Carimah with a "C"

For some or other reason my daddy named me Carimah and decided to spell it with a C rather than the traditional K.  And most of my life I got flack for it ! Some doubted I was even Muslim because of the "C" !!  The oddest statement was "oh, you must be an English muslim" WHAT ??  

Anyway... at school we'd always play this game where we'd select adjectives for each letter of our names... my C was always cute..... but tonight, while

 I was applying the hairdryer to the puffy paint I got a flash ... C is for CREATIVE !!!

So Creative Carimah (with pride in my voice) - defied the devil grip/claw in her chest and got busy with some lycra !!

As DD officially comes to the end of being part of Playgroup when she starts school in  23 days time (yes I Am counting !) I made her last costume - theme is Sea Creatures ......

 

puffy paint on

the skirt.

mermaid pose -->

my other sea creature .........

From sew mama sew I made DS this teepee..... now I have to explain to DD that the "tee" in teepee has nothing to do with having a tea party for her dolls ! 

Bother bother bother

I do not like this time of year in Cape Town !

A few years ago we went camping over this "festive" season and it was fantastic!  I vowed that THAT was the only way to spend it and I would do it every year !  But I haven't.

So what gripes me - firstly the drivers - the foreign to the city drivers, then the locals who get upset with the foreign drivers - it just makes driving horrible !  The best time to drive is before 9 - but where could I possibly go at that hour ?

So I have been having cabin fever and asked DH to take us out - we went to Sea Point/Moullie point - there is a new playground activity set which was fantastic for the kids to play on. (Nice spot for a party!)  The kids were thirsty so we decided to go to the Waterfront .... it wasn't as bad as I thought - we found parking and it wasn't crowded. We opted to go to Dodge Diner for Milkshakes. Since DS is such an adventurous little boy  sitting inside was NOT an option, so DH ordered our milkshakes and we sat outside. Big mistake - Big, HUGE !! DS was running all over the place ! After his little tour de V&A, we came back to our table. Surprisingly our milkshakes weren't there yet..... DS followed on with his tour and after 30 min there still weren't any milkshakes ! Hello ?? Milk, ice cream, blend - ta daaaaa !!!  DH went to enquire - they were busy with it.  A few minutes later still NO milkshake !! 

Now I can understand if there are LOADS of people - but it wasn't even busy ! There was an excuse of new workers - who hires newbies in this season ?? and at the busiest tourist spot of the city ???? So we left ! Well DH gave them an earful first!  So he probably won't take it further - but please if YOU find yourself at the Waterfront DON'T go to Dodge Diner they are in training !!

Islamic Survey

Name: Carimah

Age: 33

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Background: South African

Spouse (if so, name and background): Marwaan, South African

Even though our ancestors are not from here - we do not hold attachment to where they come from as it has been MANY generations ago !

How long have you been married? 9 years

Kids? Aasiyah - 5, Muhammad 20 months

Are you a revert? No, but I would call myslef a new Muslim.

Have you been to Hajj or Umrah? Yes, Algamdulillah in 2001/2

How many masaajid have you been to? Many locally - BoKaap alone I think I have been to all. Internationally - Toronto, Rome, Paris, London, Malaysia a few.  Wherever we travelled we went to the local masjid.

Have you ever been involved with a masjid?  Not really - too much drama and politics !

Who are some of your favorite lectures by? Imam Anwar al Awlaki, Mufti Menk, Dr Abdullah Hakim Quick, Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir

Who are some of your favorite recitors? Abdul Basit, the one that cries - I can't get to his name ..... Sudais is it ?

Some of your favorite Islamic books? Islamic Creed series, Tafsir of Quran I received recently - can't get to the author, Ideal Muslimah, *****

Decribe your most memorable Eid: Lunch with my family - mum making 3 different dishes and going the evening to my granny and seeing ALL my cousins.

When did you first start fasting? My dad wouldn't let me until I had to :-(  So I was what - 13/14 years.

When did you start hijab? The day my mum died - June 2000

What's your usual outift like when you go out? Abaya and hijaab

What do you like about blogging? If I have something to say I get to say it and not interupted or disagreed with. ALso serves as my memory bank as the brain cells fade.

Describe your first feelings wearing hijab
Hijab: I needed proof of it being a requirement and when I found it that was enough for me and I never took it off since!
Abayah: Only after I read From my sisters' lips did it occur to me that I could wear this way. Locally we dressed like Malaysians and abaya etc was kept only for praying.  It was FANTASTIC to wear abaya as Ididn't have to replace my wardrobe!
Niqaab: I wore it on hajj and I like the anonymity.

How do you pin your hijab? Due to the kids I mainly wear mini-burgas now. But generally a long scarf twisted around.

Highlight the countries you know Muslims from:Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Chechnya, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic,Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia,Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine,Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, SriLanka, Spain, Taiwan, Trinidad Tobago, Turkey, Yemen,Yugoslavia

What was on the last prayer mat you made salah on? My Palestine one - I bought it at the International fair to support Palestine and I found it too thin so stitched it onto an old padded mat

What's your ideal iftar? Fruit

What type of adhaan really gets to you? The one in Medina

What's something that annoys you at Jummah: Old aunties who act like they own the masjid becaue they come every week 

What was the last surah you read? (not recited in salah) Yaseen

Do you dry yourself after wudu?  Yes

Do you brush your teeth for fajr salah? No - sometimes I barely awake !

Whats the last Islamic thing you've been involved with? Odd question .. erm .. teaching DD to pray .. everyday is Islamic - helping a neighbour, giving charity at the door .....

What was the last convention you went to?  MSA in August

Have you ever been part of an Islamic matrimonial site? No. 

What color is the rug in the masjid you usually attend? I don't go to a set masjid

Is the masjid you usually attend separated? Most of the masjids here are

Have you ever stood in a minbar? No

Have you ever washed a dead body before?  Yes, both grans and my mum

What's the last thing you ate in the masjid? Either an eclair or chocolate cake ..... it was something I eye'd

Where's the strangest place you've seen a Muslim working? I heard of a guy who worked at a bar and gave dawah there - mash'Allah!  

Have you ever posted a flier in the masjid? No

Rate your masjid's bathroom: Always clean

Have you ever used a bidet for istinja?: Yes

What's the weirdest thing that happened to you in salah? Getting stuck under the lady's abaya infront of me !

Isn't it annoying when the imam tells everyone to shut off their cell phones and someone's phone rings in the middle of salah? Yes, especailly if it is the imam's !

What's some of the best halal food you've had (from a non Muslim country)?Popeyes in Canada! Oh YES !!!

What was it like when you found out skittles were haram?  Odd question - I don't eat it.

What's something haram that you think most people don't know? Cousins !

What's the craziest hijabi fashion you've seen? This pirate style scarf iritates me !

What did you like about this survey??  

Another blog game

DH isn't on leave, Priscilla is and the kids and I are NOT camping in the yard...... but we play outside all day to keep inside clean... inbetween I am sewing (arm socks) and coming online.  

Anyway - financial budget is tight so I'm cutting down on my thoughts so I have less to talk about and decrease the need to make a phone call ;-)

So here's the game.....

100 things .......

1. Started your own blog 
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumping
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I was on shore though)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables (we just started again now - DD says " why we growing carots we can just buy them at the store !")
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (at home)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (not overnight though)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person - very impresive Mash 'Allah
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community - Mormon I think in Canada
36. Taught yourself a new language - I try
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing - only because we had the wrong path up the mountain !
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - kinda - bought them food at the supermarket
44. Visited Africa (I live here )
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted - sketched
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - all the time ;-p
58. Taken a martial arts class - does half day self-defence count ?
59. Visited Russia 
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason - and I never ever found out from whom !
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favourite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar (*Yuck* by the way)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (but I always wanted to !)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle -  not speeding - just around the block
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem 
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (local!)
85. Read the entire Qur’an
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - Kenny G !
92. Joined a book club - sort of
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby 
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Things I'd like to do on this list : 7, 56, 59,68, 83, 94

You're not fit to be a mother!

OUCH !! That has got to be the worse statement any mother could hear.

Like any other day my day was a whirlwind !  We were going to a braai (bbq) in the park (Wynberg).  It was a big crowd, Islamic so men were separate from women.  I don't have a problem with that .. but that gap inbetween leaves space for disaster!

Ok, I am also to blame - I was so engrossed in adult conversation (and as any SAHM can tell you - it's almost indulgent to get some of that! ) - the kids were around.  DS was between DH and me....

Then we went to make Thur salaah, since I didn't see DS I assumed he was with DH (who I couldn't see).  So off I went to make salaah, first thing I noticed is that DS WASN'T with DH !!!

I turned around and there stood a park security guy with my baby - I went rushing over as I could see he was looking for the parent. Now bear in mind that I came from the lower end of the park (level for salaah) up to where we were sitting and since he didn't know me he must have assumed that's where we were sitting. I was laughing from worry (as I tend to do) - he was not very polite and I probably wouldn't have been either if I had seen a child wondering around on his own!

In all honesty - his words didn't sting - but it did leave me with a lot to think about.

What if I wasn't a good mother and here this dude judges me on an incident -  he has no idea on what the circumstances were.  

Algamdulillah for the way things turned out .. I think this was more a lesson for DH which made him realise how vigilant we have to be as parents... and he clung to DS most of the afternoon !  

TAG ! You're it !!

A blog game -s o if you are reading this - you're it now so have to do it on your blog !

Five things I was doing ten years ago ......

1. planning my wedding

2. blabbing on and on about how great Canada was

3. planning my new life as though I had control over it

4. earning way too much money for my age

5. started a new job thinking it was the BEST place to work

 

Five things on my to do list ......

1. sew arm socks

2. sew eco-liners

3. sew pads

4. get back to learning arabic

5. wake up earlier to get going on my list !

Five snacks I like ......

1. popcorn

2. doritos blue or green packet

3. pringles green tube

4. aero/ flake - chocolate

5. wheatsworth biscuits

Five things I would do if I was a millionaire ......

Well, I almost was and that's a sore topic so I won't answer this one ;-p

Five jobs I have had ......

easy peasy !

1. intekom

2. Exinet

3. CCH/MGX/Software Futures/Pick n' Pay

one job they just kept changing their name and contracting me out 

4. Mommy / Playgroup

5. Sew things 

Five tv shows I used to watch ......

1. McGyver - that was the BEST ! 

2. Sisters - cos I had and was one - Loved it !

3. My so called life - that was such a good show !

4. Touched by an Angel

5. Smallville - My current fav !

Ok - your turn !!

Pop quizz hot shot !

When I had one child to care for - I would drop everything to see to her needs, no matter how small.  For a while I didn't manage to cook simply because she was my priority!

She is still my priority, but she has grown and I have more responsiblity too .... I cook everyday now!! ;-p

Two kids on a good day aren't easy ..... you can't forget who you are as you are constantly being called "mommy" "mom" "MUUUUUUUMMMMMM", "mmmmm", "dada" (that's DS - everyone is called dada!). I spin around from the moment they are awake - feed, clean, dress, play, feed, clean, wash, feed, clean.  

Today was my a pop quizz mommy style. DS had a fever 2 days running - nothing hectic - perhaps some fresh air would help. SO I decide to go on an errand drive and take them along.  I just about manage to get everyone done and we are walking towards the door - DS throws up!  (But one of those movie hurls - where it just squirts out of his mouth!) After cleaning him up he falls asleep.   Algamdulillah when he woke up he was back to his old self - grabbing things to eat to make up for his missed days.   DD says her tummy hurts and next thing I know she throws up!  Well good I think - she'll feel better now! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent with her head in the toilet ! (I did tell her it need not go IN the toilet just over)

  But I also had to cook..... and with DS eating, his tummy was working overtime and stinking up the house .... on top of this, everytime DD felt ill she came running to me to tell me and inevitably hurled all over the floor.  I'd run between rubbing her back, stirring the pot of food, cleaning the vomit off the floor before DS explores it, and feed DS who is starving !( Another one of those a man has a goat, cat, dog, cow and needs to get over the river moments ! )

Camping in the backyard is looking more and more appealing - just as long as no one hurls in the tent!

PS. thanks ZS for the word "hurl" - it's more descriptive than vomit! ;-p

Relationships

Last month I blabbered about our relationship with others.

Like The W in WITS reminds me : every event is a piece in a mosaic and when you step back and see the bigger picture (and it makes sense) you have that "O" moment.  And personally I believe the mosaic is a piece of an even BIGGER mosaic.

Anyway ... so here's another piece towards my mosaic.

Relationships - when one mentions it almost imediately think male/female type.

How about Abusive relationship ? Same picture ?

But today I realised that relationships can be abusive in any connection.

I know a guy and he is so committed to his relationship ( for better or worse, in sickness or in health,  richer or poorer .. as long as we both shall live)  with his JOB !

For years I have watched his "partner" abuse him, mistreat him, be rude to him and like any abusive relationship - apologise and promise that it would NEVER happen again, buy gifts and other "bribes" to keep him.

Today I believe he has reached his limit ! Algamdulillah.

Having a granny who went through this, we were brought up with her reminding us to be independent, to be strong - to walk away!

No person deserves to be treated so disrespectfully be it a spouse, a parent, a child or co-worker!

SMILE and stop abusive beahviour towards others.  Your actions affect those around you !

Night sky

As a SAHM. I don't often get to stare around at me, unless is it to distract the kids.

So when DH came home it was such a thrill seeing this Beautiful site Mash'Allah.

We tried our best to capture it and just HAD to share it, in case you missed it.

Apparently it's : Venus, Moon and Jupiter

Taken by DH

:-)

When my mom was ill and my uncle (her youngest brother) was dying, I used to think: why is this happening to me, to us ?  What is the plan, what is the bigger picture because this is too painful to be real !  After my mom died, I realised that her illness and her death had nothing to do with me, it was all about her.  I suppose it is in our nature to be egotistical and think that way.

When I tried to fall pregnant, I did everything I could think of or was told of (within the limits of Islam). With each unsuccessful cycle I wondered: why not me, what am I doing wrong ? When I adopted and DD was about a year or 2 I realised, this blessing wasn't about ME!  It's about her !  I am but the potter to guide this piece of clay into the beautiful piece it could become.

Today I received a call today from a lady whom I had met over the weekend.  She said she was so impressed by DD when she greeted before she left. When she had found out our story (being adopted) she saw it as a sign Algamdulillah. She too has fertility problems and considered adoption but hadn't gone ahead with the process. Seeing us (ok, more DD being cute Mash'Allah) had given her renewed encouragement.

She reminded me that life is not about us as individuals, it's about the affect we have on others.

No wonder Allah blesses us when we smile at each other !!