I grew up in the back country of Pennsylvania. My parents own 24 acres in a rural area along a mountain range. To say our power went out is an understatement. It went out if some so much as sneezed a mile away. Well one night it went out when I was reading a really great book. I didn’t want it to end… so logically I lit a couple of candles to read by. I was fully engrossed in what was happening that I didn’t even notice that my bed was on fire. Apparently, I moved and hit a candle… The top corner of my bed was in flames. I didn’t quite understand what was happening, I sat and just stared at it for what seemed like forever… but probably only a few seconds. I took my pillow and started beating the flames out. Since my pillow was made of synthetic materials (I am allergic to down)… the pillow lit on fire. Now I had a bed on fire and the pillow in my hands was also in flames. I smothered the ‘bed fire’ out with the pillow and then tried getting the pillow fire out. I kept opening and closing it on itself to try and extinguish the flame (imagine me doing an action close to opening and closing a book)… the synthetic ended up melting and my hands started getting hot. I then threw the pillow on the ground and used a glass of water to put it out. The pillow ended up melting onto my favorite pair of shoes and it also melted the carpet a bit.

To say that the stench was horrible would be an understatement. All this happening and the fire alarm never even went off until well after the flame was out. My mother then asked what was happening and I screamed “Nothing!”  I then promptly pored an entire bottle of Bath & Body Works spray all over the ‘damage.’ It made my room REAK even more. I now don’t buy anything by B&B… scarred for life.

Yeah. Moral of the story: I will always remember the fire, I can’t even remember the book I was reading. Don’t be stupid.

***My mother found out later what happened and scolded me big time. Now its an example of how not to behave for the rest of my family.***

After watching it my husband and I had a conversation about it. I was motivated to action. It spoke to the renegade activist within me…. ready to wheat paste all over city streets. I immediately went to the site to buy the kit… yet they are sold out. I really can’t wait to see those signs April 21… coincidentally Earth Day. My husband on the other hand called this video propaganda.  Which it is. But he said he wouldn’t move towards action until they interview Kony and hear ‘his side’ of the story. I understand his caution, but when kids are involved my thoughts are get them out of harm and then ask questions later. Anyway… this video isn’t asking for his head on a platter… but to have him arrested and tried for his crimes. If this actually happens his side of the story would come out. I understand caution… but I don’t understand inaction. In our discussion I pulled the trump card of would you have interviewed Hitler before saving millions of lives? A little over the top? Yes. But I do have a flair for the dramatic.
The artistic/marketing side of my mind is really impressed with this video’s technique. It is very persuasive and edited into perfection. The only thing I dislike is the ‘found’ footage they used as filler from movies like Love Actually ect. If he is going to do a video that is very important I do hope he didn’t infringe on any copyright laws.

If you have yet to watch this film… please do so. It is an amazing message and please take action. Write/call the people on the list… make this not ok and lets stand together. We are all God’s children… and that goes well past country lines.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Last Saturday I was plopping around my local Target and I saw a butterball turkey on sale. And I walk past it and then turn around and walk past it a few more times. I look in their bin and start an internal debate. (don’t know if some of it was said aloud… you would have to ask the other patrons) The smallest turkey they had for sale was a 19 pounder. 19 POUNDS!!!! Mind you there are only two of us at home that I have to cook for. 19 Pounds of meat. Would this become our third roommate?

I finally surrendered to the fact that the sale wouldn’t last forever and other stores were selling them for double the price… so I bit the bullet and put it in my cart. I was now the proud owner of a 19lb butterball… with no idea what to do with it.

I have cooked a turkey by myself once in my life. My mother is an amazing cook, and she is the one that usually does this at Thanksgiving. The one time I did a turkey was when I was still in college living with my roommate Elise. I don’t really remember having to thaw it for 5 days as per the instructions on the turkey and given to me by the older gentleman that ran me out.  I guess I had a panic stricken face when he ran me out, because he was full of advice.  It was so heavy that along with my other items I couldn’t carry it all up my stairs. I had to call Hassan and get him to take it up the stairs to our apartment. And this is how 2 became 3.

It is Wednesday night and ‘IT’ is partially thawed out.  My mother usually brines her turkeys but I honestly don’t have a vessel besides a trash can that could hold this thing. I have a roasting pan but that is shallow…. so wet brine is out of the question. I hauled my partially frozen turkey out of the fridge and opened her up. I was going in. I was going to dry brine this sucker. 20 min later and the threat of salmonellae cleaned away… my turkey is back in the fridge bagged up. Don’t know when she will actually thaw out, but when she does I am ready.

With an apartment this small its strange having our third roommate be a frozen 19lb butterball. One good thing is that she doesn’t talk very much and I don’t have to worry about her flirting with my husband. Sure she hogs all the space in my tiny fridge, but like all things this too shall pass.

Now… don’t get me wrong I am still getting out of the habit. And a few blue words slip past me unchecked…. but I have been getting better and better.

What I did was replace the words with other ridiculous phrases. Like: Fuddruckers, shnit, fruitcake, flurge, frack (bsg reference), peanut brittle, poop scooper, blargh, poop shoots, goodness gracious, and Michael Buble.

Lately my need to use even these words have lessened. Because my need to swear came from a need for exclamation.

Although, I no longer say Jesus… I do say Geez. This one is a hard one to crack for me. I am trying to phase it out… but it keeps slipping back in.

I do feel like I am making headway with this… but it is an uphill battle. The pattern was set at a young age, which gives me even more motivation to quit this habit before I start procreating.

He will get his. Just you wait Henry Higgins!

I did my research before I bought them… because at $25 a pop… its nothing to sneeze at. People said it smoked…. ok. People said they couldn’t smell it after a few hours. Ok.

Candle 101: It smokes because the wick is too long. You have to follow directions and cut the wick before burning. I did that and it burns perfectly, no smoke.

Smells are an interesting thing. Everyone would say their house smells normal when they are in it… but leave for a few hours and come back to it… you smell what everyone else smells when they step into your home. We become accustomed to certain smells after prolonged exposure. To keep enjoying your candle scents, I would suggest alternating the scents. This will keep your olfactory system working to keep up and letting you get your $25 worth of candle. lol

The ring I got is costume… but super cute and fits my fingers.

I would suggest trying them out.  I found out about their free shipping on their facebook page. Also, when you order one… they send you a code that you can share with friends. And if they use it… you get one in return. So win win.

I would really suggest trying them out. I got the Christmas Tree Scent. I love it. I grew up in the woods… so it smells of home.

At this point I wasn’t nervous, I was just fidgety.  I could not stand still or stop talking. I thank Allah for Becca’s supply of patience. She calms me down and soothes the savage beast within. lol. They introduced the event and invited the non-muslims to come and watch us pray. The brother who did the call to prayer did such an amazing job. MashaAllah. We prayed and then dinner was served. It was Pakistani food. Which I love. I love ethnic food. LOVE IT! And boy was it spicy. It made my nose run a bit.  I was told that I would be going last, this is when I started to panic. It felt like I was following the Beetles.  I love Becca’s story so much that it really can’t be topped.  I could hear it every day for the rest of my life and it will always touch my heart. Although, I think it was extra special when she told it this time…. You could see the emotion building within her while she relived the story again. And when she talked about the point when she choose Islam she started to get emotional. SubhanAllah. It made me cry. And when she talked about her parents converting… it made me cry all over again.  So not only was my nose running but now I was crying… all right before I had to go up and speak. Alhumdulillah.

As for what I talked about… I honestly couldn’t tell you. I had been thinking about my story for the past few weeks, and the only thing that makes it special is the fact that I documented the entire thing on YouTube. There are so many things that I wanted to say and I don’t know if I said them or not. I would liken my speech to Will Ferrell’s debate in Old School, but not perfect. I just can’t remember much of what I said.  I think it went alright because no one avoided me after. Although, I do have to own up to a major flub. I was talking about the 5 Pillars of Islam and I totally blanked on the last two.  How many times do I talk about that? So many. Alhumdulillah it was good for my ego. lol  It was an amazing turn out and I loved talking with everyone after. The students at Trinity are so great MashaAllah. They are eager and so kind. I really felt their joy at being a part of the Ummah.

After the event wrapped up, Marwa let us look inside the main Chapel.  It really is beautiful. I even got to sit at the organ and pretend to play. Childhood dream fulfilled.