Dear Baba-Mouneh

Dear Baba-Mouneh*,
How are you this year? I know this is a busy time of the year for you. I am so happy we have this good relationship. I ask, you provide, you enjoy seeing my joy, I enjoy thanking you..... Every year I make a list with eth I would like to have and then they magically appear in my life. I do understand that there is nothing magic about the power of love and will, but it is more cute to put this into the magic realm of the season than the regular, everyday reality.
My list this year consists of little wishes, little stars that i would like to cast upon the heads of the ones I love to take care of them, care for them in times of trouble, provide light in times of difficult choices, warmth when they feel alone, inspiration, wisdom... cuz I am not there for them all the time. Choice, time and distance have come between us in such a way that my presence (physical or inspirational) is either not permitted or called upon.
I know every year my list is all about shoes, clothes and other stuff that would presumably make my life easier but this year my need to protect them from any harm (real or imaginary) exceeds any other.

Not like this! ! please dont give them tattoos!

Or like this!

Something more like this:

so this is what i want this year: stars that shine bright!

thank you! 

and btw also getting me a car cant hurt, cuz I 'm sick of the busses!

XoXo 

Rana 

*Baba-Mouneh is my version of Santa. being of a certain age i know that presents are store bought and that the loved ones in our life are the true benefactors. So my Santa (the one that makes my wishes come true) is an actual person, and Baba-mouneh is a variation of the french term Baba Noel (Saint Nic)

Flirting and other extreme sports

 The following took place between 4am and 4:15am somewhere on the border of Backyard and Pavement, right across the Roses Bush. The events of this tale are not fictional although they have been modified as everything that really happens is digested in order for our little minds to embrace the experience. There are 3 fellows in this tale:
M-> The Man (also known as : husband to R, Cutie, Mr Right, Awesome, Wonderful .....)
W-> Woman (aka: the neighbor who walks up and down the street trying rail in her rebel 10yo daughter)
R-> Rana (aka: the woman that needed surgery to put her jaw back in place)

M is doing some work in the garden, takin care of the weeds, watering etc. A dozen children are playing in the street as always, using whatever the Gracious Lord has at their disposal: bikes, the neighbor's dog, blocks, wood, weeds anything they can get their hands on, and the mothers as always are desperately trying to handle them.

W: I want to have your children (and then a strange silense that seemed to go on forever!)
R, her jaw dropped, hearing mesmerized what this woman is telling her husband. She is sitting behind the olive tree camouflaged and able to just watch this strange encounter
M: (turns his head to look at the person who disturbed his gardening) What?
W: It is not fair! you must have a child, or children. You two are free to go out whenever you want without caring about baby sitting and time frames. You are sooooooo quiet! All the rest of us are running up and down to get them to do things. You are so HAPPY! you must have kids to see what this is all about. I must have your children.
Her rumbling seemed to go on and on, not just verbal but with expressions of rage and desperation as if her world was falling apart and there was only this one thread of hope, one thing she felt she must do : see to it that this man has an offspring, for which i cant blame her. Evolutionary speaking, he IS a HUNK, his genes should go into the next generation, just for the sake of humanity.
M: (being as polite as he can be) It is too early for us but we will have kids someday....
R has now pulled herself together and she is waiting; like a lioness awaits for her pray to do one wrong move. But the rest of the scene unfolds quietly. they exchange some regular remarks about the weather and they go back to their business (railing in children and gardening).

Now to be fair the words "I want to have your children..." were never spoken but it sure as hell sounded like that is what she said from where I was standing. No blood was shed, no hearts were broken but in the course of 15min (and a page long story) we have the illustration of 3 extreme sports: flirting (demonstrated by W), having children (demonstrated by W) and gardening (demonstrated by M). So whatever you might be doing, be aware that it can easily turn into hazardous business, under the wrong circumstances...

BE WARY!!

You... You.... You....

You want life to be easy, friends to come dashing into your life and success to come because you deserve it (and I am pretty sure u do!).
But I believe that we must actively participate in our happiness! Do things that get us to where we want to be or more often where we NEED to be! So i use this motion with friendship and in general with the people around me. In order to make sure that they are here because they want to be close to me and not because it is convenient or they want to fill a void in their life, I test them. I learnt this method from a gorgeous 1 year old gangster that tested everybody around him just to see if their love is enough to keep them patient while he was ripping down the house. So I do the same, almost. I start with small things: send sms, email, im's and wait to see how long it would take for them to respond, then i notice how happy they are if I call them up. Then I move on to more difficult tasks: I ask them to meet at inconvenient hours, bake sth for me "just because". In the rare occasions that someone has survived all this or at least I want to give them the benefit of the doubt (because I selfishly want this person in my life), I give them 1 mission impossible!, something that will have them bent head over heels to do, or at least it seems so for my standards. And then that is it! You are done! you got a pass for the rest of your life!
For the first 20 years of my life I made myself small so that i can fit in the purse of the person I wanted to love me. But I have grown. I have  grown so big and shiny and I have a chest full of treasures at your disposal If you choose to stay by me. So i need people in my life to CHOOSE me.
Dont cut yourself short, Shine your light onto everybody but if you did the work then you have the right to choose the people you keep as gems in your life. I am thankful for the handful I have, and they prove to me everyday by bending head over heals, without me asking, that I have what i need.....

A special thanks to the little gangster cuz anybody can be a teacher <3
    

Save EARTH! Its the only planet with chocolate

We should save the planet for all the normal logical reasons, but then again there is chocolate.... the infinite joy of enjoying a creamy tasty bar. Cakes and chocolate drinks work as well I am not picky about it! 
 A new research has shown that eating a piece of chocolate daily lowers the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and other health issues in women. the research had 10 000 women eat chocolate daily for a long period of time and then they measured results. I could not find the research on line but this website is nice for more info and confirmation 
http://myheartsisters.org/2009/05/19/is-chocolate-good-for-womens-heart-health/ 


Now i have a totally scientific concern! in medical research for new drugs a group of the patients are taking a placebo, as control, sth that looks like the drug but has no effect on the disease. but how is the study correct without a placebo, cuz nth tastes, fells, smells like chocolate except chocolate. and then they have forced all these women to eat chocolate daily just to prove a point?? where are the ethics in that? dont you think that it is cruel to MAKE somebody do something sooooooo pleasing every day?? 
so the results are biased. I believe some of the credit needs to go to the feeling of doing sth utterly pleasing! just the thought of eating chocolate everyday makes you feel better (unless you have a rare condition called choc intolerance, poor you). Cant our health become better because we are doing things we love. and if that is not enough we can declare it healthy by our selves!!! If I like drawing I can say: drawing raises the good hormones and lowers heart pressure! now I can draw myself into being happy, because happy is healthy! 
So on Saturday when someone calls you up and asks y are you still in bed you can lusciously answer: "I am Snoozing to stay healthy!"


:) love ya

Getting started!

Hey world!
this is me getting started! the truth is I have already "started" long time ago, we all have. but most of us are just not out there, published, known, acknowledged, bare for everyone to see. We hide! In the dark, inside ourselves but at one point we decide to come out. To fill up the world with our grace, charisma and talent! To give! because I know for me that is the only thing that really makes sense.
So I invite you, I invite everybody to read, comment, to celebrate with me! Its on me! My treat :)

So how Do you get started? how the hell did all the other bloggers decide to start, pick out a name... make it work for them and start... HOW???
I believe you are all brave. they should give out a medal for such kind of bravery! :)

And yet again I did it! will probably regret it later on, say i cant go through it, second guess my writing, the title eth. But I also know that is ok! it is ok to think things over figure out what you want and do better next time! At least it is ok for me!

SO.. Thank you for reading... you are welcome to repeat it whenever you want.
And go on celebrating!!!!