Week ending 26/11/2006

I hate it that the PTB (powers that be) have suddenly decided to ban blogspot and most of the other blogging web providers. i find that my thoughts seem to be flowing that wee bit better in the mornings.... bila dah malam timbul rasa nak releks je and any thoughts of venting or ranting just seem too tiring and energy consuming lol.

I still havent gotten back to the activity level that i want to be. of course ramadhan brought along with it an anticipated break in rhythm but the almost never ending fiesta that inevitably follows in ts wake is something most of us can do without. i dunno, we humans somehow have this natural talent for corrupting and desecrating anything thats remotely beautiful. take ramadhan for example, for one solid month we tout the virtues & wonders of fasting, abstinence and empathy with the poor & those less fortunate than us. then comes syawal and we're suddenly struck by a frenzy of eating, drinking and being merry and it goes on, with a vengeance, for the rest of the month. in some twisted & convoluted way we seem to be declaring to one and all, to hell with the fasting, the abstinence & the poor. that was just for ramadhan and this is reality.

Sigh. i've always wanted to vent about how syawal should stay as bulan ber'maaf2an' instead of evolving into bulan ber'makan2an' (such a word doesnt exist but you know what i mean). i think one of the major culprit is the newly adapted phenomenon of 'open houses'. out of convenience rather than necessity, city folks who had previously returned to their hometowns for eid, 'open' their houses so to speak at a certain date and time so that the joyous occasion can also be shared with neighbours & friends. the logic being, instead of having people drop by unexpectedly, it only made sense to invite them all in one go..... and of course once you invite people over you do the decent thing and provide them with enough food & drinks.

There are many who, like me, still prefer to leave the invitation open but judging from the number of invitations that i get come syawal, open houses have certainly come into its own and is a resounding success. the hosts are happy, the friends are happy, everybody's happy happy and its certainly a good thing. its just unfortunate that during the unfolding of this phenomenon, too much importance have been placed onto the merry making, the eating & drinking; so much so that it's somehow become the main focus. the shift has been gradual but unmistakable. tell me, what's the first thing that comes into your head when a friend calls that he/she's coming over? surely its 'la apa nak jamu diorang ni ya?' or something to that same effect isnt it? because societal expectation has been raised and the situation has evolved beyond the customary 'kueh raya' into the realms of providing something 'heavier' and more substantial. It shouldnt be our first consideration. both sides should focus on the 'bermaaf2an' part and propogating friendship & ukhwah. if by chance there's also fried mee or currypuffs then alhamdulillah syukur nikmat Allah :)

Now back to discussing my running.... certainly a long and winding road lol. midlife brings with it a certain tendency to be easily distracted. yes its been 2 months and sadly, i'm slowly moosying on back to my regular schedule. i have to squeeze in more of the morning runs because in the evenings, i've started taking my litlle girl briskwalking along the track. yup, taking full advantage of the school holidays and her burgeoning awareness of the state of her own body. heh, before long i'll be getting meself a new running buddy ( i hope).

Blame it on the hormones

I'm a feminists' nightmare... at least the western idea of one and probably dianggap kuno, archaic, old pesen tapi tak kisah la kan. i just dont believe in absolute equality between gender, not the 'everything you do i can do equally well' kind. no definitely not everything sbb in the first place, we were made different and to take on different roles. hakikatnya kita memang telah dijadikan untuk saling lengkap melengkapkan. half of a complete whole... like ying & yang kot. kalau lelaki sinonim dengan 'brute strength' perempuan pulak sinonim dengan 'endurance', that sorta thing.

Like running for example. lets not talk about the professionals since they've reached the level of 'lean mean running machines' lol tapi kita yang biasa2 ni. kalau nak di ikutkan, kaum hawa sikit sebanyak akan dipengaruhi oleh cycle bulanan yang dihadapi mereka maklum la menstruation brings about fluctuations in our hormone levels. so ada masa things are ok dan ada masa not so ok. nasib la kalau ada pulak important event lined up masa tengah dok senak2 tu kan?! tapi something i read previously made me feel i actually had an advantage and that the fluctuating hormones i'm stuck with aint so bad after all :)

Performance VS Menstrual Cycle (i've summarized it for my own convenience).

Day 1 to 13: Follicular Phase
- low estrogen level
- encourages breakdown of CARBS therefore quick energy bursts.
- will generally feel active & energetic
Phase more suitable for:
- activities related to speed & intensity
- tempo workouts
- interval training

Day 14: Ovulation

Day 15 to 28: Luteal Phase
- high/stable estrogen level
- encourages breakdown of FATS therefore slower, more sustained energy.
- will generally feel sluggish, tired, lethargic
Phase more suitable for:
- activities that are slow & consistent
- long distance workouts
- low intensity training

Hmmmm.. apa2 pun during the first few days of the period, i usually just do light exercises. at my age i dont really want to aggravate anything... but i find that running really helps reduce the uncomfortably bloated feeling that one usually gets a week prior to it. understanding ones body helps in lessening the burden we tend to put on it.

Workout Log.
4 small laps= 4km = 40 minutes.
i hate running in the late afternoons.... the heat just zaps at my energy tapi for now i cant seem to be able to squeeze in anything before punching in for work. its the late nites; its making me wake up all groggy in the mornings. gotta do something i guess.

Scary

Ooops I did it again...

Its actually quite scary when you get these friendly little reminders from the AlMighty telling you that you're not really as in control as you'd like to think. when i attended that wedding reception the other day.... i found out i'd left the window on the passenger's side wide open!!! and that was after a long and enjoyable eating and socialising session of course, plus the fact that i'd earlier had to park quite a distance away at some godforsaken corner. berderau darah bcos anything could have happened the worst surely being finding an empty spot where my avanza should've been!!! alhamdulillah Allah masih sayang... except for the great gaping window, everything was as it should have been, intact. even though i was quite sure i had secured everything before leaving, i didnt even notice the window. maybe i was getting a little cocky and He wanted me to be on my toes again.

And today right after work, as i was reversing my car like i've always done a 1000 times before, i found myself ramming into the back of my officemate's daihatsu!!!!! omg, now where did he suddenly spring from?!! i really had the shock of my life bcos i was so very sure there wasnt anything back there. now talk about ngangok!!!!! driving is almost second nature to me and for me to be so careless is almost incomprehensible..... but thank god neither of our vehicles were actually damaged and the poor guy was nice enough not to be mad at me either. i'm thinking of getting him something - maybe a cake with a great big 'i'm sorry' written across it.

Thank you for the gentle jolts oh Lord, i'll be more careful in the future and more mindful of what age is probably doing to my concentration and focus.

I'm feeling a little bloated and this time it has nothing to do with my period. its this non stop eating marathon that seems to associated with syawal. today alone has been declared 'jamuan day' by many - we had the state jkr's jamuan HR from 11 am to 2 pm and the SUK's 'open house' from 12 noon to 5 pm. talk about free flow of food!!! when is enough enough? another day or two and it should be comfortable enough for me to start running again. eewwww... i so hate this bloatey distended feeling. rimas giler.

Back again

Alhamdulillah we were finally able to put the puter woes behind us :) RK can now rave & rant all she wants again thank god!!

Just got back from almost an hour of sunday morning aerobics at the dataran SA. really needed to sweat it out, loosen the ole joints a bit and also be with people. no polite exchanges or talks about the weather, no... but to just be amongst living breathing people. you see, as of this morning, right after subuh to be exact, yours truly is again, missing her other half. he's off galivanting across part ocean part land, in his role as the 'orang minyak' again but beggars cant be chosers i guess... getting him back within the folds of the family for 3 whole weeks aint too bad. to be honest, i was steeling myself for a really really short break.. a couple of days before raya and a couple of days after so complaining is certainly the furthest from my mind lol. and at least we were all spared of the posibility of seeing him making sad little raya wishes through any of the media as is the norm with the perantauan people. we'd have had a miserable raya indeed without him - main reason being sbb tak pernah hayat something like that ever happened to us. dah termanja kot. my heart goes out to all those people who cant be with family during eid. must be tough... double triple tough.

So in all my smelly sweaty glory i sit here mensyukuri segala nikmat yang telah dilimpahkan oleh NYA. semoga di panjangkan umur dalam keimanan yang teguh, kesejahteraan yang tak berpenghujung dan kesihatan yang terbaik... amin.

Thing to do today:
1. Switch the old road tax for the new before taking the avanza anywhere... otherwise deal with the law.

2. Wedding reception of SZ's kid in ampang/keramat.... 1st wedding from my absm gang. needless to say i will be attending the reception even though crossing over to the other side of KL fills me with trepidation. seriau nak venture across the great divide hehehe (speaking like a true daughter of shah alam yg malas nak pegi mana2).

3. Avoid moping about like a sick pussy. opps, that didnt come out quite right now did it even if i am a true blue cat lover.... so its sick puppy then i guess lol.