Look Who's Blogging Now!

Another Year Later...

2011-07-27T12:15:00.004-04:00

The last time I posted on this blog was just over a year ago. At that time I said that I was now married for almost a year and was having a great time. Wow, things can really change in a year! No, no wait- I'm STILL very much happy and having a great time! But now 2 years into marriage we have settled into a routine- or so it seems- but so much seems to have happened in a year!

Last year I started a new job which I'm still in and loving. Dear husband has also started a new job and everything is going well so far. The biggest change now is that we are Insha'Allah expecting our first child. Right now, I can't ask for a bigger blessing. There are only a few more months left before our lives will forever be changed and we can hold our little one in our arms. Being pregnant has started to make me appreciate mothers and make me understand why Allah has said that heaven is at the feet of mothers.

I'm looking forward to motherhood and having a child, but I can't help feeling overwhelmingly unprepared for being a parent. I've gotten lots of advice from many people, but sometimes that can be a detriment as well. Others have said it's something that you feel out for yourself. From strollers to cribs, to handling a crying baby and swaddles, there's so much to know and I want to be as well-informed as possible before baby comes.

That being said, baby is kicking away as I type this. Maybe he knows I'm talking about him. Maybe I will get to show him this blog one day, Insha'Allah. Baby, even though you're still just in my tummy, I love you more than you know and I would do anything for you. I want to kiss you every time you move around. I hope I can be a good mom to you and I can't wait till you are born so we can laugh and cry together, and I can smother you with hugs and kisses (though I know your dad will try and stop me!). I hope Allah blesses us with lots of love, happiness and health and we wait for the arrival of your precious self. Mommy loves you.

Where Time Goes, Nobody Knows...

2010-07-13T14:07:00.002-04:00

Today is July 13th, 2010. It has been approximately four years since my last post. I'm not sure why today, all of a sudden, I decided to revisit this blog (and to see if it is still active at all!). Going through and re-reading my old posts has brought back some very fond memories, and reminded me of some that I had forgot.

So what's changed? I have now been happily married for almost a year Alhamdulillah to a wonderful person who four years ago, I would have never dreamed existed. Four years ago, I could never imagine where I am now with my career, my family and my friends. Speaking of friends, many people who have visited/commented on this blog have progressed so much as well. Some people have moved away, some people are married and some even have kids! Some are not so close anymore, some have become very close.

Was I happier then? Am I happier now? Am I now mature? It's hard to say, I think I'll be asking those same questions another four years from now.

It's natural progression I suppose, but who would have ever guessed things would turn out the way they are today. It makes me realize even more so that the future is not for us to forsee, it is meant for us to experience when the time comes.

I don't think anyone reads this blog anymore, but I think I will post from time to time just for myself. It will be nice years from now to look back and have a written testimony of what life was, and is like.

Things we take for granted...

2006-04-13T09:57:00.001-04:00

Oh wow. It has been a long time since I blogged. So long that I found this post in my drafts from back in April and I decided to post it even though it has been so long. I'm going to try and post something more regularly. Oh and today isn't April 13th. It's October 30th.

I've started an experiment lately. One of my coworkers, Natasha and I decided to try giving up chocolate for two weeks. Why you might ask? Not because we're on a diet, or because we're trying to eat healthy (well we are, but that's an aside). We're doing it just to see if we can do it. Today is day 8, and I can say we are 100% chocolate free. 6 days to go! But of course the whole point is after the two weeks not to binge on chocolate but to control the intake, because now we know we can live without it and choose alternatives. As an aside, we've also given up chips and fries for two weeks, but that's much easier to give up since we don't have those as often anyways.

Mind you, giving up chocolate isn't easy. Especially when there is temptation everywhere. Especially in the form of people. People have been tempting us left, right and center. It doesn't help either that its a big commerical chocolate time for Easter and that it's everywhere. It doesn't help when people have been saying that brownies with chocolate icing would be so good right about now. It doesn't help that my boss gave everyone chocolate bunnies. So I have this big, gourmet chocolate bunny sitting on my desk staring at me. Natasha and I initially decided that should we break and have chocolate we'd have to put $1 in a jar each time. one of our supervisors suggesed something much bigger. She suggested that we put in $20 each time, and with whatever is collected at the end we to treat everyone at work to something. It's meant to act as a deterrent, and has it ever worked so far! The grand total is $0!

What I have learned in this process: it's not much the craving of chocolate, it's the convenience of it. Since it's all around us, it's almost intuitive to pick it up and just have it. It's easy and convenient. The trick is in finding alternative snacks. Of course, nothing hits the spot like chocolate but fruit is a close second. The whole point is to strengthen our self-control and see if we can go without. And as time goes on, it gets easier.

We did manage to get through the two weeks totally chocolate-free. And we didn't have a chocolate party afterwards either. But we don't crave chocolate as much anymore either, it's become more of an occasional thing now. Either way, the experiment worked. Way to go!

Politics in a Nutshell...

2006-03-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

Hahaha...so true. Your thoughts?

Medicine 101

2006-03-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

I'm too sick to blog. Blah. What have I learned in two weeks? My intuition of not trusting walk-in clinic doctors is right, they don't diangose you properly and give you antibiotics for no reason. And we all know what that leads to. Antibiotic resistance, so when you actually DO need antibiotics, they won't work. Here's a primer in medicine: DISCLAIMER- this is not meant to override any professional medical opinions!!! This is just me and my sickness talking.

- If you have a cold/flu, don't bother going to the doctor. It's viral and no medication of any sort will help. Unless you want a nasal spray to clear up your nose, that might help. The best thing: take an antihistamine. It'll clear up your nasal passages and dry out your runny nose. Well, it worked for me. Sort of. Just suck up the misery, it'll go away. The common cold lasts a few days and the flu lasts up to two weeks. Oh yeah, and wash your hands like crazy. Its the best way to avoid getting sick and spreading germs.

- Antibiotics are for bacterial infections. They are not cure-all miracle drugs. Be wary.

- Codeine is a good cough suppressant. (according to published literature) So pop those Tylenol 3's! (of course, under a doctor's supervision).

- No matter how much you dislike needles, get your flu shot. I'm learning that the hard way.

- And last but not least, the flu shot will NOT prevent the Avian flu.

'Tis the season to get sick, so good luck in your battle against whatever malady might befall you. I wish you all the best of health. I have a feeling some of you are going to need it.

Back to Blogging...

2006-03-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sort of back! Only because my fans miss me so much. Hahaha its been exactly three months to the day that I haven't updated so now I'm doing something. But it's not really anything. It's just a "hi how are you" type of post. So please feel free to comment. I know the majority of the comments will be "you suck!" but it's still a comment. Let me know how you're doing. Me? I'm busy with work and work, most of you know that already. For those of you who didn't, well I am. And '24'. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the most awesomest show on TV right now. (Yes, awesomest is a word...well at least now it is) So yes, please drop by and leave a comment, I promise the next blog will be more current and less nonsensical, so stay tuned. =) In the meantime, cheers and enjoy!

Yikes...

2005-12-07T01:55:00.000-05:00

Something I think we can almost ALL identify with:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation.htm

P.S. This is a really good website www.howstuffworks.com There is a broad range of various topics, from how autos work to how money works to how health works, which of course- me the science nerd, went to first. Regardless, it's a very informative site and you'll find a lot of good and relevant information there. Like how cell phone radiation kills our tissue. But that's besides the point, right?

Re-living my Childhood

2005-11-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went to the Ontario Science Centre with some friends from work, their friends, and Iram came as well. I can't remember the last time I went to the Science Centre but it was definitely a long time ago. Don't you remember the thrills about visiting the Science Centre for school trips, which were fun yet educational? I've driven by the Science Centre countless times and Iram and I always said how we wanted to go. So needless to say, I was very excited when this plan was made.

For those of you who don't know, the Science Centre currently has a highly acclaimed exhibit going on right now called Body Worlds 2. The exhibit is basically displays of real human bodies that have been preserved by a process called plastination and in most of the bodies the skin has been removed so you can see the skeleton and the muscle structure of the bodies. The neat part about it is that the bodies are placed in interesting positions, such as "the thinker", "the soccer player", "the ballerina" etc. DISCLAIMER: Not for the queasy or faint of heart. Although I have to admit, I get squeamish very easily. But this time I was actually fascinated by the exhibit, probably because the bodies didn't actually look real, they looked well, fake. They even had the body of a horse and a camel.

There was also one part of the exhibit that was considered optional, because of its potentially disturbing nature. There was a body of a woman who had died during pregnancy, so you could see the baby inside her womb. Apparently she knew she was dying so she donated her body for use after her death. They also had embryos and fetuses at different stages and it almost showed the process of development of a baby. You could see that some people were visibly shaken by those displays. That part of the exhibit was sad though.

They also had displays of preserved organs. Some of the organs were diseased, which had cancer and you could see the tumours and metastases. Perhaps the most thought-provoking ones were the liver, destroyed by alcohol use and the lung, completely blackened and ravaged because of smoking. That was an actual physical display of the effects of such activities, where most people can't see what smoking and drinking can do do them, here it was actually shown. There was also a cross section of an obese person and so you could see the thickness of the subcutaneous fat as compared to a normal person. It was gross! it definitely made me want to eat healthier.

After we had seen the Body Worlds exhibit we had a little bit of time so we went to explore the Electricity exhibit. Remember the ball that you touch and your hair stands up? Well we found it! But the show was going to start later and we didn't have time to wait for it. So we took a quick look around and the exhibit was pretty much the same as I've always remembered it to be! We didn't have enough time to look around though, so one day we're going to go back and just spend the day roaming the exhibits. We had a lot of fun, and for anyone who wants to check out the Body Worlds exhibit, it runs till February 26, 2006 and for more details visit http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/calendar/bodyworlds2/default.asp

It's something I recommend you to see.

We never change, do we?

2005-11-14T13:45:00.000-05:00

To you, the reader, I would like to apologize. I would like to apologize for the past, the present, and any future misgivings I will have towarads you.

Huh, what is she talking about? What does she mean? This will all make sense in a minute. But first, a word from our sponsors...

Just kidding. But really, I do apologize. I'm not sure I can pinpoint the exact cause of this, but lately I find myself becoming increasingly bitter. Do I sound like a nutcase yet? Yeah yeah, I know, "but you already are one!" Don't worry, I'm not in that whole "I hate life, I hate the world, I hate you" phase. I just find myself becoming annoyed with little things, and whereas before I would brush it off or likely just ignore it, I make it known that I'm annoyed. Not on a grand-scale screaming and kicking sort of way though. Rather, kind of a nonchalant, subtle sarcasm kind of response-basically you can tell I'm annoyed. Now some of you are going "ohhh, that's why she was like that!" Which is why I am apologizing.

For those who know me, you know I'm a relatively happy-go-lucky type of person. On the surface. (what, she has two personalities?!) I generally don't let things bother me, and I'm quick to forgive and forget in most cases . So this is why it's bothering me so much that I'm beginning to get like this. Maybe my tolerance for people it becoming lower seeing as to how I have to deal with all sorts of people at the pharmacy. I've noticed lately that people are becoming increasing rude, impatient, and generally ignorant. Sounds like I'm in the USA! (haha, just kidding) No really, sometimes at the pharmacy I feel like I have a "please be rude to me" sticker stuck on my forehead. Some people can be real jerks. Before when people would be rude about the wait time I would smile and tell them we'll try to do it faster. Now I'll "give them the option" of taking their prescription elsewhere. Maybe it's their negative vibe rubbing off on me.

Who doesn't go through hard times in life? If life were a piece of cake I don't think we'd have half the problems we have today! But anyways, I don't want to say that life is making me bitter. That's too cliche. Not even circumstances. I think its each individual event. I react differently than how I would react before.

So now what?
I don't know. I'll try to be nice, I swear! Just like before, I'll try to smile and take it all with a grain of salt. Because believe me, I hate being bitter, its not fun! I don't like hurting people or to see anyone hurt. I'm used to keeping my emotions bottled up deep inside, so that's where they will have to stay. Anyways, without this becoming too mushy gushy its important to remember that in times like this we turn to the One who has the power to change things for the better or for the worse, but its all part of the Master Plan. I'm a strong believer in everything happening for a reason, so for this too there must be a reason. But as everything else, I hope this is just temporary and this too, shall pass. Like I said in the meantime, don't mind me, I'll try to be nice and be the same goof you all know and love. (right?)

"We never change, do we? We never learned to leave,
so I wanna live in a wooden house, I wanna live life, always be true, I wanna
live life, and be good to you, I wanna fly, and never come down, and I live my
life, and have friends around"
-We Never Change, Coldplay

Happy Birthday Khadeeja!!!

2005-10-30T17:32:00.000-05:00

Many happy birthday wishes to my dear friend Khadeeja/Afreen!!! Don't worry, 23 isn't THAT old. Remember what I said last year? Things get better with age, just like...well I'm sure you remember what I had said =P. Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful birthday and an awesome year filled with all the success and happiness you can imagine, Insha'Allah! Best wishes to you always!

Be prepared...it's long! (but worth it)

2005-10-26T17:28:00.000-04:00

I have a new obessesion that looks like it's here to stay. (no sorry Khadeeja, it isn't eBay.) My new obsession is CFRB1010. For those who don't know what that is, it's a newstalk radio station where different hosts discuss a variety of topics. (You can also listen to it online at www.cfrb.com) Anyway, I find myself listening to it at work a lot (perhaps as a form of intellectual stimulation?) and quite frequently if I'm driving somewhere. Their range of topics is pretty broad and they're really quite interesting. A majority of the time they are controversial, but I guess that's what newstalk radio is about.

Yesterday as I was driving in the evening, John Moore-one of the evening hosts- began a discussion about religion in the workplace. The topic stemmed from an article that was published in the Chicago Tribune about a man who was suing his workplace for not allowing him to begin a Christian group at work. (view the article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0510250284oct25,1,4065226.story?ctrack=1&cset=true) Moore asked the question about where religion belongs in the workplace. For example, if a certain company had a Bible study group during lunch and the VP was a part of it, would you, a hypothetical non-religious person (or person of different religious belief) take part in that group just so that you would get in well with the VP, or have a shot at that promotion you've been after?

When the calls started to come in, I must say I was shocked at the amount of religious intolerance that is rampant in Toronto. Our Toronto. Prime example of multiculturalism at its best. One lady called in and said "Well those people shouldn't take out their prayer rugs and pray 3 to 5 times a day because it's on company time, they should do it on their own time". Moore brought up the fact that who is it disturbing?? Most people go off in a corner to do their thing and then come back. The calls kept pouring in with people saying that religion should be kept separate from work and how you don't need to display your religion. One guy called in and said that he was the manager of a certain company and he had hired three Muslim guys fully aware that they were Muslim. The new employees requested time set aside so that they may pray and the employer even offered his office. He said that as long as the work got done, he didn't care what they did. Besides, people go out for cigarette breaks more often then they do to take time out to pray, don't they?

So what's the problem? I have worked with people of many different religious orientations-Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, agnostics and even atheists etc. Some of these people are the best people that I have ever worked with. I have never had anyone give me a weird stare or anything of the sort when I openly practice my religion. In Ramadan, I have people asking me about why I fast and they're so mindful not to offend me with food in the open (not that it does) but the consideration is very thoughtful. Sometimes they even remind me that it's almost time to break my fast! I'm sure many people can relate to this as well.

News flash: We're not a melting pot like the United States where we all assimilate as one being. In another discussion today on CFRB, a Sikh student was pulled off a train for carrying his kirpan, or ceremonial dagger. My understanding is that this is not a weapon, but rather a symbol of their religion, and the host in the morning stressed that it was a blunt object adn couldn't cut anything. One lady called in and said that of course it was a good decision to pull the student off because he could have slit the throat of the driver with it. Give me a break! There are a million and one logical and logistical factors I could think to refute that. And please, use common sense. Basically the consensus of most was that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do", so if you're here in Canada, adapt to the "Canadian way" (which I think is more the secular way) or get out. Sad isn't it?

We're lucky that we live in a city and country that is as tolerant as it is. But now I'm not so sure. Apparently this is the opinion shared by many. I could branch off into so many topics, religious arbitration, religious symbols etc but I'll save that for another day. In the meantime let's hope that our society stays teh way it is, and these underlying feelings of many don't ruin the diversity of the community that we have today.

Guess who's back...back again...

2005-10-24T14:51:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'll stop there. Anyways, it has been a while since I posted anything, almost 4 months to be exact. Things just got so hectic in the summer and then kind of continued, so I didn't have a chance. Besides, I enjoyed reading other people's blogs! Part of the problem too, is that I don't know what to blog about. It's not that I don't have anything to say (and I know this will spawn so many comments so all of you, just be quiet!) it's just I don't know if people really want to hear about it. But in any case, I will try to update and keep updated as much as possible. So let's see what has been going on as of late: (I feel like a newscaster)

So the Summer of Endless Weddings has come to an end. Okay, so not quite. They're still continuing, but that's what kept me busy most of the summer. That and work (and work). But overall I'd say it was a good summer. But it's over. Too bad.

Ramadan has started! For those fasting, I hope you all have a blessed month, Insha'Allah (God-willing) Well now it's almost over, but there are so many blessings in the last 10 days, so let's all try to make the most of it. This month seems to have gone by so fast, I'm sure most of us haven't even noticed where the time went. But even within this blessed month we saw tragedy with the earthquake in Pakistan, with the lives of so many lost, and so many more left homeless and shattered. But for the people who passed away, they were truly blessed to acheive martyrdom in this auspicious month, while they were fasting. Lets not forget them in our prayers, and let's pray for the survivors that they have ease in rebuilding their lives, Insha'Allah. Also, don't forget to check out Khadeeja's blog for links on how you can help.

The earthquake wasn't the only tragedy that we saw as of late. Hurricaines Ophelia, Rita and most of all Katrina created havoc and devastation in the States. It was interesting because I remember around the time of Katrina, I heard a rabbi on TV claim that Katrina was in retribution for the USA's involvement in the Gaza pullout and to the destruction of Jewish land. At the same time a Muslim cleric said that it was because the US destroyed so many Islamic countries that it was being destroyed in return-the whole "what goes around, comes around" philosophy. Then you had the evangelists say that it was because the US is beginning to allow homosexuality, and people are facing a punishment similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. I think whatever the reason is, God alone knows and we should leave it at that.

On a different note, how many people have tried hi5? I can't remember who first initiated it, but I find myself logging on every so often, adding people that I haven't talked to in years (and probably won't talk to) and just checking up profiles- very reminiscent of Naseeb. (Who still goes on that by the way?) I blame Natasha, who says something and it sparks my curiousity so I have to log on and check it out...thanks a lot Tash! But I can't totally blame her as being my distraction at work. But now there are so many spin-offs that I can't even keep track, and I refuse to join. You're going to to have the same people on your list anyways!!! Nope, forget it. I refuse to give in! hi5 is bad enough...

So I'm kind of rambling on. So it wasn't the greatest first post, but I'm sure I'll have something more substantial to blog about next time. I could talk about how I'm really starting to feel old, my cat, or how Khadeeja is trying to get me hooked onto eBay. Stop it, I don't want to waste more money shopping!!! Anyways, in the words of Bugs Bunny: "That's all folks!" (for now)

Shaadi ka Zamaana!!! (Wedding Season!)

2005-06-29T20:37:00.000-04:00

And thus begins wedding season again for this year! This pic was taken at a family friends wedding that I attended this past weekend and I thought that I'd share this pic with everyone. The groom came in on a HORSE, with the baraat led by a guy playing the dhol and his relatives dancing it up. The guy's Punjabi, so its no wonder. But the girl is a HYDRO! See, we're just so awesome that even others realize that about us and get hydro girls hahaha. Anyways, I thought this was really unique because I haven't seen this type of entrance before so it was quite the novelty. I mean I'm sure it happens back in India and Pakistan but I've never seen it done here before. What's next, an elephant?

The whole wedding itself was unique. They had a really nice ice sculpture and the cake was just so different...it had a mini water fountain in it! The best though was the way he proposed to her. The bride is our family friend and so I had seen her in the mall a week before the wedding and so she was saying how he rented a plane and flew a banner over Gage Park that said "Seema Khan will you marry me?" and how people were honking their horns saying "did she say yes?" Wow, what brown guy does that? Haha come on, you people know its true we've never heard of that before! Anyways, now all you guys out there have an idea of what a proposal should be like, so when its your turn, be creative!!! Lol well after you talk to her ammi and dad...but you get the picture.

All blogged out?

2005-06-24T15:16:00.000-04:00

I just realized its been about a month since I've last blogged...not sure why, I think I just haven't been sure what to blog about. So I decided to blog about how I don't know what to blog about! People have asked me why I haven't updated my blog and I really don't know why. I think I'm in a blogging slump. I could blog about what's been going on but it would pretty much be the same story...work, work and weddings. Oh and there's the incident that occurred at Aladdins a few weeks ago with the girls but I've already told half you people that story. I tried to make my blog thought-provoking but that failed miserably when no one posted. I was going to blog about how a certain someone thought I was avoiding them but I don't think they think I am anymore...do you? hehe. But other than that, I think I might be all blogged out.....

...almost. My parents 25th anniversary party is coming up. So I'm pretty much taking care of that, getting everything in order. But I want to do something special for them, like give them something meaningful but I don't know what. I mean I know I'm the best gift they could have gotten so it's pretty hard to get something compared to that =P hehe. Well I was thinking of the usual photo album chronicalling the last 25 years and presenting it to them at the party but I don't know what else to do. Any ideas? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Till then...keep commenting and I'll keep the blogs coming...well, I'll try...

Morning Weirdness...

2005-05-26T19:18:00.000-04:00

Okay so you know how sometimes in the morning you're REALLY sleepy and grouchy and you don't want to deal with any crap but somehow you come across it and you have to? Well this was one of those mornings. All I wanted was a coffee from Tim Horton's to wake up on my way in. But there's this guy that works at the Tim's in the hospital who's really weird and I try to avoid him as much as I can. But today I couldn't. Here's what the conversation went like:

Me: "Hi, can I get a medium coffee, double milk no sugar please"
Guy: "No sugar?!? Whyyyyyyyyyyy?"
Me: *looks at him strange*"Because I need to wake up?"
Guy: "I know people think I'm "special"...I know because they roll their eyes at me, just like you did"
Me: "Huh? I didn't roll my eyes at you!"
Guy: "Yes you did"
Me: "No I didn't!"
Guy: "Sure, sure. That's $1.20"
Me: *Gives $10.20*
Guy: "Ok thanks bye see you next time!" *doesn't give change*
Me: *waiting for change confused...and grouchy*
Guy: "Just kidding, here you go" *hands over change, but as I go to take the change he pulls his hand back 3 or 4 times, thinking its hilarious each time. Finally I get my change and leave*

Had it lasted any longer I might have either left my coffee and taken off or thrown the coffee back at him. In any case, I wonder now if I go for my morning coffee whether he's going to remember me as the one who thinks he's "special". That'll really make my mornings. Lesson of the day: don't mess with me early in the morning...I just might bite.

True or False?

2005-05-24T09:58:00.000-04:00

We are who others perceive us to be.

Happy Birthday Sabina!!!

2005-05-16T13:14:00.000-04:00

Happy 23rd birthday Sabina!!! Don't worry, you don't look a day over 22. (Well, thats probably because you're not just yet). But anyways, I hope you have an awesome and successful year Insha'Allah. The rest of the birthday wishes are in the card...hehehe. And don't worry I'll still sing you the paki version of happy birthday. "Baar baar din yeh aaye...". Anyways, happy birthday!!!!!

2005-05-09T20:15:00.000-04:00

Mariam Noor Shaikh with her Choti Khala and cousin Maliha

2005-05-09T20:13:00.000-04:00

Baby Mariam and Irfan Mamu

The Weekend...

2005-05-09T09:58:00.000-04:00

This weekend was crazy to say the least. I still have "weekend fatigue" and I think I need a good 12 hour nap to get over it. Oh wait, I don't have 12 hours to sleep.

Saturday...
Saturday was Iram and Ahmar's engagement...congrats guys! It was awesome Masha'Allah and as predicted, Iram looked gorgeous. (don't worry Ahmar you looked nice too =P) I picked Iram up in the morning and we went to get her hair done and I got some good shopping done in the meantime! After dropping Iram off for her makeup appointment we went back to Sabina's and I really wanted to sleep but her and Khadeeja wouldn't let me! I even made myself so comfortable in her bed. I'd say we made pretty good time though, we were pretty much on time considering the rush it was to get ready! Overall though the engagement went well. Even Faisal's pink actually looked good as did Rehan's choice of purple =P I'm still disappointed no one wore green though. Actually, Sameer did. Thanks Sameer. Poor Ahmar seemed to get the loads of mithai more than Iram and it looked like the glasses of water just weren't enough! The funniest was the "live entertainment" singers who were just standing beside the stage singing as everything was going on haha. But everytime we tried to request a song from them they didn't have it! We wanted to dedicate a song to Iram, but don't worry Iram we'll sing it to you later...that'll be your "live entertainment" =P

Sunday...
Had to get up early morning because my cousin Asma and Habib bhai were here from Chicago and they were coming over for breakfast with their little guriya, Mariam Noor Shaikh. Masha'Allah she's a cutie and a half!!! She actually looks like a doll too. She's so tiny. My brother who's not much of a kids person was holding her for the longest time. I had to leave them early because I had to go to work but then in the evening I went to Asma's Bhabi's house. Her bhabi had invited over her friends for a party in honor of little Mariam, and wow. I've never seen so many kids in one place at a time. All of her friends had at least three kids EACH and so there were kids EVERYWHERE. So I kept getting the occasional "how many kids do you have?" and I'd be like "umm none, I'm not married". I guess they just assumed because everyone does I would too haha. It was a nice party but all the girls there kept talking about pregnancy and their kids and I felt like I had more in common with her bhabi's 6 year old daughter Maliha. She's cute too masha'Allah but man does she talk. She remember's me as "Asma chachi's cousin" but yesterday she's like "I don't remember your name" so Asma told her its "Shazia auntie" and Maliha was like "that's too hard to remember, I'm going to call you nutjob auntie!" So now I'm nutjob auntie. She remembers a lot though, she remembered what I wore at Eid time and my cat's name and everything! By the end of the evening I had hogged Mariam for myself and I had a bazillion kids around me telling me they want to play with the doll. And I'd have to be like "no beta, its not a doll, she's real" I still don't think they believed me. I'm so glad I got to see her, and Asma too. I'll post pictures from the weekend when I get home but so that's pretty much my weekend in a nutshell. From a nutjob...

Friday Afternoon...

2005-05-06T15:41:00.000-04:00

So I started my summer job on Monday back at Sunnybrook. I'm glad to be back here though, its fun. I like the people I work with, the work itself is interesting, and best of all Iram works right above me. So if I'm bored I'll run up to her office or we'll go for a walk or do something...like eat cake. What I DON'T enjoy though is the 2-hour commute each way. But I guess in the end it's worth it. I'm falling asleep right now though, I'm so bored. There's usually 5 people in my office but for some reason today there's only two of us so its quiet. And its a Friday afternoon, so with the weekend coming up come on, you know you don't feel like doing anything!! AND its perfect ice cream weather outside. I guess I have a pretty exciting weekend coming up so I'm looking forward to that, but I'll have to get through today though. Well at least I have internet now, and me being the MSN junkie that I am can stay connected with all you people who I know missed me when I wasn't online =P . The first two days that I didn't have internet I was going CRAZY out of boredom. But I did get a lot of work done. I guess its a trade-off... productivity but you're bored. I don't know which one is worth it. Maybe I should take a nap. Too bad I sit beside the door. Sigh okay fine, back to work...

Weird Stuff...

2005-04-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today has been one of those "weird" days. Meaning strange things have been happening, I don't know...maybe it's just me. (And I know that's what most of you are thinking too) So anyways, it started this morning when I was on my way to work. I pull out of my driveway, and I'm getting ready to drive down the street when I see this goose standing in the middle of the road. Yes that's right...a real live Canada Goose. And for those of you who have seen my street, you know its not too wide, so it wasn't as if i could drive around it. And obviously I can't run it over either. So I'm just sitting there, in the middle of the street wondering what to do. It was just standing, facing the houses, oblivious to the fact that I'm right there. Thinking that I'm going to get late for work, I decide to honk at it so maybe it'll give it the hint to move. The goose then slowly turned and faced my car, and I thought "uh oh". It had this look, and I couldn't tell whether it took the car honking as a mating call or whether it was going to attack my car. It just stood there for a good two minutes just facing the car not moving. Finally it slowly walked off to the side. Poor goose, it was probably confused whether it was summer or whether it had flown back too early and it was still winter. And I was late for work. Thanks a lot goose.

Randomness...

2005-04-28T17:52:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged in a few days...probably because I don't know what to blog about. Well I'm glad to see the antakshri is still going strong haha. Shabina man you're an even bigger FOB than I thought you were! =P kidding. I've had this whole week off...I'm not working at the pharmacy, nothing to study for...just sitting at home time. Well, I guess I should enjoy it while I can because come Monday I'm starting at Sunnybrook again for the summer. That means waking up at 5:30am, 2 hour commutes and a lot less sleep. But it also means running up one floor to Iram's office when I'm bored or have a craving for cake lol. Just being home this week I would have thought I would have gotten a whole lot done that I wanted to do. Well I did learn to make butter chicken!!! And it turned out good. That's what I've pretty much been doing all week...cooking. I made gulab jamuns the other day too. Now I can say "maine banaya...GITS se!" (for all you fobs who know that commercial) Then I started experimenting and I made chicken wings and they're like how they are at Singapore Garden! Which is good because I love those. Today I made chili chicken and szechuan chicken minus the peanut oil. Chili chicken is so easy to make and it takes so little time. Now I don't know what else to make. Well if I have the time now I may as well do it. Oh yeah and the other thing I've been doing is watching dramas on ARY all week long. Some are ending and some are starting. I'm telling you, I'm so addicted but they're really good! Oh and I got Sabina addicted to the show "24" haha. For those of you who haven't seen it, I suggest you do. It comes on ch. 11 at 9 on Mondays. During that time I CAN'T be disturbed in any way. It's one of those captivating shows that you have to focus completely on. Anyways this season is ending in a couple more episodes but I'd definitely recommend everyone to watch it. Too bad there aren't that may good shows on TV anymore. I I guess I'll just go back and watch ARY.

Antakshri cont...

2005-04-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

Okay now that we have passed the 100 comments mark on the antakshri post I'm going to start another one just so there isn't a whole lot of scrolling down but it'll continue on from the last one...so here goes:

Shabina said...
humsafar chahaiye umr bhar chahaiye .. aapke pyar ki ek nazaar, aapke pyar ki ek nazarr. dil hain beghar ise ek ghar chahaiye, baas yunhi dekhkar muskarti raho...

Next: R
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Roop tera, mastana...pyar mera deewana, bhool koi humse naa ho jaye..." =D

Next Letter: J!

A little is a lot...

2005-04-24T23:38:00.000-04:00

So my weekends mostly go into working at the pharmacy, and its usually fairly mediocre...nothing too exciting and nothing too boring either. If its busy then you don't really think about much else, but of course you do get irate quite often with some patients that come in. Anyways, today was one of those days where sort of the opposite happened. My pharmacist and I were working in the morning and some of our regular patients were passing through the store. They're an elderly Muslim couple who are among the nicest people I have ever met Masha'Allah. They always come and say salaam to me and they call me beta, they ask me how school is and tell me how proud they are...they're Masha'Allah amazing people. Everyone in the pharmacy loves them. Anyways, today they were passing through and we didn't get a chance to talk to them as usual because it was busy and I guess we were flustered and rushing so they didn't want to disturb us. So they said salaam and just left. About an hour later they come back in and they're holding three bouquets of flowers...one for each of us working there. It was the nicest surprise! They said how we looked stressed and we weren't smiling so they thought they would try and cheer us up and how they always want to see us smiling. Well, it worked. It's so nice to know that there are still people out there who care about the happiness of others and would go out of their way to see to that. It was such a sweet yet simple gesture that changed the attitude of the whole day. That is until I dropped the big bottle of Metamucil I was getting for a prescription on my toe. Ask Khadeeja...she was there when it happened and saw me hopping in pain, and she heard me say how I was planning on suing Pharma Plus and going on workman's comp. Somehow I don't think it'll work though...ah well it might have.

World on Fire

2005-04-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

Check out Sarah McLachlan's "World on Fire" Video

I've heard this song on the radio a few times and the lyrics intrigued me so I looked it up and I came across this site. (Check out its lyrics) The video left me in total awe and helps put things into perspective. Its really sad that conditions like that exist around the world and more often than not we're oblivious to them. We know they are there but sadly enough we're too wrapped up in our lives to do as much of our part as we could. There's a hadith that says "My Ummah is like a body; when one part feels pain, every part is affected" How often do we think about our brothers and sisters who are halfway across the world and who are suffering, while we are here living contently? I ask this question to myself first. In the end though I know everyone's account is with God. Watching this video really makes me feel like I want to make a difference though and I hope one day to. I have a friend who went with an organization to the impoverished regions of Haiti last summer to build facilites, and when he came back he said to see people living in extreme poverty and sickness like that really affected him and changed who he was. He's going back this summer to help build a soup kitchen I believe there. There's one part at the end of the song that goes:

"The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some"

It's true, sometimes we become so consumed in our own materialism that our values and our humanity itself take a backseat. One could be rich in wealth but poor in content, while some people are rich in happiness just living comfortably. Anyways, I like what Sarah McLachlan has done with the video, especially the ending. Its good to see that celebrities such as herself and Bono take the time to help those less fortunate than themselves. I'm surprised at how little an amount of money can amount to so much, like 6 months worth of medical supplies for 5000 patients for only $7500. That's it! I'm sure with the amount that we have we can take some out and donate to a reputable charity where we know our money will be put to good use. Let's try to do more on our part, and not just in monetary ways, but keep those who need our support in ours prayers as well.

Online Antakshri

2005-04-19T20:27:00.000-04:00

So I'm a fob...but antakshri is fun! I know we've tried playing it when we go out with friends and it usually ends up with the same people (i.e. me) singing all the songs haha. So I thought I would try an online one and see how long we can keep it going for. The rules are simple and a bit modified from the original version just to make it a bit easier: you choose a song that begins with the first letter of the last word; it can be any indian and/or pakistani songs; state the letter for the next person to begin with and you have to have at least 2 lines of the song! How long can we go on for? I guess we're about to find out! I'll start...here's one of my favourite songs by one of my favourite bands, its called "Addat" by Jal:

"duur jitna bhi tum mujhse, paas tere main,
ab toh addat si hai mujhko aise jeenay mein..."

So the next song has to start with the letter "M"...

Happy Birthday Irfan!

2005-04-18T01:04:00.000-04:00

Not a baby anymore :(

Happy 20th birthday to my baby bro who's not so much a baby anymore :( Too bad I'll have to wait to give you your birthday beats...I mean gift hehe. So now that you're older and no longer a teen it means you better be more responsible and not lazy anymore!!! Ya right knowing you that's not going to happen. In any case, happy birthday fatty =P

Funny!!!

2005-04-16T22:58:00.000-04:00

LOL...this joke made me crack up. Probably because its true for the most part....and guys ARE bad drivers =P. Women just happen to be the voice of reason. Why can't men see that? And it's not called nagging...its called being cautious and rational. (something men don't know how to be LOL) Okay okay, enough guy bashing for now...and to the guys who are reading this, I'm just kidding ...sort of...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A wife was making fried eggs for her husband for breakfast. Suddenly her husband burst into the kitchen. "Careful... Careful!!! Put in some more butter! Oh my God! You're cooking too many at once. Too many! Turn them! Turn them now! We need more butter. Oh my God! Where are we going to get more butter? They're going to stick! Careful... Careful!!! I said be careful! You never listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. Use the salt! The salt!" The wife stared at him and asked, "What the heck is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?" The husband calmly replied, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving with you in the car."

Quote of the Day

2005-04-15T15:31:00.000-04:00

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

I came across this quote the other day and it really made me think. How true is this? I mean personally I could (and pretty much DO) spend time doing things when I could or should be doing other things. Like right now for instance, I should be studying but I'm not, I'm blogging. And I enjoy it...but I still feel like its time that's being wasted. We always say "if only I had more time" or "there aren't enough hours in the day" Out of the time that we do have, how much of it actually goes into productive activity? This is kinda similar to an entry on Rehan's blog that I read today about how we're so "techologized" and part of the purpose of technology is to save us time. But does it? I too find myself on the computer a good portion of the day when I could be doing something else. There are so many things that I want to do and I always say "when I have the time then I will do them" But then something comes up and it just doesn't happen. I don't think we realize how big of a loss wasted time really is. We always look back and think about how we would have done things differently. I know I would. But...well we can't. We can learn from our mistakes and make sure it doesn't happen again I guess. In theory this all sounds so easy doesn't it? If only it were! Well now with the summer coming up, I'm going to have "time" (relatively speaking...between working and events we'll see how much time there actually is!) and I have a list of goals that I want to complete...not necessarily all by this summer though. Some are short term while others are long term. Some are:

-READ. Books AND Qur'an. I used to be a book-a-holic at a time and i LOVE reading. Now the only books I read are textbooks. I always buy books and they're literally sitting there waiting to be read. I especially can't wait to read Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's my Country?" His views on politcs are awesome. Too bad not everyone appreciates him.

-Redecorate my room. I've been meaning to do this for so long. I have the vision, now its time to implement it. Guess what the color scheme is going to be??? =P

-Learn arabic. I really want to learn how to speak and understand it. I can read it but reading the Qur'an without understanding isn't quite the same.

-Learn to make butter chicken. I know its not that hard, but I want to become a pro at it and add it to my list of culinary dishes =P kidding

-Learn to make ras malai the REAL way and not from the mix. Iram's mom is going to teach me how to "phaar the doodh" in the cheesecloth :D lol

-Rollerblade after sunrise. Just the right weather...watching the sunrise...sigh...

haha okay that's just some of them I'm pretty sure I can get some of those done this summer. I just hope I can make better use of my time and not waste it as much. Well, we'll see what happens because I'm expecting it to be a busy summer. But in the end...lets all make the most of the time that we do get.

Only in Brampton...

2005-04-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

...will you find that when you walk into a bank on customer appreciation day, instead of having the usual cookies they have a table set out with LADOOS.

Okay so I know Brampton is a little ghetto. I mean apparently we have the third largest Punjabi population in the world (someone verify this for me??) So we're bound to have some level of fobbiness. But even I was surprised to see that when I went into the bank today!!! I took a look around then and I swear more than 3/4 of the people in the branch were desi...so I guess that explained some of it. But still I mean come on...well I don't know. Here are some more things that "Only in Brampton will you find..."

1. The parking lot smelling strongly of masala... (I'm not even kidding...this is out in the OPEN AIR too)

2. Desi grocery stores at literally every corner...if one store doesn't have something, drive down a bit and you'll find at it at the next store. There's a new one opening up close to my area called "Bhandar Grocers". Maybe I'm wrong, but "Monkey Grocers"!?!? I thought nahh
maybe I have it wrong until I saw that they have a banana in their logo...so now I don't know... :S

3. People (desis) parked and taking pictures with the "BRAMPTON" sign at the Mississauga-Brampton border... (i've never seen it but apparently I've heard this has happened)

4. Blaring bhangra music is a norm...more commonly heard than normal music. You hear the music change as you drive in from Mississauga to Brampton...

5. You see more brown people congregating than white people...if you don't you get worried. If you see a group of white people, its almost rare...

6. A large selection of fashion stores. No need for Gerrard anymore!

7. The requirement for many jobs is "must be fluent in Hindi and Punjabi"...

8. You see more firecrackers at Diwali than you do on Canada Day and Victoria Day COMBINED and more lights put up than at Christmas...

I'm not going to be surprised if we see a baraat coming down the street complete with an elephant next. In any case, I can't think of any more right now...anyone else have anything to add???

P.S. I'm practically considered Mississauga...so I don't count =P

I'm a khala again!!!

2005-04-13T15:22:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Asma and Habib Bhai on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl early this morning! "Guriya" (name yet to be determined) came into this world at 2:20 am and both mom and daughter are healthly Masha'Allah. I'm so excited!!! I now have another kid to spoil and play with and when I go to Chicago I'm going to hog her and not give her to anyone!!! And Ibrahim finally has a little cousin to play with! I can't wait to see pictures and see who she looks like. She's kinda early though, she was supposed to come on April 29th, but I guess she couldn't wait to come into this world! Well after 5 boys of the new generation being born into the khandaan there is finally a girl =P . You all know me, I love kids and Asma's kid is especially good news to me. It's sometimes hard to believe how times have changed so much, and how people that you grew up with are at such different stages of life. I still remember when we were kids...the first time we all met, late night parties where I always got in trouble...secret videotapes haha, tim hortons and pizza pizza at 2 am!!! And the "angoori girls" lol...now we have a mini addition! I think back at the memories that we all had and the "good ol' days"...but then I realize that they're fun to remember, but there are many more to come! (Insha'Allah) Sometimes its sad to think that as life goes on so many things change and people are so caught up in their own thing but at the same time you're happy for them because they're happy. I remember the joy and excitement we used to have going to Chicago and looking forward to staying up all night, raiding the kitchen at 4 am and sleeping by 6 till 12 in the afternoon and wasting the whole day lol. Whoops there I go down memory lane again. That's enough sappiness for today =P Back to Guriya...I can't wait to see her!!! I feel like going to Chicago now..maybe I will...oh wait exams...ahhhhhh I guess this khala will have to wait a bit to see her :( Once again congrats and welcome baby Guriya!!!!

Support Bridges TV

2005-04-12T10:35:00.000-04:00

Something I think we should all do...having a Muslim TV Channel would be kind of cool!

Radio & Television Commission (CRTC) is reviewing license requestfor Bridges TV - Muslim Lifestyle Network in English. CRTC wants todetermine demand by hearing directly from you before April 20th, 2005.To write a letter of support, please see:

http://www.bridgestv.com/crtc.asp

I already sent my letter =P so now its your turn

A short person's world...

2005-04-11T15:40:00.000-04:00

Okay so short people have always had it bad. We've had to endure the "shrimp" jokes and the "you're so short that...". It's not our fault that we're not vertically inclined!!! But I digress. This brings me to the topic at hand. Today I was having a rather interesting conversation with a few friends regarding height matches of guys and girls. So it seems that if a guy is over 6'0 then he shouldn't find a girl who's shorter than 5'4. And according to a "certain someone" (you know who you are!) the "short guys are meant for the short girls" That's not fair!!! So basically me and my 5"1.75 self have no shot with a guy who's 6"0?!?! That's so wrong. Opposites attract...so short people and tall people can attract correct? Lol, okay but in it all lets not forget that it depends on the personality of both and their characteristics should be what matters the most. =)

Second short issue...whoever said that short people are evil are SADLY mistaken. We're innocent and do not have the ability to be mean let alone evil! You can see it in our eyes. Actually come to think of it, the taller people I know ARE the more evil ones...so this theory is seriously flawed!!! I've also concluded that I get picked on a lot because I'm short...why is it that we're easy targets?!? In any case, we're taking a tally to see what your opinions are on these two thoughts...what do you think???

Good luck on exams!

2005-04-10T23:06:00.000-04:00

Something most of us can use right about now :)

DUA’As BEFORE STUDYING

Allahumma infa’nii bimaa ‘allamtaniiwa 'allimnii maa yanfa’ unii.
Oh Allah! Make useful for me what You taught me and teach me knowledge that will be useful to me.

Allahumma inii as’aluka fahmal-nabiyyen wa hifthal mursaleenal-muqarrabeen.
Oh Allah! I ask You for the understanding of the Prophets and the memory of the Messengers, and those nearest to You.

Allahumma ijal leesanee ‘amiran bi thikrika wa qalbi bikhashyatika.
Oh Allah! Make my tongue full of Your remembrance, and my heart with consciousness of You.

Innaka ‘allah ma-tasha’-u qadeer wa antahasbun-allahu wa na’mal wakeel.
(oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.

DUA’A AFTER STUDYING

Allahhumma inni astaodeeuka ma qara’tu wamahafaz-tu. Faradduhu ‘allaya inda hagati elayhi. Innaka ‘allah ma-tasha’-u qadeer wa antahasbun-allahu wa na’mal wakeel.
Oh Allah! I entrust You with what I have read and I have studied. (Oh Allah!) Bring it back to me when I am in need of it. (Oh Allah!) You do whatever You wish, and You are my Availer and Protector and the best of aid.

DUA’A WHILE STUDYING SOMETHING DIFFICULT

Allahhumma la sahla illama ja-‘altahu sahla wa anta taj ‘alu al hazana etha shi’ta sahla.
Oh Allah! Nothing is easy except what You have made easy. If You wish, You can make the difficult easy.

DUA FOR ANXIETY

Allahhumma inni a’oodhoo bika minal-hammi-walhazan. Wa’ a’oodhoo bika min’al-ghammi-wal-kasal. Wa’aoodhoo bika min’al jubni wal bukhl. Wa’aoodhoo bika min ghalabatid-dayni-waqarir rijaal.
Oh Allah! I seek refuge in You from worry and grief, from helplessness and laziness, from cowardice and stinginess, and from overpowering of debt and from oppression of men.

Let the blogging begin!

2005-04-10T21:15:00.000-04:00

Okay so I'm jumping the blog bandwagon. (Or as Iram would call it, "the blob") I was told I should start a blog. Hmmm I wonder why, what are you people trying to say? (You know who you are!) But it's not a bad idea, I'll just write down what I'm thinking, and you all know that's a LOT =P but in any case, I'll post whatever is funny, boring, entertaining etc, I'll let you decide. So I guess all's that's left to say is happy reading!

So here's my beef for the day: (well...one of them)

So I was watching ARY digital today (For those of you who don't know, its a Pakistani channel on TV) and they were playing a selection of music videos. Bollywood videos these days have become literally as bad, if not worse than many western videos. I was watching a remix to a nice old song the other day, and I couldn't believe how they butchered it and twisted it around so it become senseless and took the meaning out of it. In any case...you know it's Bollywood. Pakistani videos on the other hand, you think "good and wholesome" because well, theyre Pakistani, you expect something more contemporary. But in these videos they're all out dancing it up in the clubs and wearing short clothes as if (as one host put it) "they ran out of cloth to make the clothes" haha, but it's literally true! I'm thinking "am I watching a Pakistani video or did I switch to the Bollywood channel???" Is that what its become like in Pakistan nowadays? Or is it still the way they way that they show it to be in the dramas like "Bandish" and "Mehndi"??? In any case...I think I need to stop watching ARY so much...I think I'm becoming addicted. =P