que sera sera

How it was...

2008-05-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

graduate student housing college station tx

All that Glitters is not Gold...sometimes its shoes

2008-03-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

2008-01-13T00:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the short detail…In April 2007, my husband and I came to Qatar for a 4-day recruitment interview for a job, leaving the kids with my sisters in the US. On our way back, at Houston Airport, we were denied entry and our visas were revoked. Why, how, no one knows and it is still a mystry to us. We were in status, our papers were complete but as my sis-in-law says they did not like the color combination of the clothes we were wearing so they decided we should not be allowed to re-enter. Anyway, the homeland security people decided to deport us back home without our kids. Only 15 minutes before the departure of the flight back home they decided to give me a months time to get the kids and then leave for home. My husband went back and I went to CS. Disposed off all the stuff in a week and took the kids and came back to Pakistan in less then 2 weeks.

My husband got the job and we moved to Qatar in July 2007. We had to come here by August anyway, but the homeland security people pushed us to come here early. It seems so easy to write it all now but at that time it was worse then a nightmare. And we found out later that we are not the only ones who had to face this, there are thousands of people being detained and deported without any reason. Because of all this my husband's Phd got delayed. He was to defend in the Summer of '07 and thanks to the homeland security it will now be later this year inshallah.

I am extremely grateful to my family and friends in the US and ofcourse to my husband's freinds at the university, who were there with me during that horrible time.

test post

2008-01-12T09:22:00.001-08:00

hello there!

I'M ALIVE :) and so is my blog ;)

2008-01-10T07:05:00.000-08:00

Hello from Islamabad

2007-04-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

Details later

A Monster in our House

2007-03-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

My 4 yr old drew this a few days back and told me that she saw this monster in the window of her bedroom.

Visual DNA

2007-03-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

I found this at Truth and Beauty It was really fun doing it.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Window

2007-03-12T01:16:00.000-07:00

I did this pencil sketch from a photograph by Leandra Machado

Desi Restaurant in CS - A Major Disappointment!!!

2007-03-11T03:43:00.000-07:00

A few months back a friend of mine gave me the news that a Desi (Pakistani/Halal) restaurant is opening in CS. We all got so excited and started counting the days. This restaurant was going to be the first one in our area. We used to go to Houston or Austin to eat when we didn’t feel like cooking at home and when we got tired of eating pizzas and Mexican food. It felt good that we will no longer have to drive a 100 miles to have decent food but, little did we know.

After waiting for about 2 months or more the restaurant finally opened and I guess we were one of the first few customers. The first time they kept us waiting for more than an hour for our order but the food was good. The second time it was ok and the third time we couldn’t even eat it and had to throw it all away. It was a take-out and maybe they thought we’d not be able to complain about the food once we reach home. Well, we did not complain but we won’t be going there ever again, its better to drive a 100 miles than eat at this place.

One thing which I just don’t understand is that the desi restaurants do not maintain their quality. It could be the same with other restaurants too but it is a very prominent feature of all the desi restaurants especially in Houston. You go there once and have great food, you go again and order the same thing but it won’t be the same. I have finally decided that we will have the desi food at home and when we feel like eating out we would go to our all time favorite Persian and Mediterranean restaurants only. The ones we normally go to, have always maintained the standard and we have always enjoyed eating there. For those in the Houston area Kababi Darband and Ranosh are highly recommended.

Cousins II

2007-03-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

Open Sesame

2007-03-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"

I made this one from a photograph downloaded from the flikr blog of a professional photographer but can't remember or find which one. My hunch is it another one of the masterpieces from Jawad Zakaria but am not sure.

Cousins

2007-02-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

Chicken Tikka

2007-02-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

Positive Parenting

2007-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

I had a very interesting exchange of comments with some 'jammie' and you can see it here . I wanted to share it with all of you and see what you people have to say about it. I usually avoid political discussions and I created this blog to share my photographs, paintings and some interesting episodes from my day to day life. However I am interested in knowing your views on the limits of parenting. My own views are clear on this topic from the comments on that post.

Carpenter Ants

2007-02-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

I took dozens of pictures when i went to Pakistan last year. I could not access my blog from there and therefore could not share any of the pictures. Here is one taken in Capital Park aka Fatima Jinnah Park Islamabad. The kids were distracted by these carpenter ants. They stopped playing and observed these ants for quite a while.

Gardening

2007-02-02T00:56:00.000-08:00

Our back yard was in pretty bad shape when we moved to this apartment. It looked like a dirt field. The girls and I worked so hard everyday, raked leaves, made borders and planted flowers and grass. The winter stayed longer than usual this year. It rains every other day (which I am starting to hate) I had a feeling that the plants must’ve been destroyed but despite all the freezing rain and cold weather the grass blades have started to shoot. They look so beautiful, and I feel so happy to watch’em grow. The flowers will take some time, I think.

I had never done gardening before and knew nothing about it until now. I enjoyed doing it but also realized how tough a job it is. I thought about all the maalis (gardeners) we had when we were back home. It made me feel a little depressed that they work so hard and get paid so little. When we move back to Pakistan someday I will make sure that I pay our maali what he deserves. I have so much respect for all the hard work they do to make our lawns, gardens, and backyards look beautiful.

Blue

2007-01-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas

2007-01-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

I am going to make a new blog only for my paintings.

and one more

2007-01-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

9"x12" oil on canvas board

I still feel that i need to do some final touches to both the paintings but am not in a mood....have one more unfinished of Rohtas Fort in oil. Only God knows when i will finish it. Will be starting a new one tomorrow, a new painting every saturday ;). I'm enjoying working with my new instructor. You can see some of his work here.

Here it is...

2007-01-26T00:53:00.000-08:00

16"x20" oil on canvas

The Latest...

2007-01-20T02:43:00.000-08:00

I have switched to oil painting for some time. Had my first class last Saturday, and enjoyed it a lot. I could not finish the painting I started that day and started another small one at home which is also not finished yet. Have another one of the Badshahi Masjid in water colors which needs some work done.

I am very tired and practically brain dead…so much work to do, so many over due dinners that I have to plan. My daughters birthday is on the 22nd and I have not planned anything for that either. She has been waiting for a birthday party since long. There is so much going on in the last couple of days, so many things changed and so many important decisions to make and right now everything is getting on my nerves. It’s almost 5:00 am and I have to get up early for my class so better go now. Will inshAllah post my new work soon (if I finish it sometime soon)

Winter in CS

2007-01-17T00:50:00.000-08:00

A little cold finally. Normally, we do not have cold weather for more than a few days here in College Station. A year before last we had some freezing rain just for a day but this time the cold stayed a bit longer. Since we are not used to this much cold, freezing rain, wintry mix or snow, we all get very excited when we get any. My little one was so excited today that she sent me out to get those icicles twice so she could see them melt in her hands. She also wanted to make a snowman out of this:

blazing sky

2007-01-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

water colors
140 lbs
cold press

note: This painting is inspired by a photograph from J.Zakariya. He is an amazing photographer. You can see more of his work here.

Expelled from school for tearing a page

2007-01-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

Hadia (my older daughter) was doing her Math homework and Amani (the younger one) as usual trying to get her attention stepped on her math book unintentionally tearing a page. Hadia, who is a stickler for rules, got so upset that she cried non stop for 3 hours. Even though I have repaired the page and tried to convince her that it was just an accident and her teachers will understand. But Hadia is adamant that she will be expelled from school for damaging a school book. Finally, I wrote an email to her teacher but I guess she is still not comfortable (talking in her sleep constantly) about it and will give me a hard time while going to school tomorrow. Lets see how she behaves when she comes back from school.

Badshai masjid - Lahore

2007-01-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

water colors
140 lbs
coldpress

A few more drawings from my sketch book

2007-01-06T01:02:00.000-08:00

our living room

pen and ink
(the tv is turned towards the dining)

our backyard

pen and ink

scribbling

pen and ink

fall leaf

pen and ink

a fall leaf

charcoal

giddy
blue pen

Amani's sandals

pencil

A Dream

2007-01-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

pencil
from my sketch diary

Spirits so Strong

2007-01-05T02:18:00.000-08:00

oil pastels

Eid Mubarak!

2006-12-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

RED II

2006-12-29T03:06:00.000-08:00

It is 5:10 AM and I just finished this painting. It is still wet. The hydrant is right outside our apartment. This is second in a series of Reds. You can see the first one here and I plan to do one more. But first I will finish the ones I have already started and for that I will have to stay up all night again as my little one does'nt let me work. She takes all my brusehs and starts her own paintings. Even though she has her own paints and brushes but she insists on using mine saying, 'I have to show my work to my teacher'.

I turned...

2006-12-23T00:16:00.000-08:00

...yesterday.

6 weird things about you...

2006-12-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by Wayfarer
You have to post six weird things about yourself and then tag six people.

1. I have to have something sweet for my breakfast everyday and something sweet after every meal. I have my tea almost sugarless but I must have something sweet with it or I can not drink it. I started drinking tea after I got married.

2. I talk to Allah. In my head when I am thinking and working I am always talking to him. Before going to sleep If I ask him to wake me up at 6 am I wake up at exact 6 am without any alarm clock. The days I don't ask him I do not get up without an alarm.

3. I do a lot of silly and clumsy things and then be embarrassed for days. For example a few months back, in a grocery store I was talking to my husband looking for something and did not realize when he moved to the end of the aisle and someone else came and stood there looking for something. I saw the cart and without looking at him I slapped him on his hand saying "Hasan this is not our cart, You took someone else's cart". When I looked at the face I realized what I had done. That poor man stood there in shock. I said sorry to him and quietly stepped away...and then I saw my husband at the end of the aisle looking at me and laughing.

4. I love to watch fairy tale movies.

5. I am active and organized if I have a deadline otherwise I am a lazy bum.

6. I feel every object has a personality and an expression. Like all cars have a face, some have a smiley face and some frown at you. The television we have seems like a happy fat woman to me...so on and so forth.

I tag Aya, I, Zak, Freaks Corner, Ayesha, Reza, Living Away

Seven Things

2006-12-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

Aya tagged me

Seven Things I want to do:
1) do my MFA.
2) lose weight and keep it.
3) donate money to children’s hospital in Pakistan.
4) volunteer to work in PICU (pediatric intensive care unit)
5) be a good human being.
6) to be more organized.
7) travel around the world esp. Egypt, Greece and Italy

Seven Things I can do:
1) dance
2) art (paint, draw, sketch)
3) fix things in the house.
4) Roller Skate
5) cry
6) fix my clothes
7) cut hair

Seven Things I can’t do:
1) resist desserts
2) lie
3) can not hide my feelings and emotions (my feelings and emotions are easily read on my face...which is embarrassing sometimes)
4) sing
5) read a book no matter how interesting….
6) tell a storey or listen to one.
7) swim

Seven things I say the most:
1) ok
2) accha
3) hein?
4) kia?
5) chalo koi baat nahein
6) hmmm
7) pata nahein

Seven Things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1) honesty
2) modesty
3) good sense of humor
4) strong personality
5) wisdom
6) education
7) good heart

Seven Celebrity Crushes:
none

I am 28% Control Freak

2006-12-09T23:33:00.000-08:00

You Are 28% Control Freak

You have achieved the perfect balance of control and letting go.
You tend to roll with whatever life brings, but you never get complacent.

Are You A Control Freak?

Homeward bound

2006-12-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Water colors
140 lbs cold press water color paper
11"x13"

After 4 yrs in US

2006-11-29T03:03:00.000-08:00

A few days back someone asked me what is it that I like about this country (the US). I thought and thought and thought...for about 5 minutes and said with uncertainty in my voice "my daughter's school" and that is all I could think of. That person kept looking at me in surprise and it was kind of embarrassing. I came home and asked my husband the same question. He said he likes his school. So that says it all....we came here for my husbands PHD. He is now working on his dissertation. I am working on my portfolio to start my MFA. Lets see if I do it here or we go back home and I do it at NCA. Everything is so uncertain right now... and the curiosity of what will happen is killing this fat cat!.

Red

2006-11-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Water Colors

140 lbs cold press 12"x14"

In the Park...

2006-11-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

the bright sun

my shadow

enjoying the sun

some pretty flowers

so much fun

reading

the slide is no fun

playing with dirt is fun

oh! so much fun

some spicy and some not so spicy drumsticks

and some kabab

and cookies

we played...

and played...

till we got tired...

and it was dark...and time to go home

My Card

2006-11-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

Saw this at I, zak. And my card is:

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Raising Mom

2006-11-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

My little one is playing MOM these days. She makes and tells me stories about when I was little and she was older how she fed me, helped me get ready and do all the other stuff! She keeps telling me that she is now a grown up and can do most of the stuff on her own. She’d bake cakes and make cookies for us out of play dough and will make sure that we finish all of it!!!

One thing that I love about her is that she has a heart of gold. If I get angry at her for some reason she’d cry and make it a point to make up with me first, hug me and then tell me that I must not get angry at her because she is a grown up now.

2006-11-05T02:04:00.000-08:00

I will resume my painting class this thursday inshallah. I did not go all ramzan and then my daughter had a surgery so got busy there. She is fully recovered now and has started school after a 2 week break.

This painting
will be on display at the Brazos Valley Art Center for the month of November.

I Love You, Stinky Face

2006-11-04T00:53:00.000-08:00

A bed time favorite

This book is about an inquisitive child and a mother's unconditional love for her child. How a mother's love remains constant even if her child were a stinky skunk, scary ape, a bug-eating green alien or a meat eating dinosaur. My almost 4 yr old insists on making me read this book every night. I recommend this book to all mothers. Its so cute.

My Daughter's Art Work

2006-10-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarik!

2006-10-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

Field of Gold

2006-09-25T00:25:00.000-07:00

Ramadan Mubarak

2006-09-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Man has reached the moon but the mullahs still can't see it!

Flowers in Water colors

2006-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Magnolia

15x22 140 lbs cold press water color paper

White Lilies

15x22 140 lbs cold press water color paper

Re-gifting

2006-09-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Read very interesting posts about re-gifting on Wayfarer's and Aisha's blog. My husband and I spent weeks in getting a gift for someone. We both love to give gifts and I enjoy to wrap them beautifully. We have some friends whom you could call “nashukray”. There are so many stories about this nashukri episode but I will tell you the most recent experience. I bought a very pretty baby dress and a stuffed toy for this friend's new baby girl and bought a baseball practice set for their 4 yr old son so that he does not feel ignored. When that friend opened the gift instead of saying thank you or that she liked the gift, she goes you know my daughter got so many dresses that I don’t have space for them in the closet. And she kept saying the same thing again and again in different ways. I could feel my cheeks go red and smoke coming out my ears. To annoy me more she says to her son who was opening his gift ..."Oh! Please don’t open it you might hurt someone…keep it for Pakistan." (keep it we will gift it to someone in Pakistan) They were to leave for Pakistan in 2 weeks time. I just sat there looking at her thinking why the hell I wasted so much money and time on them.

Last Week...

2006-09-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

Practicing glass and light effect in water colors

Snow Scene in Water Colors

Land Scape in Water colors

Still life in acrylics

Still Life in water colors

Art Classes

2006-08-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

I joined painting classes here at the Brazos Valley Arts Center and had my first class yesterday. I am absoloutely thrilled to start working again finally and to learn new and different techiques. I am going to post all of the work that I do in the class and at home. Here are the first two peices.

"The Red Dragonfly"
Water Colors
11"X 15"
90lb. cold press water color paper

Water Colors
yupo paper
10"X 13"

This is the work from my first class. The instructor, who is a practicing local artist (Barb Starner), showed different effects of water colors on different materials like the water color canvas, clay board, yupo paper and cold press water color paper. This one is done on yupo paper which is kind of glossy and it is very difficult to control the spread of colors. I had to be very bold while doing this one especially as I painted directly on paper...I mean no pencil drawing. It turned out good but I feel that I can still do a few final touches.

Constructive criticism is welcome.

My Hand

2006-08-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

17 years ago!

2006-08-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

college chawkidar-Rehmat

A class fellow

A still Life

Another still life

Life drawing

Still life

Mango Treat...

2006-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Mehndi

2006-08-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

The first wedding invitation since we came to the US.

We went to a mehndi yesterday. The time was 6:30 and we reached there around 6:40, thinking we were late, as it happens we were the first to be there - by first I mean even before the hosts! I guess when going to a pakistani function we should observe the time difference between pakistan and here, for desis time doesn't matter they go by the date instead!

Margalla Hills

2006-08-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

I am back...

2006-08-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Islamabad!

2006-05-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

Sunset

2006-04-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

The River

2006-04-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

hmmm yummy mangoes...

2006-04-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I wrote anything on my blog. I guess I am too excited to write anything. The reason for this excitement is that I am going home soon. I just can’t wait to roam on the roads of good old Isloo (Islamabad). I can’t wait to eat the yummy mangoes and very sweet grapes and of course all the delicious veggies. I just hate the taste of the veggies here.

some new pictures

2006-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

San Antonio TX

Fire

2006-04-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Bily Joel

Spring Fling and the Princess

2006-04-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

It was the Spring Fling at my daughters’ school today. The girls enjoyed a lot but got very tired because after the fling we took them for shopping. My little one, as she was tired and sleepy, gave us tough time while shopping. She wanted to buy a dress and refused to sit in the cart. I gave her the dress she wanted so that she’d sit in the cart properly. I thought I’d leave the dress at the cash counter but you know you can’t fool this clever little girl. She just wouldn’t trust us and kept holding the dress till the end. I kept her away from the cash counter when my husband was paying and she thought that she got her new dress. She slept on the way back and slept for another 30 minutes at home. When she got up her first question was…where is my new princess dress?

She is in 'princess phase' these days i.e. believes she is a princess and that she should wear a glittery, swirlable dress all the time, even when she is sleeping. I hope this phase ends soon as I am fed up of changing her ten times a day. Changing ten times because she wants her dress to swirl when she twirls and not all of her dresses swirl when she twirls (she calls it the princess dance). What is more when she is the princess instead of treating me as a princess mother she thinks of me and everyone else as the princess maid!!!

My elder daughter had a white cotton dress which she wore only once. I liked that dress a lot and kept it safe for Amani to wear. It is size 4 and I thought it should fit her this summer, so I took it out and made the mistake of letting her try it on. She wore it and didn’t want to take it off and spilled some diet Fanta on it. I washed it immediately but the orange color did not go away (I am wondering what this diet Fanta is made up of!). So I washed it again but no luck, then I added some bleach and washed it for the third time, it helped a little. But the very next day she wanted to wear it again. She slept in that dress last night and today when I was getting her dressed for the spring fling she wanted to go in the same white dress which is not white anymore (thanks to punch flavor Gatorade this time! ) and now I will just wash it once and get it dyed :(

At the Spring Fling: enjoying kicking while baji standing at the back too shy to play

We got our hair sprayed baji got all blue and...

...I got red and purple

Treasure Hunt

we both found spider rings in the hunt baji did not want hers so i got both
oh! no, I did not hurt my fingers...I just love to wear bandages

and look who else was enjoying spring fling

New Blog

2006-03-31T01:39:00.000-08:00

Check out the new blog I created for my kids drawings. I will try to post my own work there as well i.e. IF I am able to finish the ones I have started :)
Through the Looking Glass

Hadia's art work

2006-03-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

I promised to post some art work by my almost 9 yr old. Here are a few of her works which her teacher believes are good and I personally think that she does much better then this.

The first one is me, she drew it last year on mothers day. Second is probably herself. Third one is also last years selected art work from school and the fourth one is this years art work from school. The last one is my favorite. It's just part of the painting I could not get the full image as it is too big for my scanner.

Dried Cranberries

2006-03-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Glow in the dark

2006-03-18T00:29:00.000-08:00

Still Life

2006-03-15T00:51:00.000-08:00

This is the only painting I did since we came to the US. Its a remake from a book. Am working on another...(my own original work)....trying to build up my portfolio...once again...will try to post my new work too.

RDG loves DEK in 1980!

2006-03-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Walking with baba...

2006-03-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

Kemah Boardwalk

Aviator

2006-03-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Getting old....

2006-03-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

Chai...

2006-02-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

HELL ... !!!

2006-02-09T23:58:00.000-08:00

I usually delete forwarded messages, but just read this one sent to my husband from his brother and it is simply hilarious.. couldn't help but share.. enjoy!

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington engineering mid-term. The answer was so "profound" that the Professor shared it with colleagues, and the sharing obviously hasn't ceased..

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or Endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote Proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let us look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as
they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze."

This student received the only A.

Reality Bites!

2006-02-03T01:33:00.000-08:00

I closed my eyes and tapped my ruby slippers “there’s no place like home” and when I opened my eyes I was still here.

Hmm...What should I do next???

2006-01-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

New Address…New School and the New School Bus!!!

2006-01-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

We moved to this apartment on the 13th and I still have a few boxes to open....I cant tell what is in those boxes right now...nothing that important I guess....one thing that I need and still cant find is the alarm clock! So since so many days I wake up with the alarm on my cell which is so loud that I just feel like throwing it away when it starts and then it goes on a snooze and beeps after every five minutes. Khair, have to open the boxes tomorrow for sure.

As I said earlier it’s been about 14 days that we moved here...we already had some guests on the weekend. There were some friends who came from Austin who are planning to move to college station (don’t know why they want to leave such a nice place for this stupid one). The other guest was my daughter’s best friend from old school whom she misses a lot.

I forgot to mention that Hadia had to change school when we moved to this apartment, something that came as a surprise as our zip code remained the same. Her school revealed that College Station ISD did rezoning last year. Anyway, when we found out that she'd have to change schools I guess I was more disturbed then she herself. She had mixed feelings of excitement and confusion. So we picked her up from her previous school on the 17th and got her transfer letter and went to the new school. We met the new school principal, school nurse and also the new class teacher, who seemed very nice. We also took a round of the school. And I am so glad that she found some of her old friends who were with her in the old school last year. We got the bus information and came back home. She could not sleep the whole night due to anxiety and excitement, neither could I, (my husband still can’t understand why I was so concerned… to him it is a normal thing which doesn’t merit loss of sleep!!!).

Anyways we went out the bus and because it was the first day I was more particular and took her to the bus stop 10 minutes earlier than usual. It was pretty cold and we waited and waited and waited…. there was no sign of the bus anywhere! After about 30 – 40 minutes we came back inside and I asked Hassan to go drop her and talk to the transport office. He talked to them and told me that they were not informed about it. How could it be the office secretary had called them and informed them while we were there for the admission, plus she gave us all the numbers and stuff which they usually give to the parents. Anyway, I was pretty restless all day and kept waiting for the clock to turn 3. I went out side around 3:20. Waited and waited and finally saw the bus coming around 3:45 pm and it stopped on about 5-6 minutes walk from our apartment block. I thought it must be some other kids that they r dropping there but wait a minute it was Hadia who got off the bus she crossed the street and went towards the apartments. I called her but she did not see me and she was too far away to hear me calling her.…..my heart just stopped for a minute I tried to call her again but she was too far away. So I started running towards her I was holding my 3 year old whose total attention was focused on getting out of my grip and be in the middle of the busy road. But I asked her call Hadia’s name loud so she could hear us and did not panic because of not finding the apartment or me. I could not see her as she had gone in side the apartments where she was dropped. I kept running and amani kept calling her when finally I heard her crying and I saw her looking at the apartment doors to find our apartment. By now my legs were shaking badly but I tried to keep calm because I know if I lose my cool then Hadia just won’t go to the school ever again. So I just tried to talk to her and told her that it was the first day and there might have been some misunderstanding. When we got back home Hassan had already called school. He had seen me running and came out to see what had happened. So he gave them a piece of his mind and they apologized. I hope it never happens again. It was too irresponsible of them to behave like this. Now it’s been a week that she is going to this school. She likes her new teacher and is making new friends too. She now also knows the new address and phone number by heart. I have told her to remember that we live right opposite to the McDonalds!

My little one turned 3

2006-01-24T21:58:00.000-08:00

Amani turned three on the 22nd. I made a cake and Hadia did the icing. Hassan grilled some bihari kebabs and we had a small birthday party for ourselves. Will have another party with some friends at our place on the weekend

Dumb Laws

2006-01-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Alabama
Boogers may not be flicked into the wind.

Alaska
While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

It is the state policy that emergencies are held to a minimum and are rarely found to exist.-Sec. 44.62.270. State policy.

Arizona
You may not have more than two dildos in a house.

Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.

When being attacked by a criminal or burglar, you may only protect yourself with the same weapon that the other person possesses.

A decree declares that anyone caught stealing soap must wash himself with it until it is all used up.

Arkansas
A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.

Dogs may not bark after 6 PM.

California
No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour.

Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits results in a $500 fine.

You cannot bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time.

It is illegal to wipe one's car with used underwear.

Colorado
It is illegal to mistreat rats in Denver, Colorado.

It is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep.

Cats may not run loose without having been fit with a taillight.

Connecticut
It is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

It is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25mph, even when going to a fire.
You aren't allowed to cross a street while walking on your hands. You may not educate dogs. It is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday.

Delaware
It is illegal to wear pants that are "firm fitting" around the waist.

Florida
It is considered an offense to shower naked.

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.

Georgia
Cars are not to drive on sidewalks.

It is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.

Maryland
It's illegal to take a lion to the movies.

Massachusetts
No one may take a bath without a prescription in Boston.

Minnesota
All bathtubs must have feet.

It is illegal to sleep naked.

Nevada
An ordinance makes bringing a concealable fire arm into the county illegal unless it is registered with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. In order to register a handgun, however, it must be brought in to the police station. Furthermore, you may not register a gun on the weekends, but the police may prosecute you at that time.

New Hampshire
On Sundays citizens may not relieve themselves while looking up

New Mexico
State officials ordered 400 words of "sexually explicit material" to be cut from Romeo and Juliet.

New York
The penalty for jumping off a building is death.

It is illegal for a father to call his son a "faggot" or "queer" in an effort to curb "girlie behavior."

North Carolina
All couples staying overnight in a hotel must have a room with double beds that are at least two feet apart. Making love in the space between the beds is strictly forbidden.

If a man and a woman who aren't married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.

Ohio
It is illegal to get a fish drunk.

Women are forbidden from wearing patent leather shoes, lest men see reflections of their underwear.

It's illegal for a woman to strip off her clothing while standing in front of a man's picture.

Oregon
You may not pump your own gas in service stations.

Tennessee
Driving is not to be done while asleep.

Texas
When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop, and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.

Beer may not be purchased after midnight on a Sunday, but it may be purchased on Monday.

Utah
It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon. You can have them, but you just can't detonate them.

Virginia
It is illegal to tickle women.

Washington
Men who deflower virgins, regardless of age or marital status, may face up to five years in jail.

West Virginia
It is legal to beat your wife so long as it is done in public on Sunday, on the courthouse steps.

Wisconsin
It is illegal to kiss on a train.

No male is allowed to be in a state of arousal in public.

Wyoming
Citizens may not take showers on Wednesdays.

For More Dumb Laws see: dumb laws

Eid Mubarik

2006-01-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

Wish you all a very Happy Eid.

New Camera

2006-01-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

Our new camera will arrive tomorrow. We sold the 3MP one on ebay last month and got a new canon powershot A610 5MP. Wanted to get 7MP but it was way too expensive for us. My photography will resume from tomorrow and I can't wait to take pictures of my kids again. I feel like I have missed a lot in this one month without the camera.

Christmas, New Year, Eid and Moving yet Again...

2006-01-03T00:26:00.000-08:00

On Christmas day we went to a fabulous BBQ in a park arranged by our friends in Austin. It was probably the best we have had since we came to the US great Seekh and Bihari Kababs and Chicken Tika. The kids enjoyed a lot too because the park was really good and they could play all the time. The only downside for me was that in an effort to feed the ducks in the adjacent pond my younger one as usual went knee deep into mud. So she had to be changed and washed right on the spot.

Last couple of weeks I have been busy packing. Just counting, ever since we came to the US i.e. 2002 we have moved a total of 7 times, this would be the 8th ! In Urdu there is a proverb called “ paon main chakar hona” roughly translated it means those who can’t sit still. I think that this is meant for us. If we don’t decide to move, the house decides to move on us! For instance when we moved to the University Housing last December we were sure to stay here till the degree is finished but then after 8 months the university decided to demolish only that section of the university housing in which we had just moved. So we had the option to either move to a smaller university owned apartment or find one in the local market. But small is an understatement for this apartment, it was a one bed room in which they converted the single bedroom into two! All said we are actually excited about the new apartment because of all the space we will have and also because we would be able to grill (BBQ) there and also get Desi channels!

What else… yeah my kids got their new Eid clothes from Pakistan. My mom is a little busy these days so she just got the suits stitched for the kids and sent some Gota. I have done a great job with the Gota on one of the suits (pictures forthcoming). I am thinking of putting some sequins too on the other suit and will go to hobby lobby tomorrow to get some matching sequins. That is if my husband ever gets up before hobby lobby closes ( he has vampire hours!) I hope and pray that this eid goes fine. Last one was very depressing for us all as my sister in law died right around that time in child birth and her baby girl also died after 3 weeks. So we did not do anything then but i did take the kids for eid namaz. I did not feel like going there too but I did because of the kids. They were happy to get eid gifts from the masjid. We dont have anything planned for this eid yet. Eid is probably on the 10th and we will be moving out of this apartment on the 13th.

The Possible of the Imagined

2005-12-27T02:05:00.000-08:00

Finding time to post everyday is not always a possibility so I asked my husband to post things on this blog too. Here is the first post from him, a poem by Noon Meem Rashid. Posting in Urdu is not that simple and this is not the best translation of this fascinating poem, but it should do. If you can read and understand Urdu, you will find Noon Meem, one of the most revolutionary and thought provoking writers the world ever produced. Enjoy and comment.

The Blind Hawker
(By Noon Meem Rashid translated by Hamid Rahim Sheikh)

Scattered all over the city are
worn out and disfigured dreams
of which the city dwellers are oblivious!
I roam around the city day and night
to collect them
Heat them in the furnace of my heart
so that the old rust on them comes off
Their limbs come out nice and clean
Their lips, cheeks and heads start shimmering
Like the desires of freshly dressed bridegrooms.
So that once again these dreams may find a direction!

"Dreams for sale, dreams ..."
As the morning dawns I go calling out in the streets....
"Are these dreams real or fake?"
They check them out as if there isn't anyone more
adept at judging them!

A dream maker I'm not either
just a face-lifter....
But yes dreams are the source of my livelihood!

Evening settles in
and I call out again....
"Free everyone, free, these dreams of gold..."
Hearing "free", people get even more frightened
and slip away lip-tightened...
"Well he says they are 'free'
could it be a sham?
Some hidden deception?
They may break on reaching home
or just melt away, these dreams?
Disappear with a pop somehow
or cast upon us some spell, these dreams?
No sir, of what use could they be?
dreams of this hawker?
dreams of this blind junk hawker? "

Night sets in
carrying heaps of dreams over my head
disappointed I reach home
Mumble all night again
"Take these dreams...
and take from me their price as well
Take these dreams, dreams...
my dreams ...
dreams .... my dreams ....
dr..ee..eaams ...
their pr...iii...ceee as welllll....."

New Year Resolution

2005-12-24T22:36:00.000-08:00

1. Lose weight.
2. Lose weight.
3. Lose weight.
4. Lose weight.
5. Lose weight.
6. Lose weight.
7. Lose weight.
8. Lose weight.
9. Lose weight.
10. Lose weight.

Yet Another Candle

2005-12-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

I turned 34 on the 22nd. Last year on my birthday we were moving and my older daughter was sick. She had some kind of food poisoning after eating from a desi restaurant in Houston. This year it’s me and my husband who are sick. We did not do much on the birthday, had the cake with evening tea and went out for dinner. I got beautiful gifts from my husband and daughters. My little one is turning 3 in January and I am planning to have a big party for her InshaAllah .

Baba Fain?

2005-12-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

My dad sent this song to my little one yesterday. It is so cute and funny too i.e. if you can understand Arabic (I am sure you enjoy it no matter what language you speak). My daughter was picking up the words quickly and I was telling her what this song means and in the end she said "Ama ye baba fain nahi hea ye Nana fain hea"
Baba fain? means "where is your Dad?" For those who dont know Arabic this song is about an uncle calling and the kids making him go crazy....just like my kids sometimes do when their khalas (my sisters) call. Check out the song by clicking the link below.
Baba Fain?

Something unexpected...

2005-12-10T01:39:00.000-08:00

Yes! It got real cold in College Station. We had freezing rain for the first time since we came here. Since it is never really cold here and in any case even if it is then never for so long, we don't have heavy clothing. My elder daughter did not have a proper jacket...the one she had was bought when she was in first grade (she is in 3rd now) and I think she only wore it once. Not only because she hates to wear heavy jackets but also because there was never any need for it. But as the temperature was in the 20's we had to go get a new jacket for her and guess what? There was not a single jacket her size, to be found in College Station. So we got her a new fleece shirt and made her wear so many layers. I was hoping that it'd snow and we go out to make snow angels...but it did not...hopefully it will next yr.... or maybe later this winter season ..

A few drawings by a little artist

2005-12-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

A baloon with a face

Me

A cat or maybe a bunny

Me

Me again

These are a few drawings by my little one. She started holding a pencil when she was only 8 months old and could make perfect circles.

My eldest also started to draw at the same age. She drew a detailed portrait of her dad when she was only a year and a half old. I will post some of her recent works soon.

A Word To Husbands

2005-12-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.

by Ogden Nash

Untitled

2005-11-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

MASALA TURKEY

2005-11-27T14:52:00.000-08:00

We went to a Desi (South Asian) turkey eating in Houston on Thursday. This event was at my husband’s friends place (an old friend from Lahore) in League City TX, near Galveston. They have an 18 month old son. Another old friend came from Dallas (also from Lahore…college friend). This couple have a daughter almost Amani's (my younger daughter) age. Hadia, my eldest, played the role of baji and baby sitter. I am so glad she did and enjoyed it as well. I was worried that she’d be bored and won't let me enjoy either. I had asked her to pack a few books to read i.e. in case if she got bored but shuker hea she enjoyed a lot.

The menu was a bit weird though. Turkey, stuffing, baked potatoes etc, BBQ chicken, chappal kebabs and chicken karhai. I still don’t understand what were they thinking when they planned this menu. It was a potluck sort of thing...in such a way that everyone had to cook something (not brining a dish but cooking it there) I just made a Baseesa (corn meal cake) at home instead of making it there. My husband helped them grill the chicken tikkas. Another friend from Houston who did not bring his American wife with him (don’t know why) cooked chicken karhai or maybe he brought it cooked. The friend from Dallas made chappal kebabs. When the food was served I just could not make up my mind what to eat first. There was so much to eat and then the thought struck me that everything at the table was cooked by a bunch of men...wondering if they had washed their hands before cooking I tried my best to eat a little of everything at the table. The chappal kebabs were the best and of course my cake :) This is all about the food.

We all stayed up till late at night. It was very difficult to put the kids to bed especially my little one and the daughter of the friends from Dallas. They were dancing all the time pretending to be the princesses. I am so glad that they made good friends and played together all the time. Finally, after much talking and pushing and bribing I succeeded to put them to bed around 12 but they slept around 1 am. The dads stayed up all night. They went out around 3 AM to check out the thanksgiving sales…came back when they saw a huge number of people sitting outside all the stores...some were grilling and enjoying themselves sitting there all night for the store to open at 6 am so they could be the first ones to get something from the very limited number of items. I would never go and sit all night even if they gave me things for free.

The next day we decided to take the kids to zoo but there were chances of rain so we went to Chucky Cheeses instead. The kids enjoyed a lot and I enjoyed even more. From there went to a Middle Eastern grocery store plus Deli. Had some great chicken shewarmas and lamb shanks, did some grocery and said good bye to each other. When we got back home we found that one of our fish had died ... poor fish this one was the most active one...the remaining two, which survive from the original six, seem so quiet and slow or maybe they are still in mourning. Or maybe they know their time is near too…Huh! Huh!

Fall Leaf

2005-11-22T00:33:00.000-08:00

Peekaboo

2005-11-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken by my SIL on The Family Reunion in Austin.

Stop Smoking

2005-11-20T16:43:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter, Dragons, Super Man and The Itsy Bitsy Spider

2005-11-20T00:13:00.000-08:00

Finally watched the much awaited movie last night. We all were counting the days since November started. We decided to go for the 5:30 show but it was all sold out and the only seats available were for the 11 o'clock show. We could not wait till saturday so we bought the 11 o clock tickets and came back home anxiously waiting for 11:20 clock. Had dinner and a cup of tea before leaving. I gave a cup of coffee to my 8 yr old so that she would not be sleepy during the movie....she loves coffee but is not allowed to have it otherwise...this was a special occasion (she has a very set routine of going to bed at 7:30 and getting up at 6 am even on the weekends so I had to give her coffee to keep her awake and she loved it). My 2 yr old had already taken a nap while we were getting the tickets so she was fresh and besides she can stay awake till morning if u let her play....she sleeps very little and is a hyper kid (this is without any sweets or chocholates...you can imagine what she would be like if she eats chocholate or anything sweet).
so we left house around 10:30 and when we reached there we were surprised to see that all the good seats had already been taken. The front 2 rows and some on the corner ones were empty. We decided to take the corner ones as sitting in the front rows give you a stiff neck after the movie. Anyway, The movie started and everyone was so engrossed in the movie when suddenly my two year old would yell "yay Harry potter...super man" and then "oooooooooooh dragons" some people laughed and some must have not liked this at all.....i could hear some laughs but i really could not see the faces so i could not judge the expression on their faces.....and then in the end this little devil in my lap decided to sing "itsy bitsy spider" and i told her to keep quiet or else the dragon will come out of the screen....she did not mind the dragon but she sure did not like my disrupting her singing and then she stared crying loud....thank God she stopped soon. It was not just my little one who did not let me watch the movie my eldest daughter also had to take a few trips to the restroom as it was quite cold even inside the theaters (could also be the full cup of coffee)
The movie was good. I could not read the whole book and i was telling my husband that they had cut so much that it was the first few scenes of the movie where i stopped reading the book....and he smiled.....got to watch the movie again....anyone willing to babysit my kids????

Serene

2005-11-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Austin TX

College Station

2005-11-18T01:53:00.000-08:00

Where nothing unusual ever happens

Yup! that is College Station. Nothing unusual ever happens here. On long weekends, summer break or winter holidays this town becomes dead. You can compare it to Islamabad during the eids, when the whole city just goes quiet. I am not sure how it is in Islamabad these days....things might have changed since we came to the US. After living for a year in Houston, College Station was like a blessing. I do like it here. The distances here remind me of Islamabad, especially after the crazy traffic scene in Houston!

The road less traveled

2005-11-18T01:24:00.000-08:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Family Reunion

2005-11-17T00:46:00.000-08:00

Look at my new rubber duckie
Southwestern University, Georgetown, Austin TX

I want to erase it all
Southwestern University, Georgetown, Austin TX

Inspecting a dead cricket
Southwestern University, Georgetown, Austin TX

A Walk
Aquarina Centre, San Marcos TX

A pond
Aquarina Centre, San Marcos TX