Balance

One of the most difficult things for me in my life right now is finding balance between work, school and home. And I'm pretty sure that just about everyone has this issue as we all try to work our busy schedules to allow for family time. I'm a full time student right now, which is challening enough as it is. But between finding time to spend with Baba Sanfour, work and trying to keep our home clean and cook a meal every once in while, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. Actually, just plain behind in everything. So, in other words: Life will resume after midterms. I hope.

The Stall Door

Last night I had dinner with my sister at a Disney hotel, and once again I have found proof that it's not possible to be negative at Disney World. Even the bathroom graffiti is happy. Written on the stall door in pencil was the phrase, "Disney Rocks!"

Potato Salad

Last night Baba Sanfour came home with a huge tub of potato salad. I'm loving his adoration of comfort food. He's practically a Georgia Boy. Today I'm surprising him with a shepherd's pie and I'm pretty sure he's going to love it!

Afternoon Date

Baba Sanfour and I have made it a bit of a tradition lately to spend Friday afternoon together as a date day. Yesterday he really wanted to go to the Oriental Seafood Buffet (he loves buffets), but I finally convinced him to go to a nice little Italian restaurant instead. We enjoyed a delicious lunch (and the most wonderful soup that I just can't stop thinking about) and then decided to spend the next hour at a place nearby called Fun Spot. It's basically a mini-carnival with a ferris wheel, go karts, bumper boats and cars, amongst other little attractions. We did some exhilarating laps on the go kart track. I was the first cart to take off and somehow by the end I was the last one in, much to the satisfaction of Baba Sanfour.

After our adventure on the twisty, multilevel track, we headed inside to the arcade where Baba Sanfour spotted a shining emblem of his childhood: the pinball machine. He Loves playing pinball. I first learned of his love of the game shortly after we were married when we happened upon a little arcade while walking around the cutesy downtown area of a local community. He was ecstatic, to say the least, and by the end of the day I was quarterless, but happy to see my husband so excited. Friday was no different as the arcade that we used to go to has since shut down and been converted into bakery for dog treats (which is a weird concept in my mind, but some people like that sort of thing, so there you go). His eyes gleamed with excitement as he rushed to exchange a dollar for tokens to feed the pinball machine. We played a few rounds of pinball and then competed in a game of skeeball before calling it a day. All in all it was a lovely little date and now I'm just waiting for the day we can buy a house big enough to hold our very own pinball machine.

Meatloaf

When Baba Sanfour and I first got married, I really didn't know how to cook. I went from living at home with my mom, to a college dorm, to being married. I could bake cookies, cakes and pies all day long, but that didn't help us out very much when it came time for dinner. Luckily, Baba Sanfour knew how to cook, as he'd been living on his own for a few years before we got married. He's actually pretty talented when it comes to cooking and has taught me a thing or two about it. I've seen my mom look into an empty cabinet and fridge and somehow produce a delicious dinner. I was shocked when I learned that Baba Sanfour could do the same thing. I couldn't let everyone in my life out stage me in the kitchen, so I finally decided that I'd have to set aside my brownie pan and figure out how to cook dinner.

I've tried tons recipes that I've found online and learned how to make several different American dishes and even a few Moroccan specialities. Baba Sanfour is generally pretty open about trying new foods, but he definitely enjoys the more exotic flavors of moroccan cuisine. So I was shocked when he absolutely adored the meatloaf that I made a few weeks ago. It doesn't get more American than meatloaf, so I was even more surprised when Baba Sanfour took a package of ground beef out of the freezer friday night and asked, "can you cook the thing you made last time?"

"Which one?" I asked.

"You know, that yummy thing you made."

"With ground beef?" I scratched my head, "What was it?"

"The thing with the cheese," he urged.

"Meatloaf?" I asked.

"That's it!"

I shrugged and told him that I'd be happy to, still a bit puzzled by his enthusiasm for the classic American dish. He never fails to surprised me. But that's just one more thing I love about him.

So Happy I Married an Optimist

My text to him: It's chilly today. I thought it was gonna be warm like yesterday.

His Response: Spring is coming soon just be patient!

We Went Bowling. Sort of.

Saturday night Baba Sanfour and I decided to go bowling. He's only ever been once and we've never gone bowling together. In preparation for our big night out I packed glittery colors onto my eyelids and donned the perfect bowling outfit while Baba Sanfour dabbed on his cologne and put on his jacket. We finally arrived at the bowling alley to find a gigantic line of people waiting at a collapsable table. After shifting through the crowd of people we finally discovered that the line was for some strange gambling-like bowling competition that the alley holds every Friday and Saturday night.

"So, what if we just want to do regular bowling?" I asked the obviously preoccupied woman at the desk.

"It already ended," she replied.

"So there's no way that we can just play a regular round of bowling?"

"No," she scowled.

Defeated, Baba Sanfour and I whimpered as we walked out the door of the bowling alley and back to the car.

"What do you wanna do?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just wish they had regular bowling," I sighed, "I've never been to a bowling alley that does this weird gambling thing. We don't have this in Georgia! Do you know of any other bowling alleys around?"

"I don't know."

We finally resolved to call 411 to find another bowling alley nearby. The operator gave us the phone number and address and called the bowling alley to get directions. We arrived at bowling alley number 2 at around 9:45 at night, only to be greeted by an exceptionally full parking lot. After hunting down a spot (I'm good at this- I work at the mall!) we jumped out of the car and scurried inside. We were initially impressed with the atmosphere. This alley was significantly cleaner and nicer looking than bowling alley number 1, and actually looked like a lot more fun. We stood in line at the counter only to learn that there was an hour wait for an open lane. At this point we were both ready to drop a bowling ball on our big toes.

We reevaluated once again and finally decided that we would stop by the movie theater. However, on the way to the theater we decided to stop at the drugstore, which led to a trip to the grocery store, which finally led to the movie rental shop, which eventually ended with us sitting on the couch watching a movie and eating cookies that we happened to get for free at the grocery store because they were price marked incorrectly. Whew! So, date night didn't quite end up where we expected, but at least it was an adventure getting there!