Happiness

To be without desire is to be content.
But contentment is not happiness.
And in contentment there is no progress.
Happiness is to desire something, to work for it, and to obtain at least a part of it.
In the pursuit of beloved labor the busy days pass cheerfully employed, and still nights in peaceful sleep.
For labor born of desire is not drudgery, but manly play.
Success brings hope, hope inspires fresh desire, and desire gives zest to life and joy to labor.
This is true whether your days be spent in the palaces of the powerful or in some little green by-way of the world.

Therefore, while yet you have the strength, cherish a desire to do some useful work in your little corner of the world, and have the steadfastness to labor.
For this is the way to the happy life; with health and endearing ties, it is the way to the glorious life.

Max Ehrmann

Happy Monday!!!

My giggle for the day

I remember the days when we were dating. We'd do silly little things to express our love and devotion. Zaid created an entire word search puzzle once. I found it adorable. (Thats one other thing i forgot i used to enjoy) He also used to make custom cards. (Being a creative in the ad industry helps) He melted my heart when he took a pic of his 5110 and e mailed it to me. The message on the screen read 'Happy Birthday My Queen' I'll never forget that! I still have a copy of it.

Boys I hope you too are as creative and romantic as Dad. (Sorry babes hope I'm not ruining your street cred! ;))

Sometimes when you're all grown up you tend to forget to show the people around you that you care and appreciate them.

Zaid is busy watching the soccer so this is what I got up to. I loved the smile it brought to his face and the little giggle that we shared.

More birthday love

Birthdays are never just one day celebrations with us. We celebrate as a foursome and then with the family and Anees has a party at school too.




Rameez isn't at school yet, so he had a small celebration on his actual birthday. The day starts with us decorating a small cake and then singing and having cake for breakfast. What better way to start your birthday(especially if you're a cake-a-holic like Rameez) We then like to watch the video or look at photos of the day the boys were born. I always love the fascination on their faces as we look through old photos and I love the conversation that ensues as we discuss the day. Rameez was thrilled with his chocolate cake that 'I made self'. He giggled everytime we blew out the candles. We probably had to do it like 10 times. There was more requests for blowing out the candle when I got home from work and I was more than happy to oblige.

Today we spent the day with all the family. What a lovely day. The highlight for Rameez was definitely his Teletubbies cake baked with love by Gran. The look of sheer excitement on his face when he saw the cake was priceless. He kept wanting to taste it so we put it high up on the ledge and while we ate lunch we caught him just staring at it longingly.

Me and my nieces

The family feels quite big, when we're all together we're a rowdy bunch. It's always nice to have everybody together at the same time. We might not see each other often but every effort is made to get together for someone's birthday.

Cousins

Familia

Taz and Deen

Anees we are very proud of you for letting Rameez enjoy the limelight. You are already counting down to your next birthday which is almost a year away. We just love how you are such a kind brother that you are willing to share all Rameez's birthday toys with him. LOL.

Rameez you looked like you had an absolute ball! Your wish for 'cake and toys' was most certainly fulfilled.

Love Mom

Meet Mr Right aka Babes aka Shnookums ;)

One day in 2001 as I walked out of my office I got a glimpse of someone who had just left the dental surgery. He was walking down the passage and I thought 'hmmmm, who might that be?' I can't say what it was but something intrigued me. I went off to reception to enquire who the patient was that just left the chair. Nadia , the receptionist then, told me his name was Zaid Joulay and gave me all his info. I forget about him until a few months later when I get a call from reception to say that Zaid Joulay is back. He is late for his appointment with the GP and will have to wait until he can be slotted in.

So I mosey on down to reception and make myself comfy while I suss him out. I like what I see. *blush* He's with 2 friends and one comes to ask me of the physiotherapist gives massages! When he comes out of his consultation with the GP I go over to hand him his medical aid statement and say that I need to verify that his cellphone number is correct. For record purposes of course. He says yes it is and leaves.

I didnt have airtime on my phone and decided to send him a 'Please Call me' lol! He calls back and I miss the call. So I send him another and again I miss the call. Eventually I call him and he immediately knows that it's me that's calling.

We hit it off right from the start. He is a fun loving, honest, witty (albeit sarcastic) guy. With Zaid what you see, is what you get and I was and still am smitten. He's my best friend as well as my confidante, nurturer and lover. I knew from the 3rd date that I wanted to spend my life with him. I've always been a romantic at heart and when you know you just know! Lol. He mocked me when I told him that I thought we are soulmates. His mom also advised him to stay away from 'girls like me' LOL. He thought I was confident and was pretty chuffed that I took the initiative to make the first move.

Boys I hope you too one day find the kind of love that I've found with Dad. The kind of love that is unconditional and knows no limits. The kind of love that still gives you butterflies after 12 years.