Ho Hum Life Goes On

Hi Friends!  I’ve missed you.

Truly.  But I’ve not had much to say these last few months since my post about my 40 Days of Prayer.  Everything here was kinda quiet.  The school year was wrapping up, I was working more and trying to plan for summer.  It was BORING.

I started ordering Eid clothes and gifts already.  In fact, some have already arrived!  I’m kinda proud of myself for that.  It seems like I’m in the midst of a shift in my thinking about Ramadan.

Y’no how the whole world keeps a countdown of the shopping days until Christmas?  AND you can’t Not think about buying presents and how much longer until you run out of time?  Well, last month, I started this internal countdown.  Not to the Eid, because you know if you wait until Ramadan begins, Forget about finding anything remotely Islamic to buy.  But I started counting down to the Beginning of Ramadan.  June 18.  Then, I started looking.  We found new Abayas for the ladies and matching hijabs for the Eid Prayer.  I placed a pretty big order at RedBubble for some cute t-shirts for my three people.  I’m planning a few smaller things for them, but not much more in the way of gifts.

Remember I told you back when we were talking about streamlining the holidays?  I mentioned that we love to take family trips together instead of focusing on lots of packages.  So, that’s what we are doing.  Planning a getaway.  All the people are involved this year.  They are old enough to help with the decision, and we want them to have as much fun as possible.  They are getting to the point where they have very distinct preferences about things, and I’m not often a great predictor of what they want and what they won’t love.  So, we asked them.

Now, Ramadan begins in 2 days.

Did you miss the memo?  2 DAYS.

I’m making my grocery shopping list.  Cleaning up the house.  Unplanning our days. /snark

Seriously.

I’m going to print out that Quran Checklist from last year.  Here’s the link to the NoorJanan Homeschool website.  If you go there and print out their resources, leave them a note and tell them Thank You!

I’m going to get out our lantern collection.  I may take the ladies over to Pier One and see if we can add a new lantern this year. I bought some crescent and star lights to decorate with from Amazon.

I was invited to contribute to Interfaith Ramadan this year during their 30 day Ramadan series.  What is Interfaith Ramadan?

the Interfaith Ramadan blog series aims to extend that sense of community to people of all faiths and none. The series provides an inclusive platform where people from around the world share their experiences and offer their perspectives on interfaith issues. While recognizing the deep connections among the Abrahamic traditions, this series seeks to include a range of faith traditions, including groups often marginalized, overlooked, or ignored by society, the media, and perhaps even the interfaith community itself.

That was super exciting.  I couldn’t believe it at first, then I was struck with a touch of Imposter Syndrome.  You will understand when you see the whole lineup.  I’m still stunned.  I’ve already submitted my pieces, so I’ll make sure I share them with you when they are published.  If you have never read the website, you owe it to yourself to take a look.  Seriously, every day.  Just like you follow Imam Khalid Latif’s series in HuffPo.

Read Interfaith Ramadan.  Read Imam Latif and then Tweet Me.  Tell me what you think.  I’m @MyIslamicLife.

Happy Tuesday!