...and then there were...

THREE days til Cap'n and H arrive. :D Alhamdulillah, subhanallah, allahu akbar! Tickets purchased, details co-ordinated, bags packed. It's been a long 2 years but sooo worth it.

We cleaned out Old G :)

Old G is what Aaminah named our 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix Supercharged GTP. Yes it's a muscle car of sorts. It's fast. It has an all-leather interior. And she was OLD. Past her prime with a cracked dash, cracked windshield and cracked heads. ;)

But we loved Ol' G. She was pretty dependable but of course her issues were many. No a/c, heat works but the blower wasn't connected to the duct work so it didn't blow out, bad struts and shocks, overheating, etc etc etc. Oh my, it was a lot of work to keep her running!

I wanted a new car but I had a few issues. One, Muslims are forbidden from usury or interest and being sick and two, on disability did not make it easy for me to save up money for a new vehicle so we were stuck. With Cap'n and H coming we really wanted a bigger car, definitely not 2 door Old G. Something not threatening to break down every couple of days.

Then I found it. My new vehicular love. :) Look isn't it purty? And a GREAT price! It's a 2002 Isuzu Axiom, a 6 cyl SUV that seats 5. I wouldn't have minded a 7 seater but the price on this was unbelievable! I really feel like Allah swt blessed us with the opportunity to get this car:

Sweet ride! ;)

Alhamdulillah it does not look 10 years old and it drove great! I get it on Tuesday; we had to wait for the man's daughter to be able to come and sign the title. Make dua it does, indeed, go through, because I am really looking forward to having a nice, comfortable vehicle for us as a family iA. :)

I think we might save Old G for a secondary car for Cap'n to use if I am out and he needs to run somewhere. Never bad to have 2 cars when you live where we do and it's not easy to access things without a car. Speaking of Old G, look how purty she cleaned up:

Aaminah's booster on the left and her friend J's on the right. :)

She doesn't show her age too bad, huh?

Aaminah was a great help! We detailed Old G, rubbed her plastic/rubber parts with lemon oil wipes (gave it a great shine!) and cleaned the windows, too. We even took her and vacuumed her out! I laughingly told Cap'n I sure wouldn't have spent an hour in the freezing cold detailing the car if I thought we were gonna keep it! ;)

We were going to sell her but to be honest, we couldn't get too much out of a 16 year old car and decided it was probably better just to keep it for Cap'n to drive as a second car. I did put an ad on craigslist but only got a couple of replies and one of those wanted it on payments! lol I think my exact reply was, "I need cash in hand up front. If I were wealthy I would not have been driving a 16 year old car!" LOL

So make dua for us this is good for our family. Oh tentatively, Cap'n and H should be here on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day! The tickets are cheapest that day so it makes sense to travel then. Unsure yet though because he is still waiting on his passport/visa to be delivered. It was officially issued on THURSDAY and H's was on FRIDAY so of course the weekend was wasted time. Praying for them to be ready tomorrow or Tuesday so we can buy 2 tickets!!!

PLEASE, make dua for us that they arrive here safely. Ya'll all know how long we have waited, how patient we've really tried to be and I really feel Allah swt is blessing us for our constantcy.

Insha'Allah he will be here this week!!!!! ma salaama ya'll!

Still no Mr. Ummi of Aami :)

Salaam and howdy, ya'll! :) Still waiting on Cap'n's passport to be returned with his visa stamp. This long, arduous process is almost over and I.can't.wait. :D This part is sooo hard though because we know we are at the finish line and just waiting on the embassy to send his passport back via DHL.


Le sigh... ;)

On a slighter gloomier note, my kidney function dropped down a bit again. On a brighter note, I am responding well to the procrit injections and thus my H&H (hematocrit and hemoglobin) have risen a bit. Alhamdulillah! I feel stronger, less out of breath, just better. :) So a little give, a little take and insha'Allah khair for it all.

I have been making preparations for Cap'n and H's arrival. My stepson has requested...wait for it... corndogs! If you are from the southern US or midwest you definitely know what these are! Hotdogs dipped in a slightly sweet cornbread batter and fried. Decadent deliciousness dipped in mustard. :) So we have a brand here made with chicken meat and H is very excited. lol Kids are so cute!

Aaminah is prepared to share her room until we are able to get approved for a 3 bedroom. H will take the bed and Aaminah will sleep on a pallet on the floor or a large bean bag we have. Hopefully we'll get to move in 2-3 months so it's a temporary situation. :)

Cap'n is finally letting himself get excited now and make plans. :) I always make plans I love to think about what we'll do when he is here, etc but Cap'n is a bit more pragmatic and after our past denials and heartache, has tried to not let his hopes get up. Now he is finally feeling confident and iA before too long I'll be on here tell ya'll about it!!!

Oh Li'l Miss and I made homemade granola for the first time. It was insane! Pretty basic recipe; I culled it from many different sources but was originally inspired by an episode of Guy Fieri's "Diners, Driveins and Dives" where a lady made some.

We used oats, chopped almonds, and coconut mixed with coconut oil, butter and maple syrup. Bake it at 300 for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to ensure even browning. After you remove it from the oven, let it cool then add your chopped dried fruit. We had a mix of cranberries, cherries, and blueberries. Amazing! I keep my empty peanut butter and pasta sauce jars (clean them of course!) to store leftovers in and that's what's keeping our granola nice and comfy. :)

Think I'll have some now. :) Ma salaama ya'll!

"Anonymous" strikes again :(

Salaam and peace, ya'll. :) So I had this in my comments today:

Anonymous said...

I just want to say that I read your profile and I am horrified that you said 3 of your children were created from birth, and one from love. I hope your 3 older children never read your blog and see that there was no love involved when they were created and born. You may not like your ex, but there is no reason your children should ever think they were born from anything but love. You are a horrible HORRIBLE person for saying, thinking and believing that. You are a sad excuse for a mother, after saying that about your children God will NEVER allow you to enter your Jannah.

November 12, 2013 at 9:34 AM

Umm Aaminah said...

Anon, you are an idiot. I have 3 children by birth that I gave birth to so they are indeed my children whom of course I love. I have another child that is a stepchild so we are not blood related but only by love. That is one way people say stepchild instead of saying "step" and making them feel less. Idiot. Pure and simple.

November 12, 2013 at 1:38 PM

 

Now, is my little "About me" blurb on the side really confusing? I assume Anon thinks I am talking about Aaminah as the one from "love" but they would be wrong. I gave birth to her, just as I did my two sons whom I also love. My stepson, Hamza, I love also but he is only my son through love ie the love I have for his father and now of course for him.

 

I thought it was a sweet way to say I have 4 children but only 3 are my born children from my blood. I don't like the term "step" because to me it denotes less or different from the others. I was trying to be sweet. I said "four great children" so how does that make them not loved??? I swear, some people make my head hurt. And they weren't brave enough to put a name with their comment. AND... said I was a horrible mother and didn't deserve Jannah

 

Are you freakin' kidding me?? Subhanallah, who says that to anyone, but especially to ANOTHER Muslim??? Allahu rabbi, it really shocked me. I don't wish that on anyone, even people who have done me wrong. I sincerely hope Anon reads this and realizes their ignorance. I mean, what part of me seems like I don't love my kids? I don't talk about Zack and Alex as much because they are teenagers now and don't like to have their business spread around; Aaminah is still small alhamdulillah and doesn't have an opinion.

 

And if God forbid Anon really thought I meant that, why wouldn't they kindly say, Sister that isn't correct. I mean, wth? OK so that's that and alhamdulillah. Ma salaama ya'll!

Allahu akbar!!! Yes! Score! Woo hoo! :)

Salaam ya'll! Can you guess? Do you know? Have you EVER read my blog??? Yes you are right, Cap'n has his approval!!! Subhanallah, alhamdulillah, wa Allahu akbar! It's been a LOOOOONG two years and not without its bumps.

*Being apart

*Being sick and hospitalized and in treatment

*Being a single parent

*Being sad and lonely but reallllly trying to stay positive and trust in the mercy of Allah swt

And then the topper... he was denied. Temporarily, on his interview Nov. 1st. We were devastated. Gutted. I mean, how, why, What???? It turns out our application was awesome, he had a great interviewer who totally understood we were in love, we were in a real relationship...

But India. Oh India, you came back to bite me in the butt. :( They had an issue with my divorce paper from Mumbai. From 2009. Seriously??? Because at this point, we had turned in that SAME paper to the USCIS twice and ti has been accepted. They considered me divorced for purpose of remarriage so I thought we were all set. How could THAT be a problem?

It went to the embassy and someone there said, Huh, this doesn't look like a standard divorce decree. Well, its not. It's from India, the land of twisted bureaucracy and inept officials. Come on now, you all know it's true. Our divorce was officiated by a Qazi, the head Qazi in Mumbai. He had letterhead, for Pete's sake! And a stamp, there was a stamp! You don't get more official than that in India.

So I sent an email. Then another one. I quoted the State Department website which said they accept foreign divorces. Oh the wating was so hard! A week of tears and prayers, trying to stay strong and make plans "just in case". Alhamdulillah our steadfastness has paid off!

He got a call yesterday to come back and bring his passport! Oh yes, thank you Allah! I cried, all I could say was "Alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar!" over and over. It's been a long time and we have been patient. We have kept ourselves pure for one another. We have trusted in Allah and He as NOT failed us. He never does. We plan and Allah plans and He is the BEST of planners.

Has it been a long journey? Yes. Has it been hard? Definitely. Has it been worth it? A 1,000 times over! It's hard to find osmeone you love so much and are so well matched with. I am grateful the waiting is almost over.

Please, remember to keep us in your duaa. iA Cap'n should be here by December. :)