Followers

7:14 PM

BAYT JADEED, HAYYAT JADEED

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

NEW HOUSE, NEW LIFE.

My friend said this to us recently as we moved house and so far it's working well as a new slogan.


We moved from the mind numbing dreariness of Al Quoz Industrial 2 Emirates Accomodation Al Khail Gate, (enjoy that Google Search Terms) to the interesting (yet still dreary sand-laden) area of Nahda 2, Dubai.  We live near NMC Hospital & Emirates Residence (Hotel Apartments-with nice green Neon lights at night so we can find our home easily).  Local ammenities include a Masjid (Khadijah), a park down the road NAHDA POND PARK, a dozen restaurants, pharmacies, schools, etc.... it's actaully quite the happeneing area...besides the stretches of empty land and sand between the buildings.  OK so it's not MIRDIFF frothing with trees and oozing expatness but still it's our new home and I love it thus far.

The house is a two bedroom but soooo spacious. (As it better damn well better be for the price I'm paying).
It has two and a half bathrooms. One for me (connected to my room Woo Hooo!) one for the kids and the half for the cats. That's right my cats have their own potty. Mabruk cats!
Also a few days before moving my lovely Persian Mama cat had a litter of babies bringing our total of 3 cats to 7!  YES 7!!!!!! Four wiggling cute babies. Which I only wanna keep one, the Black one called Licorice!
I love my black little jelly bean. Just wanna eat it!
Been busy unpacking and sorting out my life more. Seems long term my hecktic job of various hours isn't gonna be good for my life (who'd of thunk it) so I'm seeing if I can set up a private tuition thing of English Teaching and set my own hours and such. Probably better over all. But I'll keep my day job just in case....
I can't even remember the last time i was on the Net or blogged but I'm sure it's been months. I can't believe I used to have time to blog two or three posts in a day!!! Those were the days eh?
I do miss my online and internet pals a lot though. My life right now has no time for friends which is so sad. The only friends I get to talk to now are my consistant students. The ones I see three times a week for two hours. For 6 weeks then I have to hope they come back for more..... hmmmm odd friendship?
Anyways so I'm hoping with the move it'll bring me closer to more social events for my family especially my kids who are now getting old enough to need more social interaction. SO I'll get in touch with the Dubai and Sharjah Muslim Homeschoolers again and see what they are up to, as I now live on the border to Sharjah both events are do-able.
So here's looking to a new year of great plans...and a new life.
BAYT JADEED, HAYYAT JADEED!!!!

4:50 AM

A Perspective into Priorities

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

On my way to blogging about my latest and greatest event in my life I ran across another Blogger's touching post. A post on Letting Go. I found it touching and meaningful and words that rang with truth.

Check it out here: Changing My World ~ Random Muslima, Letting Go

Part of putting your priorities in order is being able to let go of things that in the end are not as important. Sometimes people put something like dusting above doorways above the importance of keeping a marriage together. Sometimes people put money before the value of a human life. Sometimes people put going to a club or not wanting to mess up their make-up before Prayer to Allah. Sometimes we think dropping a plate and it breaking is a catastrophe equal to the Catastrophe of Haiti. Perhaps even the simple act of air leaving the lips in the form of a word like TALAQ is equal to a life with no purpose or meaning.

People must learn to put into perspective what important priorities are. Every single one of us must sit down for a moment or perhaps ten and think of our top ten to twenty priorities. Everything else after that is NOT AS IMPORTANT. You just MIGHT have an option of letting it go. You need to weigh each matter and decide where on the scale of YOUR life it weighs. Let go of those small matters consuming your mind. Get your current priorities done and dealt with or put into order and insha'Allah in the future there will be time to get to the others.

 Sometimes if you keep trying to juggle a million things in the air it will all come crashing down. Start with the heavier things. Slowly start spinning one or two around and then add each next one in order until you can manage your top ten or twenty. Once you have that juggled, work on the next minor issues until they are safely supported. If one drops or puts the others out of balance perhaps you might need to do without it for a while to keep the harmony. Work up to adding it in again.


I dare you.  Go write down your list right NOW.
(No you don't have to share it)

Once you get those written go check out some motivational blogs about how to get your life in order and start implementing some steps to ease life a bit. There are dozens out there.

SubhanAllah THIS GEM of a post is something everyone woman but more importnatly every man needs to study.
The basic rights of women to be treated like a dignified human being.  Islam gives us these rights. Allah our Creator has given us these rights.  STUDY THEM WELL.

I found this article on Pixie's I Love Hishma BlogI felt it was so important for women to know this information and I know Many women who DESPERATLY NEED to study this and copy it and print it out and leave it for their husbands to read;  So instead of just giving the link to Pixie's Blog and having you go there to read it I posted it here Including her introduction.  Because I know many of you are lazy readers and wont click and would be missing out on important information.  But Please do go to her Blog and check out the awesome fashions she discusses and Religious Issues.  :)



FROM PIXIE'S BLOG
"Since alot of women read this blog, I thought I'd share an interesting article written by a Sheikh I just read on a woman's rights over her husband. Most sites say, yada yada yada, this is the husband's rights over his wife in a dispute, and mashaAllah, these things are wonderful to know, but many women tell me that we have no rights over our husbands in disputes and the like, beyond financial things. This is not so, ya Rub!!!!!!


Now to the article (note: I didn't write it):

Q: I have frequently read what, according to Islamic teachings, a husband may or may not do in a dispute with his wife if he attributes it to disagreement with or misbehavior of his wife. I almost never read anything about the opposite situation: if the wife has a disagreement with her husband or *he* misbehaves. Things are nearly always told from the man's point of view! What are the wife's rights in the case of bad behavior of her husband?

A: Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of all the worlds. Blessings and Peace on the Messenger of Allah, and on his Family and all his Companions.

Allah ordered the believers to "consort with women in kindness" (4:19) and He said: "And of His signs are this: He created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and He ordained between you love and mercy. Lo, herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect" (30:21).

A Wife's Basic Rights Regarding Her Husband's Behavior

NOTE: This is distinct from her other rights regarding living expenditures, housing, clothing, and education of children. And from Allah comes all success.

1. The first and worthiest condition of marriage to be fulfilled by the husband is to "keep the promise or promises he made to the wife at the time he married her." This is an order of the Prophet [salla Allahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, abbr. (s)] according to the hadith: "ahaqqu al-shuruti an tufu bihi ma astahlaltum bihi min al-furuj"

2. He cannot order her to do anything that is against religion. The Prophet (s) said: "No obedience is due to creatures in disobedience of the Creator" (la ta`atan li makhluqin fi ma`siyat al-khaliq).

3. He must exercise patience and be prepared to listen to her advice in every situation. The Prophet (s) listened to the advice of his wives in matters ranging from the smallest to the greatest.

4. If she invites him to wake up and perform the late night prayer, it is praiseworthy for him to do so and vice-versa. The Prophet (s) prayed for such people: "May Allah grant mercy to a man who gets up at night and prays, and wakes up his wife, and if she refuses, he sprinkles water in her face; may Allah grant mercy to a woman who gets up at night and prays, and wakes up her husband, and if he refuses, she sprinkles water in his face."

5. He must respect her and pay attention to her needs so that she will respect him and pay attention to his.

6. He must control his passions and act in a moderate manner especially in the context of sexual intercourse. Remember that Allah has placed between you and her "friendship and mercy" (mawadda wa rahma), not the gratification of your every lust; and that the Prophet (s) advised young men to marry "because it casts down the gaze and walls up the genitals," not in order to stimulate sexual passions. The husband should habitually seek refuge in Allah before approaching his wife and say: "O Allah, ward off the satan from us and ward him off from what you have bestowed upon us in the way of children" (allahumma jannibna al-shaytana wa jannibhu ma razaqtana). Allah has called each spouse a garment for the other (2:187), and the purpose of garments is decency. The Prophet (s) further said that he who marries for the sake of decency and modesty (`afaf), Allah has enjoined upon Himself to help him.

7. He must never ever divulge the secrets of the household and those of the married couple.

8. He must strive with sincerity to acquire her trust, and seek her welfare in all the actions that pertain to her.

9. He must treat her generously at all times. The Prophet (s) said that the best gift or charity (sadaqa) is that spent on one's wife.

10. If she works outside the house, it is praiseworthy for the husband to hire house help to relieve her from too heavy a burden. The wife's duties do not require her to feed her child, nor even to nurse it, nor to clean nor cook. It is the husband's duty to provide a nursemaid, food for older children, and servants to clean and cook. However, if the wife does those things out of mercy and love, it is a gift to the husband on her part.

11. He must avoid excessive jealousy and remember that Allah is also jealous that he himself not commit. The Prophet (s) said: "Do not be excessively jealous of your wife lest evil be hurled at her on your account" (la tukthir al-gheerata `ala ahlika fa turama bi al-su'i min ajlik) and he said: "Allah is jealous and the believer is jealous; and Allah's jealousy is that the believer should not go to that which Allah has forbidden for him" (inna Allaha yagharu wa al- mu'minu yagharu wa gheerat Allahi in ya'tiya al-mu'minu ma harrama `alayhi).

12. He must protect her honor and not place her in situations where it is compromised or belittled. The Prophet (s) said that Allah will not ever let him enter Paradise who cares little who shares his wife's privacy. This includes the husband's brother, uncle, and nephew, let alone non-related friends, neighbors, and complete strangers.

13. He must exercise patience and forgiveness in the case of disagreement or dispute, and not rush to divorce. The declaration of divorce is a grave matter indeed, and the Prophet (s) said: "Of permitted matters the most loathesome before Allah is divorce" (abgh`ad al-halal `ind Allah al-talaq). In another hadith he said that divorce is so grave that because of it Allah's throne is made to shake. He said: "The best intercession [i.e. intervention of a third party] is that which brings back together the husband and the wife." Womanizing -- divorce for the purpose of marrying another woman out of sexual attraction incurs Allah's curse according to the hadith: "Allah's curse is on the womanizing, divorcing man" (la`ana Allahu kulla dhawwaaqin mutallaaq). Finally, even in the midst of and after divorce, Allah has prescribed kindness upon the man: "(After pronouncing divorce) she must be retained in honor or released in kindness" (2:228).

For the above-mentioned reason (i.e. to prevent the quickness of divorce), in his time, Ibn Taymiyya gave the ijtihad (juridical opinion) by saying that three talaqs in one sitting constituted only one. He did this to interdict the prevalent custom of suddenly giving three talaqs, which in his time was on everyone's lips, (i.e. had become so commonplace as to be a habit). However the other four schools of fiqh had the opposite opinion in this matter.

14. He must not dwell on what he dislikes in his wife, but on what he likes.

15. The husband is not to stay away from his wife or keep his wife in a state of suspense, whether at home or abroad, for a protracted period of time except with her consent. Allah said: "Turn not away (from your wife) altogether, so as to leave her hanging. If you come to a friendly understanding and practice self-restraint, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Merciful" (4:129). Protracted separation (6 months or more in the Shafi`i school) without prior or subsequent arrangement with the wife, whether the husband is away willingly or unwillingly (for example due to war, imprisonment, or illness) is sufficient grounds for her to obtain divorce from the judge.

16. The Prophet (s) said: "Do not beat your wife." He also said: "Do not strike your wife in the face." The expiation for striking one's slave in the face is to set him or her free on the spot, but what expiation is there for striking one's wife? The Prophet (s) condemned the man who beats his wife in the day and then approaches her at night. And to beat her to the extent of inflicting serious injury is enough grounds for her to obtain divorce from the judge.

17. Caring for one's wife's sexual fulfillment is an obligation of religion. The Prophet (s) warned against rushing to gratify one's pleasure and forgetting that of one's wife. He also disliked that the husband should quickly withdraw from his wife afterwards, as it is a strain upon the wife. If she asks for intercourse, he should not refuse.

Conclusion

These are only some of the basic duties of the husband in Islam. The state of marriage is part of one's adherence to the Sunna and an exalted state of life indeed. In the words of the Prophet (s), it permits one to meet Allah "pure and cleansed" (tahiran mutahharan). One's behavior towards one's wife is the measure of the perfection of one's belief as the Prophet (s) said: "The most complete of the believers in his belief is he who perfects his manners, and the best of you in manners are those who act best towards their wives." Marriage must be approached with utmost seriousness, entered with the purest intent, and cultivated religiously as it does not come cheaply and it carries immense reward. The Prophet (s) called it "his way" (al-nikahu sunnati) and "half of religion" and he also said: "Two rak`at (prayer-cycles) of the married person are better than seventy rak`at of the unmarried." He also warned that among the greatest of responsibilities that had been placed upon men is that pertaining to the treatment of their wives.

And may Allah's blessings and peace be upon Muhammad,
his Family and all his Companions,
and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds

I will not fail

i WILL not fail

i will NOT fail

i will not FAIL


I.  WILL.  NOT.  FAIL.





I will not go down

Knowing

I could have done better

Knowing

I gave in to my weaknesses.




I will rise up

Rise up to the Destiny

Allah has Willed for me









Should I fall

I know

I will fall without Failure.


I.  WILL.  NOT.  FAIL.

1:15 AM

Reading on the Potty

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |


We are supposed to spend as least amount of time as possible in the Bathroom which means no reading but my son is already showing the kind of man he is when I was just changing him tonight he had to bring his book with him. So as I did the wipey diapey routine he calmly ignored me and read his book about Opposites:Big/Little,Hot/Cold.... When i was finished he threw his book aside and ran off to play...
What a Man.

11:27 PM

April 1st Update

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

Masha'Allah I had a very relaxing day. I spent the morning blogging a bit, then took my kids to Al-Ain Mall for brunch and let them play in the Castle there for an hour til Hubby came. We had Lunch then on the way home Hubby and I had a little Car Race Muahahaha I WON!
Then we hung out at home for a bit til Hubby went back to work. Then I did more Blogging and Noshed (snacked) on some snacks and let the kids play just whatever their little hearts felt like. It was an open day for all. Then Hubby came home with my surprise: BABY DUCKS! TWO! One is Black and Yellow and the other is All Yellow. SOoo cute!!! We put them in the Hamster cage until Hubby can get a bigger cage, luckily they are still small. The kids were excited.
They are making baby chirps all the time though UGH I hope they don't do THAT ALL NIGHT! I better Google how to keep them quiet... Then I did the one and only cleaning today of vacumming the floors cause after the kids ate chips the crumbs were everywhere and SOMEBODY couldn't stand it. ;) Other than that I had a carefree day of no cooking or cleaning.

OK please don't groan or let your eyes pop out of your skulls ok but I have another Update: coming soon in an hour or so after I call my parents. Cause it wouldn't be my day if not for them know what i mean... :D So love to everyone. Hope you all had a great day too! Remeber April Showers bring May Flowers, and this week it's been pouring!

6:36 PM

Bruised Knees

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

Many times I have received injury to myself to save my children from harm. It's all part of being a mother. But the recent bruises were worse than usual. I was washing all the pillows for the beds and the bathroom floor was getting soapy and slippery so when my son came whining at my legs in bare feet I worried for his safety. "Oh no you don't, You're gonna fall!" I said picking him up from under his arms with his back against my tummy and his feet a few inches off the ground as I carried him from the room. Right as I was turning to set him on the carpet my slippery feet slid out from under me. The edging on the door is sharp metal so i knew I had to prevent his body from contact so as I fell I pulled him against me. My right knee hit the floor first taking the most impact followed by the right side of my left knee. Then my son's 12kilos of weigh came crashing down on my wrist which smashed right into the tile floor. I let him go and he rolled off onto the carpet upset but alhamdulillah unharmed. As I cradled my knees and wrist. My husband came running and my undignified yelp of surprise and helped me to my feet. I spent the next two days holding an ice pack to them every chance I got to lay down. They started swelling and that ice felt soooo good! Now they are tender to touch and still have pretty deep bruised marks still after a week. At least I don't have to ice them now though. It's just amazing the way a mother can sacrifice her own welfare to ensure her child comes to no harm. SubhanAllah.

6:06 PM

CHAOS...on my calm chaos

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |


What do these two pictures have in common? Click here to find out the surprising answer.

4:23 PM

S T R E S S E D OUT?

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |


Got a small complaint that I'm taking too long to add a Sister's Blog to ALL MUSLIMAH.
So let me tell you a little bit about how I manage that blog.

  • First I either come across a blog on my own, through a sister's blog link, through e-mail, or on my large list (52 pages long) of blogs to add soon.
  • I add them to the "to be added list".
  • When I don't have any other pressing matters of Children, Husband, Cleaning, Praying, Organizing my Life so it's not Chaos, Expressing myself through my other Blogs, Commenting to all my beloved fellow sisters out there, THEN I can add a few blogs!
  • I open my list of Blogs that I have added. Where I have also saved my automatic replies.
  • I open the sister's blog that I'm adding, read through the first screen to make sure she's Muslim and a SHE. Also to get a feel of the Blogs content for categorising. Which takes a good 5-10 minutes.
  • I then open my Blogger make sure I don't have any comments to publish. 1 minute.
  • I open the Layout screen for ALL MUSLIMAH and have to think about a category for this sister. if I just don't' know I put her in the "you pick" category. 2 minutes.
  • I have to type in her URL and her blog name. 1 minute.
  • I have to save it and then copy it to my list of added blogs.
  • I copy my automatic "you've been added to ALL MUSLIMAH" comment and comment on her blog making sure to add something nice about her current post. I don't usually like it when someone just goes HI THERE COME SEE THIS, and doesn't even say "nice post"... lol... so I try to make sure to comment with my Automatic reply. (which takes a good 3 minutes)
  • Then I have to go to the e-mail they sent me if that is where i got it from and copy the automatic reply to that informing them of the category. (2 minutes)
  • Then I check the main Blog ALL MUSLIMAH to make sure the link works. 1 minute.

So all in all it takes a good 10-20 minutes per person I add to ALL MUSLIMAH. So if I haven't gotten to your link yet please have mercy on me and realize it's a long process because I care about each and every one of you. You are not a mindless URL to enter and be done with. I've seen blogs that just make a master list with no categories, they have hundred and hundreds of blogs listed. But they didn't notify the owner of these blogs, they didn't categorize them, they didn't do diddlysquat. Which is why it takes them 1 minute per entry.
__________________________________________________
I admit even with all my skills of trying to get organized and help other sisters I have my down
side and days of absolute mayhem and chaos. Days where nothing goes right, everything goes wrong and I don't give a rat's behind about taking 20 minutes to add a blog to my lists because I can't even keep my temper for one second in check. So for that please forgive me. Insha'Allah as things get sorted out at my home things will get more sorted on my computer.... at least that is the plan.....

7:33 PM

My Calm Chaos Blog

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

Lol ok I've made my first real entry come check out the craziness!

Excerpt: "pull aside the curtain and reveal the "guest" is still in the shower and have a comedic scene of guest embarrassment"



My Calm Chaos!





:D

5:46 PM

Crazy Nights

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

The other night was just soo weird!

Thursday night the kids trashed the house (what I call it when they make huge messes for me to clean where you can hardly see the floor) and they took the bed half off to make a mattress slide. So inbetween watching cartoons they went mattress diving. Til 2am~! Then of course the next day Jummah Friday they were sooo sleepy. We had a lazy day cause I wasn't feeling good. That night we were supposed to go out to have some family time but Husband was tired. i was tired too beyond so. SO I just turned off all the lights int he house at 9am, forcing the kids to bed. Rajaa went down really fast but Mustapha who is used to regular bedtime at 11pm stayed up tossing and turning in the dark for 3 hours. (till 11pm.) then he fell asleep. Husband woke at 3am and so did I. So did Rajaa. ugh! So we stayed up a bit, I made oatmeal. Then we went back to sleep at 7am and woke at 8! We all got up and had some fun. Mustapha took an early nap at 11. And we all took another nap at 3:30. They are still sleeping now it's 6pm. I think tonight will be another late night arg! Wish I could get things re-shifted better. Insha'Allah!

11:13 AM

Ironing days

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |


Ick i hate ironing when i see a pile of things that need to be. I procrastinate until I'm in deep trouble and am forced to iron something for SOMEONE to wear to work. Then I usually enjoy myself as I work on making perfect seams and lines and flatening out the wrinkles. It's theraputic. I then don't want to stop ironiong as I try to make a headway into the pile. I manage to get about 6 shirts and three pants done before life gets in the way and I have to turn off the iron. Then again I forget my therepy and once again the pile looms large.


ARG! Why can't my ADD head get it stright that having everything ironed it worth it later?


Love Ironing but....

H A T E I T !

6:05 PM

Lemon Cake: How Bitter you are.

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |



*sigh*

Probably going to go more in depth there. keep things lighter here.

4:31 PM

Lemon Cake: How Bitter you are.

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

I decided last night to finally make a cake after a month of begging from hubby and kids. So last night while they slumbered peacefully I stayed up looking over recipes. I found a plain cake mix from scratch. Sounded easy enough. Despite the fact I've never worked with yeast -which smells bad... I saw an old favorite of mine Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. YUMMY. But I wanted to use up some of the extra fruits I bought for Rajaa's Schooling. So I decided it will be a Lemon Poppy Seed Clementine Mango Cake. Erm and I don't have Poppy Seeds but I got some great Black Seeds. Nice substitute. So I thought.

This morning after spending way too long on the net...how do the hours fly? I got up and delt with the kids. Took the butter out of the fridge to warm. And started collecting the ingredients. It may say 6 basic ingredients but you have to deal with each one. i started off withthe nasty yeast. Then the flour and sugar, eggs, and baking powder. Then time for the flaviorings. I brought out the lemon and grated it and juiced it while Rajaa and Mustapha watched a movie. Every few minutes I'd call out warnings as they started fighting. Mo likes to turn off the TV at random and Juju was trying to play a DVD game. After the lemon i grated some clementine zest and then segmented and slices in thirds the clementine. More yelling out warnings as the screaming escalates. I'm halfway through the half mango now peeling it and chopping it into tiny slices when all war breaks out. I rush to intervien. Rajaa is screaming at the top of her lungs and trying to block Mustapha from gaining access to the TV. I tell her to stop screaming and Mo to leave the TV alone. She continues to push and fight with Mo and he pushes and hits back. I try to seperate them...but did I mention I was still holding the half mango and knife? Not an easy task. Finally to punish her for yelling I just pull the plug on the TV and declair tv time-out until she calms down. SHE FREAKS O U T . Starts a rampage. I let her blow off steam for a few minutes while I deal with the mango. Slippery &^&**%#%% things. As I lean over to put the half mango in the fridge she just runs into the kitchen and hits my back and starts trying to scratch it viciously. WTF!!!!! I grab her fast by the hand and quickly say, "No we don't do that to our mommies Rajaa. It's very rude and it hurts! You need a time-out to cool off! Now!" I have to physically hold her down to get her to sit with her feet touching the wall (as is our time out ritual) She's screaming her head off like there's no tomorrow. I ignore it and jsut go back to the kitchen to chop the mango to diced bits. Mustapha of course meanwhile is yelling and freaking out too. This stupid cake is totally not worth all the trouble. So in the middle of chopping I see her ripping my fake flower vine to bit. Whatever I think, let her vent in time-out. She keeps mouthing off trying to make me angry though saying "Look I'm destroying everything, nothing can be beautiful ever again. I'm going to break All your pretty flowers." "That's fine honey. They are your flowers anyways. You're just breaking your family flowers. Break them if you want to I don't care." I say not letting her goad me. She gets more furious and keeps shouting and of course little Mo is still running around making mischief. So as I finish the last slice and have collected all my ingredients I suddenly hear her say,

"I don't care anyways! I want a new Mommy and Daddy who aren't Rude to me! I never ever want to be here again. I want a nice Mommy who will always be nice to me and never ever Rude!"

Oh Ya Allah. She just crushed my heart. Absolutly smashed it. She could have cussed herself blue without really fazing me. But this! Ya Rabb save me from this. i put down the knife and washed my hands. i sat down on the little pink step stool in the kitchen.

"Come here Rajaa." She came all fury faced, sneering her mouth and furrowing her brow. Wild curls just adding to the deshevled look. I made her sit on my knee and Mo vied for the other one. "Why did you say that? Do you really want a new Mommy?"
"YES! I want one who wont be rude to me."
"How was I being rude?"
"Shouting at me."
"Why was I shouting?" I whisper.
"Because you're rude."
"Why was I rude?"
"Because you're yelling. you keep yelling Don't Hit Me, Don't hit Mustapha, Don't hit Baba, Don't hit Rajaa. Don't hit ANYBODY!"
"Well is it good to hit people?"
"No."
"Do you want me to tell you to hit people?"
"No."
"Then why are you mad I told you not to hit me, it hurts my feelings when you hit me."
Mo proceeds to hit me everytime anyone says the word hit, making the conversation very frustrating.
"You're yelling."
"Well I'm sorry for yelling but it's very serious to hurt someone that you love. Do you still want a new mommy?"
"Yes."
"But a new mommy will never love you as much as I love you. No one loves you like I love you."
"Everbody loves me"
"No, no one loves you so so so so so much like Mommy loves you. You think another Mommy will love you that much?"
"ummm..."
"You really hurt me Rajaa. You really make me soo sad when you say that you want a new mommy....*voice cracks and throat constricts*... i love you so much Juju and..*tears flow*..... I don't want you to go to a new...mommy.... you're the best baby girl ever and I love you too much."
"I'm a big girl though not a baby like Mustapha."
"You're right. Yes you're my favorite big girl in the whole world. Come give me a hug please cause I'm so sad." She comes and hugs me and I cry so much and stroke her wild curls til they are tamed. I'm still so heartbroken.

She sees I'm still upset and she goes and makes me a hand-drawn red heart to cheer me up. I'm still crying though so she makes three more and then thunderstorms. Then says:

"look I'm saving you from the thunderstorms cause I love you and I made you hearts cause I want to make you happy and Red is your favorite color." I smiled weakly.

"It's beautiful, see it made me smile, it did make me happy. lets put it on the fridge." So we go and put it on the fridge and then the kids go off and play and I look at my stupid miserable Lemon cake. I sigh and start pouring the ingredients together. it doesn't look right but I'm beyond caring now. I mix the batter and fill some cupcakes and then pour the rest into an oiled pan. i dab on the fruits in a design as hubby gets home. I'm still too upset to talk. Everytime I think of mentioning what she said my throat wells up, silencing me. Finally hubby gets it out of me and i tell him what she said. He is comforting telling me it's just kids mouthing off no big deal. But it was a big deal. I had been with lots of mommies growing up and I never said that to any of them. How can I teach my daughter how bad it is to her her parents?

While Hubby eats Lunch I finish putting my cake and cupcakes into the oven. I go sit down and just chill for a sec cause my headache is growing from crying and sleepyness. After ten minutes I check ont he cake. Nope still gooey. Another ten minutes just mindless zoning wondering about my worth. Finally the cake is done. I Pop it out and it looks pretty. That cheers me up. All yellow golden and doted daintily with black seeds. Very pretty. The Mango and Orange adding some pretty tropical feel. I peel off some cupcakes onto a plate and sprikle with powdered sugar.

I serve to a waiting crowd. They huddle around the plate. I pass around the forks. Hubby bites and grimaces. He was never a fan of lemon. "The black seeds don't go with sweets." He says

I explain the poppy substitution. Rajaa over hears and from that bite on refuses any with seeds. (umm they ALL HAVE SEEDS). Mo likes it at first but after two bites goes away to play. he's not to fond of the mango or oranges. leaving me with 7.5 cupcakes to finish off. I eat my first one. The kids start fighting.. i eat another.... and another as I rethink the day... man these are good cakes. Kinda bittersweet. Like my day.

Finally I coerce Rajaa and Mo to eat a few more bites and then the plate is empty. I go to the kitchen and try just one more forkful. Of the main cake which has lots of fruits. Yummy. Then I do some stuff around the house. But I have such a headache ther is no happiness behind it. Just a dull misery. Finally off Hubby goes for second shift of working and kids start their antics. I go for another cake. This really wasn't worth it at all. I made this and I'm the only one eating it. Which will mess up my scale weight later I'm sure. I try another piece to Mo to appease my guilt of eating too much cake. he wants to squish it between his fingers. I sigh and eat his piece. (mind you they are as thin as my pinky like a pizza, so not liek I'm downing a wedding cake here people). Eventaully I give up on them letting me nap today and just decide to blog this all out.

What a waste of time this cake turned out to be. I wish I hadn't made it. The only part of it I enjoy is pulling something beautiful out of the oven. thats it. I hate eating it knowing it will go to my tummy, I hate the time it takes to prepare it all since I have to ignore my hosue and kids for liek an hour. And at first i tried to let them help me but I had jsut cleaned the kitchen floor the day before and Mo was trying to spill and eat flour everywhere. No thanks. I wanted a cake not a powdered kitchen.

i was thinking to try and bake bread next time but who am I kidding with the bad moods today should I even bother with a next time? SHoudl I just scrap my baking efforts which if you LIKE Lemon Black Seed Clementine Mango Cake went well... or should I just call it a bad day and try again another?

I suppose we'll see in a few days... when i don't feel like such a bad mommy.

*goes in search of a fork...*

Well MY CALM CHAOS is where I will update (sporadically) about how to deal with ADD/ADHD, Chaos in the home and life, Home Management Notebooks, and general tips on how to streamline your life.
I will also be adding cool Islamic charts to help you with your life later on. I do use them myself :D

Brandy A. Chase is where I'll be typing my general thoughts and info on which I'll export from this blog. and maybe keep AMW for my writing thoughts. We'll see how it goes insha'Allah. I'm just trying to organize everything so I'll let you kow when it gets going.

Well be patient with me I DO have ADD and it will take me a long time to manage all the things that are juggling up in the air.

I also figured out the problems with Jummah Resolutions and Jennah Standards International Homeschooling and COMMENTING! ARG what a pain to do all that work and then the comments weren't working. i tested them and now they are fine so I hope that they will both be good resources to improving your and other's lives. So go on and let us know your resolutions now. (I'm still playing with a background for JR cause the font is too small i think.)

Be sure to check in on all my other blogs insha'Allah ONE will benefit you somehow.
XOXOX to all my dedicated readers and future readers.

4:48 AM

Perfect Muslimahs

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

Sisters with our pretend halos on our heads. We are not Angels though. We try and try to be oh so good but we all have our faults. Yet you would never know it looking over the blog world. Our blogs seem to be divided in two. Those who aren't afraid to tell their failings and those who are. Those who aren't tend to go after the tough questions in life in an attempt to better oneself and others but those who are afraid tend to ignore their failings under a banner of Privacy. I'm not saying everyone should blurt out their deepest darkest secrets or tell us all how many times they slept with their husband or whatever. But sometimes when we look at these squeaky clean blogs we need to realize there is a sister under that beautiful mask that is hiding pain.

haven't you seen those beautiful ballroom masks they wore in the days of Olde? They were so flawlessly beautiful and you could be anyone you wanted to be while you wore them. Yet under them you are a turmoil of emotions.
I will use myself as an example so no one thinks I'm pointing fingers.
I have now how many blogs!?!?! 5! Oh my! If a person who hasn't known me online for very long trips up onto my steps of words to visit me and says WOW how does she do it all? She's got this Directory and this AMW Blog! Oh and there's the new Jummah Resolutions! Later she's gonna do some good for Muslimah Authors and can you believe she does all this and still homeschools with a new blog, cooks and cleans, and irons and takes care of her husband.

Well don't believe it honey. Not for one minute. It is my beautiful glittery mask of perfection.
I have my issues. Lots of them. I have my pain. Deep Pain sometimes. I have my disorganized fritzy days where I'm staring at my blog page with glazed eyes then turn it off ignored. I try to make my first priority my kids. Then my husband's wants like a clean house and nicely cooked food. Then my kid's schooling, THEN it comes down to my free time. i break it up between my billions of projects.

I don't know why the past month or so I haven't felt like commenting to many people on this blog or on anyone else's blog. It's weird and i apologise. But recently I've been forcing myself to get out there again and mingle more and be more open again to meeting new bloggers. And it helps. The more I like talking to them the more I remember why I loved Blogging to begin with. Meeting awesome new people everyday. But as I jump blog to blog I'm realizing how careful we all are online not to expose ourselves too much in case someone tries to burn us online. Sometimes we try so hard and succeed that we look flat. As un-personable as those masks. Sure I love the "how-to-help-yourself" blogs that lead you step by step into a more organized and flowing life but on these blogs you don't see the real person deep under. you don't know their fears. You don't know why they shed their tears. They are flat blog people stuck in cyberspace.
Sometimes I'm constrained by my own limits on my blog It makes me want to scream. WHY CANT I BLOG ABOUT THAT!!! I wanna yell. Ahhh, because if you say that the blog world will take a collective gasp and burn you down the invisible hole. Also I constrain myself by what my family and friends read. Hubby says: Don't say this. Friends will say: She said WHAT! Etc... So sometimes I read bloggers who hide their identities and are free to say whatever they like and I envy them. they are free to take off the mask and show their real souls. Souls that tell a real tale. A tale that others like me flock to so that we can feel our Humanity.
What about you guys out there? Do you feel sometimes your blogs are too goody goody? or do you think you can add more depth without compromising your identity safety?

8:30 AM

Say "ALLAH"

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |



When I was an atheist teenager the thought of saying the word God made me cringe. I'd walk by a nun and shudder. Churches gave me the creeps. I viewed those with faith as people blinded.

Now not a moment goes by that I don't say something that is related to God.
Sneeze: Alhamdulillah, Yarhamukallah..., Praise be to Allah, (roughly like: May Allah Bless You)
Eat: Bismillah, In the name of Allah
Go Potty: A'udu billahi minaShaytanir Rajiim, I seek refuge in Allah from the rejected Satan.
How are you?": "Alhamdulillah, Praise be to Allah.
"Can you? What do you think?": "Insha'Allah, by Allah's Will or Allah Willing...

Sometimes I even feel just breathing you feel yourself saying it in your head
IN : Subhan-
OUT: -ALLAH
IN: ALLAHU-
OUT: AKBAR
IN: Alhamdu-
OUT: -lillah

For me talking all day about God is not enough. Not even if I said Allah with every breath would it be good enough to thank Him for all He does for us. There are blessings we have WE DONT EVEN KNOW OF! SubhanAllah!



My favorite du'a is : I praise Allah by the number of His Creation and His pleasure, by the weight of His throne, and the ink of His words.

That means for every grain of sand, every ant, every drop of water, every molecule and every atom created I praise Him by. Still this is not good enough. Allah is deserving of more.
May Allah make it easy for us to Praise Him in the manner most befiting Him that pleases Him.

I know it's hard for people that used to know me to imagine me always saying things about God but this is Islamic life always focusing our lives upon worshiping and drawing closer to Allah. With every act we do even something tedious as washing dishes, you say bismillah In the name of God. While you scrub away mindlessly you have time to reflect more about Allah. You have time as you rinse to say Tasbih, praising Allah. As you put them away you have time to thank Allah.



I enjoy my time meeting with sisters in Islam more than non-Muslims because they understand fully my passion for speaking about God and faith and aren't uncomfortable about anything I might say. I certainly don't have to watch my tongue for "preachyness" like I do with non-Muslims. I feel sometimes even talking to my parents I can't say God too much or they feel uncomfortable. I must reign in my tongue and my heart and deny myself what comes naturally when talking to non-Muslims. Sometimes if I feel they can take it though I don't bother to reign it in but mostly I have to. It's been a big blessing Alhamdulliah to live here in the Middle East where you can talk more freely. Even the Christian Taxi Drivers in Lebanon understood the phrases I used all the time. "Go Downtown?" "Yes, insha'Allah." "Here you are!" "Alhamdulillah, thanks!"

Sometimes I wonder if I go back to America will I always have to be translating what I say? Will a Alhamdulliah slip out and someone looks at me funny and I go "Oh, it means Praise be to God." and they give that uncomfortable pause...

Though I think it's strange that no one comments on the sterotypical Black Elderly woman loudly commenting "Praise the Lord, God Almighty" yet if I were to say the same in the same way I'd get some funny looks. In fact once when my Grandmother was in the Hospital next to her was a very frail elderly black woman who just laid there in her bed looking at death's door and mumbling Praises to God. I felt more closer to her than my own grandmother at the time. I even went over and held her hand and made du'a that her suffering would be eased in this life. She had a clear strong faith and wasn't afraid to show it. She didn't care I was Muslim at all. She smiled warmly and gripped my hand as we both Praised God. I want to be like that when I'm nearing death should I live to be so old.

Sometimes we don't realize the idle time we have that we can be using more efficiently to praise Allah, the one Who Created Time. Insha'Allah we become better at it.
People search and search for the meaning of life but we in Islam have already found it and try our best to impliment it. WORSHIPING GOD is the only meaning to our lives. We should do all we can to facilitate this task.



Insha'Allah we will be Judged as Worthy to behold Allah in Jannah.

5:03 PM

2009 Goals

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

These are my current 2009 goals to accomplish I'll edit them as I think of more.
Anyone that wants to do this as a tag is welcome to copy/paste.

Home:

  • Maintain Cleaning Schedule
  • Give away old clothes
  • Iron once a week to prevent laundry pileup
  • Save money$ to go visit family in Lebanon/USA

Personal:

  • Wean brestfeeding son
  • Stop biting nails
  • Learn proper adab (manners) of a good wife
  • Get new abaya
  • Help Husband open business
  • Lose weight to under 70 kilos (Started at 108, now at 78)

Homeschooling:

  • Plan Kindergarten's Curriculum
  • -Monthly Units
  • --Time
  • --Zoo/Farm Animals
  • --Addition+Subtraction
  • --Arabic Alphabets and Vocabulary
  • --Farm Life/Gardening
  • --Geography
  • --Learn to Read
  • -Lapbooks
  • -Field Trips and Gatherings
  • Read to each child half an hour daily
  • Keep my cool
  • Maintain a rough schedule
  • Firm Bedtime routine

Blogging:
  • Post 1 poem per month
  • Minimum 10 posts per month
  • 3 post per month helping someone/an organization
  • 1 post featuring a fellow blogger
  • Make new template -3 column
  • Make new personalized header reflecting myself

Islam:
  • Fast Ramadan when it comes this year
  • Make up past Ramadan days and Pay Expiation
  • Learn Arabic Better
  • Learn Hanafi Fiqh
  • Memorize 1 Surah of Qur'an each month
  • -Complete 40 days in a row not missing even 1:
  • --6 Daily Prayers (including Witr)
  • --No excusable anger
  • ----Add a Sunnah Prayer every 40 days after finish the first 40

Career (Writing):
  • Finish writing Rough Draft of current Novel
  • Edit (friends) R.D.
  • Send Novel to Publisher
  • Enter Islamic Poetry Contest

Fun:
  • Have BBQ in Desert
  • Have camping adventure
  • See Al-Ain Airshow 2009
  • Visit friends weekly

8:56 AM

The Sculptor

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

I was laughing and chatting online with my sister-in-law H when she suddenly took me by surprise.
"So what's new in the stories?" she asked. I blanked out a moment while memories rushed to my heart.
I always share my latest pages scribbled about any of the current books I'm writing with this sister. She always listens and gets properly excited about my characters which in turns fuels my writing passion. I haven't been able to write for a very long time now. Her question brought back the hunger. The mad insatiable urge to pick up my sculpting pen and carve out a tale, a tale the likes that have never been told before. My heart wrenched with grief that my pen lay idle.
"Nothing new yet, you know, two kids and all." I weakly laugh trying to rid myself of this burning pain in my heart. I tried to describe to her how much I miss my writing and I know that she knows but does she KNOW MY HEART IS ON FIRE!?!?

Why WHY! am I forsaking my passion? WHY! Sure I have the normal excuses any woman has... 2 kids, a house that needs Arabized cleaning, a big list of to-do. But the sad reality is my writing is no longer even ON the to-do list as it used to be. I really did actually put on a calender before: "Write on *** story". Maybe I don't even know which story to write now if I even wanted to dig out my pen.
It's calling me back to it, the great Sculpting Pen of the ages. Calling me to make my mark on history. Calling me back to my passion of the written word. Calling me back to the days where I'd sit writing a poem and take at least an hour trying to find that elusive perfect word to describe an intense feeling. Calling me back tot the days when I'd manage a good six pages in my latest book while my teacher waxed on about the importance of learning American History. Calling me back to the days when I read for my friends during lunch the latest in my plots.
What agony I am in.
Why do we let our passions fall to the way-side? Why can't we let our sculptors within free? My inner passion has been chained down, tormenting my inner soul with the feelings of being lost without remembering what it was I lost. The distant call of my sister has it all rushing back, and in doing so, has fueled my life back into brilliance.
The soul is happy when following it's passion to the utmost.
I need my soul to be happy again.
It's my torment that I don't know how.
I don't know how to manage the already overwhelming task of taking care of my duties and still have time for the time-consuming task of getting my head back into the writer's mode and my heart to follow the lives of my characters. But if I don't think of a way I'll continue to feel this hollow ache in my chest where my heart is slowly withering.
The beat slows... wash the dishes... slower... vacuum the floors... slower... take out trash...
"So what's new in the stories?"... stutter... ! ... faster... a pen... faster... a blank paper... faster... a story!... Faster... MY STORY! ... BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
THAT is living !~ Feeling your heart pound blood through your body.

1:33 AM

Slim Down Your Home

Wrote: American Muslima Writer |

Abu Sinan-Sayf reminded me with this post how much I love reading about how people feel more free after they have tossed out old junk. It's like putting your house on a diet for a more healthier lifestyle.
Not only you have to watch what new things you feed your house (bringing in stuff) but you have to exercise your house to burn calories. Well actually YOU'RE burning the calories by carting out that junk!
There are a lot of great places to get money for your goodies and of course it's always acceptable to do this especially if it cost you a lot to gain the product. But sometimes because of emotional attachment we don't throw stuff we should. This is akin to a fat person NOT dieting because they are comfortable in their skin and are afraid of change. But to move on to better things in our lives and to be more healthy for sure we must get rid of even the emotional things that are really not usefully everyday. Just keep the bare minimum of mementos if you MUST. Like one baby dress and booties for each child. Scan important art and papers into your computer to keep on a skinny little CD file I guarantee it takes less space that way.
But back to getting rid of things. Abu Sinan-Sayf mentioned E-Bay and many commented that they just gave stuff away and I want to reiterate this fact that it IS a form of Charity to do so. Sure you may get $500 for that sofa set but I promise you there are poor peope who would kiss your feet if you gave it to them for free. They'll keep it lovingly until it's in tatters and they are forced to BUY something new which will probably take over 10 years for most families. You have let a family be happier than they would have been for a WHOLE 10 YEARS! Powerful Charity right there. Donate your CDs to friends, Blankets and clothes to relatives or shelters.
In UAE all my donations of clothes go first to my neighbors then if I feel they wouldn't need it I send it with my husband to doll it out between the poor Indian and Pakistani workers in the workshop he visits. So then they take it home on their vacations to their families and children. The toys I give to them are ones in good shape that my kids are bored with or haven't played with in over a month. Other kids would be happier with them. or sometimes you just get too many of those annoying happy meal toys and have to do a sweep-out.
So even if you are in the C/D/F scale of poverty you can still do powerful charity. They feel good, you feel good and your house will look awesome slimmed down and roomier!

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