Jenyfer Matthews

I made it through the toddler years without even a small scissor incident – any bad haircuts the children ever sported were entirely my fault. So why did my son, only days before his 7th birthday, decide that NOW was the time to try his hand at cutting his own hair? He cut his hair very short right across the front, at a slant. I thought I’d make him wear it that way for a few days, just to have the lesson sink in.

My husband had another plan: give him a buzz cut.

It looks awful. Even with the clipper set on the “tallest” setting, he’s still pretty well bald. And since he’s a very pale redhead, I fear for the skin of his scalp. I ordered him to wear his hat outside at school until his hair grows back. Between the (temporary) tattoo of a cobra on his bicep and the buzz cut, he looks a bit like a prisoner.

I’m only glad that I got some decent pictures of him on Sunday at his father’s birthday party…and that his hair grows really fast!

At least it is for people who own SmartPhones and also like to read e-books. The following announcement is from All Romance eBooks, an outlet for Cerridwen Press books among others:

Download and Read Thousands of All Romance™ eBooks Right on Your Android™ Smartphone with the Aldiko Application

All Romance eBooks (ARe) has partnered with Aldiko to make their eBook catalog available to Google’s Android-powered mobile phones.

Palm Harbor, FL (PRWEB) October 8, 2009 – Readers will now be able to browse, search and seamlessly download more than 10,000 http://www.allromanceebooks.com [eBooks], including free reads, to their Android phones directly from ARe without a computer, cable or subscription using the Aldiko application.

With the Aldiko app readers can easily browse ARe’s extensive online book catalog, read detailed descriptions and book reviews, and quickly find the books they are looking for using a powerful search tool right on their Smartphone. They can organize their purchases by criteria such as title, author, or subject, edit detail information, tag, bookmark and search—all on a fully customizable display. New features include a full text search that allows readers to find words globally within the book, and a look up feature, which lets users search for a word in the dictionary, Wikipedia, or on Google.

“Readers love the convenience of being able to download ARe’s eBooks anytime, anywhere,” said Julie Cummings, ARe’s manager of Publicity and Marketing. “Earlier this year we launched an iPhone compatible catalog and it’s been hugely popular with our consumers who use ATT. We’re really excited to now bring that same service to customers who use other cellular carriers,” Cummings added.

“Our mission at Aldiko is to provide an open platform where users can discover, access, read and manage a wide variety of digital publications instantly and seamlessly” said Tiffany Wong, co-founder of Aldiko. “The partnership with ARe will help us offer the best and broadest selection of titles to our users.”

Aldiko is available worldwide and is free on the Android Market as well as available as a paid premium app for Android open platform phones. To learn more visit Aldiko athttp://www.aldiko.com and Android at http://www.android.com.

All Romance eBooks, LLC was founded in 2006, is privately held in partnership, and headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida. The company owns All Romance, which specializes in the sale of romance eBooks and OmniLit, which sells both fiction and non-fiction eBooks.

Aldiko Limited was founded in 2009. The company has developed an ebook reader application, “Aldiko Book Reader” for use on Android-powered devices. . With Aldiko, users can build and organize their digital library, read on the go and wirelessly browse and download from a broad range of digital publications right on their Android-powered devices.

I don’t own one of those magical phones, but I do have a book on ARe so I’m pleased. No more excuses – get reading! What else have you got to do during your commute / lunch hour / endless staff meeting?

One October birthday down, two to go! Well, one really – there’s not much beyond sending a gift I can do for my father. Thank goodness my step-mother gave me an idea for him because otherwise I was stumped!

It’s a good thing I had a backup plan for my husband’s present because my first idea didn’t work out. It may still – and if it does, I’ll be all set for Christmas In the end I got him two very nicely framed black and white photos of Egypt taken at the turn of the last century, sometime between 1900-1924. One is of a guy on a camel near the Sphinx and the other is of a couple of Egyptians in an archway in the Khan al-Khalili souk. My husband loves history and old photos so it was a pretty obvious choice once I finally thought of it. The yummy Indian food delivery and the scrumptious cheesecake I made completed the party.

Now it’s on to my son. In addition to his upcoming birthday, for which I need to do some shopping, I’ve also had to come up with a costume for a Victorian dress-up day at school this week (as if Halloween this month isn’t enough!) A mom I ran into over the weekend told us that she’d found slouchy hats in the girls dept at a local clothes shop – and then advertised the fact on email to all the other moms. I went over there first thing to make sure I got one for my son before they were all gone! She got a grey tweed so I chose the olive green corduroy. He can wear his usual white shirt and shorts but what to do for a vest? I feared I would have to make one myself and then I had a brilliant idea – why not just cut down a t-shirt? And then I did one better – I cut down an old black sweatshirt instead. It does the trick and looks like charcoal grey wool from a casual examination. Best yet the only thing I had to do was use my scissors effectively. He won’t exactly look like a child of nobility but I didn’t have time to have a tiny suit and top hat made!

Now for the boy’s present(s). I have a couple of things already but I need one or two things to top it all off. I popped into a toy shop when I was out on my hat run and found a Cars pop-up racetrack – no batteries required and it will work with his existing collection of Cars cars. Perfect. Drawback? It costs 3x the amount here that it would cost if I could order it from Amazon. It goes against the grain to overspend by so much but I bit the bullet and bought it. What else could I do? Every little boy needs a WOW birthday present. Desperate times and all…

At least I let myself off the hook and declared no “friend” birthday parties this year. I’m limiting myself to sending cupcakes into his class and concentrating on a nice family party. It’s the nicest present I ever gave myself!

As a mother and an adult, there are few things that will push my buttons more effectively than a back-talking child. I’m not sure why exactly, because I myself am something of a smart-ass, but there is it. A quirk of human nature, do as I say not as I do. My own children seldom get away with it, but unfortunately I don’t have as much sway over other people’s children.

What I wonder is, why does anyone let a child get away with it? When I see the other children who participate in the tennis groups with my own children arguing with or talking back to the coach, it drives me crazy. Not only because it is generally disruptive to the atmosphere of the class but also because the mothers of these children are usually sitting there observing and not saying a word. Sometimes they are even smiling benevolently.

When I mentioned this phenomenon to an American acquaintance of mine, he sort of laughed and said that I was just used to the British system (since my children go to a British curriculum school). I was astonished by that comment – or was it an excuse? Why on earth would that have anything to do with anything? Does that imply that Americans expect and encourage bad behavior from children? That in trying to teach our children to be independent thinkers we are also encouraging them to be rude? I’m trying to raise my children to be independent thinkers AND good citizens. It’s not always an easy task, but I’m not super impressed with the sort of children that having lower standards produces.

I have been labeled a strict mother by more than one person, but I have also had glowing reports of my children’s behavior from both their schools and other parents when they go for a play date (home behavior is another story entirely) I guess if believing that my children are not my equal and that sometimes I do know better than they do and that exerting my authority over them when necessary makes me strict, so be it. At least I can send them out in the world and be (mostly) confident that they will behave themselves.

I have been so focused on trying to think of what to get first my husband and then my son and then my father for their respective birthdays (why do all these MEN have to have their birthdays in the same month??) that I almost totally forgot about Halloween and the lead time I will require to get costumes together, depending on what the children request. My daughter already announced she wants to be a vampire. For her that means she wants to wear a cape we already have and slick her hair back with gel. I still need to check in with my son. I wouldn’t have thought of it at all if I hadn’t seen a bunch of great children’s costumes in a shop this morning. I was tempting to just choose one, but I didn’t know if my son would prefer to be a shark, a devil, or a knight crusader. (I liked the crusader myself) He’ll likely choose to be a pirate. Again.

I am pleased to report I finally had an idea for my husband’s birthday present and while I don’t actually have the item in hand, I have made some inquiries and hope they will pan out in time. I’ll find out one way or another on Saturday. And I even have a backup present planned as well! Either way I’m covered – and if they both work out then maybe I can even stash something for Christmas!

My husband requested a cheesecake for his birthday cake. Every year it seems he requests a cheesecake and every year every store in the neighborhood runs out of sour cream at the same time. It’s like some sort of anti-cheesecake conspiracy. I’m taking the fact that I found cream cheese this morning as a sign that all else will work fine as well!

The children have been back in school for three days and it’s wonderfully quiet at home. I’ve done some sewing and some cooking and pretty much whatever else has pleased me. Yesterday was a national holiday here in Egypt but the school canceled their scheduled day off in favor of making up lost time. I think all the parents appreciated that.

My husband had the day off however. We recently bought season seven of a TV show called The Shield. We’ve been waiting for a long time for this season to come out on DVD and since it arrived we’ve been gobbling it up. It’s a cop drama set in LA, the main character of which is an anti-hero like you’ve never seen before. He’s a totally corrupt cop and yet through the twists and turns of the story you find yourself rooting for him. All of the characters are marvelously complex and well-developed and the plot is totally convoluted and unpredictable. Even the extras are perfectly cast. It’s raw, gritty, and violent but I’ve been hooked since the pilot episode and as bummed out as I am that this is the final season, I can’t wait to find out how it ends.

And then start all over again.

My husband and I have been watching an episode (or two) every evening for the last week or so. Yesterday we made our lunch and then parked ourselves on the couch and had a marathon, watching four episodes in a row. If the children hadn’t been due to come home, we’d have kept going. As it was, we watched one more episode after they went to bed.

I’m on my own today, and it’s just as well. I’ve had a brainstorm with regard to what to buy my husband for his birthday. Of course when I went out to see if my idea was going to work, the shop I wanted to visit was closed (of course) I still have a few more days though so fingers crossed it will work out. If it doesn’t, I also have a pretty decent back-up plan. It’s a big relief just to have an idea to chase but I’ll feel better when I have a present to wrap!

I think I must have lived a former life in a deprived time because not only do I hate letting things go to waste, I get a real charge out of finding creative ways to use things. For instance, this week I had a large supply of honey flavored yogurt which I bought because the children claimed to like it. So why weren’t they eating it? I ended up using several pots of it to make them fruit smoothies – which also used up some frozen bananas I’d salvaged when no one ate them before they got overripe. I used another couple of pots making some awesome pancakes (yogurt is a great substitute for buttermilk).

Then there was the day that my son brought home a dozen lemons that he’d picked from the trees at our neighborhood club. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since these lemons were dark green and probably ornamental, but I decided to let the children try their hand at making lemonade. They had a blast juicing the lemons, the lemonade was tasty, and they had more fun yet but taking it around our building to share. Not a bad result for a bucket of free lemons.

I’ve finally finished up with all of my commission quilts, thank goodness. The bed scarf was well received. The last transaction, for a twin sized bed quilt, actually turned a bit screwy in the end which left a bad taste in my mouth. Beyond the quilt aspect, the whole thing has caused me to question my judgment of people and who I call a friend. Right now I feel a deep need to just withdraw a bit and spend some time doing my own thing in my own company. It may be a planetary disturbance because I’ve heard a lot of people reporting they feel out of sorts lately.

Whatever the reason, I made a table runner over the weekend using a pile of small burlap bags that my wheat germ comes in and a collection of silk autumn leaves that I had bought a few years ago for another idea. It was fast, fun, and the result is pretty cheerful. And my log hedgehog bowl looks fabulous standing on it.

I’m going to tackle some of my clothes next. I just turned a pair of overly flared jeans into capris and added a row of decorative stitching at the ragged, cut-off hem. They look great and I finally learned how to program those fun stitches on my machine.

What can I say? Simple things amuse me. And soothe my soul.

I went grocery shopping over the weekend. First I caught an error in my change at the grocery store. In spite of the fancy new scanner they have installed, the cashier still calculates the change in his head – I assume so that he can palm a little extra for himself if he feels like it. I calculate the change too, just for times like these. The cashier gave me the difference with no question when I asked him about it – almost too quickly. Then I went on to my preferred vegetable market and caught the shopkeeper trying to tack on a bit extra to my bill. Not a lot, but if he did it to everyone who walked in…

It got me to thinking about shopping in Egypt, and the things you have to do to make it all easier. For instance, I choose to shop at my preferred vegetable stand because it’s convenient and because it tends to have very high quality produce. But there are many many people I know who won’t go there at all because they think the owner is a thief.

It pretty much comes down to establishing some sort of personal relationship with the shop keeper. I’ve shopped at my grocery store every week for the last three years. All the clerks know me and they don’t have to ask my address when I get delivery. Yes, once in a while I catch them out in some sort of error, intentional or not. But because they know me it seems to happen much less frequently than it does to other people. My husband hardly ever shops there and he has some sort of problem nearly every time he goes.

The same goes for my vegetable market. The shopkeeper there has a real reputation. You can look at him and see him deciding prices as he goes along. I’ve sat and shared breakfast with them, accepted their buffalo milk latte, and they treat me (pretty) well most of the time. When I ask him a price he’ll nearly always say, “for you, Madam…” To me, as an outsider, it always seems to be a struggle between pulling something over on someone once or just dealing honestly and creating a repeat customer. So many shopkeepers I have dealt with here are very shortsighted and would rather go for the kill the first time. I’m not sure why except that maybe they figure that eventually all the expats move on? It’s true, and yet we do talk to one another. Once a shop gets a bad reputation, it sticks.

I’ve also been in shops where the clerks seem almost actively hostile. Heaven forbid you touch anything – unfolding a shirt to look at it will earn a dramatic eye roll and a barely suppressed sigh. There are also clerks who have obviously been told to be “attentive” – which in their minds means shadowing your every step, as if they suspect you of being a shoplifter. I don’t want friendly sales clerks to hover around me, let alone surly ones! It all adds another layer of intrigue to shopping, what ought to be a pretty simple activity.

Shopping is on my mind this week because my husband’s birthday is coming up in a week, and as usual I haven’t got a clue what to get him. Anyone have any bright ideas?

I had a post in mind for this weekend but in the end I just can’t find the mental energy necessary to sit down and write it. Maybe next week.

On the up side, after being off all of yesterday our water has been restored. It’s kind of astonishing how much water you use in the course of a day. Toilet flushing, hand washing, dishes, laundry, showers. After the time our water was off for five days in our first year in Cairo, I keep two 20 liter jugs in case of such outages. I ended up dipping into it yesterday to do a sinkful of dishes that the ants were getting a little too interested in. I heated a stock pot of water for the washing and ended up using about 5 liters of bottled water for a scant rinse. I hated to waste bottled water that way, but it was that or let the ants have a party in my kitchen. I did the dishes in a plastic tub and then used the dishwater to force the toilet to flush so it wasn’t totally a waste!

On the down side, now I get to spend the weekend catching up on all the laundry and other household chores I didn’t get to do while I was coaching my children through research projects, book reports, spelling practice, and math activities. I’m no neat freak, but I am happier when my house is reasonably tidy. I also have an ulterior motive: if I do all this housework now, when everyone is home and I won’t have any me-time anyway, I can do whatever I like for five whole days next week. MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Have a good weekend. I’m counting the hours until the children get on their school bus on Sunday…

We finally finished up ALL the homework and the children went out to play. I decided to take advantage of the quiet and take a shower. No water. Which also means I can’t do the daily laundry or any other tidying up and I have a sink full of dirty dishes which will very likely be covered in ants soon.

Also, the color cartridge on my printer is empty so I can’t print the Tudor research project until I get another. If it’s not one thing it’s another…