Happy 24th Abang!!

Terima kasih Ya Allah untuk usia kami yang telah Engkau berikan.
Terima kasih juga untuk setiap rezeki kami yang Engkau kurniakan.
Terima kasih untuk setiap cubaan buat kami yang Engkau turunkan.
Terima kasih untuk bakat dan ilham buat kami yang Engkau anugerahkan. 

Terima kasih Ya Tuhan, atas segala takdir yang telah Engkau tentukan.
Engkau Yang Maha Besar lagi Maha Mengetahui segalanya..peliharalah kami agar terus berpegang teguh pada taliMu.

Terimalah permohonan hambaMU yang serba kekurangan ini Ya Tuhanku.....

Amin Ya Rabbul 'Alamin... 

Wishing you love, success, fortune, friendship, happiness and everything that you want on your birthday. Love you loads and always wish the best for you. 

Happy Birthday Faris!

Just A Number.....

Thumbs up to FB for doing a good job in promoting birthdays. It sends you reminders and lets you post wishes onto the timeline. And because of that, this posting is out about a week late. Kinda old news, but I just wanna put the mark in the blog still.

Yessss...it was that time. Yess...it was that celebration. And yesss...the number has changed. But they say, “age is nothing but just a number.” I’m not much of a sentimentalist, but I did have a great time celebrating with friends and family.

But most importantly....
Thank you God for giving me another year of life.
Thank you for all the people who remembered
by sending cards, and letters, gifts and good wishes.

Thank you God for all the experience of this past year;
for times of success which will always be happy memories,
for times of failure which reminded me of my own weakness
for times of joy and also for the times of sadness

Thank you God for this blessed life, for showing me the way and for being with me.
Thank you for granting health and clarity to my mind.
Thank you for mercies over my life, for my family and my friends.

الحمد لله Alhamdulillah

Ivory Turns Ten

She flaunts a striking exhibition of unlikeness from her other siblings. If both her abang and kakak are mocha ice blended; Nissa, I'd say is Yeoh's soya milk. I recall that morning of March 11, 2001 when Doc Harris put her in my arms moments after she was born. My thoughts were, "Ohh...okay...my color scheme".

That shouldn't be the first thoughts crossing a mom's mind I know. But after a whole hour of huffin' and puffin' in the labour room, seeing this a bundle of joy whose complexion is closest to my (side of the family...he he) color scheme, I was extra elated. Of course, the tiny fingers, toes and eyes that squint opened whenever she got hungry or wet got us gu-gu ga-ga later on.

Ebony & Ivory

Today that 3.98kg baby girl turns TEN. This morning on the way to school, she said this to me, "I'm 10 Mom, no surprises on my birthday please." My baby is growing up so, so fast! I miss that little bouncy girl in dragging diapers that used to stir her from slumber.

In some distorted part of myself I wanted her to be crying; longing to spend lazy mornings with me, clinging onto my pants as I head out for work.

Hu hu....how fast time flies.

So Nissa...

Today you are 10
What more can we say,
You're becoming more special
Each and every day.
Blow out your candles
One by one
Enjoy your birthday
Have lots of fun.

Be proud of who you are and strive to be the best. Follow your dreams, put forth your efforts to achieve your goals and let God do the rest.

Sent via Kay's Berry

February in March

It would make a good movie title this "February in March". Gosh...this hiatus is a long one; Sembang is so, so neglected. I have been extremely occupied with work, work and more work. It sounds so cliche, I know, but that's how my life has been these last few weeks.

To tell you the truth, I am exasperated. On the work front, as projects are merrily coming in, I just don't want to be accountable for anymore deliverables and I want to throw away my project manager hat. I just want to sit and do nothing for a change......

But boleh ke?? Perhaps I could, but I know for sure I'll be bored to death just not doing anything. So, never complain lah kan.....

Anyway, I have digressed. Guess that's what happens to you when you haven't been writing long - you tend to pour your heart, never mind if it makes no sense to anyone else.

Okay...back to the title.

February....it was such a short month. The 28 days went flying unnoticed. Many good things happened to me in February but I can't recollect all for this blog. Pathetic kan.....

There were two birthdays that fell in February, one was Faris' and the other was mine. Both days came and went in a blink. There was a brief celebration - nothing either one of us would shout about. Went out for makan and cake pun baked sendiri. Creative? Err...call it doing things different from the previous years.

There were no pictures. Semua orang pun dah malas nak gi snap, snap away. Go eat, catch up on things, dah kenyang, back home and rest. Sounds really ordinary kan?

And yes, just before my birthday it was Valentine's day yang none of us felt like celebrating. Ada yang kata, V-day has got to do with Christianity and ada yang refute. Had I written this piece in February itself, I would have said more. But now, almost a month later...??? Biar je lah senyap ...biar je lah berlalu.....

And it was in February that I started my morning walk routine - more serious this time around. Doing between 3.0 to 3.5 kms per day, gave me the extra push to get myself going. Must continue doing this and must not let work get in the way.

In February, a few of us at work kicked start our Wednesday aerobics class. Haaaa.....THIS was a killer!! But we all knew this was the kind of "kick" we needed and sweat it out we did! (tapi tak gak kurus-kurus...hu hu)

So these were some significant milestones in February. That's two months down and another 10 to go in the year. At the rate we are going, December will be just round the corner and 2011 will draw its curtains.

Jadi...itu lah cerita nya with February. Rather mundane, don't you thing so?

Now the big question which I know many are asking - how old this year?
Okay lah yang ni tak perlu nak berahsia.....anak lelaki is 22 and mak budak lelaki tu 47 dah ni!!

Hahh...the cat is out dah!!

Prezzies pulak??

Got myself this toy to replace the cranky ole STORM.

Sent by Kay's Berry

Plus and Minus

Stories from Colombo trip will have to wait a bit longer. Let's keep the guessing going; did I or did I not go to the gem factory? And if I did, what was the damage like "wink*. Wahh, sudah boleh buat drama bersiri my corat-coret Colombo....heh heh.

I'm still awake and still faithfully waiting for Orange to take centre field. Somehow after my FB chats, the eyes are wide awake and meddling with this new toy is making me forget about sleep for a while.

Yesterday, we celebrated Abe's birthday. Yang ke berapa??? Yang ke banyakkkkk!!! When I got the cake, I mumbled on my words when the sales person asked me how many candles I needed. But I guess budak-budak ni are so well trained to decipher mumbled words and sounds and have them translated into that secret code - the age.

Nissa merajuk coz was awaken from her deep slumber to sing Daddy that birthday song.

It was a simple celebration with cake at midnite and followed by dinner later in the evening. Abe is still recovering from his cold, and Nissa was starting not to feel too good. Anyway, Mommy's driving kan....so semua orang could lena till we arrived at the destination.

From Kak Ezza and a few other blogger friends, I have been hearing raving remarks about this ikan bakar place in Pekan Jeram - a small town after Kapar and just before Kuala Selangor. Jauh juga lah....it took us about an hour to get there. When we arrived it was almost maghrib and the restaurant was already packed with patrons. We were lucky that we managed to get a table fast.

Siakap tiga rasa - my rating 5 out of 10.

Wait for the food was long - not at all surprising when looking at the hungry faces all around us. When our food finally came, everyone was ready to attack!! I don't think it's fair to be a food critique on the dishes we had, when it's my first time there. I liked the siakap tiga rasa, but Farah said the one at Famous Thai was tasted better (yarr lorrr..and how much pulak the same dish in Famous Thai??) But all in all we were happy with our dinner.

Then came the surprise - Abe's present. The girls and I went looking for something which we felt he really needed. A few items came to mind - a watch (nooo....coz last two years dah bagi dah), shirt (also noooo coz he has banyak yang he has not worn...thanks to my buying spree), DSLR (errr...me tak cukup budget nanti nak gi RT with friends). Ohhh...it was so tough getting his present.

After lihat sini sana, and with me so exhausted being driver for the girls, we decided to get him a new phone - a replacement that would put the N80 to its final resting place.

On Friday, I was joking with my boss in the office, asking him what's the cheapest Black Berry. His reply was, "Napa nak cari yang cheapest??? Cari lah yang latest!!" Everyone thought I was looking for a new BB, little did they know that I was getting a device for someone who is not so tech savvy (unlike me!!! cheh...puji diri sendiri)

Anyway, when I went to my favourite mobile outlet in SA Mall, the sales person showed me the new Bold2. Ohhh...macam cantik pulak...and berkenan jugak. So malas nak think much, all of us girls unanimously agreed that the ole man should be transformed into someone who is tech savvy. Nissa said she's gonna give Abe only two weeks to master the phone, or else the BB will be hers!!! Duhhh...punya lah demanding and strict nya this girl.

Guess what it is Daddy. No clues from Abe coz Farah had wrapped the phone in Astro old bill (recycle mahhh...)

Laaaa....hadiah bungkus guna bill recycle je. He must be thinking of that.

Tadaaaaaaa........your BB Daddy!!

Abe's reaction when he got the phone?? Kerut-kerut kepala nak accept Nissa's challenge...heh heh. Anyway, a note to Abe, chill lah okay. BB is not rocket science, try meddling with it first. If you really can't cope, we'll return your supposed to RIP N80 back to you and Nissa gets to keep BB, mau?? I can assure you, college calculus with all the triple differential equations yang three semesters kena buat dulu lagi susah nak pecah kepala!! The key word is CHILL :)

Well, that was the PLUS - Abe's age is plus 1 from last year's number. Wishing you all good health, rezeki yang melimpah (so that boleh selalu jadi penaja my RTs!!) and dirahmati Allah selalu.

The MINUS on the other hand is that my all so reliable, faithful relief supir has returned to Uni. Faris left this morning to embark on his degree program in the same Uni he completed his diploma. So...off he went to Melaka. But as Zen, a fellow blogger put it on FB - life goes on and I know I shouldn't be harping on this too much. (But I did feel like a hop on hop off bus driver yesterday when making drop off and pick up of the girls for their Saturday activities.)

We wish you all the best too Abang. Hope you keep up the good work as you had done in your diploma studies. Three years is not long...drive up and down Shah Alam - Melaka and before you know it, you are at your final semester.

S.E.V.E.N.T.E.E.N

Happy Birthday Farah.

Love life, bring warmth and kindness to everyone around you.
May Allah bless you with good health, happiness, success and all the good things in life.
Lots of love from Abang, Nissa, Daddy & Mama.

Be Strong, Be Intelligent and Smile

At 33 weeks, I was so sleep deprived; tossing and turning with unbearable discomfort throughout the night. The bed could accommodate only me. Throw cushions were all around – two on the side, a few more at the edge and not counting the piles of pillows needed to support my aching back. The bed resembled a war zone of pillows. And at week 34, I had thrown out my sleeping partner. Too bad, but I think he somewhat willingly did so. One zombie in the house was enough; he had no intentions of adding on to the number.

Results from my last check up had caused more worry. DrH told me that that my baby was still in the butt first position. My heart sank at the news. I had hoped for the baby to turn, but apparently she wasn’t listening to Mommy’s telepathic pleas. I hadn’t the faintest idea of what to expect with a C-section as the other two children were normal. Thoughts of being cut opened gave me the creeps.

My labour was intensive; almost forgot how to do the pushing. Mana tak nye, the last time I made my appearance before DrH was like eight years ago. Machines and wires were every where. I remember looking at the monitor, and not at all amused by the chart plotting my contractions. Each time the graph showed a spike I went berserk – grabbing the gas mask, piercing Abe’s arms, calling names at the nurses when they were slow at giving me my shot of pain killers. Even with that shot, the pain was urgghhhhhh……..

Anyway, after some serious and intense huffin’, puffin’ and pushing (and a few screams too!!), sometime around 6.30am, Nissa Maisarah was born. She was long and weighed almost 4kg. When DrH placed her in my arms, this bundle of joy gave her first smile, and just like that the agony from the wait and pain was gone. The rest I could vaguely recall. Tau-tau dah in the room, and the nurses just couldn’t wait to pass the baby to me to breast feed (in the end tak breast feed pun coz had problems in the milky dept).

Nine years ago, that was how it happened.

Happy birthday dear Nissa….

Believe in magic and wish on stars. Dance, laugh, cry, and sing when you want to. Make faces. Play with lumpur and lopak. Pet rabbits, hold kittens, and talk to babies. Love and trust and be compassionate. Be strong. Be intelligent. Smile.

No matter how many birthdays come and go, you'll always be our little girl. May each of your days be filled with joy and sweet surprises.

More of Nissa's stories here and here.

Pujian & Syukur

Pujian dan syukur pada Mu Tuhan atas usia baru ini, atas kepercayaan Mu padaku untuk masih menjalani hidup ini, semoga dapat ku melakukan yang terbaik.

Pujian dan syukur atas keluarga kecil kami yang bahagia,
atas keluarga besar kami yang selalu penuh kasih satu sama lain.

Pujian dan syukur atas segala masalah yang selalu Kau hindarkan dari padaku

Pujian dan syukur atas kurnian putera & puteri yang sehat dan cerdas.

Pujian dan syukur atas suami yang memberikan cinta dengan penuh kesabaran
Pujian dan syukur atas keluarga yang tanpa henti mencurahkan kasih kepadaku.

Pujian dan syukur atas rezeki, kesihatan dan pekerjaan yang baik dan atas segala harapan yang dapat disempurnakan


Pujian dan syukur atas kerinduan akan cinta MU yang selalu hadir dalam hatiku

Pujian dan syukur atas seluruh nikmat hidupku...

Setiap hembusan nafas ku ini, kupercayakan pada kasih dan penyelenggaran MU, agar selalu terjadi padaku sebagaimana apa yang Engkau kehendaki.

Amin.

His 21st

It must have been one of the worst gastric attacks. Everything I pushed in, came out the very moment it went in. Even gulping down fluids was difficult. It tasted funny and if I wasn't careful, my body would reject that too.

For the life of me, I never could recall having such a nasty attack. I knew I had mild gastric problem, but didn't expect it to be so bad. The fact that I was almost full term made the experience a horrible ordeal. The whole day, I did nothing but just lay down on the bed, hoping that I'd get better soon.

Well, that was how it all started. Unfortunately, my condition didn't get better for I went into labour on the following morning. Silly me, a first time Mommy, I thought it was gastric, when I was actually having contractions. Mana lah I tau.....there was no prior experience to make comparisons with.

All that happened 21 years ago and on February 7th 1989, our son Mohd Faris Afandi was born. I also recall that day being 1st Rejab coz when my parents and my late grandmother came to visit me at the hospital, they said that they were fasting. And it was the second day of CNY that this bundle of joy decided to arrive. He was a huge baby, weighing 3.89kg!!

The rest is history and today we celebrated his 21st.

Happy Birthday Abang. Hope you will always have a good health, more career in life..and hope that more birthdays to come. Have a wonderful day and fabulous year.

Nissa's Special Day

March 11 is a very special day for us. It's Nissa's birthday, and this year we celebrate her 8th. Fast forward the years, we see how much our little baby girl has grown.

Brave, bold, funny, smart and a happy girl with such great personality and love, whom without fail would continue to challenge me every day in new and surprising ways.

Happy Birthday Dear Nissa
Blow out the candles and make your wish
Have a wonderful day today!!!

Note to Myself....

It’s two minutes into the day and yeah…it’s my birthday!! Another year has passed so quickly. Eventful, stressful, packed with triumphs and tribulations but all in all, Alhamdulillah, God bless, it was a wonderful year.

I turn 45 on this very day. Some people may dread this milestone, as it's kind of neither there nor here at the 40 & 50 age marker. But it really hasn’t been that big of a deal for me. I suppose birthdays are a natural time to reflect upon where you're at and what you're doing.

This last year, its full depth and breadth of the 365 days, has been a great year to reflect upon. All the hard work I’ve been doing over the last few years is progressing great. I’m incredibly overjoyed knowing that my friends and family are all healthy and well and are living lovely lives. I am feeling fitter and stronger than I have in a few years, and am looking forward to feeling even better in the future.

I’m pretty happy with where I am. It’s so cliche, I know, but I feel like I have so much ahead of me. There are so many exciting things happening in the world and so many opportunities to help people learn. I’m glad to have my place in all of it, at least until things change again and I go off on my next adventure.



My hopes for the upcoming year…

I hope for my life to be calm and enveloping peace. No drama and to stay away from conflicts.

I want to always have new and old friends - the ones I've known forever, the ones I have known for a while, and friends I've only just met.

I wish to move forward, to move on, without dwelling on failures or disappointments or hurt.

I wish to move forward, wisely, sagely. And most importantly, I want to grow older with grace and dignity.

Turning Twenty

No longer that little boy...

Oh how the years go by,
Oh how time can certainly fly
a full head of hair
cute right from the get-go

Exactly 20 years ago
On this very day
I held my breath
As I heard them say
It’s a boy!!!

It’s a boy
You must be thrilled
And in that moment
The tears that spilled

Once a little boy, now a young man
And when the day comes for you to be on your own,
never feel that you are alone.
Always remember whatever you go through
no matter what, WE will always love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABANG!!!
From ALL of US!!! Daddy, Mama, Farah & Nissa

Happy 2nd - Sembang at Kay's

Happy Birthday Blog!!!

It has been two years since my first posting made it to cyberspace. What started out as something that I was just "trying out" has now become something very dear, very close and very special to me. I owe it to you all out there my blogging mates for making this space of mine come alive, filled with wise sharings, crackled jokes and colourful musings.

May our common traits of update dash, image uploading, blog hopping, peeping and at times stalking, continue to blossom our relationship!!!

Happy Birthday NISSA.

Nissa, my youngest turned 6 today. Not much of a celebration today as she had her birthday do in school last Friday.

Birthdays are so different these days. I remember one birthday party I had. Couldn’t really remember how old I was. I invited some school friends and also children from the neighborhood. Mom made fried noodles and some sandwiches. She also baked me a cake. It was a plain butter cake…smelling so fresh when it was put at the centre of the table. I shared it with the children who came. After the cake, we continued playing “catch” outside the house. When we got thirsty, we would go back into the house and drink up the orange cordial drink that Mom had made earlier. There seemed never enough drinks for all the thirsty rascals.

I don't believe in lavish birthday dos. So..that's how it was with Nissa's party....a simple and nice one. I figured since it will be her last birthday before she attends primary school, it would be good to have it at the kindergarten.

It was quite a challenge to figure out what would be fun and enjoyable for the children to have. Finally I came up with my list...party packs, candies, chocolates and balloons. I packed some party packs for the children and in them there went the candies and chocolates and balloons. And I was pretty sure the children would love this.

I decided to try out something different with the cake. Instead of the usual Disney or number shaped cake, I decided to get cup cakes for Nissa to share with her friends at school. The cup cakes came in blueberry and chocolate flavors. The exciting thing about these cup cakes was the way they were decorated and colored. All 50 cup cakes had interesting and colorful cream and patterns on them. This would be the first time I am trying this out. I really hoped the children would like it.

Unfortunately, I could not be with her at her school to celebrate with her. I also couldn’t see the expressions of the children when they saw the cup cakes. According to Farah, my second girl, the children took instantly to the cup cakes as they were very colorful and attractive. She called me at work later that day to thank me for the birthday do and told me how happy she was.

Colorful cuppies indulgence....... yummyyyyy :D