Something new and something old for the holidays :)

It's Friday today. Exactly one week of the school holidays has come and gone, and it doesn't really feel like a holiday. Well, for me at least.

The past one week has kept me busy with work at the office and organizing and managing stuff relating to Ayah's practice/business (filing this and filing that, paying this and paying that, etc.) But, most of all, I've been busy shifting things and stuff to my MIL's new house.

Yes, after more than 6 years, her house is finally ready, syukur alhamdulillah...

She had planned to hold a Khenduri Do'a Selamat, Tahlil and Majlis Kesyukuran sempena her moving to the new place on her 70th Birthday on Sunday, 6th June 2010, starting with Solat Maghrib, followed by Tahlil, Solat Isya' and Dinner. So, the few days leading to that date, everybody was busy cleaning the house, moving stuff and making the rooms in the new house homely for the Khenduri.

The night before the Khenduri, the five of us - Ayah, the kids and I decided to "test" sleeping at the house. We were the first 5 people to do so as my MIL is quite a conservative when it comes to all these, whereby she only wanted to start sleeping there after the Khenduri Do'a Selamat disempurnakan. Syukur alhamdulillah, everybody slept soundly and peacefully that night. Even though it was a strange feeling waking up at the new place the next morning with just the five of us in the house, I could see that the kids were all excited about their Wan's new abode.

The Khenduri went well, albeit an initial hitch when there was a blackout while we were performing Solat Maghrib. Thanks to a friend - Ir Jo* of TNB who was one of our guests that night, we managed to get back the supply just before 8:00p.m.

It was a bit chaotic later on when the caterer only provided us with 3 (VERY SLOW!) waiters/waitress to attend to nearly 200 guests (when my MIL had requested for at least 8!), So, most of orang rumah had to also turun padang to speed everything up. Very stressful indeed, especially for my MIL, but, syukur alhamdulillah, the whole thing went okay.

The last guests left just before midnight, and after we cleaned up the house, and had our food, we finally went to bed close to 2:00a.m - the first night Ayah's family slept together under one roof in the new house (except for Along and his family who had to be in Perth). It was, I'm sure a very meaningful night for my MIL...

We have been sleeping there ever since the Khenduri, with me only going back to Sri D'sara every other day to wash the clothes in the morning before going to the office, as the washing machine from the old house was only sent to the new house yesterday. I also need to replenish the hamsters' and terrapin's food and water every other day. And of course, while I'm in Sri D'sara, I also take the opportunity to pack some of our stuff from Sri D'sara and send to the new house.

Those who knew our living arrangement before this would know that we had two sets of nearly all of our daily necessities - one set in our own house in Sri D'sara, and another set in Mak's house in PJ. This was because the PJ house was basically the kids' transit point after school, whereby they would be there until I fetched them to bring home to Sri D'sara after work everyday.

The PJ house is still there, and still being used by my MIL. So, a set of our daily necessities and clothes are still there. My MIL still goes back there everyday to hold meetings with her staff from the office, and I think she will continue with this arrangement indefinitely. The kids still have their Mengaji Class there, and as the house is nearer to all their tuition/piano/chess classes compared to the new place, it is still very much our transit point at the moment. So, basically, when we say "Wan's house" to the kids, we now have to specify WHICH house we're actually referring to :)

So, my job for the past one week has been to build up another set of all our daily necessities at the new house - Baju "Rumah", Baju "Jalan", Baju Tidur, Baju "Kecik", Beddings, Towels, Toiletries, decors, soft furnishings, etc. And doing just that has kept me pretty busy outside of my working hours in the last 5 days or so.

As if having two sets of necessities before this wasn't stressful enough, I now have to make sure that all three sets are complete everytime we plan to stay at either one of the houses! Hehehe...

The kids don't seem to mind not going anywhere this school holidays, as I think they find discovering all nooks and corners around their Wan's new house is an adventure in itself. Many times I just couldn't find where they were in the house exactly - Hilman and Hasya, especially!

We had not made any plans to go anywhere this holiday as Hanna's having her PMR this year, and she has tuitions nearly every other day the whole of the cuti. But, we pity the kids, so, Ayah and I decided that we should tag along with him for his meeting in Penang next week. And insya Allah, we'll break our journey in Taiping - my hometown. Yeay!! :)

I'm really looking forward to that trip as the last time we were back in Taiping with the kids was probably 8 years ago! Hanna was 6, Hasya was 3 and Hilman was only 2 years old then, and I don't think they remember much of that trip, especially the two younger ones.

My second brother - Jame and his family are still in Taiping, as are a number of my uncles, aunties and cousins. As my Abah and Mommy are staying in KL now, we rarely go back to Taiping nowadays, as everytime there's a long holiday, my Brother Jame would come down to KL instead.

I plan to bring and show the kids the house and the kampung where I grew up in - where I lived with their Jaddi and Jaddati before going to boarding school, to their arwah Moyang's house (which is now occupied by an uncle) and to my old primary school which is located within the beautiful Taiping Lake Gardens area. And insya Allah, if time permits, we'll probably go on the Night Safari at the Zoo :)

This school holidays might not be an extravagant one for the kids, but, in a way, I hope that this will be one of the most special ones for them, insya Allah. On one hand, they're going through the new experience of staying at their paternal grandma's new house... and on the other hand, they'll also be tracing and discovering the old treasures and memories (mine, that is! :)) at their maternal grandma's kampung...

Nothing can be cooler than that, I think ;)