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 !!