what do we do

so you might wonder what aliyah and i do while we're visiting oklahoma. generally, our days pretty much go like this:
aliyah wakes up in the same room i'm sleeping in and says, "mommy. mommy eenjast (mommy is here)" then "....aaaapapa (allah'u'abha, meaning, "get up, let's get started here")!" then we join iman and jamilah, who are usually already up, for breakfast. every morning when aliyah sees her cousins, she squeals, laughs, screams and has a few blissful moments rejoicing their presence.

then, generally, nadia and i try to find something interesting and fun that the kids can do together bearing in mind that it's usually about 100 degrees by 11am. we've taken them to a museum, botanical garden, a park, McDonald's indoor play area... Barnes and Noble book shore... all of which you'll find photos of on aliyah's blog (some now, more soon to come). lunchtime rolls around and aliyah has a bite before taking her afternoon nap. i used to hit the gym while she napped, but now, if someone's home, i'll run errands and then take aliyah to the gym with me after she wakes up. she just *loves* going with me because this gym has a place for parents to leave their kids to play while they work out. the girls at this place are great and aliyah loves playing there. so recently i've made more of an effort to take her with me.

after that, it's dinner, either home or at a friend's house. then bedtime for aliyah and then a couple of hours of 24 for nadi, my mom and i. by the end of that, i'm usually ready to hit the sack, but sometimes i'll stay up a little longer to update the blogs.

tomorrow i'm driving down to texas to a town near dallas called frisco where my best friend, bita, her husband, kenny, and their 6-month old daughter, layla, live. aliyah and i will probably spend 2 or 3 days there and then come back to oklahoma....

so yeah. that's what life's looking like here on our end.
not that exciting... but not too shabby either. :)

high school reunion

sooooooooo, back to what's been going on here, i had lunch with my two closest friends from high school renee (left) and stefanie (center). each of them has two gorgeous children.... the three of us used to have lunch almost every single day together back in high school. we'd get in renee's red mustang and go out to eat. .or go to my house and watch the last week's Saturday Night Live... so many great memories... such great friends. love you guys.

his royal reedness

how *lucky* was i that reed came up to oklahoma from texas to speak at a youth retreat here last week-end? it was sooooooooo good to see him. as loving, gentle, funny and great wtih aliyah as always. she quickly made friends with him agian and spent most of the evening enjoying his company while it lasts. bawh.. miss you reed!

anniversaries dinner

both my parents and omeed and nadia celebrate their wedding anniversaries on the first of august. so one night we all went out to dinner (sure, you single and childless folks think that's nothing special, when you go with two 2-year olds and a 3-year old, it must be a *very* speical occasion).. and it was.

not completely gone

ok you guys should know that i really do appreciate all of you who come to this blog to see what aliyah and i are up to. especially you guys in haifa (and you too meels).. so i just want to apologize for not posting as frequently as i could... you see, there's this thing that's crept into my life called 24 (the show). my sister-in-law and my mom are hooked. and this blockbuster delivery netflicks-wanna-be thing makes it so easy by dropping the dvds right into our mailbox. so every evening, the minute i put aliyah to sleep and i am officially off-duty parenting for the day, my mom and nadi have already assumed position and are waiting for me to start the show... and that goes on for a few hours and i make myself to go bed so that i'll be able to wake up with aliyah in the morning (bicbic, i can't *wait* to be able to sleep in when you get up with her! on saturdays!)

so victor celebrated his thirtysomethingth birthday saturday with an eleven-hour marathon of a party. happy birthday joonam! looks like you had a nice time (at least we know yasmine and martha did from the pictures). thanks william and martha for making it happen and everyone else for making it so special. :)

ah, and for anyone wondering, my planned departure date back to haifa is on the 29th of august.

more from austin

music at the guequierres', shopping at coach with nadi,
and some much-missed texas friends

austin - san marcos

last week-end, nadia, omeed, the kids (minus aliyah) and i went down to austin for the annual river float in san marcos. it was great seeing my long-time texas friends, most of whom i hadn't seen in seven (!) years, and some as many as 10+ years. though some of us are now married, with children, and others have studied, travelled and worked extensively, some things have and will never change: major UT boasting and OU dogging, endless storytelling over the idiotic things they've done to each other and messes they've gotten themselves into, a new mishap (car towed at 2am and almost not recovered because the new car's title was still in another person's name) to add to the list of stories to be told for the next 15 years... but moreso, a comfort and comradity that never diminishes, no matter how many years spent apart, lots of laughter, singing, guitar strumming, soccer, late nights, and, at least for me, the company of of friends who are among the most cherished and dearest to my heart. love those guys. even the one who never stops complaining. ;0)












anlo, teo, me, nadi and omeed

my sweetie sarah who i've known pretty much our whole lives and grew up with in oklahoma now lives in austin. she pretty much spent the entire week-end with us. soooo nice to see her again and catch up after three years of not seeing each other.

outside of brian and jub's beautiful home in austin - a little haven for the kids. next time, aliyah will be there for *sure.*

nikka, amelia and amitiss. nikka and amitiss are both from houston and i met them when i was about 13 at a baha'i retreat in texas. nikka now lives in montreal and amitiss in austin. such awesome girls. amelia and i grew up in oklahoma together.. thank God she still lives here. :)

juliet and sierra, the two stars of the week-end. juliet is rocky and amelia's daughter and sierra is brian and jub's. these two are the best of friends and even write each other letters. sooooooooooo cute.