Happy Mother's Day

Thanks for putting up with my shenanigans all these years. I love you!

اسرتي في مصر

reminders of @Love.

On Sunday, I hosted a dinner of a bunch of AIESECers who happen to be in Cairo - some Madisonians, @CU-ers, and interns - a tradition that I have adopted from our old LC dinners and am trying to implement here. I cooked an obscene amount of food, which of course was not even close to enough, and brought out the little Arab mother in me, making sure people were eating enough, had everything they needed, and were doing nothing but enjoying themselves while I ran around getting food, tea, and whatnot together for them. It was a great evening, getting to see people I hadn't for awhile, and introduce new ones into the crowd that has become a mini-@Egypt family. And the lovely Denise, an @er from GT working here in Cairo, brought me one of the best gifts I have gotten in a very long time. Some love from home - in the form of a t-shirt and a card, which just about put me to tears.

I can't even recall how many times I have gone on and on about AIESEC GT Love. But they are my family, my friends, my coworkers, and my inspiration. They remind me of how to live the Dream, and that while they make me proud, I constantly want to make them proud, too. I can't explain how much I miss all of them or how truly special and unique what we have at @GT is. I'm a gushing mess of love for those kids.

Congratulations Audie and Josh!

Merry Christmas.

It's no Christmas in the states, that's for sure. But Christmas is still a time to celebrate. To love. To be happy. And on this side of the world, that is exactly what we are doing. Tonight we're planning on a big dinner with all of our Egyptian family, we'll be having pancakes for breakfast.

Santa even came.

So Merry Christmas. I miss you all, and I love you. I hope you are happy, warm, and surrounded by people you love. I just wish I could be there with you.

my little brother is a beast. of awesomeness.

yes, he is dressed as Godzilla. I'm jealous of his awesomeness.
this makes me sooooo homesick.

In the past month

this is what has happened to my life.

1. I got a new sister.

2. I spent a significant amount of money.

3. I have accomplished no great feats.

4. I realized how homesick I am for Georgia Tech.

5. I fell in love with Russell Brand.

6. I have significantly freaked out more than usual.

7. I have not yet packed, or gotten any closer to packing.

8. I have read no less than seven books.

I leave Sunday for Cairo. Let's hope I don't break down before then.

Congratulations Jimmy and Molly!

Hooray!!

oh, brother.

Jimmy comes home today. I am so excited, I haven't seen him since October, maybe November. And him coming home makes me think about what it will be like a year from now, when I come home after being gone for so long. Emily and I have been talking about it this past weekend, about not only the prospective of leaving, but of coming home changed and grown over the past year. But that is a long way off. It is time to focus on what is going on today.

tradition is big this time of year.

So we have this tradition the day of Thanksgiving, after the dinner, after the walk, after the naps - we have a late dinner snack type meal and listen to the Charlie Brown Christmas album. It's nothing big, outstanding like some families I know that start the Christmas decorations while the tryptophan is still coursing through their veins. It's just one CD of Christmas music, and it starts the feeling of the whole season perfectly. Other seasonal traditions include watching A Christmas Story (because it so perfectly defines my family), wishing it was snowing (because I miss the snow and Wisconsin and my youth), and watching It's A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. We also eat a ridiculous amount of hot chocolate, pumpkin pie, and a concoction my father likes to call "Turkey Dip" - it's just cold turkey and ketchup, and it is delicious.
A note on the season, the tradition, the whole she-bang. I'm not religious. I don't celebrate Christmas the way my parents do. I celebrate the season, yes, but not the meaning of the holiday. Christmas for me is making other people happy, spending time with my family, and just embracing the feeling that people are trying harder to be nice for a change. And this CD, the whole "It's Christmas, Charlie Brown!", I don't know, just kind of gives that feeling. We've done it as long as I can remember, and it is how I define the beginning of Christmas, and really, of winter.
Not sure why I felt like sharing that, but I did. Welcome to the tradition of my family.