In the name of Allah, the Most Affectionate, the Most Merciful

10/25/10

Distracted

It's been really hard to focus on school lately.  I'm not even a senior yet and I feel like I've been inflicted with senioritis.

Actually, I've been hooked to YouTube and Facebook.  I swear, technology is such a distraction.  The administration at my high school doesn't realize that there are still ways to access these ever popular websites despite attempts to block them.  We have some pretty clever geeks at our school, if I may say so.  And really, are teachers that gullible that they don't know we're not using our phones in class to update our Facebook status or lament on how boring angular momentum is?

Truthfully, I don't even have Internet on my phone, which I guess is better that way.  Or else I would become robotic like Anum and respond the second after I recieved an email or message alert.  But, I can't deny I'm jealous about her iPhone.  Dear Lord, my friends are so spoiled and rich.  They don't even pity me sometimes.

I was very close to recieving detention in class today because Laila texted me while I was taking a quiz and being the forgetful person that I am, I had not switched my cell to silent. 

Mariyam was telling me that I need to be strategic about these kinds of things.  I have to punish myself, or distract myself so I don't become engrossed in them.  It's difficult, but I know I have to do something about it.  How can I wake up for Fajr after only falling asleep the hour before?

If I do use technology, which I must in this day and age, it should only be for a limited amount of time.  I am such a hypocrite--I become agonized when I find people at social gatherings glued to their phone instead of actually talking to the people around them.   And now with the iPad.  Apple really needs to stop it with their amazing inventions.

Oh where can I roam in this Earth so that I may be able to live without the forces of technology?  Where I can tell the time by the intensity of the sun rays, where can I breathe the desert air and splash nature's pure water on my skin?  Where can I put my forehead on the floor of the Earth and sing praises to my Lord?

Okay, I don't usually go to the whole poetic route.  But, this is pretty ironic because I am blogging, not using a stick to scratch letters on a rock or in the depths of sand. 

By the way, in the midst of my YouTube obsession, I did find an entertaining movie that really is cute.  Here's the description:

Katie and Ramsha are two strangers, two quite different young women, both attending the same University. Katie catches Ramsha in the most awkward of moments, but soon their relationship is defined more acutely by friendship. In this film, we witness inter

...and then it gets cut off, but basically awkward moments.  Foot in the sink, praying by the stairs anyone?  This is exactly what this is about.  Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Dlh5-OR70&feature=player_embedded#!



So, before I fail an exam and my parents freak out about, and because I really do need to shut off the computer before I spend another five hours on the computer, I really must take your leave now.

Sincerely hoping that you too recieve a dose curing technologitis :)
American Muslim Girl

10/8/10

Sick of It!

Ah, the joy of finally being able to do things again.  I've been quite sick, hence the long time period since my last post.

The weather is making me extremely angry.  One day, I find myself walking in beautiful sunshine and the very next in bursting cold wind.  These rapid changes are what I was assuming to be the cause of my sickness.  But, actually, it really was Humza who made all of us ill.

I think he passed along some germs from one of his nerdy classmates who decided to come to school instead of staying home.  And once one person in the family gets sick, you know what happens, right?   Well, lemme tell you anyway.

Ammi had made us pear juice (freakishly healthy, right?) and had left the jug in the refrigerator.  One day, I came home from school and poured myself a drink because it was 70 degrees outside.

Before I can even take a sip, someone rang the doorbell.  I hurried to answer because the sound of our door bell is extremely annoying.  It's almost like the sound of the fire alarm, screeching and whiny.  Either Abu purchased some really strange bell because it was cheap or he installed it completely wrong. Both are equally likely.

It ends up being Nabeelah to give us a box of sweets.

"Ooh, what's the special occasion?" I teased.

Nabeelah rolled her eyes.  "It's not what you're thinking.  My sister had a baby boy."

"Oh yea!" I squealed in delight, remembering Ammi telling me earlier in the week.  Nabeelah was in a hurry because she had madrasa exams so I had to bid her farewell.

When I returned to the kitchen, I was in a dilemma of choosing the sweets or the pear juice.  On the one hand, no one was around so I could have my share of the sweets before Abu and Humza devoured it, or before Ammi snatched it from us because it was unhealthy.

I decided to go with the pear juice because I was more thirsty than hungry.  And I always felt guilty about having dessert before a meal.

It probably would have been a better choice to go with the sweets though.  The next day, when I woke up with a sore throat, I was adamant in finding the cause of it.  I had a busy day ahead of me and I was angry at my immune system for failing me.

Humza decided to tell me that night that he had a sip of my pear juice while I had gone to answer the door bell.  I thought he wasn't even in the house, because it was such a gorgeous day out and there was no noise to indicate he was present.  But, I forgot that he was sick with a cold and unlike his normal self, he had had quietly slunk away in his bed.

Anyway, when I found out, I was furious.  I pushed Humza with my right shoulder while he was returning to his room after dinner.

"Stop it," he yelled, shoving me back.  I almost lost my balance, suddenly realizing that he was getting stronger. 

"What happened?" Ammi called out from the kitchen.  I glared at Humza, who had already turned away from me to open his bedroom door.  I grabbed the top of his T-shirt, pulling him from behind.

"Owww," he whined, trying to release himself.  Ammi came rushing, which wasn't a surprise.  I swear Humza is such a spoiled brat.

"What are you two doing?" she scolded us, clearly exasperated.  "I'm sick of you two fighting.  And I'm not feeling good either, and I'd like some peace in this--"

"Well, it's his fault that we're all getting sick," I interrupted, folding my arms across my chest.

"Iman, don't interrupt me and this isn't the first time you've had a cold so quit it."

I rolled my eyes. Of course, she would favor Humza.  I stomped out of the hallway and returned to my bedroom.

The bed was covered with my favorite shade of soft green, a floral pattern mixed in with light blue.  It called to me and I wanted to sleep.

But I had a trigonometry test the next day to study for and I needed to at least look over the material.  I'm not usually the kind to stress, but suddenly the equations I was practicing became too complicated and jumbled.

Ammi came in about an hour later with a glass of boiling water mixed in with honey and lemon.

"Drink this," she ordered.

I shook my head in protest, but she didn't budge.  "It's going to burn my mouth!" I insisted, fearfully eying the drink.  She set the glass on my dresser and I knew I had to drink it.  NyQuil was out of the question.

I ended up taking the next day off.  My head throbbed and my sore throat had disappeared in exchange for a runny nose and a slight cough.  I was alone in the house, and yet I couldn't relax because of the noise caused by the remodeling of the house across the street.

were r u?? still sick? Laila texted me around midafternoon.  I had given up studying for the math test and was waiting for the chicken soup to warm up in the microwave.

yea. im going to kill humza! dont finish ur painting w/o me!   I really wished that I could have spent this day off from school another way--say, shopping?  Or, even sleeping in and watching movies.  But I felt restless and couldn't sleep.

Right before Humza was to return from school, I finally fell asleep and didn't wake up until dinner.  Fortunately, I was feeling much better.  Ammi's home remedy had worked. 

But now it was Ammi's face that looked pale and tired.  This was a never-ending cycle and I was so relieved to step out of the house the next day.  I felt unhealthy just staying inside and away from the fresh air.

"How did you trig test go?" Farah asked me during lunch. She was wearing a lavender hijab with a beautiful black abayya trimmed with sparse gems on the sleeves.

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess."  I certainly didn't care at this point because it was already over.  I was just happy I got a make-up during study period and not during lunch.

"You should see my painting so far!" Laila said, "Mr. Hesser complimented on it!"

I rolled my eyes at her. She found our art teacher to be attractive, and though I could see that, his age definitely ruled out any fantasy of him for me.

"I thought you were infatuated with Asad," I reminded her.  I was puzzled at how some girls like Laila had multiple crushes. It was hard sometimes to just focus on one.

She fluttered her long eyelashes at me.  "Habibti, who said I wasn't?"

I opened my mouth.  Farah met my glance and smiled.  "I hope you're not flirting like that with him," she warned, "because you look pretty hot when you do that."

Laila giggled.  "I sit diagonally from him in French.  It's such a perfect view."

"Why, does he look good from the side too?" I asked.

"Actually, his noise does look kind of big from the side," Laila said, who tilted her head to take a good look at Asad who sat several lunch tables away.  I was too tired to move my head and follow her gaze.

I couldn't rest when I got home.  Ammi had to go to the doctor because it seemed like she had a virus.

"No, I'm feeling fine," she insisted, but Abu wouldn't buy it.

"That's what you said last time when you got a strep throat.  I'm not listening to you this time."  Abu had a pretty persuasive argument.

"I'll go grab some pizza," I volunteered, knowing the traffic at this time of the day would be too much to both visit the doctor and get dinner.

There was a pizza diner just several blocks away from our house.  It was pretty small but it was cozy and warm.  I realized there were not many sunny days left and I should take advantage of the few that remained.  I took out my bicycle, which was getting kind of small for me, while Abu and Ammi headed out for the clinic.

"Abu, I think it's your turn now to get sick.  Better watch out," I warned later that evening.  I sat at the dining table with my homework, Humza next to me and Abu across from me eating pizza.  Ammi had gone to sleep early, which was unusual for her but the medicine was making her drowsy.

"Hey, I'm strong," he said, his mouth full.

"Is this correct?" Humza asked, shifting his notebook towards me.  He didn't explicitly want to say, "Can you help me?"

"You should ask Dad you know. He's the math expert."  It was true.  What do you expect from an accountant?

Abu looked at me.  "Expert, huh?  That's a nice way of putting it.  Usually, it's the boring accountant guy."

"You can be a little boring sometimes."  I had to agree, but then again I was a girl and most girls find some things boring that guys find interesting.

"And you and your mom?  Crazy about shopping.  Never think about saving."

"Abu, you are very stingy."

"Yea, we didn't get much Eidie this year," Humza pointed out.  He was correct, for once.

"Well, this year isn't over yet.  And Eid is coming up next month Dad.  Hint hint."

"Ahh.  You kids are too much.  You don't think $100 is good enough for Eidie?"

"Uh...no," Humza and I said together.  We look at each other and laugh and then quiet down because we don't want Ammi to wake up.

Abu shook his head and then left us to do our homework.  My homework wasn't usually finished until I checked Humza's.  His scrawny writing made the task much harder.

Anyway, there was so much more that happened, but the important thing is that we're alive and well now.  I hope winter doesn't bring this repetitive cycle of sickness again, because frankly, I'm sick of it!

Before I bid farewell, let's have Dreamer give you an update :)

Hey everyone!  I wanted to apologize foremost for not being able to write a post in three weeks.  Believe me, it has been killing me inside.  Neglecting writing is one thing, but neglecting a blog which people actually read is another thing.  My schedule of classes has left me insane!  I am not used to such big gaps between my classes and I get hardly any work done at school.  And as you might have anticipated from the theme in this post, I was sick too--for over a week, but alhamdulillah I am feeling much better now.  That being said, I will try and post at least every two weeks now.  Thank you for being patient!  

Well, folks, I guess it's time to call it a day then!
American Muslim Girl