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Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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I know I have been uncharacteristically silent the last couple of weeks. \u00a0It\u2019s not like it\u2019s been a quiet time in the world. \u00a0There\u2019s revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, the usual players are yapping on cable TV and life is swirling around me with its normal color and chaos. \u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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I got knocked down by the flu, first of all. \u00a0Mommies don\u2019t get to take sick days, but I did take a couple of \u201csick mornings\u201d, where I let the kids get themselves ready for school with Daddy\u2019s help. \u00a0So their socks didn\u2019t match and they wore the wrong coats; they got there, they learned, they made it back. \u00a0I stayed in bed not nearly long enough but eventually recovered \u2013 the fact that four of my five kids got sick as well, and then my husband, just made it that much more of a challenge. \u00a0Alhamdulillah, except for coughing the accumulated junk out of my lungs, I\u2019m doing fine.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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On the heels of this, it\u2019s tax time. \u00a0I enjoy dealing with my finances about as much as I would enjoy getting poked in the eye with an acid-covered stick, and doing it while sick, well, that\u2019s just a whole nother level of joy. \u00a0Thankfully, I had done the major organizing and counting already so I didn\u2019t have to do it all from the beginning. \u00a0Now I just have to make files for this year so I can keep track of everything month-by-month instead of making a mad scramble at the end of the year. \u00a0Yeah, we\u2019ll see how that works out.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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And then there\u2019s Egypt. \u00a0Ah, Egypt. \u00a0My connection is that my husband is originally from there. \u00a0I\u2019ve been there a couple of times. \u00a0I have friends there. \u00a0Most of my husband\u2019s family is still there. \u00a0Of course I\u2019ve been obsessively following the news and watching my status updates and scouring the interwebs for any information. \u00a0I\u2019ve watched the protests with horror, joy, amazement, sadness, and a sense of wonder that it happened so fast. \u00a0<\/i>My husband had planned to go to Egypt in the spring to see family and take care of some stuff, but now that\u2019s off the table for only Allah knows how long. \u00a0We are reduced to being a far-off audience, witnessing history from a distance. \u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Even that is complicated, because we have a family member in Egypt who is ill \u2013 an elderly uncle who broke his hip \u2013 so my husband and his New York based sister have been working the phones, talking to other family members about his care and trying to support those few who are willing to actually take care of this poor old man. \u00a0Nothing is easy in Egypt. \u00a0His operation was delayed because of the protests \u2013 the hospital was short-staffed and it\u2019s not a really good place even at the best of times. \u00a0So pile worry on top of worry, and that\u2019s been my husband for the last few weeks. \u00a0It stresses you out and fries your brain, but he can\u2019t even take time off because there are bills to pay, money to be made, kids who need groceries. \u00a0So he stumbles through the day as best he can, distracted and worried and still managing to do what needs to be done. \u00a0All I can do is stand behind him and offer my support.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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