Whats Going On?

February 2013

Saturday, February 1, 2014

I drove down to moms after my morning jog so I could get there for breakfast. I got there about 11 and mom had some delicious breakfast for me. Thanks, Mom! We watched some of her Iranian soap opera before she went to get ready to go to Bayan/Amani’s house where Ikhlas was in town to visit so the girls had a party there. Taahirah didnt go since Husayn was in town for the weekend. I took them to Jerusalem Bakery in Alpharetta to grab some lunch. I didnt order anything since I had a big breakfast. They did share a little of their food with me, which was pretty good. We got back right before mom did and me and her played some badminton. We didnt keep any scores but mom was playing really well. We had fun...just had to get some good ol’ badminton in before the sun set. Ali stopped by later as we watched an engineering program about the Woodrow Wilson bridge, located just outside of DC. That was a pretty interesting program. Afterwards we watched an interview of the wife of someone Abu Bakr knew who converted to Islam and told her story. After that I turned in as Ali was about to head back to his apartment. Quite a busy day, but it was fun.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Me and mom joined the Google Hangout with the fam, which took a while before people got on and had quite a few technical issues. After all that and after realizing we had sound issues (so I used some earphones), the Hangout went pretty smooth and went on for extra long as we talked out some daddy issues. Too bad it wasnt recorded for those that couldnt make it or didnt see the whole thing. It was only my 3rd of nine hangouts and it was good to see Ruqayyah make her first real appearance.

Afterwards me, mom, Taahirah, and Husayn went to a park to take a walk. Me and mom walked ahead and went a long way around the park. We all still got back to the van at exactly the same time, which was pretty cool. Afterwards we stopped at Walmart so mom can pick some things up for Abu Bakr. I caught a little bit of the super bowl pregame show when we got back and a little bit of the game before I went to pray. After that I took Husayn to the bus station in downtown Atlanta with Taahirah. When we got back I watched a little more of the game, even though it was way out of hand, then headed back to Spartanburg. It was a nice visit.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

I was going into the grocery store and saw two white girls, both on crutches, going in. I was right behind them and they stopped and were trying to figure out how they were going to push a cart around. I asked if they needed some help and ended up offering to push a cart for them. They accepted and I got a cart for them. I found out they were high school cheerleaders who got hurt from cheerleading and were shopping for candy, chips, and gatorade for the basketball team. I only helped them up to the register where they said they can handle it from there. It was a weird experience. Afterwards I was expecting John Quiñones (had to look up how to spell it) to interview me afterwards for the show What Would You Do? Why would two young pretty chicks go into a store on crutches by themselves and not have a way to push around a cart, unless they were expecting to get one of those drivable carts. The show coulda been trying to see how many people would be quick to offer help to two young white chicks and compare it to how many people would offer help to a fat old black guy in a wheel cheer or something....hmm....ya neva know. I coulda been on TV! I woulda helped the old black guy out and would give an emotional interview on how people are so mean and discriminatory to our people....yeah. Anyways, that was that. Good luck with yall recovery, girls.

Friday, February 7, 2014

I drove to Chapel Hill to meet up with Hasan and two other brothers who were discussing community-related issues. I first went to a coffee shop that they were supposed to be at but found out they had changed location a few minutes away in downtown Chapel Hill since their were no parking spots at that other one. They actually just started the meeting by time I met up with them because of the location change, which was about 9pm. We ended at about 12 and me and Hasan went to pick up Muhammad from a friends house in Durham. Ruqayyah and Abbas were at Sister Amirahs house, so we all left from there to go to Beulaville. We got in at about 3am.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

At Ruqi and Hasans house, I took Muhammad to a friend’s house so they can work on a project for school. Jibril rode with me. After I got back, me, Ruqayyah, Fatimah, Zahra, and Abbas went to the parking lot across from the college in Kenansville to walk, while Fatimah rollerbladed. We stopped at the playground for a bit before heading back. It was a nice walk to get in before the sun set. When we got back we had some delicious dinner. Hasan had grilled some chicken and Ruqi and the girls cooked up some other goods. Later on Hasan gave me a shape up, which came out pretty nice. Me, Fatimah, Jibril, and Abbas (after replacing Zahra right away) played scrabble. I started out doing well, but Fatimah used all 7 letters, got a triple-point Q, and double word, so she killed us with that. Good game, folks. It was pretty late by then, so that was it for the day. Despite waking up in the afternoon, it ended up being a pretty busy day.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

We played scrabble again, but this time Ruqi played instead of Jibril since he was out of town hanging with his dad in Jacksonville. Ruqayyah ended up winning. After that I took Muhammad to another friends house (after a few wrong turns) to work on another project. I left after we prayed and ate dinner to head back to SC. I had a good visit. It was nice to see them all again....its been a while. Insha’Allah I plan to visit again soon.

Monday, February 10, 2014

I called in sick to work since I woke up with a terrible stomach ache. I felt like I was gonna throw up. I made a stupid choice to pick up some combos and mountain dew energy drink even though Ruqayyah sent me with plenty of fruits, some pie, a brownie, and some tea. I had been doing pretty good not picking up junk food for almost a month, but gave in even though I had enough to eat. I felt better a few hours later. Well, Muhs, you gotta do better. I have been slacking on my morning jogs, too, so Im not doing too well with this. Gotta do a lot better, Muhs....a lot better.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

We had a big snow storm come through. We didnt get as much snow as they called for, but it was still pretty bad. Work was called off, so I just hung around the apartment, cleaned up a little (very little). Really didnt do much at all. I was surprised that the mailman came through. He delivered a package. He was an old white guy, too. Maybe I shoulda tipped him....hmmm.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

We had another day off work due to the snow and it was pretty icy out there, too. In the afternoon the snow/ice were melting quite a bit. I went out and got my mail. I got my rejection letter I expected from Wells Fargo about trying to refinance my car. I knew they would look at my credit report and automatically decline based on that. They actually showed my credit score, which I knew was pretty bad. It wasnt quite as low as I imagined, but its no good either way. Anyways, I thought I would give it a shot anyway. I went for a walk at the park I usually jog at and talked with myself for a bit discussing my options for my car and other things going on in my life. I decided I’ll pay for at least another month or so, and may do something later. I just dont wanna deal with all the mess that comes with breaking the contract and being hounded by debt collectors when I dont pay them. After my walk, I tried to sit in the shelter at the park to read a little, but it was too cold and windy, so I went to the car and read. After that I went to the apartment to pray Asr, then cooked some dinner real quick, then went to the masjid to pray with my Sunni Muslim brothers since I hadnt been there in a while for Maghrib/Isha, then rode around a bit trying to go to one grocery store across town that was closed, then to another on the other side of town closer to me to get a few things, then back to the apartment. And that was my day off.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Our office actually closed for half the day because the roads were still slick because the ice/snow that melted had refreezed overnight. Thats understandable. So we got Wednesday, Thursday, and half of Friday off because of the snow, I missed Monday due to self-inflicted illness, and Tuesday we actually got off at 3 because the snow had already started. We get next Monday off, and I may be taking some half-days next week, so lately I’m having a lot of time off work. Fortunately theres really no real work going on, so its no problem at all. I just know when this upcoming project gets started, Im going to be extremely busy, so I better enjoy the time off now.

I picked Mumina up from the airport at about 11:30pm. She is visiting for a week to spend some time with me, meet mom, and check out the area.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Me and Mumina went to Caesers Head State Park to check out the awesome view in the mountains. The road going up the mountain was in good shape but when we got to the park, the gate was closed because the parking lot was covered in ice. There were still a few cars parked just outside the gate on the side of the road so I parked there too. We came all this way (about a 40 min. drive) to see it, so that wasnt going to stop us. We went under the gate and enjoyed the park. There was a lot of slush, snow, and ice, but we still got the full experience. Its not a big park, but it offers some wonderful views from a few different spots, especially during sunset, which is when we went up there. Overall we had a good time. We got back kinda late after stopping to pick up some movies we were supposed to watch, but between prayer, cooking/eating dinner, and since she takes medicine at night that causes her to get sleepy, and me having to run out for a minute later that night, we didnt get to any movies this night.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

We went to moms house so Mumina can finally meet mom. We were planning on going early, but we got up in the afternoon and took our time getting ready. We got there about 7pm. We talked for a little bit, prayed, ate some delicious dinner, and turned in. We didnt really get around to partying, but at least Mumina was able to meet mom, Abu, and Taahirah. Mumina wasnt feeling too well, so she wound down in the room around 9. I went to the living room and chatted with Taahirah for a minute. I went back to the room around 11.

Monday, February 17, 2014

We got up around noon and ate some breakfast. After prayer, we all talked for a bit in the living room while watching TV. Later on mom dropped Taahirah off at school before taking us to the big park in Lawrenceville. Abu tagged along. We watched the ducks for a bit, took a short walk, and sat down for a minute before heading out to grab something to eat. We stopped by a halal restaurant, but before the food was ready it was about time to go get Taahirah. We originally planned on eating at the restaurant, but since it got late, we took it to go. After coming back to pray and eat, we got ready to go back to SC. Overall it was a good visit. We had some fun and it was good for Mumina to finally meet some more of the family (she met Kamau in Philly), especially for mom and her to meet. Insha’Allah she’ll get a chance to meet the rest of the family at the gathering this summer.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

I took Mumina to Greenville to our small zoo. Afterwards, we went downtown to the nice park they have. It was a pleasant day. Later on she cooked some delicious fish (her special recipe) while I cooked some brown rice that I messed up at first, but recovered it enough to enjoy. I tried to play a movie on the computer, but that wasnt working. That was discouraging. After eating I had an urge to go to Walmart to get a DVD player and hook it up to my old TV that mom brought up that I didnt think I would use. By time I got back, it was late, so I tested it out, but didnt get around to watching any movies. We picked up four movies and they were due by Thursday at midnight, so we had 2 days to watch 4 movies. At our current rate, it wasnt going to happen.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

We went to the library after I came back from work in the afternoon. I had worked half-days Tuesday and this day since I didnt want to burn full days while she was here. I dont have a whole lot of time built up. They were having a little free lunchtime concert at the library that I thought would be nice to catch. It featured a local college professor and I think he is a guitar teacher. He introduced us to some history of an African American classical guitarist named Justin Holland. It was interesting since he’s a white guy and the crowd was made up of mostly older white people. There were a few younger white people and one old black lady. It would have been nice to see more blacks in there to learn about some of our history and culture (yes, Im black and its part of my history and culture). Anyways, he played a few pieces that were kinda slow, but were really nice and peaceful sounding. It was a pretty good show. After that we went into the main part of the library and found two books on sickle cell disease. We sat down and read for a while. It was in the childrens section, so I read through the whole book while she was reading the other one. It gave a nice basic overview of the disease, so I feel I have a little better understanding now. We went upstairs afterwards to the adult section, but they didnt have much material. They had one book but it was one she already read and she said it didnt really provide great information. We left after that and we went to the masjid to pray. As I left, I checked my phone and the library had called and left a message saying they found my wallet. While I was in the masjid, I did begin to wonder if I forgot my wallet at the apartment when I tried to feel for it on me and it wasnt there. I figured I left it there and gave it no more thought. I guess they looked up my information and saw me in their system to get my number because I dont have my number anywhere in my wallet. Thankfully I had registered with them last year. Well we went back there and as we walked up to the building the security guy was standing outside waiting for me. He recognized me and confirmed that I was the one looking for my wallet. We followed him in and got it...nothing missing. If I was rich or had more money in my wallet I’d tip him, but thats not the case. A nice ‘thank you’ should suffice. Alhamdulillah it worked out...woulda been really bad if someone ended up stealing it. After that we picked up some donuts (at Dunkin Donuts as it were) and stopped by the park for a minute. We sat down and talked for a little bit before being kicked out of that part because they were closing the gate. We swung around to another part of the park and sat and talked some more as the sun was setting. Later on we did try to watch a movie called “Train”. We started kinda late and she fell asleep. It was lame so I cut it off. One down, three to go.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

I took the entire day off because we had an appointment in the morning at the Sickle Cell Center they have here, which helps people understand and cope with the illness. They have counselors and support group meetings and other resources to help people afflicted with sickle cell. The counselor discussed with us about what they do and how some of the doctors and hospitals in the area are with dealing with sickle cell patients. We couldnt make an appointment with a doctor because her insurance wouldnt cover it. She suggested that we make an appointment in advance for when she visits again. I need to get her onto my insurance so we can start transitioning her here. That would require us getting a legal marriage license in order for me to add her. We didnt get around to that this visit because of some things, but we plan on doing that soon Insha’Allah. Anyways, at the center the counselor took a sample of my blood to get it sent to a lab to get tested to see if I have sickle cell trait, which would increase the chance of having a sickle cell afflicted child if we were to have children together if I had the trait. Hopefully I dont. I should get the results soon.

We stopped by the apartment afterwards and we prayed and talked a bit. Also, a guy from Charter came to install internet in the apartment. I keep having to postpone installation since the previous week since I keep not being available. It was rescheduled to Monday, then Wednesday, then Thursday. Well, its finally here.

Later we went to check out the local hospital. We walked around and talked to a couple of people to get a general idea of the type of care they have here. From what they say, it seems as if they are pretty familiar with sickle cell patients and provide good care. Hopefully thats true and she can receive similar or better care here than she has in Philadelphia. We’ll see Insha’Allah.

Later on we tried to watch another movie (I forget the name), but it was kinda bad. We got through it but couldnt really follow. The acting was bad and it was just weird how the scenes played out, jumping around and such...I dont know. Anyways, we tried to watch another one called ‘12/12/12’, which since it was late already, Mumina fell asleep soon into it. It was about a scary devil baby born to normal parents that kept causing crazy strange things to happen, but it wouldnt show his face. It was really stupid so I turned it off and went to return the movies. Well we got to 3 of the 4 movies and only actually got through 1. Maybe the last movie we didnt get to was actually good...who knows. Oh well.

Friday, February 21, 2014

I took another half day at work and I talked to the Christian brother at my job who has done some healing through prayer and is real spiritual. I asked if he would come over and pray over Mumina. He came in the afternoon and we just prayed and prayed for her. At first he actually checked her legs to see if one was shorter than the other, which we knew was the case, and he prayed for the leg to become even with the other. He’s done that many times and I’ve witnessed it too. Its really strange, but it actually works. Some people actually say they feel something in their legs when he prays for it. Mumina didnt feel anything, but it appeared as if the leg came out to even up. He said I would need to buy her new shoes because all her shows have some type of support built in to help even her up, but now that her legs are even, she would need regular shoes. I dont know for sure if they’re actually even but I guess she’ll notice if there’s a difference. Well he ended up praying over different parts of her body (back, knee) which had a lot of pain. He prayed for the cells to be normal and said that the disease can heal completely. He would pray, stop and talk, pray again, and so on. We ended up praying for over 2 hours. He said we should fast and pray on Tuesday together because her appointment at the clinic was Wednesday to see how she is doing. I guess its a matter of time and continued prayers to see if it will work. I do believe in prayer and dua, so I think we need to keep praying and making dua and things will get better for her Insha’Allah. It was an interesting experience. He says he does this a lot and it works. I havent seen much, but he wants me to come with him and the people he goes out with sometime to witness more. Im not opposed to it. Insha’Allah I will get the chance to do it, but I’ve been real busy on weekends for a while now.

Later on we went to the mall real quick. We went into a couple stores but didnt get anything. We went to Walmart to get a coupla things before going to pick up another coupla movies. We watched one (Final Fantasy 5), which turned out to be okay. Well, at least we got to watch an ok movie while she was here.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

We headed to Philly to drop Mumina off. We left kinda late, so we didnt get there until about 4:30 in the morning. It was a good drive....no problems.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

I spent a little time with Mumina and family before heading back to SC. I left around 4pm. I thought I can make it in one shot but I had to stop to get some rest as I was going through NC. I noticed I started going really slow and at some points blanking out for some seconds....it was bad. Luckily I didnt get in an accident. I stopped at a rest area and napped for maybe 1.5 hours. It was pretty good but I noticed I was still tired when I hit the road again. I pulled off into a gas station and actually started falling asleep in the parking lot. I finally got up and got a chocolate/coffee mix (my new thing). That seemed to be enough. I only had a little over an hour to go, so it wasnt bad. I felt pretty good after that. Alhamdulillah I made it back safely.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I spoke to Mumina after she had seen the doctor and I asked how it went. She just said “well Im not cured”. I guess the prayers didnt quite work even though the Christian guy was so confident that she was being healed. Well, never give up. We just need to keep up prayers and duas and Insha’Allah she will be healed.

Friday, February 28, 2014

I drove to Moms house to join the party celebrating Moms and Juju’s birthdays. Hana and her kids were in town and Jujus birthday was on Tuesday, so they held off celebrating his to combine the party which allowed me to join in on the fun. Ali was there too. I got there about 8:30, but I thought they would have already gotten started. It was nice of them to wait. Anyways, Mom and Juju opened gifts, we ate some cakes and candy, and played Taboo, girls vs. guys (girls won). It was a fun party. Happy birthdays, Mom & Juj!