New policies..

One of the things I liked most about my current work is, they never were critical about the time we arrive nor we leave. So if we are like half an hour late, it would be deducted from our lunch break time , which was half an hour anyway , or we can simply stay for another half an hour in the evening and compensate . So you may say, my colleagues and I , have been living in a work paradise when it came to times of arrival and departure..

However, as any company grows from small sized to medium sized enterprise, the number of employees has doubled if not tripled in the last couple of years , and the management sensed the need to organize things better , so new policies were set that we had to follow , and time of arrival and departure was no exception. So, a circular was sent to all employees, that from now on, we should be at premises by 8:00 and we are entitled with 15 minutes to be late, but exceeding that will be considered extremely late, hence, a warning will be sent!

Picture from gettyimages

So having in mind the past couple of years of tolerance and previous policies, the warning part did not really fit. So, on Sunday, I did not really make any special effort in trying to follow the new policy, since we had a lot of those for the past couple of years, and they went down with the drain. The employees in general thought they were immune to changes. So anyway , here I am getting 23 minutes late for work on Sunday , and performing my usual tasks , until I get that email around mid of the day , the email was simply a warning for my late arrival , and cc'd to concerned parts in the company ! Eah !!!!!! when I saw that , I had this hysterical laugh , thinking "Oh my God , they are not kidding !!! that was my first REAL warning ever in anything that I've ever been too, whether school , university or previous job" . I have to say , geeee .. it felt a bit humiliating !


Not wanting to have such a warning AGAIN , I decided that I should start getting up and starting my engines earlier than what I used to for the past years . The problem is , I am not a morning person mainly , I usually feel grumpy in the early mornings , but I guess , I will have to start changing that !


But that is not all.. There will be a completion for this stream of thoughts .. but I guess , I'll keep it for another post !

Perspective ??!?

Is our perspective of people distorted?

What do you mean?

I mean , what are the elements that we take into our consideration on judging a person.

You mean like , honesty , morals , respect , intellectualism and things like that ?

Well, yeah ! Those are some elements, though definitions for these elements you mentioned differ from one person to another.

How! Those are general terms that we talk about!

Yes !!! And that's why I say, it differs from one person to another. a group of people may agree on a general definition , but each one of them may add their own personal ingredient to that .

Now you lost me, what do you mean?

I mean, the definition of, hmmm , lets say intellectualism . You may describe someone being intellectual , for knowing a good deal of information and details , in a particular or a number of subjects , say for instance ; literature , religion , politics , history , languages, sciences . There might be a general agreement on those lines of knowledge. Yet , there are people who consider not knowing about latest video clips, movies, series , world wide clothing brands is such an unforgivable crime !

Okay , that’s extreme ! But that’s a personal definition. The two groups you are describing, apparently have different orientations and perspective.

See, we are back to square one . How can we judge people? Say, you met someone, and he proposed, how you can tell that he applies for the definitions you have. What if he does not apply to your mental definitions, yet he applies to your heart definitions, what if it the other way around ?


Hmmm , I don't know .. but does this mean that you and all of your friends share the exact same orientation or perspective ? I don't think so , there should be variations .. otherwise , there will be no spicing in your relation , whether with your friends , or with your possible significant other .

Could be .. it’s a complicated subject ..

Well , not complicated ... but debatable!

*picture taken from gettyimages .

Eah , who said life is easy !

Again , back with the challenges of work . Being put into course of competition against your will. Having to face indecent opponents at times, having to sail into the sea of career darkness and multi opportunities to prove yourself and capabilities AGAIN, after "thinking" you finished the "proving" phase you've been into the past years, someone snatch you and say "It has just started , the past few years were only the warming up part" to start again and allover showing your bosses AGAIN that you can handle pressure , you can handle changes in work atmosphere and you can pretty much elevate the career steps to reach one day, to the top.


But what if, you were happy where you are, just in that little cozy place you are filling? Those tasks you've mastered which you know that you kind of perfected performing them? And that everybody is pleased with their outcome. Why can't you just hang in there for the rest of your career life? Oh, well, its true, we all value and seek comfort , BUT .. But we all have those little devils of ambition inside us that aspire something bigger, something higher , something supposedly better ,something that tells the opponents and the colleagues that picking you was the best thing they did , something that shows everyone that you earned that promotion , although , you haven't really asked for it .

Now the horrific part is when, you want to show everyone that you can HNADLE IT, but inside you, you are not quiet sure what to do next. You are lost, you know that there is a lot of catch up to do, and you know that your guide is no longer available, you have been tossed into the boat to sail on your own this time , you are not allowed to show your growing fear or your mere reluctant-ness , because your competitors will smell it like sharks , and snap the whole thing out of your hands.

Eah , who said life is easy !

قصيدة من الماضي ...

اذكر .. قبل سنين .. حينما كنت لا ازال طالبة في المدرسة .. اذكر انه كان للشعر طعم خاص ..الا ان ذاكرتي للقصائد اللتي كنت احفظها و ارددها حينها .. قد شابتها الشوائب .. و أغار عليها غبار السنين .. فلم اعد اذكر شيئا مما حفظته يوما ... .

لكن لست ادري لما ذا اليوم دونا عن كل الأيام تلمست الأبيات الأولى من هذه القصيدة طريقها لذاكرتي .. فوجدت نفسي ابحث عنها .. حتى وجدتها .

القصيدة للشاعر الفلسطيني عبد الرحيم محمود بعنوان "الشهيد ".. و ها هو نصها

ساحمل روحي على راحتي .... والقي بها في مهاوي الردى

فإما حياة تسر الصديق .... وإما ممات يغيظ العدى

ونفس الشريف لها غايتان .... ورود المنايا ونيل المنى

وما العيش لا عشت إن لم اكن .... فخوف الجناب حرام الحمى

إذا قلت اصغى لي العالمون .... ودوى مقالي بين الورى

لعمرك إني ارى مصرعي .... ولكن أغذ إليه الخطى

ارى مقتلي دون حقي السليب .... ودون بلادي هي المبتغى

يلذ لأذني سماع الصليل .... ويهيج نفسي مسيل الدما

وجسم تجندل فوق الهضاب .... تناوشه جارحات الفلا

فمنه نصيب لأسد السماء .... ومنه نصيب لأسد الثرى

كسا دمه الأرض بالأرجوان .... وأثقل بالعطر ريح الصبى

وعفر منه بهي الجبين .... ولكن عفارآ يزيد البها

وبان على شفتيه إبتسام .... معانيه هزء بهذي الدنا

ونام ليحلم حلم الخلود .... ويهنئ فيه بأحلى الرؤى

لعمرك هذا ممات الرجال ... ومن رام موتآ شريفآ فذا

فكيف اصطباري لكيد الحقود ... وكيف احتمالي لسوم الأذى

أخوفآ وعندي تهون الحياة ... وذلآ وإني لرب الإبا

بقلبي سأرمي وجوه العدا .... وقلبي حديد وناري لظى

وأحمي حياضي بحد الحسام .... فيعلم قومي بأني الفتى

Hot chocolate & Gerard ..

So I've been blabbering about Gerard and its amazing hot chocolate with marshmallows for a while now.. and although I admitted in one of my comments, on Tamara's blog that I've been staying away from delicious food and chocolate for a while , trying to control my eating habits , which by the way have been drastically ruined during the past summer , Ramadan and the two weeks after Eid , yet , today the temptation was stronger than what I can handle !

After a long loaded Thursday , having to stay late at work , eating barely half a sandwich , I came back home , to go out within less than half an hour , to pick up my mother and sister. So in our way back , we were close to Abdoun , and that chocolate lover devil started whispering in my ears " Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows ... Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows … Gerard is less than 5 minutes away .. you can do it ..go .. go .. gooooo" so it took me like half a second to convince mom and sister .Actually it was effortless job, they said okay without having me to convince them into it, and we headed there , promised with the pleasures of chocolate taste in a winter cold night .

I thought it would be okay for me to order hot chocolate this time, since I did not had much food during the day, so I needed the sugar and the calories – you know.. In order to survive- and ordered my sweet hot drink. You can see the picture DOWN.

The place was full as usual, so I held my precious drink with both hands, and sat outside. It was a cold night, yet all my sensations were warming up with every sip I take of this heavenly sweet condensed drink, and my heart was dancing and bouncing to the flavor of every marshmallow piece melting on my tongue ... ahhhh .. SUPER!

And since I believe that such pleasures should be shared, I took few pictures while the lovely staff was preparing our orders. Now my favorite is the chocolate fountain they have, I swear to God that first time I saw it , I had that childish desire to stick a finger under the running chocolate "falls" and tasting it ,and went further in my dreams into filling a cup and drinking it right there . Does this sound normal , or do I sound like choc-psycho ?

Another picture for ice cream cones dipped with chocolate and nuts, I've always wanted to have one of those and fill it with 3 scoops of ice cream, but every time I get that thought, I bury it, knowing that I'll probably end up having to work out 3 days in row to burn it! I wish If I can be less freaked out about this calories- burning thing.. ah.. pity.. I envy people with high metabolism rates !

Last picture for ice cream flavors, whether its summer or winter, an ice cream is never too cold to have !

Enjoy the pictures..

Words that "rhyme" with winter ..

Its not the type of rhyme in poems, its more like things and words that sound perfect with winter ,at least for me ! I know how many people hate this blissful season, I used to be one of them, back when I was at school and university! However.. Now I can hardly imagine myself living in a place that has no winter!



With no specific order , here are they ...

Warm family gatherings .. Warm friends gatherings.. Romance ..Cuddling .. intimacy ....Sipping Hot chocolate from a huge mug where both your hands are warming up by the hold of your mug ..Chocolate of all types … lots of tea .. American coffee.. Sa7lab.. Cinnamon hot drink 2erfeh " we call it Eainer " .. Lo2met el qadi "also known as 3awwameh" .. Cookies .. ma2routa .. chestnuts "kastana"

Soups "especially lentil soup ".. Heaters.. Fire places.. Reading lots of books and magazines.. Nice TV series and movies.. Walks under the rain .. Snowman.. snowballs.. Snow hikes.. Snow while it falls .. Heavy clothing .. Heavy elegant coats… waist length jackets with nice collar.. Less flesh showing " well some don't let cold weather stop them !" .. Trendy boots.. Scarves of all types .. heavy cologne .. play cards.. barjees "some know it as barzees ,and some don't even know it . For the last type , its an old traditional game played with special stones and a cloth where you have to move the stones " ..

Long nights where you can get enough sleep.. Fog "its almost like living on clouds" .. the lovely washed color and smell of horizon and sky after rain .. Napping in you balcony letting warm winter sun cover you "not for long time though, its harmful" .. better hair .. healthier skin .. Suspense and horror movies.. Romantic movies..

**Update ** Fairooz angelic voice in the early rainy and foggy mornings

These are some of the things that sounds Wintry to me.. And despite the fact that I freeze in cold weather , and that my hands never ever get warm .. Yet I am in love with this beautiful season ..



Share some of your thoughts if you felt like it ..

Is it a state of mind ?

Sometimes you get so frustrated and depressed that you feel your stomach will blow out any minute because of stress building up inside.

It starts like little twitches in your stomach, that builds later to a huge invisible -yet felt- knot in the center of it, and on the way a little furnace in your lungs, that heats up your exhale every time you take and withdraw a breath . That later during the day, it becomes a noticeably annoying and effort-needed process to breathe.

And when that happens, you no longer feel like you can keep up the good, friendly behavior with people around and you no longer stand any out-of-line comments or words, nor you can tolerate people's "sense of humor" because you are totally out of mood. You hold your tongue and nerves a million times, so you wont jeopardize your "Calm friendly character" and spell out something that would hurt them , you wish if people understand but they wont, and You just want everyone around you to shut up, and leave you sink in your own puddle of frustration and depression .



You could've had worst days, yet you were able to handle them better, but there are other days that the smallest thing may trigger your frustration and pick it up to highest levels, where you no longer can take it. It could be a broken phone line, an undone business, a comment that you did not really need to hear, an answered phone, a hang out you prepared for yet it was last minute canceled, or simply waking up on the wrong side of the bed. It could be a million silly things that triggered that nasty feeling in you to invade your system like a wild wave.

And the worst part is that this "feeling" is usually an irreversible thing in a one day interval , I mean , you cannot just switch back to norm within same day , your system and body are simply too much infected with the poisons of your status of mind , that it will take a whole day to flush. So all you could wish for is , to have the day pass fast ,and to spend it away from others , or at least the way you want with the people you like, where you can start maintaining the damages , hoping that an overnight sleep will finish it and freshen you up again the next day .

Feel like having "Homemade chocolate cookies"?

Okay , I felt totally unproductive during this long beautiful "on time" weekend , Its winter , its somehow cold , long nights , and chocolate always seems like a good companion to the previous , besides , my little brother was nagging me into making some , its been a WHILE since the last time . So I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies !

I am not going to write down the recipe, and that's not because it’s a TOP SECRET classified Danah's recipe , no no . Actually, the recipe is written right on the back of Hershey's chocolate chip semi sweet pack. I have made the recipe tens of times , and every time the out come is rich , sweet , chewy , and of course yummy yummy yummy .

I am probably stretching a muscle here :) , that's why I am posting the picture of my cookies creativity ! I wish if smell and taste could be transferred through blogs though , wouldn't this be neat !

One last thing , if you decided making some , don't make it a habit , these cookies are really rich in calories , lots of butter and sugar within , not to forget the chocolate chips .

Enjoy the looks :) , I guess I'll be taking some to my colleagues tomorrow !

YEPPPY!!! I am back :)

Finally !!!! I can view my blog again , after having some technical problem for exactly one week , I can announce cheerfully that my blog is completely recovered . I can write and see my posts again :) !


I kind of lost hope that it will come back again , sending more than one email to the blogger support , getting one poor response , and seeing no action taken , put me down a bit , and I started thinking that I will probably have to stick to a new blog , and forget all about this one , which I like very much by the way , feels like a part of me. Oh well, I can get dramatic sometimes..

I never thought that I would get this much hooked into blogging , and to tell you the truth , when I started blogging , it took me some time to make it public and feel easy about that .Then it took me more time to start feeling "Normal and secured" about writing something down , knowing that anyone can access that and read it . It may sound a bit childish, but I always felt like "PREPARING" for my next post, sort of a homework thing - Oh yeah , can hear a snorts of laughter ! , that my fellow bloggers explains why I am such a lazy blogger , but anyway , I think I am somehow over that !

Well , I want to thank you all for you sweet support during my blog "crises", whether by offering help , or simply commenting and asking . And a special thanks to Qwaider , for his kind gesture , letting my posts appear fully on Qwaider Planet during the past week , thanks a bunch !

And the bad luck events series goes on ...

This definitely cannot be my week , first my blog gets jinxed and is not viewing anymore , acting in a manner of a ghost blog rather than an ordinary one .. then , a business trip gets delayed after arranging reservations , buying tickets , confirming appointments , simply because the Visa to an Arab country will still take more time to be issued , and we were notified by that one day prior to the travel date .

And then , finally today , I am out on a short leave from work to get a present to a friend of mine , whom recently had a baby. And as I am on my way back to work , a monstrous Mercedes truck hits me and sabotages the far end of the left wing of my car , claiming he did not see me " a question popped into my mind , if he did not see me due to the fact that he is way high above the road in his giant truck , then does it justify mashing the other ordinary short cars driving on the road ?" , so I pulled to the side after hearing a loud noise ,in the back of my car , and took a look on the shocking accident.

I was too stunned and shaken to even say anything , then I started talking calmly , and dialed the traffic police number. Fortunately , and for the first time in my very short and small history with traffic policemen , the officer who answered my call , seemed to be having a pleasant day , he was speaking to me cheerfully , assuring me that the officers responsible for that area will arrive in less than ten minutes . Surprisingly, it took them lesser than that.

Of course, my parents came, and the officer who took record of the whole incident was very kind and cooperative, he took notes, and asked each of us of what has happened, and concluded that –obviously – it was not my fault .

So, somehow it ended well, yet that horrible urge to cry is still wandering in me. I need to vent out some of my personal frustration. It is frustrating to be in an accident, whether mild or huge, still the most important thing that neither me or the old driver of the truck had any injuries , Thank Allah.

Yet , I feel sorry and sad for my Toyota corolla , I kind of have this bond to my car , and what happened to it isn't pleasant by any means , and I wont probably be seeing it again until over a week or so .

El7amdolellah on everything ..

Trying something out

Apparently .. I am stuck ! .. My original blog "Life has its mysteries ways " has been facing some technical problems , seems to be originated by blogger.com , in settling some issues regarding blogger Beta , they seem to screw up other things , so apparently , my blog is one of the victims . I have claimed my problem to their support team , received a reply and was assured that they will be taking care of it , however, it looks like it will take a while , since up to now , I have seen no change .. and I miss blogging there :( .. I feel a bit lost !

So , whats the story with this blog "Trying something out" ?!





I have created this new blog over a month ago . Basically ,I wanted to check what changes can I apply to my original "Life has its mysterious ways" template , once changing from normal blogger to blogger Beta , and i liked the outcome , which is why I decided to go for it , while keeping this other blog -I'd say trial lab blog- private , to see how any change I'd apply will look like .

So , for the main time , I'll be blogging temporarily here and there synchronizing the posts , until the problem is resolved and I get back to my home blog ..

Unable to view my own blogpage !

Okay .. this is both weird and silly ! I can post and publish my post , I can modify , add tags and pictures , yet I cannot view my blog ! everytime I hit the address bar , I get an error message ! can yet the site feed seems to work fine ! Anyone help me with that ?

Rain .. Trip .. and other things

Another Sunday after weekend, back to work Its a cold wet grey Sunday.Streets were crazy today's morning , jammed , cars swimming in rain filled streets to their destinations. I turned the radio on Mazaj .fm, I like the collection they play in rainy cloudy early mornings- I just love hearing it more than the talk shows - those old Lebanese –almost ballads – songs , some of them still loop in my head like " law shebakek 3ashebbaki " and " Aletli sho byelba2li , elazra2 aw zahr elromman , 7atta 3younak teshta2li , balbeslak a7la Foustan " and Fairouz with her angelic voice " Fi ahweh 3almafra2 " , they sink into me songs in rainy days , as if they were especially made for such days .




Anyway, it took me over half an hour to get to my work place, and apparently, I arrived late! It never feels good to arrive at work late after most of your colleagues and especially the managers. And it really sucks when you have already planned it the day before to come early, to finish few pending issues without everyone's hassle on early morning, and of course, and especially on the first day of the week When you get there and see the time , you realize the failure of your plan , you're already late !

But I ain't stressing about it, I don't want to .I have to save my nerves for a billion other things stress worthy, like preparing for my trip tomorrow.

Tomorrow's evening I'll be flying to Muscat-Oman on my first business trip. I am still behind schedule in having everything I need prepared , but I am counting on today to get it all covered up . I am excited because it’s the first trip with work. Yet anxious and worried because I need to be fully prepared , there is a good chance that many things will get defined after this trip , and I really don't want it to be defined the other way around , and of course I am speaking career-wise .

I am the type of person who worries a lot , no matter how I try to convince myself with the reality that nothing really worth all of this nerve burning , yet I just cannot help it .

I needed to write something down, I haven't blogged anything for a while , and it looks like there is something wrong with my blogspot, I haven't been able to view it for over four days now , so I am not quiet sure if this will get published on time ,but I needed to write it down anyway .

Wish me luck, and I shall update you with my trip events, if its possible from there or until I come back by Allah's will.