Da da da daaaaaa - Introducing Little Dude!

Little Dude
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Ha ha heee haaa haaa hoooooeee. Fooled ya! But yeah, this is my little dude catching up on some reading. Ain't he just the cutest thing? See why i call him Little Dude?

(this picture was not posed for...i did in fact find him just like this after hearing some belly laughter from the kitchen - too funny!)

Surprise

Soooo, i have a surprise for you all. Soon I'll be posting a picture of the infamous Little Dude. I finally got security clearance. Stay tuned.

argh!!!

I get so frustrated sometimes with book reviews - mostly when i have to read a really bad book. I once read a "Muslim" fiction book that i really loved. I put quotes around Muslim because most the Muslims i know thought the book was about a bad Muslim. I still think that a Muslim make. Anyhow, now i have an opinion about the Muslim who wrote the book too and am thinking she's not so Muslim after all - or maybe she is. I don't know any Muslims that write this kind of filth though. She has come out with a new book and i jumped on getting assigned the review for it. I was excited to read a new book by this great author. I should have just shot myself in the foot because this always happens. I see a book by a Muslim and i try to get it reviewed so we can get out there in the mainstream and every time i offer to do the review i end up trashing the book. I'm about to do it again. I am having such a hard time writing this review. Oh wait, that's not exactly true because i haven't started writing it yet because i can't get past page 50. It's like having teeth pulled but worse. The poor book cover is torn from me throwing it across the room. Hands down, this is the worst book i've ever read. Why oh why did i volunteer for this one?

See...

See i told you i don't have anything interesting to say anymore. This is what i've been up to:

1. Avoiding my annoying neighbor. This is the super duper Christian "everyone-but-Christians-is-going-to-hell" neighbor i'm always complaining about. She just bugs me. Even more than usual lately. The other day, she said two new things to bug me. First one was "My husband wants me to independent not dependent". Sounds harmless right? Wrong. She thinks it's dumb that my husband and i make joint decisions about things like buying carseats, kids stuff, etc. She also thinks he likes to keep me at home since he often picks up the groceries on the way home from work so i don't have to. I do the farmers market and he does the regular grocery store. So now i'm a kept woman because my husband is helpful. I forget what the second thing was but trust me it was annoying. She says so many things that are just wrong. Thinks i'm weird for bf'ing my kid still (he's only 8 months for God's sake - can you believe the little dude is 8 months???!!! Yikes!).

2. I've made a ton of baby food and playing with recipes to keep his palate interested. This weeks favorite: Big breakfast - Oatmeal cooked with apple and dates pureed with whole milk yoghurt and sometimes i add a egg yolk (hardboiled). I add a little brewers yeast sometimes too. He loves it.

3. I'm suffering from a nasty cold. Little Dude had the sniffles and runny nose for a few days and somehow i get intensely sick from that (or it could have been a kid from the moms group i belong to).

4. Went to a birthday party for one of Little Dude's "friends" - it was a lot of fun and we came home with a fish. I've never had a fish so that's pretty amusing.

5. I finally finally got the pictures downloaded from my camera. There was 577 pictures on there.

6. Bored yet? Thought so. Just felt the need to post something. Anything really.

so i lied...

okay, i thought i was gonna stop but maybe i'm addicted to blogging or something. I was thinking today about books that i dive into and can't put down. I'm reading "The Prophet of Zongo Street" right now. It's written by a guy from Ghana and the stories are about the immigrant experience and he's Muslim although the stories aren't about Islam so to say. They are good stories but it's not affecting me the way Indian or Pakistani stories of the immigrant experience do. Is this because i know so many Indians/Pakistani's and am sort of in that community a tiny bit? Am i an immigrant myself? I don't hang out with a lot of desi's but i totally get what the stories and novels about the immigrant experience are saying. "Arranged Marriage" - a collection of stories from an Indian lady really got me. I flew through that book and was very sad when it ended. Maybe it's because one is male and the other is female and that's what i really *get* it but i swear i could relate to every story in "Arranged Marriage" and some other desi novels. Maybe I am an immigrant myself and that's why i relate to them so well...hmmm.

Strange parenting

I was told the other day these two things from one of my neighbors (the one that says i'm going to hell since i'm not christian):

1. I weaned my daughter because i want to drink alcohol. I really like to drink and i miss it.

2. We intentionally made the carseat loose because we didn't want it to dent the seats in our car.

Anyway, i don't have much to say over here. I've been thinking about stopping blogging. I had fun with but after the whole kosher post argument i just got irritated and haven't really felt like blogging since. It's funny that one of the people who told me how haram i was being posted soon after about how great music is. Funny that people are quick to point out other people's "haram" behavior and use a scholar to validate their point but when it comes to their own haram behavior, they justify what they are doing even though the same scholar they used before says their thing is haram. I'm just tired of being analyzed and all.

My priorities in life have changed too and it seems the only thing i have to talk about lately is my son and my real/personal life and i don't post too much of that stuff on here. I guess i've just gotten boring blog-wise. Life, on the other hand is exciting.

I thought i could make some Muslim friends through blogging and have but i kind of want to know more people in real life so am making an effort that way. I've joined a MOMS group, i'm getting to know one of my neighbors who has a young baby and with whom i've hit it off pretty well with.

When i logged into blogger i didn't know i was writing a farewell post but i guess that's what this is. If any of you all want to correspond in email, my addy is off to the right, otherwise, happy trails.

Then again, i may change my mind and post again. God only knows.

Food blog

Lots of stuff just posted.

Good weekend

Saturday we went to Athens, a small college town here. Fun. They had a human rights festival going on which was pretty cool. Had a creole lunch with shrimp that burnt my mouth so i overtook my hubby's meal which was delish. I saw a guy outside a cafe there eating a yummy mean looking meatloaf and mac and cheese and have had a craving for it since. It's in the oven now. Can't wait! Athens is different than Boulder (Colorado's college town). In Boulder there was granola hippies which i love and i guess am sort of that way but in Athens it's redneck hippies dressed like the 70's. To see someone dressed hippish but talking like a hick, well it's just strange. Funny though. Great people watching there. And Little Dude took part in his first activist "demonstration". Like mother like son ;-).

Sunday was brunch at the Ritz Carlton. Nice swanky brunch. Great food, great people, perfect day. That had to be the swankiest bathroom Little Dude has eaten in. Actual towels instead of paper towels. I ate myself into oblivion. I don't think i've ever enjoyed food so much. Choosing dessert(s) was a serious challenge. If it was only dh and i instead of a bunch of people, i would have had one of each i swear but i limited myself to 2 plus some truffles (like 5). I never eat like that. Heck, i don't usually even eat until i'm full. Absolutely delish!

The world spins so fast...

I just can't keep up with anything anymore. I had so much to say about my visit but now nothing seems worth mentioning. Oh, except i ate the most wonderful samosas and ladoo there. I need to make samosas again and come up with my own original recipe. I do it different everytime. The ras malai i made there (twice!) was a big hit obviously (since i made it twice).

What else? Got some mom time. Got nails done and a haircut while my inlaws and sister-in-law watched the Little Dude (it was weird being away from him). Neither (hair and nails) had been done for about a year. Before the religious police get on me about getting my nails done - please don't. I don't get mine painted. Just beautified. Hope that's okay with you. Hmmm, what else? Ah, yes! My son was not letting me sleep there at all and was just crazy in the night but alas, two days after getting home, he slept gooood as the result of two brand new beautiful little sharp teeth. Sharp enough that they cut his tongue (from running it across them so many times in curiousity). He also says Momma and Baba. Mostly for food or attention but when he gets adament about it he goes - MOOOOOOOOOMMA! just to make sure i heard. He also pulls my hair to wake me up. He's developing like a little mad man now. MashAllah, such wonderful blessings parents get to witness every day.

Okay, off to make some gulab jamon and if i get a long nap out of the little dude, i just might whip up some samosas too. I won't count on it.