Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Count Down Is ON!

With less than 3 weeks to go, more than 150 North American Muslims are sitting at home staring at an empty suitcase. To pack or not to pack - that is the question running through our minds. My calender with none but one word - haj - seems to be going through a range of emotions very time I look at it. Sometimes it looks at me pleadingly, other times it glares at me. What am I to do? I want to begin my preparations for this most spiritual journey, but with no Saudia visas in hand, preparations almost seem like a waste of time.

So here I am - physically unprepared for haj - staring at my empty Swiss Army suitcase. How am I to get mentally prepared? I want to be excited but it seems like our visa trouble is just a preview of what awaits us.

I begin to think of Mecca and the Kaaba, and for a minute, I am at peace. Then my mind wanders to my unsewn white pilgrimage garments laying lifeless on my tailor's "sancho". My heart begins to race again.

With less than three weeks to go for haj, I am finding myself nervous, a little scared, somewhat confused and totally unprepared. Beautiful! Such emotions are definately the making of a successful trip - wouldnt you agree?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Report Card Fever

I got the fever - and I am burning up! Report cards got me down. For the last week, I have spent the majority of my time either marking, drafting comments or on the computer trying to input all my information!

The worst part of this is the reports are now web based! In theory, it is a good thing - but like all theories, it doesn't really follow through into real life! With the huge volume of teachers logging in to write their report cards, there are huge delays, many error messages and the worst of all - the freeze that results in a huge loss of inputted data!

What a waste of time! While it should take a few moments to write a comment, it takes hours! What a waste of time!

Since my head is throbbing and the system is down - AGAIN - I am heading out!

And for all those who think teaching is easy because of the summers - I challenge you to survive one report card season and then talk to me!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna

This is a message for my dear friend - Minaz.

Although we stand each other up for our coffee dates, although we dont know how to play it "by ear" - whatever that means, although we dont know how to communicate effectively with each other, we DO know something very important! We know how good "fridges" is!

Fridges will not be the same without you. Hmmm....rich and warm chocolate cake, topped with delicious vanilla ice-cream and drizzled with dark chocolate sauce... hmmm. My mouth is watering already! Is yours? lol

Have a fabulous time on your travels :)