Sanctimonious Sue

Lord help me now. My niece, Big M, has become a Sanctimonious Sue and it's driving me crazy. Her big thing right now is the plight of little people (dwarfs as she insists we call them despite the fact that "little people" is a PC term) and people with various deformities. She's always watching specials on Discovery about little people, children born without faces, conjoined twins, and all sorts of other things that I just don't have the stomach for. I can barely stand the sight of blood, much less any of this other stuff. I understand that she wants to be a doctor and she finds this stuff interesting but there's just no need for the attitude. I mean, her little sister made a face and she went off. She tells her mother that she should stop her from making faces like that because there are people that are born disfigured and it's important to teach her not to make fun of them. She's a baby! She doesn't know what she's doing. A few days ago one of my sisters said her short, obnoxious co-worker was a midget with a Napoleon complex. Off went Big M on one of her rants about little people and how dwarfism is very serious and nothing to be joked about. Then came a lecture on the various forms of dwarfism. If that's not bad enough she's always trying to force us to watch these specials. She will put the same show on every television in the house. I've lost track of how many times I've had to tell her not to touch the television in my room.

I don't even have hope that she'll grow out of it because my younger sister went through a similar phase and she's still going through it. She will just lecture you to death and try to force her views on you. I refuse to be drawn into these conversations with her. I mean, there are things that I'm passionate about but there's a fine line between expressing your views and harassing people. I'm trying to teach that to M but I don't think she's there yet.

It amazes me how she can be so shallow and yet so caring about the plight of others. She's such a complex child. I don't want complex children. They're too much trouble

Eid Mubarak!

I hope everyone that celebrates it is having a fabulous Eid! I'm trying to get through my first Eid away from all of my peeps in VA :(. Not really. It's a different experience but it's not bad. I will say this though, Eid and Ramadan are not as nice down here as they are in VA. I think it's because the masjids are smaller so they aren't doing things on as grand a scale. But at least they're doing something and I give tons of points for trying.
Now I'm off to bake cupcakes with Big M......she's trying to hold me hostage in the kitchen.

Seven Things

Alright y'all, I'm doing this for my blogsister TwennyTwo and because I think it's really cool.

Seven things I hope to do before 30 (InshaAllah):
1. Get Married
2. Travel to England, France, Italy, and Greece
3. Learn to speak Arabic and French (I've studied both.)
4. Perfect a signature look
5. Start my own wedding planning business
6. Learn to ski (I can't and I really want to.)
7. Be debt free....for the most part

Seven things I can't do:
1. Lie (I'm so horrible at it, it's not even funny.)
2. Draw (all of my siblings can)
3. Math (How did I graduate?)
4. Get depressed (there have been times I should have been but it's like I just can't)
5. Give the silent treatment
6. Forget
7. Stay angry

Seven things I love:
1. My family
2. Romance novels
3. Chick flicks
4. Southern men
5. Weddings
6. British accents
7. Dessert

Seven things I want in a spouse (maybe if I put it out there, I'll get it ;) )
1. Religious but not in an extreme or sanctimonious way
2. Good looking (I know, I'm shallow)
3. Considerate
4. Family oriented
5. Smart
6. Strong
7. Romantic

Seven movies I'll never stop loving:
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. An Affair to Remember
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Barefoot in the Park
5. Pretty Woman
6. Father of the Bride
7.The Notebook

Seven authors I love:
1. Jane Austen
2. Brenda Joyce
3. Eloisa James
4. Lori Foster
5. Candace Camp
6. Sophie Kinsella
7. Marne Davis Kellogg

Seven stores I can't resist:
1. Coach
2. Tiffany's
3. Sephora
4. Bath and Body Works
5. Pottery Barn
6. Things Remembered
7. Brookstone

Annie Vision

For those of you not in the know, Annie Vision is all Annie all the time. Annie the movie, that is. Little M, all of 20 months old, has taken to watching Annie all day everyday. Yes, it's as bad as you imagine.....maybe even a little worse. The entire household now knows every song and most scenes by heart, including the scene with the Camille movie clip. Little M sings and dances her way through the entire movie. Then she sings and dances some more when it's over. Good times. She watches this movie about three or four times a day, everyday. Some days she doesn't even want to leave the house because she's watching Annie. You try putting something else on and she turns off the TV and screams for Annie. I'm so glad the portable DVD player is broken because the only time we get a break from Annie is in the car. Words cannot express how sick I am of this movie. Hopefully, she'll be ready to move on soon. Or I'll have a job and by the time I get home, she'll be her mother's responsibility. I guess I've just gotta hang on till tomorrow.
:)

Hooray for Fall!

I'm so excited. It's finally chilly down here. I'm talking mid to low 60s all weekend. I can finally wear my sweaters and boots. Yay! I mean, it's raining but I don't care because it's not hot. I absolutely love fall. The weather, the fashions, the festivals, all of it. It's the best time of year. Unfortunately, during the week the temperature is shooting back up to the 80s. But it's supposed to be chilly again on the weekend so, yay! I'd like to take a scenic drive this fall but no one else seems to be up to it :(. I really must get a car.

The way you start out........

Is the way you'll finish. That's what my grandmother used to say. And she was right.

A girl I know is getting married, mashaAllah, but it's not off to a good start. All of the things she's always wanted, he can't currently give her and has encouraged her to put off until later. He can't afford a wedding, so they're not having one. They're just going straight from Nikah to living together. They can't even have a honeymoon. He swears they'll have them later but that almost never happens. He can't afford her Mahr so he's going to pay it in installments, sometime in the future. I'm thinking (and so is her mother) that bills and stuff are going to get in the way and she's never going to see it. I mean, I don't know how much he's supposed to be giving her but paying it in an undetermined amount of installments doesn't seem right. There's other stuff too but these are the big ones. I mean, she's young (like two years younger than me) and it just seems like she's sacrificing a lot of things. He, of course, is not sacrificing anything. I don't think that bodes well for the future of their marriage. Marriage is a two way street and when one person starts out making all of the sacrifices things probably aren't going to improve. Besides, you really shouldn't have to sacrifice so much in the beginning. I could be wrong but I have a bad feeling about this.