Mucha Messa's Mumbo Jumbo

Every year around this time people all over the world make promises to themselves about the new year. How many of them are actually honoured I do not know. Personally, 2007 was one long nightmare with fits and bursts of joy. The good moments were either fleeting or deceitful. So here is a summary of the good, the bad and the ugly of my 2007.


Good
- Im not alone anymore. Jr is here.
- I got to see Daddy.
- I had about 3 months of pseudo-happiness with somebody I dont talk to anymore.
- No more landlords.
- Spending most of the summer with my partner in crime... Chantastique the Fantastique. (You can do anything, but dont look at that basilisk!)
- Harry Potter.
- Richard Dawkins et al.
- Anthony Kiedis (I get the feeling this is going to show up again next year).
- Best Christmas ever.


Bad
- No Mama,no Ryan and no Lincoln for over a year.
- Lymphoma/Breast cancer scare.
- Failing Finance because I was moving and couldnt study.
- Apartment hunting.
- Being land-locked for over a year.
- Losing my passport, then getting a "Yes, we found it!" call from the police station across the street from where I was getting my biopsy.
- Losing a close friend to a misunderstanding.

Ugly
- My landlord calling 911 to tell them I was going to put a 'knife in his back' and 'burn his family to the ground' because I was a 'psychopathic killer'.
- Night in the ER.
- Having the paramedics tell me I cant do my very important Finance midterm because I collapsed and stopped breathing .

Special Mention: All my lovelies who really make Canada worth it for me. You know who you are.

Labels: Absolute Wonderfulness, La Familia, Wien Mean Killing Machine

Every year around this time, I realise what a different culture I was raised in. Growing up in Kuwait, gift giving was not the highlight of Christmas. It was the family gatherings and the fun times and the good food and memories. There was no such thing as holiday debt or stress around Christmas time. That was because we didnt need to buy everybody a present. The little kids got toys or candy and the customary 'gift from Santa' hidden under the tree by Mom or Dad. If and when older kids were given presents, it was books or something along those lines. In contrast, Canadians are pretty big on the gift giving. Video games, expensive purses, jewellery and the whole nine. If it is about the joy of giving... shouldnt it be all year round? And shouldnt giving to strangers give you that same joy?

This holiday season, I hope more and more people look beyond their own desires and consider the needs of those less fortunate. I hope young people see this season as a time for giving... not just to your girlfriend or mom or dad.. but to somebody who doesnt know you and will probably never be able to return the favor. I hope we take a minute and a dollar out of our frenzied shopping schedules to drop something off at a food bank or buy a toy for a child who cannot afford it. I hope that this season, hugs and good cheer are good enough gifts for us. I hope that little things mean more than big things.

Labels: La Familia, Things that go bump in the night.

I was just now watching the show 'Brothers and Sisters' ... and the more I watch it, the more I love it. It's not the most popular of shows but its climbing higher and higher up on my list. I come from a very small family. I have only two cousins, one uncle and one aunt. My uncle doesnt talk to my parents and my aunt doesnt talk to my uncle and his family. So for as long as I can remember I have absolutely loved the idea of a big family with tons of cousins and uncles and aunts. Thats what this show is about and thats why I love it. Even as a little girl I envied those with many aunts to spoil them, grandmas and grandpas to run to when you need a hug, cousins to make mischief with. TV shows make communication look so easy... if we all spoke that way , maybe brothers and sisters wouldnt find it that hard to get along. Maybe my uncle would still be talking to his sister.. my mom.

At school a bunch of my close friends and I got to talking family .. and out of the 4 of us, only 1 of us had a big happy family with no major issues. The rest of us all seemed to have parents who were not talking to their brothers or sisters for whatever reason. How does that happen? How do siblings stop talking to each other? I just dont understand it. I remember my sister and I making a pact with our then 5 year old cousin that we would never end up like our parents. But last night I had a fight with my sister and it scared me coz we werent talking. What if something like that were to happen between her and I? So I wrote her a message and apologized for getting mad at her even though I was justified in doing so. Better hurt my pride than have her not talk to me.

I think I should buy my mom the season DVDs to this show. Me thinks mama will like.

PS: that picture ... that is my family. ALL OF IT. (except dad coz he was taking the picture and Ryan who wasnt born yet <3)

Labels: La Familia