Sleepless, Panic and Proud in SD...

It has been a crazy 24 hours for me, and I need a break. Badly. So, here I am - blogging.

I had two articles to submit this week. One today, and another one on Wednesday. Both articles are actually based on my Powerpoint presentations - one which I had done 4 months ago, and another one just two weeks ago.

It was supposed to be an easy peasy thingy, as I only needed to expand on my Powerpoint slides, right? Well, hell no. I had been putting all these on hold (in other words - I HAD PROCRASTINATED), that I had in fact forgotten where I had kept record of all of the references which I used for my Powerpoint slides especially the one I presented four months ago! To write an academic article without giving due credits to your sources would be an unforgivable, biggest sin, I tell you... So, I had no choice but to dig all my sources up again...

So, I was up all night last night, expanding my slides into comprehendable sentences, to form reasonably decent paragraphs, to come up with an article of 6,000 words in length. With all my sources (books, articles, case summaries, etc.) spread all over the bed, I was typing, while flicking through the materials, and checking some online sources, etc., all at the same time.

With the whole bed being conquered by my good self and all those papers scattered all over it, Ayah had to sleep on the mattress on the floor last night. Kesian... But, it's actually good for your back, dear. You have slipped discs, remember? (Hehehe!)

Ayah had sent all three kids to Mak's house last night actually, due to several factors -

(i) Ayah was leaving for Tokyo (again) this morning on the 9:00a.m flight and he had to leave for KLIA by 6:15a.m. This would have meant that he would not be able to send Hanna to school, which in turn would have meant that yours truly would have to do just that, driving all the way from SD to Sr* Am*n at 6:45a.m, and then coming back to SD again.

(ii) But, as yours truly had been bogged down with work since yesterday and it didn't look like yours truly would be able to finish it even if she didn't sleep for two nights, we decided that it would be easier if the kids stayed in PJ. Adek would be able to send Hanna to school in the morning, while Za*a (Mak's driver) would be able to send and fetch Hasya and Hilman to and from school today.

(iii) And I need total ME time to produce a good piece of writing under 12 hours.

So, the kids were all deposited with Mak last night.

I was doing my work until about 3:00a.m when I must have fallen asleep, only to wake up at 5:20a.m. when the alarm clock went off. I somehow noticed that Ayah had woken up, but, I just could not open my eyes, and went straight back to sleep, only to be woken up again, this time by Ayah, at 6:15a.m when he was about to leave for KLIA. The airport limo was already waiting outside. Kiss-kiss, muah-muahs and off he went (with yours truly still curled up under the duvet...)

At 7:45a.m. I woke up to the sound of a car alarm from a neighbour's house, and continued working on my article. Ayah called twice from KLIA before boarding the plane - just to make sure that I was indeed doing my work, and not sleeping as he knew that I had to finish the article by today. Thanks, dear :)

By 8:30a.m, I knew that it was impossible to concentrate on writing my article, so I called my HoD, asking his permission to work from home today as I found it such a hassle to pack and unpack all the materials and continue with my writing if I were to go to the office this morning.

And I had been working from 7:45a.m straight, only to have a few minutes breaks here and there to have my brunch (of sup foochuk and kaki ayam), and dinner (of Maggi Laksa!), and to freshen up and perform my solat.

And it was at 6:25p.m when I realized that I had not informed Mak's driver that he was supposed to fetch Hasya and Hilman from school! And the kids finish school at 6:20p.m. every Monday! We've always had this understanding that on Mondays, he would send them to school, and I would fetch them and go straight back to SD. Somehow, I totally forgot to tell him that I would not be able to fetch the kids today and that he was supposed to fetch them instead! Yikes!!!

Panic giler... I straight away called him only to find out that he was already on his way home! My mind was muddled up, and I started to panic. I didn't want to trouble my MIL by asking her to go through the peak-time traffic to fetch the kids! But, if I were to set off from SD then, I would only reach the school at 7:15p.m earliest! That would be way too late, and I didn't want the kids to wait that long - just the two of them there. I tried calling Adek to ask if she could fetch the kids, but she was in the bathroom! That would probably take a long time, and I started to panic big time!

Syukur Alhamdulillah, I managed to get hold of Na*ir*h (Mama of Hasya's bestfriend, Al*a) on the phone, and syukur alhamdulillah she had yet to fetch Al*a from school lagi at that time and she didn't mind fetching Hasya and Hilman and send them to Mak's house. Legaaaa... Thanks, Na*i. I owe you BIG TIME!

Boleh I terlupa about my kids in the midst of my work yang bertimbun ni?! Ish, ish, ish... Tak pernah dibuatnya! Nasib baik jugak I realized at 6:25p.m. Mak would not have suspected anything if the kids tak sampai her house this evening because she would have thought that I had gone to the office today and I would have fetched them and brought them straight to SD from school like I normally would do on Mondays! I cringe to think of what might have happened if I totally forgot about the kids tadi. This had never happened to me before.

Anyway, the kids called me up when they reached their Wan's house to update their Mommy on their Final Exam results, which I then SMSd to Ayah (who insisted that I update him everyday!)

This was the SMS that I sent to him at 11:27p.m -

MIN (i.e. Hasya) Eng 93 highst, Pemahamn 86, highst 95 (x im*an), Penulisn 91, highst 92 (x im*an), Maths 96 (im*an 97.5), Agama 90, Seni A. Boils down to Sci now.

MAN (i.e. Hilman) Sci 100, Eng 93 (both hghst), Maths 97 (2nd. Highst 99.5), BM 89 (highst 96), Agama 88, Seni A.

Hope both gd enuf 4 #1!

To those who have been analyzing the text message, you all had probably come to these conclusions -

(i) Both Ayah and Mommy are ultimate Kiasu parents

(ii) Im*an is Hasya's competition in class (everybody else's markah are so not important, EXCEPT for Im*an's)

(iii) Both Ayah and Mommy memang tak akan tido malam - menunggu Hasya's Science paper results, and also Hasya's and Hilman's position in class...

With or without their positions in class, Syukur Alhamdulillah, both Hasya and Hilman have done really well. And so has their Kak Long Hanna who so far has got highest and/or Top 3 for all her subjects.

AYAH AND I ARE VERY,VERY PROUD OF YOU GUYS :)

And I'm also proud of myself, by the way, because at 10:50p.m. just now, I managed to e-mail my finished article to my colleague finally. Yippeeee!!! And surpise, surprise - instead of 6000 words, I managed to torak to more than 8000 words altogether ;)

I'm so gonna give myself a treat this weekend...and of course, my kids, too! Hehehe!

But, in the meantime, another piece of article beckons me... nak kena submit this Wednesday...Sigh...