It's a boy!

We have a new addition to our family. Be back blogging soon inshallah.

A few good men or just a few men?

Marines
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

We got this letter in the mail yesterday and immediately i cracked up laughing. Called DH right away to give him a good laugh. The Marines have got to be desperate because A) my husband is in his mid (and heading to his late) 30's, B) my husband is um, how should we put it, not in Marine shape, and C) his Arabic is about as good as mine...i.e. pracitically nonexistent except for prayers and a few surahs.

They have got to be desperate. Not that my husband wouldn't make a good Marine because I bet he could anything but this is pretty sad that they have to send letters to anyone with a Muslim name assuming they all speak Arabic (his name was on the letter).

What i really like is the last line (if you can't read it, click on the photo and it'll give you a bigger picture).

At least there's always job options for him if he ever gets tired of doing Corporate Finance. He could always go play in the big sandbox with those Rambo types. Now that would be funny. :-)

Do i unconsciously know Urdu?

The other night i had a dream in Urdu. It was weird because I don't know Urdu at all except for a few expressions and miscellaneous words. Certainly not enough to carry on a conversation but in this dream, Urdu was being spoken. What i want to know is if it was actually Urdu or made up. I know we only use about 10% of our brains so is it possible that my unconscious mind knows Urdu? Since it's around so much lately, did some part of my brain learn the language yet i didn't. Or was the Urdu in my dream really not Urdu? It sure sounded like it. Sadly, no one can tell me for sure since i can't remember what was said (in Urdu) although i remember the meaning.

A book, a movie, a really long tangent

I finally finished reading Madras on Rainy Days. It wasn't as good as i thought. I was really looking forward to reading it and had a hard time finding the book. It wasn't bad. I guess I would really like to see some really good Muslim fiction and haven't found much. I find the Indian novels actually better. The Muslim ones seem to always have characters that are more cultural Muslims. A friend passed on a few new titles to me so I plan on reading them sometime in the future, who knows when, but sometime. I do like a lot of the Indian ones. One of my very favorite Indian novels was The Namesake.

I thought I'd be doing something else this week but alas, I had more free time than I thought.

If you really want some distraction, pick up this movie. Apparently it's a classic. Now I love Bollywood, but really, they should consider dividing some of them up into four movies instead of one. Sheesh. Three and a half hours is just tooooo long. I mean all these stories have the same plot and often the same people. Doesn't this sound familiar:

Boy meets girl and girl meets boy. Boy flirts with girl and appalls girl. Girl dislikes boy. Boy keeps irritating girl for fun and in many cases then meets another girl. Girl sees boy flirting with new girl and gets a little jealous but still girl doesn't really like boy. Girl sees boy do something very thoughtful or sweet (usually related to a family member or other close person) and girl falls in love with guy. Guy ignores girl because he's moved on and accepted that girl doesn't like boy. This makes girl crazy and pouty. Eventually after some typical drama, girl and boy through song and dance realize they are perfect for each other. But alas, that can't happen. One set of parents will say no way because either girl or boy isn't good enough socially for the other. More drama. After some trickery and brown nosing of parents, the parents will finally approve. You think you are getting to the end right? Nope. This is only half way. Girl will find out something about boy and end it leaving both broken hearted yet dancing and singing about their misery. Finally they reconsemate but then someone from the past will come and mess it all up again. One misunderstanding after another and then finally some big fight scene and then everyone's happy and in love singing and dancing. Shadi time.

Now as pointless as they all are, i still succomb and watch them. God knows why. I know every time how it's going to end. But still i do. Even this time. I couldn't make it through and went to sleep while the others stayed up and finished it. I asked husband in the morning. Should i finish it? I know how it ended. Such and such happened right? Yeah. Well maybe i should finish it anyhow. I wasted three hours, i may as well see the end. So i go put it on after breakfast and finish it. Soon, mil is right there next to me watching the end again. Ah...i'm not the only one. Is it the incurable romantic in me or the slacker girl...i just don't know.

Identity

So finally we got our marriage license. Almost 10 months later. So i finally changed my name. I know i didn't need to etc but we wanted my name changed for personal reasons. So today i got a new social security card and license. Both times when i had to sign my new name i signed my old name. I had to redo it a few times and had no idea how to sign my new name even though i've been going by it verbally since we married. But for some reason, when signing a legal document it took on a whole nother meaning and it was a very weird feeling. Like something was lost. I wonder how long it will take to get used to signing the new way and how many times i'll mess up. I do feel like a little chunk of me is no longer there. I never realized how much a name becomes a part of you. BUT i am happy to officially be the Mrs. in Mr. and Mrs. X. :-)

karela

karela-image109408
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is one thing i learned to cook this week that i will never ever cook again. I see this all the time in the Indian stores and wondered what it was and why it was so popular so asked mil to make some. Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck.

It's nickname is bitter melon and even after you squeeze all the juice out it is still bitter as bitter gets. I actually ate a decent amount of it so it wasn't thaaaat bad but i wouldn't make it again. Off to the farmers market again today. Guess what we won't be getting? It reminds me of something my dad made me eat as a kid but i cannot think of what it is.

Have you had it and what else does it taste like?

Bushie sets the standard - again.

(a forwarded email)

Here's what George Bush did in the face of the greatest natural disaster of this or the past century:

* Golf - his tee time coincided exactly with the eye of the storm passing through Mississippi, but he went ahead and shot 18 holes.

* A photo op in front of an aircraft carrier making comparisons between himself and FDR and between Iraq and WW II.

* A town hall meeting concerning his proposed changes to Social Security.

In the meantime, hundreds were left to die because the Louisiana National Guard is in Iraq and there were no resources to rescue the folks who were trapped in the aftermath. Sufficient helicopters are still 3 days away along with much other gear now in the Iraqi desert.

What a proud day it must be for the Republican party. Any bets on how long before Pat Robertson gets on the 700 Club and says that Katrina was God's way to eliminate the gays?