Laughin' my Pushers Off!

Can I just tell you how much I love my Rhino? I swear he gets funnier every day.

Yesterday I was making PB&J's for lunch and of course being the on top of it mom that I am I had forgotten to take some bread out of the freezer the night before. For the record 15 seconds is just about perfect for defrosting 2 slices of frozen bread in the microwave. So I popped two slices in and turned around to see Rhino scratching his behind.

Dude! What are you doing?
"My pushers are itchy."

Your WHAT?

"My pushers."

What are pushers, son? And with that I turned to take the first slices out and put the second slices in. I turned back around to see my beloved son with his behind hanging out of his drawers.

"See Mom! These are my pushers."

By this point I wasn't just grinning anymore - I had started to giggle. "Why do you call them pushers, exactly?" Thinking that maybe he had mistaken the word tush for push.

(Ready for it?)

"Because they push my butt around and make me wiggle when I dance like this!" Please picture a very enthusiastic puppy wagging its tail. You know how they kind of wiggle all over? That's what your pushers do.

I literally hit the floor. I'm still giggling and on the verge of tears as I type this and this is the third time I've told the story. As certain members of my family might say, "That boy ain't right!"

Mom Tip #9: Make a Date!

Last night was date night. Oh, not for the Lion and the Zookeeper! I should be so lucky!

Nope. Lion had another date last night. He and Orangutan went to the Father Daughter Dance at OAT. I got several very interesting reports when they got home.

ZK (that's me!): So Daddy! How was your date?
Lion: (straight face looking over top of his glasses) Our daughter can eat.
ZK: Well, um, yeah?
Lion: No. I mean she can EAT!
ZK: Do tell.

Apparently the dancing part wasn't as big of a draw for our little Orangutan as (to quote her) "A BUNCH of absolutely delicious food like the Sprite, and the chicken, and the rolls and the cake! I had my cake and Daddy shared his! And I had Orange Sprite too!" Really? I never would have known but for the fact that I have to try to follow your conversation as you ricochet around the room.

There was only one dance apparently. Something about "I Don't Wanna Be a Duck." Other than that it was all about the food.

I wasn't without a date though. The Rhino and Marmoset took me to ZS 1 (Zoo Suburbia 1 - only on screen at this theater) and let me watch The Music Man while they jumped on me and both dogs and populated the entire carpet with popcorn.

I'm pretty sure I'm about to state the obvious but I'll say it anyway. It was a pretty early night here at Zoo Suburbia.

Welcome to the Land of the Pyramids?

How well do you know the Christmas story? What happened AFTER the manger and the angels and shepherds and wise men? Do you know? An angel came to Joseph in a dream and warned of Herod's mission to find and kill the Child. Joseph packed everyone up then and there and headed to Egypt.

Today we are headed to Egypt ourselves. I was wondering how much of this part of the Christmas story would be recognized or if it had been dominated by the addition of Islam to the religious landscape. It turns out that there is still a very strong Christian presence and therefore Christmas is actually a very prominent celebration.

Something I was not aware of is that the Church in Egypt (called the Coptic Church) is a branch of the Catholic Church but they recognize St. Mark as their founder rather than St. Peter. The Church does not celebrate Christmas on December 25th however. They recognize January 7th as Christmas instead. The holiday is a long and very festive season in Egypt because of the visit of the Holy Family.

In some cities there are complete streets of shops that dedicate thier wares to Christmas this time of year. One particular item that was mentioned on several websites caught my eye (this one is for you J Jiggety!) Apparently there is such a thing as a belly dancing Santa! Try as I might I couldn't find one but please know that I put a lot of effort into it!

Christmas services are held at midnight followed by the ringing of the church bells. Part of the celebration includes a period of fasting daily. When Egyptians eat in the evenings they are only allowed foods that have no animal source (no meat, fish, milk, or eggs). After the Christmas midnight service they go home for a feast including meat and rice called "fatta."

Decorations are heavy with candles and lanterns in tribute to Joseph who legend tells lit candles to warm Mary the night of the Nativity. Another bit of interest for me was that the Christmas holiday is actually a heavy tourist season. In the early 20th century European families would vacation in Egypt for the warmer climate. The hotels however went out of their way to create a Christmas feel with artificial snow and trees. The guests would dress to the nines and celebrate with grand parites. The tourism continues today but maybe without all the snow and trees.

Eid (remember Chris's tour yesterday?) is also celebrated by the Muslim population in the country. But the interesting aspect to me is that the two celebrations are held siultaneously and peacefully. Something to think about!