Saturday, April 28, 2007

What's Going On

I mentioned that I may have some big news.. well I don't want to get ahead of myself.

So I guess I will just say that yes I started talking to another Could-Be Mr. Jilbabble. We were introduced right around the time I told that other freakazoid to get lost. I'll call this new one Mr. Nice Guy, cuz that what he is. A NICE GUY.

I'm not going to go into details but I will say we finally were able to meet face to face. For my part, it was positive. I have yet to find our how Mr. Nice Guy feels.

Mr. Nice Guy was very polite and friendly. He is also a convert but has been Muslim for almost 10 years alhamdulillah. he's got tons of knowledge and showed it in a non-condescending way. What I liked right away about him was the fact that he didn't try to act like a Know-It-All or Holier-Than-Thou. He speaks of his conversion, of the deen, with a lot of humility and never made me feel like somehow I was not Muslim Enough. You can feel how much he loves this deen just from the way he says "Alhamdulillah."

I can honestly say that if he is not interested in me, I am just glad to have met him. Alhamdulillah.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Time

Some people have too much time...







And others.. like me.. don't seem to have enough of it.

Alhamdulillah my son is doing much better. His kidneys are fine .. he just had some other stuff going on but alhamdulillah it is nothing to really freak out about. It all goes back to ME being more attentive to his needs. *sigh*

Anyhoo.. I may have some big news but I won't say anything until I know for sure.... So stay tuned ya'll...

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

And winner for the Worst Mom Award .. is .. ME!

Needing some major du'as right now... If anyone reads this anymore...


I was up late trying to finish a report for work... went to bed around 2 and planned on waking up at 4 to finish in. Well.. I did wake up at four... and when I sat at the computer and double clickedon Word... I hear moans of pain coming from my son's room.

I thought at first he was having a nightmare..

But when I sat at his bedside he was awake, crying that his side hurt.

He was writhing for well over an hour. I'm not sure if he has a kidney stone or what. With his kidneys being the way they are... I'm freaked.

He is feeling better now (3 hours later) but his side still bothers him.

I am trying to get him in to see a doctor.

Why does this make me the world's worst mother? Well.. because his health problems and overall well-being has taken a backseat to my work. And I wonder what the effects of that will be.

I am very angry at myself.

Allah forgive me for not being the best Mom I can be.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Need to get those creative juices flowing...

I have to write a paper that is due tomorrow. For my jobby job. And I've put it off until the last minute. So I've decided to just post on my blog first to get in the mood...

***

GUY DEPARTMENT

Okay this is a rant.

so that guy that i was talking to before (the latin let-down) just called me today and has inspired an enormous Bi*** Fit from within...

here are some random things that this guy said to me that will forever go down in history as the most jacked up things anyone ever had the audacity to say/do/insinuate to me...

LL: Salaam alaikum wa rahmatullah sister, how are you doing?

J: Alhamdulillah.... You?

LL: Alhamdulillah... how was your day?

J: Very busy... I have deadlines tomorrow, papers to organize and conferences to plan for.. today and tomorrow i'm so swamped down with work i have to take it home.

by now anyone with half a brain would take it upon themself to wish me good luck meeting those deadlines and politely say good me and leave me in my pile of paperwork. apparently, homeboy isn't one of those types...

LL: Well may Allah make you successful in all your hardwork. Don't work yourself to hard...

and he keeps going.. I don't even ask him how was his day, he just starts talking about how he was at the masjid, how he's 'trying to get this guy to convert to islam'.. blah blah blah.

We hang up after 15 minutes and he then decided to call me two or three more times THAT SAME NIGHT.

and it doesn't really end there.. becuase then when he is saying another 'May Allah..." to me.. and I am so caught up in my work I say "Jazakallah brother for all your kind words. I am so busy right now that I can't be very responsive to your conversation."

Guess what he says next -

"You know what I've noticed about you?" (I want to throw my phone on the floor because I really don't think that anyone should ascert their inciteful perceptions on a girl they've known over the phone for three days)

"Uhhhh.. what?"

LL: You never say Ameen

J: Huh?!

He lectured me for like 10 minutes on how he has made SOOOOOOO much du'a for me in our conversations and I never say Ameen.. and he used to be the same way until HIS SHEIKH called him out on it.. and something about Allah not granting the du'as made for you if you don't say ameen....

That was the last conversation I ever had with the guy...

---

Fun Quotes from a Nitpicking Latino Convert:

"What have you done for Islam today?"

"Good night sister... Don't forget Allah..."

"...I just got this guy to visit the mosque for this first time today and I got him to say shahadah..."

"I told my daughter: You don't see Daddy having Kuffar Friends, do you???"

---

Yeah it was such a great experience knowing you dude...

The reason I even mention this is because LL called my today OUT OF NOWHERE and left this really annoying voicemail.

I made it very clear to this guy that as I am commited to helping strengthen the Muslim community and that if I were to focus my efforts on any particular cause it would most surely be related to youth (ages 5 through 25).

This guy is ALL about Dawah. to the extent where I wouldn't be surprised if he started knocking on doors....

We had a number of conversations on this topic. I made it clear (basically spelled it out for him) that I tend to consider my dawah is through my actions, the way I treat others, etc. I am not really into debating, inviting random strangers to the masjid. To be honest, I am around Muslims 24/7 so I have little chance to try to convert anyone cuz - what? everyone around me is Muslim!!!

So I told him - the very very last conversation I ever had with this person - that I was not interested in actively doing dawah, that I wanted to put my energy in strengthening the muslim community through its youth. Which he was like Masha Allah, alhamdulillah....

I thought he got it...

But today.. maybe he is just looking for excuses to call me. I admit.. I am irresistable... (smirk)

He leaves me this loooooooong message.. and starts out like this..

"AS-salaamu Alaikum Sister Jilbabble! (insert duas for my family, don't forget to pass the ameen, yadda yadda) I remember the last time we spoke you expressed in interest in participating in Dawah..... I have several projects that you may be interested in..."

BANG MY HEAD THRU THE FREAKING WAAAAAAAAAALL

I am not opposed to Dawah. I feel right now that Allah has filled my plate with so many things that if I add "Invite everyone to Islam" on it, that plate will break into a million pieces on the ground, yo.

I just... wish... freaky guys... would just... LOSE MY NUMBER!!!!

Monday, April 16, 2007

hijab head

so lately my scalp has been itching like i have lice or something. i ruled those pesky parasites...

so i am wondering if it is because of my hijabs or the new caps i purchased. bad bad jilbabble forgot to wash them. they were just so sassy i was too excited to wait to wear them. they are the ones that are lace on one side and plain on the other. you can wear it either way.. they are to sassy for words. but i think they are getting to my head.. literally...

yeah so i've been mad itching yo... sucks...

Hell in a Handbasket


That's exactly where this crazy world is going, let me tell you.

33 dead at Virginia Tech?!?!?!?! I'm speechless. This is just ... insanity...

Catch up

Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?

It's been awhile since I've posted. I've got so much to talk about and so little time to do it. Tsk, tsk.

Right now I am waitng for my son to get dressed and ready for school. I've been ready to so since 6:15am... I like to get to work early to get stuff done before anyone else shows up..

Hm. Let's see. Went to Chicago for the ISNA Education Forum. It was fabulous. The shopping was great. Seriously... the selection of clothes and books... things you won't even find where I'm at. And even if someone random auntie at the masjid gets her brother in some random Middle East city to send her things to sell.. the prices are like double what they are in Chicago. Sometimes even triple.

****

So it felt like I'd been working for 14 days + without one day's rest. Yeah.. I had last Friday off but that was to fly out to Chicago and then attend lectures til like 10 pm. Then be at it all day on Saturday.. get up early to leave on Sunday. Got home Sunday and had to plan for my week... Blech.

By Friday I had come down w/ the cold and Saturday I was completely bed-ridden. I only remember waking up for food and water and then going back to bed. I talked to one of my friends for like 5 minutes and it took so much energy to even chat on the phone.

I missed my work's monthly community potluck. In the words of my best friend: "Wow Jilbabble, you must have been REALLY sick!"

I'm feeling better Alhamdulillah.

*****

I'll post more later... I got to get the boy to hurry up...

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Jilbabble in Da City

I'm going to Chi-town this weekend, Insha Allah. My work is sending me there for a conference. Wooty woooo!!!!

I'm super excited but also very nervous because there are a million and one things I have to have finished before I leave and there is so little time to do it.

***

Latin Potential is officially LatiNo-Way Jose.

Too many reasons why he is SO not the one for me. And I'm okay with that. Alhamdulillah.

But I will say that single parents who do not have custody of their children should pay child support. When I hear about LP being thousands of dollars behind in child support payments.. and he just wasn't real for me.

***

I've been Muslim for almost three years now. I 'entered' the community (started going to the masjid, i.e.) over four years ago. I feel confident in my Islamic IDENTITY but feel that I still have lots to learn as a Muslim. My identity is firm but I will always be hungry for knowledge.

I want someone who is confident in their identity as well but humble enough to admit that they will never 'know enough'. I don't need someone to try to prove how Muslim they are when they nit-pick at me for not saying Ameen enough or telling me that I need to convert my family or something.

Plus I can't stand it when some guy has the audacity to judge how I raise my child and suggest I should try 'homeopathic' medicine for his health problems... when they don't even know me.. or my child..