Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Last week in Roseville.

I keep forgetting that I'm moving, despite all the steps I'm taking to do it. It might be because this is really the first time I've done it almost completely on my own since college. When I was married we moved three times in 6 years. After we divorced, my ex-husband helped me look for apartments and carried my stuff despite how awkward it was explaining to the landlords that he was just along for the showing. After about 6 months of being on my own I lived with a friend for nearly two years. Now I am packing up to move back to a one-bedroom all by myself. Which is good for so many reasons, but still a little weird. My mom and sister are going to come help me out this weekend, but as I sit here and stare at all of my stuff piled in one corner I wonder if I will ever just settle down somewhere for good.


At least Willy's ready to go. Or he's holding a "sit-in" in protest of the move.

The intro to this post was kind of a bummer. Sorry about that. It gets better.



EXERCISE
As per usual, my sleep is jacked-up and I got about 5 fitful hours which culminated in the garbage truck beep, beep, beeping its way into my bedroom. Work was long, with a 2 hour staff meeting (WHY do they have to be every MONDAY??!) and a solid hour of manual mail list editing which will make your eyes bug out even if you're not exhausted. I decided I would never make it in time to an awards ceremony for a friend taking place on the other side of the world (downtown St. Paul) and I knew that I would be a mess if I did go—I was wearing the dumbest clothes ever with shoes that, even for me, were just WRONG and I was not in the mood to see the pretty people. 

Why am I telling you all of this? So that you know how dedicated I am to this project and so you won't give up on anything you might be working toward this year. Despite my tiredness and general malaise, I forced myself to visit a friend who wouldn't care what shoes I was wearing so we could go for a walk and relax a bit after a long day. I knew it would be hard to exercise alone in my condition so I used the buddy system for motivation. Plus she cooks real good food and I have none in my apartment. 

We walked around her neighborhood for a while and then played a little basketball at the park near her house. Some rapscallion stole the handcrank to raise the hoop though, so we were playing with a glow-in-the-dark kids' ball on a 4-foot hoop. It was pretty ridiculous. However after a 24-minute game of H.O.R.S.E., I emerged the victor. Barely. 

Dunk it, Toner!

Health Tip of the Day: Your family or friends can be great supporters in any endeavor if you just reach out to them for help. BONUS: They usually won't judge you as harshly as you judge yourself. 

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ISLAM
As I stated the other day, I am embarking on some pre-Ramadan "warm-up" activities so I'll be ready for the best month of the year. One is to learn 5 new surahs (chapters of the Quran) by then. Now when you hear "chapter", don't get too excited—they are not like normal chapters of books, divided more or less evenly. The first surah (al-Fatihah) is 7 lines. The second, Surah al-Baqarah) is 286. 

The first of the five I will be learning insha Allah (God willing) is Surah #107: Al-Maun. Here's a quick recording of Imam al-Sudais's recitation in Mecca: 



I love hearing this surah being read and the translation is just as beautiful:

Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense?

For that is the one who drives away the orphan

And does not encourage the feeding of the poor.

So woe to those who pray

[But] who are heedless of their prayer -

Those who make show [of their deeds]

And withhold [simple] assistance.

These are very powerful words for someone like me who works in humanitarian aid. It's a humbling reminder to keep my intentions pure and practice what I pray. 

May Allah make me of those who help others for His sake alone, in public and in private.

3 comments:

  1. Why did you yell everyone that it was a 4 foot hoop? Now my picture doesn't look that impressive.

    That's a good surah, mashaAllah. I think I'll have to look into the tafseer.

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    1. Same reason I didn't make.the First Lady speak in Ebonics. Because it's funnier this way. Sorry, comedy first on this blog!

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    2. Lol we are both typing dumb. Now it's funny!

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