tuesday

Little man and I went out last night for a date. We saw 'Over the Hedge', which was really very entertaining. Tristan enjoyed it also. Best exchange, remembered as well as I can:

Verne: What is that?
RJ: It's a SUV.
Verne: Why do humans use them?
RJ: Because they are slowly losing their ability to walk.

Yeah, I'd see it again. I really like it that we can still make fun of ourselves.

The Prolacta milk bank story is the weird news of the month. This pharma company is soliciting unpaid donations from lactating mothers, homogenizing and pasteurizing the milk (thereby turning it into a dead substance and destroying many of its benefits), adding calories, and then selling it to hospitals at the tune of $45 an ounce. Prolacta boasts that they have the capacity to process 10 million ounces of breastmilk a year.

Oh, there is so much about this that gets me riled up. First, they are assuming that they can get that much --- 10 million ounces a year! --- without even paying the mothers for their time and effort. Natural breastmilk is worthless, after all. And then they process it and sell the resulting substance --- and I don't think that processed, dead, fortified breastmilk is authentic breastmilk anymore --- and sell it as superior to "regular" human milk, and at prices that ensure that only the very rich or very well-insured can afford it. Sounds like the formula makers (processed breastmilk is, essentially, commercialized formula) are getting smarter; I hope mothers don't give them what they want.

turn turn turn

I was so sorry to see that more journalists have been killed in Iraq.

Sorry and saddened, though not surprised. Not, at least, until I came to this part of the article:

"The terrorists who committed this evil crime have shown themselves for who they are. They do not want the world to see the truth of what is happening in Iraq, where a determined people are fighting for freedom and liberty. That story must and will be told."

OK, so the Colonial Militias were just resisting unjust rule, the French Resistance used guerrilla tactics righteously in their fight against the Nazi occupation of their country, but Iraqi insurgents are terrorists for fighting "freedom and liberty"-loving American soldiers?

Just when I forget how pervasive the ignorance and spin are, I come across this kind of stuff.

Bah to Victors' History. Bah to those gullible enough to swallow it with a smile.

synopsis

Quite an eventful week here at Chez Mamaspeak.

Eleanor started standing. She generally does this when she feels she is not getting enough attention, since it inevitably brings praise and applause.

We found an amazing preschool for Tristan. Montessori. I actually went there for summer school when I was a child; most of the teachers have been there forever and one actually remembered me. I really like the philosophy and think he'd really thrive.

Got two cell phones, to replace our land line. Not sure if this qualifies me as cool, or if I'm just a sell-out now.

A previously-mainstream preggo friend has decided, at 37 weeks, that she wants a non-interventive birth. Woo-hoo! We're meeting later today to create a birth plan.

We are being invaded by ants and fleas. Welcome to summer in the South.

Speaking of summer, it's already incredibly hot. Our window air conditioners are not doing too good a job and Jon actually suggested looking into getting central air. May not happen, but I feel cooler already.

I've mostly given up Coca~Cola, which I was drinking way too much of. Got it out of the house, which was (mentally) harder than it sounds. I can already tell a difference in my perpetually-postpartum shape. Woot.

And tomorrow is our fifth anniversary. Seriously doesn't seem like it's been that long.

thursday

Last week, it became apparent that the seven year old next door does not have reliable transportation to school, regardless of the fact that his school is only five blocks away and there are at least five adults with vehicles at home on a given morning. So, I've been walking him to school for a week now and we've been getting there about twenty minutes early; he's been really excited about this. The first day I walked him, he told me that I had to sign him in, because he always has to be signed in; turns out that you only have to be signed in if you're late.

He was a little late coming over this morning, so I went and knocked on his door. His sister answered and said that they'd overslept and his mom would take him today. OK. On two days with me, he'd overslept, but had been ready within about five minutes of me waking him up.

It's been over an hour and school started 20 minutes ago, and they haven't left the house.

It's pretty accepted that those lower on the socioeconomic ladder generally do not value education as much as those higher on it, but the sad irony is that if they teach their children that education is unimportant, they virtually guarantee that their children stay on that same rung.

And he's such a bright kid.

soooo impatient

I still haven't heard back from the College of Public Health. I am pulling my hair out! It seems like so many decisions are resting upon whether or not I get in...hopefully I'll get a letter this week. Hopefully!

dominos

Earlier this week, Jon and I were on part of a panel for a public program about American Muslim reverts that the Islamic Center put together. I think that I may have come across as a bit radically progressive, but I've only had good feedback so far. There was one point in the program where an audience member asked about how various religions can find peace with each other, without being completely unified themselves. A really good question and we had a good discussion about it, coming to the consensus that it's something that has to be done on the personal level, not something that's possible to reach at some high level, at least at this point in time.

Really got me to thinking about how I can further that incredibly worthy cause. I really give very little back to the community. Sure, I'm nice, I'm polite, and I don't litter, but when a lot of people don't meet those minimums, the nice ones of us have to pick up some of the slack. So, I'm working on that right now.

But then, you have to think, what's the point? Why should Muslims become more involved in giving back to the larger community, why should we be so concerned about what those of other faiths think of us? Of course, the realpolitik reason---and thanks to my undergradutate work, this is what I immediately think of---would be to avoid persecution. But I don't think that it would. Regardless of how hard we work to become integrated, regardless of how hard we work to become respected, all it would take is another 9/11 or domestic suicide bombings (something I'm afraid could become reality were we to invade a certain militantly Islamic nation) for our work to be completely lost.

It is the quintessential comparison almost to the point of being ineffective, but the Jewish community in Germany in the 1920s was very integrated, with many Jews being respected members of military and government, and their language and customs intermingled with German ones. Then---wham! A government building was burned to the ground, the powers that be declared that it was the work of Jewish terrorists, and bingo---persecution, round up, ghettos, mass extermination. And, folks, the Muslim community in the US is not even regarded as well as the Jewish community in Germany was.

Which is why Islam is so freaking awesome. We don't act decently to get avoid persecution in this life; we act decently to get blessings in the next. What a beautifully effective social contract! Play nice. Leave the rest up to God.

Moving to Canada might be a good idea in the meantime, though. Tie your camel up and then ask God to keep it there, you know.

monday

Happy (belated) Mother's Day, folks. Hope you all found time to thank a mom or two :)

The highlight of my day was a date with my 3 year old involving a playground and chocolate shakes. He's getting rather clever. A few weeks ago, I figured out that he has a sensitivity to red dye; he totally flips out on the tantrums when he has it. Of course, he heard me talking to Jon about this. Last night, when I was trying to wrangle him into bed, he said, "I can't be nice, because of that mean sandwich!" Yeah, kiddo, chicken salad sandwiches are vicious.

Already finding ways of avoiding personal responsibility. Ah, at least he'll have a future in politics.

sigh of relief

It went well! Really well! Even the good Congressman came up and thanked me for a lovely prayer afterwards.

This ends a long tradition of what I have thought of as my abysmal public speaking skills. The last time I spoke in front of a large crowd, as a senior in high school, I actually forgot the name of someone I had known for three years. And even for small things, the shakiness of my voice was embarassing.

Today was different. I think I represented us well. Alhamdullilah :)

eep

I've always admired people who can do something that is unquestionably nerve-wracking, but appear completely non-plussed. I've always wanted to be one of those people...

So on Friday, there will be a local nonprofit's Mother's Day Luncheon for Peace, and, following, the groundbreaking of the Beacon of Peace and Hope, a monument to be built here in Central AR.

The groundbreaking will feature school children singing, appearances by the Mayor and US Senator, and interfaith prayers presented by a Christian, a Rabbi, and a Muslim.

Who would this Muslim be, you may ask, who would be knowledgeable and respected enough to give a prayer at such an important event?

Um.

The imam is out of town and he decided to ask me to do it in his place. While I can see the political aspects of having a female convert represent the local Islamic community, I really, really hope that a lot of zikr went into this. He is a wise man...he put a lot of thought into this...right?

Eep.

worth a read...for sure...

Here's the full text of Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush.

A little rusty in its translation, but an important read.

tuesday

Finally back online and with stuff to post about :). Our commitment with SBC DSL expired, so we decided to switch to more affordable services---cable internet and voice over IP phone. Our phone hardware from Sunrocket (unlimited domestic calling for $199 a year! and they have a promo for buy one year, get one free right now) should arrive later this week, so hopefully we'll be fully in-touch with the outside world then.

Yesterday was Jon's bday; he says he's getting to feel like an old man.

Also had our first rat injury yesterday. Ben got her toe stuck in a crevice in the cage bars. It was really sad; she was completely panicking and after I finally got her free her foot bled and swelled up. She ran up my shirt sleeve and just huddled there, shaking. Amazingly, it looks nearly good as new this morning. Alhamdullilah :)

We have a busy rest of the month. We're getting a date on Mother's Day (!), next Tuesday we're both on a public panel about American Muslims, then the next weekend we have my cousin's wedding and another cousin's graduation bbq. Toward the end of the month, we'll have our fifth anniversary.

And a GDA for the mamas out there: Maya Wrap has lightly padded slings for $20. They were mistakenly made with the "second best" pattern, which differs from the not-yet-released final by having a slightly different shoulder and steel rings rather than aluminum. Great deal :)