and feeling rundown. Must be that I’m simply doing too much. On Saturday night I couldn’t sleep because I was running a list of all the things I needed to do in the morning in my head. Sunday was Eid and I was expecting up to a hundred guests. I guess that would freak anyone […]

I saw the moon from one of the upstairs windows last night. It’s waning. Reached full last weekend I think, and now it’s getting smaller and smaller and soon it will disappear for a few nights to be reborn. Kind of like how life goes. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the month […]

The Arabic word ‘barakat’ is loosely translated as ‘blessing’ in English, but unfortunately the word blessing does not connote all the intricacies of the meaning of barakat. I’m no Arabic scholar, but from my understanding the term barakat has to do with blessings of plenty, abundance, providence. And it comes down to whether or not […]

Last Friday night my daughters came over and there was one of those moments–those double take moments–when you feel like your world has changed and it all started with a spilled glass of Cola (not even name-brand Coke)! One of my daughters had left it on the table where one of the grandkids could reach it, […]

I’ve been thinking about hoarders all day. How hoarders never clean their windows, because over the weekend that’s precisely what we did. Anyone who owns a house with older windows knows you have to wash out the sills and repaint them every so often. Hadn’t done it for a while, so just this last weekend […]

Waiting…waiting…waiting! To hear from my agent about the hajj novel. I don’t know, that last revision really took it out of me. I feel like I’ve been wrung out like a dish rag and someone’s using me to sop up a spill. In the meantime I’ve been starting a new novel–began the first chapter today. […]

Somehow I can’t stop thinking about the moment I stood in front of Times Square, a few weeks ago, when hubby son, and I went on our whirlwind bus tour/vacation. Talk about electronic billboards! The whole place is plastered with them, each flashing and vying for your attention. I particularly remember the theatre billboard sign […]

Frankly I never thought this would be a problem. Never anticipated that there’d come a time when people who have little to no affinity for my faith would write stories about it just to get their foot in the door of children’s publishing. And to have come across the phrase ‘professional Muslims’ in a wonderful […]

I’ve been watching Oprah’s Master Class off and on. Wasn’t planning to watch tonight’s program about Grant Hill, because honestly I didn’t know who Grant Hill was. I watch basketball sometimes, usually when my son in laws are over, but I can’t say that I’m a huge fan. But watching Mr. Hill,  I must admit […]

I’m worried about the telephone bill. I’ve made about five calls to Malaysia in the past few days and I’m wondering how much that will translate to in terms of cost. Yes the calls were short, but still… I’m going to Malaysia insha Allah. Just the name conjures up such interesting feelings within me. I’ve […]