SO as many of you already know, the famous neice - Sumaiya - is in Boston and away from me. I miss her to bits and pieces.

Today, I called her and talked to her for a few minutes as she is 2 1/2 now and talking sooo much. She was being put down for a nap and as usual, that means a fight. She gets on the phone and starts babbling in her baby talk:

"Hala (khala), I no vant to go into the sleep. I vant to vatch my show. I no vant to vatch mama ta (ka) show. I love...

Its been one full year since she has been gone.

Last year, in the first week of Ramadan, I lost someone very precious to me, my nani. I dont even know what to write because no words really embody my emotions...nothing I write seems enough. I type and delete, type and delete. I wonder why Allah swt took away someone so important to us, someone we all desperately needed.

I still feel her hands, smell her itar, hear her voice and laugh and remember her face. She was...

My fellow Pakistanis who are living in large Indo-Pak communities will understand where Im coming from. I am living in Chicago, IL...Desi Central if you know what I mean.

Recently, Ive started to come across a specific type of Pakistani. The kind that lived in Karachi and was mildly active in politics and knew a lot of people in all the right places. Then, they came here and started their life from scratch. In America, you dont have maids and no one does anything for you for free....

Here we are...living life to its fullest arent we?

I think Im here to get a few things off my chest so I can breathe easier. Every so often, my shoulders become heavy and I start to feel down because I have to unlaod all that Im carrying on them. So, here it is. Im talking to you, to Allah swt...to anyone that is listening out there.

What am I searching for? Why doesnt this feeling of curiosity die already? I dont understand why I feel this way or what Im even looking...

Havent done a blog entry in ages right? Well, I thought I would drop a line to say I might be a little out of the loop because..............

IM GONNA GO AND SEE MY NIECE IN BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am I excited? Beyond words! Can I wait to just take her in my arms and kiss her all over? Absolutely NOT!

Im going to spend a week with my two year old little terror and just spoil the daylights out of her! Im leaving early tomorrow morning...I am so...

Today, I thought about my little chutki all day. She is very very sick for some reason...wont keep anything down and is running a fever. Im extremely worried about her! Im booking tickets for April 10th so I can go and see her myself. Im restless...the doctors havent said anything but please please please pray for my little one...that she recovers and goes back to being a healthy and vibrant child. She is the light of my life and I cant stand the thought of her being sick.

May...

Im sure all of you have already read about how crazy I am about my niece. No, Im not wierd. All of us love our nieces and nephews, of course! I guess for me its really deep because her birth Mashallah, changed a lot of things in my family.

My father is a diabetic, 3 time stroke survivor and a heart patient. After going so much, he had become quiet, a bit emotional and reserved, not sure of the word Im looking for here. The doctor had warned us of this though. We accepted it and did...

Today I was out with my mom apartment hunting and just touring the area I want to move to eventually. We stopped and picked up some lunch to have at home and I was about to jump on the highway when my mom said she wanted to stop at her friend's house for 5 minutes. No problem. She told me she wanted to see her friend's mother who had been visiting but will be leaving for Pakistan soon.

Now, I know this aunty very well because she is responsible for my fiance and I being together....

Wow, its the year 2009 already! Yikes! It seems like yesterday we were all fretting over Y2K and look at us now!

For me, 2008 brought a lot of changes into my life and I can honestly say I grew up this year.

I got a very nice position with a company whose direction and energy I loved but due to this horrid recession, they're barely making it so I got laid off. Im actually home these days and have never been happier. I was running around like a chicken with its head...

Im sure all of you have read about my little treasure...my baby niece.

Today is a sad day for me because she left. I just cannot stop crying. Her father found a job in Boston and has been there for about 5 months already. He was offered a contract, he took it and now they have all moved there for the time being. They rented an SUV, loaded it up and took my little princess with them.

I know everyone loves their nieces and nephews but I just adore mine. My younger sister...

I have a niece who will be 2 years old in Feb, Inshallah. She is my world and means everything to me. When I come home, she follows me into my room and plays with everything she can reach. She is talking a little now so I hear things like "Aala (khala) Ajaoooo", cookie is "tooti", dupatta is "patta", ketchup is "tutup", etc. We were at Tahoora a few weeks ago and she offered her mango shake to these strangers who were sitting a few seats away from us. She...

So this past Ramadan was the probably the hardest one of my life. My grandmother passed away in the first week of Ramadan.

My precious Nani was about 4'8". Generally, we're very small people though, I am only 5'3" myself. This tiny little woman had gotten married in Lakhnow, lived through the Partition, came to Pakistan, had 6 children, lost one, raised the rest and got only three of them married when my amazing Nana passed away. She raised her grandchildren in Pakistan,...

I wake up, I take a shower, change clothes and run out the door to catch my train which leaves in 10 minutes and I still have to buy my parking permit! Im SO late!

I get to the city, walk to Starbucks, buy my Caramel Macchiato with double shots of espresso and then walk to work.

Im so ungrateful. I dont understand what people would give to have the type of normalcy I have in my life right now. The problems I face are NOTHING compared to what some have to go through....