The difference... I like :)

It has been just over a month since Ayah cut his 'umbilical cord' totally from UM*C, and already I could see the difference in him. The good kind of difference. This, I like... :)

Yes, he still goes out to work at 6:45a.m. every morning as he has to send Hanna and Hasya to school first, and he would go straight to TMC after that. And he still comes home after 10:00p.m. nearly every night.

But, I notice that when he comes home tired at night - it's a different kind of tiredness. I could sense a kind of calmness in him, unlike before, when he would come back tired AND stressed out.

And he calls and SMSs me more often now. Sometimes, it would be -

"Hi...How are you? Saja ajer call...How's your day? Have you had your lunch? You makan apa?"

OR

"Hi...okay to talk? Saja ajer call...I'm taking a break now. Where are you now? You tengah buat apa?"

OR

"Hi...Just to let you know - I'm on my way to As*un*a (or Co*um*ia As*a or Ch*ll*ah) and I should be back home (or at TMC) by XYZ a.m. (or p.m.)"

It may not be a big deal for some of you, but, it's a big deal for me, okay?!

Before, when he was with UM*C, he would TRY to call at least once during the day, and once just before making his way back home. Itu pun terkejar-kejar nak bercakap, and normally he would call while he was on his way to the wards, or to the clinic, or on the way to some other parts of the hospital, etc., and everytime when he got into the lifts, the phone would go dead on us! Tension... And if he didn't call by 3:00p.m, I would call him instead. And when we spoke, I could sense that his mind would be elsewhere - thinking of the 1001 things he needed to attend to at the hospital then.

But, now - he would call just to say "Hi" every 2-3 hours :)

This, I like :)

And he's always in a good mood nowadays. Dah tak marah-marah the kids sangat (NOT that dia selalu marah them before this pun...but, well, you get what I mean? He doesn't get irked easily by small-small things the kids do).

The ONLY time that I see him stressed out sekarang would be when he has to meet the datelines to submit his articles to the Editors of Ma*ay Ma*l and Me*ro Ah*d :) But, it's still bearable because I know that he enjoys writing them. It's just finding the time to write them ajer yang sometimes a bit bermasalah for him :)

Oh ya, for those who are not in the know yet, Ayah has a regular column in The Ma*ay Ma*l (you can read it every Monday), and he also writes once every two weeks for Me*ro Ah*d. So, a couple of days before the articles are due, I pun stressed jugak, coz' I'm his proof-reader and personal editor. Hehehe!

And his clinic at TMC is also picking up, syukur alhamdulillah :) He also does sessions at Co*um*ia As*a (in Puchong), and As*un*a Hospital. And also at Ch*ll*ah Diagnostics Clinic in PJ. He has to. Mula-mula ni, kena kais kat banyak tempat nak cari rezqi... :) And he gives talks on health in general, and on heart matters in particular, here and there, too. Yes - he's pretty busy. But, he's doing it on his own terms :)

And the best thing for the kids is, sometimes when he has to work late, the kids and I would join him at his clinic/room, and we would tapau some food and have dinner with him there...and sometimes, while waiting for Ayah to wrap up his work, the kids would sleep on the sofa in his room, or help themselves not just to the drinks or food in Ayah's fridge, but also to all the medical "gadgets" in his room :) (We start them young, you see...Hehehe!)

In a way, Ayah gets to spend more time with the kids - tak kisah lah even if it's in his office on some of the evenings. It's HIS time, and NOT his employer's.

And this, I like. Very much :)