ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Middle East and North AfricaThursday
QUOTE (Ash * Habibati @ Jan 8 2009, 09:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
That's the same thing that I told Jihed because he's maintained he doesn't want citizenship either. We've still got 2 years or so before he'd be able to, but it's for the exact reasons that you stated. With that American passport we could just up and go to 99% of the world without any headaches, but otherwise it's going to be exactly this every time we want to go anywhere. Does he need a transit visa? Does he need a visitor's visa? How long does it take to get it? How much is it? Maybe he'll come around. wacko.gif


*looks at timelines* We're actually only 2 months off from applying for citizenship blink.gif I knew it was close, but not that close wacko.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-08 10:35:00
Middle East and North AfricaThursday
re: Transit visas. This is exactly why I'm arguing that the husband should apply for citizenship. He's not sure and I'm like headbonk.gif I want us to be able to travel easier. Heck, just going up to canada for a conference without having to get a visa would be nice.

re: Hawaii. My sister works for a congressperson from Hawaii who's sending her there at the end of January for work. Argh, not fair!

Kelly - the rubber ducky pics are beyond adorable!



It's f-in cold here, and I've misplaced my gloves somewhere. dur.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-08 10:16:00
Middle East and North AfricaUpdate on SIL in Gaza
Still in our prayers here.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-06 15:30:00
Middle East and North AfricaFriday!
New year, new name kicking.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-09 14:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaMENA Members.. Proof of Ongoing Relationship
How much evidence is actually looked at in Cairo? 3 years ago, I don't think they gave more than a cursory look at ours. Here's what we had:

*About a dozen photos of us together in Egypt, some with my family when they visited
*Screen shots of our email inbox over the 4 years of our relationship
*A small sampling (like less than 6) of emails over that time
*photo copies of 4 or 5 envelopes of letters we had sent to each other
*My plane tickets to egypt
*my passport
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-02 08:16:00
Middle East and North AfricaI'm back and have more questions..
Man, what's been going on these last few months is nothing compared to what's been going on in past years. This place is down right tranquil compared to how it's been.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-09 11:32:00
Middle East and North AfricaI'm back and have more questions..
Meh, honestly, drama is over-rated. Posts like this pop up from time to time, but it doesn't change anything. If you're going to post here, chose to ignore those who p*ss you off, and engage with those who don't. That's the secret to longevity on VJ. Unless of course you like drama, then by all means, engage with those who p*ss you off. But the cat fight will be huge, people will rush in from all over VJ to laugh at MENA fighting once again, and in the end, no minds will be changed.

Been there, done that, no more thank you very much star_smile.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-09 09:12:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
While I believe muslims/people as a whole should pay attention/work to end to the suffering going on around the world more than they do, I think it's in poor taste to discuss that at this present point in time. People are being massacred. The focus should be on ending that. Politics and posturing can come later.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-12 11:19:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
UMRWA has a special Gaza appeal. If you're worried about donating through muslim charities, the UN would be a good alternative.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-12 09:29:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
The UN is suspending relief operations in Gaza. sad.gif

The BBC is carrying a diary of an Islamic Relief Worker. According to their latest update, they're still offering aid.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-08 14:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
I've been donating to Islamic Relief for many years and have complete confidence in them. The husband has donated to them since he's come and he's been a-ok as well. The government has investigated them and has found nothing. They're transparent in their operations, and outside non muslim charity rating services have consistently given them high marks. They're the only non local muslim charity I donate to.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-08 14:21:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
If you could, please post a link to my blog, although if it's a salafi site, it may get deleted. I think they don't let me link to my blog on islamway sisters, but I haven't had any trouble yet with LI. JazakAllah khair.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-08 08:53:00
Middle East and North AfricaUN: Humanitarian Crisis Worsening in Gaza
I posted this on my blog earlier today, but I think it bears repeating:

In Imam Nawawi’s collection of 40 ahadith, we find that our beloved Prophet (saws) said:

“When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved, let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest faith.”

Do you see it?



With your hand, change it. In a recent SP class, we were talking about figurative and literal meanings. The Prophet (saws) told his wives that the ones with the longest hands would be the first to join him. The wives thought he meant literally who had the biggest hands, and measured against each other. In the end, the first wife to pass on was the one who had given the most in charity. She had stretched her hand out to give charity, making it the longest. Use your hands to reach into your bank account and give. Islamic Relief must have some access, because we received a letter from them yesterday saying they had delivered $130,000 worth of medical supplies within the first 48 hours. With your hand, change it.

With your tongue, change it. Write a letter to the editor. Write your representative and/or senator. With your tongue, change it.

With your heart, change it. Make abundant dua. Turn to Allah (swt) and rely on Him, because He is the one who will change these conditions. Our Lord! Bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way! [18:10]. With your heart, change it.


UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-06 14:05:00
Middle East and North AfricaMy mother in law's tourist visa
huh.gif If one's MIL is coming for an extended (several month) visit, one where we cannot take off of work for the entire time and will leave her home alone during the day, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to speak one's native language with? Not to mention that all the egyptian aunties have already invited her to spend time with her when she's here.

But then, to each their own.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-10 18:52:00
Middle East and North AfricaMy mother in law's tourist visa
OOo, exciting. We're hoping to have MIL come when we have a baby in a few years. Make sure you find some other moroccan ladies in Milwaukee for her to hang out with. I already have my egyptian ladies all lined up, lol

Edited by UmmSqueakster, 10 January 2009 - 06:34 PM.

UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-10 18:34:00
Middle East and North AfricaSmall business loans / no interest loans
True that. My husband had a heck of a time getting a credit card, let alone a loan.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-13 12:02:00
Middle East and North AfricaMonday
I've been scraping ice off my car since September ranting33va.gif I'll send some ice down your way amal.

Up to my eye balls in work today, but I have no idea where I should even start. *sigh*
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-12 09:47:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday!
This was one of the headlines on yahoo news - shocking cold wave drops temps to 40 below - ah yes, reporting from Minnesota. I gotta say, we're a hardy lot up here. I laughed at this (no disrespect intended for anyone living further south), but single digits are the norm here, and temps in the teens are a heat wave!

QUOTE
Thermometers read single digits early in the day as far south as Kansas and Missouri, where some areas warmed only into the teens by midday.


Even my desert born and bred egyptian husband commented this weekend when the temperature hit the teens, "Why didn't you tell me it was going to be warm today? We should have gone for a walk or something. Tell me next time it's nice out!" He's becoming a minnesotan even if he doesn't realize it laughing.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-13 16:03:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday!
QUOTE (just_Jackie @ Jan 13 2009, 10:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
oh terrie i'm shiverin at -2 wind chill. Time to fill the gas tank and check the air in the tires. It's going down to -15.


*cof cof cof* Cold is spelled m-i-n-n-e-s-o-t-a. We had a -31 windchill on the way to work this morning whistling.gif Alhamdulilah for Nike winter running pants that keep my legs toasty at the bus stop. Even if I don't get off my duff and go running, they still serve their purpose, lol.

Edited by UmmSqueakster, 13 January 2009 - 11:58 AM.

UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-13 11:57:00
Middle East and North Africakoshary
Check sultan's kitchen at the top. The thread is long, but there are a lot of good recipes there. I get most of my egyptian recipes from this site. Here's his koshari recipe.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-14 12:41:00
Middle East and North AfricaWednesday
Tomorrow morning, the windchill may get to -50 blink.gif I wish I could call in cold wacko.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-14 10:47:00
Middle East and North AfricaThursday
Thanks Charles. This strengthens my resolve to take a car care course this spring. And sign my husband up for one too.

I suppose it I got mauled in a car explosion, perhaps my landlady would feel bad about it...nah, probably not. She's heartless.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-15 11:34:00
Middle East and North AfricaThursday
I have emerged triumphant, but almost went down in crushing defeat. So I stayed home from work to plead my case with the land lady. They have the choice of a $50 fine or towing. Please, I begged, I’ll take my shovel and shovel around and under my car, so you can’t tell the difference. Nope, we’re going to tow. Nope, we’re going to tow. Nope, we’re going to tow.

At this point, I’m a blubbering mess, so I call my dad up at work. He suggested I try to jump it, since it was too slow to catch apparently. Well, earlier it had been 6 am and no one would give me a jump. Now it was 8:30 and there was no one around to give me a jump.

Did I mention that with the wind, it’s -35 or 40?

Ah, but there is the little corner grocery store that I’ve been avoiding since I was nearly assaulted a few months ago. It’s owned by muslims. They like me. Maybe they’ll give me a jump.

So I dash over, frozen to the bone after being outside now for more than a half an hour, and ask for a jump. There’s only one guy in the store, but he lets me take his car, alhamudulilah.

This is the first time I’ve jumped my car by myself, so I hook it up like my friend’s husband did last time – both clamps on the borrowed car, red one on my battery and black one on the chasse. Nothing happened.

Call my dad, crying again. He suggests I put the black one on the battery and listen for their battery to go down. Ah ha, there are sparks, it’s working.

Alhamdulilah, it starts while I’m on the phone with my dad. I just completely break down and keep mumbling thank God, thank God, thank God, which freaks my dad out, lol.

Now I have another dilemma. I have 2 running cars, one that I have to return. I can’t turn off my car, otherwise it may not start again. And my purse is up in the apartment. Thankfully the very nice Russian maintenance guy happens to be walking by. I run up and ask him if he can watch my car. He doesn’t understand English very well, and thought I wanted help pushing it. Luckily through gesturing, he understands and I manage to return the car and get my stuff.

Alhamdulilah. Now I have to bake cookies for the guy at the store and the maintenance guy. Alhamdulilah.


UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-15 11:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaThursday
Today, the coldest day in five years, my landlord decides to plow the parking lot. Cars have to be out by 8 or get a fine and towed. Well guess what, my car won't start. Now I have to be late to work to try to plead my case to the plow people and/or my landlord. Don't tow my @#$!@#$ car!
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-15 08:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaJackies guess what thread
Yaaaaay! kicking.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-15 08:07:00
Middle East and North AfricaFriday
-22/-39 with the windchill. I think my eyeballs froze on the way to work.

Speaking of danishes, I've made a cream cheese monster out of my husband. He adores cheesecake, but I've been trying to branch out. Well, we've added a new cream cheese dessert to the mix - Cream Cheese Triangles. I don't have almond flavoring on hand, so I use my alcohol free vanilla flavoring. Next time, I think I'll slap some mango jam in the middle. Mmmm.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-16 09:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
brain...going to...explode...stop...giving me...projects at work...information overload...buried in papers...eyes going dull...
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 16:53:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
Dr. Mattson is scheduled to speak Wednesday at the Inaugural Prayer Service at the Washington Cathedral.

Let me just say that the whole unindicted co-conspirator thing is BS. It's totally unconstitutional in that it denies due process - no chance to prove that one is innocent.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 14:00:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
He was quoting the shema - Shema Yisrael - Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Deuteronomy 6:4. I'm actually a fan of the verse, as it's hardcore monotheism.

I thought it was an interesting touch that he said in Yeshua's, Isa's, Jesus' (pronounced the spanish way), Jesus' name.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 13:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
You might get in trouble if you stream television at work - I know here they sent an email warning against it. NPR is streaming too. That might be less drain on the bandwith.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 11:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
QUOTE (amal @ Jan 20 2009, 09:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm already getting tired of the "the first BLACK president" thing. He's not just black, he's black and white, with middle eastern immediate family members. SO imho, he's not the first black president. He's the first president that represents 3 different cultures and 3 different heritages, and 3 different societies. I wish they'd touch on that rather than always saying "the first black president"....


Except that for hundreds of years here in america, if you have one drop of african blood in your veins, you're black. The vast majority of african americans have white/european ancestors, but they self identify as black. IMHO, if someone self identifies as something, that's what I'll call them.

On a related note, NPR was just highlighting the mixed nature of Obama's family and his in-law's family. Michelle's brother is married to a white woman.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 11:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
Just talked to my sister. She has 2 of the 200,000 tickets to be "close" to the inauguration. They left her apartment at 6 am, and have been in line for 3 hours.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 10:18:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
QUOTE (humpkinpumpkin @ Jan 20 2009, 08:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You know.............the ONLY reason I live in my town is so that my kids will get a good education. Our town has been up there in the rankings year after year. WELL..........this morning I asked the kids if they were excited to watch Obama's inauguration. Here's what I got:

Megan : "I HOPE we don't watch it. NO ONE likes him and it's BORING."

Emily : "what's an inauguration?" unsure.gif after I told her it's the swearing in of the President and that it's historic since he's the first black president and because we're in such a financial downward spiral she replied, "nuh uh...............Martin Luther King was the first black president".


OMG someone shoot me now, will ya? blink.gif



Now I'm going to sound like an old foegy ranting33va.gif Kids these days ranting33va.gif ranting33va.gif
My mom's class is studying government, so I think she's planning on having them watch the inauguration. I"ll have to see how they reacted.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 10:03:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
Good morning! This is the happiest I've been in 8 years, second only to the day my husband arrived in the US. I've got my radio ready to go, and came in early so that I could take some time off around 12:00 pm eastern time whistling.gif

I'm so happy I'm tearing up crying.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-20 08:52:00
Middle East and North AfricaHappy Wednesday MENA (F)
Jess, I'm so sorry to hear about that. I don't understand the violence so many people do in this world.




So my sister didn't get to see the inauguration yesterday ranting33va.gif Too many tickets, no communication. She waited outside for like 6 hours, and couldn't move anywhere because there were so many people. rrrr.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-21 14:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaHappy Sunday all!
Going to work....third weekend in a row I've had to work, on top of coming in at 6:30 am and staying until 6 pm almost every day. Alhamdulilah for the job, but I'm seriously exhausted. Plus, the weekend is suppose to be kitty kuddle time. I'd almost stuff her down the front of my coat and bring her with me if it weren't, oh -15 degrees right now. They let people bring pets to my husband's work, but somehow I'm thinking my firm wouldn't go for it.

One of my friends is finishing up dental school, and she needs people to do work on for her board exams. It just so happened that the husband needed some work on his teeth, and it's what she needs to do. So we had to go to the U yesterday. Freaking -25 degrees, and I was cheap and parked a half a mile away for free rather then pay $10 for the ramp.

I'm ready for spring. And sleep.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-25 09:43:00
Middle East and North AfricaThe best and worst day ever was today
Aww girl, I wish I had some words of wisdom to offer, but all I can say is that I was picked on as a kid a lot because I was short, but in the end, I turned out pretty decent, if I do say so myself. It sucked royally for years, but looking back now, I remember the good times and laugh at the idiots bullies. inshaAllah with a great mom like you, he'll make it through star_smile.gif
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2009-01-23 10:09:00
Middle East and North AfricaWho are you??
The husband and I met a woman who was a taste tester for Haagen Daz last summer. Mmmm.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2008-12-29 17:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaWho are you??
QUOTE (Berber Mama @ Dec 29 2008, 11:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (rahma @ Dec 29 2008, 10:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm Jen and I'm a perpetual slacker. I'm married to Tamer, who's an accountant at a non-profit.


Are there any job openings in your field? I'm looking for a career change.


It's really more of a do it yourself thing. I've been working many years to perfect my slacker-hood.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2008-12-29 12:22:00
Middle East and North AfricaWho are you??
I'm Jen and I'm a perpetual slacker. I'm married to Tamer, who's an accountant at a non-profit.
UmmSqueaksterFemaleEgypt2008-12-29 11:56:00