October - that means Halloween is coming!!!!

First, I would like to appologize to all my readers *cough* for not posting for a very long time. I spent the whole month of September day fasting, praying and coming home only to sleep.

Work has been ok but 2 fairly recent slaps in the face have made me decide that it is finally time to look for something else. I am currently looking for jobs in translation (in Quebec or Ontario). I am also thinking of moving overseas next year (to the Gulf) to teach English and French. To tell you the truth, it all depends on what happens with Salem.

Today, I will be signing up for my first official Secret Pal swap - Secret Pal 13. I had a lot of fun organizing my own small Montreal Knits one (although there are some issues that are still unresolved 6 weeks after the final deadline). But I think ti was a nice experience and plan to host another Montreal Knits swap in the new year.

And now, for the best part of this month: HALLOWEEN! Yes, I know, I am a Muslim, not a Pagan, but Halloween is still one of my top 5 days in the year! I get to dress up, have an excuse to spend all day in costume and no one can call me a freak! Wooohoo!!! I really want to dress up like Medusa (even though Salem and his sister really don't want me to - they rather I dress like a disco queen or something else.... Yeah, riiiiiight!). I'll see, I might be going to a theme party where I have no choice but to dress up as somethign specific - ugh - in this case, a superhero - double ugh!

That's all for my current, quick update!

Ramadan Kareem / Mubarak!

Well everyone, I would like to wish all my fellow brothers and sisters Ramadan Kareem! Yes, I know, I am posting a day late, but distraction was the key to getting through day 1 of fasting! I kept myself busy with 4 loads of laundry, praying and then a 2 hour grocery shopping trip with Salem.

Dinner was oh so very yummy!!! We had kibbeh, fatteh, hummus, lentil and bean soup, stuffed zucchini in a yogourt sauce, amareddine and tamarind juice. Later on, we had some apple tea with cinnamon and some nuts.

The weekend was quite crazy. I had supper with Mom on Friday, bought some more scarves and some shoes. I discovered that Commensal is just too expensive for my taste. I've only been twice and sure you get to try new things but it's just too expensive!

Saturday, I mailed out my package to my spoilee and I hope it gets there on time but with the holiday... er... not looking too good. Sorry!

Then off I was to Oka beach with Salem, Lama and Lama's friend Noura. She's a very sweet girl. We enjoyed the water, sand, sun and food. We even stopped off at a roadside stand where I got corn, Lama got berries, caramel and sucre à la crème, Salem got some apples and Noura got drinks for everyone. As if all this wasn't enough, we even went out clubbing at Moomba later on. I only got home at 3:30 am - boy was I pooped!

Sunday was horseback riding with Lama and Noura. Everything was going great until Noura fell off her horse while galloping. She had a pretty bad fall but she's fine (thank God!). Once back in the city, I had a Labour Day barbecue to attend at Aunt Lise's. The food was good as per usual, but with every family reunion, it is more and more apparent that I have next to nothing in common with my family, namely my cousins. It does make me sad in a way, but not sad enough to make me change myself to be closer to them. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with their lifestyles and their decisions. Then again, they probably don't agree with some of my decisions.

I was most dissapointed when my cousin Katie and my godfather (my father's brother) left without saying goodbye to my father, his wife, Salem or me. I feel really bad for my dad. He always calls his brother for his birthday but his brother never calls him for his. Another uncle left without saying hello but chances are he was busy with one of hsi 3 grandkids. At least his wife said bye to everyone. This breaks my heart a bit... a bit for me, but mainly for my dad. :-(

This week will be a longer one... adjusting and all. But so far, so good! :-D Subhanallah!

Allahu Akbar

Well, I finally took the plunge and converted to Islam on Sunday. I even went to the mosque to do it.

Since then, I've been trying my best to pray 5 times a day (sometimes making it to 4, other days I get my 5 a day in). I am starting to remember some lines (keep in mind, this is all in Arabic). So far, the family is taking the news pretty well (Mom, Dad and Mary Ann). The friends who have found out seem ok with it too. So far, so good. The people in the community seem very kind too.

On to not so great things. I officially hated my job today, totally hated it. I have to do my full-time job as well as the secretary's full-time job. In past years that was fine but now I have to do things I had gotten crash courses on. There are also problems with some reports used to put things I need together. Anyway, I am just really hating on the department head right now. I almost walked into her office this morning (after her pulling crap on me twice) to tell her "you can take this job and shove it! Now you can enjoy replacing the secretary until she comes back from vacation!". GGGRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

And then knitting... well... Oh forget it.

I've just had an all over bad day and I just need to have a good cry now. I'll go pray and just leave it all in God's hands.

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.

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!

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.

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).