Rejection and meds and infections oh my!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. This is just a quick update as I'm tirrrrred. Sorry for the lack of posts; I went to the hospital early Thursday morning after my niggling suspicion about an infection turned into proof. My immunosuppresant therapy is pretty high right now (hence my immune system is low) and an opportunistic little bug decided to set up shop in my bladder. AGAIN.

Anyway good news it isn't the resistant e. coli I seem to always grow, it's just your plain garden-variety e. coli. Yay! Which means after I did my 3 days stint in the hospital with iv meds now I get to come home and take a MONTH'S worth by mouth. Meh, whaddya do? Alhamdulillah for it all.

So to recap: I'm back home, I am still in my rejection episode but alhamdulillah I've regained some lost function already which is AWESOME, but I still don't know if it's chronic rejection (which is not curable) or if it's an acute case which means it flared up for some reason but the meds can stamp it out. Insha'Allah the latter but Allahu alim.

Gonna keep this short so I can get some sleep. For some reason up here, they only have shared rooms so I've not been so well-rested if you can imagine! Oh and I missed being connected. A and I just ordered a new laptop and wouldn't you know, it arrived at Best Buy Thursday but since I ordered it, the confirmation email just sat there. I coulda been blogging like there was no tomorrow if I would have known!!! lol Make hubby do a laptop and food run to the hospital for me. :-))

Anyway that's it for now, make a proper post later insha'Allah. Ma salaama ya'll!

Allah's mercies abound

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I was at the grocery store the other day, checking out and yes, checking out other people's carts. Sometimes I feel a little embarassed if I happen to be on a junk-food only run and the person behind me has only organic, whole-foods in their cart. I'll admit, I've even more prominently displayed my salad fixin's over my potato chips and dip (and didn't feel very asahamed of my charade either). ;-)

However this time I had the grocery-cart high road. I was buying fruit and fresh veggies, milk, whole-grain bread and a very understandable 6pack of caffeine-free diet coke. I couldn't help but see the monochromatic color scheme the customer in front of me had going on; all beige, brown, and bland. Frozen chicken nuggets, enriched white bread, pre-packed oval hashbrowned frozen potatoes, potato chips, and full-sugar coke. Some fattening sweets as well rounded out his selections.

He was unkempt and to be honest (although not very kind) he was a bit on the slovenly side as well. He had the look of someone who stayed up til 3 am playing video games in his parents' basement, eating pizza rolls and telling his friends he "p'wned" them in the game. Sloppy clothes, pasty-faced and fumbling, he seemed ill-equipped to tie his own shoes, much less to be buying his own groceries.

He was shy, quiet, and mumbling to the clerk. I always try to mind my own business (besides glancing at the contents of other people's carts) and was trying not to know what was happening. I saw the clerk take aside the hamburger buns and bag of chicken nuggets and put them to the side.

It brought back a flood of memories; I've been poor for so much of my life, this could have been an excerpt from the pages of my past. Once, when I was newly married and newly mommied to Zack, I used to work at Glamour Shots, a horrid little photography place that made women up like painted whores and took pictures of them in fake, stilted, supposedly sultry poses and sold them at exhorbitant prices. I hated the job (this was wellllll before I was Muslim) but the whole fake environment wore on me. I was a lowly receptionist and happy to have the $6.50 and hour to pay our rent, utilities, groceries, gas, diapers, etc... (My husband was a full-time student in art college and not working.)

Anyway Christmas time rolled around and my co-workers (most of whom were very nice masha'allah) and I all went out with our husbands to the annual restaurant party thrown by the owner. I'd obviously been eating more ramen noodles for lunch than I'd realized (either that or the cheap land'o'lakes ham on the cheapest of white breads) because at the end of the dinner I got something I hadn't even dreamed of receiving.

10 cents a pack; can't be beat for price and bad nutrition!

My coworkers came up to us and handed us an envelope. We didn't exchange gifts (alhamdulillah we had no money to do so!) so it made this even more surprising. Inside, subhanallah, was a gift certificate for $100 to a local grocery store. Masha'Allah they did it so sweetly and with such great tact I was only overwhelmed, not embarassed. I was truly grateful for this gift that would allow me to buy the extra formula Zachary needed over what WIC provided for free. It was, truly for us at that time, a miracle.

Fast forward as I stand behind this young man in the line. I ache to reach out, to help him. To hand him a $20 with as much grace and compassion as my friends did for me 16 years ago.

Then I thought, maybe I can just quickly tell the cashier I will pay for his 2 purchases and can the bagger run them out to him? But by that time he was out the doors, disappeared into the cold, grey afternoon.

I even thought if they hurried and I got out in time I could walk up to him but my sudden shyness prevented. What if he was embarassed and refused, or really just forgot his wallet and had to use the cash he had on him? Was I over-dramatizing the moment?

I don't think so. I believe he had to make a balance choosing between healthy, filling, nourishing food and his bank account. I used to make 10 fish sticks, a can of green beans, and pour out two 6 oz cups of milk for my sons after their father and I divorced. Each boy got 5 fish sticks and milk as well as as a good serving of beans. I ate the leftover beans and ate any of the food they might have on their plates. It was all I could afford and I would have given them the life flowing in my veins if it would have fed them.

I thought about this the whole way home; at first with sadness for his condition but then, just a beautiful feeling of gratitude and glory for Allah. It is HE who gave me EVERY blessing in my life I don't deserve. It is by His grace, and His alone, that I am striving on the path al-Islam, and that I have more comfort and security than I ever dreamed. Wallah I was so overcome by the rahma of our Lord I had tears in my eyes and I felt so unworthy.

I am not trying to be "poor me" or make anyone feel bad for me or what I have been through in my life. I am GRATEFUL to ALLAH for everything in my life, past and present, good and bad. I learned, I grew, I discovered how to truly appreciate every good moment in my life and accept the bad. It has made me stronger, and more resilient and yes, kinder.

It has made me the kind of person that can feel empathy for a stranger in the check-out line and carry home a lesson in humility and gratitude along with my groceries.

All praises are due to Allah, the creator of the worlds!!!!

To all my south asian sistahs

Can ya'll see any desi features on her? Curious...

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. As you may or may not know, my darlin' little Aaminah is half Indian masha'Allah. I try to encourage her to learn (in age-applicable ways) about the other half of her culture. Masha'allah she's got alot on her plate.

1. M-U-S-L-I-M of course is first and foremost. 'Nough said.

2. American. Amreeki. Amreekiya. Whatev, howev you say it, she was born a southern girl and that is of course my basis for life after being a Muslim.

3. Indo-pak/desi. Please if any of these terms are offensive, tell me. It seems simple to say Indo-Pak but I've never definitely heard if it's rude; if so please excuse me and feel free to call me a redneck if ya wanna. :-))

So I guess it goes to say she will never learn Urdu. First English then Arabic and no one to teach her Urdu. Her Abi left when she was 3 months old and returned to India (after I had traveled to India to marry him, completed his visa, waited apart for a year, brought him over as his sponsor on his relative visa, worked while pregnant with Aaminah and he make TWO trips back to India and didn't work, blah blah blah) LOL Sorry really not bitter at all just want ya'll to have the WHOLE picture in your mind and not think I am trying to keep her from anything anyone.

Anyway I want her to know about her more interesting (to me!) cultural half. Here's where ya'll can help. Anyone out there reading who has a couple of choli-lenghas or shalwar kameez sized to fit a sturdy almost 3 yr old, give me a holla. The bright metal bangles, anything really. I have a few things for her but most of the clothing she outgrew as the waist was made for some very slender child and while masha'allah Aaminah is perfect, made by Allah, she is sturdy not a will-o-wisp. :-)

I am more than willing to pay S&H plus cost but I am not looking to spend $$$. Used is best as it costs lest and I save more $$$. :-)) I would also love to have a sari for me to wrap as a rida (really neat way to cover) or a woolen jamovar/stole/pashmina???? jeeze thought I knew some things but guess not.

I know I can go on eBay and search but I am so leery of getting poor quality in things I am not as well-versed in, such as Indian clothing. Hence my appeal to you.

Now, if you have the goods, you wanna sell, we can make a deal. If you have the goods but kinda feeling, Oh I should save it for my sister's daughter or my cousin's baby, then please do and don't worry. :-) I like to hand things down in my family too or help out those less fortunate, alhamdulillah.

I knooooow this might be stretching it but I would also love to find some jewelry for her; earrings or bracelets. She has a pair of silver anklets given by a sweet friend but I of course would like to put her in some bling-bling gold, insha'Allah, the kind I cannot seem to find in the US.

Oh also just plain play shalwar kameez, shoes, whatever. Sorry trying to be more explicit in what I am searching for. Alright looking forward to hearing back from someone in the near future and if not, alhamdulillah. Maybe one day her Abi's family will think of her here in the US and send her some little token of her other background, wa Allahu alim.

She said to me the other day, rather poignantly, "I want someone to look like me" or something to that effect. She knows I have green eyes and my hair isn't quite the same as hers and her stepsiblings have a more North African/Arab look, and her brothers have light brown hair and startlingly blue eyes. Subhanallah she picked up on that! I want her to be proud of her mixed heritage but I have to find ways to present it to her first insha'allah.

Ma salaama ya'll...

Enjoy!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll! Here is a very short little gif of Aaminah when she was one. We were at a local fair and she was looking at them llama, then turned to us as if to say, "What the heck?" LOL Enjoy ya'll!

 Cute masha'Allah!

Some food pics

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. February 14th (Valentine's Day for those who celebrate it) is also the anniversary of my husband's arrival in the US as a UN refugee. Subhanallah. Their 10th anniversary as a matter of fact.

However when I decided to make kharoof (lamb) for my honey, it wasn't with either of those things in mind! lol He's only eaten lamb once or twice in the year we've been married; sisters, I try but I just can't eat it. Something about the taste, like wet, funky wool oil, I don't know, but I gag. :-( Since my kidney disease started, I've always been kinda weird with meat. Ah well...

Anyway last time hubby went to the halal butcher (we go to Boston to get the best quality) I encouraged him to buy lamb for himself, I would make it for him but fully intended to eat something else myself. So I made him these lovelies:

So I marinated the lamb chunks in a mix of oil, lemon juice, pepper and a 3 spice mix we grind of cumin, coriander, and fennel seed? Wow can't remember the last one in that mix... it's kinda a sweet spice used in Hungarian cooking alot, but not paprika. Sorry I'll update it if I can think of it. Anyway marinated it for 24 hours and then chopped large button mushrooms, cubanelle and thinner green chilis (medium heat), small round tomatoes, and little pearl onions.

I super under estimated the time to prepare the kabobs. Each tiny cute onion had to be peeled first, mushrooms carefully cleaned, chillis chopped and I also soaked my wooden skewers for 30 minutes prior to grilling so they wouldn't burn.

Didn't work, some of my skewers burnt through but alhamdulillah we could still pull them out. I love the aesthetics of mixing all components on one skewer but it makes no culinary sense. I put all the lamb on separate skewers, then put peppers and onions on the same and tomatoes and mushrooms on others. My goal was for a colorful skewer where all the components would cook at the same pace. I put the onions skewers on first; who wants a crunchy grilled onion? Then I placed the lamb about 5 minutes later and the tomatoes I put on the top "warmer" grill and put them on the bottom for the last 5 minutes.

It took about 20 minutes to cook, I had to turn frequently, I also had a huge flare up from lamb grease dripping down and catching other debris on fire. Wow, I tossed on a little water and a HUGE flame shot I. I knew it would but I had to save my kabobs and didn't have a sprayer with me.

Anyway it was pretty tasty. I ate some veggies and had salad; no meat passed my lips that night. I had also made a cake for that day; Abdulmajid had fasted and I wanted to make him a treat. I make a yellow cake mix but add 1/3 cup of lemon juice (more or less to taste) plus lemon zest. I forgot to reduce my water so the cake didn't rise as high and was really moist and really yummy!

I wanted to top it with a little something and decided on sweetened condensed milk with lemon juice mixed it. It was GREAT. Easy glaze for when you dont have powdered sugar for a traditional glaze.

Love my clay bakeware; perfectly seasoned and makes great cakes!

I usually take photos that are staged, you know out on a plate, etc but I just snapped this quickly. I was inspired by my dear sister HijabiMommy over at her blog My Life Under the Veil  She made a decadently delicious cake by Miss Paula Deen (say yum ya'll) but it was a little heavy for her so I just decided to make a yellow cake. :-)

Anyway enjoy insha'Allah and it seems I am already getting some of that predisone energy so I might be posting after all. Just depends on if I get in a manic mood and throw the computer at some stage LOL Just teasing, masha'Allah I am a pretty even person but wow, does prednisone make me a *bit* different!

ma salaama ya'll...

A transplant update

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. It will be my 9 year transplant anniversary on March 6. However the past couple of weeks my creatnine has been steadily rising. I went in for a biopsy yesterday (NOT like a skin biopsy, this is invasive and it hurts!!!) and my nephrologist (kidney dr) called me this morning.

He said I am having a rejection episode but alhamdulillah a fairly mild one. There is also scarring present from this past year of infections. The more detailed pathology report will not be available until next week sometime for me to know if my original disease is back or not.

Besides my creatnine rising (which is a measure of kidney function) my hematocrit level has dropped. This measures your redblood cell portion of the blood which carries oxygen to all your body parts. So I am also becoming anemic which is just another proof of the rejection and harm my kidney is experiencing.

I'll be starting on a hugely high dose of prednisone to try and get this under control and insha'Allah reclaim some of my lost function. I hate prednisone. I get grouchy, emotional and I swell horribly. My face will look almost unrecognizable, my legs and feet will be so swollen it will hurt to stand. Insha'Allah it works.

I also have stomach issues so if these huge doses of prednisone hurt me too much I'll have to go to the hospital to get iv prednisone. I am afraid I will have to as just my tiny regular dose of that medicine causes me alot of pain.

Sisters, please make dua for me that Allah gives me shifa and helps me do everything in my power to take care of my kidney.

Jazakum Allahu khair... Oh and I might not post for a week or so; just hang tight and keep me in your duaat!!!!! Ma salaama...

A confession

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I know you must be groaning, Whaaaaat? Another post about HIJAB? Yes I share the same sentiment as many of you; it is not the most important aspect of a Muslim woman. However it is something that is so much a part of me, something that has been mandated on me by my Rabb, and something that I do think on from time to time. And now I get to share my musings with you all. :-)

Do you ever have that feeling like your spirit cannot be contained? Wild rushes of joy, an intense desire to burst out of your skin, to break into a billion tiny prisms of light and be blown about by the wind? I feel this way sometimes. Often, actually, before I became serious about not listening to music.

Oh how those notes can carry us away, transport us on the wings of ecstacy (or agony, as the writer dictates).  Make us forget our cares while we hum along to our favorite tune, recalling a more carefree time. How we long to recapture those moments, to relive that moment again and again and again! This, my sisters, is the lure of music. It is beautiful, haunting, melodic, heartrending and absolutely addictive. I would be unable to name even my favorite style of music as so many held a place in my heart.

Please, before I get accused of waxing raphsodic ;-) know I am saying this to make a point, not to glorify music. Music arouses an animal passion inside us that is difficult to contain. It can, by virtue of a few notes, make us on the brink of yearning for what we can never have again, the past. We cannot recapture moments in time nor can we recreate them at will. We have to be content in the present, to make this day, THIS moment, be the one that counts, the one that we are living in.

And in that moment we need to have remembrance of Allah. I've heard many sisters say they just can't find nasheed that excites them as popular music does. I am here to say I don't think it should. We are not Pentecostal Christians or A.M.E. members, we do not speak in tongues, and fall into wild faints, and sing and dance shamelessly to glorify Allah.

We should glorify Him, His name be PRAISED, with every breath in our bodies, with our thoughts, our salaat, and yes even our intimacy with our husbands. In all ways, we as Muslims submit to and glorify our Creator. Subhanallah.

Uhhh excuse me, Umm Aaminah? Weren't you going to talk about hijab? :-D Oh yes, dear and gentle reader (big LOL here) I was. Please let me continue.

I was driving to get the kids from their religious studies on Saturday, having left Aaminah at home with Baba while they both napped. (Lucky ones!) The car was to myself, I had some peace and quiet. I switched on the public radio channel and thought, oh let me see what else might be on.

B I G mistake. As I was scanning through the stations (it used to be dialing, remember THOSE old radios?? lol) I heard the unmistakable sound of a great song. Oh me oh my, yes I did. "American Pie" a folksy song by Don McLean, an anthem to teenage angst before it was en vogue. I started humming along (feeling guilty mind you) and then here came the chorus...

"Bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry, them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye and singing 'This'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die'".

By this point, right as the song moves into how he watched his girl dancing it up in the high school gym, I was singing along merrily, nay, lustily, loudly, happily, giddily, carefree and with wild abandon.

And I glanced at myself in the mirror. I saw my hijab, my symbol of SUBMISSION to Allah, this outward sign which cries out to all: "Here is a woman who honors her Lord first and reserves herself for only those who are worthy". And yet, I was giving way to my animal passions, to the lure of the music, driving a little faster than before, smiling and singing and looking a little crazy.

I don't mind that last part so much, looking crazy. I'll gladly do it for my daughter, to make her smile and laugh. In my home to amuse my husband or friends or family, I am silly and fun-loving and well a little weird at times. :-)

I had an epiphany. Yes my hijab is to remind me of Allah and my submission to him, to remind me to be modest and quiet, to help me remember I represent Islam to most anyone I happen upon that day.

However for me, it holds another dimension. It restrains me. It keeps me together than I feel like flying into a million pieces and disappearing. It keeps me from giving into those animal passions: lust, desire, greed, selfishness.

I am sure some of you reading this (mostly non-Muslims I hope!) are thinking, what a drab and dull life. No, not at all and that is NOT the point! My point is, as a Muslim especially, we are not to be ruled by our baser desires. I do not want to be ruled by lustful thinking or be lead around by my emotions. We know this life is about more than just doing what feels good, what makes us happy. Muslims are not part of the counter-culture movement where all is free love and groovy.

This is why our marriages are stable, our husbands (for the most part, I KNOW there are exceptions) are not looking to trade in their "starter wives" for a newer model. We are in it for the long haul, we are committed to each other and to our deen and that, THAT, is what will keep us on the course when things get tough.

So my sisters, my hijab also keeps me grounded when I might otherwise (figuratively) fly. It is my visible anchor, it keeps me grounded. I am grateful to Allah for all His blessings and I am grateful for my hijab.

Ma salaama ya'll....

They're baaaack! 2nd post of the day

I love 'em!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I was sooo excited when I looked in my yahoo and had an email from HijabGirl and saw they had restocked my absolutely FAVE type of hijab, the long tie-back khimar. Who am I kidding, fave? It's the only one I wear for many reasons. One, comfort, comfort, comfort. Two, it's very modest. Three, it stays put fairly well. :-) HG is the only place online I have found them. I don't like the ones with the separate underscarf; I need the attached underscarf.

My love affair began innocently enough about 4 years ago. A sister threw one in with an abaya I had purchased on ebay. At first I felt kinda conspicuous but it didn't take long before I was in love. Now it's all I can wear and my black one had gotten kinda groady and I was needing some more. Unfortunately they had been out of the black (a staple for me) for the past year. Yep, year.

Alhamdulillah they got these in and when I placed my order, there were still 74 black ones left. :-) There is also beige, brown, navy and white. I have only good things to say about this company and if you are interested their prices are great. $5.95 shipping in US for any size order and I only paid $19.95 for each long khimar. Happy day!

Ma salaama ya'll...

Marriage is hard...

Following Allah's laws are the key to marital success :-)

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. You know I've been thinking alot about marriage lately. Why you may ask? Well because I am married and it takes up alot of my time, energy and thoughts. :-) To make a marriage work, any marriage, takes effort but to build a beautiful, solid Islamic marriage... well, it's less work and it's more work. Confused? Let me explain.

There are many reasons why a marriage between Muslims is easy:

1. Allah is the center. If we truly trust and obey Him, what can bother us?

2. We have at our disposal a fool-proof guide to marriage. It's called the Qur'an and the sunnah of our beloved Prophet, saws.

I think that about does it. We don't have to guess, we know how we should act, how we should respond, even how we should approach an argument. How many people set off an any venture with such clear-cut instructions??? Subhanallah.

Now there are some reasons it's hard. Here they are:

1. Shaitaan. He loves nothing more than to come between a husband and a wife. He delights in causing discord and he will stop at nothing to make problems where there should be tranquility.

2. We are human. Yes we are Muslims, we strive for the pleasure of Allah, but we fail. We often fail in our marriages, fail with our spouse before others. How many times have we been in a bad mood and taken it out on the person closest to us? Yeah, you've got the idea.

3. Even though we know what to do, we sometimes ignore it. This is different from making an honest error. There are times when we simply chose to do the wrong thing and in a marriage, this can lead to serious problems.

Is there a solution? Yes. Truly strive to please Allah in all matters, and you will see improvements. Make sincere du'a (often) and Allah swt will relieve you of your burdens. This may sound trite to some of you but if you read the Qur'an and hadith, you will see so many beautiful examples of how Allah's mercies are abundant.

A Bukhari hadith describes how a woman was running about in the hot sun, searching for her child. She found him, and clutched him to her breast, saying, "My son, my son!" The Prophet's Companions saw this, and wept. The Prophet was delighted to see their mercy, and said, "Do you wonder at this woman's mercy (rahmah) for her child? By Him in Whose hand is my soul, on the Day of Judgment, Allah shall show more rahmah toward His believing servant than this woman has shown to her son."

And your Lord said: "Invoke Me (believe in My Oneness and ask me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).........." Qur'an 40:60

There are so many more examples but these are just two of the multitude. Sisters, I tell myself this before anyone else. A marriage between Muslims isn't some fairy tale: your husband isn't going to come home every day after work and bring you an armfull of flowers he stopped to pick from the road side and he probably won't live up to a hundred other western ideals of romance we've all picked up from the movies. :-) We, my dear sisters, also will probably not have a beautiful, peaceful home for him to come to everyday, we might snap or be grouchy at times, and I'm pretty sure we've all woken up and looked like a sea monster instead of the beauty mouthwash commercial girl who wakes up fresh and clean with minty breath!

My point is, real life isn't a romance. It can be romantic and beautiful and loving but day to day life isn't a storybook love affair. It's the day-in and day-out of raising a family, paying bills, and being constant for one another in our affection and giving of our time.

It means not voicing every complaint that comes to our mind and it sometimes means gracefully acknowledging when we are wrong. It means putting our Creator first and seeing marriage as a means to an end; as a way to protect us in this dunya and help us win our jannah, as a way to encourage each other on this journey called life.

My sisters, we can love our husbands and they can love us, but our worship, our life is for Allah and Allah alone. "I only created the jinn and mankind to worship Me." Qur'an 51:56. If we keep this close to heart, we can find it easier to accept the small disappointments in life, easier to bear our burdens. If our husbands, too, keep these words in their minds, they will be naturally more loving and caring, and will do all for their family to please their Rabb.

Let us all strive for the pleasure of Allah and pray for Him to erase our insecurities, to make us stronger and more constant, and insha'Allah these little annoyance of life will cease to bother us as much.

P.S. I love my husband, he loves me, we have a fine marriage alhamdulillah. This is just a post that has weighed on me lately for many different reasons. :-)

Ma salaama ya'll!

Little things that make me happy

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. A few little thoughts wandering around my brain. Just wanted to share: the little things in life that make me happy.

1. You know when the shell just peels right off the boiled egg? Yeah you know what I'm talking about. That makes me happy! I hate the chewed-up looking eggs you get when they DON'T come off easily.

2. I love it when a pencil sharpens to a nice little point; not that so brittle it's about to break point, but a nice long slightly rounded point. :-)

3. I get ecstatic over a load of laundry with all matching socks and NO leftover ones!!! Don't you hate that??? Poor little sock, all lonely. I always wonder where it's friend went.

4. At the end of a long day and I sit down for my quiet time. The house is clean and dim and quiet. Ahhhhh...

5. I also love asr time and the way the warm light floods the room through the blinds, casting everything in a goldish glow.

6. The sound of the washer machine/dishwasher. Yeah I like it. Maybe because I it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something even when I'm not. lol

7. I like it when the person I am walking with is in step with me, totally without meaning to. I get a giggle like we are some Lavergne and Shirley duo. haha

8. When I use the icemaker and some super-fine ice crystals accumulate on the spout. Ahhhh like fresh snow with that slightly chemical taste. lol Anyone here used to scrape the top of the freezer with a cup to eat the frost? I did and I sure hope after posting this, someone else will admit it too!!!

9. Love harmonizing my voice with a sound so they hit the exact same note; I can't explain it but when you are exactly on cue together you can see the science in the beauty, subhanallah.

10. Running a hot bath to find that the water is the exact right degree of hot. Just slip in and enjoy!!!

11. I love that day in late spring when it seems all the trees bloomed overnight.

12. The day in early summer when the leaves have matured to the "so green it almost hurts your eyes" color. I wish I could freeze time!

13. A cool breeze on a hot day. It's just a little gift from Allah.

14. I love to read and book and find a phrase that is magical to me. I remember one "an economy of movement". James Michener is my main source for these everyday words that, when properly strung together, can elevate your soul.

15. Those moments when I am not so bound by the limits of my body and mind and can grasp, imperfectly, the mercies and bounties of Allah swt.

OK I am sure there are some more quirky little things but hey, gotta save something for later. :-) Ma salaama  ya'll!!!!

Aaminah's version of "5 little ducks'

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. I took a video of Aaminah a few months ago; she singing her version of "5 Little Ducks". It's a really cute song/story but she got kind of creative at the end, masha'Allah. She always makes me smile!

Sorry it's kinda dark; I didn't pay attention when I filmed it. :-( But funny nonetheless.