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.