Ramadan Days 19-22

Days 19-20

Because of our hectic schedules, DS and myself break my fast at my parents' home during the week. And on Saturdays, at my parents' home again because it is a meeting place for all of my siblings when we meet.

On Saturday, I helped my mom make spinach pies. See picture. Yummm...(Thank God I am not fasting as I blog about this). My mom made the dough from scratch and made piles of balls on a tray waiting to be flattened out. Guess who had to flatten them out? Yours truly. My siblings seem "shocked" when I "cook" with my mom. (Ha ha). I get teased because I don't plan semi-elaborate meals for DH and DS (this is for another story one day). I flattened the pies, and my mom put a spinach mixture and then she folded the dough into a triangle. If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it a random link that I looked up: http://www.theepicentre.com/Recipes/mspies.html. Unlike one of my sisters who loves cooking, I don't actually mind it when it is a group cooking. However, once in a while, I do find that inspiration to whip up some fancy meal--but that hasn't happened in a while.

Day 21

DH and I took DS to Sunday School. While he was in Sunday School, DH and I went to explore a Forest Preserve. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We walked in the woods, sat near a river, and DH and I reflected, observing nature and sharing them with each other. After two hours, when we were driving out of the Forest Preserve, we saw some steps that were built in a semi-hill. I told him that we should climb this next week when DS is in Sunday School. DH said, "let's do it now." I agreed. The stones were very old and steep, yet I had to climb them. (DH did fine, I need to exercise some more). Half way up, I took a break while DH encouraged me to continue. I told him to go on. He made it to the top.

I thought wait a minute. Yeah, I am fasting, but so is DH. When I saw DH continue walking after he reached the top. My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to finish. I reached the top (huffing and puffing), and was it beautiful! The top was covered with more trees and a walking trail.

We ended up going back down. Then we stopped by some friends' home. They invited us to break our fasting together instead of at the Masjid. After we picked up DS, we headed back to our friends' home and broke our fast there. One of these days, I am gonna have to post some photos of Arabic food.

Day 22

Guess what I did, world. I jogged and walked with my running buddy. Boy did I feel it! I haven't done that since June of this year.I was very thirsty today because silly me had to jog and walk. It's all right because it was an opportunity to discipline myself and teach myself to forget about being thirsty.

By now, every fasting Muslim tastes the food differently. The taste has a very rich texture (no, I am not talking about hot spices). It is just that you become more sensitive to the taste that you haven't noticed in a while. I hate to sound like a commercial, but you enjoy every bite as you eat.

Until tomorrow, my fellow readers.