Tuesday, June 30, 2009

howdy

I don't know what to write about. And yet I am writing. I'm sure all of you have heard about Bernie Maddoff and his 150 yr sentence- which seems a bit excessive considering he's like past 70, but I guess symbolically it's significant. My friends and I we're watching Michael Jackson videos today and I have to say he was really cute back in the 80's before all of the facial tinkering. Oh combat troops pulled out of Iraq today, did you hear about this? There were fireworks over the city of Baghdad marking the occasion. Call me cynical but the government of Iraq feels to me like a puppet that cut off its strings and now wants to be a real boy. I wish it luck.
Ever since the Star Trek movie came out, which I fell in love with, i've been watching the old 60's series. William Shatner was intense, and i'm developing an odd attraction to Leonard Nimoy or Spock. Oh and a repulsion to female actresses- man they could NOT act back then. Also i'm developing a sense of insecurity about airplanes, a Yemeni plane crashed into the Indian Ocean today killing like 154 people. That and the Air France plane that went down in the Atlantic Ocean..*shudder*..i'm going to Dubai in a few weeks you can bet i'm going to be fearfully clenching my armrests the entire trip.
Soooo there was a coup in honduras...that was interesting. Soldiers stormed the Honduran president's, home- arresting him and forcing him into exile. I think the greatest thing to come out of this coup is that it gave Obama and Chavez something to agree on (they're against it).
Now i'm not one for celebrity gossip but i'll indulge this one time: John Edward's has a sex tape. That is really gross and sickening. And just gross. ew. Ok on that note, oh wait I almost forgot the Iranian Guardian Council, has just confirmed an Ahmadinejad win- with 130% voter turnout in all districts. Congratulations Mr. President. Does it feel good to defraud your people? I bet it does.

oh there's one other thing, more of a confession really. Well here it goes. I am in love. Yes. It has happened. Whom, You might ask? Well he's my age, sort of. He's Scottish and very cute. And has possibly the sexiest voice. ever. I speak of Paolo Nutini of course. and I leave you with his shaggy-ness



Sweet Dreams y'all

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Because I have nothing better to talk about...

...here's some pointless thoughts:


I'm currently obsessed with this song by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.



I like some of Rihanna's songs (Silly Boy and Take a Bow) because they aren't filled with mushy crap that everyone seems to adore. The lyrics are funny. Point in case:
"You look so dumb right now"
"You're so ugly when you cry"
"Silly boy, Get out of my face"

I hate when babies cry. And not in that "Aww poor baby" kinda way, where I want to make them feel better. But more in a "Just shut up" kinda way.

I dont mind being bored at all. I would much rather be bored than be stressed.

I've never been so relieved to have something done or semi-done, like I was today.

I love summer vacation. It truly is the best part of teaching. I don't miss my kids. But I do miss two of my friends/colleagues though. The three of us have gotten pretty close in these past couple of months. And we always have really in-depth conversations about each of our faiths. Neither one of them follows an organized religion but their lives are so focused on their spirituality and their faith. Nothing else seems to matter and everything they do revolves around God. I just love that about them.

I had a horrible nightmare about my new classroom. The kids would not listen to me and they were running around the classroom like a bunch of animals.

I like getting tanned. It makes me feel exotic.

My phone is a piece of crap. I spilled apple juice on it and now it keeps hanging up on people.

You know that feeling you get when you get treated like crap by someone you look up to and respect a great deal? Well, I've had that feeling for the past couple of days now. I'm trying to brush it off, but I cant.

I've been reading this one book for about a month now. And I've never taken that long of a time to read any book. I don't think it's me. I think its the book. But I have to finish it.

I had gold eyeshadow on today and everyone said that it made me look anemic.

For some reason a lot of people in my family don't like to talk about others in the family being pregnant. I don't know if it's like this with other families but I will never understand why.

Michael Jackson's death was a huge shocker. I really thought my friend and I were the first people to hear about it and I wanted to be the first one to break the news to others. That didnt work.

M.J's funeral is probably going to be as big, if not bigger, than Princess Dianas was.

I'm going to NYC in three days. (Insha'Allah)

I asked my sisters to help me pack for my trip (Insha'Allah) and they kept telling me to wear things that were "outside of the box" and nothing "teachery". And everything I suggested they screamed "No!" to.

This is my first plane ride.

And I'm terrified.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Family does the Darnedest Things Friday

Ok So I'm thinking about starting a new segment on Fridays.
My Family does the the Darnedest Things..
Actually I think I'll make it into a Wednesday or Monday or even a Tuesday segment...we'll see.
But definitely not a Thursday...

Last week, Monday:

I'm late for my Doctor's appointment (as usual). Usually I drive down to clinic, whizzing down the freeway at, atleast 80 mph.
But that day I didn't have breakfast so I took a bowl of cereal with me to my car. My dad said he would drive for me.
So I said okay.
Then while I'm sitting in the passenger's seat (next to driver's seat) my Dad remembers a thousand other things he needs to grab before we leave. And while I'm watching the minutes tick by, I realize that with my brother's latest speeding ticket sprees, I'd be lucky if my dad would even touch the speed limit.

So I yell out to him that I'm going to drive, and start crawling into the driver's seat.
My dad, sees what I'm doing, yells no, and hurries over to get into the driver's seat.

And there we were, both of us, half onto the driver's seat, heads pushed against each other.

No seriously, we were in headbutt deadlock. He was half out of the car, and I was half on the passenger seat.

"But I can drive while eating!!" I said, while pushing his head

"No you're not!" He said, pushing my head back.

"But YOU can't drive!" I said, while using my one hand to push against the seat, to give me more force.

"Yes, I can" He said, using the driver's door to get more force.

"No. You can't !"

And my dad pushes my head just enough, "Yes I can"
And I backed away.

And there you go. My family just decided dominance for the driver's seat, the same way a ram or a goat does.

My family is funny.



P.S. Ahmadinejad(The current President of Iran) compared Obama to Bush, and said that Obama owes him an apology. And for what? For criticizing the way Iran's government are handling its protestors. I think Obama is doing a great job at not getting involved but still saying what he thinks is wrong and why he thinks it's wrong.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

10 Tips to Keeping Dry

1. Wear tank tops and Aladdin pants under your jilbab (outer cover)
2. Wear sun block then use oil pads to wipe away the grease after 5 minutes
3. Don’t walk next to smelly men
4. Wear a fake wedding band so smelly men don’t try to walk next to you
5. Don’t swing your arms when walking
6. Take an afternoon nap from 1-3 pm
7. Get your groceries delivered up to you from the downstairs convenient store
8. Powder your inner thighs frequently
9. Stand in random nice shops for frequent free AC breaks when walking downtown
10. Run all your errands past 7 pm

Guys, it’s getting so hot here. It was 104 degrees yesterday. It was so hot that even the nasty stray dogs were lethargic and not chasing cats.

So I move out of my apartment today into another one down the street. I'm so excited! Only one little problem...how do I get all my suitcases down the street? Do I walk them 5 minutes there and get my bags dusty? Or do I call a cab and tell him to take me a 30 second drive down the street so he can get paid only 50 cents? I guess I'll figure it out after my cold shower ...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Wanting to be where You are

I am currently in the process (an ever slow, long process) of writing my personal statement for application to medical school. I spend way too much time brainstorming. What to write about? Helping my little brother walk and live normally despite the prognosis of past doctors? My great aunt's death? My father's triple-bypass heart surgery? My personal weaknesses? Living paycheck to paycheck and working through school? The time I spent making a portfolio for art school only to realize all of my best art was about helping others? Its so hard to be personal, and so much harder to figure out which life event is important enough to take up the space alloted (6000 characters?). Maybe I'll write three different versions. I have been googling "medical school personal statement" trying to figure out how to put all my crap together. They have tips like "show who you are with stories, don't tell" and "stick to one central theme." It'll make you nervous, I swear.

So thinking about how I could tie things to one central theme, I started thinking about.... GOD of course. My first and foremost intention that ties together all my experiences is trying to please Him... the Big Guy (not to be confused with "the Dude").
I should be honest right?

Reflecting on this and how to convey it, I found a pretty cool (strikingly similar) parallel between the Islamic traditions of Muhammad (PBUH), and the Bible. Islam and Christianity do have many similarities, having the same roots and all, but these verses are great and I wanted to share them with you. To me, it highlights that Muslims know Prophet Muhammad to indeed be one of the Abrahamic prophets, preaching of the same God as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Also, these are beautiful verses about being in the service of others.

Check it out:


The Bible, book of Matthew 25, verses 31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Now for the Hadith qudsi (words from God related to us through Prophet Muhammad), which is what first came to my mind:

The Prophet (Blessings and Peace be Upon him) is reported to have said:
Verily, Allah will say to his slave when He will be taking account of him on the Day of Judgement, 'O' son of Adam, I was hungry and you did not feed me.' He will answer: 'How could I feed you? You are the Lord of the worlds!' He will say: 'Did you not know that my slave so and so who is the son of so and so felt hunger, and you'did not feed him. Alas, had you fed him you would have found that (i.e. reward) with Me.' 'O' son of Adam, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink.' He will reply: 'How could I give You drink? You are the Lord of the worlds!' He will say: 'Did you not know that my slave so and so, the son of so and so felt thirsty and you did not give him drink. Alas, if you had given him, you would have found that (i.e. reward) with me.' 'O' son of Adam, I became sick and you did not visit Me.' He will answer: 'How can I visit You? You are the Lord of the worlds!' He will say: 'Did you not know that my slave so and so, the son of so and so became sick and you did not visit him. Alas, had you visited him, you would have found Me with him.'"
Here, the difference is that the Bible relates these words coming from the "King" or Jesus (peace be upon Him) in the afterlife, who is considered not a god, but a prophet in Islam. The Islamic version is what God will say. In the Hadith Qudsi, it is only about the sick that God says, "you would have found Me with Him." That's where I want to be and that is my true motivation, that I wish to express...

It can be a lot of fun to go between the Bible and the Qur'an and see the similar stories and the abundance of lessons within!

Monday, June 22, 2009

ninee-nine.

We take attendance by roll call. So back in first year after dissection was over it was time for attendance. Usually with the accent and speed of calling out the names every number sounds almost the same. When the professor is in the thirties I think she's on 50-something.

One day all that changed.

We had a new professor and she was taking attendance. Something was different. A good different. Instead of "nine-fo...nine-ee fiwe" I could very cleary make out "ninety-four...ninety-five." Amazing. I was so happy I knew what number she was on.

Not everyone was happy, though. I could hear one girl behind me say to another, "Just listen to her pronouncing the roll call. Who does she think she is? Some educated woman!?" Apparently doctors aren't educated? Honestly. A woman pronounces something clearly and she gets bashed on. Jealousy? Maybe. Sometimes people here get bashed by idiotic people if they think you are trying to "act from abroad." Whatever that means.

haha.

Speaking of dissection. Did you know I didn't wear gloves? You get yelled at because you are supposed to feel exactly how the organ feels or something dumb like that. And then I cut myself with the scalpel and there was no first aid kit. So I had to create a makeshift bandage with a tissue and used the sticky side of an antibacterial label to hold it together. I kid you not. India is rapidly developing, but it's very primitive in a lot of aspects. I just wish they'd pay more attention to improving the conditions of universities here.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Dear World

Please shoot me.

Just kidding I don't want to die.

So as some of you may know I am back from my vacation home and now am in India. I guess I can't call it a vacation because we didn't get one. I just gave myself one. India is my inspiration for blogging and I've had just about one billion things to blog about. But I haven't because I've been having mini panic attacks and then one humungo panic attack. I'm so behind and everyone is smarter than me. :(

It's okay. I'm smart, too. I can and will catch up and beat everyone. and then I'll become a really good doctor and patients will be climbing over each other to see me. Well, angry pregnant women if I decide on obstetrics. It's not so bad, you know. I saw a C-section today. I almost cried. Because I was going to vomit. Oh and I almost fainted when I saw a delivery. I'm scared to have kids but I know that the pain is worth it. Just hook me up with the morphine. They also removed a huge fibroid out of a woman's uterus. I have pictures but I don't want to post it up because I don't want to make anyone vomit. If any of you are curious it looked like a huge rubber band ball the size of a baby's head or bigger covered in blood.

Anyways, back to where I was. Oh yeah, my panic attacks. So I told CC to kick me off the blog for a year so I don't get distracted but she refuses. I'm so touched she loves me. Not even my begging could get me off this blog. I'm bound to it until death do us part apparently.

PS - I called CC a cutie pie the other day and she didn't like it. I think we should all start calling her pet names. But she got really awkward and I don't think she could look me in the eye after that. Oh and we were out getting yummy bubble tea two days before I left and I said "well, if it tickles your fancy..." And she got really really uncomfortable. Is there anything wrong with that phrase? I thought it was humorous.

So I'm not supposed to be online and should have my nose in my book reading about arrhythmias which is so much fun, I promise. But a girl needs a break, too. So I made a deal with myself. I can blog but have to have comments turned off because it won't be fair because I can't comment on other people's blogs. I do visit religiously, thanks to feedburner, but commenting takes up a lot of time. So gone are my comments, but I'll be around. ;)

Please take my request of calling CC loving pet names seriously. I know deep down inside it tickles her fancy. haha!!!

Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake. I found a really good recipe. If you like texture then this is perfect. I got the recipe from Food Network. The batter was kind of liquidy and I was scared it wouldn't bake properly but it did beautifully. And you could see the shreds of carrots in there which i like because it makes it seem fresher. :) I didn't have all spice so I just doubled the amount of cinnamon and it still tasted really great. Click here for the recipe.



The above is my cake. It's two layers but doesn't look like it in the picture because I didn't put enough icing in the middle. So make sure you're generous with that. The next day I removed the top layer and threw in a lot of icing. haha. It was messy but looked better. And if I had waited a bit to ice the cake the presentation would be better but the family rushed me so they could eat it. Enjoy. :)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Ohhh It's what you did to heerrr...Ohh it's what you did to her.

My cousin is back..with a husband ...and pregnant.
Back?

Oh she left America a year ago to get married and is now back, with two months left of her pregnancy.

Nothing about her changed(physically) except for the very BIG and cute tummy.

So we were are the mall trying on clothes, and she asks me how she looks a shirt.
I reply, "...I mean.., you look like how a normal pregnant person does.."

"Is that good?"

"...Well you don't look AMAZING...but you like fine..."

"But I don't look amazing"

"..........I mean...you look like normal...um...pregnant person would....It doesn't look bad."

"Go get X (insert favorite hubby name)"

I trot over to the area where we left her husband and my brother. Only they weren't there anymore. Went outside, and saw husband walking toward me.
I guess I looked worried, cuz he started jogging toward me.

"D is looking for you"
"Is she not feeling well?"
"Oh no, she's fine"
"Oh"
And he slows down.

I take him over to the fitting rooms.

"D, X is here"

"Oh. Ok....X, do I look fat in this?
(Me: omg is she kidding me? How is he supposed to answer that??!)

"Huh?"

"Do I look fat in this shirt?"

"...Um...Yeah you do."
(Me: Dude just said WHAT?!)

(Me: Oh he's gonna get it)

"......Should I not get it then?"

"If you like it, then just get it"

"Ok I'm going to get it then"

"Ok good"

(Me: ...What just happened ???)

And then earlier during the day,

D and X are talking about Indian soap operas or movies or something, with the rest of my family.
X stops in the middle of the conversation, "Oh and D learned a song from one of the movies. And she sings it really well"

D: "Oh my god. Stop"

Me: "Er....?"

X: " No really. Sing it for them"

D: "Nooo"

Me: What the heck is going on?

X: "No sing it for them. She does it so well too. Go on sing it. You know the whole thing. You've sung it so many times before"

Me: Why is this scene so incredibly weird

And D starts saying the words of the song.. It's not really a singy-songy song. But it's like a nursery rhyme.
But I was still stuck on the conversation that happened before it...I still am.

And then he complimented her again and again..and I was like, "Oh my God just keep buttering her up!"

D laughs.
X replies, "You say I butter her up, her other cousins say "Whtoosh!"
Me: Whtoosh?
X: Yeah haha whtoosh!
D: Don't sayyy it
Me: Like a whip? As in whipped?
X: haha yeah!!

Me: This might be the first and only time I'll meet a guy who'll be so fine with joking around about that...

So yeah, he's not whipped; nothing close. It's almost like he's got my cousin whipped with his compliments and INCREDIBLY nice personality (mash'Allah* !!). Considering the fact that he married into the family, he acts nothing like an in-law.

NOTHING! He makes everyone feel so comfortable and at ease alhamdulillah **

I sit there wondering what he's done to my stubborn and don't-you-dare-touch-me, cousin of mine. She would never ever take kindly to her brother messing around with her by calling her fat, she would get uncomfortable when her mom hugged her, and had a low tolerance for people....

Seriously, what the hell happened to her?

-------
* mash'Allah~God has willed it. It It is used to show joy and praise. It is said upon hearing good news

** Alhamdulillah~Praise or thanks be to God

Saturday, June 13, 2009

There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling rain & remember it is enough to be taken care of by myself.

I've been giving this summer a whole lot of excuses for arriving late, and it still hasn't come yet. I kept saying its only May, it'll be all colorful and lively soon. And now its June, so far nothing.

The bushes outside our house are kind of sickly, which BY THE WAY, its an art of its own trying to give shape to plants. I give a lot of credit to gardeners, I tried my hand at it a few hours ago...it's like cutting your own hair. You have no idea when to stop and when you do, its too late. My mom was pretty sad all the pretty parts of her bushes were gone. Its ok, they'll grow back in right?

Its really annoying though, to be the neighbor that doesn't have that great of a landscape. In my old house, we had a neighbor right next to us whose backyard was an EYESORE. It was basically a mini farm with plants in every spot the sun could reach... and then some. That also meant it was a few square feet of land with tons of flies, moths (not butterflies... MOTHS---the ugly cousin lol), mosquitoes, etc...

Anyways, I chose to always look towards the right when I stepped into my backyard in the old house. Now I feel like we're that neighbor. But actually I'm exaggerating, we're not that bad and we don't have a farm in the backyard. My mom does have a few tomato plants but they're off to the side. I'm just talking about our bushes, they're so unkempt. It bothers me.

That really wasn't the point of this post. Its something else that I've been thinking about lately... Is it just me, or do we all tend to take more interest in people who just aren't that interested in us? I keep analyzing my relationships and I think that's very true for me. I tend to make more effort with some who don't return it. And in some ways I'm guilty of neglecting those who take more interest in me. But I've changed that over the past few months, so I feel better in that sense. There's just one thing that makes me feel better about relationships like that. Last year, I attended this Islamic retreat over a course of three days. The lecturers gave us different perspectives on everyday life, and this one lecture was about the Islamic outlook on relationships. And one of the things I learned and ALWAYS keep with me is how easier our lives would be if we just didn't EXPECT anything from anyone. If we just went about doing our thing for others but not expecting anything in return. Do some good for someone and if they do good back to you then you'll be pleasantly surprised, but if they don't then you didn't miss anything because you never expected it in the first place. Its a genius idea but in reality very hard to apply. That's not to say it shouldn't be attempted. I think this post is more of a reminder for myself to apply that harder. When you master it, it really truly leaves you with more peace of mind.

Anyways, I just wonder why this is the case. Is it true for you guys as well? How do you handle it?

P.S. This photo is from a year ago and if you look really hard you can see the garage-livers I talked about in this post. Hehe =).

Friday, June 12, 2009

An Interview

Wearing a dress out in public- A first

Planning out my outfit a week in advance and laying it out the night before- A definite first

Crying about my new, white, one inch heel shoes hurting me - Well I do it with most shoes other than my sneakers

Not being able to walk in my shoes- ...too many times to count

Feeling so femininely professional- A very, very WE ird feeling....so VERY WE ird

Having my day start out bad- Oh so common

Water bottle spilling all over my very important, and much needed papers, and my laptop, and books- I guess it happens, but damage to this extreme is a first.

Standing around in the bathroom covering everything with napkins- Little girl's mom staring at me, and then little girl coming out from bathroom stall to stare at me.

Tripping every 20 steps because of my shoes- Been there, done that

Having to use the stairs to walk up six flight of stairs in annoying shoes- Oh so annoying- Well maybe the elevator for my parking structure is working and I won't have to walk up 9 flight of stairs.

Having people tell me I look pretty- So unnerving. I might actually start throwing my shoes at them.

Having people tell me over and over again- Breathe, don't talk fast, and don't say unnecessary things- Priceless

There are some things that life throws at you, and then there are some things that life ONLY throws at YOU.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Back to Reality

So guess where I am?

INDIA. Or is it Indi-YEAAAAHHH. No. Let's keep it to India.

So as soon as I land my skin goes through a major transformation. From beautiful {ps - thank you, God, for my nice skin} to greasy in about 30 seconds.

Beofre immigration we had to get our ear temperature checked as screening for swine flu. Anyone who has a fever gets transported immediately to the hospital for quarantine. Fun stuff, I tell ya.

When I got home I found out my AC was broken. I'd say it's about 90 degrees. And my room faces the sun all day long. My room is the hottest room in the house. Luckily my multi-talented driver who I can no longer live without fixed it. I feel like giving him $300 for fun. If I had money to throw around like that I would.

Oh and I went to school today. Aww my first day back. My sister took a picture of me and everything. Class was cancelled. We went to rotations. then class again, which was cancelled. I basically sat around for 2 hours drenched in sweat.

Then I come to school to find out that I'm so so behind in studying. I'm freaking out kind of because this is the most important year in the world for me. Whatevs. Better start soon.

I am in slight jetlag and am trying to stay awake until at least 8 pm. Jetlag makes me super hungry. So I had pasta at 6 this morning. Popsicle. Bagel that my friend told me to eat or else her maid would be upset if she didn't eat. Bagels are a delicacy and not found here.

But I've had a great great day. Why?? Because I had a popsicle this morning on the way to school. :)

Why am I still here?? peace out.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Ka-Ching!




If someone told you that you had less than twenty-four hours to spend $100,000, would you get excited or stressed?


I would get excited. $100,000 to be spent in such a short amount of time equals SHOPPING SPREEEE.


Don’t get too excited.. Nothing like this would ever happen to yours truly.


My colleague, Ms. A, received an email today saying that she had a resource room budget for the school year 2009-2010 that was $100,000. She had to get her wish list together by tomorrow afternoon. Every single penny had to be spent and it could not be dispersed throughout the year nor could she use it in increments.


It was now or never.


So she was stressed out.


She had two catalogs with her and sticky noted every single thing that she wanted.

Every thing that was expensive was sticky noted. And anything that was less than $100 was not even looked at.


She was with the high rollers now.


With that being said, the resource room is now going to get four brand new computers for the kids and two new laptops for both teachers. Along with a bunch of games, resources, and hands on material for students.


It was quite funny to watch someone spend $100,000 in such a short period of time. Yeah, she was excited. Yeah, she couldn’t believe it. Yeah, it was awesome for the school to give her such a substantial amount. But it was overwhelming nonetheless. I saw her in the midst of it all, and asked how it was going.


Her reply, “I still have $20,000 to spend.”


We both busted out laughing.


It was just such a bizarre predicament.


She’s so lucky.


My budget, on the other hand, for 2009-2010 for my very own classroom: $500. And this has to be shared with my two other teammates.


Oh, I didn’t tell you?


I got a job offer as a first grade teacher! Alhamdullilah (All praise to God)

My very own, very first classroom.


The training wheels are off for me.


So, let the games begin.


(Please keep me in your prayers)


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Mrs. Cullen: is lazy

Dear Friends,

I am too lazy (and busy) to continue my story about my nephew. So, here is a picture that explains what happened in the end. 



Yours for the sake of Peace and Sisterhood,
Mrs. Cullen


Saturday, June 6, 2009

Fox Theatre


Fox Theatre, originally uploaded by Rabujee.

Never been inside but I think its supposed to be pretty grand.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Phlegm...

So I wake up today around 10 am (and yes this is early for me) with a stuffy nose, and phlegm-y throat. Lying there, I just wanted to hurl every insult I knew at my older brother who has had a cold for a week.

He seems to lack all awareness of proper hygiene, and apparently remembering to cover his mouth while coughing or sneezing, or making sure to stick with his one drinking glass is too much for him. Forget about the repeatedly washing your hands bit. No matter how much I would yell at him, NOTHING would register with him.

So I guess no surprise that I finally caught a cold from that walking, talking, germ spreading creature. Well, it was a bit of a surprise, since I don't really catch colds. Thus explaining my further annoyance with my him.

But I was good and I held it in. Just grumbled to myself, and rolled my eyes at nobody.

So there I am, at the bathroom sink, coughing and spitting up phlegm, every 5 seconds. I couldn't even brush my teeth properly, having to stop and spit out my mucus friends.

I don't remember the last time, I've been at the sink that long, just coughing crap out.

But here's the thing, somewhere between lifting my head up and retching like I had a hair ball, the third time around, I realized I was actually happy.

And not like a happy dance, kinda happy (which Amillionmilesfromeverywhere will demonstrate for me), but it was a grateful happy.

I was...am grateful for being able to cough up and spit out that phlegm. Alhumdulillah.

What the heck is wrong with me?
Plenty of things. But none that have anything to with me being grateful.

I volunteer at a children's hospital. And I meet all kinds of kids and parents.

Once I had a met a kid whose body could not break down the phlegm. I was with him, when the nurse or some other health care professional had come to interrupt our fun. I didn't know what was going on, and I'm not allowed to ask either.

As I looked at that ten year old (i think he was ten...) to say goodbye, he decided to explain to me that it was a session to help him cough up his phlegm, because his body needed help draining the mucus in his lungs.

I responded to him with an okay, not sure what else to say. Told him that maybe I'll come back and said goodbye.

That conversation had circulated in my head for about two minutes that day. Two minutes, because that's the amount of time it takes me to leave and enter the next patient's room. And then it's a whole new set of problems.


Then there was the girl I met yesterday. I didn't realize she was the same girl I had seen last week, until she told me her name. The thing was, I couldn't recognize her at all because last week she looked like a normal, healthy, really shy child. Yesterday ...well, other then her familiar eyes, I had trouble finding the same girl from last week. And once again she didn't talk much, but this time it wasn't because she was shy.

Saliva or mucus was constantly accumulating in her mouth. Constantly and at a very fast pace.

And she had a yellow bucket next to her, in which she would spit into every two minutes or so. And the once in a while she would respond to me with words, I could both see and hear the effects of the saliva or mucus filling up in her mouth.

So here I am, with working lungs, a chest that can break down and cough up my mucus, and a mouth that can handle the amount of liquid that is secreted into it. While for those 10 minutes I may have been spitting out my phlegm, I knew it was gonna get better. And even if it stayed the entire day, I knew it would be better by tomorrow Insh'Allah (God willing)

Since the time I had met that boy, the first kid I talked about, today was the only other time I had thought about him. I meet so many kids, in conditions that are much worse, it would be impossible for me to remember each kid.

But the thing is, I didn't even have to think about those kids to be grateful. It was when I was wondering why I was grateful for something so disgusting, that I remembered both those kids.

So yeah there I was coughing up phlegm and happy for being able to do it.

Did all this talk of phlegm gross you out? Haha Poor you.


P.S. Would you all stop congratulating F.U. (post below)for entering my room? It's like not it's some kind of a festival or something.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

MISSION:ACCOMPLISHED

Hi, world.

It's been a while. A long long while. Maybe because I'm busy enjoying life right now. I'll be back to normal in 5 days, hopefully. Well for you, not me. I'm leaving soon. So anyways, GUESS WHAT I SAW?

Remember how I didn't think Controlled Chaos would let me see her room? I finally did!!

I think she took my threat quite seriously about running up to her room when she's not there and taking a pic and posting it on the blog. And I was quite serious. So I was surprised at her lack or resistence. However, she did not let me more than 5 feet in.

HER ROOM IS SO MUCH FUN. lol. I liked it. I can't tell you how it looks because I'd like being alive. But I thought it was fun in the sun on the beach eating a peach. That kind of fun. haha. I just wanted to let you guys know that I have gone to the unknown and come out unscathed.
That I am alive and well.

And her cat is humungous. But I think all full grown cats are that big. I'm just used to seeing kittens and thinking they're big.

I want a cat! This one in perticular. She's still at the pet store waiting for a home . But my dad is allergic. The kitty is sitting in CC's lap. meowwwww. I did start meowing at the kitty, but she was so scared. awww cutie pie. I can't find my room. Sadly I am sitting in it. I am off to clean it.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Seriously?


The school year is almost done!

The students are excited and the teachers are anxious.

Since it's the end of the year, students are also returning all of their textbooks.

One student returned a Social Studies textbook that turned out to be the Teacher's edition.

He had it ALLL school year.

All 185 days.

He's probably getting an A+++++ in the class, right?

Wrong!

The kid is failing. He's getting a big, fat, F.

And he had the book! The Holy grail of textbooks.

Sigh.

That, my friends, is what you call el stupido.