Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah / Hi It’s been a while since I’ve posted. It’s not like I haven’t been writing… I post to my FaceBook page, I Tweet on Twitter, and I chat a lot on Second Life. But I’ve been a bit in a daze lately. Sometimes my brain goes on vapor lock and I can’t put my thoughts together in a coherent fashion. In such instances, the brief twitter entry is about as much as... Read more

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah My son is taking Tae Kwan Do. He’s been learning for over three years now. I have taken him to class usually three times a week for the entire three years. It’s been a big commitment of time, money, and his effort, but it has been worth it. My sweet nine-year-old son will, inshAllah, test for his black belt in the spring. Not bad for a kid who can’t remember to clear the... Read more

Someone commented on my “40 questions” note, on Facebook about not wanting her kids to grow up in the US. Someone else asked why and she said she had seen other peoples’ kids turn out bad.Is it the US? Well, some might think so. I think it’s not that simple. My husband is from Egypt. Now, Egypt is ostensibly a “Muslim” country. But trust me, it has many if not most of the ills that you find here in the... Read more

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah Well, I posted a little note on my Facebook page yesterday. I got a small but vehement response to it. I’m still trying to figure it out. I have lots of people on my friends list. Young, not so young, mature like me. I see what they are posting, check out their profiles to make sure that a) they are women (some names are like “Free Palestine” so it’s hard to tell) and... Read more

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah It’s Tuesday morning. I’m fortifying myself with a cup of decaf, getting ready for the day. Hubby is almost out the door, finishing his bagel breakfast sandwiches and waiting for the car to warm up. The two smaller boys are awake. My oldest is still asleep because I let him stay up late to watch “24”. The baby, thankfully, is napping in her bassinette, hopefully for more than five minutes. I have the... Read more

3 degrees. Three degrees. Three degrees. Stinks no matter how you write it. Read more

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah Alhamdulillah, I survived the day of fasting. I broke my fast with water and some cranberry-nut cookies. Then I had some pasta. Now I’m drinking my decaf coffee and feeling like a human being again. Since I’ve been unable to fast for several years, fasting today was a BIG DEAL. I did fast several days in Ramadan, before I started becoming very dehydrated and my milk supply suffered, but then I was ready... Read more

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah Today I’m fasting for the 9th of Muharram, and tomorrow inshAllah I’ll fast the 10th. I’ve been pregnant or nursing for the last several years, and being “of advanced maternal age”, I’ve been unable to fast while preggers and if I fast more than a day while nursing my milk supply tanks. I’m SO out of practice. I didn’t have suhoor, big mistake, but when the baby finally sleeps through the night your... Read more

Make du’a for Gaza… and Darfur… and Kashmir… and Thailand… and China… and…. Since the Israelis started returning fire into Gaza last week, my Facebook page has been inundated with invitations to new groups that have sprung up in response to the violence. “I bet I can find 1,000,000 people who hate Jews”, “Support Gaza”, “Stop the Holocaust in Gaza”, “Look at This Graphic and Bloody Video of a Dead Palestinian Baby”. My live feed is updated practically minute by... Read more

Okay, I guess I’ll get on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon. Since the Islamic New Year is here as well, I’ll kill two resolution days with one resolution. I resolve to keep my temper with my kids. I do pretty well. I like to think I’m a loving, engaged Mommy who doesn’t pop off at any little infraction. Overall, my kids are really great. My oldest, well, I haven’t really had to chastise him for anything more than once or... Read more