Dear Bloggie

Dear Bloggie

Even writing this one sentence seems to be an unusual feeling at the moment, it really has been forever since I was last here. I even forgot my password the first two attempts I tried logging in just now - thank God I finally cracked it, yes, you'd be correct in thinking that I felt something of a hacker logging into my own personal blog account, silly but there you go.

So what brings me here you may ask. Or perhaps equally as intriguing, why was I ever away for this long in the first place? Hmm.

Hmm.

I have, contray to what you may think dear Bloggie, been a frequent visitor on these shores. From checking through other fellow bloggers updates, to pondering over my own blog, I have been here, just not seen nor heard.

And to be perfectly honset I didn't mind that, not one bit. Plodding along with life has suited me just fine. But a written record of my life's account is something worth coming back here for. This place also suited me just fine when I was experiencing some of life's highs and lows so why should I not carry on with it?

So without going into the ins and outs of my life for the past year, I just want to say hey/hola/warup and check in before I make myself comfortable. It may not be immediate or even tomorrow when I sign in and wave my hand again, but just know that I am here with the intention to share my life with you, just a bit more ;-)

Fatty

Jib jab ouch

Does the thought of sticking needles into ones body NOT scare any body? Clearly the nurse who stabbed the TWO big fat needles into my arms has become immune to them herself! "It's nothing!" she grinned. NOTHING is not mega painful m'dear :-S

/rant over.

I have had a heck of a day, seriously. But who wouldn't think that after being on the receiving end of three injection needles???

After three weeks of thinking I would be relatively pain free following a temporary emergency tooth filling, I accepted pain would be back in full force after I accidentally swallowed my filling. Yes folks, swallowed it, gulped, not chewed mind, whilst munching on some grub last week. I had been avoiding sorting the sensitive tooth issue out for several reasons, all which I baaadly regretted today when the tooth pain struck again. Hot, raging and intolerable was the pain and agony I was in. All whilst in school after enjoying eating a packet of crisps :-(

I called the emergency dentist people who thankfully fitted me in for an afternoon appointment. I had to leave school, hoping the office staff would be kind enough to arrange cover for my lessons, which thank fully they did. Twenty minutes after much cleaning, drilling, treating, filling and polishing, not to mention the injection to numb the area, I was fit and ready to go. Alhamdulilah, I am now relatively tooth pain free, at least for now anyway :-)

Couple hours later, I then hopped along to my doctors surgery for my travel immunisation jabs. On getting there, I was informed my childhood jabs had expired and I was now in need of four jabs in total, including the one, the only one that I was expecting! Part of me actually felt cheated, I honestly believed my childhood jabs would protect me forever more. But apparently not :-(



Three injections later, and two more to follow in a weeks time, all is not doom and gloom. The weather in this patch of my world, is glorious. Sunny bright and HOT! And if that wasn't good enough, the English World Cup football team have brought back some pride, we won! England 1 : 0 Slovenia.

Yaahey!

After weeks of hunting, comes the foul and then the granted pray(er)

The hubs and I have been spending the last year mulling over the prospect of relocating. We have spent the past month or two eyeing up suitable accomadation, weighing the ups and downs of complex A vs complex B, will the apartment be too small, too noisy, too happening? Just some of the questions we've been debating over.

Alhamdulilah, I am glad to say we have found what seems like the ideal city centre apartment for us, and gosh I AM SO VERY EXCITED! Thrilled would be too much right now, but I'm kinda close to it :-) A little haven, a love nest just for the two of us. Without giving away too much about the exact location details to the whole wide but small world, our little apartment will be ready for us to move in to after we return from Umrah (another big YAY) in July. This is what it looks like from afar:


After viewing close to dozen or so flats, countless looong and late conversation between the hubs and I, we decided to snap this one up before the renting population of B'ham swallowed it up! Super excited.

So that was the hunting, and the granted prayer bit. Part 1.

Part 2 is where the foul takes place.

Ever since the hubs and I got married, we talked a great deal about making the Umrah pilgrimmage when we both would be ready for the next leap in our lives. With the significant changes that took place in our lives, just less than a year ago, we decided to do Umrah Hajj before moving out and flying the marital nest. Living together, just the two of us, in an unknown town does seem quite daunting, especially since we will not have any family, or close friends physically within reach of us. And so we figured we could do with strengthing our imaan and our bond with the Almighty, and ultimately seeking His blessings and love before finally moving out.

March/April was when the official search for Umrah deals began and quite shortly we realised how pricey the deals can be around July time. We came across an agent who claimed to offer some of the cheapest deals on the net, and after some enquiries went ahead with it. Since then, this so called agent has been nothing but a constant pain in the neck. Two months after paying a third of the whole payment, numerous sleepless nights and days of being sick and tired of waiting for him to send some sort of confirmation through, we realised the incompetent agent was nothing more than an unprofessional and unreliable travel agent who was more interested in fobbing us off than sorting anything out for us. Enough became enough and we decided to cancel the deal with him, despite his promises of sorting something out soon.

By that point, I had reached melting point, distraught and confused by what had just happended. I had set my heart on going to Umrah for such a long time so why is this happening right now? Doesn't Allah want me to visit His sacred and holy site?

My prayers were answered the next day, a Friday alhamdulilah, when after much hunting for a reliable and decent priced travel agent, I found one who could offer us a tailor made package on the dates that we required. SubhanAllah.

We are also expecting a refund of the deposit soon iA. *clears throat*

Moral of the story folks.

1. Cheap does not always = cheerful.
2. When booking flights through agents, make sure they are at least ATOL protected.
3. Having one's imaan checked and tested is vital and prerequisite of life, always seek the guidance of Allah.
4. Pray and then hunt for the prey :P

Okay. Long story, cut not so short! lol

Anyhoo, I'm gonna be off to help myself to a cool, sweet and milky white Magnum. For now, check out the cute ickle ducklings the hubs and I came befriended near our soon to move into apartment:


Peace and love!

A year old already!

It's been a while folks but I hope you're all well iA! I just realised right now that it's already been a year since I started this thing called a personal blog. A year!! And what an eventful year it has been. I have realised how nostalgia can both be a blessing as well as a curse, and having a written account of some of the significant and insignificant moments of my life is definitely something new for me. From feelings of embarrassment after reading some of my ishtupit remarks, heeheehee, to feeling better realising that my journey in life is one that is moving along, slowly but surely alhamdulilah. Alhamdulilah. There is no hiding from the fact that I do find it difficult to actually click on any post link about my dad though, I don't think I'm strong enough to be able to read it fully without bursting into tears. I do want to add though, that this blog certainly has done something to let me release my fears as well as expressing the joys I have felt throughout this rather turbulent year. I love my dad dearly and although I rarely mention him in my blog posts these days, I cannot go without thinking/making a reference him almost every hour of the day. Perhaps it's okay to not always blog about something that lives on so deep within your inner being.

So yes, it has been just over a year and to be perfectly honest, I really do love reading through countless number of blogs every(other) day, perhaps even more so than writing my own! Thank you to all of you who have followed my blog, whether openly or otherwise ;-) and to all of you who have kindly remembered me in your prayers :-)

Here's to another year of blogging iA!! Wooot!

She's always a woman to me

I've fallen in love with this song. The "woman" seems so happy go lucky, makes me want to be like that again!

Thank yousie John Lewis

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child
But she's always a woman to me

She can lead you to live
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free
She steals like a thief
But she's always a woman to me

She is frequently kind
And she's suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
But she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you
But she's always a woman to me

I got sunshine, in a bag

A song can often simply sum up our complex feelings, and this song's chorus totally does that.

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless,but not for long
The future is coming on
I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine, in a bag
I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on
It's coming on



An update on yesterday: the job ain't mine.

The Headteacher called me in the evening to tell me that although I had a great lesson and interview, I was a "strong close second". Despite possessing a strong classroom presence, making the boring topic fun and engaging, good classroom control and a confident and enthusiatic manner in the interview which helped me answer questions well...I didn't get it! But hey, I was up against an internal canidate who had been there since September on a GTP who had informed the other 5 candidates that we had been shortlisted from a string of over 40 applications for the post! Why am I always pinned against an internal candidate - story of my life! LOL Oh well, Allah knows best and I'm sure better things are in store, inshaAllah :-)

Here goes...

Salaam World

I'm feeling a little anxious. Why? Well because I have been invited for an interview tomorrow at a school I may wish to work in. I gave up job hunting, as in formally applying for jobs a few months ago when I registered with a few agencies to help me find supply teaching work from September onwards. Since then I had accepted that it would take nothing short of a miracle for me to successfully get a full time job before September for a couple of reasons:

1) Impracticality - I am currently living in a different town to where I will be working/living in Sepetmber (iA) and so arranging the travel is very impractical, especially when I and the hubs are working through the week.

2) I have no personal contact with any of the schools - which although does not automatically equate to me getting employed by the school, it does help in getting to know the staff and students which can only be a good thing.

3) ... there was a third reason, but I'm incapable of remembering it right now.

Am I moaning? *nods* *grr*

I really shouldn't be because alhamdulilah, I have got a back up plan in-case I don't have a permanent job by Sept - which is to do supply. And did I mention some of the fab benefits of doing supply? No bringing work home, no stress of planning/marking etc (unless temp-perm) as I'm expected to just teach (or sometimes supervise/babysit) the lessons I'm covering for.

And so, anyhoo I should be okay even if this interview is one from hell. Buuuut, who knows right? It's all part of His plan and I'm happy to go along with it. Wish me luck peepz!

Dear Allah, The Most High Creator, if this job is good for me please allow me to have it and if it is bad for me please remove it for me.