Croissants, cows, and not loving walls

Milk is rather expensive here (or at least it feels rather expensive here). It is 100% Qatari produced (at Baladna Farm, which is probably worth a visit someday) from a herd of cows flown in from various countries throughout the world (including 6000 cows from Canada) during the 2017 blockade (with more added since then to bolster the herd)—but even though I grew up brainwashed to support the Canadian cattle industry (I ♥ Alberta Beef!) we have been encouraging the kids to expand their breakfast repertoire away from cold cereal + milk. 

They've been enjoying yogurt and eggs and leftover rice (we've been eating a lot of rice-based meals because we bought a rice cooker for our little hotel kitchen) and these prepackaged croissants from Saudi Arabia. They're pretty good, as far as taste goes.  

As far as typography goes—most excellent!

The Arabic says 'krwasan,' which rather closely captures the French-ish pronunciation I grew up with. 

I like how the final /n/ in Arabic is the same shape as the initial C in English, and that it incorporates the dot from the /i/. The squiggles for the /s/ feel similar in both languages. The waw in the Arabic and the /a/ in English resemble one another, with the initial /r/ and /k/ in the Arabic looking very much like the final /n/ and /t/ in the English. 

Delightful. Chef's kiss. 

I am having a blast looking at all the packaging here. It takes me right back to when I was a little kid studying bilingual cereal boxes at the breakfast table (though, of course, it's a little bit different because we are moving away from breakfast cereal...which, like milk, is feeling rather expensive at the moment).

*****

Our house is officially under contract, the due diligence period being rather short. After the inspection our buyers asked that we replace our back deck (a huge project that was certainly high on our list of priorities had we stayed in the house), but our realtor kindly explained that the price of the house reflected the fact that the deck needed to be replaced and that we couldn't very well be expected to essentially pay for the deck twice (and it was an issue clearly visible prior to having made an offer). 

In the end they asked that we replace the gutter that got smashed when that tree fell on our house last week and...that sounds perfectly reasonable (one might propose that the owner of the property on which the tree that fell originated might reasonably pay for that repair—good fences, good neighbours, and all that—but "something there is that doesn't love a wall, that wants it down..." so we're just not even going to bring it up).

The paperwork is signed and we are officially, officially under contract and set to sell next month. 

*****

Today was...a day. 

I experienced some...acute gastrointestinal distress...beginning last night, which culminated in an alarming bout of gastrointestinal bleeding this morning...and a baptism-by-immersion experience of the medical system here. 

I had an appointment with a gastroenterologist around noon, who feels it was likely something that simply didn't sit well with my digestive tract (a real Sherlock...but seriously, there are other causes that he ruled out through examination). I was sent home with probiotics, an ointment for the "piles" he's sure are thanks to the many, many, many rounds of...gastrointestinal distress...that I experienced, and a request for some bloodwork just in case (because I look "peaky" and because my sister has celiac disease). 

*****

I was feeling well enough to take the kids to the library for a science demonstration, which was really quite fun! But I was more than happy to bow out after the first show because Phoebe was ready to go home (though I do also wish I could have stayed for the second show). We left Benjamin, Zoë, and Alexander with our friends to have an extended playdate/hang sesh/sleepover. 

It actually ended up being quite a good day for a quiet evening and I was thankful for it! 

(#GoodNeighbours, #SomethingThereIsThatDoesn’tLoveAWall)

After Phoebe got to bed I curled up on the couch with Miriam and we binge-watched the first few episodes of "The Other Bennet Sister" (which is just lovely).