My Seven Names:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)
Jinx Ontario

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy)
Aziza Yorks

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name)
T. Sha. (I don't actually have a middle name, so I'm stealing my son's)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Orange Monkey

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Shariff Merthyr Tydfil

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name.)
Hustabh

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (your favorite color, favorite soda)
Orange Limonata

thx, Chan!

My parents are here this weekend. Results:

Last home-cooked meal courtesy of someone else for a while.
Lavish all-expenses-paid lunch at Jaleo.
Gigantic hole in the ceiling with insulation and brick showing.
Free babysitter while LB and KG and I check out the tax-free weekend in Maryland only to return home empty-handed.
Pancakes and/or aloo paratha for breakfast.
Alterations of old kameezes (is that a word?) to make new ones to wear with jeans.
Quality time for ZP to spend with his Naniji (who enjoys playing with him, contributing to his college education, and bathing him with his socks on) and Nanaji (who ravages his vocal cords by making silly-talk and raspy sounds to make ZP laugh insanely and then who walks the hyper beast back and forth to get him to calm down and sleep).

Six Degrees of Blogeration Updated and Revisited

Rule -- degrees are established by one live person actually meeting, laying eyes upon, hugging, or clobbering another live person. * indicates blurker or blogguest status

First Degree

Baji -- Lil Baji*, Cybermom*, TP*, Chai, H-Biddy, Musicalchef, Ismo, Broheme, Ushi, Slowmar, Gunnar and Mothman*. (me relatives)

Baji -- Abez, DeGrouchyOwl [collectively, "the Zistahs"], Chan, Najm, Upyernoz, Gojira, Keltie, Noozles, Lamisse* (a.k.a. LaMushy), and Taha* (a.k.a 2 Scoops)

and the new additions: Hijabman (a year ago) and Chat&Chai (today!). (me crew)

Second Degree

Baji -- Chai or the Zistahs -- Karrvakarela, Waleed , da Momma, Poppie , MnM, Lil Gray Crayon, Knicq

Baji -- (LB* or Lamisse*) -- Yasmine, Somayya, and Chocoholic

Baji -- The O Bros -- Akrites

Third Degree

Baji -- the Zistahs -- Poppie -- Usual Suspect and Anju

Fourth Degree

Baji -- Najm -- [Safia or Ayan, but nobody's met Ayan, or come on there's gotta be someone!] -- Shaheen

Did I miss anyone?

Yay! Thanks to the heads up from KG, I'm going to buy this disc and spin it!



Okay, I know, that's a Pixies lyric and not Radiohead, but it fits. If I like it, or more accurately if ZP likes it, I'll report back and recommend it or trash it. Stay tuned and rock on!

T minus one week until I return to work. Until then, I'm trying to cram in as much stuff as I can since Cybermom is here to help.

New driver's license reflecting new address - check. Granted, I hadn't showered or cleaned up much for the new picture since I thought they were just going to use my old picture that they had stored digitally, but the DMV loves to throw ya for a loop, no? Thank goodness it was in the pleasant, air-conditioned Georgetown location instead of the crummy, hot, cranky-staffed Judiciary Square one.

Shopping for new clothes - check. Got some dressy shirts and cozy cords to wear back to work which should last all of about a week or so before I revert to my jeans and t-shirts because if I can get away with it, why not?! (interro-slacker!)

Haircut - check. I haven't had my haircut since the winter months and since I wasn't willing to shell out $50 for a simple straight cut and don't like making appointments, I had my MIL cut my hair. The only thing was that getting my locks cut in the garden outside resulted in multiple mosquito bites which I could have done without.

Organize ZP's room which has, from the day we moved in, doubled as a large storage closet - work in progress. Maybe tomorrow I'll sort through everything. Maybe not.

Take daily pix of ZP to send to Cybermom and dad - check. Here is the latest of my wee monster post-bath looking a bit Arabic according to some:




and this one is fresh off the press:



Go to a few concerts - check. Only two more free summer ones left!

Watch as much Colbert Report, Good Eats, and Reno 911 as I can - check. But I swear, if I see another one of those male enhancement ads, I'll put my foot through the tv. The music alone is enough to make me change the channel.

Take naps - check. Although, I think another one is scheduled for right about now. Ciao!

With Cybermom happy to monster-sit ZP, LB and I hit the Leesburg Outlet mall where I treated myself to a pair of these beauts:



As light as tissue and as orange as the fruit, it was my favorite purchase. And yes, I got it on sale. :)

For Yaz - The history of "Chappals"

So, in 2000, our good buddy KK (the original KK, not to be confused with the new KK whom we admire equally but have never laid eyes on) was graduating from med school on Saba Island. Always looking for an excuse to travel some place new, we accepted the invitation to his graduation and flew to St. Martin/St. Maarten. One day, my dad, KK, LB, and I went for a quick hike while we waited for the teeny tiny charter plane to take us from Saba to St. Martin.

We headed over to the lava rocks to get a closer view of the water. The volcanic rocks were crazy jagged and sharp so while the rest of us were clamboring over them confidently in our comfortable sneakers, LB was gingerly picking her way along because (fashion plate that she is) she was wearing these stylish platform flip flops.

After a while, it became apparent that she was lagging wayyy behind and in order to hurry her along, KK called out: "Come on, Chappals, let's go!" Hence her nickname, one of many. So when I learned about Neighborhoodies from KG a few years ago, I made the moniker official by getting it printed on a t-shirt for her. The end.

Whenever there is a horrible 'splosion; whereever crime's foul stink waves rise; whomever dares to challenge the delicate senses of upstanding citizens, Diapoman will be there. Here's the lil' superhero tuckered out after a full day of fighting evil-doers, ensuring justice prevails, and saving the day . . .




*Superhero cape/bib courtesy of LB and KG*