Everything I should have (but didn't say) on Eid weekend

Well this weekend was Eid weekend, the end of Ramadan (which I still feel compelled to explain to people....one of my friends this past week (Frieda I have been friends with you for years, I don't think you have to define Eid for me anymore...ok point taken :))

As usual it was the much anticipated end of Ramadan, a day when you get let go of self-control, day time hypoglycemia, and the more serious mood of prayer and fasting and just be happy to be eating, seeing your friends, and well, more eating. But also as usual, it was almost too anticipated, and as often comes with me and anticipation, somewhat anticlimactic (I must say, shopping for Eid clothes the day before with my mother and my sisters was probably more fun than Eid itself....ironically, not that I actually wore any of my new clothes-why is it that new clothes always look so much more fabulous at the store???)

It's ok, both the anticipation and anticlimactic-ness were comforting in their regularity. A new twist this year...my dad getting laryngitis and testing out what funny noises and voices he could make with his new squeaky voice...and my parents actually NOT going to Galveston (which of course for the first time was actually where everyone else was going.)

As usual, like every Eid I find myself left with the unsaid--the people I should have called, the family I should have contacted, the sisters I should have been nicer to :)

And so for all those people, the following tribute:

THINGS LEFT UNSAID ON EID THAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID

To all my muslim friends, Eid Mubarek! Yes most of you aren't reading this, but it is still cathartic for me (and it is all about me right? ...right?)

To my family in Egypt: I should have called/contacted/or at least messaged on facebook. Hopefully this will happen sometime before next year. Please forgive me if I don't do it in the perfect order, thereby creating havoc when Aunt #1 finds out from Aunt #3 that she got a call from me....and yet Aunt #1 is still waiting.

To Hebah: I am sorry you are sick. Don't worry, next time you pick the door!

To Doha: December will be fabulous!!! No worries. Even when I am cranky. It will be fabulous isa.

ttfn,
Frieda

Please see article below

Is this real? We are Muggles.

LONDON - Super spicy chili sauce being cooked at a London Thai restaurant sparked road closures and evacuations after passers-by complained that the smell was burning their throats, police said.

London Fire Brigade's chemical response team was called after reports that a strong smell was wafting from the restaurant in the heart of London's Soho district Monday afternoon, a Metropolitan police spokesman said, speaking anonymously in line with force policy.

Authorities sealed off several premises and closed roads. The Times of London described shoppers coughing and spluttering as firefighters wearing special breathing masks sought the source of the smell.

The paper said firefighters smashed down the door of the Thai Cottage restaurant and seized extra-hot bird's eye chilies which had been left dry-frying. It said they were being prepared as part of a batch of Nam Prik Pao, a spicy Thai dip.

"The smoke didn't go up into the sky because of the rain and the heavy air," The Times quoted Thai Cottage owner Sue Wasboonma as saying. "It's the hottest thing we make."

The police spokesman said no arrests were made in the case.

"As far as I'm aware it's not a criminal offense to cook very strong chili," he said.