meisa's lagoon

khalid's whole family has been in town visiting this past week. his parents and one brother are staying until next weekend, but everyone else has pretty much left. i didn't think we would be able to handle it, but we did it...9 people in one small house with one bathroom.
because of work, i haven't been able to be involved in very much sightseeing and stuff, but i did make it out to napa with them on saturday. it was my best napa experience yet. we found one winery with a nice deli and picnic tables where you could buy a bottle of wine and some sandwiches and enjoy the view. khalid's mom also took (okay, perhaps stole is more the word) a whole bunch of grape leaves from the vines to make stuffed grape leaves. the vineyards really only want the grapes anyway, right?
in other news, i've lost my voice. very frustrating, especially at work. someone suggested to me that i declare it "stephen hawkings day" and type out everything i wanted to say for the students to read. instead, i opted to struggle through speaking, but i'm definitely worse off now than i was this morning. luckily though, on the homefront, this was a good time to become a mute. most of what is being spoken around our house these days is arabic. so, not understanding the language, i don't really have much to add anyway. works out, but i'd still like to be able to talk again.