Aash at Home

When I went home yesterday, I was dead tired and just wanted to snuggle into my comfy bed, relax, and possibly take a nap. A nice, refreshing, stress free nap..hmmmm, sounds so easy to some, but to me its a feat that cannot easily be accomplished. As I was dreaming about sleep,  Yusi came running, screaming "Oto Boos, Oto Boos" and showing me his new drawings (scribbles) of balls. "Wow!!! Yusuf that is just awesome!" Yusuf drawing balloons He said "awchum" and continued to follow me upstairs. As I was going to my room, thinking about my bed, the motherly guilt kicked in and made me go into Isa's room instead. He was just sitting there day dreaming with only half his work done. "Isa what's wrong, why are your spellings not done?" " Amm-mmma I can't find a pencil so I couldn't do my spellings" Eighty percent of the time, he does not have a pencil, or its not sharpened and for all of you judging me as a parent an...

Yesterday I went to the now empty 1826 with Ajee to meet with our new Realtor who will help us put it on rent. While we waited for the her,  I looked at the empty rooms, bare walls (except for the nails and the really low pencil scribbles n the Master Bath walls thanks to Yusuf) and furniture indents on the carpet. The emptiness  reminded me of the same time exactly 10 years ago right before our wedding when we purchased this brand new townhouse.  The thought that I will not be living here anymore saddened me as this place has always been so blessed and has witnessed so many happy moments of my life that I have experienced from  a young, energetic college girl to a grown (not so energetic) mother of 2. I still remember walking in to 1826 (which was still half done) with Ajee, Amma, Abba, My Abba and our Realtor at the time to choose the upgrades, paint colors, wood flooring etc for our future house. It was so exciting to be starting my new life with ...

Its been over a month since I have posted (sorry Mahi!), so I guess it is time for some general updates. Everyone at the house (including Yusuf) is very familiar with the term Bey Blades now, and since my last post we have had several additions to the Bey collection. Isa now has a stadium for it and just convinced Ajee to order a specialty Japanese Bey Blade online. Bey Blades in their stadium  The Bey blades however, do come in handy. The sentence, "we will take away the Beys" works like a charm when homework needs to be completed, reading needs to be done or when there is a general need for discipline;  the Bey collection is also one of Yusuf's favorite things as he knows it is off limits, so whenever Isa is not looking he will go and sit in the stadium, or take all the beyblade parts apart. These toys can also used as a distraction to feed Yusuf. Yusuf in the stadium Feeding Yusuf, ...

Isa has a new obsession -- bay blaze (what I thought he was saying for the longest time)..but it is actually Bey Blades. It is what he has been whining for about for a week. Apparently this the newest and coolest gadget on the block that he had to have.. especially since Rayan (his friend) has plenty. This weekend Ajee promised him that he would get him one on Sunday. Sunday was also Yusuf's 1st birthday and all I wanted to do was to make it special for the lil guy..I mean it’s such a big Milestone, Ajee, on the other hand did not really see what the big deal was, it’s just another day and it happens to be the same date that Yusuf was born on last year..so why should we stress ourselves out on a nice Sunday afternoon when we will be doing a party for him later..he wanted to rather focus on his website (that he works on every Sunday in a secluded coffe shop away from home) he did promise to bring me back the pizza though. You know what that means ...

1826 is about to go on rent in February so we have to find a rental place pretty quickly. For the past month or so we have been looking and have not had much luck - a pretty stressful situation, but we have been in situations like this before and are hoping that something will be worked out right in the nick of time.   This past weekend Amma, Abba, Ajee and the kids looked at a few houses and fell in love with one. They were so excited (especially Amma Abba) as they thought they had found the perfect place in every way. However someone else got to it before us, which kind of depressed the two of them. A few weeks ago a similar situation had happened where we almost got a place but the landlord gave it to someone else. We cannot completely blame luck for us not finding a suitable place however, there are some other factors: 1.       We need something big enough to house all of us and some. 2.       Each member of the family has their...

Hasan - "Aash be ready at 9!! Its Yoga today for P-90x!" Isa - "Yay Hasan Chachoo I am going to do it too!!" Ayesha- "That should work since I have another 45 minutes or so to wind everything down and Ajee will be back by then so I should be able to focus" Focus..What a great thought! I was trying desperately to feed Yusuf who as usual was turning every morsel down and was creating a ruckus on his high chair, which I just do not have the patience for. So I took him down and decided to give him some of the adult food - Biryani (a spicy Pakistani rice dish), which he gulped down with out a fuss along with half a banana simultaneously while running around in the family room floor (his preferred method of eating) . Right around 8:30 Asim (Brother between Ajee and Hasan) rings the bell a hundred times and then barges in through the door (this is pretty normal at 1826)! He grabs Yusuf, who delightfully goes to him...

 Last Friday evening I came home from work and hear Isa singing, or rather yelling “RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER, HAD A VERY SHINY NOSE” and then I hear an even louder Hasan yelling “RUDOLPH KI LAAL LAAL NAAK THEE AUR WO CHAMAKTI BHI THEE!!” (translation of the Christmas Carol in Urdu).   I go up quickly to see what the commotion is all about and then come to know that Isa has a holiday concert in school that is coming up and Hasan is helping him prepare for that, but is forcing him to sing it in Urdu, while Yusuf is dancing with one arm up in the air (Which is what he does at any sign of music).   The next few evenings go on to be pretty loud and disruptive with the constant practicing of this song in Urdu, in English and sometimes in both languages at the same time.      Chillin on Hun Chachoo after practice!!  It is Thursday evening; the night of the holiday concert is finally here.   I am home late and Isa is so excited that he is already...

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 injure...

I: Amma..do you know there are 145 million turkeys in the World? A: Really Isa..that's awesome! I did not know that. I: Seriously Amma there are ..Mrs. Spencer told us. I: Amma what is 95 + 5 +90? A: 190 I: You know..I know what 2 times 9 is..(counting double on fingers)..hmmm 17 ..I mean 18!! A: Very good Isa!! I: what is 100 gazillion + 405 million?? A: I have no clue! (where does he even think of this stuff from??) NUMBERS is Isa's new fascination, the shoe lace craze has finally taken a back seat (thank the Lord!). However, he still likes getting into random stuff. Yesterday, I came home and his hands were completely blue probably due to some kind of paint or ink. I had to feed him as whatever he touched turned blue and the stuff did not come off no matter how hard he washed his hands. After eating, he wanted to go out and play with his friend (who had just left our house), or watch Curious George,...