Discovering Myself?

I know, it sounds so tacky, but I need to write down things that I learn about myself so that I can help myself figure out what i like and what i want to do to develop myself inshaAllah.

• I know that i'm pretty good at organizing events. 
• pretty good at marketing events/ideas/thoughts. 
• like working with youth. 
• ok/good at translating and have lots of experience with this. 
• good at navigating internet and using it. 
• good at playing competitive games with my kids (Spot It!)- this is important b/c i've been trying to find ways that i can do quality, fun time with the kids, and i feel bad that i'm not really into the craft scene. 
• i can read Qur'an with tajweed well alhamdulillah. 
• i'm not bad at reading and presenting on islamic topics, but i need a push. it's one of those things that i'd rather sit back and relax and not push myself to undergo the stress of it.

Trying New Things

I can't say I'm on a roll yet, but for the last 4 mornings, I've woken up at 6/6:30 am, and stayed up for the rest of the day, and i LOVE my ME time.  That's exactly what it is, I wake up, pray, and then sit and read a book in complete silence, without feeling like i'm ignoring a kid's needs.  It's addictive and I can't get enough of it, and it ends too soon with (usually) Hasan waking up, or (today) Sumayya waking up with a loose tooth.

The only possible (downside) is that I can't stay awake past 9 pm, which i gotta work on.  Esp when Saif stays up till 1, 2 and 3 am every night.  But on an upside, I've actually made an effort to clean the kitchen up before I go to sleep the last 2-3 nights, and again, it's really difficult when you can't stay up, but it feels SO good after the fact.  Props for that goes to my sis in law, Maha, who we just came back from visiting in Michigan.

And props for me waking up early goes to two 'things'.  1. ZenHabits blog (www.zenhabits.net)- who encourages early waking up and tells you to do ANYTHING you like to help you do it (props to Maha again for directing me to this site) and 2. the anything i like that helped me get up the first day or two.....WWF!!! That's Words With Friends, a scrabble type game on my Android.  Thanks to Afnan for getting me hooked!  I don't do this first thing in the morning anymore, but it helped get me to do it the first couple of days when I seriously needed a push. 

My whole (motherhood) life, I've FEARED the idea of waking up early b/c I didn't think I'd have the energy to continue with my kids during the long day, but alhamdulillah, i'm doing well!!!! 

And back to the final inspiration to stay on this course of waking up early: my ISLAM! which has always taught us that there is complete baraka in those early hours.  Ya rabb, please help me stay the course and benefit from my early morning hours, with your thikr, praises and husn ibadah.