Where did all these onions come from?

 HAPPY Mother's Day!

A Litter of Babies

 I saw this news blurb about a woman who gave birth to nine babies. See below:

NINE!  So the last two were unexpected because she thought she was only having seven. Can you imagine the conversation?  

"Well I guess I can do seven. I mean, it's not like I'm the Octomom!  How embarrassing would THAT be?" 

And then the birth comes and the last two babies are all: SURPRISE!  [Jazz Hands!]

The sleep deprivation from one baby . . . but nine?!  Sweet. Baby. Jesus. In. Heaven. 

Apart from that, lemme make this about me for a sec. 

Because she has my name!  

I've only ever heard my name once before on TV and it was when Mum and I were watching the news. A Muslim refuge with her nine children (but not all at once!) was escaping across the border.  "Ooh, Hal!  She has your name!" Mum said, hitting my arm. Thanks, Mum.  She named me after a friend. Altho, these days, she would prolly be accused of Cultural Appropriation.  I think Cultural Appreciation is a better term. 

I've heard it both ways.

Halimah, the name that was never on touristy souvenir key chains or mugs. The name that was stumbled over,  garbled and mispronounced when I was growing up.  The name that was never a character in a movie or book. The name of a quintillion nick names like Amoeba and Ha-LIMA Bean. [Quintillion: it's a math term. Look it up.]  The name that I shortened to "Hali" after getting called Shalimu. Which then became a nick name. The name that gets me "randomly searched" every time I fly.  Every. Single. Time.

My name.  :-)