My good friend Shompa revealed to me that it is not necessary to pay the exorbitant fees charged by places such as Kinkos or Walgreens for taking passport sized pictures. Thanks to her, I took these myself and made sure they were the requisite 2x2 size and as I type they are being printed out at the local one-hour photo place. Now we can all get our passports renewed so we can go to Mexico in June!
I finally watched this movie last night and I loved it so much! If you have not seen it yet, you definitly should. It's a beautiful love story. After I got done watching, I had to call Masud and tell him how much I love him.
No, my internet connection is STILL NOT FIXED. I am sitting in the cafeteria of the local high school because they have wi-fi here. I just finished serving dinner for the Montello Community Dinner Theater, and I have some au jus dribbling down the front of my shirt, but I thought I'd check my email anyway.
For some reason, I can't seem to get my attitude right about starting the new semester. While I'm looking forward to my new classes, other less pleasant aspects of the impending semester are not sitting well. I dread the four hours of commuting, and the fact that I have to get into my cold car, and then into a cold van and then walk a cold walk before I get to my office at 7 a.m. - oh Lord. I am trying to have a more healthy approach to grades but I know that anything less than an A is not going to satisfy me. And I'm resolving not to procrastinate this semester - but I do that every semester.
As a matter of fact, that's what I'm doing right now!
But I'm sure once I "get into my routine", things will be easier. I hope.
Now I need your opinion. I have FOUR friends who at any moment will be squeezing out a baby. Actually one of them already gave birth a few weeks ago. I want to buy them something fun, and I'm thinking of this t-shirt I found on state street that says, "I might barf." (it's for the baby to wear.) Now, I find that hilarious, but the question is, do other people?? I've learned that not everyone enjoys laughing about bodily fluids the way I do. Opinions?
Gina and I both made pies. Gina's was better - my mom keeps talking about how good it was! Mine went in the garbage yesterday. It tasted like Gerber baby food.
I wrapped Gina up in this cheap sari and she looked like a true "buri" (old lady). Sorry Gina, but we need to get you a flashy Bollywood sari!!!
Sister love.
More love. Geez, I hold that dog a lot.
Gina taught me how to waltz.
Devon is our new buddy, and Said brought dinner from his restaurant. 
We played a "get to know each other" game. It turned out to be really fun, especially when Said had to read the word "turd".
I think Page was trying to avoid the camera, but her boyfriend Andy is a ham. (And he's really nice.)
We had a little "Gina-roke" as Gina sight-read some of the songs from my dad's 60's music book. I think we were a little too loud. Rajas is good at singing Beatles songs.
Here I am pretending to play the piano. All those lessons with Mean Mrs. Adrian, and I can barely remember the notes on the bass staff!
Having time off from school is so great – all companies should give at least a month’s vacation so that employees can sloth the days away and return to work with a renewed desire to…not be slothful. But here in the wilderness, where my internet is STILL not working, I am slowly beginning to go mad.
My satellite internet was installed on December 15, and it worked for approximately one week before the lights on my new modem fizzled to a pathetic flicker. The repair man came and tried to fix it but determined that either the dish or the modem is defective. Of course he had installed the very last dish that he had in stock two days previous, and another one won’t be available until the end of this week. So here I sit, typing this post on my laptop in my kitchen, and I’ll have to save it and post it whenever I finally get up the courage to brave the 3 degree weather to go to a hot spot and upload.
Technology blues aside, I have had a wonderful break. My closet and dressers got cleaned out and organized, my fellowship applications got written (almost), and Isaac remembers what it’s like to have a mom. I’ve even managed to host a small dinner party (pictures forthcoming). I still have three glorious days off this week before I plunge into the next semester.
Right now I’m trying to decide whether I should take a shower or work on my to-do list. I love this dilemma.
TKP asked for a reading list, so here it is. It's kinda short right now because I got frustrated with Amazon.com's listmania function - but that means you can get through it quickly, and then you'll know everything that I know!
My brother Rob knows how to torture me. Way back in November, we were chatting online and he sent this horrible sentence: "Can you keep a secret?"
He knows I can't!!! I'm a terrible secret-keeper, so don't tell me your secrets. I can't even keep my own damn secrets! I just feel the need to share - the weight of holding secrets inside is too much for me.
Anyway, the secret was that he was planning to propose to Lisa over Christmas. He did, she said yes, and so now I can finally release my secret to the whole world!
They are going to get married in June, and we're all going to Mexico to celebrate with them. My dad is going to officiate and the wedding will be on the beach.
Isaac is really excited that he has a new aunt. He's been bemoaning the fact that he has more Bangladesh relatives than American ones. I told Rob and Lisa to start the kid factory right away so Isaac can have some cousins in the Midwest.
(A little bummer note: Rob and Lisa have mono! Send them get-well-soon vibes!)
My internet is not working and I'm so mad about it I could pee. Of course the customer service phone number makes me wait on hold for at least half an hour before they answer, and then they promised me that the installer would call me within a day to set up a time to fix it. That was Friday, and still no phone call. Grrrrrr.
I had a great weekend, chillin' with my sistah mostly. We went to State Street on Friday where I spent money that I didn't mean to. We had a great lunch at Qdoba (which I've decided that I prefer to Chipotle, but I'm not sure why.) We also visited our Grandma H. on Saturday and Grandma and Grandpa M. on Sunday. Those are hard visits but it was nice to have her with me.
I'm working almost every day this week in order to get almost every day off next week. I love days off.
Nothing against Ohio, but I don’t like it. This is mostly because I’m mad that Masud’s company is located here and not in Madison. Masud’s little one-bedroom apartment is located right next to the NFL Hall of Fame, and overlooks a pile of rubble that used to be a bowling alley. The Hall of Fame is great if you care about football (which we don’t), and the pile of rubble is a depressing view out the living room window. Canton is bigger than I thought, and has all the big stores, and even some of the small ones, but I find it depressing because my Dear Husband has to be here all by himself.
We did have a nice, nearly fight-free visit, though. The first three days were mostly filled with naps. On Christmas morning, Isaac was pleased to discover that Santa had found us all the way in Ohio, and left a magician’s kit, a pirate telescope, and a fun card game under the table where we left the cookies. (No Christmas tree in this Halal household!)
The day after Christmas, we foolishly decided to go shopping. We first went to Masud’s very favorite store, “The Dollar Tree”. Upon entering, I noticed that Masud had been to the store before, and equipped his kitchen from the wide array of flimsy utensils and cookware on display. Isaac made a beeline for the toy department, and promptly filled his basket with Yu-Gi-Oh! Marbles. I’m not sure what he’s going to do with them, but they are in his new Star Wars Pencil Case that we bought at Target later that day. We had planned to visit several stores, but we were nearly killed several times by erratic drivers and wayward shopping carts. I had forgotten that the day after Christmas is the Second Worst Shopping Day of the Year. And the sales were not even that great!
By far the highlight of our trip was our visit to Michigan and Canada. We drove up after Masud got off work on Friday and met Tanya at her sister Sonya’s place in Ann Arbor. I consider Tanya my Best Friend Who Has Been To Bangladesh and Who Therefore Understands. We had a great meal at this place called Seva, where everything on the menu was vegetarian and I became dizzy trying to decide what to order. I usually have the choice of the house salad or cheese pizza from the kid’s menu. I settled on some kind of enchilada with pineapple salsa and it was oh, so good. Tanya also has beautiful long black hair and I’ve decided to try to grow mine out. I know it won't be the gorgeous silken blackness that I envied, but I've never had long hair so I figured I'd give it a try.
We then continued on to Canada, via the aptly named “Bridge to Canada” between Detroit and Windsor. I found Canada to be very much like the US, only more expensive and a little weird. Case in point: Tim Hortons, Canada’s version of Starbucks, is found on every city block, but when we went in and I ordered a skim latte, the woman behind the counter looked at me like I was speaking Bangla and asked her boss, “What’s a latte?” They serve plain coffee, coffee with cream, sugar or both, or mochas. And donuts. Good donuts.
We had a great visit with my buddy Shompa, though. Shompa used to live with us back in the day, and she’s up in Canada with her hubby Shumon. They are presently either on the plane or sleeping off their jet lag in Bangladesh, in preparation for their THIRD wedding celebration. They sure know how to party.
Anyway, some of you may know that Isaac is a tad particular about which kind of adult he will allow to touch his gameboy. Said adults must be extremely calm, soft-spoken and NOT aggressive. Shompa and Shumon both fit the bill, and Isaac had a great time with them this weekend. Masud ate lots of spicy Desh food (we even stopped for some misti on the way home), and I got to reconnect with a good friend with whom I had lost touch. It was a great visit, and now I can say that I’ve been to Canada!
The last two days of our trip were sad, because the three of us kept thinking about the fact that our time together was almost over. Isaac has cried because he doesn’t want his baba to be alone, and I’ve cried because I miss hearing Masud sing his ridiculous Rabindra one-liners.
We’re all trying to focus on the future when we’ll be able to live under one roof again. It was good to visit, and I can’t wait for the next one, but somehow these brief connections make the pain of separation more acute than ever.
Today is Korbani Eid, the day when Muslims sacrifice an animal in remembrance of the time that God provided a ram for Abraham to spare his son. It's not a great day for vegetarians.
But this Muslim family raked in the loot over the Christmas holiday. There are definite advantages to religious tolerance!!
Here's a breakdown of my vaycay:
Hours slept: including naps, at least 15 per day.
Movies watched: three - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I, II, and III. I have seen each movie exactly four times.
Shopping trips: one
Sweater vests purchased for dogs: two
Cookies consumed: at least 20 frosted/sprinkled sugar cookies, and assorted gingerbread.
Strangest task performed: Cutting own bangs with huge orange scissors in Masud's foggy bathroom mirror.
Planned reading list: The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman and The Curious Feminist by Cynthia Enloe
Actual reading: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo and about 2 pages of The Lexus and The Olive Tree. The entire December edition of Jane Magazine.
Friends visited: two - Tanya (and her sister Sonya) in Ann Arbor, and Shompa (and her husband Shumon) in Canada.
Days left until we leave: four
We've had such a great visit with Masud, but both Isaac and I are dreading the moment when we'll have to leave him. His next visit will probably be in March for Isaac's seventh birthday. It's a long ways away.
It's a good thing I'll be busy with school.
Take a picture from below, and I have many chins.
Take a picture from above, and the chins disappear!
In lieu of a cake, I had a pickle with a small votive on it so I could make a birthday wish. I ate an entire jar of pickles last night, and really grossed out my new friend Heather who is a pickle hater.
Finally! Yesterday I had a bad moment when I realized that the term project paper that I needed to write had to be ten pages, but fortunately it wasn't too bad. Now I have four glorious weeks to do whatever I please!
And tonight, what I please is to party. As you know, as of today I'm no longer a twenty-something. I don't FEEL 30. I remember when I was little and I realized that my parents were in their 30's and I thought they were SO OLD. Three decades of life! I still live with my parents and I'm still in school, and I enjoy stickers, and I laugh really hard when people fart, and I'm still naive enough to believe that I can make a difference in the world. I hope I can always laugh at fart jokes, unlike my friend Miss Lippy, who must remain stern when her students flatulate. I don't think I'd every be able to resist laughing! The funniest thing about farts is when the farter is really embarrassed. Like my dad, he's such a prude. He'll let one slip and he'll blush and say "Whoops." And then I tease him relentlessly. He even gets embarrassed when other people fart.
But enough about farts.
I learned a lot this semester - SAS programming, linear regression, rational choice theory. I also learned a lot about myself. I learned that I can get by on 5 hours of sleep a night, that I am so lucky to have such a supportive family, and that I really have a lot to learn about so many things. I'm already looking forward to next semester and I feel like I made the right decision to come back to school.
Now it's time to kick back and enjoy the rest of 2006. Happy holidays to everyone!!!
...from my blog-buddy Big W. I spend an awful lot of keystrokes on this blog complaining about my life and it's high time that I counterbalance it with some gratitude, so here it goes.
I'm happy that I'm almost done with this semester.
I'm happy that on Saturday, I get to ride a train, a taxi, the El, and an airplane with Isaac and at the end of the journey, I'll see my dear husband waiting to pick us up.
I'm happy that my fish, whose lifespan is supposed to be one year, is currently 3 years old.
I'm happy that my mom does my dishes and makes my bed every day.
I'm happy that my planner is covered with stickers.
I'm happy that my satellite internet got installed yesterday.
I'm happy that last night when I was singing a made-up lullaby to Isaac, he said that I should make an album because my voice is so beautiful.
I'm happy that I have great friends who live all over the country and world.
I'm happy that George Bush can't run for reelection again.
I'm happy that my dogs get so happy to see me when I come home that they pee a little.
I'm happy that my mom got a Christmas tree this year, even though I know she didn't want to but she did it to make the rest of us happy.
I'm happy for dill pickles.
I'm happy that I'll have time to visit my grandparents over break.
I'm happy that I'm in school even though it's hard.
I'm happy that I've made new friends this year.
I'm happy that my dad is in the community theater play.
I'm happy that I know how to speak Bangla.
I'm happy that my sister and I have a great relationship.
I'm happy that we get a year of free Showtime.
I'm happy for The Daily Show.
I'm happy that I'm going to be 30 tomorrow and I still live with my parents (seriously!)
I'm happy that my brother has an awesome dog named Riley.
I'm happy that I know how to make plum jelly without using pectin.
I'm happy that I've stopped eating Kwik Trip vanilla ice cream with oreos crunched up in it every night.
I'm happy that I get to spend Friday on State Street with my mom doing Christmas shopping.
I'm happy about the selection of music on my iPod.
I'm happy that I really like my job and have some good friends there.
I'm happy that Isaac read to me last night.
I'm happy that even though Masud and I live apart, we call each other every day and have meaningful phone conversations.
I'm happy that my birds sing to me in the morning when I get up.
I'm happy that I get to see the sunrise AND sunset every day because I ride the van pool.
I could go on and on - I'm surprised at how easy it was to make this list and how good it made me feel! Thanks Big W!
I just emailed an 80-page collection of essays on "Economic Sociology" to my professor. I also finished a two-hour cumulative statistics exam. Now all I have left is to write up my project paper for my other stats class and I'm home free!
I can't believe Christmas is almost here, and I'm going to be 30 (or, as Pili says 15 x 2) in 2 days! I've become elderly!
Hopefully I'll have enough brain juice to come up with a better post soon...stay tuned.
I have a presentation tomorrow morning for which I am only 25% prepared. I have lots of work to do today (and had planned on doing it while "working" at my PA job, but came in and found out I have meetings all afternoon!) This morning I got here at 7 a.m., went to the computer lab, cranked out some datasets, and then ran up to my office for my 8 a.m. office hour. I have class from 9-12, which I want to skip so BAD but it's the last lecture and I should go. Then I have meetings until 3:30, which is van time. I always fall asleep on the van even when I don't want to, and then when I get home it's as if the bed has a gravitational pull to rival the moon, and I can't get anything done.
I have to finish tomorrow's presentation (compile data, develop powerpoint, make notes for presenting), write a paper relating to the presentation, write four last papers for economic sociology, study for a cumulative final exam on Monday, and finish a statistical analysis project by Friday. Augh.
And to top it all off, I've caught a contagious disease of tendonitis from my buddy Gina. I bet you didn't know it was contagious, did you? My left hand hurts when I type, and I'm sure it's her fault for forcing me to have lunch with her at Buraka. At least the food was good.
This weekend I was extremely productive. I sat at the kitchen table for 8 hours on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. My life is so sad right now - I actually caught myself thinking, "OK Katie, one more paragraph, and then for a reward you can get up and do the dishes!"
Help...me...
 | "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best." |
