Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Another new year, another year less...

On this New Year's eve, in saying farewell to 2008, and hello to 2009, I have a lot to be thankful for.

Syukur alhamdulillah, 2008 has been a good year for me, Ayah, the kids and our loved ones, and we make do'a that 2009 will bring with it more love, joy, rezqi, wisdom, success, and more importantly - good health for us to enjoy all that Allah SWT has bestowed upon us, insya Allah. And we make do'a that we'll be able to give more to others, too, insya Allah.

I have made so many new friends in the last one year through this humble blog of mine, and I have also found some long-lost friends, too. And for that, I am so grateful.

So, on this eve of 2009, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you abundance of good things in life, love, joy, laughters, wisdom, success, health and semoga dipanjangkan umur dan dimurahkan rezqi, insya Allah.

And as we leave 2008, I would like to leave all of you with this little conversation that I had with Hasya and Hilman today, and something for all of us to ponder upon -

Hilman : Mommy, why do cats eat mice?

Me : Hmmmm, I dunno. I've never thought about it, Hilman. Why do you ask?

Hilman : I dunno, I'm just curious.

Me : I guess, it's like, why do WE eat chicken, vegetables, and fish, etc.? Because we just do? Hmmmm, I really don't have any other explanation to that, Hilman.

Hasya : Errr, Mommy, do you think, MAYBE it's because mice taste like fish? MAYBE?


Me : ???!

(You don't know where this is going, do you? And I am not making any sense here, am I? Oh well,what the heck? Hehehe...))

Guys, what I'm trying to convey here is that - this new year, whenever you cannot find any answers to any questions, or when it feels like you're walking straight onto a solid wall, or when you're stuck with stuff, and when you feel nobody could help you explain the things that need explanation, and ALL THAT are pulling you down, be it at work, or otherwise, just spend MORE time with the kids.

They might provide you with the answers that you're looking for. Be it logical, or illogical ones.

But,hey, even if their answers are illogical, they will surely bring smiles to our lives throughout the new year, non? :)

And just think. Another new year would mean that we have one less year to spend with our kids, with our loved ones. Just think about it.

Just try to spend more time with your loved ones this New Year :)

And I'm sure, 2009 will be one of the best years in your life, insya Allah :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL...

Wassalam.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New rooms to usher the new year...

Second Semester starts today.

And I had been on leave for the last 2 weeks. So, you all can just imagine how difficult it was for me to get out from under the duvet this morning.

But, after reaching the office at 7:40a.m., I'm feeling charged up again. I'll have about 60 students taking my courses for the next 4 months. It's not too bad - not too many, not too few. I should be able to meet my KPI of teaching at least 6-8 hours a week :)

Back at home, the girls' room is not yet fully ready. The walls have been painted though, the curtains are already up, and the air-cond unit installed. I think they just could not wait for it to be completed, and they've started sleeping up there for the last 3 nights - never mind all the boxes and stuff lying all over the room.

Their study tables and book-racks will be arriving tonight. And, Voon, our contractor will be installing the water-heater, and putting up the shelves on the walls this Saturday. Hopefully, everything will be done by this weekend, and the girls can fully enjoy their new room before school starts next week.

Hilman has also been sleeping alone in his room (used to be shared with his sisters) for the past three nights. And Ayah and I are very proud of him. We were expecting him to knock on our door in the middle of the night, but so far, so good. He has been a very brave boy, indeed :)

And today's Ayah's last day at work in PP*M. He'll be taking his annual leave from tomorrow until 14th March 2009. And he'll start his clinic session fully at TMC on his birthday - 15th March 2009. We've been busy searching for furnitures and fittings for his new clinic, too. Hopefully, his clinic will be ready by the end of February, insya Allah.

Oh ya - I've also re-arranged the furniture in my office, too, before I took my 2-weeks leave the other day. I'm a furniture-shifter, remember? ;) It has a new feeling to it now. I like :)

Hmmmmm, new room for everyone for the new year. Insya Allah, they'll bring rezqi and good things to all of us in 2009 (and beyond, of course :))

Wassalam.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

16 random facts about wanshana...

I've been tagged by Hanna. Has been since Sunday. And she has been pestering me to get on with it. Since Sunday.

So, here I am doing the tag. On Wednesday. Sorry, dear. Mommy have been pretty tied up with stuff.

Directions: Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog/Facebook note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment or tag them in your note to read this.


Here goes -

1. I am a hoarder. I just spent the last one week clearing the top-floor room and threw away/gave away/hoard again some of the stuff which I had been hoarding in our top-floor bedroom (which has been serving as a store-room all these years). I swear everything amounted to nearly 10 tonnes (8 tonnes of which, I decided to hoard again. Just in case.)

2. I'm a furniture-shifter. Yup. That kind. The kind who arranges and re-arranges the furniture in the house (and the office) every 2 months or so (like I have all the time in the world, kan?) But, being a pro at shifting stuff, I only need 1-2 hours to get everything re-done. Sometimes, after everything had been shifted, I realized that it was back to square one. Hampehh...

3. I had my first grey hair/uban at the age of 11. Some say it was because I have such a long name and diri tak larat nak bawak the name. Strange, because all my siblings and cousins on my Abah's side have very long names, too. Some even longer than mine. Hitam berkilat ajer their hair, even until now (or maybe they started dyeing their hair since they were 10 without me knowing it? Hmmmm...?) Anyway, another explanation for the white hair - simple (and more logical) - I'm a genius.

4. I've NEVER done facials all my life. Not even once. Okay, maybe once - a week before my akad nikah way back in 1994. Itupun sebab it came with the Mak Andam package from Su*er* Ji*gg*.

5. I've been using this particular brand of facial and skin care since I was 19. And I'm now 40. Very loyal I tell you. Must ask for "LOyalty" payment (if I cannot get "ROyalty" payment) from them.

6. I only weigh myself when I have my contact lenses on, fearing that the weight of my Bu*be*ry glasses would add on the unwelcomed grammes to the reading. I know. Pathetic.

7. I cook mean Lamb Chops, Chicken Rice, Szechuan Chicken (or my kids call it "Ayam Hotel"), Briayani, Ayam Halia, Mee Rebus, Laksa Asam and Char Kuey Teow (according to my kids and Ayah lah kan? Coz' they have no choice but to eat my cooking!) That brings us to the next -

8. I only allow Dar (our helper) to prepare/cook breakfast (coz' I malas nak bangun too early in the morning!). The rest of the meals for the family, I cook myself.

9. I can only drive wearing Cl*rks slippers/springers. Only lately, I started to also drive wearing my Hu*h Pu*pi*s. Wearing other shoes makes me feel like I'm still holding the "L" licence. Don't ask me why.

10. I love listening to the songs my kids listen to when I'm driving. I have no choice really. Those songs are the only songs I have the chance to listen to in the car because the kids will be with me MOST of the times when I'm driving.

11. And when I DO have the time alone in the car, I would be listening to all the Indonesian bands - Ungu, Dewa, Letto, Nidji, Samson, etc. Malaysian singers - errrr, ada ke Malaysian singers worth listening to? If ada, please let me know, and I'll try to start listening to them, too. Thank you.

12. I think Daniel Craig is HOT (but, errr...then again, I think Ayah is hot, too! So how? ;))

13. I don't know how to swim. And I don't think I'll ever learn how to. Hydro-phobic giler...A few times when we went snorkelling on family holidays, I was holding to the boat the WHOLE time, okay? Baik tak payah ikut gi snorkelling, kan?!

14. I love going to Karaoke with my MT and their spouses. But, I don't sing. I mime. I don't feel guilty for not making a fool of myself croaking at Re* Bo*. I leave that to my MT friends... HAHAHAHA! But, seriously, my MT friends are all really good singers. That's the only thing we don't have in common :). Anyway, my lacking in the singing department is overly compensated by Ayah's excellent singing "prowesses". When he belts out all the Bee Gees numbers, aiiyyyoooooo! cannot tahaaaannnn...

15. When I'm angry, I keep VERY quiet. When I'm VERY angry, then you'll start hearing all the bangings of the drawers, cupboard doors and pintu-pintu yang sewaktu dengannya. I'm quite a quiet person. Must live up to the reputation. So, I just let all the pintus do the talking :)

16. I've been described as a very 'sopan-santun' person...(HAHAHAHA!!! And I tergelak besar whenever I hear this!) Hmmmmm....must start living up to people's expectation macam ni. Tomorrow I'm enrolling myself into Kelas Perempuan Melayu Terakhir.

So, there - 16 random facts about Wanshana.

I now tag all the lovely Makcik Bloggers who attended the Sure Heboh High-Tea at Concorde that day because hari tu tak sempat betul-betul get to know each other.

My 16 taggees are as follows -

1. MrsNordin
2. Madam Tai Tai
3. Kak Ezza
4. Zaitgha
5. MsHart
6. Superwomanwannabe
7. Ummi365
8. The Principal
9. Kay
10. Tireless Mom
11. Busybody
12. Bella
13. and of course - IBU! :)

I cannot just stop at 13 or even 16, so, I'm also tagging those who were not able to be there with us that day but were on our minds throughout the gathering -

14. Waterlily
15. Myheartbleeds
16. Jabishah
17. Ja
18. Kak Teh
19. Mak Andeh


Can aaaarrrr??! Hope you guys will oblige, please, please, pretty please?

And this is a good enough reason for Busybody and Bella to start their own blogs, non?!

Cheers! And thank you :)

Monday, December 22, 2008

What a Sunday...

How shall I describe it?

It was makan, makan dan makan lagi...AND ketawa, ketawa dan ketawa lagi!!!

In one word - SEROOOONNNNOOOKKKK!!!

The day started off with me driving to Ab*d's place in Vi*la Da*an*ara and reaching there at 9:55a.m. The janji was to reach her place at 9:45a.m, and then we would just car-pool in her car to go to The Pa*il*io*. The MT was to have brunch at The Loaf at 10:30a.m. Biasa lah kan. When it comes to MT gathering or outing, when we fix a time to meet up, we always have to plus (never minus) 1 (or sometimes 2) hours! Hehehe!. Anyway, we left at 10:05a.m, and syukur alhamdulillah the traffic was okay and we reached The Loaf at 10:40a.m. As expected (Hahaha!) we were the first ones there. By 11:25a.m, all the usual suspects were there. Standard lah tu...nearly one hour off the scheduled meet-up time :)

Makan punya makan, sembang punya sembang...we didn't realize that it was already 2:30p.m! We said our bye byes and muah-muaahs and both Ibu and I rushed to Concorde for another get-together at The Melting Pot. This time with our Makcik Bloggers friends. Dup dap...dup dap jugak lah hati (to borrow Ms Hart's description of her perasaan untuk bertemu mata buat pertama kali!) Hehehe!

We reached there just after 3:00p.m, and were greeted by the lady who has made the gathering possible - Mrs Nordin. Already there were Madam Tai Tai, Kak Ezza, Superwomanwannabe, Ms Hart, Zaitgha, Ummi365, The Principal and Busybody. We were later joined by Bella, Kay-Leeda and Tireless Mom. Memula tu memang nervous giler...

I swear memang bergegar Melting Pot semalam! And it was indeed a Melting Pot of blogger friends alright. Everybody just clicked and blended very well with each other. In a way, it was rather strange because even though we had never met before (except for a few who had gone a long way together), it felt like we had known each other for years! Strange...but it was a very, very warm and very, very nice feeling :)

I've known Ibu, MrsNordin, Tireless Mom for the last 28 years. We were at a boarding school together, and The Principal was our junior. But, the last time I saw MrsNordin was about 3 years ago, while I had not seen Tireless Mom since she left ST*, while The Principal - since I left school (and that was a looooooonnng time ago!). As for Ibu, errrrr...tak dapat dielakkan - selalu sangat jumpa whether we like it or not! (HAHAHAHA!!)

As for Superwomanwannabe, the last time we met was probably when my Hanna and her Nadine were about 3-4 years old when we went to visit her and Ja* at her Mom's place in Kemensah (?), when they first came back to Malaysia for good. That was about 10 years ago. She had 2 kids then, if I'm not mistaken. And now, after 3 more kids (for her) and 2 more kids (for me), we met again :) And I've also met Zaitgha a.k.a The Kitchen Goddess, once at a Raya gathering at Kak Ena's arwah Bapak's place last year. Tapi, masa tu I ni pemalu and segan nak mingle mongle coz' saya budak baru berblogging...Hehehe!

As for Madam Tai Tai, Kak Ezza, Ms Hart, Ummi365, Bella, Busybody, and Kay-Leeda, that was the first time we met mata bertentang mata. But semalam we were berpeluk-pelukan macam berjumpa semula lepas 30 tahun tak berjumpa dalam salah satu siri Jejak Kasih... Hahaha!

IT WAS SO SURREAL...

We were chatting away and ketawa bagai tak ingat dunia even after the Hi-tea buffet spread dah tutup. Even Ayah and the kids who came towards the end to fetch (or rather "drag") me home (?!) made a comment - "Fuiyooo...we could hear you guys even from outside!!" Hahaha!

And as for Madam Tai Tai, Hanna made a remark - "Mommy, she looks so posh!" And I agree with her. The birthday girl memang very the posh :)

We HAVE to do this again. SOON.

MrsNordin, Madam Tai Tai, Ummi365, Zaitgha and The Principal presented all the Makcik bloggers with gifts, and I feel so ralat coz' tak sempat to get anything for anybody. So, that is a very good enough reason to meet up again, non? And of course, another reason is to gegarkan ANOTHER place pulak. I don't think The Melting Pot would allow us in again after yesterday. Macam Concorde we all yang punya! HAHAHAHA!

To all the Makcik Bloggers - it was REALLY nice to have finally met all of you yesterday. Thank you, thank you for such a fun-filled afternoon. I dah sakit rahang now ni coz banyak sangat ketawa :)

We parted ways after beberapa rounds of peluk ciums just after 6:00p.m, with everybody already looking forward to the next Makcik Bloggers get together.

And because rasa guilty meninggalkan suami dan anak-anak satu hari, I decided to make up for it by bringing them to Hard Rock for dinner after that :)

So, all fair and square...(But, Mommy still think Mommy had the most fun, okay? :))

Dan sempena dah berjumpa dengan Ms Hart, malam ni I nak masak her famous Ayam Bali. Buleh??! ;)

For more sure heboh reviews, please see MrsNordin, MsHart, Kak Ezza, Superwomanwannabe, Ummi365, Kay and Tireless Mom postings on the get together.

Here are some pics. Enjoy!


Thursday, December 18, 2008

Time to move on...

Thank you to all who had left their well-wishes for Hilman as he starts a new phase in his life. Boy to man :)

And as Hilman starts his journey as a (little) man, Ayah is also starting a new phase in his life.

Yup. After exactly 10 years 9 months of dedicating his life to PP*M, Ayah tendered in his resignation on Tuesday 16th December 2008 - something which neither of us ever thought would happen.

PP*M had been Ayah's second home. In fact, I dare say that for most of the times, it had been his FIRST home because he spent more time there than at home actually. He would leave for work around 6:45a.m (sending Hanna to school first), reaching the hospital around 7:30a.m., and he would come home (earliest) at 9:00p.m. There were times when he didn't see the younger kids for days as they would still be asleep when he left, and they would already be in bed when he came home late at night for a few days in a stretch. And he would go and see and review his patients at the wards even during weekends. I can't even remember the last time (if there ever was one) Ayah did not go to the hospital on Saturdays and Sundays.

Sometimes I would ask the kids, "How many days have you guys not seen Ayah?". And they would have to take a few seconds to count the days, before coming up with, "Errr...2 days, kot? Or maybe 3?"

But, I know that Ayah saw them EVERYDAY. Every time when he came back from work late at night, he would first go to their room and kiss them, unbeknown to them...And sometimes when I would be asleep when he came back, halfway to Dreamland, I would feel him hugging me close, and kissing my forehead before he surrendered to Slumberland himself...

And sometimes, the kids didn't even realize it when Ayah was away on conferences. They were so used to not having Ayah around at home that sometimes they didn't even feel that Ayah was thousands of miles away. To them, Ayah was probably at the hospital, working as always. And when he came back from his meetings abroad, his luggage would be filled with stuff for the kids. So much so, that the kids would always terpa and hug his luggage first before they hugged their Ayah when he came in through the door. Hehehe...

It had not been easy being married to a doctor. It's worse when his area of specialization is in cardiology. But, I know that it's even harder for Ayah to have missed out on so many things with regard to the kids due to the nature of his work.

I've lost count of how many times we had to postpone, or even worse - cancel, our family outings when Ayah was suddenly called in for emergency procedures.

I've lost count of how many times we had to wait for Ayah to fetch us from the malls, relatives' and friends' houses, etc., because he had to go to the hospital in the middle of our outings or functions.

I've lost count of how many time the kids and I had to follow him to and wait for him at the hospital during weekends when he was suddenly called while we were on our way to somewhere.

I've lost count of how many times I had waited for him to have dinner with him, only to be told that he would be very late because he had to perform a primary/emergency angioplasty just as he was about to leave the hospital for home.

I've lost count of how many times he would be called to the hospital in the middle of the night to attend to emergency cases.

I've lost count of how many times Ayah would fall asleep while having conversations with me, out of sheer exhaustion after work.

I've lost count of how many times he would come home feeling down when he couldn't save his patients' lives, even after going all out and giving his best everytime.

I've lost count of how many fights and arguments we had when I just could not take it at times - not having him there with us during the times that I wanted him to be there most, but, he could not make it, either in time, or at all...

Yes, I admit. I am not one of those very understanding doctors' wives that you often hear of. I can be rather selfish at times. I am only human.

If you think working in a government hospital is tough, let me tell you this - working in a teaching government hospital is even tougher. Ayah has his clinics to attend to. He has his ward-rounds to perform. He has his angio procedures to perform. He has to carry out research upon research. He has to write and publish academic papers. He has to present papers at meetings and conferences. He has to give lectures to his students. He has to supervise their clinical attachments, etc. And on top of that, he's also required to carry out certain admin work for the hospital AND faculty. And he does that nearly everyday - day in, day out for the last 10 years and 9 months.

But, he never complains because he loves his work.

Just as I've lost count on so many things that had happened, I've also lost count of how many times I panjatkan kesyukuran to Allah SWT for giving me such a responsible and loving husband who always tries his best to give the best to his family, his patients and to others. Syukur alhamdulillah.

The decision to leave PP*M was not done in haste, and it was NOT an easy decision to make. In fact Ayah had been thinking about it for nearly two years, but never seriously. There were so many things that pulled him to stay on - so many people to please, so many hati to jaga, so many debts in deeds to be paid.

But, there was only ONE thing pushing him to leave in the end. His kids. Their future.

It's not that he could not provide them with a good future. But, he doesn't want to settle for "good" when he has a choice to settle for "the best" for the kids. And it's not just about financing their future. It's also about investing more of his TIME with them now and the years to come. Something that he had not been able to do as much as he wanted to in the last 10 years.

I for one has never influenced him in any way whatsoever when it comes to his career. He would be the only person who knows what is best for him career-wise, and whatever decisions he made had always been his, with me giving him my full support.

Ayah only started to seriously think about leaving about a year ago. And, somehow macam tersusun elok, when one fine day I received an invitation to attend a health-talk organized by a PR firm for a soon-to-be-launched hospital. Ayah followed me to attend the talk, which did not materialize in the end when the Manager found out that Ayah was a doctor, and I obviously did not need any health-talk given by them. Hehehe... Anyway, before leaving, I managed to joke with them, and said, "If ever you need a brilliant cardiologist for your hospital, just contact my husband." :)

One thing led to another, and before we knew it, Ayah was head-hunted and approached by the said soon-to-be-launched hospital to join them. At the same time, Ayah was also approached by another hospital which is much more established to join them. But, Ayah being Ayah - one who thrives on challenges, he accepted the offer from the former, simply because it's a new hospital, and Ayah will be the first and only cardiologist there (at least for the first year or so), and he wants the cardio unit to be his 'baby'. He has great plans for the new hospital, and I know that they are very, very lucky to have Ayah as part of their pioneering team. They will never get anybody nearly half as dedicated as Ayah who will give them his 200% to bring the hospital to the next greater level, insya Allah. Amin.

Ayah is indeed one of the best cardiologists around, and his work, especially in peripheral and radial angioplasty, is recognized amongst the cardio fraternity in the region. And I'm not saying all these because he's my husband. He IS one of the best. And the kids and I are very, very proud of him.

In a way, it is a sad moment for Ayah to leave PP*M which had taught him so much. But, it is time to move on.

After giving his 3 months notice last Tuesday, Ayah will officially leave PP*M and start the next phase of his career at the new hospital on his 41st birthday, i.e. on 15th March 2009. He started working with PP*M, on 16th March 1998 - a day after his 30th birthday. So, in a way, it's a nice and neat closure for Ayah, leaving exactly after 11 years with PP*M. Just the way he wants it to be, being a melancholic guy that he is :)

And being a workaholic that he is, he still has 44 days of his annual leave to finish before his last day at PP*M. He'll start his leave on 5th January, 2009, i.e. the kids' first day of school. And insya Allah, for the first time ever, he would not need to rush back to the hospital while settling the kids fees and whatever nots on the first day. And I'm already looking forward to that :)

And hopefully, being his own boss, he will be able to spend more time with the kids, and make up for the times and opportunities lost in the last 10 years and 9 months, insya Allah. Amin.

I'm so excited for him. For the kids. For us.

Ayah,

Come what may, I'm here for you, dear. The kids are here for you, too.

Just continue being the brilliant cardiologist that you are, and you'll be fine.

You'll be more than fine... Wherever you are, wherever you will be in life.

TR*PI*ANA MEDICAL CENTRE is VERY lucky to have you there, my dear.

We want you to know that we are very, very proud of you, and that we love you very, very much - remember that always.

And we make do'a and wish you all the best in your new undertakings at TMC, dearest, dearest Ayah. Amin. Insya Allah...

Monday, December 15, 2008

From boy...to man...

Syukur alhamdulillah...Hilman's "snip-snip" was hassle-free and, more importantly, rather "pain-free" for him, except for when Dr. Ra*ak sprayed the freezing cold anaesthetics to his ***** AND, errrr, there was also one part when he was wincing in pain, and when Dr Ra*ak asked him why, he said his Mommy was squeezing his hands too tightly. HAHAHAHA! I was so tensed that I didn't realize I was doing that to him, actually! Be rest assured, Hilman was pain-free after that. Dr. Ra*ak chit-chatted away with him, and before he knew it, it was all done :)

Thank you for the tips given by some of you on the pre and post-snipping's TLCs. A special thanks especially goes to Mrs A. That advice on having Hilman wear a seluar cerut and a big pair of undies (to house the cup-cum-protector was really useful). I never thought about that. I was only thinking of the times when my brothers had their snip-snips more than thirty years ago, and I could only think of one thing - kain pelikat! Come to think of it, I just can't imagine Hilman wearing a kain pelikat walking back to the car after the procedure when all the other boys were wearing normal trousers, etc after their procedures! That would have been quite a sight to behold! Hehehe!

I didn't have time to go and get a decent seluar cerut for Hilman this morning, but, I managed to dig through my wardrobe and found the seluar for my salwar kameez given by a dear friend Mu*ni to me in Newcastle last year which was a perfect (rather baggy pants at the right place) for Hilman to use. I had to fold it a couple of times though, as it was rather long for him. I didn't tell Hilman that they were mine. If not, sure sampai sudah he would not want to wear them!

Ayah reached home from work at 11:25a.m, and we straight away made our way to DSH and reached there at 11:45a.m. Mak was already waiting for us there. My Mommy couldn't make it as she also had a doctor's appointment this afernoon. There were 3 boys who also had their snip-snip before Hilman. His appointment was supposed to be at 12:00p.m but, Dr. Ra*ak only managed to see him at about 12:55p.m. Suffice to say, Hilman was pretty restless waiting for his turn. He kept on asking me for the time. But, seeing the boys who came out of Dr.Ra*ak's clinic before him walking just fine and smiling away (sheepishly, I may add :)) made him feel less anxious, I guess.

All in all, including the cleaning done pre and post-procedure took about 30 minutes or so, and before Hilman knew it, it was all over. Dr Ra*ak is really good with kids, and I think he managed to make Hilman feel relaxed in no time at all! I would recommend him to those who have anak-anak bujang untuk disunatkan. A very nice doctor indeed.

When we reached home, his sisters started teasing him, especially his Kak Long Hanna who kept on asking him if she could see "it" - much to Hilman's horror and annoyance. Hanna kept on going, "Can I see it, dear brother? Please, please...pretty please?" (While batting her eyelids to Hilman!). Even until tonight he's still being teased by the sisters. Anyway, Hanna said somehow her lil' baby brother nampak "macho" pulak after coming back from the hospital (I'm not sure if she really meant it, or it's part of her teasing Hilman, too?). Hahaha!

Anyway, here are some pics of my boy - pre and post snip-snip. Ada nampak difference ke? :)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

In preparation for a new man in the house...

Tomorrow my little boy will move a step nearer to being a man.

Yup, it's the "snip-snip" time for him.

It'll be done by Dr. Ra*ak at DSH. It was initially scheduled for 8:30a.m, but, I received a phonecall from one of his nurses yesterday to inform me that the procedure has been rescheduled to 12:00p.m tomorrow. It makes no difference to me as I will be on leave tomorrow. In fact I'll be on leave until 29 December. But, Ayah would have to reschedule some things at work. He will now have to go to the hospital early tomorrow morning and hopefully he'll be in time for the procedure.

We have had to make some new arrangements and preparations in light of our Hilman becoming a MAN.

First of all, to prepare Hilman mentally, Ayah had a heart-to-heart talk with him two nights ago about the whole thing. We had dinner at Mak's house on Friday night. The kids were sent there earlier in the morning before I went to the office, and I went back to Mak's house after work, as did Ayah. So, after dinner, we went back in separate cars. All the girls went in my car, and the boys went in Ayah's car. Quite convenient for Hilman to ask his Ayah all the necessary stuff about the whole thingy throughout the journey back to SD when he was alone with his Ayah.

Later when I asked Ayah if Hilman told him if he was scared, Ayah told me that Hilman said, "A bit...", but he appeared to be okay with the whole thing. But, was he? Because later that night, he came knocking on our door at 3:30a.m, crying slightly saying that his left knee was hurting, and he asked me to urut his kaki. I massaged the part he showed me which was painful, he curled up against me, and I hugged him tightly until he fell asleep.

After he fell asleep, Ayah and I just looked at each other and we just couldn't help but broke into laughters. Ayah said that Hilman probably had a bad dream or a nightmare about hurting his leg or something like that - all triggered by his anxiety. He was walking just fine when he came into our room. No limping whatsoever. He was (and probably still is) anxious about Monday. I hope and pray that he'll be fine tomorrow, pre-procedure.

Secondly, as mentioned, I'm taking leave until 29 December. If only I could extend it until the kids start school again, but the Uni's second semester starts on 30 December. So, no choice :( I know Hilman will probably need me to bring him to the toilet and all, at least in the first two weeks post-procedure. I know that he will not want Dar to help him with those stuff yang sewaktu dengannya, too. So, I'll be at his becks and calls for the next 2 weeks. It'll be an interesting experience for both of us, I'm sure (and for his sisters, too!)

Thirdly, all this while Hilman has been sharing a room with his sisters. Obviously, that arrangement has to be changed after tomorrow. The kids and I have been pretty busy clearing up our top-floor room for the past one week. The room has been our huge store-room of sort since we first moved in to SD. And we rarely go up there, except when Hilman wanted to play with all of his Hot Wheels tracks. We are now converting it into the girls' room.

But, you can just imagine the state of the room after 12 years of storing all sorts of stuff! At the moment it's full of toys, clothings, old books (especially Ayah's!), and old whatevers. We have managed to divide their old toys and clothings into three groups - those to be donated to Rumah Titian Damai, those they want to keep, and those to be thrown into the bin. I must say, those Alam Flora guys have been working overtime clearing our garbage in the last few days! Ayah's books and stuff are still up there, and we have come to accept the fact that it'll be an impossible task to get the room ready by tomorrow.

We need to really clear everything before we could re-paint the walls, fix an air-cond unit there, and pasang the curtains. And of course, there's the trip to IKEA which the girls have been pestering me the whole of last week. Nasib baik there's already a Queen-sized bed up there which the girls are willing to share, and there's already a set of built-in wardrobe and cabinets in the room. So, it's just to get some additional drawers and lightings for them. And as I'm typing this, we have not even chosen the colour, we have not bought the air-cond, and we have not ordered the curtains yet! I hope to get everything ready for the girls by next Monday, insya Allah. I'll probably post a posting on the room make-over after everything is done nicely :)

Fourthly, I've also stocked up the freezer with ikan-ikan yang tak gatal for Hilman's consumption for the next one week. Luckily, Hilman loves his fish, so, he'll be fine being a "fishetarian" for the next 2-3 weeks. The freezer is full to the brim with all the bawals, kurau, tenggiri, ikan merah and senangin, etc. The only thing left for me to do is to think of what to do with them! Hilman loves his fish just fried with garam kunyit, but his Mommy is thinking more like steamed, souped, sweet "n" sour fish, and the likes for him. Hilman will surely miss his Ay*mas Hot and Spicy chicken :(

Still on food, considering that Hilman will have to berpantang for the next 2-3 weeks, I decided to cook some Laksa Asam for tea today - one of his favourites which he will not be able to take masa pantang because of the belacan in it. And tonight, Ayah will take us out for dinner, most probably at Co*y Co*ner so that Hilman can have as much sharks fin soup as he wants!

And, fifthly, I have all the kain pelikats ready on standby. We bought a few kain pelikat for boys while in Langkawi that day, and I've also taken out quite a number of Ayah's semi-old ones, too :)

The truth be told, I am pretty nervous about tomorrow and the 2-3 weeks that follow actually, but, I don't want Hilman to know that.

Please make do'a that Hilman (and his Mommy!) will be fine for the procedure tomorrow, ya... And, wish Hilman luck, y'all! :)

Thanks so much!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

One of the biggest pahalas...

"One of the biggest pahalas one can get is to make one's mother happy".

And the easiest way, too, if I may add.

That was what I told Hanna and Hasya while we were waiting for Hilman to finish his piano lesson just now. Both the sisters normally finish their lessons at 7:15p.m, while Hilman finishes his session at 7:45p.m. The girls would normally do their homework or read their books while waiting, but it being the school holiday and all, they brought neither with them this time.

So, to kill the time, I asked Hanna to give me a foot massage.

This was what transpired -

Me : Hanna, could you massage my feet, please?

Hanna : Okay, Mommy. Which one?

Me : Both. I did say "feet", right?

Hanna : Alaaahhh, Mommy!

Me : Hey, banyak pahala you get if you make Mommy happy, tau? When you urut my kaki, I feel relaxed and happy. And when I'm happy, you'll get a lot of pahala tau, Hanna. Betul tak, Dar? (Dar, our maid was also there).

Dar : Betul Hanna. Lagi lama Hanna ngurut Mommy, lagi banyak pahalanya yang Hanna dapat.

As Hanna continued massaging my feet, I was going -

Me : I'm happy! I'm happy! I'm so happy! Waaaahhh... Very happy...Bliss. Banyaknya pahala Hanna! (Much to her annoyance, of course. Hehehe!)

Just then, Hasya came out of her class, and Hanna asked her -

Hanna : Hasya, you want pahala, right?

Hasya : (A bit confused, but, said) Yeah... (?)

Hanna : Good! Urut Mommy's right foot while I urut her left foot.

Mommy : Yes, Hasya - I told Kak Long that you'll get a lot of pahala when you urut Mommy's feet, tau?

Hasya : But Mommy!!! Your feet are smelly!!!

Me : Well, the smellier they are, the more pahala you'll get, especially the longer time you urut my kaki, tau, Hasya...

Hanna and Hasya : Eeeeewwwwwhhhh, Mommy!!!

(But, they continued massaging my feet for another 5 minutes).

After 5 minutes -

Me : Okay, thank you, darlings. That was really.....(and both of them dropped both my feet together, at the same time, before I could say) "nice"!

And both ran straight to the toilet at the back of the institute -

Hasya : I want to go to the toilet first, Kak Long!! I want to wash my hands!!

Hanna : Me, too!!

Me : HAHAHAHAHA!

Thank you, girls. Mommy doakan Allah gandakan pahala for you for massaging my smelly feet just now :)

After piano, we went to Nasi Ka*da* Se*ap for dinner as the kids said that they missed eating there. It has been more than a month since we last ate there. Ayah managed to finish his clinic early, and he joined us at 8:45p.m.

Right after dinner, the kids then asked whether we could go to Gr*nd Un*on Supermarket to get some DVDs. Again, their excuse/reason was "Dah laaaaaammmaaaa tak pergi Gr*nd Un*on, Mommy". Anyway, they were right. The last time we went to get DVds there was probably 2 months ago!

However, Ayah was pretty tired by the time he finished his dinner, and wanted to go home straight to rest. So, I had to bring them to Gr*nd Un*on myself.

As we were going up the stairs to the first floor of the supermarket where they sell the DVDs, Hilman said this to me -

Hilman : Mommy, I like it when you wear this baju la, Mommy.

Me : Why, Hilman?

Hilman : You look nice in this baju, Mommy. You look thin in black. Pretty.

Me : Do I REALLY, Hilman?!

Hilman : Yes, Mommy. Black makes you look thin and nice.

Now, THAT surely made this one fat Mommy VERY happy, I tell you... Cair I dibuatnya...

So, guys, I'm a VERY HAPPY mother tonight. Firstly, happy when my girls gave me a very nice foot massage, and secondly, when my boy gave me such sweet compliments. (And I think he really meant it because he was not there when I told his sisters about the pahala thingy at the Music Institute earlier on. Hehehe! :))

Memang banyak pahala anak-anak Mommy dapat malam ni, and Mommy doakan that all of you will remember to make me (and Ayah) happy throughout your lives and will accumulate all the pahala you all truly deserve, insya Allah. Amin.

Because I AM TRULY HAPPY every single second of the day of my life being your Mommy.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Great weekend...

I received this SMS from Ab*d - one of my MT friends at 6:29p.m, on Friday 5th December -

Are u interested to join me for Es*o Dinner tomoro night? Faizal tahir is the guest artist.

My reply -

VERY interestd maaaa! Where? How much? Theme? SET!!! M driving now. Will call later.

As it turned out, the dinner was at The Pa*ac* of Go*de* Ho*se*, my ticket was on Ab*d, and the theme was "Fantasy Night".

As it was quite a last minute thing, I could not think of any good fantasies that I could translate into my dinner attire. So, I just put some black clothings together and went as Woman in Black. Boring. I know. I'm a clean girl. No fantasy whatsoever. The fantasies that I MAY have had may not be suitable for public exhibits in the first place, anyway. HAHAHAHA!

Ab*d went in a gorgeous turqoise top with a pair of smart black velvet pants, as she could not think of what to wear, too. Her initial idea was to go in a smart working suit because she said her fantasy was to become the CEO of the organization. Hey, I wouldn't call that a "fantasy", dear, but rather "an aspiration". Very achievable :)

And Faizal Tahir. What can I say? One word - SUPERB. And if I may add a few more words - SO HOT and so chomei!!!

But, alas...No photos :(

I didn't bring the camera, but I tried snapping some shots using my phone. Memang sakit hati and sakit jiwa coz' punyalah delayed reaction! I would snap the pics, say at 10:22:25 p.m, and the images would only be captured at say, 10:22:32p.m and by that time, all I could get was the back of Faizal's head (or worse - somebody else's head!!!) AAAArrrrrggghhh!!! Tapi, tak per...yang penting I WAS THERE, and at one point he was just 2 feet away from me!!! Tak bernafas I selama 15 saat you all...Hahaha!

We left the hotel at about 11:35p.m and reached Ab*d's place at Vi*la Da*an*ar* around 12:00 midnite. I had parked my car there earlier in the day, and we had coffee while waiting for Ayah to come to "escort" me home - jadi my outrider. Sayang jugak kat bini. He wouldn't allow me to drive alone at night, even though Ab*d's house is just about 15 minutes away from ours. Anyway, Ayah came just after 1:00a.m, and joined us for coffee. We only left Ab*d's place about 1:30a.m.

Thank you, Ab*d, for being my sponsor. And, oh ya! Congratulations for winning the Lucky Draw for the RM400 shopping vouchers! Can sponsor my shopping, too, eh? ;)

And this morning, we attended Ayah's friend's kids' birthday bash at Shangri-la KL. It was the daughter's 3rd birthday, and the son's 7th birthday. There were bouncy castles, face painting, tatoo painting, painting/drawing booths, and some game whereby you have to grab some silver/gold papers flying in this inflatable plastic cage or something. The kids had fun playing all sorts of games organized by the event crew. And, oh ya, there was also a CLOWN.

Ibu, I think it was the SAME clown you had for Ameer's birthday that day. We were not sure at first. He looked like that dude who was at your place - but you can't really tell clowns apart, can you? Anyway, one thing gave it away. Hanna was the one who spotted it. He kept on saying his tagline "I'll kiss you" to the kids. Memang SAH!!! Same dude. Hahahaha! :)

And the kids got some cool party packs and helium-filled balloons to bring home.

Hmmmmm....No evidence of economic crunch at Shangri-la today. That's for sure.

Again, sorry...No pics :( Hanna left the camera in the car boot, and we were just too lazy to go down to the basement parking to get it.

Anyway, it was a really great party. The kids enjoyed themselves tremendously!

Thank you, Dato' Fa*eh and Datin Fi** for being such gracious and wonderful hosts :)

It has been a swell weekend for us, even for Ayah. FYI, Ayah had his karaoke session with his friends on Friday night which continued until the wee hours of Saturday morning. He SMSd earlier after finishing his clinic at 10:30p.m that he was joining his primary school friends for dinner in Bangsar, and that he would be home within an hour. Yours truly waited for him, and fell asleep (thank God! If not, sure tension menunggu!). I woke up a few times from 12:30a.m until about 2:30a.m and still no sign of Ayah! It was at 3:30a.m when I woke up again and saw Ayah performing his solat in the room. Apparently he only reached home at 3:00a.m! So much for "an hour" with his friends, huh? So, it was fair and square - Ayah ALSO had his dose of fun this weekend ;)

And tomorrow will be even better. Time to be with the family to celebrate Hari Raya. At least the first half of the day, that is. The second half of the day, like the previous two years, Ayah and I will be running on our rounds to distribute daging korban, insya Allah. Syukur alhamdulillah, this year Ayah, myself and the kids again mendapat rezqi untuk korban satu bahagian masing-masing. Hope to be able to do the same for the next four years to cukupkan 7 bahagian masing-masing, insya Allah.

Before I sign off, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you -

Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Adha.

Enjoy the time with the family, but at the same time do spend some thoughts and prayers for the less fortunate. Special thoughts and mention for the victims and those affected by the various landslides which occured in the last few days in Klang Valley.

Al-fatihah to those who had perished in the tragedy, and a special prayer for their loved ones to be strong in these very sad and difficult times. Amin.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Qadha' posting...

Salams. This is going to be brief - menunaikan janji to post an entry on Hanna's birthday do, and also on the kids' new "toys" for their exam results.

Yes - Ayah finally kalah dengan pujuk raya anak-anak (seperti biasa...Hehehe) and they each got their reward in the forms of these.



And Hilman somehow accidentally dropped his PSP on the floor when we were in Langkawi and ruined the screen :( which made both Ayah and I VERY upset, indeed. After a round of berleter from each of us (and I added a 20-minute isolation in the dark powder room to my leteran), we realized that however upset we were, Hilman would have felt even more upset with the whole thing. It was his reward for getting No. 1, and barely a week, it was (slightly) damaged. He was trying to convince us that he was okay playing with it - damaged screen or not, but we didn't want to hear any of that. So, we took the PSP away from him, and we told him that we were keeping it indefinitely.

But, after a while, bila dah cool down sikit, we told ourselves that it was only a PSP. A material thing. And after coming back from Langkawi, both Ayah and I mendapat rezqi in other forms, syukur alhamdulillah. And a few days after we were back in KL, Ayah decided to just send the PSP for repair. The screen costs quite a bomb (considering it's JUST a screen!), but, we decided to just go ahead with replacing it. As I'm typing this, the PSP is still in the "workshop". Insya Allah we'll get it back next week. And Hilman doesn't know that he's getting it back. I just hope we're doing the right thing, and I just hope he would be extra careful with it from now on.

Moving along - Hanna's birthday do. Like the previous two years, Hanna wanted to have a makan-makan with her friends to celebrate her birthday.

So, we had a small bash at Ms Re*d's De*ici*us at One-Ut*ma with Hanna inviting her friends - Na* Ra*li, Na* Roslan, El*nna, Aq*la, Ma* and Mi*a, and we were later joined by my SIL Ly*n and family. One thing about this place - they serve REALLY big portions. Hongeh nak perabiskan!

And oh ya - we found out that Mi*a's Dad - Ju*ai*i, is from our batch, and went to KPP with us. In fact Ayah knew him then. In fact he came over to my MIL's house way back then with a few of Ayah's SAS friends! Such a small world indeed :)

Here are some pics! Enjoy!