Monday, September 17, 2007

Slacking off!

Yes, yes, I know, I know!

I slacked off all weekend and didn't post! But I still kept my fast on!

Friday went went, broke my fast at the right time and took it easy most of the night.

The boyfriend came over around 9, I wanted ice cream so we set out for some home-made ice cream place about 20 minutes or so away (by highway). We got there only to see it was closed! Crap! We then drove to a Dairy Queen near a place where I lived a few years ago, along the waterfront. They were closed too! What the...?? We ended up driving all the way downtown and went for some fancy-pants chocolate crêpes. Yummy!

Saturday was good but my lingering cold was giving me a bit of a hard time. I slept in until 12 (went to bed at 3 am) and went grocery shopping at 4 or so. Cooked supper for about 2 hours because the man was coming over for supper. We broke our fast together (dates) and then proceded with supper: vegetable soup, veal meatballs in tomato sauce and roasted veggies. Yummy! Tried to watch a movie, it didn't work. Grrrr... So we watched Fight Club.

Sunday was another boring day, I did nothing. I saw no one and went out for about 10 minutes.

Today, working, up at 4:30 to break my fast. Found a cockroach in my bathroom (3rd one in about 3 months - what is this!) so that ruined my morning. I came into work very early and just prepped for the upcomming meeting.

So far, not hungry, I just want to sleep as I am sneezing a lot, my throat is scartchy and my left nostril is slightly blocked. Lovely! LOL!

Ok, that's enough for now.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Perhaps it's best to tell people what you are doing

I've given this title to my post because I have not yet told my mother about my decision to fast during Ramadan this year.

"Why?" one may ask. Well, so far, when it comes to me looking into another religion, Mom hasn't been all that receptive. Quite surprising to me because I always thought she was open-minded. But, considering our roots and how most people are, culture and religion are quite important (even to non-practicers). Even more surprising is the fact that my more conservative father basically told me that whatever religion I chose, it's ok, it's my choice, and not to worry about what people may say or how they may react. Wow. Anyway!

So back to the why I didn't tell my mother - she seems to be a little apprehensive about me looking into a religion other than the one we were born and raised into. Are we practicing Christians? Certainly not! The most practicing we do is celebrate Christmas and wish one another Happy Easter. Is there a single hint of religiousness in what we do during these two holidays? Nope! And it's very much like this in many North American households (or so I think).

I've decided not to tell her yet about the fasting. I somewhat regretted that last night as we decided to go shopping before having supper (a way for me to stall for time until I can break the fast). Well, we finally got to sit at a table 45 minutes after fasting time was up! Thankfully they brought some bread after another 10 minutes. I wasn't hungry (quite surprisingly) but I was really looking forward to eating. So I broke my fast around 8:10-8:15 pm. So just over 15 hours of fasting.

Needless to say, I wasn't able to finish my plate.

~ Today ~

4:30 - eat breakfast! Brush teeth, go back to bed!
I had the other half of the chocolate Boost thing from yesterday, a slice of bio multigrain toast with natural peanut butter and sugar free jam. And as a treat, a very small bowl of cinnamon-roll-cereal thing. I'm sorry, I have no clue what it's called or who makes this cereal, Mom has it at her place and I asked her if I could bring some home.

It was so hard to get up for good this morning - I just wanted to keep sleeping. I told myself that I'll sleep in tomorrow and Sunday. I hope it was just a fluke.

So far this morning, no hunger, no major thirst, not much sleepiness, just paranoia about still tasting last night's supper (damn you tsaziki sauce! damn you!).

Other than that, all is good!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

So far, so good

Well, I'm only a bit past the half mark in my first day of fasting and so far, so good!

Here's the low-down so far:

4:26 am - Wake up. Choke down a mug of Neo Citran, 1 slice of bio whole grain bread with natural peanut butter and sugar-free jam. 1/2 a serving of chocolate Boost (extra protein kind).

4:50 am Brush teeth, go back to bed and toss and turn until about 6 am.

7:30 am - Get up and the day starts here.

I went to my 2 classes, and I am super paranoid about my breath, but I warned people sitting around me and offered my sincere appologies for my horrid breath. I keep rinsing my mouth and brushing my teeth to help (not swallowing anything of course). I'm not hungry. No headache (although I do feel slightly light-headed). I'll just make sure not to run around too much at work today and try to stay calm tonight while out shopping with mom before I can break my fast at 7:14 pm.

Hunger encounterest to this point: next to none. Once in a while (about 2-3 times so far), I'll get a little feeling of movement in my system which threatens to perhaps turn into stomach growling, but it's gone in 2 minutes and that's it.

Why Neo Citran? My throat was scratchy yesterday and I kept sneezing. So I took some NyQuil before going to bed (this leads to very fitful sleep for me) and when I got up, I took some Neo Citran and 2 cold and sinus tablets.

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll update later.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

First impressions

Well, here I am again, trying to make another blog. If this blog lasts a month, then I will be happy.

Why am I creating this blog? Because perhaps someone out there is going through similar things I am going through, asking the same questions, feeling the same feelings.

Tomorrow morning will be day #1 of my fasting for my first every Ramadan. I am not a muslim though. I am simply doing this for many reasons (religious, spiritual, personal challenges, etc). I am hoping to be able to make it through this month and perhaps come out a better person.

This is a short post really, just an intro. I hope to post more as I go along, share my experiences with whomever might simply stumble upon this (or possibly no one will).