. So now I'm finally back and I have sooo much to blog about! I'll take it slow, so I won't get an internet OD or something. *lol*