Our Ship Finally Sailed

We finally got the Mahroosa in the water! And after sitting here for 20 minutes trying to find the link to my previous post about buying the boat, I've come to the conclusion that I've never blogged about her. We bought her last January and I was certain I told you, but apparently not.

We bought the Mahroosa in January 2010 with another family here. Owning a boat is the best way to get unlimited access to the yacht club beach where we camp and play. We didn't have the car ready with a hitch, and unfortunately it took us about 11 months to get one. (just don't ask...)

And after we had the hitch, it seems like every weekend has been jam-packed, or the tire on the trailer was flat, or the guys who are going to teach Steve and Michael how to sail couldn't go, or...you name it. Michael was beginning to doubt that we really own the boat.

This last weekend we had an unplanned 3-day weekend, courtesy of the King returning from a 2 month medical vacation. And the stars aligned for putting the Mahroosa in the water. We went down with a couple of families and made a day of it. The guys washed her, readied her and by about 4pm sailed her. Talk about excitement!

I think I'm going to be seeing a lot more of the beach in my future.

Valentine's Day in Saudi

I thought our mailbox here in Saudi, where we only get correspondence sent from the school, employee association and occassionally the company, would be free of junk mail. I was wrong. We received a letter last week from the Khobar Islamic Center that detailed how concerned Muslims should handle Valentine's Day. It was such a hoot that I had to share it with you.

Here is the text in it's entirety (I'll refrain from making snarky comments as I go along):

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a jaahili Roman festival, which continued to be celebrated until after the Romans became Christian. This festival became connected with the saint known as Valentine who was sentence to death on 14 February 270 CE. The kuffaar still celebrate this festival, during which immorality and evil are practised widely.

Shaykh *** (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:

In recent times the celebration of Valentine's Day has become widespread, especially among female students. It is a Christian festival where people dress completely in red, including clothes and shoes, and they exchange red flowers. We hope that you can explain the ruling on celebrating this festival, and what your advice is to Muslims with regard to such matters: may Allaah bless you and take care of you.

He replied:

Celebrating Valentine's Day is not permissible for a number of reasons.

1- It is an innovated festival for which there is no basis in Islam.

2- It promotes love and infatuation.

3- It calls for hearts to be preoccupied with foolish matters that are contrary to the way of the righteous salaf (may Allaah be pleased with them).

It is not permissible on this day to do any of the things that are characteristic of this festival, whether that has to do with food, drinks, clothing, exchanging gifts or anything else.

The Muslim should be proud of his religion and should not be a weak character who follows every Tom, Dick and Harry. I ask Allaah to protect the Muslims from all temptations, visible and invisible, and to protect us and guide us.

End quote from Shaykh ***

I seriously don't even know where to start. My favorite part is "during which immorality and evil are practiced widely." I better make sure to buy some red pants, socks and shoes to go with my red shirt so I can properly celebrate Valentine's Day next year.

(***I omitted the name of the Shaykh who wrote this.)

Sittin' on the Fence

My firstborn went to the Sweetheart Dance at the Middle School last week. It was his third dance of the year, but the excitement level was every bit as high as the first. He *loves* going to the dances. He loves them so much that when in deep caca earlier in the year he willingly accepted a whole month of screen time restriction (no TV , video games, or computer time) so that he could attend a dance. That's a lot of love.

I haven't been allowed to chaperone so I only have the word from my spy network to rely on. Apparently he's quite a little dancer, often break dancing with a large group of kids cheering him on. He comes home with tired, aching feet but the rest of him so wired that he can't go to sleep. And as I'm sitting in his room listening to him regurgitate the exciting events of the evening, I can't help but wonder where my baby went. How is it possible he can be going to middle school dances already, willingly dancing with girls, and (gasp) LIKING IT?

But something happened at this dance that shone a light on the reality of the situation. He lost a tooth while breakdancing. A baby tooth! At almost 12 years old he still has a number of them in his mouth, although I think this was the last one from the front. It was totally surreal to hear him talking one minute about where to find the tooth fairy box and discussing in the next breath who he slow danced with.

Reflecting on the events of the night, I couldn't think of more perfect symbolism for the stage of life Michael is in right now. He's sitting right on that fence that separates kids from teens. He wants to like girls, but he doesn't want to like girls. He want to hug me goodbye in front of the school, but he doesn't want anyone to see. He wants to take more responsibility in some areas of his life, but he's not quite ready for it yet. He goes to middle school dances and loses baby teeth.

There's a spot for me on the fence with him: I don't want to rush him into the teen years but I don't want to hold him back either. I'm constantly unsure of how much to push and how much to pull. I'm proud of him, I want to see him mature, but I want to keep him little for as long as I can.

I'm going to let him sit up there as long as he wants.

Looking at the Stains in a Better Light

I stumbled down the stairs this morning to find a gift waiting for me on the Persian rug in the entry. A gift from Peaches. Her gifts are never the kind you're very excited to get. It's never Apple products or gift certificates for massage, but things that need to be cleaned up. So before I even had a cup of coffee, I was cleaning up dog puke. That's how my day started.

I was determined to not just get the stain out, but keep a good attitude in the situation. It's JUST a rug, right? And as much as I try to keep our furniture and rugs in good condition, we are an active family. With active boys. AND a puppy. I could stress myself out trying to keep the rug looking pristine, or just roll with some stains.

It reminded me of the kitchen table we purchased right before moving over here. It's not an expensive table, but I really like it and would like to have it for a long time. I'm not sure if the wood is just soft or if my boys press really hard when they write, but I can see where they've done their homework carved into the table. When the light hits it just right, you can see a mosaic of elementary school spelling words, math and doodles - a written history everything they've learned in the last couple school years.

Some day my house will be quiet. The dog will be old and will sleep all day. The kids will be grown, and when they do visit they'll take their shoes off when they come in (they will, won't they?). I'll look at the rug and remember the time that Jake ran in with mud, so proud to tell me of his accomplishes on the four-square court at the park. Or the day Michael came in with wet feet after dancing around barefoot in the rain. And of course, the morning their cherished pet puked on the rug but was still so happy to see me.

The rug might start looking stained to most, but it's really just silently recording the best days of my life. Some day I'm going to love those stains.