Obama the Irish

This is really sweet. Enjoy!





No one as Irish as Barack OBama O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
You don't believe me, I hear you say But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall A small Irish village, well known to you all
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too He’s in the white house, He took his chance Now let’s see Barack do Riverdance
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
From Kerry and cork to old Donegal Let’s hear it for Barack from old moneygall From the lakes if Killarney to old Connemara There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
2008 the white house is green, their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen. The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama, Are cheering for President Barack O’Bama
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
The Hockey Moms gone, and so is McCain They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,
In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama, for our Famous president Barack o Bama
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama
The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God, He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod They came by bus and they came by car, to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes’s Bar
O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama2

A little smile

Today I saw this site, in relation to the "shoe incident" that president Bush encountered in Iraq, made me smile :)
http://www.thankyouforthrowingyourshoe.com/index.php?Page=3

When prayers are needed more than ever before

The last few days been so hard for my church in Egypt. And for those of us living far away, it has been hard to get all the information about our friends who lost their lives or still in hospital. We have a network group that was sat up more than 4 years ago by people living abroad and it is a way of keeping in touch. After this accident, everyone is struggling with what to write or what to say. More than 50 families are involved directly in that fatal accident, how can anyone even start to try and console them? today, one of our friends who still in hospital, she gained her consciousness and started to ask about her family? she lost her mum, her dad, her husband and her son in the crash, what can you say? what can anyone say? and then "The Why" surface again and again. Only God knows why and only God knows how to carry on from now and how to live on. All i can say is that the whole church need healing and grace to stand up again and move on.

Sad news

The last few weeks been so busy and although my last blog was titled "back to my blog", i did not have any time to write anything. This morning i got this really sad news about an accident involving my old church back home where 14 people died and about 35 still in serious condition in hospital. they were all travelling to Alexandria for our church conference and the bus was involved in an accident. So many old friends and many of kids i taught in Sunday school (now they are in university). there is nothing to say really, just feeling of sadness and pain. The Lord knows.

http://youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=55380

Back to my blog

The last few weeks have been very hectic with new school term, new activities and getting back to work. But in the middle of all of that, I had a great time reading THE SHACK. It left a big impact on me and I defiantly recommend it. I also went back to work and praise God, so far so good. My daughter started playing the violin, so I have handed notices to all our neighbours just to inform them that this will be a “violin practice zone” :) but to be fair, she is doing great.

Impossible is nothing

So, I have made it. I ran and finished my 5K run on Sunday. It was so mush fun. The weather was perfect for running, not too hot or too cold and it did not rain :). The great part was seeing some 15000 women running for various charities.

As I ran, I felt so emotional about the whole thing and had so many ideas running through my mind about my walk (and some times run) with God. As I ran, there were people on the sides cheering and clapping, giving encouragements and support to the runners. I felt that may be that what I need to do more for others as they walk with God, not only when people are going through tough times, not only when they are struggling, but to clap and cheer as we all go through life with the Lord and to say "well done" and "keep going" as we all need that along the way.

Summer Blessing

THE FRIENDLY ALIENS WHO COLLECTED JOKES AND PICTURES THROUGH HOLIDAY CLUB WEEK

What a great summer we had! Even with my broken foot, praise God it went really well. There were lots of sport activities (for my daughter not me obviously), meeting friends and having picnics. However, between the quad biking, the swimming, the tennis and the walking, there were enormous blessings through the love and the support we received from family and friends. Also the practical support with my inability to drive. So thank you all.

On the top of my list of blessings, some of the great messages we received this summer through our holiday with All Souls church and through the holiday club (starship discovery) in our local church. My daughter and I have decided to make the effort and work hard on memory verses and here are some of the verses that are now on a "bible mobile" in the kitchen (so no excuse):

1- If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. (Isaiah 9:7b)
2-Choose yourself today whom you will serve, as for me I will serve the Lord. (Josh 24:15)
3- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (Prov 3:5)
4- Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Tim 1:15)
5- I will always be with you, I will never abandon you. (Josh 1:5)
6- In God I trust, I will not be afraid. (Psalm 56:11)

So as we trust the new school year in God's hands, we thank Him for the summer and for the fact that I have finally got rid of my crutch now.

The "Why" question

As we go through life the question of "Why" comes quite often and it is usually addressed to God. I never ask him "Why" when things are going well, the minute things get a bit difficult I admit I can't stop thinking it if not saying it. But in His mercy, He answers me in so many different ways, one of them was through a sermon (which was part of a series) on All Souls church web site by Chris Write, called the God I do not understand. And here is another answer, very simple and sweet and in my humble faith I trust that it is not through God's lack of control that some harm still come our way, He is in the boat and still in charge no matter what happen. Amen

Praise God for He is a great God

Now, one of the good things about having a broken foot is the fact that I do not need to worry about finding matching socks! But, finding matching socks I can cope with from now on. I had my appointment at the hospital and ….wait for it….they removed the plaster, and that is it, I do not need ANY plaster. I still need to use my crutches and gradually I can start to put some more weight on my foot. I can not drive yet but no problem. All I can say is that God is great and He is faithful so praise His name.

It is only day 3 and I am bored to death already!

You know sometimes when life is very hectic and you dream of watching a whole movie without any interruption or finishing some letters before the deadline, this is happening to me now all because of my broken foot. I am sitting at home nursing my foot, and in my small space I have: my laptop, the TV remote control, my mobile phone and my land line phone too, i.e. a small communication centre but I am so bored. My daughter already decorated my plaster with smiley faces and wanted me to sit still to paint a portrait of me (of course no chance of me running away from something like that). I am trying to find jobs to do while sitting down, like finishing some letters and filling some bills and forms. There are also piles of papers and books that need sorting so I am doing my best. The irony is, the sun is shining and the weather is nice. However, I am living in hope that on Friday’s appointment I will be given some good news about how long should I stay like this, so keep praying.

Graduation and broken foot in the same 24 hour!

What a 24 hours I had…On Friday 18 July, I had my PhD graduation ceremony in the university. It was a joyous occasion and having family and friends round to share this lovely day with was so special. My daughter enjoyed herself so much and loved seeing mum in a funny hat and gown. All the hard work and the sleepless nights were worth it at the end. The following day I managed to twist my ankle and in less than 2 hours, I was sitting in A&E waiting for an X-ray. The good news is I can not do any house work at all, the bad news is; I have broken a bone in my foot. So no more running for now, no swimming, no driving, even making a cup of tea is a challenge at the moment. Praise God that we started the school holiday and that I have the family round to look after me. So be ware, more blogs on the way!

God, IL Divo and I

In the last few days, I have been running every day in an attempt to get fit and ready for my charity run in September. I put on my running shoes and just run in the local park. The first time I went, it felt so liberating, the space, the sky and the freedom of a good run. Praising God is wonderful when you are in an open space. The music is another thing, as a fan of IL Divo, I love listening to their songs while I run. So as I get into the habit of running everyday, I am enjoying this combination of God, IL Divo and I.

Some more DIY (but that is the end of it)

I promise that this is it, no more decoration (this week) :). I started painting the guest room 3 days ago and thought it will take only a day to finish it all. However, as i worked i realized that more and more was needed. I finished it today and put the curtains up and put all the furniture back in place etc and I am very happy with the results. I have one of my friends visiting for the weekend and it was a good motivation to get the room ready for her, so it all worked out well. Here are some photos before and after. My promise is "no more decoration for now", I must start to focus on training for the charity run so brace yourselves!

BEFORE

AFTER

My Book

I got some information that my PhD thesis will be in the London University library now and available for people to have a look at and have for loans etc. I could not help thinking about what happened in Friends sitcom and I sincerely hope that this will not be the case for my book. Anyway, here it is.....Ross going mad about his book, so funny, enjoy.

"The staying at home" challenge

In the last few weeks I have been at home full time and against popular belief, it has been hard work. The common idea about staying at home is the endless coffee mornings, shopping trips and meeting friends or sitting in front of daytime TV all day. What I found in the last few weeks is that it is a challenge to stay at home and to stay focus and positive. There are endless jobs to be done, and things are not quite finished at all. At work it is hard and stressful, lots of deadlines to meet and projects to finish etc, but at home the measured achievements are not present all the time and so the need to stay focus is more important in my opinion. To keep praising God all day through the ironing, the washing, changing the water in the fish tank, doing the garden, removing tough stains from school uniforms, writing checks for various activities and organizing bags to take to charity shops...the list is endless and the work is endless. Finding the time to pray and to meet and support people is also hard even thought in theory you have all the time in the world. As Chekhov said: “Any idiot can face a crisis, it is the day to day living that wears you out”. It is a challenge, but so far so good.

To ebay or not ebay..that is the challenge :)

In the last few weeks, I have been affected by the "ebay bug" and I found this funny youtube clip about ebay, so enjoy :)

My baby fish

My baby fish had so much food last night and I found them dead this morning :( They ate so much and had big tums and I was so sad to see them dead today. Only one made it (I think it was the one on a diet). The water is good as I change the tank water every week and the other big fish in the tank are doing really well so it seems that "childhood obesity" is not only a problem in primary schools but also for the fish. I had a lot to do today clearing away the small dead baby fish and cleaning their small breading box. The good news is that one of my female guppies is pregnant and will soon have some more babies. Will put them on a strict food routine straight away.

The final result

Just few words to say that I am pleased with the results. So glad with the transformation of the room and more important my daughter is over the moon with it. We spent a long time decorating some photo frames to hang up. I must say that although this week has been tiring and exhausting but I kind of enjoyed this project and as we put everything back in its place, I feel that the hard work was worth it when I saw the smile on my daughter's face. As she went to sleep back in her bed she said: "thank you mama for all your hard work" that was the best thing for me. Thank God for all his blessings on us.

Praise God..the end is near

So glad that it is nearly over. We put some final touches today and my daughter enjoyed placing these wall stickers. They are the "Brats" stickers from kids TV which is a better choice than many other suggestions including "Dr Who" (image trying to sleep in peace surrounded by Dr Who monster characters). There are still few things to do in the room and let us not forget putting all the toys back in place and hanging picture frames and so on. However, it is all coming together and praise God it is going well.

No need to panic....we have the royal seal of approval!

Yes, the good news is that my daughter LOVES the new color thank God. So with her seal of approval and her help we both painted some more an it looks nice and fresh. We both really excited and I can not wait to put everything back in place again. So the end is near.

Day 6..hold on tight

OK, here we go, the first coat of the actual chosen color was applied. Can i just say that so much effort went on the choice of this color and after great discussion my daughter and I decided to go for a light color. However, as I opened the paint and started painting, I am not so sure any more. I am waiting for the verdict from my daughter too and hoping that she might be persuaded to live with it. I think the color will be different and lighter once it dries so I will wait and see and then decide. So I only painted one wall and here is the photo. Any ideas?

Day 5 and I need a break

So it is day 5 and I am very tired of decorating. The good thing is the second coat of paint has dried and everything is ready for the real colour to go on. However, there is a small change of plans as my daughter has changed her mind about what colour she wants now ! So, we are back to the drawing board looking into colour schemes and trying to come to a decision that will make both of us happy. In the mean time, I thought that taking a little break is actually a good idea and here are some nice fun photos about "revenge time". So forget painting and decoration and enjoy.

Day 4 ... do not loose the will to live just yet

OK, here we go...I started to apply the second coat on paint today. I also moved out the big bookcase to paint behind it so it felt like musical chairs a bit as it all has to stay in the middle of the room. My daughter was having so much fun helping me and we went a bit silly and covered each other with paint. Here are our hand prints behind the bookcase before we painted behind it. I am very tired and really want to get the job done. May be I will feel better in the morning.

Day 3...still going strong

Well..I know what you think, it is not day 3 it is day 4...right, but yesterday I was so tired to do anything really after (wait for it) applying the first coat of paint. I am glad with the progress but it seems that I will need to apply at least 2 under coats. When I worry about what it will look like and whether it is going to be a good job at the end, I just think that it will be better than it was and as I am not entering in the "best house competition" (not this year anyway :)), I have nothing to worry about.

Day 2 *restricted zone...do not enter*

That is how it feels as the process of redecoration continue, "a restricted zone". I must say that I am happy with the progress. And as the process of removing old wallpaper ends, the idea of starting to paint tomorrow is exciting but frightening as well. Last time i painted, my cat was running about with a magnolia tail for few days after i finished painting my kitchen, so you can imagine the how it was back then! however, i am very optimistic this time and trying to do things by the book, i.e. remove old wallpaper, fill the holes, sand the walls, paint first coat, paint second coat then collapse. will keep you updated.

DIY....bring it on!

After a lot of discussion, my daughter convinced me on redecorating her bedroom. I really wanted to do it for a long time, what put me off for so long not the actual decoration but the clear up before and after! (thank God for the guest bedroom that has all the toys now). But as we started taking down the wall paper I thought, I must put this on my blog so I can compare the before and after and share the whole journey with you. So here are some photos. I am hoping that each day you can see the progress of this project. Let us just say that I do not think I will be moving to property development just yet :)

Giving birth while everyone watching!

Few days ago, one of my guppy fish became the proud mother of some 25 or so new fish! it was amazing to watch. the first time she gave birth in the big tank, all the baby fish (or the fry as they are called) were eaten very quickly. So, i took the advice and got a breading box to make sure that as she gives birth, all the fry get in the bottom of the breading box and sepreat from the female. thank God that human do not have the same role, :"sorry we had to eat our kids as we had no space for them"!

I am glad to say that mum and babies doing very well.

as i was so excited by the whole thing, i did not film it. however, i found this you tube clip of a female guppy giving birth, have a look, it is nice.

Grab your running shoes

Now, when it comes to supporting charity, I am very happy to help. However, if I am going to choose between running in the rain to train to get fit or sit down with a friend chatting with a cup of tea in my hand, I know which I pick!
But now I have been challenged with Diabetes UK to run only 5K (I say only!) to raise money for diabetes research. This is so close to my heart and for my daughter and many kids like her and for the future of understanding and treating diabetes, i am going to leave my comfort zone and my cup of tea and start to train to run in September. So in the next few weeks, expect either lots of breathless, sweaty blogs or no blogs at all (that mean I am collapsing somewhere on the bottom of my stairs). On a serious note, I want to physically do something and help to raise as much money as I can for a very good cause. The race will be in September, so I have the time to grab my running shoes and to start to train, bring it on!

School Photo time

Yesterday, for a special time together, me and my daughter went through my old school photos! Of course part of the fun was the whole "strange" idea that i was once at school, wearing a uniform, or a silly hat (as in the photo). But on a serious note it was really nice to see and go through lots of memories and try (very hard sometimes) to remember people’s names. My mother used to say we should write people’s names on the back of photos and put the date on and I used to laugh and think there is no way I will forget these friends, but as time goes on memory start to fade and putting names and dates on photos become a very good advice indeed.

It made me think and I got on the email and I sent a “hello” to all my school friends that still in touch. Somehow, old friends have a very special place in one’s heart and no matter what happen we can always pick up where we left off. The trick is not to spend all the time remembering the good old days but to think about the here and now as well.

God is showing Himself to us though the love of our friends.

What do you think?

I agree!

Time to wake up!

As British summer time is about to start this week end, we will loos an hour of sleep and waking up might be more of a challenge than usual. Here are two genius new alarm clocks for those who basically CAN NOT get up (I have few people in mind who might benefit from these as gifts!). The flying alarm clock and the clocky should come with a health and safety warning as you chase them round the room to stop them going on. Fantastic!

Happy Anniversary!

As the world remember 5 years since the invasion of Iraq, Jon Steward's show celebrated the anniversary in such a wonderful and painfully true reflection on the war. Enjoy!

Ho..Ho..HO..Merry Easter everyone.

This is the view this morning, Easter morning...i guess it is better late than never as far as the snow is concerned this year.

Happy Easter. HE HAS RISEN.

That is Why...

It is never too late

As my friends get ready to leave the UK for their new life in Australia (this is not them in the photo!), I remembered this story of the 102 years old war veteran who decided to leave the UK to go to New Zealand . I was touched by the story and loved what he said about his move. He said: "What's important is that when I'm 105 I don't want to be thinking, 'I wish I had moved to the other side of the world when I was 102'."

There was also some other news about another man who is - you guessed- 102 years old who has been granted a 25-year mortgage. It seems that 102 is the golden age. Few more years to go yet!

No “good byes”, just “see you soon”

Two of my best friends are immigrating to Australia, a decision that left me so emotional and very upset. After I stopped crying, I decided to write about it here. I know it is just purely selfish on my side. I know that for my friends and their family it is the right move and I am sure that God will use them and bless them in Australia as much as He did over here and more. However, it does not make it any easier saying good bye. I thought there must be a law whereby you can stop your friends from taking such a decision! Our lives is shaped by the people around us and those who are close to us and so I feel part of me will be down under (I would not mind the sun shine over there). It is very sad to say good bye but it should not be, it should be “see you soon” instead. Nothing like having a cup of tea with a friend, a good chat, a shopping trip or a holiday together, however, we thank God for all the new technology that allow us to keep in touch so “No excuse”!
I thank God for all my friends and family, near and far, may the Lord bless you all.

Ready for another christmas?

After all the busyness of Christmas and after all the carol services, Christmas eve service, opening presents and cooking the turkey, I am glad to say that I am getting ready to celebrate another Christmas (the Egyptian Christmas is on 7/1). So as I gear up to celebrate again (on a small scale this time) I was thinking about how it feels to celebrate Christmas without believing in God. Then I saw this interview with Will Smith, he was asked this simple question "Do you believe in God?" instead of a yes or no answer he gave the following one:

"I believe that there are forces at work in the universe that science can’t explain and I think there’s an end to human knowledge. Let’s call it the unknown, the higher power. Let’s call it God or Allah, but let’s just agree that there is something beyond what we know. There are things like karma. There are things beyond what we understand. So, yes, I believe there’s an energy and I try to use it and be in the good graces of that energy so things in my life go the way I want them to".

I so much liked the last sentence, he believes that there is an energy and that he tries and be in the good graces of that energy for his own benefits. Well, this is really understandable, we try and protect ourselves and if there is a higher power somewhere out there we try to stay in its good books so our life can carry on as normal and as successful as possible. But the thing is even when we believe in God we treat him in the same way sometimes, we forget the relation and care about the customs and the traditions, we forget the intimate closeness and focus on a list charities and meetings and we worry what might God do next if we do not behave ourselves. The helpless child of Bethlehem was born with a plan to save me and to die for me and my prayers in this new year that the relation between God and me will be about enjoying walking with him not worrying what he might do to me if I am not in his good books.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR