The first of many.

My hubby's family are mostly scattered all over Shah Alam and its vicinity, even his mom !!!! we're in section 9, an elder bro is in section 8 and living right across is his mom and elder sis (recently widowed) and a younger bro in section 7. also nearby, a niece in TTDI Jaya, eldest bro in Subang Jaya and another elder bro in Kelana Jaya.

Being in close proximity makes family gatherings a frequent occurence. usually the whole lot of us would end up at mek's (my MIL) place for weekend get togethers, regardless of how small or sempit it can get being just a 2 bedroom apartment lol. no matter that bro Joe's comfortable & spacious bungalow is just a stone's throw away but kat rumah mek jugak yang best !!

Today's the first in the series of berbuka bersama mek. it's a pot luck affair and again i've escaped cooking heheh (last nite was ramadhan buffet at KSAS... a treat from Abe for washing his car). Abe wanted kelate fare and so we bought enough stuff at Sri TTDI Jaya to feed an army (albeit a small one lol)! as usual, when we pooled the food together, there wasnt an empty spot left at mek's table (overspilled to the floor in fact) and there was barely enough room to park all our butts lol. imagine laa all the anaks, cucus & cicits of 5 families, not including tuan rumah - the grand old lady herself lol..... bersempit2 sakan tapi syioook!!

In all that controlled chaos, getting everyone to do their solat maghrib is a test of great ingenuity.... pakai sistem shift and kena cepat2 cekup spot yg sesuai. but for an anak tunggal like me, being part of a big family have always been something i'd dream of so i look forward to such gatherings. lepas tu everyone would then adjourn to the nearby surau for tarawih and return for 2nd rounds before dgn liatnya, one family after the other would slowly take their leave.... leaving behind a happy mek in our wake.

But we had to leave early last nite. AF's bus for SP was at 12.15 am and we had to get his stuff ready. sigh... hate to have the brood broken up this way but such is life. semoga selamat AF.

oh btw, meet my irresistable snooze partners lol

A birds eye view of chewie on his kusyen putera diraja

And nico... note the slightly open mouth, indication of a really deep slumber lol!! and guess who was right beside him cuddling away before the existence of this pic hehehe !!!!! and yes thats my bed hes sleeping in the brat lol.

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Oh and i had a greeeeeaaaaaat run this morning!!!!!!!! it had rained in the nite and i wasnt about to let a beautiful morning go to waste. leaving snoring hubby & kids, i sneaked out and took it real slow and easy... the steady bouncy kinda jog i was doing left me feeling sooo much like tigger that with every passing bush/tree, i was expecting a boo from either winnie the poo or eyore lol .... and i also stopped for a little xi gong along the way to cool down :)

** Running Log **

1 lap plus= about 4.5 km= 40 minutes

Reading up on the AlQuran

Right on cue my niece handed me a brand new copy of Terjemahan AlQuran Mushaf Malaysia just a few days before ramadhan. she works with Yayasan Restu at Kompleks Taman Seni Islam Selangor situated right across the selangor state mosque. they are the people responsible for creating malaysia's very own mushaf alquran - from the elaborate motif design to the intricate caligraphic writing itself. click HERE for more info.

Knowing how teruja i can get with crisp new books (especially beautiful copies of the AlQuran), she left me to 'belek membelek hidu menghidu' in peace lol. now i'm extremely motivated to read up on my quran translation :)

As usual, i started at the very beginning:

Surah AlFatihah: makiyyah, 7 ayat.
- pembuka al quran
- "Umm AlQuran" walaupun pendek merangkumi segala pengertian, objektif & perbedaharaan al quran secara umum... aqidah & soal keimanan (ayat 1-5), ibadah melalui doa dan memohon pertolongan (ayat 6) dan minhaj kehidupan (ayat 7).

Surah AlBaqarah: madaniyyah, 286 ayat.
- surah yang terpanjang.
- selepas penghijrahan rasulullah ke madinah dan menjadi asa pembentukan ummah.
- lebih menekan aspek pensyariatan (hukum hakam) & persoalan kehidupan seperti .. pemurniaan akhlak ..sistem pentadbiran rumahtangga ..sistem pentadbiran negara & alam sejagat ..siasah perkahwinan & perceraian ..aspek muamalat termasuk jualbeli, hutang, riba dll.
- mendedahkan konflik diantara mukminin , musyrikin, munafikin, yahudi & nasrani.

I'm only halfway thru, a little slow perhaps but i am trying my best not to succumb to the zzzZZzzzzZZZzzz lol

I'm supposed to set up an appointment for AF to see the 'knee' specialist (what do we call those bone people again?) but he's been having late nites and isnt functional till noon.. so looks we'll only be doing the visit next time he comes home. better yet, during the long term break.

Ooh and btw, i'm estatic to report that he recently took up somebody's dare and has been off the cigs for almost 3 weeks now. yay *doing a double jiggly* hope he's serious about it bcoz it does mean finally giving his poor lungs a better chance while putting a stop to the burning of his pockets (and with the price hike the holes will definitely be getting bigger). syukur.

Its sad that i still havent been able to squeeze in any running as yet during this ramadhan. from experience i know it has to be the mornings coz evenings can get a little too hectic especially this year with public servants leaving the office at 5 pm just like any other 9 to 5'er. a little more lintang pukang than the previous years. i did manage to run at least 2 mornings during the weekday last ramadhan followed by either sat or sunday or both. really hope to be doing the same but so far no go :(

But tomorrow's saturday already so my chances are certainly better.

Food R&R

Early sahur: heh, yours truly mengelat habis this morning.. because of the leftovers from AI's birthday berbuka, i didnt do much in the way of sahur preparation. just fried some ramly's beef nugget (his tempura chicken nugget is also one of the kids fav), heated up the soup and stirred in a beaten egg just to jazz it up a bit. yang lain tu as is... and i could see Abe macam tak sampai hati nak kata apa2 (he was very satisfied with last nite's berbuka... nasi habih seperiuk between the lot of them lol). pheeew, lega with a capital 'L' :)

Berbuka: as of right now i havent an inkling. i'll just let the 'ilham' flow naturally lol

Muh No. 2 dahleeng's birthday

Happy 17th birthday AI - mama sentiasa mendoakan yang terbaik untuk dahleeng2 mama semua dan semoga ijat mama ni berjaya & bahagia dunia akhirat.

Luvya always kiddo.

First thing AI & i did this morning was to round up the furry ones. i'd postponed the vet visit long enough.... time to get the kitties vaccinated & dewormed. still on the pmr break, AI was more than willing to help out (AF & AH was still sound asleep.. they'd all ko'ed after subuh). so after dealing with my immediate correspondences, i headed back home.

The people of shah alam (and its vicinity) are lucky in that they also have the choice of going to a public veterinary clinic nearby. vets can cost a bomb and a public clinic is a cheaper alternative. situated right across yeo's in section 15, it shares the grounds of jabatan perkhidmatan haiwan selangor. i was surprised to find the clinic in good condition ... lol, i mean i expected an old government building of sorts but everything looked clean, well maintained & well staffed. i also expected a crowd but turned out i was the only one there!!! well, its a facility & service that the public is not taking full advantage of i think. its comparable to the private vet i was seeing in section 6, shah alam. and of course the rates are definately much cheaper. vaccination @ RM21.00 and deworming @ RM 5.00 - RM 7.00 and consultation @ RM 10.00 - RM 15.00.

It was all settled within an hour and i only paid RM 70.00 for both the kitties :)

The only down side is its opening hours: Mondays to Thursdays - 8.30 to 12.30. yup, right slap bang in the middle of office hours. but then thats the way it is - you gain some, you lose some.

Food R&R

Early morning sahur was:
fried cuttlefish with long beans (i shouldnt have put in the oyster sauce - turned out a little too sweet even with all that chilli api), chicken burger (patties only), campbells mushroom soup (straight from the can) and leftover sambal sardine from last nite's supper (we'd eaten it with lempeng).

I stopped by the wet market on the way back from the vets so today's berbuka would probably be:
soup tulang rusuk, sambal petai something or other (ikan bilis? udang?), fried kulat with scrambled eggs.... and i'm stopping over at either long john silver for fish & chips or KFC for the new mixed bucket - AI's choice. also a short pitstop at the bakery for his b/day cake :)



And hopefully we'll make it to the masjid/surau for solat jemaah tonite.

First of Ramadhan

Due to PMR, AI & AH were both home for the first day of puasa.... which is a blessing bcoz its definitely easier on just about anyone to be at home right now. AF's also back earlier than usual on a 'menyambut ramadhan' break so its full house for us this week. i love it when everyone's home :) kalau tak, makan pun kekadang tercekik teringatkan yang tak ada, especially when i'm eating something they happen to like.

Now, i love ramadhan for all the obvious reasons and much more.. but theres one thing about it that really weighs heavy on my mind; the dilemma that haunts most wives/moms - what to cook !!!!!!!! in just under a week that question becomes the soalan cepu emas.

I've stopped trying to please everyone simultaneously a long time ago (we'd just end up with a mejafull of unfinished lauk, kids who mysteriously turn into bloated ular sawas and rendered immobile, and later a long and ardous battle to complete tarawih). they now take turns and i rotate each of their choices accordingly... which should settle my 'what to cook' problem. unfortunately, it doesnt take long for them to start running out of choices and its back to moi to get creative. sigh - its tough bcoz i also have to think about sahur choices. Abe who is otherwise very flexible, is extremely picky about his food during ramadhan, especially for sahur. not only must it be different from that of berbuka, it must also be something he fancies. otherwise, he'll just make himself a bowl of oats which he will then doggedly finish and all the while eyeing me with those accusing eyes of his!!!! alahai, geram ada, kesian pun ada especially when he'll melepek giler the next day *double sigh*

I hate the fact that food has become such an important factor in ramadhan - its about fasting, abstaining & making sacrifices, so shouldn't it be the least of our considerations? but the fact remains that Abe looks forward to having a good breaking of fast & sahur, so who am i to say otherwise? all that one can do is to try create some sort of balance and avoid going overboard, but its not that simple when theres food, food and more food everywhere you turn during ramadhan.... pasar ramadhan, korner ramadhan, pesta ramadhan, macam2 ramadhan.

So back to the soalan cepu emas - what to churn out of the wok next?!! probably the best way to deal with all this brain clutter is to unload my cooking blues here - dah masak apa, boleh masak apa, nak masak apa. hmmm, after all this is a place for me to rant n rave lol so... what if i had my own Food R (rave) & R (rant) corner for ramadhan ;)

Food R&R

Okey dokey. About early morning sahur - we had lotsa telur masin, some fried cocktail sausages, hot & sour soup with fresh cendawan and leftover fried beef from dinner.

Next, today's berbuka. its been my practise to cook as well as buy ready made food for berbuka so that even with the limited time afforded to me as a working woman, there'd still be variety. and to make sure i didnt go wrong this first day, i made a family favourite - grilled chicken wings with garlic, chilli api, soy sauce and a touch of honey. also kangkung goreng belacan with those big prawns peeking through lol.

From hatinie, i had earlier bought some akok (Abe's favourite kueh and a must throughout ramadhan), sweet sago in santan and tapai pulut. since the queue for the lauk was horendously long there, i moved on to another restaurant where i bought a little of siput sedut, terung berchilli and kerabu mangga each, just enough to tantalize the tastebuds. but turned out tak sedap pun so that means i wont be returning for a second time.

Abe arrived home just in time for berbuka in a black mood. seems the poor guy left his office around 4 and was stuck in the jam forever (an accident). also unfortunate that his diabetic meds were wrecking havoc with his digestive system and had him purging right after. which also meant we couldnt make it to the masjid for tarawih... instead Abe led the maghrib, isya' & tarawih prayers in jemaah at home.

Ooh to be able to hang on to the very soul & spirit of ramadhan would be such a blessing indeed !!!!

Ramadhan Al Mubarak

Selamat berpuasa dan menghiasi Ramadhan ini seindah mungkin.

Mak's date.

Mak had a 'menyambut ramadhan' date with her long time friend Aunty M. knowing how her mind works, i'd decided to take leave from work so that she can really enjoy her outing.

See, she can never really handle loose ends and since she'll be leaving in the morning, there's AH to think about... her school stuff, lunch, getting ready in time etc etc. in her mind the kiddos (even me sometimes) are still too young to handle stuff on their own, so she always have to be there to make sure everythings ok. i know she'll worry no matter what i say, and if staying home in her place makes her feel better, so be it. i want her to socialize, go out more, meet up with her old friends. that way she gets to loosen up, enjoy herself and be less affected by the little things that seem to bug her.

AH and me, we had fun lol. after a heavy nasi lemak lauk ayam goreng/kerang/sambal sotong breakfast, we dropped by the hairdressers and had her hair cut short, really short, with bangs and options to spike it up in a punkish kinda way when the need arise. the weather's been a bit hot & humid lately and AH's longish hair was getting to smell a wee bit everytime she took off her tudung, so it was probably a good time to try something else.

I thought it was a great idea, and hair does grow back if it didnt really work out for her. it did turn out rather ok although the hairdresser shouldnt have made it that boyish!! its taken years off her (comel sangat) but of course she now thinks she looks like 'kanak2 riang'. so to sorta stay with the punkish look instead, AH decided to colour her hair purple which we did right after school (but it isnt as bad as it sounds since its a DIY thing and theres no bleaching involved). the purplish hue kinda suits her as well as the new 'tulang ikan' earring... thank god she didnt go for the skull & bone thing. it would've been a bit much and i'd have to say no lol.

Abe obligingly picked AF up from the jalan duta bus terminal right after work so that i could concentrate on cooking a 'good last dinner' before ramadhan. but AF's bus was a little late and we didnt make it to the 1st tarawikh at the surau. and the 1st sahur? i already had that covered... i'd bought enough telor masin to feed an army lol (one of the staples for Abe's sahur).

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With mak on her date, AH at school and AI at tuition, i managed to sneak in a little pounding time for me at the KSAS gym.

** Treadmill Log **

Time: 40 mins
Speed: avg 8- 8.5 km/hr
Incline: 1
Distance: 5 km
Calories burned: 370 kj

A beautiful start.

I love it when it rains and you wake up to a fresh, clear, beautiful morning !!!!

Cant help but feel rejuvenated as you gulp in lungful after lungful of cool air. its as close as one can get to clean, fresh air here in Klang valley, and i certainly wasnt going to waste it. bundled up a change of clothes, put on my running gear, hustled AI over to school as fast as i could and made my way to the tasik :)

It was a great run and a beautiful start to my day. didnt matter how it turned out after that.

Thank God for small mercies.

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** Running Log **

1 lap= 4km= 30 mins

Sunday at home.

The usual.

Abe's already out of the house. with 2 tourneys back to back, he has nothing but golf on his mind. and with ramadhan fast approaching and turkmenistan looming ahead, he's in a frenzy of golf, golf and more golf. *sigh* hasnt it sunk in yet that his friends are not the only ones who's gonna be missing him!?!

The kids usually sleep in, mak wont be coming out of her room till much later and i have my morning run before stopping over at the wet market to stock up for the week. and then theres the chores.

Sometimes the sunshine is a little harder to make.

But theres always the books... just lose oneself in the books. it never fails.

I can see guilt in his eyes but he needs the golf to get the stress & tension out of his system. i'm thinking better golf than wine & women but sometimes it gets a little too much. even with the cash vouchers, the airpot (latest achievement) and the dinner we had last nite (japanese again since i let the kids choose even though it was to celebrate the 'successful' completion of my 1oK run the other day), i still feel bereft. is it wrong to wanna have more time spent with him?

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** Running Log **

1 lap plus = about 5 km= 40 mins.

Mykad

Mak's the last one to have her mykad done but we finally did it thank god.

She wanted us to go through the whole process first so that we'd know what we were doing when it was her turn (she also actually hates going out with the whole brood) but things had somehow gotten worst this year when everyone else have started to realise, the year's gonna end soon!! so its the usual mad rush and the pendaftaran office at shah alam mall is always overcrowded. mak has kept postponing and i've started to wonder if we'll ever make the dateline.

Until a friend told me the crowd isnt too bad on saturdays. which surprised me coz i thought it'd be close since the govt announced the 5 day work week. hmmm.. goes to show how little i know of such things (and kinda reinforce the katak bawah tempurung persona that i am lol). my plan was to get the running number for mak first before returning home for her. and true enough when i got there at 7.30 am the lobby was still dark and there was just another chinese guy there reading a novel (there was a seating area of sorts at the back and the area was lighted). we got to talk and he told me he was there to pick up his mykad and when he heard about mak, he suggested i might as well go back and get her since there wasnt likely to be a crowd just yet and i did live a stone's throw away. he also pointed out there was a special counter for warga emas, a fact that i completely forgot about !!!

Well, off i went tra-lala-lala but i didnt bank on mak having to go to the loo 3 times before we could actually leave the house and by then there was already 2 long lines!!! where did all those people spring from!!!! but i got mak a seat at the back and got in line anyway... and if not for the warga emas thing it would have taken a whole morning. instead she was the first one at the special counter and we were out of the place by 8.30 am. thank you god :)

2 months till pick up time. Have you gotten your mykad yet?

Hari Jamuan Se Malaysia

Today's probably the hari jamuan semalaysia since most offices are having some sort of jamuan to usher in the fasting month/ramadhan. we're having ours as pot luck - so as AF would've said, it's 'susuhaha' time lol (read: suka suka hati hang). i was toying with the idea of bringing a pasta dish of some sort but when i had to 'rescue' Abe who was out nite golfing at sri selangor (the guy had accidentally left his carkeys in the boot thus locking himself out and subsequently needed rescuing) and got back very late... well, i had to kiss that idea goodbye (too pooped).

So, since theres such an abundance of ready made food here in shah alam anyway, yours truly just went and got herself 6 packs of really hot nasi goreng kampung and 2 bursting plasticpacks full of sambal sotong. hah... senang kerja, sedap lak tu heheheh.

My clicker was in the car so no pics of the smorgasboard of yummies we ended up with when we finally pooled everything together. suffice to say, not much work was carried out after the jamuan because everyone turned into ular sawas lol.

Unfortunately i didnt get to really really stuff my face bcoz there was a joint valuation already lined up for me at 9.30 am. another istana thing... we were to determine and agree upon the perimeter of the buildings within the istana's compound, to be used as a basis for the costing of termite control.

*sigh* it was sooo hard saying goodbye to all that lovely food ;)

Istana Kayangan main entrance.

Out back where the swimming pool is located.

Centricon - a means of controlling termites & eliminating particular colonies one at a time, planted along the perimeter of buildings.

Anyway, back at the site i let the pest control operator do all the work, muahahaha. i wasnt about to get down & dirty no sirree lol. for one, i wasnt actually dressed for measuring perimeters with the kebaya, courtesy of the jamuan. but osso, perut tersangatlah sengkak lol.

Roller coaster

Today has been a roller coaster ride alright. 5 negotiations set for the morning (3 of it being mine) and our dato' pengarah went MIA !!! aduh, dealing with restless and irate contractors is definitely not one of my favourite duties but dealt with them i did (saya yg menurut perintah), until the old man finally emerged close to 11 am. seems that he was summoned by one of the higher offices. well, in the hierarchy of power theres always someone higher we have to answer to i guess.

It was also a day of extremes. my first negotiation meeting dragged on for about an hour and a half, while the second lasted barely 10 minutes and the 3rd was postponed till we could agree to at least the basic quantities. argghhh.... we didnt even break for lunch and all that 'haggling' has made me even more tired than running the 10K !! on top of being suddenly brain dead *SIGH*

AH was released from school early today, about 4 pm. they're having a majlis perasmian surau baru sekolah. 'cept the surau isnt all that baru (its been in use for over a year now) and i'm wondering what ever happened? agaknye silap perancangan or something, or just that time really does fly especially for busy people. and AH's & AI's school does seem to have lots of activities lined up. if i wasnt so dead tired i wouldnt mind dropping by after work and meramaikan lagi majlis. oh but they didnt actually send out invites for the occasion now did they? or the kiddos just forgot about passing it on to me? surely not the both of them? ah well... i'd better go sweat it out instead of giving in to this lethargy anyway. even if its drizzling outside, its still gym day :)

Gawd... penat sungguh.

Oh and i'm also in the process of getting to know my new cell phone. not really new new but a hand me down to be exact. still its a whole lot better than my old faithful (yg dah longgar battery and renggang sana sini). Abe has just gotten himself a new samsung (one that has 'coroured' lights and blinking2 summore hehe) and his dumping his old one to yours truly. me, i'll stick to nokia. i'm too old, oops.. too set in my ways to go with a different system. nanti bila tekan2 asyik tersilap jer lol. hmmm, nampak stylish n got camera osso (nokia 7610) but i'm finding out that the design somehow compromises the functionality. tapi biasa laa, some people focus kat bab lawa jer, kan abe? ;) i mean, even i am 'lusting' after a phone (nokia 8800) that looks all sleek & sexy *drool*

But in the meantime, i'll just make do laa (and it might even take forever lol). love the echoing tones though.

Heh.. now its time to go shake some butt and release the endorphins :)

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** Treadmill Log **

Time: 40 mins
Speed: 8 - 8.5 km
Incline: 1
Distance: 5.3 km
Calories burned: 350 kj

Form 5 Graduation Ceremony

What would they think of next?

AI's graduation ceremony this morning was a grand occasion indeed. a ceremony to signify the end of the syllabus and school as we know it. but wow, there was never such a thing during my time !!!!!!

Previously when AF completed Form 5, he went through a similar ceremony... the boys were all dressed in black baju melayu, the school samping and songkok while the girls had on yellow baju kurung, the school sarung and marroon scarf. and they took turns on stage taking the certs presented to them.

This year, the school went one up by providing the kids with convocation robes/jubahs the teachers had made themselves!!! kudos to the teachers for all the effort in making the students feel special. i had to remind myself i wasnt in some college attending a convo lol.

Its quite normal practice these days for the mrsms and probably other boarding school to put up such a thing, but i think for a day school, its quite an achievement. the school authorities, teachers, PIBG have certainly done their utmost to boost the morale of the students. now its up to the kids to do the best possible in the coming SPM exams.

Syabas SMK seksyen 9, Shah Alam.


And GOOD LUCK kids.

Accepting the dirt.

When the office cleaners come a-mopping the floors, they're not really cleaning the place up are they? coz it sure looks more like spreading the dirt around instead. yes, they go about their work diligently enough by mopping every square inch of the say, 20 feet by 20 feet of office space... but with what? usually just a pail of water plus whatever cleaning solvent of choice which is already blackish in the first place.

So who's to blame? the cleaners? they're probably just following orders and if the operator who obtained the contract choose to cut corners so be it. the supervisors? they should make sure that even the mopping is done properly but could it be possible that they're overworked and underpaid to start with? the operator? they probably got the contract through the skin of their teeth and also at the lowest price possible so can we really blame them for juggling about so that they can actually see some profit. the client? who's probably expecting quality in exchange for a pittance... but since they're not really bothered to check beyond the flurry of cleaning activities, ends up with semi dirty floors anyway.

A small matter in the big scheme of things i suppose. but i'm thinking if we start off with fair tendering practices as well as operators and contractors who arent so ready to cut each other down just to get jobs, fair prices would be a reality. or is it another case of 'mimpi di siang hari'?

First ever.

Yeeee haaaaaaaa!!! i just completed my 1st ever run..... at 44 !!!! *menyengih giler* 10K in 1 hr 10 mins. i finished within the 40 and got me a medal *menyengih lagi* hehehe

The medal & yet to be named cert :)

My first foray into this running thingy was supposed to be at the putrajaya half mara. i was soo excited about it but couldnt make it in the end. how appropriate that my 1st run turned out to be the Shah Alam 10K.. especially since i've been a resident of shah alam since '86 (not counting the 3 years i spent doing dip in q. surveying at ITM)... and never once teringin pun nak masuk, until now that is lol. late developer laa kot ;)

I was so damn worried i wouldnt make it to the finish (cos i've never done 10K) but i'm glad to report i didnt succumb to temptation and kept running the whole way (albeit in spurts of high/low energy lol). i was especially motivated to run my ass off when i noticed this little kid (she was probably just 9-10 or something) wearing a nike pacesetter 15K run 2004 (yea 15K !!!) tee shirt, steadily gaining on me. fuyooo sikit pun tak berkerut muka dia and there i was huffing & puffing tak ingat punye lol.

All in all it wasnt as bad as i feared :) but i was intially nervous enough to have forgotten my old clicker. so tak dapat laa nak bergambar sakan kat sana. 'cept i unexpectedly ran into a cousin who was there to cheer her hubby on and we did snap a pic or two. just hope she remembers to email me.

I didnt stay for the lucky draw and stuff. i'd promised AI a McD big breakfast if he tagged along and since our rumbling tummies were making itself heard, we made a hasty retreat to the section 3 outlet (or is it section 2?). balik je plak mak asked me to attend a neighbour's cukur jambul for her cucu. phew.. getting myself ready for the occasion was tough, from running mode to social mode in 10 mins flat lol.

Now all i want is to get upstairs and relish this tired but satisfied feeling in the comfort & privacy of my room, heh.

Another accident

I was on my way to the tasik when i heard a loud noise and from my rear view mirror i could see that a motorbike had just ploughed into a kancil, or vice versa, i dunno. didnt get to see much bcoz i was moving away but it looked bad. any accident involving a two wheeler is bad. i used to ride a passola myself when i first worked in shah alam (even up to 7 months of pregnancy with my 2nd child) and believe me, its not a very safe existence. just a slight nudge can get you off course in a second. and not every motorcyclist is a mat/minah rempit bend on destruction so have a care when you see a motorcyclist anywhere in your vicinity k bcoz most just want to get on with their daily business.

Poor fella, whoever he/she is.... and to think its still so early in the morning.

AF if you're reading this, ingat pesan mama k, if you really have to, then dont forget to snap on the safety catch of the helmet. same goes to mat, zul and the rest of the gang!!!

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** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 30 mins

Feeling sluggish. its almost that time of the month and i'm beyond bloated... even a beached whale comes nowhere close.

TGIF or TGIT

Come thursday and the guyz at the office will be going round smirking and making a general nuisance of themselves. i honestly dunno what the fuss is all about 'cept for the fact its 'malam jumaat' and sunnat to be doing certain acts.

Ibadah malam jumaat... berbagai penyeri malam yg ada like yassin recitation, solat jemaah and the myriad of solat2 sunnat which is usually given the backseat. most just focus on the sexual act which is an ibadah of sorts, thus the knowing looks & innuendos. muak dengan pe'el bebudak tu, i've done my share of 'menyimbah minyak ke api yg marak'.

Me: "Eh, keciannye korang, nak kena tunggu jumaat..... akak biasa laa every nite is friday nite" (thursday to be exact but then i'll be out of context, sorta lol) .

Neeways, guyz in general (note the emphasis ya) memang minat dgn anything to do with sex. introduce an x rated topic and see the enthusiasm & excitement on their faces lol. i guess its back to their God given 'default' of having to make sure manusia tak pupus kot. but then the ladies pun sama gak and have their own on-going 'hot' forums and where yours truly, ever the mischief maker suka throw in 'absurd' ideas.

Midway through a discussion on poligamy (topik amat popular para isteri2),

Me: "Kekadang rasanye kita kena act like whores la in bed".

But before i continue..... KIDDOS: if you're reading this, we may need to talk, k.

OoOOoo... semua suddenly diam je and you could almost hear a pin drop. bear in mind my officemates are nowhere near as outspoken or echi hentai as me lol.

Ok ok ok. maybe not just any old run of the mill whore but high class ones, like geishas ;)

Why? because then we'll have to make sure we're giving our best coz 'customer' satisfaction comes first....... and the hubby will certainly be getting himself a nite he's not likely to forget in a while lol. but on the other hand tak boleh selalu sangat coz then we'll be setting a certain standard here and with kids and a household to run, we might not be able to live up to expectations. but once in a blue moon is good :) the element of surprise, unpredictability... all necessary ingredients in keeping the excitement alive. specially when you've been stuck with each other for god knows how long lol

Heh... mengarut2 lak makcik ni ya. anyway, have a good nite of beribadah people *smirking osso*

---------------------------------------------

** Treadmill Log **

Time: 40 mins
Speed: avg. 8 - 8.5
Incline: 1
Distance: 5.2 km
Calories burned: 360 kj

Not a mind reader

Car signals are there for a reason mister.

Its to let the other drivers know whats on your f**cking mind so that necessary action/precaution can be taken. we're not renegade or rebel soldiers on a death mission, weaving about in demented frenzy. we're all hauling precious cargo here - school bound kids !!!!!!!!!

Shah alam, as in most surburban community, have loads and loads of 'concerned' parents/adults who send their kids/charges to school instead of using the services of a van/bus operator. i am one of them. this means instead of 1 van loading up to say about 20 kids, the roads are clogged up with 20 odd cars. of course this also means 20 individuals in a rush to go to work or whatever it is they do in the morning. it's very unfortunate that tempers do not have any regard for time nor place and flares easily. thus we find ourselves in a very volatile situation of our own making.

You'd think a bunch of adults would have clear thinking at their disposal so early in the morning, right? i mean after all, we've just had a good nite's sleep, right? sigh .... wrong. we have hectic days followed by restless nights and nearly all of us end up with frayed nerves instead. nerves so frayed that we even forget the important things in life - like our precious cargo, manners & our sense of humanity. should we deny our 'interdependence' ?

Can we?

We're all in this together, for better for worse... so lets look out for each other shall we?!!

10K pick up

I'm so excited. my very first run. went to pick up the tshirt during lunchbreak & my no. is D (women vet category but feeling more like a war vet lol) 0381. woo hooo... the ball has started rolling here *doing the jiggly*

At first i took the size 'L' tee coz when they hung the samples on the wall 'M' looked pretty small and i didnt want to wind up looking like a nangka laa. but when i sarung'ed the thing over me in the car, AI was guffawing away, the brat !!! dia kata gedabaknye... so back i went to the Bahagian Korporat, MBSA and asked to have it exchanged. well, after i got what i wanted ms klutz here made quite a scene in her haste to get away. praaang... i banged into the ' queue guides' that they normally have at most counters and almost toppled along with it !!!! huh, nasib baik laa 1st day for the tshirts & nos pick up, tak laa ramai sangat org otherwise lagi embarrassing!!!

Dok terfikir gak, ngape laa category women vet nih medals hanya untuk 1-40 jer walhal category lain semua 1-100. ish ish ish... mana aci camni. kelam harapan nak bermedal. patutnye utk warga 'senja' macam kitorang ni bagi jer pada semua yg masuk as an incentive. baru laa ramai skit my age group nak cuba2. seronok per dapat medal :) tak kira laa klu plastic sekalipun heheh.

Still worried if i've bitten more than i can chew though.

But what the heck, you only live once lol.

------------------------------------

In my attempt to increase the mileage on my new shoes, i ran again this morning :) this can never be a long term arrangement though. too hectic, with getting to work on time and all. oh and i osso managed to squeeze in another km cruising the neighbourhood before picking AH up from school.

** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 30 mins.
1 x Route A (hilly)= 1 km plus= 10 mins

Cant seem to trim the bloody time to below 25 mins for the tasik run, not even on a good day.... but this soldier's daughter will keep on trying, heh.

Fuyooo

"FUYOOO.... kasut baru gue BEST GILER SIOOOOT !!!! "

Borrowing heavily from selambakodok, i sms'ed the hubby.

"Laju ke?" he sms'ed right back. that got me laughing my head off, and i couldnt help but reply "Like d wind babe, like d wind!!!!!!!!!!"

Sebenornye its not about speed lol. at my age, level of fitness & kemampuan mana ada lajunye (compared to the younger uns 'crawl baby crawl' tu lebih tepat lol) tapi what a big difference the right shoes make. and its a huge relief that after all the indecision and deliberation, i did make the right choice!!! it wouldnt have mattered so much if i had the cash to spare, but since i dont, i had to make each RM count. so now borrowing from kamdar plak... memang berbaloi !!!!! *smirking*

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Lari jgn tak lari.... i even skipped the 'perhimpunan isnin' (terlambat masuk skit) coz i just had to find out if we'd 'click' and we sure did.

** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 25 mins.

My new running mate.

Ahem (drum roll) ..... ladies & gents may i have your attention pls. rk here is proud to introduce her spanking new pair of nikes (finally) lol bought at hytex studio, sunway piramid !!! actually, 1st stop was subang parade but i didnt find what i wanted there so we wandered over to sunway... i was getting desperate but didnt want to wander too far from home.

Women's air max zaville (i osso dunno what laaa 'cept that the cushion & support seemed enough to cater to my old joints) and which stripped me off (or rather Abe bcoz i swiped with my supplementary visa muahahaha) of RM 249.00 (tu pun nasib baik value buy). i'm hoping for a long & colourful partnership here :)

See, already cannot berpisah one lol.... dari tadi dok pakai ke hulur ke hilir (sementara still baru & bersih) but nasib baik the hubs & kiddos dah masak dgn the wackiness of urs truly ;)

Not forgetting me old faithful. i dont even know whether its a pair of running shoes to begin with but its been with me through fat & thin the past year lol. it was AH's initially (talk about pathethic ya lol kasut anak pun jadi) but i swopped it with a pair of mine that looked good but sure as hell wasnt comfortable to run in. now kacut bucuk ni boleh laa buat 'reserve' .

Last week i committed myself to the shah alam 10K run by registering. even though i dunno how the f**k i'm gonna finish it but i'm gonna do it anyway. yup, even if it kills me (a lil drama here lol). bukannye apa. i'm extremely comfortable with 5K , ok with 7K, so so with 8K but 10????? hmmmm... yet to be seen. i guess it'll be fine if i also walk a little bit but problem is, i just cant seem to even let myself consider walking. menyampah betul... tak sedar diri, nak berlagak macam athlete tapi habuk pun tak dak. i dunno laa, bukannye tak tahu diri tu makcik but its this thing that keeps pushing me and pushing me *sigh*

Jgn nak mengade2 cik pah ooii... you will take it easy and walk when you need to, ok!!!!!!!

Of birthdays & sadly, accidents.

We were having a half hearted argument about the merits of going to kumon vs. not going to kumon, when abe (aka golfman aka hubba hubba aka love of my life) called about jireen's accident last nite. seems that he had smashed into a divider right after the putrajaya toll..... it was bad bcoz the car was completely totalled, scrap metal material. he was with a girl friend on their way back from a presentation or something.

When we saw him at the ward, his faced was all swollen and scary looking but alhamdulilllah, for a guy with head injury he was pretty lucid. his girl friend wasnt so lucky though coz she broke her jaw and the injury to her face was bad enough to warrant face reconstuction/plastic surgery or something of that nature. according to jireen, she was sleeping when they passed the toll and it was immediately after, that he suddenly felt everything going black on him and only came to upon impact. he still cant figure out what actually happened and probably wont ever, poor kid. i notice that people who are asleep during accidents always seem to have it the worst... i guess it's because we dont have that self-preservation reflex when we're sleeping.

He's pretty damn worried about her and completely wrecked with guilt. accidents are so tragic but in this case, looking at the state of the car he was driving.... it could have been much much worse.

Hope they both mend quickly and come away from this a better person.

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So... let it be on the record that today is the day i hit the double four. yee haaaa !!!

If ya cant fight it, enjoyz it is what ah sayz ;)

Abe brought home this scrumptiously yummy choc cheesecake...... and notice his golf trophy in the background (nak ambik hati laaa, heheh) ?!! unfortunately kid no. 2 & 3 had kelas tambahan today (morning session for AI & afternoon session for AH) so mid-day, we had a very simple 'baca doa & cut the cake' session. and since we could only round up the brood by maghrib, we settled for a japanese dinner to celebrate. heh, still have the stinging, eye watering taste of wasabe on my tongue !!

Packed some for AF to share with his roomate... just saw him off the bus to sungei petani. he just loves taking the midnite bus, says time spent at home is too precious to waste (where else can he feed his otaku tendencies to the max if not at home ? lol).

Safe journey sayang mama.

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Sempat gak lari2 pagi tadi so...

** Running Log **

2 laps= about 8 km= 55 mins.

.. but i've been noticing if i cross the 5 km mark, by the time i get to bed my creaky joints plus heels will be aching. probably due to kasut yg dah mati keanjalannye kot !!!!

Osgood-Schlatter plus plus.

AF is back for the weekend, along with his dirty laundry as usual. katanya next week tak leh balik sbab heavy workload. doesnt matter, i'm happy to see a vast improvement in his self-management skills. walaupun masih the most absent-minded being (next to his mom that is) to walk the face of this earth (back in his mrsm days, baju nak pakai pun sampai tak de sbab bila hantar dobi, asyik lupa je nak ambik lol), i believe he has made his peace with the ADHD. ma sentiasa panjatkan doa kpd NYA untuk kejayaan & kesejahteraan darling2 mama.

Unfortunately he's complaining of knee pain again. i was happy to note that lately he's been very active with badminton and brisk-walking around the campus grounds (for another couch kentang thats one hell of an undertaking lol) but seems like he's triggered an old problem. back in his early teenage years he suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease. its something to do with the knees. when bone growth is faster than tissue growth, the knee joint experiences a tightness and loss of flexibility. in aie's case, since the bone growth was so rapid, each movement of the knee created a pull on the 'soft' bone to create a potrusion which later solidified into an unsightly hard lump. kesian, susah nak sujud and he had to restrict vigorous activity to avoid the possibility of snapping coz that would mean surgery and the inclusion of metal plates or screws or something (cant remember). eeek... menakutkan sungguh. he already has metal whatchamacallits holding his sternum together when they did corrective heart surgery on him way way back (when he was 6 months).

But the thing is, doc said by age 18-19 everything would be ok coz generally growth slows down by then. hmmm... hes 20 so why the pain again i wonder? we're seeing the doc later to find out.

And since i'm on the subject of the kiddos medical history, its not only abg long who had his mom worried sick over his 'reconditioned' heart la, ADHD la, hypertension la, osgood la (the hyperactive fella even went through a minor ENT surgery to remove: 1. a saga seed from his nose. and since they were at it, 2. his adenoids as well. alaa, biji saga yg kecik merah2 tu... only god knows when (and why) he shoved the thing in sebab upon removal, nampak macam dah nak berakar dah lol.

AI my 2nd, also contributed in scaring his mama witless while he was growing up. it was a day like any other and he was only 8 months at the time. while tottering about the living room learning to walk, he lost his balance and fell onto the carpet. thing was, right after that he somehow became half paralysed. i was in the middle of a seminar when it happened and remember feeling completely devastated. what with abg long and his myriad of problems... i had naively thought the probability of having another sick child on my hands was lower than low. we later found out that it was a stroke and the results of the MRI clearly showed the infarcts. fortunately for us, he recovered completely after 2 weeks, alhamdulillah. the docs wanted to 'mess about' with his brains to find out what actually happened (like the CT scans and MRI's werent enough) but after seeking not only a second opinion but several, we decided against doing any further investigation. i mean having 'em opening up AF's chest was bad enough but AI's brain's ?!!! we were talking about an even higher risk surgery here so enough was enough. although it felt like we were sitting on a time bomb, he was fine and after a year of close monitoring, we thought the worst was over.

Yea right !! when he was 10 years old he started complaining about headaches and stuff. and it was too consistent a complain to ignore so we hauled him over to the specialist again. by then i was already going about my business like a zombie... it was the same nightmare all over again !! aduh i cant even begin to describe what it was like for me at that time. suffice to say only my faith in the Almighty kept me going. because of his previous history, the docs werent taking any chances so we went through a bevy of tests, not to mention another MRI. but at the end of it all i'm happy to report (however anti-climatic it may sound now) that all my baby needed was a pair of specs lol. i mean i can laugh about it now but back then, it felt as if my world was collapsing all around me. he still suffers from asthma attacks now and then but compared to before, everything else became quite manageable.

We were then all set to enjoy a 'normal' childhood with AH bcoz i thought, thats it. the chances of going thru another 'earth-shattering' experience was probably nil, zilch, no way. not my sweet little AH who was such a good good baby and who never once threw a crying fit. but, God in his infinite wisdom had His own plans for us. when she was about 7 months i think, she had a bad viral infection and was warded. due to several indications, the docs suspected meningitis which is a serious thing and the only way to be certain was by carrying out a lumbar puncture aka spinal tab. Lord, i was thinking 'not again' .... the responsibility of trying to make the right decisions for my helpless & innocent babies was not something that i carried easily. both the hubs and i had to come to a firm agreement to avoid blaming each other in case something undesirable happens. we had to be strong for the kids but we also had to contend with the grandparents, the pak ciks and makciks who were all ready to jump on us if we made the wrong move. the 'i told you sos' that family members usually throw at parents when something goes wrong is totally unfair because we are after all, answerable to a greater power.

Even if the medical profession is in the opinion that the procedure is quite normal, the decision was still a hard one for us. what with "kau orang ni karang budak tu lumpuh macam mana?"... "you sure? i heard my neighbour's friend had spinal problems after that"... and many more in a similar vein. After a long and painful deliberation, we decided to go for it but the day of the procedure was among the longest of my life. i kept forgetting to breathe.

Again we were blessed. alhamdulillah, it wasnt meningitis after all and everything turned out fine. she has grown to be quite a tomboy lol... or used to be now that she's in secondary school and turning all feminine on us.

So with all that behind me, how can i not but cherish the kiddos ?!!

I love you AF, AI & AH.... i love you with all my heart & soul. muaahhhhhhh :)

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Guess what ?!! i managed to squeeze in another morning run into my tight schedule. after dumping kid no. 2 at school, i made a mad dash to the tasik lol.

** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 30 mins

Kecoh

Heh.

Tak kira gak. even though i had to attend another handing over ceremony at 9 am, i still went for a run this morning. lepas gian.... sebab frust sangat semalam tak dapat burn off my excess energy. thank god i managed to squeeze in everything lol

Surprisingly walaupun terkocoh2 macam nak giler (sempat shower & powder2 lagik u lol), i was the 1st one there. in fact, sampai serentak dengan the dato'. aduh it was already 8.45 am and where was everybody??!! even the contractor's kelibat pun tak nampak !!! lucky thing the dato' was in a good mood and didnt put up a big fuss about it... and actually lucky me coz i would have gotten the brunt of it if he had decided to get mad.

Its always risky to assume anything. what was the saying again? "when you assume then you make an ass out of you and me" or something like that, which is quite true actually. so everyone was probably thinking the 'big shot' would be late anyway but then, tadaaa !!!! the guy wasnt just punctual, he was early for godsake!! hah, kan dah terkantoi. like i said nasib baik laa angin ok klu tak habis semua kena taji lol but everyone should take note: 1. it leaves a terrible impression on the parties concerned 2. ur putting ur professionalism on the line 3. nothing's simple when it comes to the istana.

But whatever it is... i feel goooooood (tarara..rara..rarum) !!

Its lunch-break and the orang sakit at home wants to eat KFC (OR) & whipped potato (large). tak sampai hati plak tak belikan so off i go :)

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** Running Log **

1 lap plus= about 4 km plus= 30 mins

A visit to KKB

The guthrie corridor cutting across sg buluh is a honey of a shortcut (but the 3 tolls of RM 1 each was a bit much i think)... before we knew it we were already westbound !! took us about an hour and a half to get to the Royal Lodge at KKB.

When we got there the view of the dam was quite breathtaking.. imagine that massive wall holding back such a huge body of water !! heard the construction of the dam involved relocation of orang asli settlements and such but their new place by the hillsides looked quite ok from far so i guess it wasnt too shabby a deal for them. i also noticed a few look-out points but the water level seemed rather low. we were later told that some water had been released earlier.

The lodge itself shows great potential.

Its a resort style multi-level structure, built on the face of a hill overlooking the catchment area and surrounded by a fruit orchard (rambutan, longan etc).

A great retreat and a fabulous venue for a weekend shindig eh ?!! :)

Now Tuanku is not only a seasoned traveller, he's also a voracious reader. its obvious that he has this deep respect & appreciation for books and each of his residence has a library of sorts. the lodge is no exception.. a room has already been reserved for that purpose. oh and btw, before long shah alam will be having a bigger and better library to offer her residents - Perpustakaan Di Raja at seksyen 13. i heard it'll be home to much of Tuanku's own personal collection.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The maksak gym was unexpectedly closed today but i wouldnt have had time to huff & puff anyway coz AH's running a fever and needed to see the doc. thank god she's just down with throat infection & some mild viral invasion. tapi dapat gak la mc 2 hari (much to her delight demam2 pun lol). there was quite a number of sick people at the clinic so that meant saying goodbye to my 'before maghrib' run as well. i know you're thinking, "whats the big deal? theres always tomorrow". yea thats true but problem is i always tend to stuff my face when i'm frustrated... and that would make it even worse :(

Oh how i wish i had a running buddy !!! mak's not too keen with my running alone at nite and hubba hubba, lazy bugger that he is, would rather watch desperate housewives with AI (gawd, what's wrong with the men in this household lol). my heart aches when i think of all that brightly lit pavement going to waste (berdrama la skit heheh).

AI's well into the 2nd week of his spm trials. i certainly hope by now his gotten over his spm denial stage. klu tak kan ke naya je. hey dude, its nothing to do with what i want... its you who must want to succeed. but my doas are always for the success and happiness of you 3 ok.

You can do it yang. Insyaallah.

A spirit booster.

Adeh.

Its still throbbing and the serkup of my tudung is only making the pain worse... tapi sebab dah nak sangat kena la tanggung je.

When i didnt get to run at putrajaya yesterday i decided i needed a boost.

And guess what the boost was ?!!

AH's hair was due for a trim so while she was at the hairdresser's i had plenty of time to myself. so apalagi ... its piercing time people lol !!!!!!!! yup, i went and got myself a 4th earring and with it of course came the 'silap2 tangkap leleh' piercing. sebenornye tak le sakit mane. compared to my zaman 'cucuk dengan pin kat kedai emas' experience, the zap gun is pretty quick & relatively painless.

Years back i had my ears pierced for a 2nd time and that meant 2 pairs of earrings. somehow when i got back i realised one of the holes was slightly askew so i just let that particular piercing grow back with the intention of redoing it later. well, time has a way of passing by lol so i've been going about with 3 earrings and i wasnt really bothered coz it didnt look too bad. unfortunately, with earrings sold in pairs i always ended up with an unused one. rugi plak rasanye.

So now i've solved that little problem heheh. i now have 3 piercings on my left ear and 1 on my right. AH was relieved i wasnt considering some other exotic n erotic areas lol (wooo.. yg kat nipple tu mesti sakit giler agak nye ya). dont worry la yang, ma pun seriau gak nak buat tempat2 lain (she's sooo not into tindik2 ni.. at least for now laa).

Neeways, great excuse for lotsa new funky stuff doncha think ?!?!! *huge grin*

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Attended a simple handing over ceremony at Istana Kayangan this morning. the DYMM Yg Dipertuan Agong was supposed to come a-visiting this month so we were all in a frenzy to get things spruced up for the occasion.. xcept that now it's been postponed till next year. if we had known then work could've been supervised and carried out in a better manner but thats the way it usually is. to be frank i really think the whole istana needs to be revamped so that the interior has a cohesive and coordinated feel about it but of course it all depends on state funding, and its not too abundant a coffer right now.

Tomorrow i'll be off to the Royal Lodge in Hulu Selangor. a gift to the Sultan from SPLASH, its situated somewhere at the foot of Fraser's Hill. apart from checking out the pest control requirements, there's also some extension and interior works slotted for it. hope i remember to bring the clicker.

Tak jadi..

Nope.

In the end I didnt do it.

Sunday morning and i wasnt at my first ever run.. the one i had dreamed & fantasized about this past weeks. things just didnt go as planned and since i was already 'seram' (tapi mahu) 'bout the whole venture in the first place, i decided not to push it. golfman was supposed to be there since its this 'couch kentang' makcik's first attempt at running a race (tak kisah laa half mara ke 1/4 mara ke 1/8 mara ke lol) but he was part organizer of a golf tournament ( "klu i main je i boleh cancel tapi i'm organizing it" - sigh).

So, tanpa my pillar of strength cheering me on from the sidelines maka tak jadi laa. oh dont get me wrong, i'm far from being a needy female. its just that attempting such a thing at my age and knowing my tendency to push myself to the max when i least expect it lol takut2 laa kot terpengsan ke tergolek ke takde sape yg nak claim plak nanti heheh. AI did offer to go (thanks darling) but i dunno, i cant explain the feeling, it was the hubba hubba or nothing.

Now onwards to the next best thing..... the shah alam 10 K. at least its home ground and i wont be needing anyone for 'semangat' so kira jadi punye laa lol. i hope theres something there for women's veteran though sebab klu the whole 10k pancit gak. rasanye its on the 24 th or something (gotta go check Li's blog for info) which means i still have time to: 1. get me a new pair of long overdue running shoes and 2. train & get comfy in. the old one's still, uummmmm, ok but after a year of hard usage has obviously lost most of its bounce. sakit lutut and ankle tua ni dibuatnye lol

Kali ni jadi jgn tak jadi cik pah ooiii !!!


p.s. Hope Li & gang had fun :)

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** Running Log **

Not the glorious 7km that i'd anticipated but my usual 4km + 1km instead *sigh* maybe next time.

1 lap plus plus= about 5 km= 40 mins

Prefects' Nite

Gee.. i dont remember my prefects' annual dinner to be as fancy as it can be these days. back then it was either the school hall or one of the classes and no matter how hard we tried to jazz the place up, it still looked exactly the same - a drab classroom lol. Tapi skarang - wow!!

For years the prefects of SMK Sekyen 9, Shah Alam have been having their annual dinner at KGSAS. a far cry from a school hall is all i can say lol but AI has been complaining that its time they changed venue. dah boring katanya. hmmm.. i'm thinking variety is good tapi klu kena dewan sekolah je lagi naya so, bersyukur lah.

This year AI's not going alone... earlier this year AH was also appointed a prefect. lucky girl.. to have big bro around to show her the ropes. it also means peace of mind for me to have AI looking out for her bcoz being a prefect in secondary 1 can be pretty challenging. silap2 kena bully dgn seniors.

Neeways, my 2 sweethearts (sweetheart yg sorang lagi has not moved from the puter xcept for necessities... nak siapkan coursework sebab esok dah nak kena balik SP) all dressed up and ready to go (AH was shrieking "oh noooooooooooooo" when she saw me with the clicker lol).


AI actually wanted a tie the same colour as Ah's blouse tapi couldnt find the right shade. i was surprised they wanted to be colour coordinated.. rather than considering it 'uncool' to be associated with a sibling, they wanted to highlight it ! now i thought that was cool lol


shhhh... i 'cilok'ed this pic from their collection ;)


AH & friends during a dance


And at home right after..


still my lil girl after all with the party balloon lol


with abg arin, AF's best friend and just like another son to me (notice that AF is still glued to the puter lol)

Another gym day

Since the govt started the 5 day week and the subsequent 5 pm punch out time, i see even fewer people using the MAKSAK gym. rugi... rugi... but i guess people with young families do need to rush home (but its great for me laa, tak yah berebut treadmill lol). Oh tapi hari ni mengelat, tak puasa.

** Treadmill Log **

Time: 42 mins
Speed: avg 7.5 - 8.5
Incline: 1 - 2
Distance: 5.1 km
Calories burned: 331 kj

Loaded question

I thought i had dealt with most of the 'complicated' questions the kids could throw at me (bcoz we already did the 'making babies' & 'having babies' part from eldest to the youngest) but boy was i wrong.

As we were playing with the kitties together in my room, AH suddenly dropped me the bomb, "ma, orgasm tu camane?"

Eeekkk.

Having to explain the sexual act was tough enough. now the big O plak?!!

Sheesh.

How to go about explaining it to an inquisitive but innocent 13 year old? how to tell her enough so that she understands... and to not be prematurely turned on by it yet not be completely turned off by sex either. at her age a lot of sex related stuff is considered to be rather 'yukky' lol

So i took the practical approach. just as i did when i explained reproduction. love and stuff tu dah memang an ongoing topic.

"First thing sya, kan ma cakap sex tu sebenarnye for procreation. forget about all the hype, all the frenzy and go back to basic... takde sex takde manusia, and at some point nanti kita semua akan pupus."

The moment i said the word we both had this silly grin, "haaaaa, mawi!!!!".... lol trust us to go dragging the poor unsuspecting dude into the discussion.

"Ok. Allah maha kaya so HE knows. HE had to make sex terribly exciting otherwise dengan computer game laa, golf game laa, segala macam game laa nobody would bother. semua sibuk dengan hal masing2 langsung terlupa nak procreate".

Tergelak anak dara saya lol.

"Remember i told you that the gabra and excited feeling you had when you saw that cute guy was something natural? that you shouldnt fight it or be embarrassed but to accept it and try to control sikit2? actually tu boleh kira macam introduction to sexual excitement laa tu."

Ooh, i had her full attention now.

"Pasal tu laa kita kena careful sangat sebab klu tengok pun boleh excited karang klu dekat2 pastu tersentuh pulak, lagi excited. and it becomes a big problem kalau belum kahwin sebab we're muslims. kalau tak dapat kawal perasaan boleh terlajak."

AH's rather incredulous "betul ke? "

"Ya yang, memang boleh terlajak. remember God had to make it very exciting, pastu not only that, ada plak org yg ke3 tu yang sengaja menggoda2!! so akhirnya, kalau dua2 terlajak jadi la zina, kalau sorang terlajak jadi la rape."

"So back to orgasm. to make sure sex tu interesting enough sampai org tak terlupa, God created a feeling orang takkan dapat kat mana2 pun. macam the ultimate excitement laa, super duper roller coaster pun kalah. kalau sya excited tengok budak tu, jantung berdetup berdetap, ngilu jari2 semua, imagine feeling that way 1000 times over."

AH ternganga tapi cuba control lol.

"And macam mama selalu kata kita kaitkan balik dengan science. orgasm ni partly contraction, macam org nak bersalin"

"Ha sya baru nak cakap," she smiles. ingat gak laa dia part reproduction dulu tu lol

"Dia macam berkait tapi opposite. contraction untuk orgasm helps the sperms get to the eggs in the womb quicker. contraction untuk beranak plak helps the baby leave the womb faster. so semua ni Allah dah atur cantik2 and sebab HE is always fair, bila kita work hard buat babies kita dapat reward which is the orgasm."

"Orang lelaki?"... aawwwwww man, she wasnt letting me off easy.

"Orang lelaki pun ada orgasm. the same excitement tapi kesan je berbeza. org pompuan dapat contraction org lelaki dapat ejaculation. sya tahu kan yang keluar sperm tu kan?"

My girl nods vigorously. like i said we did reproduction already. but she drops another bomb.

"Ha ah, masa masturbate pun kan".

Sigh. tu lah i keep forgetting she has brothers and her friends pun tak kurang inquisitivenya. nampak gayanya i might as well go all the way... alang2 selok pekasam. it'll be worse if she gets more info from sources yg tak begitu reliable la kan.

"Hmmmm. macam ni. bila sesuatu tu teramat laa sangat bestnya, mestilah kita nak selalu kan? macam pergi travelling ke, makan sushi ke, tenguk citer best ke. so balik pada yang tadi.. basically sex berkait dgn kahwin berkait dgn procreation berkait dengan orgasm kan? tapi adakalanya sebab best sangat feeling tu, setengah org nak orgasm tapi tak nak procreation. so ada la masturbation.. orgasm without procreation. macam syok sendiri."

"Remember i told you pasal the female equivalent to the penis? ha ah, clitoris yang kena sunat masa sya baby dulu tu. so just like the penis, its one of the sources for orgasm sebab dia sensitive sangat macam the penis. satu lagi the G spot tapi tu mama citer later2 k. alright, sebab dia sentitive sangat laa tempat dia tersorok klu tak senang je org nak orgasm. pas tu 'ter'ejaculate plak, spurt sana spurt sini. bayangkan sya *kitorang terkekeh-kekeh ketawa*. sebab tu jugak la kena susah-susah go through all that specific motion baru boleh ejaculate klu tak terkena2 skit dah same thing, spurt spurt lagi" *sampai sakit2 perut tergelak*

"Mama tak kata masturbation tu totally bad sebab in dire circumstances dibenarkan tapi its something you should never ever fool around with sya. nanti mungkin membawa kepada perkara2 yang tak diingini dan org tak kahwin lebih2 lagi laa kena careful sangat. jgn nak experiment2 pun tau sebab mana laa tau nanti ketagih plak kan ?!!!! bahaya sya !!!!! klu camtu mama kena kahwinkan cepat2" ;)

AH shrieks "Heeee, mana ada.. tak nak aahh !!!!"

And thank god my torture ended right then & there lol. berpeluh even in the air-cond room lol. to the rest who might be going through the same thing with their kids esok2, i wish you the very best ya !!!!!

p.s. Sya if you're reading this, just dont worry your pretty little head too much over this ok yang... it'll start making better sense as you grow older, trust me :)

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It was drizzling after work but i went ahead with my usual routine, regardless.

** Running Log **

3 smaller laps= about 1.5 km each= total 4.5 km= 45 minutes

Oh Ooo

I get a call from the man rather early in the morning. like the kids, he seldom calls unless he has problems or needs something or other.

"Guess what", he said.

"What?"... what else was i supposed to say lol?

"HR dah call, kata its confirmed. tunggu CEO balik cuti untuk sign surat je" he continued rather slowly.

Hmmm. he did promise to let me know the instant he got word. was he hiding his excitement in view of my previous trepidation or was he actually a little worried about going? we'd been waiting for this confirmation since july and i've had ample time to play out best & worse case scenarios around it. but i admit, i'm still not prepared. i hate having to manage on my own, i hate shouldering the responsibilities and making immediate decisions alone, i hate being left behind, i hate this 'lost sheep' feeling and i just loathe sleeping alone.

Theres so much to hate about this latest developement. but of course, my practical side will never allow me to be incapacitated for long. even as i write, my survival mode has already kicked in. so, he's being send to turkmenistan... viewed through the atlas it isnt that far away but due to the unavailability of direct flights, it can take up to 24 hours. so i only get to see him every 4 months... but he's hardly home as it is.

I've never stood in the way of his career and i'm not going to start now. so i guess we'll manage.

As we always have.

But i'm missing him already :(

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The only way to get rid of all this pent up restlessness is to pound it out. good thing its gym day.

** Treadmill Log **

Speed: 7 - 8 km/hr with spurts of 9
Incline: 1 - 2
Time: 40 mins
Distance: 5 km
Calories burned: 360 kj

Junkie of sorts

Well whatdaya know..... looks like i'm a junkie now lol !!!!!!

Heh. sah lah dah :)

I've been feeling crappier than crap lately. sakit kepala, nauseous, moody semacam, tak senang duduk, tak puas bernafas, jittery giler. macam withdrawal symptoms plak (AH thinks i'm pregnant) lol but i've been getting my daily dose of caffeine, i dont smoke so it's nothing to do with nicotene, i dont drink so its not the alcohol. tak main laa benda2 berat yg lain.

?????

Then it hit me. the only variant in my usual routine is the break from running. daripada almost daily runs to just 2-3 x a week semenjak i had that bad bout of flu. so must be my body clamouring for endorphins, endorphins and more endorphins. i guess the ones released when the hubs & me go romping tak cukup kot lol.

So i decided to get my fix early today. Nekad, no matter what, i was going for my morning run. packed my office attire, fixed everyone the simplest of breakfast (oats/muesli/cereal), dropped off kid no. 2 at school before he could even say 'mama' and made a beeline for the tasik (i was already in my running gear with a jubah over it in case i ran into a glitch). i had to get the lap done in time to have my punchcard still registering black (or is it blue?!!).

Like i've mentioned several times before, nothing beats running in the morning ( 'cept probably a good lay but thats another story laa lol). the cool air, the warm (not hot) morning sun, the clear mind... all prerequisite to a good run and that oh so sublime endorphin rush !!!!

True enough i've been high the whole day. i know its only 5 pm but i'm still going strong. tak pening2, no nausea and everything's rosy *huge grin* even that mountain of files & reports needing my attention has failed to intimidate me.

Life is gooooooood.

** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 28 mins. sheesh, i really need to confirm the distance i'm dealing with.

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When i was freshening up in the ladies room (after a change of clothes), the bright lighting and big mirrors gave me ample opportunity to scrutinize myself.

Shit.

Usually its just slap on the moisturisers, loose powder, kohl, a dash of lipstick and i'm done. terkejar sana terkejar sini tak ambik masa to really look. Uughh, is that me?? adeh, jgn nak kata org, klu terserempak tgh malam i myself would be the first to run lol. i was very unfortunate to have suffered bad acne when i was growing up and degil plak tu, tak nak dengar nasihat. favourite pastime... keroteh jerawat and with a vengeance. it got so bad i had to see a skin specialist. several in fact. but it was aready too late and i bear the scars of my youth. i'm sooooo glad that none of the kids have acne as bad as mine. just your regular teenage zits thank god. it does nothing for your self-esteem.

Now on top of all that i'm also losing tone (where the hell did my jaw line go?!!). isnt it ironic? one can naturally tone up a body regardless of age (by exercising, weights, stretching) but have to resort to drastic measures when it comes to the face. nak buat face lift ongkosnya enggak ada sih (plus ngeri giler), botox same thing (including unresolved halal/haram issues), nak makan imedeen etc dah kes teruk lol so that leaves me with no other alternative but that of aging gracefully.

Weh... why do i feel its such a conciliatory statement. macam nak ambik hati je lol... boleh ke age gracefully ni ek? people say its more about how you are inside. yes i agree, hati mesti baik and when you're happy, contented, at peace with yourself and life, you'll have that glow. tapi kerepot tetap kerepot laa heheh :) just hope the important people in my life (especially the hubby) tak kisah. after all he's sagging and putting on lines too lol

Another thing. airconditioning is actually tough on the skin. tengok aje laa the results if you leave fresh bread lying about the room (sometimes i leave half eaten sandwiches or roti kaya after sahur lol). by morning jadi crispy toast... kering kontang!! imagine its effect on the skin, patut laa makin lama makin jadi macam shriveled prune !!! tak cukup kat rumah sambung kat ofis (skarang ni plak cuaca tersangat laa panas, klu tak pasang aircond meruap satu badan). hai, susah bila tau sebab musabab tapi tak boleh nak buat apa.

For now terpaksa pilih the lesser of 2 evils. nampak gayanya better prune face then panas naik ke kepala. or cari air-cond jenis baru yang supposedly tak mengeringkan tu. hmmmm.

Yup its not easy to grow old gracefully, not in a society or era where appearances does play an important part, even when platitudes are offered to the contrary. beautiful inside means beautiful outside. for those of us not so beautiful people, lets hope that holds true :)

But no matter what, life is still good.

Ah finally

Wanted to cut my hair ala2 GI jane dah lama tapi ada aje hal. but yours truly finally got it done. couldnt run this morning sebab laundry berlonggok-longgok (how did it happen? oh ya, abang long's huge college pile had disrupted the routine somewhat) but after hanging out the last tshirt and adding in the final dash of oregano to the mush i call kuah spaghetti (lunch) i had time to spare !!!!! didnt take me long to haul my saggy ass over to the strands, seksyen 6. helen didnt have many clients this lazy sunday afternoon so in the blink of an eye, i had me this really close crop. heh, ringan rasa kepala.

Now i'm sooo tempted to colour it red like that alias gal (of course laa takleh compare bcoz dia muda belia but nobody's gonna give a shit with it being in the tudung and all lol). golfman's given the green light, the boys think i've gone nuts but AH thinks its cool :)

Hmmm orange pun besh gak kat part spikey spikey tu lol

Oh... and AI discovered 3 strands of grey hair on my head just now. gempak satu household bcoz so far i havent had any grey yet; non that was visible anyway. and the kids have been amassing a small fortune (duit cabut uban) from their babah & opah for plucking out the grey lol.

Nah, i think i want it to stay where it is..... sorry kiddos ;)

Going for my run now and i'm dragging the hubs along.

** Running Update **

Only managed a 1.2 km run *sigh* sebab golfman wanted to brisk walk.

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I'm in a clicking mood this weekend much to the dismay of my camera-shy kids lol


AF leaving for his date kat klcc.. menyengih sakan :)


AH with her guitar.. she got it for her birthday last year


lepak2 after dinner getting free lessons from bang long


AI studying (konon) but notice the handphone thats within easy reach lol

A relaxing day

Heheh............ everyone got to do their own thing today:

Golfman - what else if not golfing ?!

Mak - puttering about in the sliver of land we call garden.

AF - out with other techno otakus at low yatt, kl.

AI - mengadap computer & ps2.

AH - writing, writing and writing.

Me - did my morning run (usual 4 km) and after the chores it was time for a little 'kitty-watching' as opposed to bird-watching lol (birdies not as cute). changed the batteries of the old clicker and waited patiently for the furry ones to provide me with the material and they didnt disappoint me one bit :)

I'd like to call this the Snooze Series and none of the poses were manipulated in any way (except AH provided the props ie pillows & blankies lol). just a pair of sleep-crazy kitties :)



















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The hubby and i just attended a wedding reception at the Dewan Jubilee Perak, Bangunan SSAAS (close to where moi gets to crack her head 8-5, mons to fridays). a friend buat menyambut menantu for her anak sulung. she has 5 children so its one down and 4 to go. was a rather touching occasion because she did it all on her own. the husband had died of stroke a couple of years back. during the reception, both of us were also appreciating the hall we were in. i'd been there before and quite often in fact because everytime any of the govt departments did a talk or seminar at the auditorium, we always had the jamuan at the hall. but tonite its been transformed into quite a magical place!!! what beautiful props and proper lighting can do to a place. definately worth considering as a venue for future wedding receptions :)

Semoga Azmall & Rozida berbahagia dunia akhirat dan dicucuri rahmat & nikmat NYA.

The big C

Nazrah's entry about her mom's relapse (my duas are with you naz) sort of brought it all back to me, this dread and fear for the great C. gerun, ngeri, takut .. 1001 macam perasaan. i see it all around me and at my age, its not only affecting the generation of dads, moms, aunts & uncles but also friends. they seem to be falling like autumn leaves and mostly due to the famous four: hypertension, heart attacks/strokes, diabetes and cancer.

I had my share of the great scare. when i was in college, i discovered a lump at my left breast and had it removed immediately. i was lucky it wasnt malignant but it was quite a scare nevertheless. later when i had my 2nd child i discovered another one but i was to have another lucky break; the doc said it was most likely a lump associated with my breastfeeding and just as predicted, it did disappear when i stopped. but each of my boys were 'hantu kopek' lol and were breastfed to the max of 2 years and by then, i'd already developed a paranoia for lumps. yessiree, i'm one of those people who religiously carry out self-exams... often. so far so good.

But even if cancer is a devastating disease the prognosis is better than it used to be and i get prove of that from close friends. Off my head, 3 have had successful masectomies and have each been in remission ranging from 7 to 3 years. 4 have done away with their wombs/uterus and having remissions ranging from 8 years to 2 months. a friend's hubby had his colon cancer succesfully arrested by surgery & chemo and has been going about merrily for the past 5 years. and of course there're others; neighbour's family members, friends of friends, but i wont list them all here.

Its not my intention to downplay any of the struggle, the pain or the sorrow but more to focus on the fact that there is life after cancer. the common factor in all the survivors seems to be their own strong will to live and thus keep on fighting. and that they have at their disposal the undivided love & support of friends & family each time they hit the lows. its not something that can be borne alone. terlalu berat untuk dipikul sendirian so if we do have family & friends with cancer, pls make time for them because they need us.

Kak ct, a close friend & senior officemate, has such a positive and upbeat attitude that others often forget that she's a cancer survivor. bosses load her with work and the rest sometimes lay heavy demands on her which i think is unwarranted. not that she should be treated differently but just that she should be given due consideration. i mean its like this big battle and for them to have fought and won !!! wow... survivors should be treated as war heroes no less. we really have to be more sensitive because there seldom is a complete cure, just remissions. kak ct admits to going thru moments of absolute stark terror especially when she has unaccounted aches & pains coz thats when she worries about relapses. but i tell her not to think too much about it. i mean she never misses any of her folllow ups and has made all the necessary allowances in her diet & lifestyle. she has done her best. but on the other hand, the reality is theres also a myriad other illnesses lying in wait ready to pounce on all of us. so, a person might have say a 10 year remisssion slotted for him/her but after just 5 years dies of a stroke instead. there just isnt any certainty in life as it is. and who's to say the sick has a shorter lifespan compared to the rest? i may be crossing the street and a lorry runs me down just like that (nauzubillah).

But crux of the matter is... be there for the sick. they need our love, support & understanding.

---------------------------------------

Golf man has been playing 2 days straight in one of his seemingly never ending games & tournaments... this time its the 16th annual malaysian petroleum golf classic (all the org minyaks lol). the guyz being the smart buggers that they are, slotted in dinners for the 2 nites so that all the spouses and significant others can feel they're part of the whole shebang. so thats how moi got to attend the final prize giving dinner & dance a while ago :)

It was a buffet of sorts. the venue wasnt all that suitable i thought (RP Entertainment, The Saujana) a little sempit for that kind of occasion but great for cozy little groups. the food was so so and we were intermittently entertained by headwind. but after the prize presentation there was the lucky draw (lots of cash vouchers and the grand prize was a return trip for 2 to perth) and later the dance. it was fun but we didnt win anything... the hubs had a bad run and lucky draws have this tendency to ignore our existence lol

But like i said it was fun. 'twas a chance to catch up with friends and to *burp* 'scuse me... stuff my face heheh.

September already?!

Aduh..... as you get older time not only flies but seem to move faster than the speed of light!!!! Its september and by mid-month i'll be hitting 44 (klu ikut kalendar islam lagi awal). alahai, its that time already and with each passing year i see my life blood leaking out slowly. that much closer to the end but i've yet to feel i've done anything significant. my must do list before the big sayonara pun has hardly been touched.

My main enemy is by far procrastination. not to mention lack of self discipline. and focus. oh i have loads of willpower once i make up my mind but its back to procrastination. not to mention lack of self discipline. and focus.

Vicious cycle.

Mak once said, i'm like the katak bawah tempurung. tau kehidupan dia je... asyik2 laki kau anak2 kau. sometimes i dont even notice the newly mowed lawn, or the freshly cut flowers. well, it does have a ring of truth (a loud ring in fact lol) but she of all people should know better how i got to be that way.. but lets not pass the blame backwards up until tok adam and tok hawa. up to a point we're all responsible for what we are, what we have become.

Neeways at any point in time, we can only be who we are be it katak bawah tempurung ke apa ke but that doesnt mean that i'm not trying hard to raise myself to a higher level, berhijrah ke 'destinasi' yang lebih baik. walaupun the increments tu hardly discernable but its there, i can feel it. i sure wish it can be giant leaps tapi kita tetap hanya mencuba, yang menentukan DIA. rahmat MU ku pohon jua.

I admit my scope for personal 'involvement' is rather limited. I cant seem to handle close interactions in large groups of people. I work hard at keeping my loved ones together & cared for but after that i only have enough of me left for a select group of friends and family. i wish i was more of an extrovert but apart from talking about the weather, my tired mind just deserts me lol. people who dont know me would probably say 'dia tu sombong'. its not that i dont care but i'm just not good at socializing. sorry mak, nak buat camane, walaupun i would love to reach out unfortunately jiwa ni tak cukup besar.

Now that doesnt mean i'm not open. from a very young age i'd had to maneuvre my way around adult situations fraught with undercurrents. in that world, you had to be able to read between the lines because what was being said never reflected what was being meant. awareness and maturity came to me early and so did intuition. but with it also came the 'glass wall'. i had to put it up as protection. with the eventual break up of my parents marriage, their subsequent remariages (babah remarried once and mak twice), my soul would have disintegrated into a million pieces otherwise. so i probably have the 'glass wall' to thank for but its probably also the reason why i was and still am to a certain extent a loner.

Eh, painful reflections and it's not even my birthday yet lol

Yes, i must be getting really old ;)