Letter to Julia 20130727

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

Hi Julia!  How are you feeling, my dearest?  I am missing you of course.  When will I see you again?  I have been very busy.  Ramadan is very busy for me.  And I'm just doing mundane things, living day to day, praying that Allah will allow us to be happily and safely married to each other.  InshaAllah.  I took Chee CHeah to the vet on Thursday.  Even when I don't announce my visit to the vet, there always seems to be someone there ready to pounce on me with their cat.  And I'm rarely in a good mood in the morning.  I'm not a morning person Julia.  I'm like a car that takes a while to start.  I planned to take little Fluffy Ramadan to the vet on Friday morning, but I got too lazy.  She seems to be coping well since her last visit, so I decided to postpone her doctor's visit.  For dinner, I made a batch of curry flavored chili, and I'm going to enjoy it with some "murtabak", a kind of bread stuffed with eggs and meats, made by the locals.  Would you care to join me?

Ouch!  My right shoulder hurts.  I'm old, Julia!  All those years of hammering on the guitar and bass have caught up to me.  This pain started right at the beginning of the fasting month after I practiced the guitar, and it hasn't completely gone away.  I'm afraid that the days of singing and playing an instrument are over: I definitely need an accompanist, or karaoke at the very least, which everyone can relate to, by the way.  Singing puts pressure on my right hand for some reason.  I'm firmly convinced that one cannot be an exceptional singer and play an instrument at the same time.  Average yes, but not exceptional.  As for me, Allah is the One Who grants the music.  Which of course, makes it even more profound.