I wish I could tell you the big story about my Sis, but I am saving it for my book She not only runs a 400 acre ranch, but works full-time as a corporate officer of her hubby’s company. Shes up at 5am feeding animals, takes a coffee break as the sun rises (soul-food) then gets on her corporate-wear and is at the desk by 7am. Upon roaring home in her Ford 350 4 X 4, she tosses the suit and dons her t-shirt with the arms cut out and feeds the animals again. Sheep can be almost as noisy as a herd of peacocks when hungry, btw. Since big cousin Josh is away at college now, the herd is only about 35.

My Sis has a heart of gold, and although she can be tough as nails cutting a deal, is a real softy for a critter in need. Last visit, she was caring for some old retired pack llamas, several lame horses, and some ancient cows in addition to a dozen or so healthy mules, horses and cows, plus the dozen or so dogs. When the ewes are lambing in winter, she searches the fields at night to see if one of those stupid sheep dropped her lamb and left it in the snow. I think I mentioned once that she then keeps them indoors in Pampers, bottle feeding them by hand until they are strong enough to live outside.

This visit, with a gleam in her eye and a toss of her short blond hair, she told us: “We have a surprise for you inside the house!” She told us to go to her bedroom closet REALLY slowly and quietly. We peeked in, and saw two of the biggest ears you could ever see attached to a little spotted body reclining on a dog bed. Meet Flower:

Flower is a fawn that those darn Pyreneezies separated from her mom, and would have become morning dog-fodder had Sis not rescued the little dear. She was only a few days old, and the doe would not take her back after smelling like dog and human. Sis bottle feeds her twice a day, and yes, changes her Pampers when she is in the house. She is very affectionate, friendly and inquisitive, she loves to catch every smell that wafts past her nose. Although tiny, with precious teeny-weeny hooves, she plays with the big house dogs. Her fur is soft and silky, and she likes having her ears rubbed. Lil Kinz enjoyed feeding her a couple times, but Flower prefers to drink from her adopted  Mom’s hand best.

Sis’s hubby just rolls his eyes at the latest addition to their animal farm. “So just where is that animal going to live when it is grown?” he asks. She smiles and rolls her eyes back.

(to be continued)

The only thing that could have improved our time with my beloved Sis was MORE TIME. We arrived just as they finished their evening walk, and the reunion was joyous with over ten dogs and our kids. Cool big cousin Josh was ready to give quad bike rides, and had big plans for our boys for frogging, fishing, and shooting. Cool cousin Rose connected with Lil Kinz over toenail polish, french braids and riding horses. Sis and I just didn’t stop talking, and the two brother’s-in-law started a talk about Myers Briggs temperament analysis that didn’t end all weekend (they threw in some Business Week and Economist offerings as well). It’s too funny both Sis and I both married INTJs**UPDATE BELOW***. Sis and her hubby were also both in the middle of reading “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”, so we had some good laughs over that.

These two are views from the porch facing the Trinity National Forest. Way beautiful. This porch is a place I could get used to: hot tub, pool, BBQ, horse, cows and sheep sauntering by. Another heavenly place to live-blog from. Very interesting, the ranch life. Neighbors are interdependent and there for one another. My Sis trades meat from her ranch with her eccentric, 100% self-sufficient neighbor who grows all his own vegetables and chickens too. She then returns the veg peelings for chicken feed. No one trades with the marijuana grower, tho. Just case you were wondering.

The second photo you can see clouds just over the last mountain, they were a result of the fire near Lake Shasta. At night (from the hot-tub, yum!) we could see the orange flames. The very first ridge was where they had a fire the week before we came, a little close to home.

Spikekid wanted me to post a pic of that gorgeous gas-guzzlin’ Suburban we drove. It’s a 2009, so I wouldn’t doubt that the royal retinue of chauffeurs will soon have black versions running folks off the road in Amman. The Kounouz kept saying they wanted to bring it back to Jordan. Right, guys.

Next is one of those crazy peacocks my Sis keeps around for a rooster substitute. They are noisy birds, reminding us of their existence every morn at 5 with an exotic take on crowing. Lil Kinz couldn’t find any feathers to bring ButterBean, and they seemed to know Sis was ready to pluck their bottoms for my girl, so they steered clear. Or maybe it was because Josh was back trying to run them over with the quad bike.

I could’ve taken a million interesting sheep shots, they are crazy critters. Huge, too, compared to the sheep my Scotland brother raised and the sheep cruisin the streets of Amman (my brother reminds me that everything in America is bigger). Josh is still showing sheep around the country even tho a busy college/frat man now. Did I mention that some of the sheep raised here are sent to San Francisco for Eid and Ramadan use?

Well, that’s it for today, off to the beach!!! Hope it will brighten the day of those bored with blogging, or at least provide some diversion. Hey, I met a Lebanese gal at a restaurant this week, had fun speaking Arabic. She didn’t know about blogging, so I’m going to send her some links (like to you, Summer!)

***Hubby would be a bit miffed if I didn’t correct this error. When I met Skeeter, he was a solid “S”, as in ISTJ. He has now done the impossible of moving a core attribute in another direction, and tests out as an “N”. I must say, I am sure 16 years of marriage to a flaming “N” helped make that happen, mish? Not that I ever INTENDED to try and change the man, ma basiir.…married people, all wink and nudge now. :D***

After watching “Jesus Camp” (sorry Bam, this is not a continuation) I was looking forward to attending church in the US and see what trends have emerged since my last visit home.

One trend we saw two years ago was that of church ‘drop-outs’, those who have become disenchanted with traditional forms of worship and huge impersonal services. They don’t have anything against God or Christianity, but have felt the largeness of it all is more a form of consumeristic faith and not what Jesus intended for His followers. Some get their bible teaching from TV or podcasts, their worship from Christian music stations. I don’t agree with this form at all, as it keeps believers from the ‘iron-sharpening-iron’ woof and warp of relational interaction. How can Jesus love be displayed by loving one another when we never interact with other faith-followers?

The family we are staying with is following another path. I met them two decades ago at church when we were all single, now they have six kids between 6 months and 18 years. They left the church we both attended several years ago, wanting more in depth teaching, feeling it wasn’t conservative enough and not sure they wanted their kids influenced by some of the behaviours of other kids. More importantly, they wanted to develop deeper relationships with believers beyond the shallow Sunday greet-n-leave. They also began to home-school, and found a strong circle of like-minded Christians who share their values and priorities.

Today we went to ‘church’ with their family. The meet with five other home-schooling families (who have at least six kids) in alternating homes every week. We sang and worshiped, we prayed, and we read and discussed the Gospel of John chapter 20. These people know one another; they know what the issues and weaknesses and strengths are, and don’t use the knowledge as a weapon to manipulate with. It was orderly, the younger kids played quietly and the older kids participated in the half hour discussion. Afterward, we shared communion and a meal, and the kids swam and played volleyball. I neglected to mention it was held in a 5,000 sg ft. home on an acre of land (in Los Angeles County, mind you). History Buff, with his usual directness, asked our hostess: “So who gave you this house?”.

Most of the men are successfully self-employed and are strong family men. Everyone there asked us very pertainant and questions about the Middle East, Jordan and Iraq, it was a refreshing change from some things people ask. Their kids were polite and connected, but still very much kids. Most are at least one grade level beyond their age. The high schoolers already focusing on the direction of their careers, with a firm grasp of their strengths. Very articulate, socially mature and interacting with younger siblings with affection rather than annoyance.

It was a beautiful experience, a trend I can get behind. My kids were hooked on the concept of lunch and swimming after teaching time.

For Sunday evening worship, we went to the mega-church I attended mid-week. In spite of the span of two decades and thousands of people streaming in, I ran into three people I knew. It too, was a beautiful experience.

I’m glad there is room in the body of Christ for many manifestations of what it looks like to follow Jesus. I enjoyed both today.

Whilst rafting down the Truckee River, that’s where.

On the last day of our wet-n-wild Tahoe Family Reunion Vacation Whirlwind, my brother’s family, me, Skeeter and the Kounouz rafted down the Truckee River. A high school pal named Jen started Mountain Air Sports when a teenager, it is now a fixture of summer recreation on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. She also made freshman year very bearable for me; she was one of those kind upperclassmen who noticed you existed and talked to you in front of other juniors. I think I may have even taught her to sail at some point. She is still unbelievably beautiful, definitely one of the ‘Fifty is the New Thirty’ candidates. But like most Tahoe beauties, without knives, needles or Pilates; just a very healthy outdoors-based lifestyle. I stop by her office every time I am in Tahoe and we catch up as if we don’t live on different continents.

It was a blast, sometimes paddling with a stronger current than I remember, sometimes meandering slowly enough to see bugs and crawdads. The boys splashed and played, Lil Kinz stayed safely behind the protective wall of mom or Aunt Jessica for the boys were under penalty of severe something if they got mommy-hair wet.

It had just enough danger to make it a VERY boy-thrilling escapade.  At one point I pulled Project Boy into the raft in the nick of time to avoid being dissected by an underwater log. Just before ending, we were going through some ‘whiter’ water and careening toward a large rock on the bank. Three flatlander shabaab were drinking beer there, one on said rock. I yelled “Watch out! Attack raft!” and the one guy jumped off the rock just before we landed on top of it. His friends were howling at him, which made our boys howl in return.

But I was writing about my Reef’s, because I want to write about Tahoe when the PHOTOS are downloaded. My 24 year old niece (The Phd candidate who studied the effect of concentrated bovine gas on the environment. Yup. It’s what you thought, cow emissions) gave them to me through her mom my sis, and I have been grateful for cool, comfortable leather summer footwear that brings out some of the vestiges of my California past. So I wore them in Tahoe to try and pretend there is still some cool in me despite my lack of tan, muscle tone and the muffin I wear over the top of my jeans. Living in the Middle East has SO worn off on me, I just can’t wear a bathing suit or shorts without feeling there is way too much of me exposed.

Back to the Reefs. When we got out of the raft, I noticed my feet got amazingly dirty for being pooled in water for a few hours. When we got home, I got out a washcloth and scrubbed. No visible change. I then used hot water and serious soap. My feet remained dark reddish brown, and I realized the dye from my Reef sandals had come off on the bottoms of my feet! I took a long shower and attacked those feet with pumice until it hurt, thinking exfoliation would do the trick.

To no avail! Alas, perhaps one shade less dark, but the dye soaked into every crack and crevice from heel to toe of my not-recently pedicured feet. At dinner that night, my sis-in-law Jessica the Neat-nick Germophobe gasped in horror and unbelief, quickly bringing nail polish remover to save the day. Amazingly, not even acetone got it off! Later I scrubbed with the pumice stone for an hour, realizing I could NOT wear my cute white flip-flops on the plane with such disgusting feet. Nor could my feet match my Reefs. Goodness, I would be in Orange County! One does NOT have dark orange feet bottoms in Beach country! Even a thick coating of Bag Balm didn’t help. Ashamed, I donned my Nikes for the flight.

Jessica captured the horrific sight on camera. Are you ready for a visual of this podiatric mess? Stay tuned.

I can’t wait to tell you more about this trip, especially how a shared vacation with The Atheist and The Born Again went. And more about Jessica the Germophobe, my darling snarky sister-in-law. She makes me howl My brother and my husband rolled their eyes at us way often.

The ranch visit, too, was over-the-top fun. I hope to have some blogging time this leg of our California trip.

Sorry, spell check isn’t working. Jessica will go nuts, she is like MommaBean in that she edits things in her sleep just for fun. She was mortified over some of the spelling errors in the articles I wrote in Jordanian mags: “Don’t they even have a copy-editor??? I KNOW you can spell, sometimes they actually incorrectly edited what you must’ve originally submitted!!!” Oops. Busted. Jess, I cannot tell a lie, I can’t spell without spell check!! Like brother, like sister. Tee-hee.

My current hostess suggested a foot bath in diluted peroxide. If it worked for our hair in high school, it should work on my sorry feet.

Sigh. Enjoy your dusty Amman summer feet and DO NOT wear Reef sandals in the Dead Sea.

]]> http://kinziblogs.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/where-not-to-wear-reef-beach-sandals/feed/ http://kinziblogs.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/just-too-much-fun-aunt-janes-poetry/ http://kinziblogs.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/just-too-much-fun-aunt-janes-poetry/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:58:47 +0000 kinziblogs http://kinziblogs.wordpress.com/?p=527

We are having an AMAZING time out here in California, in spite of forest fires. Sis’s ranch adventure has sent about 100 posts and pics flying through my head. Tahoe has already been too too too fun, we are on our way to the beach AGAIN.

I leave you with a poem Aunt Jane left as a comment; as Mommabean said, WHAT TALENT:

Twas the night of the departures
and all through the house
hardly a creature was stirring
not even a mouse
I in my jammies
and pop in his too
wandered round the house
wondering whatever shall we do?
No cousins to play with
No parties to plan

Ants are a crawling
and dog hair is a falling
The garden is full of weeds
The house has many needs
But it is much more fun
to sit in the sun
So I think I’ll get out the book
And take another look
A day or two at the beach
May soon be in our reach.

Ciao!

I almost DO NOT believe my eyes. My first EVER family comment, from my favorite family member and blog fodder provider: Aunt Jane. Here it is:

Read your blog, hope you are having a great visit with your sis. Any wildfires nearby?? Without you around to distract me I had to do some real work, cleaned my bedroom. Hubby will be glad to know that my hubby trimmed branches off of the garage roof. Have a great trip.

Heh-heh, love that gal; and I DO distract her. We talk for hours about everything, especially when there is family drama brewing. Sometimes, I am the creator of family drama.

Aunt Jane, cute you comment as Mona’s Mom. Congrats on the clean bedroom! My hubby laughs as he says your hubby waited until he was gone as my hubby wanted to trim MORE. Brotherly love is grand.

Yup, there are wildfires  near, but not so near to be a problem (there were last week, tho). Sis here is taking in  evacuated horses, a trailer of them will arrive shortly. I can’t believe it, flooding in Illinois, drought and wildfires in California.

I love you, Aunt Jane. You all have a great trip too.

After Hareega’s post about Southwest Airlines, I was thanking God I would never be passing through AZ on on the Greyhound of the Skies. I have now learned, after one Southwest experience, I am a spoiled international flier and there are reasons why cut-rate airlines are thus described.

We got to Chicago Midway Airport to discover we had not one, but two stops on the way to Reno: Nashville and Phoenix. My first thought was “Great, the kounouz can add another state to their repertoire” (up until our last trip to the US when we took Amtrak across America, they had been to more countries on the world than states the US). My second thought was “Hey, I can wave at Hareega from the tarmac, not even 30,000 ft!” (now that just shows how bizarre blogging is, that people you’ve never met can be the second thought in your head).

All good until we take off and the pilot says: “Good morning, folks! blah…blah…and it is a toasty day at our second destination, Phoenix is blazin’ recording 110 degrees, yup, a hundred and tween.” My heart stops, remembering what Hareega wrote about plane tires shredding on hot landing surfaces. So when we landed, I just kinda grabbed the hands of the closest kinzayn and prayed. Whew, all went well.

I learned that people going to Dallas are different than people going on vacation. On my Dallas flight, we had suits and laptops, all humans totally connected to electronic devises and speaking not another word on the flight. For a people person, that was just TOO weird. I was traveling alone, no kids to care for, and ready for a dose of Americanism; and I spent the whole time reading (well, I did enjoy eavesdropping on the high-powered business lady behind me hitting on a man thirty years her senior) .

BUT, going to Reno, it was a whole different story. Gamblers, hikers, waterskiiers, the whole plane was yacking away about where they had traveled and where they were going. High energy, great fun. The family next to us were US Embassy employees in an African country, so we chatted about the expat experience. The dad’s family had a vacation home in Tahoe, so both our families were going to enjoy history remakes for our kids. Their little girl was so cute, she said: “Goin’ ta Lake Taco!”

Arriving in Reno is always a trip. Getting a glimpse of Lake Tahoe is Slot machines available within twenty feet of the arrival gate. I hate gambling with a passion, and have seen it destroy so many lives and livelihoods. Lil Kinz remarked that some of the ladies in the posters didn’t wear enough clothes :P.

I was astounded that my favorite bands as a teen-ager were all headlining at the casinos.: Eddie Money, America, Boz Scaggs, Doobie Brothers, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Kansas. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. How they would’ve gagged thirty years ago if you told them they would be playing in casinos now. So sickenly establishment. But then i realized, this is what baby-bloomers (you know, late baby-boomers) want to hear, and they have the bucks to entice those old rockers out of retirement

Thanks to my cool sis, we were going to rent a Ford Explorer SUV. The kounouz were OVER The Moon excited. But at the rental counter, all they had left was an upgrade to Chevy Suburban. Hubby choked at the thought of the lower gas mileage (at $4.65/gal) but the kids went wild with excitement. When I saw this beautiful, humungous car, even I got excited. I thought: “Hey, it is MY turn to run other cars off the road!!!”

Since I am the one familiar to the territory, Skeeter let me drive. But I just couldn’t bear to drive like a royal chauffeur with those poh-lice lurking behind every billboard. The scenery is much like Jordan, desert and some scrubby shrubs. Once you get into Lassen National Forest, the beauty changes with the scenery. It was as if it was spring, wild flowers still blooming, squaw carpet and fresh green manzanita lining the roads until towering pines rise. Deer lined the highway at regular intervals, lifting heads to see who was passing through their domain. Breathtaking beautiful, soul food for an Ammani mom who likes cornfields, but LOVES mountains. I know Highway 89 is a precursor to heavenly delights.

Around a corner, we started down a two mile straight stretch through a canyon, the pavement undulating like a ribbon as far as I could see, the pine trees shadowing forward in variegated shades of dark green. The blazing orange sun (colored so due to the haze of many wildfires) lined up BETWEEN the pines, setting directly in front of us. Awesome. It was a Worship Moment, one of those times God pulls back the curtain between this world and eternity and adds just a touch of His glory to make it supernatural. Hallelujah.

Several hours later, we pulled up the gravel drive to Sis’s ranch. More than a dozen dogs bounded down the road to greet us, followed by Sis and her Hubby. Joyous, joyous reunion. Lots of hugs, lots of Great Pyrenees slobber. Can’t wait for more.

Yesterday we had a house full of cowpokes, cowgirls, and some urban cowgirls. It was the date of the annual Girl Cousin Tea Party, organized by the oldest family cousin, Mona. The twelve girls, between six and eighteen years old, gather from across the MidWest for an after noon of fun and bonding doing themed girly-things: dressing up, eating, playing games and doing a craft. “Tea Parties’ to an extreme! The best part is the photo of all the girls at the beginning.

Two years ago it was a Disney Princess Party. Four years ago, a Minnie Mouse party. This year, the theme was Cowgirls. It looked like something out of Pioneer Woman around here. The tables were draped in red clothes, with picnic napkins, a mini-bail of hay as a centerpiece surrounded by one of the girl’s horse collection. There was an Arabian, of course! The party favors were cowboy hats and bandannas. The girls were too cute in braided pony-tails, jeans and plaid shirts. Lil Kinz even had boots passed on from an older cousin.

Table Decor

The TABLE

Mona had fun surprises in store. The boys were involved as bandits, having created a drama where two of the girls were kidnapped and the ‘gold’ (chocolate coins, also a table decoration) stolen! This led to a neighborhood-wide scavenger hunt to reclaim the girls and gold. BUT, before that, they had to cross a path loaded with rattle-snakes, and they had to stomp the snakes to get across to their goal. The snakes were long skinny balloons :).

Stompin\

Then is was craft time. Aunt Jane is quite creative, and designed those tied-fringe pillows, decorated with horseshoes, cactus and cowboy boots. After lunch they decorated picture frames with cowboy themed foam stickers, and of course, lots of bling rhinestones. The cowpoke brothers stayed downstairs playing chess, until lunch. 

Lunch was an event that kept four sisters and sisters-in-law busy for hours. Cowgirl burgers, corn on the cob, cottage fries, deviled eggs and a huge horseshoe cake filled with strawberries and covered with whipped cream. Aunt Jane is the Cake Queen, so it looked like something out of Chez Hilda. Delish, too. Just to add a touch of elegance in the midst of wild-West-ness, the plates and glasses were etched glass.

THE Table

After every dish was done and every pillow completed, us moms fell on couches comatose. A very happy coma.

***SO……..Didja  notice there are PHOTOS in this post? Thanks to Tech Wiz Niece Mona, who patiently instructed me in this ridiculously easy step.

We’re off to California bukra, yahoo!!!

First stop, my sister’s 400 acre ranch bordering a national park, with ten Great Pyrenees dogs, hundreds of sheep, one old llama, cows, peacocks and marijuana growing neighbors. The local fauna includes bears and mountain lions, so in spite of the lofty mountain grandeur, we only go for walks in groups atop horses (and Uncle A carries a handgun).

Next, a partialfamily reunion in Lake Tahoe! My bro and fam are back safe at their home and decided they NEEDED a vacation after all that drama, yay God! We are going to take the kids to all the places we loved growing up: lots of hiking, swimming, picnicking, craw-dad catching, river-rafting. We will be staying with a family with five kids, very cool folks who don’t mind pandemonium (like Aunt Jane).

Then, Orange County!!! Newport Beach, here I come!! We’ll be staying with a fam with SIX kids, just like the Tahoe family and Aunt Jane. Heh-heh, the people who call us right-wing-bottom-feeders have another word that actually works: BREEDERS. We’ll be seeing lots of friends, going to Knott’s Berry Farm, body-surfing and swimming in pools. We’ll spend a fortune on sunscreen.

One thing that WON’T be happening is meeting MAI! But, I’d much rather see her married to Sam Qwaider. Convenient match-making prayer answers: I love it when TWO I am praying for tie the knot. May God richly bless this union.

I’m sure I’ll have access to a computer, just enough to keep my addiction fed but learn some self-control as I do. See you in August!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_en_ot/breaking_the_veils

HRH Princess Wijdan is one of the organizers, Amman local Nawal Abdullah’s work is included.

Maybe old news to some, but it was new for me and I am proud!