Day 2

We made it through another day without baba (Masud). He seems to be busy in Ohio - his car needs fixing after the long trip, and he's looking at apartments. He starts his job tomorrow. I'm lonesome for him.

We are planning to visit him the third weekend in June. This month is very crazy - I've got rehearsal every night now for the next three weeks, leading up to opening night on the 15th. I need to have a garage sale one of these weekends so that we can show off our patio when prospective buyers come to see the house. (Have I mentioned that we are selling our house? And that I'm moving in with my parents?) Then we'll go visit Masud, then I have a Fulbright conference in DC, and then, drum roll, I'm going to Bangladesh. Somehow I need to find time to do some shopping and pack for that big trip, too.

Rehearsals are going well. I only needed a prompt once during tonight's rehearsal, so that was good. I'm really enjoying my comedic role - lots of physical humor and airhead-ish lines. Very fun. Too bad I sweat like a cold pepsi on a hot day when I'm onstage. My tu-tu acts as a heat retainer and even my knees start to sweat. My hair was drenched after my big dance number tonight. As adverse as I am to physical exercise, it's kind of fun prancing around on that stage!

I'm very much in love with the puppy. We had decided to name him Shadow, but tonight we decided to try Oliver. The poor thing will never get his name! Page calls him Zeus, dad calls him Dog, mom calls him Puddintate and Mr. Pupper Doggums, and I call him Toast, Felix, Rufus, Good Boy, or whatever else comes to mind. Oliver is cute though, so we'll see if it sticks.

It seems that my battery will die soon so time to log off...

Ouch.

About a week after I came back from Bangladesh last year, I remember saying to Masud, "Let's never live apart again." But here we are. He left this morning at 4 a.m., his Subaru packed to the max with his stuff. I feel like I'm suffocating.

When I tell people our situation, I am met with blank stares. I feel like they are thinking, "Why aren't you going with your husband?" Sometimes I wonder that too. We even say to each other, "We'll see what happens next year" - as if one of us will decide to give up on our dream. The truth is, he will love his job, and I will love my school. My program is 5 years, and maybe after that I'll get a job and he can quit his. But we don't know.

There's a Masud-sized hole in my heart. He's a little guy, but the hole is huge.

Page's Graduation Party (in pictures)

Random pictures - Sorry if you have dial up!

Page's Graduation (in pictures)

Isaac's end-of-the-year field trip to Wisconsin Dells (in pictures)

Help us name our new puppy!

Yes, he's adorable. He's a Yorkshire Terrier, six months old, and we fell in love immediately. He was kinda expensive, but I'm not saying how much because I just got done whining about how much people in developed countries spend on their pets! I'm a total hypocrite!

But we're having trouble thinking of a good name, so help us out. My ideas so far are: Jonas, Rufus, Wakefield, Bean. Isaac's ideas are: Loving Dog, Meadow, Shadow, Turok.

We're kindof leaning toward Shadow. Suggestions? Since he's kindof a replacement for my husband, maybe we should name him Masud?

Poor George!

Isaac and I went to the Humane Society yesterday afternoon to visit George and turn in our application to adopt him, but it was not meant to be. The staff decided that he should not be adopted to a home that has small children. I disagree, but have to trust the experts. So the search goes on.

I kept Isaac home from school today. He's been complaining of feeling "pukey", and last night while I was at play practice, he started crying and had severe stomach pains. I'm worried that it might be all of the emotional stress that is going on in the house, so I decided to let him sleep in and we're going to spend the day together, maybe looking for puppies, or maybe just hanging out at home. When I was little, my mom used to let us stay home from school for no reason, and sometimes she would even take me shopping. Those days were so awesome! Who cares about perfect attendance, anyway? It's all about balance.

Wish us luck in the puppy search!

That doggie in the window

As a preemptive strike against the depression that is sure to result at the loss of our husband/father, we have decided to get a dog. I’ve been researching breeds online, and I’ve considered plunking down a pile of cash for a purebred. Then I stumbled across the horror that is “puppy mills”. Do you know about this? It’s terrible!

Now, I would like to remind my readers that there are human beings in this world who are suffering, and I believe that we (in developed nations) spend way too much of our resources on our animals. But, at the same time, all living things deserve to be treated with respect. No living thing deserves to be tortured – even George W.! Gourmet doggie biscuits may be overboard, though.

If you’ve read my recent posts about my hermit crabs (notice, I’m calling them MY hermit crabs, not Isaac’s), you will know that I have a soft spot for animals. Although I don’t purport to be a vegetarian because I feel bad for the cows, I do cringe when I think of the slaughterhouse. Well, this puppy mill business has got me all upset.

Puppy mills are horrible places where dogs are kept locked in cages, often out in the cold year round, with little or no care. They are bred constantly, and the puppies are shipped out to pet stores and sold on the internet or through the newspaper. Sometimes they don’t get sold, and live their lives in those awful places, or worse.

Google it if you think you can stomach it. It’s so sad.

And this is where pet store puppies come from! Augh!

So puppies or full grown dogs that are rescued from these awful places are usually terrified of humans. They are not housebroken, because they’ve always just pooped right in their cages. They have not been able to run, play or socialize like they should have. Some of them have severe medical problems like splayed feet from walking on wires too long, matted and infested hair, ear infections, etc.

We found a dog at the local animal shelter who had been rescued from a puppy mill. His name is George (but we’re going to change it to Jonas). He’s a small poodle with short black curly hair. He’s very timid, but we hope we can bring him around with lots of love. He’s a year and a half old, and spent his entire life in a puppy mill. Poor thing!

We are going over this afternoon to turn in our application and pick up some pet supplies. We’re not 100% sure that we’ll get him yet, because he needs to be temperament tested to be around Isaac first, but I’m already in love. I hope it works!

Bullets

· Isaac is almost done with kindergarten. This Thursday his class is taking a field trip to Wisconsin Dells to ride on “The Original Ducks” (google it if you don’t know what it is). I am going along as a chaperone. I am almost having an anxiety attack just thinking about all those kindergarteners in a boat on the river.
· I spent the day trying to clean the garage. All I actually accomplished was to shove more clutter into bags and piles. Fortunately, Masud will be taking some of the clutter with him to Ohio so that cuts down on the amount of stuff I’ll have to eventually sort.
· Tonight I went to another one of Page’s awards ceremonies. Last Wednesday, it was the senior awards night, and tonight it was the music awards banquet. Apparently I was cheering too loudly, because at the end of the night she informed me that I was “annoying” her, and that I should get a ride home with mom and dad. Humph. Serves me right for trying to be supportive, I guess.
· I have not seen the DaVinci Code yet. Page saw it yesterday and said it was “not as good as the book.” I might just wait until we go to B-Desh and buy a bootleg copy.
· Isaac and I have finished reading the first four of the “Captain Underpants” series. Highly recommended for those of you who enjoy potty humor.
· We have less than a month until opening night for our play. I’m getting a little nervous. This weekend, I went to several thrift stores and found some very ugly dresses for my costumes. One of the skirts has a Kathie Lee label. Oh, the horror!
· I think I washed dishes 25 times today. Dish washing ranks just above toilet cleaning in my “loathsome housework” list, probably because it is like stringing beads on a thread that has no knot in the end.
· It’s 8:00 and I’m in my P.J.’s. I think that means I should start getting social security checks soon.
· I am slightly disturbed that my life has become so boring that I have nothing good to blog about. I’m hoping grad school provides some exciting blog fodder.

Crippled Crabs

Last Saturday I took Isaac to the Portage pet store because we were going to get another hermit crab. There were no small crabs left, so I looked at the four remaining "medium-sized" crabs. They are about the size of a golf ball.

Right away, I noticed that two of the crabs had missing legs and were exploding out of their shells. Being the crab expert that I am, I figured they needed to molt and change into bigger shells. My crustacean-loving heart was broken for the little guys, and I decided to plunk down the $20 and buy both of them.

We took them home and welcomed Sauron and Voldemort to the Zaman clan. Raki and Tough Jumbo came out and greeted them, and Isaac and I treated the group to fresh bananas, apples, lettuce and dessicated fish. Mmmm. Dessicated fish.

They seem to be happy in their new home, and hopefully they will molt and be happy. I'll try to get some pictures this weekend.

In other news, last night the school board voted to reinstate the four veteran teachers that they had reduced to 75% last month. The elementary teacher that was cut will not be getting her job back, but at least the high school teachers get to stay. I'm very relieved. Now, we must think of fund raisers.

Zuma, killer of productivity

It's been raining for three days straight now, and there is no sun in sight. I am already bummed out because Masud is leaving, and I've been sitting on the couch for an hour playing Zuma. Yesterday's dishes are in the sink, on the counter, and on the table. There is a pile of laundry next to me, my bed isn't made, and the house smells like yesterday's fish fry.

Wahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isaac is at his grandma's house so I should be DOING SOMETHING, like reading an important book to get ready for school, picking out my classes, emailing professors to get on their waiting list, blah, blah, blah...

I think I'll play another round of Zuma.

The News

I can finally spill the beans. Some of you know about this already, but for those of you who are not in the "inner circle", here it goes:

1) Back in March, I was accepted to the Development Studies Ph.D. program at UW-Madison. I have officially decided that I will start in the fall. I will be majoring in Sociology, minoring in Economics, with a tertiary specialization in Women's Studies. My research proposal was on women working in IT (information technology) in Bangladesh. (are you snoring yet?) Watch out academia! Here I come!

2) Today, I told my boss that I will be leaving my position in August in order to go to school. (This was why I didn't post anything before - I didn't want people finding out via blogspot.)

3) I'm going to Bangladesh in July for three weeks! I'm so excited - my brother-in-law Mithu is FINALLY going to celebrate his marriage. He got married in 2002 but until now he has not been able to leave the country. He got his greencard a few weeks ago, so we are all going to the Desh with him and his wife to celebrate! I'll also be doing some work with the Nari Jibon clan as well.

4) Masud got a new job. It's a GREAT job at a GREAT company - a position that he's been dreaming about for years. There is a big bummer, though. The company is in Canton, Ohio. He'll be leaving the day after Memorial Day, and I suppose we'll see him once a month or so. Sigh.

So there you have it. I may not post often, but I make up for lack of quantity with quality, that's for sure!

Ahhh, glorious Friday.

This morning, I woke up to a mysterious clicking sound and realized that one of the hermit crabs must have emerged from beneath the substrate. Those poor dudes have been buried under the sand for almost a month now. I dug them up once and realized they were still alive, and since then I've just kept their terrarium moist and left them alone since they are probably molting. I did a daily sniff test, too, to make sure that they were not dead and rotting in there. But I was starting to worry.

So imagine my relief when I grabbed the flashlight and saw Hermit Crab #2 "Raki" sitting on the drinking water dish. Of course I scared the crap out of her with the flashlight, and she squished back into her shell. But I was so happy to see her that I almost cried!

This is why I'm a vegetarian - I have an emotional attachment to a crustacean. I've been very worried!! (Wendy - are hermit crabs crustaceans?)

I'm so glad it's Friday. This weekend is supposed to be nice, so I'm going to do some more spring cleaning. This week was very intense - not so much because of work but some big things are happening in my personal life. I'm not quite ready to announce it to the world yet (NO, I'm not pregnant) but hopefully by the end of next week, I can post it here. It's big, believe me, and I have good reasons for not posting it yet.

Anyway, now that I've got you all riled up, it's time for me to play another round of "Insaniquarium" from popcap.com. It's addictive.