A State of Mind
The 30 days of Ramadan are finally over!
We celebrated on Friday in traditional Din fashion which meant that I cleaned up vomit not once, but twice…
If you've never seen regurgitated grapes, consider yourself lucky.
We spent several hours on the 10, 110, and 405 freeways, speeding and cursing traffic…
"Does that lane look clear? Can you check for cops?"
And then as usual, the evening culminated in a misplaced iPhone. I won’t disclose who lost the aforementioned phone because I learned during Ramadan that it isn’t nice to talk about others, but I will say that I know where my phone is and Maya doesn’t have a phone. Yet.
Somebody and their iPhone...during happier times.
Take that as you will.
In between cleaning up barf and managing not to address someone’s inability to keep track of their belongings, we spent the better part of the day at my mom’s place hosting an open house.
It took 5 years and countless arguments but my parent's renovations are finally winding down.
Renovations might be winding down but harsh words are being exchanged regarding this Asian inspired dining table that doesn't quite fit the rest of the decor. My dad has issues getting rid of things.
I didn't make a single one of these desserts but I arranged them quite nicely if I do say so myself.
The funny thing is that despite being around food galore guess what I ate yesterday? Nothing for breakfast, salad and chickpeas for lunch, and plain rice with tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner. I had zero appetite.
That just goes to show that 99% of the challenge of Ramadan is one’s state of mind and not actually hunger. But regardless of my theory, I’m happy to put the month behind me and start eating properly again.
Now if only I could get someone around here to stop losing his things…life might just be pretty good.
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Wooohoo it’s over! I’m happy you made it through. The husband ALWAYS loses his blackberry. At least 2 times a day.
It’s never truly a celebration unless somebody’s barfing. That’s a motto I’ve learned to live by (or that I would have learned to live by if I lived in, say, a frat house). Men and their iPhones. What can you do.
Your feast looks gorgeous! I’m glad you can get back to eating again, even if hunger IS only a state of mind 😛
The only reason men lose things is because they won’t MOVE anything when looking. If it’s not in plain view, it’s not there. Congrats on getting through Ramadan without the cops coming to visit once.
Don’t feel so highly of me, Ameena. Sophie’s snacks are usually cheese sticks and nutty bars, with a banana or apple thrown in for good measure. These ones of late are just for the magazine.
I celebrated a “Karvachauth” like fast on Friday and believe me the thing that was keeping me going was that people do Ramzan for 30 days, I can stay hungry and thirsty for a day. Really Ameena you have tremendous will power!!
Glad that you are back to your eating schedule now!! The dessert table does look good 🙂
Haha, I never make any of the desserts or food at those events either, but I sure am good at arranging them too! I can relate to that!! 😉
Beautiful setting!! Congrats on completing Ramadan!
My dad has the same issue with getting rid of things. And my husband 😉
I’ve really liked hearing your thoughts on Ramadan and not being able to eat during the day! A challenging thing like that makes it more apparent that we don’t always eat for the right reasons.
Sounds like you really got something out of it. I need something like that as I’m rock bottom right now. Oh well – Good luck with the phone!
State of mind is a very powerful & real thing. I often try to control my way of thinking about things when i notice some thoughts seem to be brought on simply by restriction, not by real want or need. Very true, Ameena;)!
p.s. My Cauldron Boy has trouble parting with items, even if he doesn’t use them. I’ve had to intervene, as I am not dealing with a future pack rat. I’ve seen those shows on T.V (smile)!
I wish yo had posted a pic of your eid outfit 😦 I am ready to go back to normal eating! My mom and I went grocery shopping for regular food and put away the supplies for samosas and pakoras. Till next time!
state of mind is soooo real. but i’m sure you’re glad you can eat again 🙂 what a great feast.
and i love your writing style! i need to get my butt out to the west coast so i can experience your wit in real life 😉
Thank you for the compliment!! I absolutely think you need to come out to the west coast!
What a lovely feast!
I am the type that is always misplacing my phone, keys, and sunglasses and making Raine search for them… I am making him read this post haha.
wow those 30 days went by fast!
Sorry that Maya wasn’t well
but glad that the day turned out well!
Your parents place looks beautiful (mind you, I have no “before” reference) but the hardwood is gorgeous. My Mom just did some major renos, so I have a lot of respect for anyone who can get through big ones (floors, kitchens, structural, etc).
Beautiful spread! Isn’t it so funny when you have a whole bunch of food in front of you and all you want is small/simple meals? Well, way to listen to your gut and belated Eid Mubarak!
Not only have you become my hubby’s hero for knowing how to shut me up :-D, but you’ve now become my hero for getting through this without killing anybody. I don’t know how you can get through a whole month without eating from sunrise to sunset, but huge pat on the back for you my friend. The only way I could probably get through that is to sleep the whole day and wake up at night to eat. Although I think that would be cheating wouldn’t it? Yay for being able to eat normally again!
Hope “somebody” finds their iPhone soon! I would go crazy without mine.
Men losing vital objects seems to be in their genetic code…or maybe they’re just conditioned to having someone else place and locate their belongings- my guy was definitely a little bit mommy-trained in that respect, and he’ll ask me where something is before looking for it himself.
Glad you got through the month, though I’m not surprised your appetite isn’t back in full force!
My husband is forever misplacing EVERYTHING including his iphone! Your parents home looks beautiful! And the dessert table looks delicious.
oh man! Maya is sick? I’m so sorry.
LOL I literally cracked up about the picture of Ali and his iphone (during happier times.) Hysterical! I can only imagine what Ali is going through. (I am the one in our relationship who loses things constantly. Drives Andy insane!)
I completely agree, Ramadan is mostly a mental challenge. I’m glad it’s over though. 🙂 I hope Maya is feeling better!
There is such freedom and confinement based on “thinking” and the value we place in our perception. “There is never a right or wrong…only thinking makes it so.” and look at that…expecting a day where your hunger can be appeased only to truly feel sick. Our bodies are miracles, and wow…I loved sharing your journey with you.
Shalom…indeed!
The feast looked very inviting, especially the dessert table. (Life is short, eat dessert first.) *hugs* to Maya to feel better. I and my tummy loathed long car rides when I was young. Nausea always got the best of me then, although as an adult, I do like Beck’s “Nausea” I must say. I’m very attached to certain large-scale, expensive objects so I commiserate with your father about the table, even if I side with your mother about the decor.
Let us know how the APB on the iphone turns out. I’d love to know where it’s been hiding while on the lam.
Oh, you have a grand piano there! How beautiful! Do you play yourself?
Have a good start eating properly again!
I used to play the piano – my dad paid for 10 years worth of lessons! But I was never very good and I lost interest. I’m hoping that Maya will have a knack for music. 🙂
Well, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. But if she liked it, it would be great! It’s just such a pleasure to have access to a grand piano! Anyway, your daughter is so lovely, let’s see what she’ll go for later!
YEA!! Congrats, its over!! How does it feel?
Aww poor Maya, is it always like this in the car?
The house looks beautiful and I think they did a great job!
Hahaha, Ryan never looses his phone as it is ALWAYS in his hand or at his ear 🙂
xxoo
Aren’t celebrations the most fun? It always seems like events like this bring along a host of obstacles to overcome. It seems like you managed the day well…vomit and missing iPhones are pretty big deals…and I’m sorry that your appetite wasn’t large enough to ingest all of those delicious treats. Take care sweet woman!
i read every single word, scouts honor. your parents house is gorgeous.
yay! you made it! Now I can take you out to lunch! I start teaching again on mondays and its SICK how all of my student have iphone (they are in 2nd grade!) and I dont even have internet on my phone!
you couldn’t have said it better, and leave it to a fast to teach us so many CRAZY things about ourselves!
YIKES
poor Maya.
My Teen has only ever been “sea sick” once. That must be NO fun for anyone, especially Maya.
xoxoxo
I always lose my camera. Its such a horrible habit especially considering I’m a blogger.
hooray for you! everything (um, minus the ahem- grapes!) looked absolutely beautiful!
Your photo captions are hilarious. Poor Maya though!
The food spread looks great. I hope your appetite comes back nice and strong. I know it’s hard on the body to restrict (for whatever reason) for a while. Do you have any deep thoughts about the whole experience? 😉
I’m a bit unsure of the proper way to say “Happy-end-of-Ramadan”, but I will congratulate you!
And, in our household, I am the one who constantly loses items of importance. The iPhone, of course, and occasionally the odd wedding ring here and there…
Congrats for getting through it! Does Maya get carsick? Congrats with that too I’m so not good with vomit idk how I’m going to do it someday for my kids.
Congrats for getting through it! Does Maya get carsick? Congrats with that too I’m so not good with vomit idk how I’m going to do it someday for my kids.
I think your parents’ house looks super elegant :].
Maya does get carsick – ever since she was just weeks old. So while every parent reveled in the fact that their kids enjoyed long car rides I detested them because I usually had to clean up tons of barf!
I figure anyone who can get through Ramadam so beautifully would have all manner of patience ‘muscles’ built up but not sure if anyone could survive easily through iPhone separation anxiety, it would be an ugly site to behold I’m sure. My thoughts are with you dear friend 🙂
Happy Eid, Ameena. Belated wishes (sorry :P). You know, this sort of thing happens to me a lot, too! Like I’d be dying for food, and then, when I see lots of food, I won’t be in the mood for it! And then I would be itching to take a walk one evening, and then when my husband gets the time to take a walk with me, I won’t feel like it!
Ah! Ramadan ended this weekend. That explains why I had to wait for 40 minutes for a box of pastries at the Lebanese Bakery.
So worth it though.
did he ever find his phone? And jeez, i didn’t know open houses had so much food…I thought it was usually finger foods!
Congratulations on the end of Ramadan (is this something that congrats are appropriate for?)! Yep, I think hunger can sometimes be a state of mind but it’s important to fuel fuel fuel our bodies : )
Haha it must be a guy thing. My boyfriend can’t keep track of anything. I think just in the last year he’s lost his phone 20 times. He even bought a pay as you go phone to use now when he can’t find his real one. Its sad.
I don’t know how you can do the fasting for Ramadan. I swear I get hungry every five minutes.
And, by the way, you arranged that desserts table very well 😀
Beautiful food and desserts! You have a lot of discipline not to indulge in the yummy stuff. A friend of my daughter wears a wrist band that can help during car and plane rides. I do not do too well with stop and go traffic myself. Men lose things like phones and keys and wallets becuase they do not carry a handbag. I think the European style men handbag might prevent misplacing things.
I meant wrist band for motion sickness….
I tried the wristbands but they didn’t help! Dramamine helps but I can’t bear to dope up my kid on every car ride. So cleaning up vomit it is!
Glad to see you have survived another Ramadan. I hate when I lose my iPhone. I wind up calling myself to track the sucker down and it is always somewhere out in the open.
Regurgitated grapes and a lost iphone? What a terrible combo. I would have sampled each and every one of those desserts. Maybe I need to have a self-imposed Ramadan this coming month. I’d probably make it a day…
i was thinking of this post all weekend and reminded me of harry potter because of the whole ‘he who shall not be named’ thing…
I just had a long conversation with some coworkers about how one of the main reasons I may not have kids is my fear of vomit. Literally, it’s a fear. And kids puke all. the. time. I’m so very sorry.
I don’t think I would have much of an appetite after all the vomit episodes either. Ewww….
Yay! I’m glad you can eat again. I have no idea how you do it. So impressive.
Your husband and my husband have a similar issue with losing things. 🙂
your mom has a gorgeous home!! good job on arranging those desserts 😉
What a beaufitul house your mom has. ick sorry about the throwup and the lost iphone!
PS the pictures are looking great still / back to normal size.
PPS someone had a post up the other day praising giselle (her looks, her life) and I sent them that post you wrote about her. I said well she may be pretty but I’m not convinced she’s the sharpest tool in the shed. haha.
wow, what a great spread of food and beautiful house!
YAY!!! Congrats on making it through Ramadan.
Your parents house is really lovely. I think I’d be spending most of my tie next to the desserts. LOL.