Why??? Just because you can??

Watched the viral video of the UUM gathering this morning.
After watching it, I felt less miserable, knowing that I'm not the only one with problems. Animals do too.

I applaud that student. She was brave, knowledgeable and eloquent. I don't have the guts to stand there & voice out my opinions like that. I am glad debate competitions during my time were not in the parliamentary style or I would never, NEVER have entered them. Didn't finish watching the video though coz the "LISTEN" lady lost me after her 'JAWS' joke and her nonsensical blabbering. 

This whole thing makes me realize that I am better off keeping my mouth shut if I am not willing to pick a fight with anybody. Which I am not. I'm a pacifist. I'd rather stay away from someone I don't like than try to make that someone see things my way. Or just laugh it off when I have been verbally attacked by someone. Which would make me a lousy contestants in most shows like The Survivor, Fear Factor, or other reality shows.

That said, I have to admit to myself that I am such a wuss, a pushover. I often let other people walk all over me because I'd rather smile and be friendly than say something sassy like, "Talk to the HAND, *#@$^!" 

Shahrin vs Nazrin

Oh man..

Today was better than last week, if I do say so myself. I managed to get Shahrin out of the door by 7.25am without physically hurting him or myself..hahahha..joking.

but, MAN! he was such a pain in you know where!

He hasn't change since we started sending him to kindy/preschool till now. Well, there are days when he would get up without a fuss but when he gets cranky, like this morning...ughh...I very nearly see red.

He would cry, he would just stand there in the toilet, not wash his face, not taking a bath, complaining that he's still sleepy..he's still tired...etc. etc. I practically had to shove his arms through his shirt just to get him into his uniform. I put his socks on, his shoes, he just stood there..crying..
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Nazrin on the other hand, was excited about going to school. He woke up early today, kept telling me that he can go to school (kindy) today since he couldn't go to school yesterday & on Saturday. He took his own bath (yeah..he manages himself well in the bathroom) and we were out of the house by 7.50am. We got to his kindy, he climbed off the motorcycle and walked in all by himself. He turned around only when I called out 'goodbye' to him.

That easy.

It's 2013 already?? The 1st week of school update.

Hi all!

And assalamua'laikum to all Muslim readers.

Man, the first week of school term was hectic with a capital H!

We had to rush around buying more school supplies as the week progressed as we figured out what it takes to send 2 kids to school. Well, technically, only Shahrin has to attend the public primary school since Nazrin is only 4 years old but Nazrin has been so excited about going to school (like his older brother), so we decided to send him to Shahrin's old private kindergarten/preschool.   

We thought that we were well prepared for the start of the new year & new chapter in Shahrin's life. But, even with only 3 school days left since Monday & Tuesday were still holidays, I felt like I needed more than a 24 hours day. I spent Tuesday night sewing Shahrin's school badge on his uniform till 4am! My sewing skills leaves much to be desired, heh. Then, on the 1st day of school itself, I woke up 10 minutes before Shahrin's 1st day of school is supposed to start!!!! 

Can you imagine how we scrambled around that morning? Plus, I forgot to iron his uniform the night before & had to make Shahrin wear his still-hot-freshly-ironed uniform. My poor son. Heh. Luckily, I had prepared his bag, shoes & lunchbox the night before, so, Ahmad later told me that the drop-off went well. A teacher was there to greet the newcomers, so the Standard 1 students were well looked after. Ahmad told me that the next 2 weeks will only be sort of an orientation period where the teachers will show these kids around the school, take them to the canteen & supervise them on how to purchase their meals, show them where the toilets are and etc. 

I couldn't go with them that 1st day because I had to get Nazrin ready for his 1st day at kindergarten. He was WAY better at getting ready for school compared to when I only had to deal with Shahrin. He did cry a little for having to wake up earlier than his usual time but after I told him that he should get ready to go to Abang Long's school, he became quite excited. Too excited, in fact, that the moment we got to his kindergarten & he was safely inside, he didn't even look back at me or wave me goodbye. Bwahahahahaha...      

Then, later that 1st day, Ahmad said we need to buy Shahrin more uniforms for his religious classes [KAFA or PAFA] (in the evening at another school) so we rushed out that evening to find white Baju Melayu and green songket. This part was rushed because we weren't aware that PAFA classes starts at the same time the public school starts & that registration was open since December the 24th, 2012. Luckily, Ahmad's friends who have kids already attending school told him about it. I'm not quite sure how this religious school works since Shahrin already has religious class during school hours but Ahmad said that it is sort of compulsory for kids to attend this school. So, Shahrin's schedule were packed on Thursday and Friday; 7.30am - 1.20pm at public school and 3.00pm - 6.00pm at the religious school. 

So, this week was very challenging for us, what's with getting things ready for the boys; iron school uniforms that are way to big for them, even the S sized ones, that I had to sew up the arms and pants to fit them, wrapping Shahrin's textbooks, buy more school items for them..etc. etc. Ahmad was in charge of sending & picking Shahrin up from the public school as well as sending & picking him up from religious school. As for me, I only have to send Nazrin to kindy but Ahmad would pick him up & bring him home. 

Ahmad is so into the whole 'going to school' thing which is so 180 degrees from how he acted when Shahrin only attended preschool/kindy. Back then, I was the only parent actively involved with Shahrin's school days; get him ready, send him to preschool, pick him up (although Ahmad did this more than I did but still..), prepare his uniform/bag/pencils/colour pencils..you know..school stuff. This year, he registered Shahrin for the public school and the religious school. He sent & picked Shahrin up from both schools and he asked Shahrin about his days. Plus, we initially bought each brother new school bags with Transformer pictures on them which the boys chose themselves. Then, after the 1st day was over, Ahmad told me that we needed to buy another bag for Shahrin, this time it has to have wheels because he said he couldn't stand seeing Shahrin dragging his 1st bag which was heavy with his textbooks & exercise books. This is quite the opposite to Shahrin only having 2 bags (one was a hands-me-down & the other was bought 2nd-hand) during his 3 years in kindy/preschool. Nazrin is the lucky one, he has a new bag, new pencil box (Shahrin never has one), new uniform. Hehe..

Apart from the hectic preparations, Ahmad is also busy making things. His welding business has taken over his time this past month and it looks like more orders are coming in, alhamdulillah. In fact, Shahrin's and Nazrin's new school items were bought using the money Ahmad received for making the parking-tent thing while I was waiting for my translation payment to come through. Which it has. As for me, I barely made it through the week trying to juggle between altering the boys' uniforms and proofreading for my loyal client but I managed to get my boys to school and finished my project, albeit 1 day later than the dateline, ahem. 

p/s: I LOVE!!!!! school term. Love it! Love, love, love it! hahahhahah..The past 3 days were heavenly, the TV got its well deserved rest, no one screaming or crying or demanding drinks. The house stayed neat the entire morning. Can't wait for the new week to start. Hahahahahahahah. <---crazy :p=":p" laugh.="laugh." nbsp="nbsp" p="p">

Who knew?

I am still feeling the aftermath of the month long translating project.
I already have 2 new projects but these past 2 days have been used to tidy up the house & catch up with laundry, especially the folding part of it. I have been browsing around bloggosphere and have found a few organizing ideas that I want to try. I have also been catching up on my sleep heheh that is to say, I catnapped when Khairin does during the day.

There is also 1 thing that's been bothering me & I can't shake it off. I thought I could but it kept coming back & crowding my thoughts. It has really caught me by surprise & I never thought that it could happen to me. It's like being sucker-punched except I don't know how that feels like. er..

Who knew?

It has taken away my excitement with Shahrin's coming off age. We should be preparing for next year when he has to attend public school. Wow..how time flies, he's 7yo already...my first-born will be going to school for real next year *tears*

But that thing is making me feel so low & down in the dumps. Ughhh...gotta shake it off!!!!

Money, money, money, money...MONEY!

Yes, today I'll be talking about MONEY. Can't live without them...

But before that, I just wanna say, "I have FINALLY submitted my month long translation project!!!!" YA!!!YA!!!!!

err...alhamdulillah...hehhe

I managed to stick to my plan of translating 5 pages per day and I made it! It was such a relief to be able to email the translated document to my client and inform her that I have finally finished. 

I email her the document around 3.40pm and I simply crashed. 

I managed to keep myself together for the past weeks; staying up late (the only time I can really focus on my translation job without having 3 sets of hands clinging onto me, 4 if you count Ahmad hahahha) and waking up early, completing my usual household chores and stealing a few minutes to translate. But today, I completely ignored ALL housechores, except for those scrawny kids off course..can't forget them! heheh..and I focused on finishing the final 3 pages + proofreading the whole thing, you know, for typos, grammar etc..

Afterwards, when the file is already emailed, I planned on picking up the slack & settle cleaning up the house BUT when Khairin wanted to nurse, I simply clocked-off beside him. I woke up only because my mom called at 6.34pm. Right now, the sink is full with dirty dishes and I have 3 piles of dirty laundry to go through but I am cool with that because I AM FREE!!!!! hahahha

Ok, back to the topic at hand. *Ahem

I am really lucky to have been raised as a middle-class child who never sat foot in a KFC till she was already 15 years old, even then it was because her friends (from her boarding school) dared her to, hahah. A child who was never allowed frivolous foods such as candy, carbonated drinks, crackers and chocolate bars while she was growing up and now she would still feel a little self-conscious and guilty if she does buy any of these foods because she is still scared of her Baba, hahaha. 

I am fine with my present life these days, when other 'people' do not intrude on the somewhat 'tranquil' balance Ahmad & I have right now. We may not have a lot but we have been living on what we have and for us, these are enough. Yes, I do want a better life for my family but as Friar Tuck say, "The LORD works in mysterious ways" (you know, in Robin Hood, the one Kevin Costner was in..) and so far, I think HE has given us just what we need, when we need it. Alhamdulillah, we have never been so dirt-poor that we don't have anything to eat, we may only have enough to eat fried eggs but then again, Ahmad is not a picky eater, hehh. We do enjoy eating out at KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds every now and then but we are fine without. 

Even when we both are unable to bring in any money; I don't have any projects & Ahmad's bundle business slows down because of the weather, we are so lucky to have family members + my parents who give us loans except for my parents off course, they never ask for their money back. I am thankful for my safety nets who are always there for me.

For the past weeks, while I struggle with my translation job, Ahmad took up the slack, alhamdulillah. Since I haven't been able to accept any other translation/proofreading/writing projects because of this big project, I couldn't provide my family with anything. But as I said before, ALLAH provided us with more work for Ahmad instead. He has began to get a lot more welding projects, which ironically started when I got this big project. This month alone, Ahmad completed 4 projects; awnings, 2 door grills and a parking-area-tent and he has 3 more projects lined up. 

So, technically, we have never been poor because ALLAH still provides us with just what we need. Sure, we may never set foot in Legoland, Nusajaya, Johor or see what the hoolaabaloo is at i-City, Shah Alam, but as long as my kids have food to eat, clothes to wear and all-day-cartoons to watch, I am thankful.

P/s: This is not my 'one word' end of the year post. Will do that soon, though.  

BM entry: air tangan Ibu?

Dah 2 3 hari memasak. Tetiba macam rajin walaupun hakikatnya aku banyak keja.. 81 mukasurat nak kena translate masuk English..target at least 5 pages per day tapi tau saja la kan..dengan anak2 ni, nak dapat 3 pages per day pun susah :(

Dah la tadi dapat call dr client, Big Boss dia review ada 1 file yg aku dah siap translate & email kat dia. Benda ni nak kena translate ikut lingo perundangan..cek mana ada background law, so ada la dia tegur word choices yang tak on par dgn lingo law. So now, aku punya momentum dah down sbb asyik doubt myself. Buat sikit then rasa mcm salah plak..baca balik ayat2 yg dah translate, click kanan tgk synonyms..then baca blk ayat..dok ulang2 benda yg sama..buang masa ja huhu..rasa cam nak ngadu kat sapa2 tp tatau sapa yg boleh di call :'( takkan aku nak ngadu benda ni kat mak baba plak..depa nak tolong pun tak bleh, lgpun aku keja kat rumah, takdak makna depa nak mai cni tolong jaga cucu while aku siapkan keja aku nih... *sigh*

Harap2 malam ni dapat balik momentum, due 20hb. & plan nak siapkan by 19th, insya Allah.

Eh, nak cerita pasai air tangan kan? hahah..terbabas plak. Ok, dah tak ble fokus kat keja, meh la nak cerita skit. Aku ni kan minimalist, dlm fridge paling kurang ada kicap & sos cili ja, condiments lain takdak. 2 3 hari ni masak cara minimalist la, goreng2 ikan bilis, ikan masin, sayur kicap, buat penkek utk anak2.

Dah tu, nak mai mana ayaq tangan nya? Cuba pikiaq, macam tadi, Ahmad suh masak ja, so dia pi kedai beli 1 tin sardin. Aku panaskan minyak then terus tuang sos tomato dlm tin tu, tuang plak 1 tin air dalam tu sbb nak kuah, pastu amik sos cili, tuang sikit bagi ada rasa pedas, then amik sejemput gula & sikit garam. Masa masak tu, sikit pun tangan aku tak kena sardin. So, nak mai mana air tangan? Kacau sardin tu pakai senduk, nak rasa pakai sudu..see what I mean?

Masa nak buat penkek pun, tuang bahan2 dalam cawan penyukat, blender sampai sebati, panaskan pan & tuang minyak skit, pastu tuang adunan penkek tu straight dr dalam blender (dasar pemalas kaaannn heh), balik2 penken dengan sudip..so, bila yang tangan aku nak kena penken tu?

ISh..tak jadi keja sungguh tetiba dok pikiaq pasal air tangan nih..hahahhahahahahaha

Want vs. Need

-edited-

What I want:

1- A new purse
2- New gold bracelets
3- A new electric water heater
4- A new oven/microwave oven
5- A mixer (since I'm into baking these days heh)

What we need:

1- Bed sheets (the 3 sets I have are already threadbare, bought 6 years ago, heh)
2- Towels (same reason as above)
3- Shahrin's school uniform, beg, stationery, shoes, etc.
4- New bicycles for the big boys (a promise that needs to be kept)
5- New clothes for the boys
6- A new car battery

This list might grow in the next few days but for now, this is already a lot of stuff. I might get new bracelets or a necklace as a gift to myself.