Ha?!? Nak Raya Lagi???!!!...

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Papa (*who is supposedly my SIGNIFICANT other half when dealing with 'leceh' matters, kalau tak leceh, he is insignificant in my decision making process, he, he, he....,*) has declared that we will be celebrating the Aidil Adha in KL this year!

Yes!!! I don't have to worry about leaving my furry children at the boarding house if we are to balik kampong..
Yes!!! I want to savour 'the look' from my mother..(this requires another HUGE blog altogether, with gory template and a handle that shouts: "whatever it is that you daughters are trying to do for me will NEVER be good enough, understand??" Fortunately the blog will not be published until I have the chance to read and hopefully benefit from ATENAH's impending book on 'Fragile relationship between mothers and daughters'....)

What was it that I was writing about? Oh, ya, the Aidil Adha. Papa's decision not to travel is because the Hari Raya will be on a Tuesday. Besides, Dilla will be sitting for her semester exam the day after H/Raya. But the real reason is because we want to welcome our nieces and nephews to spend the Raya with us. Their parents are in Makkah performing the pilgrimage and we automatically take it upon ourselves to ensure that the children have a decent Hari Raya celebration. While we were performing our Haj 3 years ago, my children were looked after by their parents, who by the way happens to be my elder sister who is married to papa's elder brother, get it??, get it??....

Papa has also invited his brother-in-law's family to be with us.
'Hang tak payah nak siap2 food, mai makan kat rumah kami!'
My sister-in-law (who is papa's sister) passed away 2 years ago, leaving a hubby to fend for 4 children. I know he is struggling to cope with his new role as a single parent, may Allah bestow him with extra strength.

So Selamat Menyambut Aidil Adha. When we were in Minna, Aidil Adha was celebrated after the culmination of melontar jumrah, the Tahlul and getting out of the Ihram. The feeling of joy and jubilation was so overwhelming that we forgot about the lemang, ketupat and rendang back home in Malaysia....... Semoga kita mendapat Haji yang Mabrur, insyaAllah....

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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A very happy new year to everyone.
My mission for the new year will be finding PEACE with myself......I've been grumbling over a certain issue which has been bugging my innerself for the past 49 years and it has to stop some time next year!!. Otherwise after half a century, it will be more difficult to forgive and forget, or getting rid of the guilt afterwards...
Wish me luck.

Tasya's Coming Home

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Welcome back, Tasya.

My daughter will be home next week after over a year in London pursuing her education at the Masters level. I hope she has achieved what she worked so hard for and I am happy that I have fulfilled my responsibility as a parent to ensure that she received the support that she needed, financially and emotionally.

Your homecoming is of course the start of another chapter in your young life, dear. However, do put into good use the enriched experience after living abroad, struggling through it all, being alone, independent and in the cold............

My Doa is always for the best in whatever you undertake. Bagai gagak pulang ke Benua, Selamat kembali ke tanahair, Tasy!...
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Parenting Champions

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The whole nation is overwhelmed by Nicol Ann David for her success in being the world no.1 in the game of squash. I share the David's pride in getting the best congratulatory wishes from the country's no.1 who is none other than our Prime Minister.

For Nicol to be where she is now has involved a lot of sacrifices both from her and her family. Not only in monetary form but her parents had to take a big decision about her going pro in the game in which Nicol is passionate about. She obtained a sparkling academic results in her SPM, being tutored by her mother as she didn't have much time to study in the proper school.

Parenting is such a tedious job which require skill , my own mum didn't warn me about it. We have to be able to make lots and lots of decisions, keeping our fingers crossed hoping that they are the right ones.

After 25 years of parenting, I'm still struggling with my efforts trying to raise champions in my own household.

Last night, as I was pouring over spreadsheets of data, charts and graphs, reviewing my investment portfolio for the new year, an sms came from Dilla:

..'Ma, dilla takde underwear tuk nak pakai sampai saturday, boleh tak kalau dila balik rumah jumaat petang, pastu gi balik campus saturday? OR should I drive to Alamanda beli? OR basuh the used ones?'...

Aduuihh..that's a very difficult decision to make...let me see how to steer my daughter into a champion...

...'Gi beli!'...was my answer to her sms.

and her reply:

...'ha,ha,ha...YES lah!!Mama memang paham dila!!! Basuh was certainly not an option!!!'.....

Sigh.....I don't think I have the potential of getting a glowing tribute from Pak Lah, congratulating me on my parenting acument any time soon......
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Getting the Getz

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I am getting Dilla the Hyundai Getz as her graduation present. It's also the New Year and her next year's Birthday present as well. Cheap, ha, Dill??!!...a 3-in-1. However I can be real cheap by adding : for sitting and passing your MACPA part 2 exam next year, too!!!! But most important, for being a good daughter who understands me during my good and bad times...thanks, Dil!

Actually Dilla has been driving her sister's car for a year. Now that her sister is coming back from overseas, she needs to finally drive her own car.

Dilla: mama, may I have a car in an unpredictable colour? Something which is soooo not me,..for a change?!?..

Mama: Yeah, sure Dilla, it will be in lilac blue, unpredictable indeed, and if we want something else, we will have to wait for the next shipment to arrive.

Here Dil, take a look at the foto first, the keys will be yours by next week.

**I know you have been stalking my blog**
~~~Daa.....

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The ENTOMOLOGIST mama

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The weather is so gloomy in good ole Malaya. It rains and it rains and it rains......It definitely has affected my mood and I miss the bright sunny evenings when we would sit at the garden, sipping tea, eating cookies and admiring the waterfall flowing into the koi pond.

Imran: Ma, look, there's a beautiful dragonfly, perching at the beak of your flamingo.

Mama: Do you know that dragonflies live only for a day? They don't even own a mouth as there is no neccessity to eat.

Imran: Really??? Why do they need to exist then, since it's only for a day.

Mama: That one day is just enough for them to reproduce. They are at the lower rung of the food chain, and the dragonflies are food to other creatures like the birds. At the same time they also aid in the process of pollination.

Imran: Wow..How do you know about all these things, mama??

Papa: Mesti lah, kan mama an anthropologist?

Mama: Papa! anthropologist tu orang yang gali tanah kat Lembah Bujang untuk nak cari periok2 lama tu lah!! mama ni ENTOMOLOGIST!!!

Papa: OOohh..sori...OK, lain kali papa ingat..semut..ant...so you are an e-n-t-o-m-o-l-o-g-i-s-t......

Imran: What do you learn in order to be an entomologist,mama?

Mama: I specialise in the Insect Kingdom!

Imran: What has that got to do with you managing a Travel Agency?

Mama: Eh, banyak songeh pulak budak ni! At least my company has a healthy balance sheet, my staff get their annual bonus and 10% pay increase next year! There was this person who studied history, was entrusted to manage an airline, has caused the company to go near bankrupt! As a result, papa and his colleague are getting a 30% pay cut!!...

Eh, apa ni mama merepek! The weather has obviously affected my line of thoughts as well.....
I still can't find the answer to Imran's last question.