LIFE AS IT IS

I requested for a ride to the mall on Uber yesterday - my driver was a middle-aged Ethiopian man, who moved to the U.S. with his wife and three kids 16 years ago. I always like to talk with other  people and know about their lives. So, while I talked with the Ethiopian gentleman yesterday I learned that he is actually a teacher, who teaches at a local medical institute! I did not know quite understand the name of the institute though, and I was kind of shy to ask again. Anyway, he said he is working for Uber as school is closed for summer - this is not his full-time job. I also found out that he spent one month, training at a hospital in Dhaka, my home city! This came as a total surprise - how many times in your life do you meet an Ethiopian-American who lived for a month in your home country? On my way back from the mall, the driver, who gave me the ride, said he was a full-time graduate student and that he was driving for Uber to earn some extra money. He works at his universi...

Growing up in Bangladesh between '80s and '90s, vegetables were part of our daily diet. It began at breakfast time with round rotis and a preparation from mixed vegetables. Then during lunch time, vegetables were a must too. Lunch began with spinach or some other kind of leafy vegetable, a single or mixed vegetable preparation, meat or fish and dal (pulses). Here in the United States, however, daily diets of adults and children rely heavily on meat and carbohydrates. Potato is probably the most common vegetable in American diet. But I never treated potato as a vegetable before moving to the U.S. - potato is considered a source of carb in the part of the world where I grew up. In the past 6 years, I met very few American kids, who said they loved veggies. Parents are not to be blamed alone for their children's distaste toward veggies - it's an acquired taste. Besides, healthy foods are more expensive in this country. Meat costs much less than vegetables. In large fami...

No one's life comes at a standstill for anyone. 

The front camera of your phone is also a good mirror. Women out there, when you don't have a mirror handy, use it to apply/check your make-up and hair. :)

Yesterday, I was at the Pawpaw Folk Festival held in Wilmington, Delaware. There were many folk artists showcasing and selling their handicrafts, which ranged from woodworking, painting, pottery to jewelry and knit & yarn products. The elderly Amish woman in the pictures below was working at her loom - she was looming 100% woolen scarves and towels, which looked and felt so good. She appeared at least 80 years old but she seemed so active and full of life. I talked with her and asked if I could take some photos of hers - she agreed. I dedicate this blog post to all those men and women, who believe that age is just a number. My daughter and I had fun at the festival. I bought a blue stoneware soap dish from a woman named Nettie Green. Her pottery ranged from pots and dishes to kettles, milk pots, mugs, etc. Each item was unique, hand-crafted and painted beautifully in shades like orange, blue, brown, yellow, golden, etc.

Yesterday, I found in the bathroom cabinet a tube of Babo Botanicals sunscreen that I once bought for my daughter. I totally forgot that I had it. Anyway, when I checked the tube I saw that it expired on 07/2015. Dang! Thinking that it might still be effective I emailed Babo's customer service and asked that if I could still use it since it's been just a month. Guess what their reply was? They req uested me to send them my shipping address so that they can send a new one!! They added that they'd be happy if I write a product review for them after receiving the new tube, which I don't mind writing at all 'cause it's a good product. I was so moved by their gesture. I mean the sunscreen expired 'cause I forgot that I bought it yet they want to send me a new tube! Talk about luck! 

Yesterday, my 2-year-10-month-old daughter was sleeping on me. She weighs more than 30 pounds  and it became a little difficult for me to breathe a few minutes after she began to sleep on me with her face down. But I let her sleep on me because I was loving it. I was patting her back with my right hand and running the fingers of my left hand through her hair.  She smelled so good. She always smells great, or maybe I just love her smell 'cause she is my baby! Yesterday, she reminded me of the day we brought her home from the hospital. That afternoon, too, she slept on my chest. At birth, she weighed 5 lbs 13 oz, which means she was featherlight! Both of us slept peacefully that gloomy afternoon of September.  And, although I could feel her presence on me, I could not really feel her weight on my chest and abdomen. So yesterday when she slept on me, I kept thinking of how fast time flies and how quickly babies grow up. 

When my daughter takes her afternoon nap, I usually lie down beside her with my cell phone. And you know how you can kill many valuable hours browsing the net and facebooking on the phone. I was/am no difference. But I have been trying to make a change to this habit for the past few days. Today, I kept my phone in the kitchen before going to the bedroom to put my daughter down for a nap. After she fell asleep, I read the latest issue of TIME magazine. It felt so good reading something in the afternoon after so many years - it reminded me of my childhood and adolescent years when I always went to bed in the afternoon with a story book. I would read a book and doze off thinking about what I just read.  *Scrawled on August 10, 2015

Early morning is my favorite time of the day, especially during the summer time when the sun is up at 5:30 a.m. I have always been an early riser. I think getting up early is not only healthy, but this habit also helps us make optimum use of every day of our life. You can finish a lot of tasks and still find a lot of time to do more, or just to relax, read a book, or watch a movie. I think late risers do not know what it is like to watch sunshine flooding a kitchen or living room. There is something very energetic about the morning sunshine - it always makes me happy. I also love to wake up early because the world is quiet at that time. No zooming cars, no loud lawnmower in action, no banging of the door by your neighbor -- it is a very very peaceful time of the day.