My first attempt at making tiramisu turned out much better than I expected. We finished off an 11 by 13 pan in just two days. My mother's warned me though, I'm not allowed to make it again for a long time otherwise we'll all become fatties =S

I spend so much time writing drafts. Some of them I write in lighting speed, and realizing that the grammar, mechanics, spelling are not up to English teacher par, I never get around to editing them. I know all the other posts aren't perfect either, but most of them can be read well enough to understand what's going on.
Maybe bullet points will be more effective in getting all this down:

1. {edited}
2. I'm burning through tealight candles like there's no tomorrow. I really like the musky or jean paul gauntier (complete with a french accent) smell, especially before bed. Except when it becomes too strong its kind of suffocating.
3. I can swim!! Alhamdulillah. After 3 weeks of noodles, floaties, boats, tubes, and my personal favorite the purple air mat, I can float and swim with my head above water or completely submerged. I hated putting my head underwater for some reason for the first two weeks, but now that I can swim underwater, I prefer it 100 times over swimming with my head over water. in the deep end too!!
4. I'm baking lots of brownies. It's a constant bake sale to raise funds for my trip. I will overnight brownies (marshmallow fudge, walnut, chewy, chunky, you name it) ! =D
5. I'm selling my Touched by an Angel CD set, Under the shade of Scrolls (Muhammad al-shareef), and History of the Quran (Isam Rajab), and my complete Tafsir Ibn Kathir at very reasonable prices...and probably better than Amazon or half.com
6. 25 more days...ah.

Ever since my online astronomy class a couple years ago, I've really liked looking at the stars. I can't identify many of them and don't know much of the science behind it, but the few facts that I can remember are enough to have me oo-ing and aah-ing and getting a cramp in my neck. I suppose I could do that even before an astronomy class, but I've come to appreciate them and their Creator so much more. Really its because a little tiny miniscule understanding of the universe just opens you up to realizing how incredibly vast it is, and how incredibly tiny we are, and the Incredibleness of Allah.
Someday, I'll be outside where there aren't any other lights...other than the stars. I'll have someone I feel very safe with near me. =D Then I'll be able to see a whole sky full of stars and I'll find Orion's belt, jupiter, polaris, casiopia, and the big dipper. InshaAllah
The fact that I remember the most is that the light that we see from the stars is actually billions of years old! That's how long it takes for it to reach our eyes from wherever in the universe they are. That totally changes the perspective of time being "here and now" and the future.

If tears could fix problems...
we could cry until they were all gone...

instead
with heavy choked lumps of
sad
in our throats

wishing, praying, hoping
resisting despair

problems that aren't even "mine", but they are "ours" because this isn't about me or you. The heart strings are tied, taut under my rib on my flesh to under yours and on yours. Turning my head away from you to spare myself the sight of the problems doesn't stop the hemorrhaging, the painful, jerking tug to get my attention again to watch our problems, our wreckage...

I keep making drafts starting off topics, some in regards to the current situation in Pakistan, which we are continiuously watching at my house (thanks Geo news) and others in regards to the censorship of the media itself which happened only a few weeks ago in Pakistan. Although these topics have brought Pakistanis to the forefront of the "fanatical extremist islamofascists" list, I wanted to write about another topic that hit home personally. Gorgeous is gone, and if you've ever had a cat you might know what it feels like. That innocent, pure, unconditional love could be the topic of an entry, but really I'd have to be able to verbalize that, which maybe I will later.

I heard something today that struck me. What if you knew with certainty of sight (of hellfire and jannah)? You saw the blaze and the gardens? What would you do differently in your life?
Yet if we wait to see them before we change anything, then it will certainly be too late.