Blog off

Salam

I'm not going to blog for a bit as I am increasingly unwell. I may pop by from time to time to read all y'alls blogs, but I'm resting this one until I am better insha'allah. I don't know what is wrong with me and the Drs aren't much use (it's "viral"). Please make du'a for me that I make a full recovery soon.

Forgive me if I've done anything to offend you and I forgive you too.

Debbie
xxx

Isn't anybody doing AWorld anymore then??

Typical. The only thing my son is good at *sulks*




Anyway, I'm becoming extremely allergic to insect bites - anyone else got that?? It's quite worrying - I've needed ABs last few times I've been bitten. Horrible :S

Minky - haven't listened to CD yet (or anything else) since I have now two chronically attention-starved children who would throw themselves in front of *buses* if it meant getting my undivided attention. Trying to listen to anything (even what my dh is saying) results in children (well one in particular) getting louder and louder and louder until my temporal lobes feel like they are about to pop. By the time I've told him to shush a zillion times the lecture is over, I'm stressed and hassled and have to listen to it all over again. I think I will wait til they are 18 :S

Anybody want to share stories of how tired they were/are with kids. You know, the type where you tell me that you were feint with tiredness and wanted to vomit all the time. Then I know I am not alone in this. Please share... not joking.

Dreamed I was praying salah next to Zainab last night. It was a really nice dream that made peaceful whenever I remembered it. Also MERRY get out of my head. In my dream you were prattling away in Arabic. Do you speak Arabic?? You do now.

Anyway. Saw first piccies of my neice today. She is *gorgeous* and I'm already madly in love with her. Apparently the Dr had to massage her 'ickle heart and took a long time doing it - brother in tears - so its extra extra special that she's OK. Why is it that we have to almost lose something before we value it?

recipes

This is one for Nasira - did you get the email I sent you?? Hope so.


PLAYDOUGH

1 cup of water
1 tablespoon vege oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
food colouring
1 cup of flour

Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar and food colouring in a saucepan and heat til warm. Remove from heat and add flour. Knead until smooth. Don't be tempted to omit the cream of tartar - it makes it last for ages. Can be found in the bakery section of supermarkets. Keep pladough in airtight container/freezerbag when not in use.


GINGERBREAD PEOPLE for minky:

6oz plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2oz butter
2oz caster sugar
1 tablespoon black treacle - warmed
1 egg - beaten

1. mix flour, spices and bicarb. Rub in butter. stir in sugar
2. mix warm treacle and beaten egg together
3. pour into flour mix
4. knead til smooth
5. roll and cut
6. cook on GAS mark 5 for 12-15 mins


Latest news: SIL had a baby girl this morning after a 24 hour labour and eventual intervention with forceps. She weighed 7lb 4oz. Keep them in your du'a. Ta.


PS Merry - you were in my dream last night and you were talking about du'a and Islam. Hope you are OK. Haven't seen you for ages. You are someone I always wanted to get to know better. Oh well.

Boss and DH made a cake. It was delicious too...masha'allah

Oh and my SIL

still hasn't sprogged - she too is two weeks overdue and is being induced on Monday evening. Keep her in your du'a. Hope the baby is OK...

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired

The last three nights have seen Jaws incessantly fidget and squirm throughout the night - letting me get into deep sleep umpteen times before waking me up - from midnight through to 8am. It's slowly killing me. I could vomit with tiredness. OMG one more night of this and I am putting him up for adoption. Boss was soooooo sleeping through by now that I am frightened that I will never have a solid night's sleep again (and by that I mean four straight hours or more [more would be nice]).

Please make du'a for me and us all.










*Begins to weep uncontrollably into pillow*

We ...

... made gingerbread people a.m. (I am soooooooooooo allergic to raw flour it is unbelievable)

and then pretty much bitched all day. I am a lousy mother. I am a lousy mother. So true it has to be said twice. *sigh*

Ramadan

And this

RE online

Culham

Digital Qur'an - turning the pages

Words Alive

Eid al Adha
(forward planning)


Sun and moon resources

Hajj

"Like a whippet... on crack"

is how my mother describes Boss. After her week here and after looking after Boss when I was in hospital extracting Jaws she now defends me every time I am criticised by people who think I am too harsh with him.

Jaws had his first jabs today... I feel so guilty :( All that crying and blood. And he was just as bad... :P

Went into town after the ordeal - and it was the first time I have been into town without Boss ever. I got a chance to browse and think and look at labels and ponder :D But not having him there was like having a piece of my chest missing...

Boss' hair-pulling antics got a bit out of control today with the girl next door. All ended up in tears. Ho hum.

Forgot to add

I hate this town. It stinks. Its an awful stinky place with no soul.

Really goto go...

Rant type thang going on

I don't have much time anymore so I'll make this quick. It's a bitchfest so those with weak stomachs look away now.


OK. Still feeling dizzy/concussed/sea-sick. Still need du'a. Went for blood tests. Hospital smells of stale urine. I know that because I have kids. I am ashamed to be English on days like this. America have such sparkling hospitals that, you know, you feel safe to go *in* them. Their hospitals are so clean that they CURE you of germs rather than infect you with them. Took Jaws with me; had I been Catholic I would have made the sign of the cross over my body before stepping foot in there; but made du'a we'd make out alive anyway. Too many people in there speak bad English (or good English with such lousy accents) that I don't understand what is going on. Hoping the lady who took my blood was a nurse and not the cleaner. She could have been the cleaner. Maybe she was bored and tried her luck on the nurses lunch break.

Left blood place with blood POURING down my arm. But you know, I'm busy so I didn't go back to ask them to stitch my arm back on. It's OK now, but my clothes look a bit like I was hacked to pieces in an abbatoir. But I wasn't. So...

Anyway. I am very dazed and confused. Is this normal. Have so many things to do and things I want to do that I'm frustrated alot of the time. Things like putting the laundry away need three days planning. Why are you going "yeah right"?? I'm totally serious. Getting out of the house seems an untenable proposition.

Baby awake; I have to go scream now...

Ramadan resources

All About Ramadan

Importance of Salah

How to offer Salah

As well as the moon cycle I think the cycle of the day (the sun and the course it follows) would be a nice idea to introduce to him seeing as I think I intend to teach him salah properly now ie. how to offer it and when (and why). He's almost 4 - should be doing at least one prayer a day with me...

Also some short surahs and ayats, try to get him to learn Ayat al Kursi (he knows the three Quls and fatiha), and some dhikr instigation...

Just call me Frau Cow

because that's what the throbbing temples after all the *bitching* I have been doing is telling me. I am tense. Dizzy. I have so long lost my bounce and boing that I think I am permanently deflated. Apart from my butt... very much not deflated. Can you take St. John's Wart whilst breastfeeding? Who knows. Well Khadijah might but she won't be reading this and she never answers her phone... ho hum...

I need something to look forward to... the blood tests on Monday? Er, no. The baby jabs on Wednesday... perhaps not. The endless not-so-merry-go-round of crap jobs, thankless tasks, back-breaking work and drugery of ensuring other people are well fed and groomed. No.


Somebody give me something to look forward to. I tried to get my dh to participate in this request and all he could manage to think of was, "You'll be dead soon".


















And in a funny way it made me feel a bit better....










NURSE!

Boss No. 2 doing this a lot:

And it's adorable...

Too damn funny

Dooce

Went Drs. this pm

and I realised just why Allah (swt) may have seen fit not to give me a car. I have road rage. Well, "rage" is a bit strong. I have road bitchiness. Actually that isn't even true. I have road-won't-put-up-with-peoples'-crap. Whats the word for that? Anyway, I have vivid memories of how I used to behave behind a wheel many years ago, and to be honest it's not behaviour I wish to inflict on my unsuspecting soul nor on my children. How I have lived this long without having a baseball bat wrapped round my head God only knows, but today's little incident has made me question whether I should be behind a ever wheel again.

Imagine, if you know this place, North Street. A one-way street wide enough for a car to travel. Some people think that double-yellow lines are merely decoration and/or only apply to other, less crippled people. (Not true). Two such cars had parked on the double yellow lines across the road from the legal parking area, thus meaning that access to oncoming traffic was restricted. Not a problem unless someone from the legal parking area wanted to open a door. And put her kid in the back seat. And take a long time putting the seatbelt on. And wipe the projectile vomit up. And make sure the sun wasn't in everyone's eyes.

This was enough to have on woman hurl abuse at me for taking too long and holding up traffic.

Well, excuse me. I don't remember seeing a sign that I can't open my frigging door and make sure my children are legally restrained, but I DID see two effing huge yellow lines running down the street. If you have a problem with access then take it up with the idiots who can't understand basic road signs and call the police.

I need to learn some manners do I? Who was it that cursed the Muslim lady while thinking your husband would have driven off just in time to save you an ear-bashing then? That's good manners is it??

Yes, actually you are right, I do need to learn some manners, and you need to lose weight, so we're even.

Well, actually you are right I could use losing a few pounds myself, but do you see fat on my eyelids?? Please. I may be fat, but you ugly. I can lose weight.

Anyway, after I stuck two fingers up at her I realised by the look of horror on my dh's face just what I had done. I can't help it. My mouth engages before my brain. It's like an itch that you scratch - my intolerance of crap is nanoseconds and I don't back down. That's dangerous. It was shameful that I even answered, let alone answered with such venom, that woman.

Benefit to the soul: nil
Benefit to my children: nil
Benefit to my husband: nil
Benefit to the world: nil
Benefit to the image of Muslims everywhere: -100




























Satisfaction with inyerface takethat: 10/10







Very bad. *tut tut*

Du'a please

I'm not feeling very well. Du'a needed. Jzk.

Well, hands up all who had kids wanting to be superglued to them ALL last night. One, two, three, oh you too? Four.

I don't mind thunderstorms - they don't bother me - but when you get your floorboards vibrating from the sonic boom and window panes rattling in their frames then you know it isn't just any kind of storm. No. It is a *special* storm. A storm that can terrify a three year old and loud enough to have your 9 week old doing jumping jacks in his sleep. A storm that has a "MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM" every 4 and 1/2 minutes (just enough time for you to slip into a semi-deep slumber before being jarred into some kid-induced mayhem). If sleep deprivation is a form of torture then the CIA should seriously consider employing my kid during a thunderstorm or firework display. It got to the point whereby I hissed: "Look, I can't make it go away by running in here every 3 seconds and it won't hurt you GO TO SLEEP". Did I mention I was a cow of a mother? Why, yes I am, thankyou for noticing.

Anyway, bonus is the garden doesn't need watering.

I am feeling a bit more content about not having a very big house and/or lots of money. "True contentment" as Muhammad (Saw) stated, "is not in abundance of goods but in a tranquil soul", and that is only possible when your relationship with Allah is healthy. I have noticed that I try to "fill myself" up with dunya/material things when my spiritual life is at its lowest point. And once distracted by the dunya I find it hard to reconnect with anything above myself. Terrible. So to rectify this terrible state I intent to offer more dhikr, learn some surahs which I have neglected to do, and to also just try to be a bit more grateful for the blessings I have rather than try to fill my stomach with things that don't count. Among the things I am grateful for are things like being a Muslim, having good health (so far - make du'a remember!), having healthy children etc etc masha'allah.



Talking of stomach filling... the di-et is kinda in a renegotiation phase.



















OK, I have had a blip.










Alright, truth be told I have had several blips.













In fact, were the blips audible it would sound like a geiger counter at Chernobyl, but insha'allah I *will* be aiming at starting it again sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow in fact. Or perhaps the day after that. Perchance Monday. It's always good to start things on a Monday. Anyway, the point of the matter is the di-et is not going to be the crash diet of 800 calories a day because it makes me want to fall over after a few days. So maybe I'll try to just exercise the butt off and eat just sensibly.














And until that glorious day comes - there's double chocolate chip choo choo muffins....