The first few days

This month of Ramadhan will require me to tune in into new routines. Just a bit of adjustment. That is sleep late and wake up early. Not too much but an hour later and an hour earlier, respectively. Then make up the sleep deficiency on weekends. That will do, I thought.

I was lucky that the 1^st Ramadhan fell on Saturday. So happily, I woke up early for sahur that morning, hoping I could sleep in the afternoon. So afterwards, I did my routine cleaning, prepared breakfast for the kids, even got time to read my novel by some impressive amount of pages (before I couldn’t even get past a page at a time due to interuptions)

So while waiting for the kids at their routine Saturday morning classes, I was beginning to feel a bit heavy eyed and drowsy. I couldn’t wait to get home, I reckoned I had a couple of hours to sleep that afternoon before continuing with my chores for the day. That would be, oh! so leisurely. Nap during the day…a rare indulgence in my life. What better way to spend in the afternoon at home.

We got home after noon, and I so anxious to start napping, quickly fed the kids. Then I prepared milk, darkened the living room and switched on the aircondtion. “Okay, everybody time for nap… “ I announced. 1 hour later nobody slept yet!. Never mind, I thought, I will sleep and they can continue with their playing.

I thought I'd just slept a minute when Fatini woke me up, Mommy, I need to poo poo. Okay, I told her to go…. Then I went back to sleep. Another minute, Emir woke me up, “Mummy, Fatini is finished, she wants to wash” I saw Fatini got a helper to wake me up! I got up and did the necessary things. “Don’t call me again, mommy going to sleep a while, okay….?”, I pleaded and hoped.

But, hope was just a hope, another minute, MOMMY! Then another five minute, Mommy!, Another 5 minute again, Mommy !

Oh my god…when was the last time I could get a good nap? Honestly, I can’t remember. Anyway, I thought I’ve had enough nap for the day. I can always try again tomorrow., I concluded before I got up.

But Sunday was the same story. Somehow the kids didn’t nap at all over the weekends. Normally they did, but not this weekend. They were so engrossed playing with the toys and with each other and made heaps and heaps of mess. But every minute or two, for sure there will be “ Mommy !” or “ MOMMY!!!” at the top of their lungs. So, I gave up the idea of naps forever from my mind. Maybe in a couple more years,…haha

On the positive side, we broke the fast together at home for the past two days. That’s one of the things I love about Ramadhan, we always want to break fast with family.

We also went to Teraweh congregation at the small mosque located just in the vicinity behind our house. Emir has grown up and followed the father to join the males section. According to the father, who relayed to me so proudly, Emir completed 8 plus 3 rakaats of the prayer. He was not being playful, surprisingly. Fatini on the other hand was with me and she did marvelously 6 rakaats, It’s too hot, mommy!, she complained of the garments. “ I want to eat, she whined next. I had thoughtfully brought some goodies for her in my bag and she had her desires taken care of and I could have my peace.

I could see them growing up. Last year, they didn’t even bother to join in and just dashed here and there, mostly moving back and forth between me at the back and hubby at the front of the mosque. This year, they seemed to proceed naturally to the next level. They know nothing about the fasting yet even though Fatini certainly and excitedly knows what the Raya means.

This month promises to be a good one for me.

Happy Ramadhan to all

I always take offence when the guy or lady by the side of the road smiled so sweetly to me before passing me the flyer “Stay slim for life” or whatever the catchphrase is. Of all people passing by, they picked me as one of the fortunate few to be advised of their product. Thanks!

Do they think I need it, huh? My mind couldn’t help wondering. How dare you…!

I read it though. Front and back. I looked at the pictures. Browsed through the product. So tempting! Maybe I should try out the product…Heh heh

Well I gave up on this slimming down thing, actually. Why torture myself….at this age, no, thanks. I feel really okay with my current size, 12 (UK), even though I prefer to be size 10. Size 8 is if only I'm a couple more inches taller. Otherwise 10-12 is just nice for me.

My problem is actually weight maintenance and toning. And I wish for bulges to be in zero existent. I really don’t want to outgrow the clothes another size. I really don't want to feel bloated and sluggish.

And I know my bad habits…
Sweet indulgences
Cakes
Kids leftovers (what a waste if I don’t eat all these food philosophy)
The love of food (any food for that matter)

The other day, when I was buying some food at the stall, I overheard the women at the stall remarked to the man standing next to me ,that he has lost lots of weight.
So (unabashed) I asked him, “Did you really lose a lot?” He said, “Yes, I lost 10 kg in a month!”. (He’s a big man).
“What’s the secret?” I asked.
“I jog everyday, morning and evening, and have no rice at night. Other than that I eat what I want.” “Oh really, I’ll try that,thanks!” I said.

That's real life example, I told myselft. Now I know the secret, but well, I haven’t even started to do anything at all till now.

It’s all common sense that works. Exercise, less fat and less carbohydrate. It’sfree, there’s no need to buy anything exclusive except a pair of jogging shoes perhaps. But why is it so difficult to do what common sense tells us?

So I welcome the coming of this Ramadhan where I will place new resolutions.

Remain healthy, sober, wiser and build more spiritual connection. I have the whole month. Hopefully I will achieve what I aspire to be. After 30 days, consistency will be more likely to become a habit. Need to be careful not to spoil everything on Raya day though.

Happy Ramadhan and selamat berpuasa to all.

New venture

Some weeks ago we planted some trees around the garden. Isn’t it just about time? The garden has been bare before and it could be so hot under the strong afternoon sun.

We feel we need to increase shades around the house. And additional greens too apart from the grass. What better ways than to plant tall trees. So we called some planters to plant a few trees.

I was thrilled when the job was completed but the next day I found lots of dried leaves on the ground. Well, there’re really lots to sweep and clean. Is this going to be additional work for me?

I was concerned though about the survival of the trees and thus begin to water the plants diligently twice a day.

Apparently they are not additional burden for me. The trees are not shedding leaves anymore. I have noted with sheer joy and deep satisfaction that those trees are growing well and have already produced new young leaves, shoots and some have formed small flowers. I have watched the trees development every single day so I do notice every single change.

With the exception of two trees which somehow failed to thrive due to some mistakes during the early days (I think because of the soil does not absorb the water) where the leaves have all turned brown. I have watched with concern on these two trees. I watered them everyday hoping they will flourish back to life again. Obviously I need help with these, maybe professional help.

This planting trees venture has somehow have positive and therapeutic effect on me. It delighted me to see these trees thriving well. No wonder some people are so into gardening and planting. I just couldn’t wait for them to grow bigger and bigger and could imagine seeing the leaves swayed to the movement of the wind.

After this success, I just feel good enough to want to plant more. Somehow the ridiculously high cost of buying trees to plant has somewhat lost its petrifying power to me as the outcome is just indescribably worth it. It thrilled me to see them.

The kids also love the trees. When we first planted the trees, I asked Fatini what does a plant need to grow. Fatini’s answer was so correct, “ Water, Sun and Lots of Love , mommy”.

Now it becomes everyday routine to water the plants and the kids help spraying the water around wetting everything including the porch and my car, and themselves….and sometimes me to my agitation!

Some thing that just define Malaysians

There were some less busy roads off Jalan Bkt Bintang which I took every single morning. I never had any problems. This morning was another story. I had a near miss. A what could have been a terrible incident that will mar my life to a certain extent if not for a life time. It was at a cross road. The bike didn’t stop at the stop sign. Luckily I was not that fast neither I was too slow driving. As I jammed by brake pedal hard in a sudden reflex action and the car stopped and I could feel the tyres dragged, and hoped against hopes that I could stop in time. By the time the car halted, I was just missing the bike maybe an inch that I could see the terror in the man’s face. He was right in front, so close, his eyes closed tight and face grimaced in such a way expecting some disaster to happen to him maybe death. And me, I didn’t even think whether there’s a car behind who will bumped into my car due to the sudden stop. Luckily the road was not busy and the car behind was too far and managed to stop.

The incredible thing was the biker started again, raised his hand to me as a sorry or thank sign and moved on. I could feel the relieve coming from him, maybe grateful for his life. As for me, I was so relieved too but stayed stunned there a minute unable to move, feeling white from the near miss and the what could have beens.

I could have hit the guy. He could have been hurt or died. Or I could have been hit from behind and get hurt myself. I really don’t want to be involved in any of those and have never had that kind of mishaps (God forbids) through out my driving experience.

Which reminds me of an accident happened to my sister when her daughter was only 5 months old and was in the car front seat. Her car was just a car passing through on the way for dinner with family and got hit by a car which was spinning out of control due to a drunk driver. The driver and the passenger in the car died, and this tells the extent of the accident. My sister at the time who was also 3 months pregnant was hospitalized and I cried for days for my niece who had head injuries and broken bones and had to go through multiple operations at one private hospital and we thanked God that she finally recovered. She was only 5 months old and now is a healthy 4+ year old.

Malaysian people are nice, polite to neighbours as well as friends. However I guess Malaysians are impatience and somehow when they want to go anywhere, they fail to plan the journey but they want to get there first. They feel good if they could outsmart other drivers and save a minute here and a minute there. They buy expensive cars but hate staying in the cars too long therefore will jump queue and if possible other drivers should stay away from their lanes because they hate to slow down.

It takes only two impatience drivers to do the same mistakes at the same time at the same place for an accident to occur. The probably of it happening is quite high, I would say.

Cowboy and cowgirl

On Saturday we went to the fantastic cowboy / stampede day. It coincided with the kids' routine saturday morning class but since the venue was quite close to where the class was, I did my magic by driving back and forth transferring each child to and fro. We arrived so early at the venue, the registration desk was just opening, however we won one the early bird prizes! I was ecstatically happy since I hardly ever get such luck of winning any prize easily from anywhere. Anyway , both kids enjoyed the event tremendously with so much activities to do. It was so much fun even though the weather was quite humid.

What! No water?

Yesterday, feeling exhausted I just wanted to reach home, cook dinner and just resting my body in front of the TV. But just when you needed the rest, the least expected happened. At home there was not a drop of water coming from the taps. I checked and checked the main tap with no positive result. I called the neighbour who said her water tank was giving her the night supply. I don’t know what happened to our water tank, but the maid came in this afternoon and may have used up all the water. Resigned with the fact and without any other choices, I used mineral water to cook rice and fried some chickens for the kids. Meanwhile I had let my husband knew about my sticky situation.

Once he arrived he suggested that we get ourselves overnight at the hotel. At first I was reluctant justifying that we could use the bottled water for minor wash etc. Anyway I just hated to waste money over an overnight stay at the hotel just because we didn’t have water supply. But when the kids started “ I want to poo poo, I want to pee pee” thing, that did it! I couldn’t imagine and couldn’t stand unflushed toilets. Telling the kids to hold on, we packed our bags and transferred ourselves to Hilton at PJ.

Fatini and Emir were happy to go out at night to the Federal Highway they forgot about wanting to go to the toilets just when an hour before they acted like it was so emergency.

The night was decorated with bright colourful lights coming from the streets, shops and the cars. I felt it was a nice view, maybe I haven’t been night outing for some time. The kids were so excited and treated last night as if we were on holiday. We checked ourselves in and got a nice room overlooking the highway. The kids were jumping around and finally once rested had their toilet routines. The bed and the temperature in the room were comfortable and after dinner the children fell asleep to my relief. I made myself a cup of tea, started on my novel again and finally dozed off to the slumber I had yearned.

Nothing interesting

I still have the hoarsy voice today even though it's much better now. But I feel so sleepy possibly due to the prescribed drug I took. Last Friday had been a pain to talk and the kids were not letting me go easy bombarding me with endless questions which needed to be answered. Instead of torturing myself to talk I reverted to whispers but that sounded so funny. The funnier think was that Emir started to whisper too when talking balk to me and I really don't like that to become his habit. We ended up seeing the doctor in the neighbourhood that evening.

Lately Fatini had quite a regular nose bleeds, it happened almost everyday and this began to worry me. I don't know what's wrong and the amount of blood sometimes scared me. I had a strange feeling that it might be the Ribena she had religiously consumed everyday. So I put a stop to it for the time being using the elimination and observe tactic. She's quite obedient regarding all these health issues and had changed her drink to milo now. Since I stopped her on Ribena on Friday, the nose had not bled. Maybe it's too heaty for her but I'll keep an eye on her anyway. I had her drink more plain water as well, as I said to her, it's the doctor's order. She complied quite easily. She had eye irritation as well which the doctor said was conjunctivis however her eyes recovered quite fast having applied the prescribed eye drops.

Since I was not feeling well what with the medication and all, I felt sleepy throughout weekend and stayed in and slept through the days or otherwise got myself immersed in a novel. Emir wanted so much to go to the shopping malls for lunch and kept saying " I'm so hungry..." thing but he was not! For info I have started reading a novel again after so long and surprisingly had been able to do so without disturbance from the kids. It had been a long time since I put my hands on novels. I used to love to read so much.

Last night my friend living not far away texted me, saying her toddler son was drown in the pool however he managed to be saved and was recovering at the hospital. Thank god for that. My heart skipped a beat at first, however was relieved when she told me God has given her a second chance. Her youngest and only son has recovered. I don't know the details but she promised to tell me as soon as everything settles. I couldn't imagine the scare that she must have gone through. I pray to God we'll never have to go through such horrendous trial. My friend's house has a small swimming pool where her other older children swim regularly. Only last week she asked me whether my children like to attend the swimming lessons at her home as she had called a swimming instructor to train her children. I had to decline as the kids spend the whole week at day care.

I have always been worried about children in or anywhere near water unsupervised. Even now I don't leave my children alone in the bath tub. I know lots of people take this easy but there have been lots in the news where toddler got drown in as much as an inch of water.

We went to the swimming pool on late Sunday afternoon and for the first time Emir had gathered his courage and went down the water slides. He had been very scared to do it by himself before. Seems he is growing up fast before my very eyes.

This morning on the way to school/work Fatini and I witnessed a small accident on our right lane but big enough to cause a very loud thump with broken lights and dented bumpers. A car had hit another car in front which had tried to slot in through the small space in between and the young lady driver behind was not giving him any chance. Anyway when accident like this happen everybody is at inconvenience. For sure it caused a traffice jam, money and certainly they'll be late to work. Moral of the story is no matter how a jerk you see another driver, just give in to avoid accidents. That's called defensive driving. Secondly I would try to stay away from young drivers, they haven't gotten enough experience to have a sound judgement and predictive instinct. And stay away from trucks and trailers!

What a weekend!