Thanksgiving Break!

My Abba has picked me up from the dorms and I am home for the weekend. I have quite a bit of reading to do for my American History class and an English Paper due. I am sitting on the Computer checking my e-mails, and I see an e-mail from a certain "Ajnabi Bechara" (Innocent Stranger)..I hesitantly click on it thinking what if it's a virus. It was actually an email from a Secret Admirer..what are you serious??Its 1999!!! who approaches girls like this???..It must be someone playing a joke on me. Little did I know that this "Ajnabi" - unfamiliar person was going to become the most essential and familiar part of my life.

My Dearest Ajee,

The past 4 days have been a constant reminder of how important this familiarity is to me as you have been in California. You went there to help Phuppi with her travels to Pakistan and to visit your relatives and spend time with your cousin (who you grew up with) Faisal Bhai who was injured and permanently disabled by a car accident about a year and a half ago. Although I know like everything that you do, this is another selfless deed, I on the contrary, want you to come back for my own selfish needs. I don't think I can sanely make it without you anymore.
 My neck hurts, my back hurts, my head hurts and everything seems hazy around me right now thanks to the lack of sleep and rest. Although I was in town,  this has been an extremely busy and tiring Thanksgiving Break probably because you were not in town.
On Wednesday Evening My Abba came back from Hajj (MA)! His flight was early so we couldn't make it to the airport on time and instead the 2 kids and us went to go see him at his house. When he found out the Phuppi was leaving the next day he said he had to come visit although it was 11:30 PM and say good bye. Abba is the only person I know who would do that after traveling for a month. Once we got home, a short while later Abba came and as usual brought gifts for everyone in our house. Nani Amma was especially excited about her white embroidered outfit and quickly measured it and sent it with Phuppi for stitching in Pakistan. Amma and Phuppi went up to pack while My Abba, Asad (My brother), Warda (his wife) and Shakir Bhai (my cousin) stayed at 1826 till about 1 AM chatting with the us.
On Thursday I dropped you and Phuppi at around 9AM to the airport accompanied by Amma and Isa. We said our good byes and were on our way back. In the need to be efficient I for the first time, gave the Express Pay machine at the Airport a try for my parking. My ticket got stuck in there and finally came out after 5 minutes and getting thereceipt took another 3 ..hmm that was not very efficient. Oh well atleast I will be able to go quickly through the lanes now that it is already paid for. But of course NOT..the stupid ticket got stuck again and kept saying "ERROR" --"What the??" so I dialed the operator and she said something that I totally didnt understand, so I dialed it again, and she told me to reverse and come back through the "cash" lane.. REVERSE --What the??,,..Hello there were like 5 cars behind me..how inconvenient and so NOT efficient. So I had to turn my hazards on get out of the car and ask the other cars to move. After which I went through the cash lane who needed my receipt to verify the payment (so glad I waited the extra 3 minutes for it) and finally let me go..The cashier said that sometimes this happens due to a glitch in the system but mostly it is pretty smooth. Smooth or not Smooth that is the last time I am using the Express Pay machine at Atlanta Hartsfield.

After I got home Yusuf was awake and ofcourse Isa was too, so got busy with them, pretty soon it was time for us to get ready  for the dinner party in the evening. Dinner was fun, missed you though but was glad to have your brothers, Hasan and Asim and of course Abba there who helped me tremendously with Yusuf. Isa on the other hand was playing with his friend Zahra and bunch of other girls showing off his little brother.

With Isa's friend Zahra

I was fine with that as the boys his age at this particular party seemed extremely rough. I actually physically had to go and stop one of them from hurting a smaller boy as he was punching and kicking them. If only the parents would STOP socializing for a minute, wake up and WATCH their kids!!

Hasan and I wanted to go to Black Friday at mid-night to treat ourselves ..(like that was going to happen with the kids).  I could have thought about that had you been here. However its okay as I got a special treat at home. Yusuf took his first 4 steps towards me. A proud parent moment!:) Wish you were there to watch him as well.

Friday was another busy day. I woke up went to Kroger with Yusuf and Abba for some necessary groceries and prepared your favorite dessert for the Thanksgiving dinner at my Abba's. We went to the mosque for Friday prayers and then to the mall to see if we could catch some Black Friday deals after all.  I bought some stuff for the kids and then was stuck in line at Aeropostale for 55 minutes to check out a 12 dollar hoodie. On the bright side -Its purple and I love it!


In the evening we went to my Abba's for a delicous Thanksgiving dinner that Asad and Warda had so meticulously prepared. (it was a day late since i was unavailable the day before - how sweet!!) You missed out. The food was yummy and perfect just like everything that Warda does.

On Saturday we were invited by Minni and Navin (my college friends) to their son Avik's 3rd Birthday Party. Something I had been looking forward to for a while. However I didn't realize that you were not going to be there that weekend which made me almost want to just take Isa. However, Isa begged me to take Yusuf and promised to help with him if we took him. So first I went to Toys R us with both the kids to get a gift. Isa was extremely helpful in helping me decide what to get and what Avik may like. Yusuf on the other hand was anything but helpful. He was extremely distracted with all the colorful toys and the stuffed dogs which made him excitedly "bark" all over the store and wanted everything from the cart. After which he wanted to get out and be held. I somehow made it through the long line (with Yusuf attached to my hip) at Toys r US and got to the Birthday party on time. Over there I met many of my college friends and their kids. It was wonderful to see all the friends of mine overjoyed by just watching their kids have a great time. I must say I was one of them (you missed out again). Isa had a blast with the clown and it was so much fun to watch him giggle and talk with the clown, meanwhile lil Yusi was quiet as I was feeding him  Pizza and then he chewed on a balloon for quite some time (I know I am such a bad parent).

Yusuf chewing on his balloon!

The car ride back was not so much fun to say the least. Yusuf was extremely tired and did not want to sit in his seat. Isa tried everything to quiet him down but he didn't. So I had to stop and calm him down. After a while I put him in his seat and started driving again, he was quiet at first but started fussing again as soon as I made it to the highway. I was actually more worried about Isa then Yusuf at this point. As I could tell he was really stressed, I could see little tear drops forming at the corner of his eyes after seeing his baby brother in distress. He was trying everything to quiet him down. I told Isa to calm down and that " everything is fine" and then told him to give him both my phones, the balloons, bubbles, balls --NOTHING worked, and then I came up with the brilliant idea of peek a boo.  The peek- a -boo game worked for 5 minutes after which Isa sang "Itsy Bitsy" with all the animations which finally put Yusuf to sleep. I must say that was another Proud Parent moment. Isa had kept his promise and helped me with Yusuf.

On Sunday I went grocery shopping with the kids. We missed our 4th companion but miraculously managed fine.

Groceries with the kids!

After which I dropped Yusuf home with Amma Abba (the joys of a joint family :)) and took Isa to watch Cars 2 and then to McDonalds. I did enjoy my little date with Isa but was really so tired by the end of it that all I wanted to do was just come home and sleep. However, Isa (although in bed by 9:30) could not fall asleep till after 11, and Yusuf didn't sleep till mid-night.
On Monday we are back to the daily routine, which is hard to manage since you are not there to share the load. However its not too bad since I know you are coming back tomorrow Inshallah!

As this Thanksgiving Break comes to an end,  I realilze more so then ever how thankful I am to have you in my life!