The Founding Illegals of US of A...

500 years of female portraits...

Long Distance Chatting/Surfing...

docsigma2000: jesus christ man
docsigma2000: my son is sooooooo dead
c8info: Why?
docsigma2000: hes been looking at internet web sites in f***ing EUROPE
docsigma2000: HE IS SURFING LONG DISTANCE
docsigma2000: our f***ing phone bill is gonna be nuts
c8info: Ooh, this is bad. Surfing long distance adds an extra $69.99 to your bill per hour.
docsigma2000: ...!!!!!! F*** F*** F***
docsigma2000: is there some plan we can sign up for???
docsigma2000: cuz theres some cool stuff in europe, but i dun wanna pauy that much
c8info: Sorry, no. There is no plan. you'll have to live with it.
docsigma2000: o well, i ccan live without europe intenet sites.
docsigma2000: but till i figure out how to block it hes sooooo dead
c8info: By the way, I'm from Europe, your chatting long distance.
** docsigma2000 has quit (Connection reset by peer)

What is most important to you in life?

Health is most important in your life. Having a high focus on health indicates that you are very health-conscious and you realize that if you don't have your health, you have nothing. You are devoted to living healthy. Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

	Type A
	People with A type blood are sensitive, revengeful, careful and cold. You are fiercely grudge holding and never let go of anything - but also a good friend and an extremely loyal one. You are passionate and creative and don't care what other people say about you.
'What does your blood type say about you?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Make Up (Flawless Face and Smoky Eyes)

Colors of Pakistan

Animator vs Animation 2

http://www.koreus.com/media/animator-vs-animation2.html

Istakhara

Here is the dua... I have taken it from Masnoon Duaain (Supplications from Sunnah)

Pakistan, the people and the places...

No matter where we go, no matter what we do, there are some moments, that somethings pull at the strings of our heart and make us want to go back to our people, our place, and our past.
Being a muslim, boundaries dont matter, ethnicity doesnt matter, language doesnt matter, as Islam comes foremost. Still, we are taught to safeguard our house, our land from those who wish us ill.
This is where I hail from and this is what beckons me, time and time again... no matter where I go, no matter what I do.

Excess Baggage

I know I have a habit of collecting things, or buying things and then forgetting about them, but this scares me. Click the link below to see it for yourself.

One House full of junk

A serious case of looking down at people who ae worse.

I hope she gets some help and clears those things out. Isnt there a rule or something about all that being a fire hazzard.

This month in Reader's Digest, there was an article about a person who hoarded stuff also. She got help (taxpayer's money - couple of thousand dollars) from a professional to clear her house out. And after a few weeks, it was back again to the same place.

The problem is that when you go out to the market or whatever, there are so many things on sale, or on the internet, where somethings are seriously 95% off or more, you feel like you just HAVE to get that.

It is a blessing now to think that i like expensive things ( *wink* ), otherwise, no, I dont even want to think about it.

Last week only, I posted a thread about stuff from before marriage and after marriage and then stuff back home once you move out to another country. I have (had) my things in my room back at my parents place, but each time i go visit, some of it is missing, so I make up for it, by putting in another box or suitcase or bag filled with newer versions of leftover goods.
At my in-laws too, lots of stuff... but never of this magnitude, alhamdolillah.

I admit, I collect bags, and I have to go clean them up from behind the door :P and put them nicely all laid out flat in a big bag. And wrapping papers, new, used, unique, I have them all. When I was a kid, I collected stickers, and would ask my parents to bring me stickers from their trips abroad. I havent used them, and got them here recently... and started adding to it again.
I also collected stationary, but most of it is gone now, as if anyone needed a pen or pencil or eraser, they'd take away mine w/o my knowledge, and I dont like collecting the used stuff (for erasers atleast)... a big collection of pens and mechanical pencils (occassionally I throw out a couple which have dried out) and scissors... but then again, I need those for my craft. And I collect beads, and then forget about them, and if i remember, then i use them on my cards.

So, I have also stopped collecting chocolate foil wrappers... i stopped eating Quality Street because someone told me that something in that is not Halal. Now I have to find that out again... I have stopped collecting hair bands and clips and all, as I dont use them anymore, I have a permanent bun anyways, and pins and clips kept falling out anyhow.

Lets see, I do collect my kids' clothes, that I think will get re-used, some do, some dont... like recently I opened up a stash of my son's things after my daughter was born and I used only like 5% of those things and 50% was given away, and 50% kept back (like for when there is another boy in the family?) now I have tons of my daughter's stuff and she is under a year! Last time I was packing her stuff, my sister-in-law commented, she has more clothes/shoes than me!

Clothes and shoes [:)], a recent pledge to make the 5-yr or older scarce... a good thing, my mom used the good ones recently (you know the wedding wear - expensive things, you hardly wear them a couple of times and then store them, as they are too expensive to give away) for a girl's shaadi after getting them new accessories and all. That was what motivated me to get some of my old ones out and put them to good use.

At a taleem some years ago, a lady mentioned that we will be asked about all Allah's naimat on us, like about everything we havent used in the last 40 days... I have a lot to be answerable for!!!! Excess baggage, indeed.

And, if you give someone something to wear, like a shoe or clothes, you will be rewarded for it, till they use it to the point of only a thread remaining of it.

Something to think about, ja?

:)

A finger painting maestro... 3 yr old.

And here is someone who made it into a joke...

Scoring points with your Wife!!!

One Single Rule

In the world, one single rule applies to the men: Make the Woman happy.

Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES-- You make the bed (+1)
-- You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
-- You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
-- You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
-- In the rain (+8)
-- But return with Beer (-5)
-- You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (still 0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
-- You pummel it with fireplace poker (+10)
-- It's her pet (-10)

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS-- You stay by her side the entire party (0)
-- You stay by her side for a while, then go chat with a friend (-2)
-- Named Tina (-4)
-- Tina is a dancer (-10)

HER BIRTHDAY
-- You take her out to dinner (0)
-- You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
-- Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
-- And it's all-you-can-eat night (-3)
-- It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)

A NIGHT OUT-- You take her to a movie (+2)
-- You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
-- You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
-- You take her to a movie you like (-2)
-- It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
-- You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)

YOUR PHYSIQUE
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
-- You develop a potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
-- You develop a potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and Hawaiian shirts (-30)
-- You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (-8000)

ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
-- She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) [That's right, you lose points no matter how you answer]
-- You hesitate in responding (-10)
-- You reply, "Where?" (-35)
-- Any other response (-20)

COMMUNICATION
-- When she wants to talk, you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression (0)
-- You listen for over 30 minutes (+50)
-- You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
-- She realises this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)

Play a prank: Coke (Diet) and Mentos

Ever since we saw this video about coke fountains using mentos, mentos seemed to have vanished from the market, AND I finally (read for the upteenth time) decided to stop having coke. Inshallah!
Anyhow, so I got some Sprite instead and that was in the house and my husband and I were experimenting making different drinks... on a latest trip to the grocery store, there were a few mentos on the shelf and I got them all.
Now, we were sitting having mentos and watching some movie (I guess it was Flushed Away), when I went to bring Sprite from the fridge and remembered that this is not a combo. My husband was like it was all a joke, and I was like no it isnt.
Khair, we decided to find out for ourselves. Into the kitchen, I took a glass and put some sprite in it (it was warm and most of the gas was already gone from it) and put in a mint mentos, and guess what... It just sat at the bottom and a few bubbles came out of it! Very disappointing, if you ask me, and it gave a chance to my husband to give me a TOLD YOU SO look.
So here is one prank that can be played, and my unsuspecting brother is going to be my victim (GIVEN the availibility of mentons and diet coke and his willingness to get me a glass like this guy in the video)... watch it.

Evolution of Video Games

Adventure, ready set GO!

Matrimonial Ads....

Matrimonial Ads!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are actual ads on a matrimony site. Grammar and spell errors have no place in a profile description as everything is straight from the heart! Disclaimer : We are not responsible if you forget your basic grammar after reading this mail... It's a bit long but hilarious...

# - Hello To Viewvers My Name is Somesha, I am single i dont have Famale, If any one whant to marrie to me u can visite to my home. I am not a good education but i working all field in bangalroe.. if u like me u welcome to my heart... when ever u whant to meet pls viset my resident or send u letter.. Thanks yours Regards Somesha


# I want very simple girl. from brahmin educated family from orissa state he is also know about RAMAYAN, GEETA BHAGABATA, and other homework
(Homework?)

# Wants a woman who knows me better and can adjust with me forever. She may never create any difficulties in my life or her life by which the entire life can run smoothly. thank you
(The principle of running life smoothly was never so easy!)

# She should be good looking and should have a service. She Shoulsd have one brother and one sister. She should be educated.
(ain't it unique !! 1 brother 1 sister criteria !)

# I am simple boy.I have lot of problemin my life because ofmyl ucknow i amlooking onegirlshe caremeandloveme lot lot lot


# My wife should be as 'Parwati' as in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and as Tulsi as in KSBKBT......
(Ok I haven't seen these soaps but I am sure he must be demanding too much, ain't he?)

# I want a girl with no drinks if she wants she can wear jeans in house but while steping out of house she should give recpect to our cast
(by not wearing her jeans? ahem...)


# HYE I AM A GOOD LOKING GUY, WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TOLOUGH.I BELIEVE IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REAL MESSENGER OF GOD. THE 3 THINGS I AM LOOKING FROM A GIRL ,THEY ARE 1.THEY MUST BELIEVE IN GOD.2. THEY HAVE TO LIKE MY PROFFESION AND THEY SHOULD NOT GET BORED WITH ME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM LOUGH.
(all of us are loughing)

# Whatever she may be but she should feel that she is going to be someone bride and she must think of the future life if she is toolike this she would bde called the lady of the lamp
(I am clueless, I feel so lost. Can anyone tell me what this guy wants)


# Iam pradip my family histoy my two brother two sister and fater&mother sister complity marred
(somebody please explain in comments section how to get married 'completely'?)

# my name is farhan and i am unmarried. pleaes you marrige me pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes
(height of desperation!)

# my colour is black,but my heart is white i like social service
(Zebra..???)

Best Quote Of 2006

"You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy,the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon.
--Comedian Chris Rock

Draw the Pirate...

An Interesting Magic Trick

It took some cutting and pasting to get this video here from goo gle. Lets see how many more I can do, till this gets removed :P

I scream, you scream for ... ICE CREAM

Okay, here goes, I come from a family of Icecrem eaters. And boy, did we take our icecream seriously.
As far back as my memory goes, a walk at night meant a paan for the elders and an icecream cone or chocbar for the tots.
We lived in Banglore Town (Main Shahra-e-Faisal), and would walk to Mohammad Ali Totiety (I used to say Society like that when I was a tot) and have tikan tikka (thats chicken tikka) and then Ice-cream from KayBees.
The cone machine man would take a cone and drip oodles of icecream in six different flavors (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mango, blueberry, coffe) if you asked for a mix cone and then you'd have sticky hands and face and clothes in no time at all. It was never an issue as by the time we'd be home, we had to have a bath at night and change clothes anyways.
Then we moved away to another neighborhood and we'd have to sneak out in the afternoons to the local grocery store and have Jetsport (the orange Icelolly) from Polka. Somehow we'd always get caught with it, because of the orange toungue.
If we were lucky, we'd have the Kulfiwala coming once in a blue moon, and we'd have kulfi with khopra (desiccated coconut) or malai (cream) on top. I never ever believed that the kulfi wala would have cooked a lizard in the kulfi, as we were told so as to discourage us from buying kulfi that way. So many times, we'd hear the sound of "Kulfi walaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", only to rush out and find it was the Kabari asking for the unwanted junk or old newspapers.
And who can forget the gola gunda (the desi version of shaved ice with different flavor sherbet poured on it), again the water comes from a gunda nullah (dirty ditch) story never made me think twice before buying gola gunda and then asking for the sweetened milk topping on it. Dhoraji's gola is a must have. Now there are newer modern versions, claiming they use Mineral water to make their shaved ice, but who knows and who cares. I still prefer the gola over the shaved ices.
Then was faluda, which is the sweetened spaghetti shaped things eaten with kulfi or put in some milkshake and topped with fruit, jelly and nuts. Karachi's best Kulfi faluda is found in Liaquatabad. Or if you prefer the newer version, try the one at Sony Sweets.
Coming back to Icecream, I dont remember a time when we didnt have icecream. My brother and I would fight over the last one, and would always keep a tab on who ate how many cups or cones or lollies or scoops or sticks or whatever form the icecream took.
Being young, my mother also made kulfi at home and they were frozen in the moulds and then we could have them once they had frozen, but who could wait till they froze. My mother had metal moulds and sometimes in our hurry, the toungue would stick to the mould, oooooooooo that hurt, but kulfi inside the mould would soon take care of it.
The best time was when we had Eidi from relatives during Eid time, so much manna and only so much icecream to spend it on.
We didnt get regular pocket money to spend, so whatever or whenever we had money, we just had to spend some part of it on icecream.
During the summer vacations, we got to visit our grandparents, and there we'd get some money to spend. There was a local store there that sold imlee, chooran, and home made frozen lollies. I once bought all that store had and put it in the freezer, well hidden behind the stuff there. Alas, someone spotted the colorful ices and I only had one from the whole stash. I hated my cousins and brothers for that.
Whereever we went, I made it a point to sample the chocolate icecream. If I was lucky, Id find chocolate chip and coffee and if I was really lucky, Id stumble upon Mint Chocolate chip. My mother had triple chocolate ice-cream bar in Disney land while we went on the rollercoaster, and I think that was the best triple chocolate ever.
An icecream store opened up called Carvel 36, and that was my first discovery of an icecream parlor. It was pretty close to our house, so we'd drive by there sometimes and have our favorite flavors. I'd only have chocolate, coffee and mint. These were the flavors my family didnt like much, so I was always getting away with eating it all.
Then Movenpick came to town, and I remember having 6 flavors of Swizz Chocolate, White Chocolate, Apple, Caramel, Strawberry and Pistachew all in a tray, going from one relative to the other serving them ice-cream of their choice. That occassion was my father's birthday in the early 90s. A family event which is fondly remembered.
Even when I passed the admission test and got into FAST, I took ice-cream home for the family to celebrate.
After getting married, the icecream episodes werent as frequent, but I was happy to see that most of my in-laws shared my love of ice-cream, be it kulfi, gola, kaybees or chocolate fudge.
One Ice-cream that I have my reservations against is the locally made ice-cream, which tends to stick to the roof of the mouth. Im forgetting the name.
One place outside Karachi whose Ice-cream I would recommend is Hot Spot in Islamabad. I've had ice-cream there in sweltering heat(inside) and in freezing cold weather(outside).
there is always homemade icecream and sorbets.
In saudia, there was a shop Gelato, owned by a pakistani, it was a shame that he moved his shop someplace else. His ice-creams and sorbets were amazing.
There is one in Karachi by the name of Gelato Affair which serves unique flavors like Kiwi for instance.
I only started eating flavors other than chocolate after I got married, and I like blueberry also now, followed by Caramel Crush, raspberry cheesecake, and anything with Mocha in it.
Now Im glad, I got to taste so many varieties and flavors. I got an ice-cream maker maybe last year that I have yet to open.
Now that the summer is coming, Lets see what ice-cream or sorbets Im going to make.
I got 5 flavors of ice-cream choc bars yesterday, you know the mini ones, with one to two bites each... its a pity my husband doesnt like icecream, my children love ice-cream, but on the bright side, I get to eat his share too :D ... so much for small pleasures in life!

oooooooooooooooooooooh, the irony...

A Talking Parrot...

If you like this, see the full video here.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=o9d4yzob48

(the full video is really cute... I love the part where the parrot says its name einstien)

Sleeping for long stretches at a time

Dawn prayer best prevention against heart diseases: Study
Web posted at: 3/9/2007 3:50:31
Source ::: QNA
DOHA • Recent scientific researches reveal that performing Fajr prayer regularly in time daily, is the best preventive and remedial measure for heart diseases, congestion of blood vessels-arteriosclerosis- and cardiac infarction which causes brain stroke.

A research conducted by the Jordanian heart doctors society said the studies established that cardiac infarction disease which is one of the most dangerous diseases and congestion of blood vessels is mainly caused by long hours of sleep in the day or night.

The study showed if a person slept for long, rate of his heart beats drop to 50 beats per minute and when the rate of heart beats drop blood flows very slowly in vessels leading to accumulation of salts and fats on walls of blood vessels in wall of the coronary artery consequently causing a blockage.

The congestions of blood vessels weaken the heart muscle which pumps blood to and from the brain leading to heart attack and or deadly brain stroke in most cases.

The study stressed necessity of refrain from long periods of sleep and get a sleep not exceeding more than four hours after which it is important to get up and do an action effort for 15 minutes at the least.

The performance of -dawn prayer every day in the first hours of the day with congregation in the mosque provides that preventive and remedial measure against heart diseases.
*************************************************************************

(NOTE: I need to sleep for lesser hours, for sure. Inshallah!

Mocking a Punjabi Movie, in 50-50 style...

Battle of Genders...

I've been asked to comment upon feminism. Lets see...

While I was a kid, I thought that my brother could get away with a lot of things that I wasn't allowed to and it bothered me being a girl and not being able to do whatever I wanted all the time.

As a teenager, guys were the things to hate, do everything you can to hurt them in as many ways possible. Reason was the so many of my friends were crushed when their engagements didnt lead to marriage, or the guy who liked them dumped them for someone else. Faithfulness was something that dogs displayed only.

Then, I went to University and started working. Here is when i had to interact with guys everyday, and it was a rough time for me. My brother used to get a lot of attitude from me, see whenever, a guy would say or do something, Id come home and yell at my brother, and all this time, he didnt know why he was being yelled at. Once he had to pick me up from where my point dropped me off, and while I was waiting, this other guy shows up in a car and offered to give me a lift. Fumming, I waited and when my brother finally came, I gave him a piece of my mind.

Guys think it is so cool being a guy, they can get away with passing comments at passerbys, teachers, girls, whatever. It is lovely to talk (read brag) about the number of girlfriends that they have, and every guy thinks (or fantasizes) about being the Romeo for his (1, 2, 3, 4, or more) Juliet(s).

Its a male-dominated society, so when I was asked to comment about feminism back in University, I said I dont think Men and Women are equal, Women are far superior.

I was so naive.

Then started job, and thought, oh, men and women are equal. You get all this "equal opportunity employer" and all the loads of c*** when you enter the field. Hello, wait, then again, there were endless debates about the postings on the offical bulletin board regarding gender. IT happened so much, and so often and it got so nasty, that all such postings were banned. And we all know, what happens when something is banned. It gets talked about more and more and more.

My class fellows (some of them) also became my colleagues at work, and one day, one of them casually commented to my face, "all girls who work are immoral". Upon realizing that I was staring at him, he said, but its true.

We were asked never to discuss our pays with our colleagues, and i was the last to know what everyone's else pay was and was the first to protest against it. Guys were getting paid more, because they stayed at office longer. So we stayed back a bit and proved the survery that guys were staying back longer BECAUSE the office had airconditioning, uninterrupter internet for free, guys hanging around, someone or the other willing to pay for the sutta (cig), khaapaa (grub), network games, and a ride home. Some guys were living in the office, and getting termed at being the best employee as they were so DEDICATED to the office.

So the bubble burst, how could women be superior, when they were far far inferior.

Then I got married and saw the world in a different light, as there were much more expectations from me and I had gained a whole new collection of family/relatives/family friends, and at the same time, being with the man Allah had paired me with.

Then the idea became this, men and women are equal, but men are superior as they are providers. Conditional acceptance was hard to chew, but met with an ok, chalay ga.

Then a became a mom, and my mother commented, it is a wonderful thing that men dont get to give birth, otherwise, they'd sit home and do nothing after having a kid. This was in context of the maternity leave that (working) women get.

Then for the first time, it dawned on me that mothers are better than fathers, because they get thrice the reward fathers get, yet, they get the similar blame if their child does something wrong.

I've come to terms with it now, but this coming to terms came with a lot of acid influx, heart burn, and mental anguish. A lot of bad words, tons of useless blame games.

Go down this road if you want to, but Im at peace with the fact that men and women are different and it is not wise to try to compare apples and oranges. We just have to learn to deal with whatever life throws at us and not generalize what men are or what women are depending on who we know.

There are lots of wonderful men in this world and women make this world a wonderful place to live. Life has a purpose and so lets not waste it over who is better. Make yourself the best and the hope someone notices and tells others about it :)

Peace!

Memories of Saudia...

This picture was taken by my husband while I had gone shopping with my mom, and he was waiting in the car with the kids.
The place is the Suwaikat Street, Al-Khobar, Saudia and the time was some hot day in May, 2006.
We never took tourist pictures, so I dont have any of those to share.

I tried my best however to take a decent picture of the Kingdom Tower, Riyadh, but my mobile wasnt the best thing to take a great shot. It looks great at night (not the mobile, i mean the Tower)

Once we went to this city near Riyadh (near meaning about 200 km in the direction of Al Kharj), where a meteore fell once (two meteores actually) and created DEEP craters, almost a block in diameter. Water came out of there, and that was called two streams in arabic (I'll fill in this word, when i can recall what that word is :>). A pump of some sort was put in it later on, to supply water to the nearby houses.

This place is cordoned off but we went to see it anyways, as there is always a thrill in passing thru openings in fenced off areas :)

I couldnt see the bottom of the pit from the top, my husband went down some way and got a better look. There were birds living inside that crater, and one part of it was caving in, the water had almost dried up.

These are the pictures that i had left. Ist one shows the view as far below as i could see, 2nd shows the view from one of the edges, and you can spot my mamu in white. 3rd is of my husband who ventured some way down, but the bottom is still not visible in the picture. He had to crouch low there to get a glimpse of the bottom. You can see a metal thing in the last picture, that was an old rusted pulley that ppl put in earlier days to pull up water from the hole.
These are the pics of one of the craters, there is another one alongside it, but that one is smaller and the sides have already caved it.

Meteores Are Huge!

The poster mentioned earlier...

Well, surprise surprise... there comes a time when you gotta grit your teeth, find the IR device and get those pics out of the mobile or camera, into the computer.
Then as they were coming from my mobile, I had to sit and rename all of them, which had been pending for a long time now... see I delete the files from my mobile after some time, so the names were duplicate, hence, the mobile pictures kept being pushed into different folders... not very ideal... so i renamed the files, put them all in one folder... deleted duplicates (there was only one!!! aha)

Now let the sharing begin.

Here is the poster that was made for my son's class's unit of February - Seasons. He chose Summer... here it is.

Whip it up!

Beatbox Fame Game
I liked this Video so much that I just had to share it here

Lunar Lunacy...

So what is it with the moon? Oh no, it was the matter with the Earth that caused a dark shadow to appear on the face of the moon, as Earth dared to come in between the Sun and Moon... Come on let the Solar star and Lunar satellite do their work, what is with this Earth anyways?!



I saw the moon at night, it was full and shining and haunting hypnotizing... I was in my son's room letting him do his homework and egging him on from time to time and I couldnt help but steal a glance or two at the moon again and again... no wonder ppl love the full moon, it is amazing. And the wondeful thing was that it was so big.



Another new thing was that it was the first time that I saw the full moon this up close and personally, in this city. I didnt think of it then, but Im doing now...

hum to hain pardais main, des main, nikla ho ga chaand
(i'm abroad, but back home, the moon would be out)
apni raat ke chutt pay kitna tanha ho ga chand ...
(my chaand-dear would be so lonely on the roof there)

Anyways, there were telescopes set up in the science center here and everyone was invited to come and view the eclipse, which was supposed to take place at 2am.
Needless to say, I was up, but the rest of the family wasn't, so I couldn't go to the science center, but I forgot to go see the moon at the time of eclipse from the window :(
So I kept looking at the moon again and again, and was so happy to see that it was full and bright and indeed, time goes on...

Paey paey...

Okay, its been around a month now, since my daughter's first steps. I wasn't sure, as she wouldn't do it if we asked her to. It was only done when she knew I wasn't looking at first (when of course, I would from the corner of my eye), or for her brother only, and he would come running to me saying, she is walking and by the time, I'd turn to see her, she'd be happily crawling towards me... meaning, I played it cool, but she was being smug!

Then, she would take 4 to 5 steps and then plop down in my lap, and forget what all the fuss was about.

A week back, she got up in the middle of the night (one rare time, we all went to sleep early, as we were all supposed to leave the house at 6am), climble off the bed all on her own (her first time without freezing midway and crying her lungs out), crawled/walked (I dont know which) out of the room, messed up the entire shoe rack, and my son's books and toys and anything she could reach ... I had heard her crawl off and thought oh my husband put her down (and my husband thought the same thing), and slept waiting for her to come hold the bed and cry to be let up on the bed again.

After she had had her fun, and I think she was off practicing walking all on her own, and trying to see which shoe of mine was a better fit or tastes better (take your pick), also to see which storybook is worth tearing up or chewing... so after all this and more (which Im not aware of), she came back and cried to be pulled back up on the bed... and this was the time I told my husband, why did you put her off the bed and he said I though you did!

The second time she plopped down the bed, she plopped a bit too hard, but she was too proud to cry, as it was her own doing.

Now she is walking alhamdolillah, more than 10 steps at a time (we count each time) and talking at the same time... talking and walking at the same time makes her wobble a bit and she looks like a tot already... you know babies are more horizontal, tots are more vertical, so to say.

More updates on this later... be good!

TA!

My Body Clock needs new batteries...

so where was i? right a few weeks ago, thanks to WoW (World of Warcraft), I had sleepless nights, which led to sleeping thru the daytime. The only problem was that I wasnt even playing it. It was my husband.
some years ago, he started playing at night, and the first game was Myth. It was around the time I had my first kid, and he thought my hands are full already, so he picked up something he could while his time away with.
During that time, I remember having a fever fit, and calling him, and he was busy playing Myth.
Ever since, whenever I hear or read Myth... it brings back BAD memories.

Off the tangent here.... Earth calling....

... so now this time round, I have another kid, and the current game is WoW. Advanced as it is played online, and social as you play with others. Unsocial as it is a one-player game, and the REAL ppl around you arent playing it.

Why does it bother me? Let me count the ways...

1 - As I do most of my things online, like reading a newspaper, doing puzzles, posting notes, chatting with friends, once he is online, I cant do all those.

2 - We have a broadband connection, so we are paying more for it, so it is a good excuse for not getting the newspaper (with the puzzles) as whats the point of it (still i get to buy a newspaper every once in a while)

3 - he wants me to use his laptop during this time, so I can play games with it. The laptop touch pad mouse is BAD for games... after I complained abt it, he got me a BETTER mouse for it.
(so this point doesnt hold anymore)

4 - my daughter wakes up if neither of us are in bed, and then cries her lungs out. As I already hear enough of it during the day, I dont want to hear it at night also, and my husband gets the blame for it.

5 - As I already slept thru the day, so I need to have something to do at night, and now that the daughter is crying non-stop, I have to go play with her, and so that means, she will not be sleeping any time soon and that will make me cranky as when will I get to do MY THING?

6 - WOW, I can go on and on about this...

Seriously, Im so thankful to Allah, that while we were kids, there was no internet, and so we had our parents to ourselves, and our parents had each other all the time. There was no fighting a non-entity over who gets more time, the net or the family.
While talking abt it with some elders, one remarked, ab tum apnay bachon ke khair manaoo...
(meaning, now you better start worrying about your kids)

Come to think of it, most parents my age or younger or older, are spending a lot of time on the net, most singles are also doing it, whatever time we get after (and during) work, or school, we spend it on the web... we are so much into cyber space, that we get spaced out while being with real people and especially, people who matter, like our family, our spouse, our parents, our siblings and OUR kids.

I'll leave you with that, as my daughter just woke up and I have spent the entire night awake on the net, and its 8 am...

I need help!

adieu!

BECAUSE OF YOU

I WILL NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES THAT YOU DID

I will not let myself
Cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did,
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way
To never let it get that far

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I LEARNED TO PLAY ON THE SAFE SIDE SO I DONT GET HURT
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me
BECAUSE OF YOU I AM AFRAID

I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes

IM FORCED TO FAKE A SMILE A LAUGH EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE,MY LIFE CANT POSSIBLY BREAK WHEN IT WASNT EVEN WHOLE TO START WITH

I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF ANYONE ELSE YOU JUST SAW YOUR PAIN
And now I cry in the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I try my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in

BECAUSE OF YOU IM ASHAMED OF MY LIFE BECAUSE ITS EMPTY

Because of you
I am afraid

Because of you
Because of you

Marital Wisdom

BE A LION OUTSIDE THE HOUSE!

but with your spouse...

be a mouse.

You Lied to Me

You said you needed me
I thought my dream came true
You said you wanted me
And I changed my world for you
I gave my heart to you
I pledged you everything
I proved my love for you
I even wore your ring

** You promised that our love would never ever die
You promised that you'd never ever say goodbye

* You lied to me - Played me for a fool
Had to learn the hard way
That you don't play by the rules
You lied to me - Boy you broke my heart
Should have seen it coming - Should have known it from the start
You lied to me

My friends would tell me
That you'd turn and walk away
I didn't listen to
The words they had to say
Your reputation proved
You only played for fun
The record clearly showed
You liked to hit and run

I trusted you and every single word you said
I trusted you - I should have run away instead

* Repeat

When I remember all the good times
And all the happiness we shared
If only love could last forever
If only you had really cared

You said you needed me
And I gave my heart to you
But you played me for a fool
You lied to me
You lied to me 

Kylie Minogue - Promises

Remember how it used to be,
Remember how you promised me,
That life would always be good,
You forget the fact you lied to me,
You locked my heart and threw the key,
I'm so misunderstood,
What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,
Remember how I gave my heart,
And all at once we fell apart,

Was I supposed to forgive you,
You forgot the fact you said to me,
That we were for eternity,
You're so easy to see through,
What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,

Remember that I'm over you,
And know that I will make it through,
Hope you never forget it,
The promises you made to me,
Were really lies and fantasy,
Hope you come to regret it,
What to say when all the tears have dried,
Promises, promises,
What to think when all our love has died,
Promises, promises,
The promises we used to keep have gone,
And with them all the words,
That kept us both from seeing what was wrong,
The rest is silent,

What to say when all the words have gone,
Promises, promises,
What to do when all our thoughts have flown,
Promises, promises,

What to say when all the tears have dried,
Promises, promises,
What to think when all our love has died,
Promises, promises.

Phased out....

Hi!
I read once that you should never write a letter (or email) when you are angry.
You know, this is SO hard not to, as you are so full of it, and what to let it all out (on paper, or on the net) that it takes effort and a lot of deep breaths (read grunts) to keep it in and let calmer thoughts occupy your mind.
The above paragraph seems like a work of a constipated person, so let me start again.


Hi!
I read once that you should never write a letter (or email) when you are angry. Which is very hard to do, but I'd like to add to it, that you shouldnt write anything down when you are depressed. It only creates a written statement of a time you were down, and later on when you will come across it, it will make a dark shadow cross your face.

So, this was one reason I didnt write anything.

It wasnt because I didnt want to write... and I had tons of things that I wanted to write about, but lets say, it just wasnt meant to be blogged.

Come to think of it, I was so depressed that I started listening to music (my least fav thing) and was very sad to find out that I could identify with this song!
http://www.nin.com/visuals/only_hi.html

No wonder its my least fav thing.

Now about some good things.

...


...


Okay, the poster that I talked about, turned out to be one of the best ones on display, and it was a good feeling. It wasnt a competition or anything, but still, it was nice to hear from my son, that when he showed it to his class, they all went WOW.
Then I had some great talks with my family and friends, again long distance, but it felt good nonetheless.
My daughter is now progressing into showing her colors, and her ability to cry out loud, at the drop of a hat, or without the drop of anything.
This little bit is nagging me a bit, as I dont know why she is doing it. She isnt dirty, hungry, or sleepy, or aching anywhere, okay, maybe she is aching somewhere, and Im sure her throat is one such place, which leads to the head ache and puffy eyes (mine and hers, both), so this puts a dampener on things.

While she naps, let me pen off so that I can get some work done around here.
Ta!

PS: She has a beautiful smile, mashallah.

One Year Here, yey!

I just saw that I have been on Blogger.com for a year now!
And what a year it was.

Getting the Costume Ready

Today, was the Book Character Day at my son's school. So me having all the time in the world, went along with my baby daughter.
After MUCH deliberation and three trips to three different shops, we had decided that he wanted to be a magician. He had the book too. Costume had to be made. THere was only one tiny bit of a problem, the book was not a story book, it was a Book of 101 Magic Tricks. My husband, ever the literal person, said, they didnt say story book, they just asked for a book character.
Anyhow, last night, I stayed up late to put his costume together. Made a cape, put stars on it, spelled his initials on it too with star stickers. The hat we got for him was blue with a silver band, but it didnt look nice so I took out black paint to paint it black.
The hat was made of such a material that neither of poster paint, fabric paint (coz it was dried solid), glass paint, and black permanent marker worked on it, means it was down to plain old paper.
I got some craft paper out, in black color, but it was more brown than black. Then I found a blacker version of craft paper, so I cut and marked and marked and cut and then glued it all together.
Then I found some silver spray paint, so I said why not spray it all silver. I did the top of the hat silver and it looked BAD. I showed it to my husband for comments, and he said take it away from my nose, the paint fumes are not good. My son was more of, what does this smell remind me of. The good part was that my daughter was asleep, otherwise, she would have put in her two cents (read teeth) in this matter.
Now was the time to cover the round portion of the hat. And I remembered that I had some carbon paper. It was shiny too and just the right shade of black!
(YES, black comes is a whole range of shades, if you dont agree, visit an abaya shop and you will be taken aback with all the choices of black only, and Im not talking about material)
So I took off the previously done hat rim, which was already peeling off, as the glue I had used wasnt strong enough. So got another craft glue out and marked and cut the black paper to size, my son was telling me a joke there, so i cut a little bit out wrong (too much over confidence from finding the right shade of black), still I glued it all up and got my son to model for my husband and he said he looks like Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
(Note: He is a Jhonny Depp fan and had done all he could to make him a pirate instead, as I already had the costume from last year, the hat, the eye-patch, the moustache, and the black face color for the scar on the face), but the book of pirates was too expensive, and the other books we found, like Treasure Island, well, it wasnt my son's favorite.) Hence, the resemblance to Willy Wonka, actually more so as the hat was like Willy Wonka's hat.
Put my son to bed, oh yeah, the first thing I had made was a wand. The balsa wood was from the leftover stick I had used to make a kite (which was huge and had to be left behind in the previous country, as I didnt have anything as large to pack it in). Covered it in foil, and secured the ends with silver tape.
Then I found a star (from IKEA) which could be used as you use a lemon slice on a cocktail glass. The star was for the wand.
Then I went to bed.
Woke up early morning, got myself and my daughter ready, got my son ready, as he suddenly didnt want to go as a magician. Instead of the plastic cape, I found my teacher's gown while looked for a black scarf big enough to be used as a cape. The gown was way too long. The scarf was perfect, but my son started to sulk and say the costume doesnt go with my red face (the face was red as he was about to cry).
Told him plenty of times that he looks great, while my husband threatened by saying I leave in 5 minutes. He took my daughter down and I told my son to wear socks and shoes. (Everyday he wears black socks to school, which arent part of his uniform and today, for his black costume he chose white socks)
Ready and out the door. The moment my son used the wand to get the lift for us, I knew everything will be just fine! And it was. Read about it later...

Le Horror!

kids have a thing with paper, and babies ADORE paper.
It is the first food group for them, right up there next to milk.

My baby is no different. She loves paper, so much so that she can eat a book if you let her.

The first book she ate was Stephen King's Pet Semetary. It was very embarassing for me, as it was borrowed from my sister-in-law, but Alhamdolillah, she understood.

Later on she developed a taste for Reader's Digest... she has a go at it every month, and she knows where to find it too, right under my pillow. Each time i oversleep, she nibbles on a page.

Then her teeth came out. And she got better control of the fingers, so she learnt that you can do other things with a book, like flipping the papers.

Next thing i know, she can reach the second last shelf in my book case. The last shelf (bottom-most) contains my craft books and magazines and they are so many that they are packed tight. Also they are hardcover ones, so a bit heavy for her.

This second last shelf contains paperbacks, novels, folders, my completed craft folder etc. and it was here that she found her second stephen king's novel (The Green Mile).

My husband saw it and asked me to take it away and i said let her play with it, she is only flipping thru it (which was exactly what she was doing right then). That was yesterday.

Today, she was flipping thru it again, and well, right now, she torn a bit from the front cover. I guess she is teething again. Now she is lying down on the floor cushion, and i think she will nod off any minute now.

She has developed a TASTE for Stephen King! And in her words, it is "Aaaain Hainnn"

Oh wait there is more , she has added "hattttt taaaaaaaaaaaa" to it too.

Go figure!

I like it ... SHREDDED!

For those of you who dont know, I hate throwing things away. Call me a hoarder, but seriously, my husband stopped making fun of me, when we recently moved from one country to the other, and I had the packing for everything we had bought, and we got all the things delivered, without a single crack in them (which is an achievement, as we have tons of breakable stuff). Alhamdolillah.

Anyways, I think I picked this habit from my father. He was not a hoarded, but he had loads and loads of paperwork and once or twice a year, he would sit down and sort the papers out. THEN, came the fun part, everything had to be thrown away after being torn to bits, as there were a lot of important information on those papers.

I used to wait until he had sorted all the unimportant papers out and then we two would sit down and tear the pages to shreds and then compete and see who got the smallest bit or who could tear more pages together (I got to win the first one and he the second one :) )

Then, he got a shredder for his office. It was a huge machine, and you put the papers in and out came long thin strips. I loved doing that.

Wait time for a joke.

A Major saw a General standing next to a shredder scratching his chin. He went up to him and asked, Sir, may I help you. The General said, this is a very important paper, so I came to tend to it myself, but I cant figure out how to use it. The Major said, I can help with it. He took the paper and ran it in the shredder. The General said, " Good, now make two copies of it".

*****************************

Anyways, when I started doing all the crafts, I came across Quilling. The only problem was that the strips werent available in the market in the city i was in, so I had to cut them all out with a paper cutter. It was long, tedious and hard work. So I saw this office shredder in the book store and I wanted it. The problem was that it was too expensive.

Now, today, we went to this shop looking for a costume for my son (magician) and I happened to see a small desk shredder. I got it.

Now my son and I are going to fight over who gets to shred the receipts :D

Another family tradition passed down the generation....

Mint Chocolate... Dark Chocolate

Its been some time since I last had the pleasure of having a decent Mint Chocolate ( I will not count the Basking Robins mint choc scoop, as the Swiss Mix tasted far better).

Ever since I can remember, I have liked chocolate and I have loved Mint. For years, it was always this flavor that I'd pick, be it candles, scented pencils, lip gloss, chewing gum, cake (count mint out of this one). It was only once when I happened to eat a chocolate while I was having a Mint that it dawned on me, WOW, this tastes great!

Seems that someone else also had the same idea and marketed After Eights (another fav).

Who doesnt like Chocolate? Wait, dont tell me, coz that person has to be boring! But then again, Im being judgemental! I know a LOT of people who dont like chocolate and prefer banana instead (and no i dont know any monkeys personally, but some people remind me of a chimp nonetheless)... Its a blessing in disguise and more so, if such persons happen to be in your immediate family, coz you can then have THEIR share of chocolates also (and yeah they can have all the banana gum they like).

My aunt would always bring chocolates from abraod whenever she'd come to visit and I used to love helping her make mixed packets of them, Mars, Bounty, Snickers, Kit Kat were a staple, with some others added time and again.

Once, I caught her having a chocolate in the room, but it wasnt any of the versions mentioned above, it was a Hersheys Kisses. Oh my, she looked at me and reluctantly handed over the last bit. It tasted heavenly. And I was hooked.

unfortunately, at that point in time, this brand was not available in the local markets, so I made do with the local jubilee or bunties or chocochum.

THEN, my father went abroad for some work, several times in a year to Europe and each time, he used to come home with huge bags of Imported Chocolates. He has spent all his cash on chocolates and sweets. Among them was Tobleron (the giant sized one) and Mint Chocolates and Orange Chocolate coins and chocolates shaped like Shells. And flavored chocolates, with marzipan, and nuts and you think of it and it was there. Not the regular kit kats and mars and snickers and bounty, but the really expensive and exclusive stuff.

Our deep freezer was filled to the TOP with large boxes of chocolates. Then my mom said, we have to divide them to the relatives and I said WHAT? I said I'll make the bags, and made them with all the sweets (like those of the Sweet Factory) I could get my hands on, but NOOOOOOOOOOO. MY father told me to take out all the large boxes and I said, no let me open a box and divide the stash inside it.

(I got to keep the Tobler)

My class had a ball as Id bring new varieties of chocos to the class everyday and share them with everyone (We were a class of 15 girls in college, so I didnt mind). What a show off I was!

I developed a taste for the Bitter Sweet version of Tobleron (the black box), so much so that in the month of ramazan, Id have sehri of tobler and Id break my fast with dates and after having all the regular iftari, Id eat a few more chunks of tobler. All ramazan!

I ate all the dark chocos too as others found them too bitter. And I was hooked.

The darker the better.

This happened years ago. A few years ago, I set my eyes on the last black tobler and havent seen any since. I dont like Hershey's Kisses that much now, I'd rather have the Dark Chocolate Nuggets.

THEN came Lindt DArk Chocolate. Bliss!

All was well till my husband started to like that flavor too. The result is that one 100g bar that used to last us about a week, now gets finished in 15 minutes, as we have started to munch on it like it is ordinary candy bar.

You need to savour dark chocolate and much more so with Mint Chocolates. Ah! That reminds me I havent had a Mint Chocolate in some time now... last time being when I had Mint flavored Kit Kat.

(Does Lindt come in Mint chocolate flavor?)

Burn baby burn!

Ouch! I burnt my right hand pointer today (and I burnt my left wrist yesterday)

Yeah, yeah, go on and tell me and about being careful with fire, but first read about HOW it happened!

Yesterday, it was the cooking day, so I had a brain wave to cook for two days at the same time, so that I could have more internet time tomorrow (that is today - confused???)

So, I prepared all the veges and stuff for Lemon Chicken (with Asparagus), plain boiled rice and Mince with Pepper (for the meal for the comng day)

Now, meanwhile, my husband and my son were making the poster. Actually, I was supposed to make it (along with my son of coursE) and I spent a long time on the net searching for appropriate pictures to go with the poster (titled My favorite Season), but then because of some critic from my husband, i dared him to make it and he said yes.

The poster would have taken all the while (being unmade) as both my son and my husband forgot to make it, and i knew that id have to do it in the end, so I told my son that he hasnt done anything, and now the teacher will ask him why the poster was not complete. Suddenly everyone rushed to start making it as i let it slip by that the due date is tomorrow (when i thought it was due after 2 days).

While I was preparing things in the kitchen, my husband sat on the computer looking for more pictures on the net and got 2 that he liked. Then he called me to print them out!

(Note: we are both Computer Science Grads, so I need to point this out that he called me to print them out, and called me yet again, when i told him to do it himself)

Hunted for the printer paper, after I told my son and my husband to find them (which they didnt). Printed the thing out and went back to the kitchen.

My daughter was let out of that room as there was MAJOR cutting session going on (cutting out the printer pictures) and my son was writing the stuff for the poster with markers.

Every once a while, he would come and show me what he was writing and it turned out that the writing was going from VERY huge to ttteeeennnyy tiny and jumbled up. He kept asking me is it right now? is it right now? after each letter till I told him to buzz off.

Back to the cooking, three flames on the stove top, ready for three dishes to be cooked. One with boiling water and two with oil.

Lemon chicken required oil and butter, and by the time I buzzed him off to plunk the butter in, the oil was burning and smoking and the butter splattered on my wrist. I had a big red blotch!
Yeeeouch!

Anyways, the show went on, I cooked lemon chicken and rice got a bit overdone, but the Mince and Pepper turned out fine (too bad it is for tomorrow).

Back to the room, the writing was STILL not complete, and now it was in pencil as the marker thing meant he couldnt erase the missed out words. I helped my husband finish the picture cutting and we spread out the poster placing all the things on top of it.

Dinner Time!

We had dinner and I fed my daughter. She loved the chicken and rice. THen sometime while we had cleared the dishes away, we wanted dessert. My son was still eating...

I got a melon and cut it up while we watched an old episode of Full House. Episode watched, melon finished, my son was still eating....

His food finally finished and we sent him off to bed as it was a school night.

My husband said, but the poster is not finished, and i told him he is supposed to give it not tomorrow but the day after tomorrow. I got the LOOK from my husband for that.

Son off to bed, and my husband and I were browsing on the net when i saw my daughter pick up a picture, but by the time I alerted my husband to stop her, she had already torn the picture. Guess who got blamed? Me, why, coz I didnt alert him quickly enough!

My wrist was smarting, and my daughter kept wanting to play with the wrist watch, further irritating the skin there.

Fast Forward to today.

As I wasnt going to cook today, I decided to make some dessert, and decided to try out the Jalaybi.
For those of you who dont know, jalaybi is a sweetmeat, which is made with sometype of dough and then dipped in a sugar syrup. It is shaped like twisted flat ball of thick yarn.

Now, I made it and it turne dout great, and I had extra sugar syrup left over so i said why not make some halwa too. Made halwa, but i didnt know how sweet it was, so I picked up a piece of it from the spoon to eat.

THAT was how i burnt my right pointer tip. The halwa was hot and boiling with sugar syrup.

And with every right - sided keys that I press on the keyboard, I am reminded of that bit of halwa... that burnt my finger tip.

Lesson learnt: 1 - Never put any butter in smoking hot oil.
2 - Dont cook halwa.
3 - Buy a table for working on the projects for my son's school work.
4 - Dont type with a burnt finger
5 - Keep Smiling!

Managing a new born with an elder one and a husband, setting priorities (to go back to work, yes, no, if yes, how soon, if no, then what) ... argh!

Teething turmoils...

okay so my daughter is nine months old now alhamdolillah. Like on a clock she is like this now (_ ) short hand on 9, and long hand on 12. A bench mark, so I can move a notch above and buy clothes for 9 -12 months or keep the ones with 6-12mths. I realised today that the new pair I got her with 2 shirts and 2 matching trousers are 6-9mths (and I thought i had picked out the 9-12 set - moi hubby thinks that I buy EVERYTHING he tells me not to buy and this was one thing he told me not to buy).

My mom asked me how many teeth does she have now and I said two. I talked to her today (long distance, of course) and she told me about the guests at home and the menu and that flu is all around. I have flu which i got from moi daughter. Dont you just love your voice flu-afflicted? I do! I have been telling eveyone on chat today and I wasn't there and noone lend a sympathetic ear, so I turn this news over to you. Isnt it sad! MY entire tribe is getting together and eating my fav dishes, made with love by my mom and Im miles and miles and miles away. So I will inshallah make up for it with another better gathering.

Anyways, I hang up and the light went out. Oh oh! didnt the bill get paid, I called moi hubby and he asked me to check the building and well, no light nowhere. The building next door had an electrician drillign away however.

It was after 2 hours that the light finally came and when it did, I found out that moi daughter had a 3rd tooth peeking from her upper gum. No wonder she was cranky all afternoon.

And when I went to fry the fish and chips, there wasnt any gas! We went to the gas shop and get a filled cylinder. Home, food! Fish and Chips with tartar sauce. Now the brood is sleeping and Im sitting here blogging. I ought to be asleep too! Yawn???? Nope, Im wide awake.

Serious blogging needs to be taken up. I want luck, send some my way! Sayonara -

A New Country...

Coming to Qatar was not something I was looking forward to with a lot of enthusiasm. Although I had been living away from my own country for 6 years now, I had grown used (read fond) of it, had a few friends there, had a job I enjoyed and well, knew the place.

MY husband had gone on ahead, to arrange for us to be there with him. I was back in my country, learning about my new-born's nature while calming my son's anxieties. My mom-in-law helped a lot during this time by keeping my son occupied.

Qatar was gearing up for Asian Games and the real estate was on a high. Getting a home on the budget me had was tough. Our visas were getting delayed being processed. A cranky time.

Fast forward... Visa came, car bought... time for the flight... arrived in Doha.

We spent 2 months getting a house painted, applying for the phone, electricity, water, and getting all that is necessary for a house. Rest of our stuff arrived via truck and we got it moved in the house. Meanwhile, my son started school. Alhamdolillah, he took to the place well.

It took a lot of commitment to unpack all that and it will be 4 months when I will finally unpack the last of the boxes.

The place where we moved is just soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo impersonal. We dont know anyone of our neighbors. I cooked up something and sent it to the neighbors and our next door neighbor is kind enough to reciprocate. Most of the ppl are bachelors and they are away most of the day, so its lonely in the building.

After two months, we went back to our family to celebrate Eid. It was a short trip about 3 weeks, but it was so relaxing and fun that we wanted to come again for next eid.

Back home, we finally finished setting up the drawing room and now there is only one corner in the house that needs attention, and it is in the drawing room. It is filled up to the roof with boxes perched on top of each other at weird angles...

Asian Games 2006 - they came, they happened, they got over. My country didnt do well. Qatar however, did very well and we celebrated. On the opening day, we didnt go to the opening ceremony as it was raining. We went to watch a movie instead (Ant Bully), which we really enjoyed, more so as there was no one in the entire cinema except us. Most of the city was watching the ceremony either in the stadium or on telly. Closing ceremony - we were debating to go or not and that same day, we found out via newspaper that the tickets were sold out. No prob, 2 weeks later, we watching it all on YouTube.com ;)

I discovered Fifty-Fifty on YouTube also and it bought back fond memories. Eid came and we couldnt go. So on first day, we went to our relatives house for lunch and then came home and slept till morning (yeah we have enormous amount of lazy hormones that only sleep can satisfy). The next day I spent 6 hours preparing a feast for the same ppl and enjoyed making it too. By the time they arrived, I was famished. So laid it out and was satisfied to know that things turned out well. I wonder why the brownies werent a hit, so I polished the plate off myself and then went to watch another movie (this time it was Happy Feet) and we tapped our way home.

Vacations came and went and with it the calendar grew old and found its way to the dustbin. I am still on the look out for a good desktop calendar. I did print one for my fridge.

I need to change the topic, so this is where it will end. Adios!