Surat Tunjuk Sebab :)

Hmmmm, we're into our third week of Syawal, and I had not posted anything on our Raya celebration this year. So not me!

Well, life pre, during and post-Raya had been pretty hectic for all of us, me included, and on top of that I have been spending more time on Facebooking than blogging (which I think quite a number of bloggers are guilty of, too!) But, I hope to be able to balance between the two soon, insya Allah.

A summary of what had happened in the last couple of weeks -

The first day of raya, my MIL cooked Lontong and Macaroni Goreng, on top of the usual Lemang, Rendang, Nasi Impit, Satay, etc. While my Mom cooked Mee Rebus, on top of the usuals. And I also cooked some Asam Laksa for both. Malam Raya was spent at my parents' for our last berbuka, after which we went to spend the night at my MIL's. Pagi Raya was spent at my MIL's and we only left for my parents' around 4:00p.m and stayed till late. Everybody was there except for my second brother, Jame who spent his Raya in Taiping as he had to work.

Oh ya, the theme for First Day Raya was Turquoise Blue :) The following days - semua carca marba :)

I lost 2.5kgs during Ramadhan, and gained 1.5kg back in the first week of Syawal. Sedey tau ! :( I'm still trying to make sure that it stays at that, or hopefully go down from now on. I'm on my third day of Puasa qadha' (some say, can also be considered as part of Puasa 6). Thinking of doing a proper Puasa 6 after that. That is IF there's enough time to do that. Syawal dah half-way dah ni...

The whole family is fasting now. Just as how it was last year, I'm very heartened when the kids, especially Hilman and Hasya decided to join us to puasa. Nobody pressured them or anything. They decided to do it on their own accord. And so far, so good. Imaan masih kuat di sekolah even though the temptations must have been great when they see their friends eating and drinking during recess.

We have also been dining out a lot after raya, AND buying food for our meals - the reason being, my MIL's and my SIL's maids (both staying at my MIL's) ran away on first raya! My MIL left the house at 6:15p.m to beraya at her sister's place in Keramat, and by 7:00p.m., when the guard came for duty, he could not get in as there was nobody to open the gate for him! Within 45 minutes - the maids lesap. That was after we gave them 2-3 pasang Baju Raya each and duit raya! Big mistake - with the cash in hand, panjang lah lagi kaki they all :(

Anyway, so, now my Bibik Dar kena kerja lebih sikit coz' kena cover 2 houses. But, my MIL is paying her extra for the extra chores/responsibilities. And everybody in the house chips in to wash the dishes, iron the clothes, sweep and mop the floors, etc. I would help with the cooking if I finish work early. If not, my MIL would just buy lauk dah siap, or we would eat out.

My MIL had a temporary maid last week on Thursday, but decided to send her back to the agent on Monday morning. So many things yang memeningkan kepala and menaikkan darah my MIL. That maid refused to eat leftover rice, and would cook fresh rice for HERSELF every day, and would also serve the DRIVER the fresh rice. BUT she would serve leftover rice to my MIL! Ada kah patut?!

On top of that, she spent more than half of her time eating whatever she could find in the kitchen, in the fridge, in the freezer, etc. She even finished the food meant for the toddler at home, Qadri! And she actually cooked one whole packet of Meehun and ate the whole thing herself for breakfast on Sunday! The whole KUALI of Meehun... Can you beat that? She refused to do other things EXCEPT cook. Even then, she would cook ikut selera dia even though my MIL had taught her how to cook the way the family likes it.

She didn't know how to iron properly, she didn't know how to use the mesin parut kelapa (even though dah diajar a few times), and she refused to cook the fish/chicken/meat which had been in the fridge for more than 4 days. According to her - dah tak sedap! Lawan tokey betul...The majikan tak kisah, pembantu rumah lah pulak yang memilih!!! Tak sakit jiwer kitorang?! Anyway, good riddance - my MIL asked her to pack her bag and sent her to the agent on Monday morning.

Another thing yang memeningkan my kepala, Bibik Dar wants to go back for a 2-month holiday in November, but, I'm trying to persuade her to go back in January 2010 instead. So many things to settle at work year end, and having her around while the kids are on their school holiday would really help ease a lot of things. She's keen to come back and work for another 2 years after that, but, she said she has to ask her husband first...I REALLY hope she'll get the geenlight from her hubby. She has been the best maid we've had so far, and the kids are close to her. We're giving her a substantial raise if she comes back, and we hope that will convince the hubby to let her come back and work with us. Pray for us, please. Thanks! :)

Okay, I guess that's all for now - Surat Tunjuk Sebab why this blog has been idle for a while :)

But, before that, you can click here and here for some of our Raya pics :)

:)