A new day

First of all, you may have noticed that I went back to my old layout for the blog. I know it's not as pretty but I felt like the other one was kind of...distracting. I plan on adding photos more frequently (more on that in a minute) and I don't want the bright colors and design to take away from that.
So I'm still not going outside. Now it's less about the allergies and more about the sandstorms! Today is the 3rd day. You know when you heat up the oven and then open it to put something in? That's what I feels like when you walk outside. You open the door and it's like opening the door to an oven. And then once you're outside, even if the wind isn't blowing there is a fine silt in the air. At night, you can see it in the beams of the headlights of cars. It gets in your teeth, your eyes, your hair. It's gross. So since I'm not teaching today I'm going to stay in and hope it's better tomorrow. No one seems to know how long this will last. We were warned about this, but we were told that it would happen in late winter or early spring. Oh well.
My latest obsession has been the blog www.soulemama.com. When I was doing my baby registry I found a book about having a creative family and it looked so great. Then Heather told me that the author had a blog, that she got started doing a blog and then wrote the book. So I checked it out, and a week later I am now reading all the archived blogs from as far back as 2005! So in addition to inspiring me to make baby clothes, and learn more about Waldorf education, she has made me want to be a better blogger. This woman has 4 kids and she manages to blog pretty much daily AND post lots of great pictures. So since it's only been May for a few days, I'm going to try and post everyday or at least every other day for the rest of the month. We'll see how it works out!

The Great ? Outdoors

I am sad to say that outdoors is not my favorite place to be right now. I have been plagued with nasty headaches that I assume are pregnancy related, but are exacerbated by Spring (and the usual dust and pollution) in Cairo. As simple walk to the yoga studio or the market can make the entire right side of my skull tender to the touch. It's so unfortunate because the weather and the trees and flowers are truly lovely right now. I was especially excited to see the Indian Jasmine blooming on the median at the end of the street. I want to be out in the sun before it becomes brutally hot and I won't want to leave the AC!
In other news, Spring has given us some great fruit. I am gorging myself on peaches, and 2 different kinds of melon. They are very small and I assume they are cantelope and honeydew, based on the color. But they are much sweeter than the melon I've had in the states. There is also a curious little fruit called loquat that we actually had for the first time in Greece and now we are getting them here as well. The are small, orange, oval shaped fruits with a thick skin. The taste can be slightly acidic, but when they are truly ripe they are very sweet. It reminds me of a cross between a kiwi and an apple, maybe with a little starfruit thrown in...