Closing of 2007

Last day of 2007. 2007 has been a better year than the year before, in some angles, but worse in a way or two. I got promoted in July and got pregnant in August. In July I bought myself a small car and managed to drove it before I got hit by morning sickness. Financially, I have finished paying for 3 loans in 2007 (more like to prepare for 2008 punya expenses actually) and successfully started another one for the car!. Tebby got promoted in July as well (and made me pregnant in August he.. he..). He got an award for getting an MBA (along with some dough that has already been wisely spent for the kids). Kakak finally mastered the art of reading a few months back and got herself an excellent award during her kindy graduation. Iman, despite not being able to communicate yet, started to hum and 'sing' along themes of cartoons. Most importantly, no one got hospitalised this year (as compared to 6-7 times in 2006!). Perhaps the worst for me was not coming to work for like a month and not being able to really work my new post.

Anyway.

As planned we went balik kampung last weekend. Iman had blast of fun ransacking Atok's reban ayam while Kakak got to pillion ride Atok to buy dried corn for the chicken (and later fed the chicken, sampai ayam tak larat nak makan dah!) and stopped by a small river to watch 'orang pancing'.

Iman, mula-mula posing dekat reban ayam katik

pastu, umpan ayam-ayam dengan jagung kering

Iman, dok mengejar ayam

We had small BBQ feast, with tender juicy steaks and chicken wings, bought from Jusco and grilled by Tebby. Meleleh-leleh airliur Iman makan steak pedas but since he loves spicy food, dia telan jugak. Lagi dan lagi!

the beef's grilling. then went chicken wings and sausages on the makeshift grill.

Kakak, Iman, Mokkucu (my sister) and my nephews, Azib and Aqil

Semalam, at 6p.m we departed Temerloh and headed for KL, singgah rumah my SIL in Ukay Perdana for prayers and stopped again at McD's drive-thru for quick dinner. Sampai rumah at 9p.m with aching muscle. In fact the kids refused to get up for nursery today. Letih sangat lah tu.

Oh ya, special thanks to...

My brother & SIL who went to China a few weeks back. He's doing Elken and recently promoted to Diamond Manager. They gave us a tissue box cover with beautiful ribbon embroidery, and the kids got a mandarin-suit each. I heard my brother came back with 8 big bags..


My SIL and biras who performed their hajj and just came back. They gave us a sejadah, glittering with its golden thread, biji tasbih, some pistachios and sweets/chocolates.

Money Matters, Mummy Matters

Alhamdulillah, semalam saya dah buat full settlement personal loan Bank Rakyat. Sebetulnya saya ada sikit masalah dengan loan tu. Tiba-tiba potongan gaji saya stop walhalkan masih ada baki lagi. Bank Rakyat suruh semak dengan bahagian gaji. Bahagian gaji suruh semak dengan Biro Angkasa. Biro Angkasa kata Bank Rakyat suruh buat potongan sampai August 2007 saja. Bank Rakyat pulak kata Biro Angkasa salah input. Habis tu dok tunding sana tunding sini, masalah saya tak selesai jugak. Kebetulannya tinggal lagi 6 bulan aje so saya settlekan sajalah semua. Tak payah pening-pening kepala dengan kerenah diorang nih.

Sementara kat sana tu, saya tengok-tengok jugak rate baru. Eh, for the same loan amount and credit period, kalau ikut rate baru, kurang RM100 dari yang saya bayar. Maknanya jimat RM7,200 tu! Terus teringat satu program 'You Buy We Rent' by Tropical Camel Ranchers. Diorang ada buat kempen di Menara T* baru-baru ni. You buy a cow for RM7,000 and they will do the rest for you. Annually they will give you RM1,500 in return. Kalau lembu tu mati, diorang akan ganti unless kalau mati disebabkan epidemic of disease or banjir. Saya tak pasti full detailnya. Yang saya pasti, saya agak berminat. Anyone knows a lot a bout this or anyone ada join? Boleh share info tak. Nak harap saya pegi jaga lembu tidaklah kan. Maybe I should start dengan sekor. See lah how nanti. Another loan of RM7,000 kot? Sikit je kan tapi saya tak berani nak keluarkan CAPEX banyak sekaligus gitu. Kena spare jugak for time bersalin nanti. We never know what's gonna happen kan. Epidural anyone? Saya tak pernah try. Last time it was RM800 per jab ek? And they say for C-sect nowadays, it can buy you a bomb. Betul ke?

I'll be going back balik kampung esok. My parents merajuk sebab raya tak balik. I have my reasons (Iman was contagiously unwell plus takut banjir naik semula as predicted in the news) but then tau sajalah mak pak kita ni kan. Sensitif. So, kena balik esok before Kakak starts her primary.

Ok, now, the me story now.

I am in my 21st week now but I look like a 6 months pregnant mom. When standing up straight, I can't see my toes anymore. Just b**bs and tummy. Oh, my b***bs still hurt till today. Normal ke? When I squat, I tumble backwards. I waddle and move slowly. Strangely tho, I prefer sleeping on my back with pillows all over as supports, rather on my sides. And Iman seems to have just realized I am carrying someone (or rather something to him). Last week he asked me to lift my shirt to have a look at the bump. He patted rather hard and asked me to dislodge it! Later he (and Kakak) made curious inspection on my belly button (which is almost flat now btw). I am quite casual about that. When the kids want to see my tummy behind the shirt, I show'd them. When Kakak speaks to Little Muhammad, he'd follow suit. When Kakak rubs her hands over my tummy, he does the same. But not when Kakak kisses. He'd just stands away and giggles. Little Muhammad, like always, responds most to Kakak. Kakak even told Little Muhammad how naughty Iman is! I just hope they can be the best of siblings to each other.

Despite my size, I just gained a kg (if the old scale is right) from my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost 3-4kgs during the first 3-4 months. If I take the measurement from where I lost weight, the gain is like 4-5kgs already. See lah what Dr Ashar is going to say. When nearing to duedate while I was with Kakak, Dr Jemilah put me in 'just little carbo' diet. Eat just what you need, she said. No more sebantal roti and 4 boiled eggs, just for breakfast. Yes, I did that. I was an eating machine. By the 7th month, I was bloated and I could eat my meal with a plate placed on my stomach. I did not even need a table. Really. I gained a good 20kg for that and got myself a girl with 3.5kg birthweight. I later shed the gains, much to some people amazement (and irritation as well).

Oh, I need to go to CIMB now to pay for my excess tax. See you all later. Have a nice weekend.

Kita Hanya Merancang..

Setelah sekian lama, saya update blog masakan saya. Ada a few recipe yang dimasukkan. Bolehlah melawat di my-pancake-life.

Saya tak jadi ke Langkawi. Perancangan dari seawal Julai 2007 tak dapat dilaksanakan. Kita hanya merancang, yang selebihnya ketentuan Allah kan. Saya dijadualkan terbang ke sana pada 23/12/2007. Booking tiket, accomodation semua dah buat. Iman pulak tak sihat lebih kurang seminggu. Tak sampai hati saya nak tinggalkan dia. Bukan 2 atau 3 hari tapi 6 hari. Mujur ada kawan se ofis tolong carikan orang yang sudi menggantikan tempat saya. Last2 minute gitu, susah juga. Kena pulak time2 orang bercuti menghabiskan annual leave. Dan kebanyakkannya dah ada perancangan sendiri. Dah book percutian months in advance. Takkan nak kensel pulak kan.

Makanya, in short, kursus tersebut saya tak hadir. Hajat nak shopping pun dibatalkan. Sebenarnya dah terlanjur ke sana tu, saya nak top up Corelle Souffle Blue saya dan menggantikan skillet/pan yang lama-lama tu dengan Maxim/Tefal. Maybe some crystal bowls or even matching cutleries with my pinggan mangkuk. Mungkin juga dah ada niat melencong gitu, saya tak dapat pegi. Apa pun, alhamdulillah Iman dah sihat sekarang. Kebetulan pula sekarang ni dalam proses nak tutup akaun. Agak sibuk di ofis.

Namun begitu *ehem*, sekembalinya Tebby dari kerja last week, dengan cerianya dia menyampaikan bahawa di Amcorp Mall ada jual pinggan-mangkuk dengan design yang memang saya idam-idamkan. Putih polos dengan bentuk 4 atau 3 segi atau berbiku2. Kira modern design lah. Tengahari tadi, kami ke sana dan memborong a few. Not really a few lahhh.. about 17pcs at RM189.09. Bukan setakat yang 4 atau 3 segi, yang lonjong pun ada juga. Items yang saya beli semuanya at 70% discount. Sib baik hari ni bawak ViVa so limited space. Kalau bawak Optra, harus saya borong jugak yang lain-lain! Sampaikan saya terfikir-fikir kot2 ada jemputan kawin, boleh saya belikan sebagai hadiah. Cantik-cantik. Ada candle holder (a set of 3) with long handle of different height, memang saya suka betul. Tapi mengenangkan anak-anak saya yang suka explore benda-benda macam tu, apatah lagi kaca, saya batalkan saja niat tu.

So, meh tengok gambar pinggan mangkuk baru saya..

the squares. deep and shallow. i like!

the deep triangles. i also like!

the rectangles.

the ovals (oblongs?)
paling bawah tu sesuai untuk buat pie or custard.
yang tengah tu not too shallow and not too deep.

atas sekali ada resemblence cam bath-tub, but I like!

Kakak Is Going To School - Money Matters

Kakak, striking a pose with free cotton-candy and elina (a character from Mermaidia)

Oh yes, I got myself a lemon squeezer and an egg slicer

Now I know, when preparing for 'balik ke sekolah' thingy, why some parents, to the extend, make loans solely for that. We've spent almost 1/2 a grand already so far for Kakak. That excludes the lists of fees and things to be settled during her orientation on 2nd January 2008. And that also exlcudes things and fees for sekolah agama. Unlike my belly, our wallets are thinning and we're flipping our accounts but my spirits and hopes are not. After all, this is not like buying stuffs that you don't need. And I've waited almost 7 years for this.

Of course I'm still worried. Like I mentioned in previous entry - the what if's and would she's but after lots of prayers, I guess that heavy feeling has lighten up a bit. Like Kaklong Syikin advised me, doa whenever we have the chance, not just while we're on prayer mats. I've made sure of the arrangement with Atfal pertaining to sending and fetching her to-fro primary school and the arrangement with bus operator for her sekolah agama in the noon. Kakak herself made progress in reading Bahasa Melayu and English. I'm trying to sharpen her Math now. I got her a new pair of telekung to nurture the spiritual side of her. I may probably be sending her to sekolah agama as well for fadhu ain, unless we can find an ustaz/ustazah who can come to our house for that purpose. I am worried about her asthma, among all. If she pushes herself too hard, she'd turn pale and you can see her obvious tireness written all over her face. I have also arrange the one thing I hate doing, basuh kasut sekolah, to be under Tebby's portfolio. With my expanding stomach, it is so not possible to squat down and do the thing. Tebby did suggested the sink but with my persistence, it would, still, be under his care hu hu. We are also thinking about the washing machine tho! Anyone does this? Jangan sampai disebabkan sepasang kasut sekolah budak darjah 1, rosak mesin basuhku. Mind you, we have a 13kg load washing machine! I hope by darjah 2, she can do that herself.

We have to brace ourselves with a later nightly retirement/early morning start to ensure she gets good breakfast as well as a good lunch-box. Especially in the first few months where she still doesn't know the value of money and how to do 'transactions' in the canteen. I've warned her not to buy (when she knows how to) all those junks and soda and I hope she'd stick to that. Those, could, trigger her asthma. Ah, don't let me start with school homework. I hope we'd all be energetic enough to deal with those, plus the new baby coming. And no more dilly-dallying pertaining to laundry. Kang ada yang tak cukup stok baju sekolah!

Anyway, just for sharing purpose, here's the list of what we've bought so far.. For those who has 6yo, this maybe a 'framework' for you to ponder upon for the next 12 months (and start piggy-banking!).

1) Baju kurung putih Canggih 2@ 17.90 each

2) Baju kurung putih Professor 2@ 25.90 each

3) Kain biru Canggih 2@ 25.90 each

4) Kain biru Professor 1@ 32.90 each

:: Professor offerings are considerably more expensive than Canggih but we bought some anyway, for comparison of quality

:: I have to shorten her kain a bit. She has pot-belly so kena beli kain yang besar sikit he he. Hence the extra length

5. Camisole 4@ 5.90 each

6. Socks, pack of 3, 2@ 9.90 each

:: They say, buy the ones with sole in black. So I did.

7. School bag 1@ 42.90 each

:: She chosed the one with Powerpuff prints. Tebby tried to sway her to no-cartoon, saying grown-ups don't use cartoon-ed bag anymore. She told us, as a-matter-of-factly that, those transit sisters and brothers at Atfal Sayang still use Barbie, Princesses's and Power Rangers thingy. What more there was to argue, huh?

8. Tudung putih 4@ 4.41 each

:: As advised, we bought tudungs of elastic material to make sure they stay on her head easily. I have to adjust the opening tho, kena buka sikit jahitan.

9. Serkup 5@ 1.50 each

10. Telekung 1@ 22.00 each

11. Kasut sekolah 2@ 27.99 each

:: To top-up her existing only pair that she'd worn for the past 2 years to Atfal Excel

12. Kapur kasut, pack of 3, @5.99 each

13. Stationeries + botol air Rubbermaid, all@ 66.74

:: I bought spares as advised. Extra rubbers, rulers, sharpeners, pencil colors, pencil bags. The spares alone, occupy a shoe box almost to the brim.

We still have an item or two to be bought. Raincoat, lunch box and kain hijau among all.

I pray to Allah everything will go on smoothly, for Kakak and for us too.

Dendang Perantau

Salam Aidil Adha dari kami sekeluarga. Buat pertama kalinya dalam 33 tahun hidup saya, saya tak beraya di samping keluarga di kampung. Time bujang dulu, sure balik kampung saya punya. Bila dah kawin, alternate dengan kampung Tebby. Janji kat kampung, tak kisahlah kampung siapa. Tahun ni, disebabkan masalah-masalah yang tak dapat dielakkan, rancangan kami beraya di kampung saya di Temerloh terpaksa dibatalkan. Antaranya sebab banjir. Walaupun air yang menenggelamkan parts of the kampung dah surut dan cars can go in and out, dengarnya Jumaat ni akan bermula 2nd wave banjir. Lagipun Iman masih tak berapa sihat, kotnya terperangkap nanti, satu hal pulak. Tebby pulak terpaksa bekerja esok sebab dan ambik cuti kecemasan masa Iman sakit bari-baru ni. Kiranya kena ganti baliklah nih.

Untuk juadah pagi raya (sob sob), kami buat Nasi Minyak lengkap dengan Gulai Dagingnya. Ada sikit agar-agar telur 'Nnesang Kerek' dan sebekas kuih bahulu. Cukuplah untuk kami anak-beranak. Surau sementara di area rumah kami pun ada buat sembahyang sunat raya.

Tebby kata eloklah namakan hidangan ni 'Nasi Minyak Dendang Perantau'. Kalau raya puasa, harus banjir nih!

Yang ini pulak bakal dikorbankan pagi-pagi Jumaat (esok). Ada unta sekor, lembu 4 ekor. Unta dengan lembu-lembu ni memang jadi attraction kat budak-budak sini. Maklumkan budak KL, ada yang tak boleh beza kerbau dengan lembu. Tension agaknya unta dengan lembu-lembu tu dok kena kerumun. Anak-anak saya (kakak terutamanya) tak terkecuali. Dia tau esok unta dengan lembu-lembu tu kena sembelih so dia nak jugak (tak boleh tidak) pegi buat 'lawatan terakhir'. Dah lah hari pulak hujan. Kenalah kami naik kereta ke tempat lepak binatang-binatang tu (padahalkan dekat amat). Janji dia puas hati. Elok jugak hari hujan sebab rupanya dia dah plan nak pegi peluk cium unta tu! Dek sebab hujan, kami tengok dari dalam kereta je.

Salah seekor lembu yang akan dikorbankan esok.

She Reads!

Kakak dah lancar membaca. Alhamdulillah. Sejak-sejak pandai ni, habis semua buku-buku cerita bahasa melayu (yang di rumah) dibacanya. Kebetulan hari ni di Menara T* ada jualan. Banyaklah gerai-gerai, termasuklah gerai menjual buku kanak-kanak. When I was small, eventhough my father was a teacher, he somehow did not give encouragement for me to read. Except for a few books of Tamar Jalis that he bought when I was around 11 or 12. He taught Malay literature so among others I read Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan, Seluang Menodak Baung and Salina. My first English storybook was Bimbo & Topsy by Enid Blyton. As of now, I seldom read. A habit which I need to change. Budak-budak ni more inclined to 'do as i do' and not 'do as i say' kan. So, to instill that habit, I first need to nurture that habit within myself first.

Back to Kakak, not wanting to dampen her new-found interest, saya pun memborong buku-buku cerita. 4 set semuanya. Satu set ada 4 buku, maknanya ada 16 buku cerita. At RM50.00. Kira macam starter set lah ni. I am planning to buy encylopaedia but still could not find the suitable ones, nor do I have the budget at this point. But InsyaAllah, one day.

Oh ya, tonight alone, she has read 2 books already. Good girl!

Short Notes

Just a few short notes. Busy banget. Kerja bertimbun atas meja. Meeting bersusun. Next week dah nak start cuti Raya Haji, sambung kursus di Langkawi seminggu then ambik leave sebab Kakak start Primary 1. So I'll be away from the office from 19/12/2007 and will be back on 3/1/2008.

[1] Iman demam. Panas! His temperature ranging from 38d to 40d! (sapa tau kat mana jual Braun thermometer earcap? jenuh cari kat farmasi tak jumpa2 lagi ni) One moment he's well and main cam biasa. The next dia punya panas sampai dia menggigil-gigil. Usually he'd refused blanket tapi sebab dia rasa sejuk sangat, dia biarkan saja kami bungkus dia. Lots of sponging and medicine already. If demam still persists until Sunday, we'll go to APSH for blood-test.

[2] Kampung saya banjir! It's been awhile since the last time kena banjir besar cam gitu. Mak saya kata air dah sampai tangga dapur (maknanya dah teruk lah tu sbb rumah saya ni atas bukit jugek). Kampung sebelah dah start dapat ration beras and canned food. Electricity dah kena cut-off dah pun. Sib baik we can still communicate via phone and mobile.

[3] Regarding item [2], I think I should have alternative plan for Raya Haji. We had planned to go back to my kampung but if like this, how can kan. Zarid dah bawak resepi Nasi Beryani (ala-ala Restoren Insaf). Manalah tau kot2 kena beraya kat KL kan, at least I already have something to cook nanti.

Okie dokie. Bye for now.

Kisah Anak-Anak

She's back! Safe and sound, in one piece (albeit that she lost her telekung) and she told us she had a good time during Kem Anak Soleh. I'm glad she did. Alhamdulillah, Allah granted my doa to make things easy for us all. Yang herannya, when I asked her to help me do something, she answered with 'yes boss'. Dia kata cikgu suruh..

Sedar tak sedar I'm in my 19th weeks already. In a few days, it's going to be 20, which means I'm half way through already. If you ask, the more birth I give, the more frightened of labor I become. Perhaps because I know what to expect already. Perhaps Iman's birth, tho a lot shorter than Kakak's, was a lot more painful. I did beg for C-sect for that matter, actually! After hearing other people's experience, I'm glad Dr Jemilah turned deaf ears on that and instead encouraged me to push and push and push. I am praying this time around for an easier birth and a calmer baby.

I haven't done any preparations for Little Muhammad yet at this point. Perhaps I should start little by little. I've checked and could not find all the mittens and booties and baby clothing. Perhaps I've loaned them but could not remember to who (hey, it's been more than 3 years already!). All that are left semua sudah buruk. Getah seluar pun dah loose semuanya. Most are Kakak's, so it's been more like almost 7 years already, what do you expect kan.. Thank God all the bulky items are intact - play-pen (this, is especially important when I have another 2 kids around!!), baby seat, car seat, stroller, tub. Yes, I do plan to breastfeed for the first month. 2nd month I probably should start expressing and feed Little Muhammad EBM. I have had really hard time with Iman to wean him off my teats last time. Maybe sbb lambat sangat train dia kot. Ada sapa yang guna Avent bottle/food warmer? Thinking of buying one.

Little Muhammad seems to like Kakak and Iman very much. At the sound of his sister and brother, he'd move about. Kakak seems to be developing some kind of bond with Little Muhammad already (she pats my tummy and talks to her baby brother) whereas Iman is still oblivious to my expanding tummy and the fact that another baby is coming. Last weekend, Kakak read aloud a storybook near me and Little Muhammad went moving and kicking until Kakak stopped. Ummi fell asleep. Ala-ala bedtime story pulak. Bukan maknya baca kat anak, anaknya yang baca kat mak!

Letting Go - Lesson 1

Call me one pathetic mother. I think I am.

Last 2 weeks (while on MC), I got a call from Atfal asking me whether to let Kakak join their 'Kem Anak Soleh'. I happily agreed before I got to know, among others, she'll have to stay overnight in school. Away from me. I retreated my agreement and asked for sometime to think over. Even when I have not decided if she's going or not, I have started worrying. What if she cries at night. Would she be able to get up as early as 5.30a.m. for morning prayer. Would she be able to go through a day without TV? Who would she go to, to wish 'Good night, I love you'. All the what if's and would she's...

Tebby is taking it like any father or rather man would. He told me, for God's sake
1) it's just one night
2) her school is less than 5 minutes drive away (if he drives)
3) she's 6 years-old
4) lots of her friends will attend as well
5) not that she's never been separated from us

So, I decided to let her. Filled in the form and attached the fee.... And sent her this morning. Can't wait to pick her up tomorrow.

Come to think of it, I think I won't let her to go to boarding school, when she grows up, and if she gets the offer. Except if she insists, kot. And I'm gonna cry buckets 2 weeks before, and after. And maybe each time school holidays end. True, that is so like aeon in future, but I can do my thinking now. Right?

No wonder parents are so picky when it comes to their daughter choice of husband. As our religion teaches us, once a daughter gets married, her priority will be her husband but for a son, it remains the mother. So, the right choice is, undoubtedly crucial huh.

Kakak is going to start her Primary 1 on the 3rd January 2008. I am planning to take a week leave. Or even a month or two if I could actually. The 'veteran' mothers in my office said, '2 hari je dah cukup. Nanti budak tu yang suruh kita balik'. I just can't help it. Pathetic, am I not?

Black Beauty

At last, I bought a camera yesterday to replace my 4.0 mpixel Kodak which I started using 3 years ago. However I sidetracked from the original plan from Canon/Nikon and settled for a slim and sleek Olympus FE280 and saved some hundreds from my original budget. The features and specs can be read here.

Mine is black. I likee. Haven't got the chance to try it out yet. Not even the chance to charge the battery. Maybe tonight.

Surviving The Hike In Prices - Do We?

Went to Tesco Kajang for groceries last Sunday. It's not that I really wanted to go after just recovering from viral fever but have literally almost nothing in spare. So had to go. Like always, I was praying the kids would behave while we do our shopping. Bribed Iman with 2 cheap matchbox cars and he stayed in the cart all the way through. Thank God! As for Kakak, we kept her busy with the shopping list.

But that was not the point. We gawked to see the hike in prices. For example Iman's 6-in-a-pack Dutch Lady Choc Milk is priced at RM7.80. They used to be RM5.++ and we used to consider RM6.++ as mahal already. The formula Iman used to feed on is priced at almost RM70. It used to be much much cheaper back then. Same goes to Kakak's Enfagrow. I thought of buying some Italian Herbs but when I saw it was tagged at RM8.90 (I used to buy similar herbs from the same brand at around RM7.++ before), I decided to just forget about it. Kraft stick-cheese is sold at RM8.00 per pack of 6. Dedulu it was around RM6.++ ajek kalau tak silap so the kids had to settle with that usual slice ones only. And with RM100 in your hands at a wet market, you don't get much as before, don't you think? Aiyohh... And I haven't started on price increase on kiddy's education these days (yet). I have long forgetten about branded things for myself. Except for my Biotherm perhaps :P. Perhaps the only consolation we got that day was a RM3+.++ red Huggies for Iman. (We once bought that same pack for almost RM60.00 years ago!)

But I'm sticking with my Canon, just in case you are wondering!

Mengidam

mulut rasa cam nak makan kek..
tangan rasa cam nak beli camera..

hari ni jugak! camno? agak2 kalo guna alasan mengidam Tebby layan tak?
(Nota - suami saya is a very practical man.. cam tak makan jek alasan ngidam tu..)

UPDATE AS AT 4/12/2007
Nope. I did not get those. Neither the cake nor the camera (yet). Tebby had to wait for his boss and we left a bit too late to go shopping. Ended up stopping at Pantai Dalam tapau-ing some Nasi Lemak singgit and some fried chicken for dinner.