Mac Party Time

Ayra went to Chelsea's party on Sunday. Chelsea is the daughter of my sister's friend. Chelsea turned 6. Although Ayra didn't know anyone but
Chelsea there, she seemed alright. My sis said she was a little shy at first but warmed up a bit later. During our ritual "Nite talk", Ayra revealed that she had a good time. She even related how a conversation between her and a boy went. She found out he's into "Pokemon" and she told him she likes (who else?) Spiderman. Not bad, huh? She's not exactly a social butterfly but I think she'll do fine.

Fuddin Asleep!

Fuddin was down with the flu over the weekend. I had given him flu medication about an hour before this video was taken. Poor baby...he's really tired. So I changed him into his pjs and put him to bed...where he propmptly sat up and was wide-awake! The moral of the story? Don't change a sleepy baby?

So who says my son is grumpy?

This post is dedicated to all Fuddin fans out there. From what I gather, he's got quite a following. Fuddin has always been known for his less than friendly demeanour. Anyway, I managed to get some good shots of him smiling away. He looks pretty happy, doesn't he? Anyway, enjoy the pics. I'm not too sure when I am able to capture such moments again.

Me, myself & I

Another "me" entry. I'm on a roll, aren't I? Anyway, my sis in law sent me an email saying I should do this so I thought, heck, why not? I've censored out some of the questions though because many of my students go to this blog and I don't want to reveal too much. I've also added some information which I thought were interesting. I've kept the essence of it though... so here it it. This one is for you Lin.

Favourite Colour: I’m well known for wearing black because everyone knows black is supposed to slim you down (duh) but can’t really say it’s my favorite colour… Red, I suppose.

Favourite Food: lasagna, spaghetti, mum’s lontong, (good) Indian food…the list goes on.

Favourite Movie: Tough one. I liked the last movie I saw; “300”. It was riveting till the very end. There was also a movie I was when I was 15. “Dangerous Liasons”. It was a period movie about the lives of royalty back then. Incredibly enlightening. Then there’s “Great Expectations”. I love the book so it was a great pleasure to see it on screen. It didn’t hurt that the two leads, Ethan Hawke and Gywenth Paltrow, are good lookers indeed.

Favourite Sport: It was hockey when I was younger. I dare say I was a pretty good player. Now I only watch sports. I watch a lot of Motor GP mainly because An’s crazy about Valentino Rossi.

Favourite Day Of The Week: Friday nights. I go to bed smiling as I know I don’t have to work for the next two days! Favourite Ice Cream: Chocolate chip… with lots of chips and chocolate. Fattening like hell…

Favourite TV Shows: I don’t watch much tv… the kids monopolize it but when I do get to watch it, I like to watch interesting documentaries, lifestyle and reality programmes. I love “Fear Factor” probably because I know I don’t have the guts to be one of the contestants.

Favorite Book: Memoirs of a Geisha Current Mood: Unsettled…the exam period is coming up and that equates to tons of marking. Sigh…

Current Taste: In what?

Clothes: I have my office wear… I try to look professional when I go to work but I’m really sloppy and casual when I’m not at work.

Music: I’m an evergreen girl. I like the music I listened to when I was younger: Greenday, DepecheMode, Jewel, etc. I also like some younger singers like Avril Lavigne, Busted, Gwen Stefanie, etc.

Current Desktop: At home, a Hari Raya pic of me, An and my two babies. On my school laptop, just the kids.

Current Toenail Color: I’m not into painting my nails, too much of a hassle. In any case, An doesn’t approve.

Current Annoyance: That my house is dirt filled, dusty and messy.

Current Thoughts: The school holidays… I need a break.

First Best Friend: Tanty Yushida from Kay Siang Primary School. We had a lovely childhood together.

First Crush: This guy from primary 4. His name is Hazreno. Asrina & Hazreno. That is like SOOO lame. Heehee. Tanty’s boyfriend was Hisham. All we ever did was to compete to see who could finish their work first. Haha. so much for romance.

First Movie: Believe it or not, it was some malay “pontianak” movie I saw with my family when I was about 5.. No wonder I’m afraid to watch horror movies now. I was scarred for life. Or was it Jaws? Whatever it was, it was a scary movie.

First Lie: Oh wow, ask my mother. I’m sure I was quite a fibber when I was a child.

First Music: Can’t remember. What I remember was listening to a lot of Madonna, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Culture Club… all courtesy of my brother who was a music freak.

Last Drink: Ice Lemon Tea

Last Ride: With hubby; to work.

Last Phone Call: To hubby... who was at work last night.

Last CD Played: Don’t listen to CDs…althogh sometimes I do when I’m in the car. Listened to my MP3 on Saturday afternoon though and the last song was Avril Lavigne’s “I’m with you.”

Have you ever broken the law: Ya… but I won’t go into details… many impressionable young minds out there. It’s for me to know and everyone else to find out.

3 positive adjectives to describe myself: Creative, Independent, Affectionate

3 negative adjectives to describe myself: Obsessive, Stubborn, Procrastinator

My retirement plans:

1) To read all the books I want to read now but don’t have the time. Maybe I’ll write a book.
2) To have a small but well maintained (and clean) house with An… and have my two kids visit me once a week.
3) To be closer to God and to spend my last days with my family.

My motto in life: This life is the only one you’ll get… Live it.

dOLls

Ayra has never been a truly "girlie" kind of gal. I mean, she fancies pink clothes and thinks she's Cinderella at times but she's also a big fan of Spiderman and Red Ranger. I suppose it's a good mix.

Anyway, once in a while, she will take out her dolls and change their dresses. She doesn't talk to them (she only has intimate conversations with her stuffed Spidey); she just changes their dresses. It occupies her though and I do encourage it at times because I don't really fancy raising a total tomboy.

So here are her dollies, decked out in their best. As long as I don't have to dress her stuffed spidey, I'm fine with it.

My Workspace

I've decided to be a bit narcissistic and feature myself, or rather my workspace, on the blog today. I took a picture of my table at work (my friends' as well) to show to the world how hard I work (or how messy I am , take it whichever way you want). My table has always been quite neat as I have a knack of hiding everything strategically but I'm loosing touch. You be the judge.

Here's my colleagues' tables. Here's Nat's. Heehee. I won't be mean. Nat's a bit disorganized (understatement). Still, she manages to find her stuff (most of the time) so I guess it's an organized kind of mess.

Here's Caroline's. It looks quite good actually. It's only messy when she's having a bad day and she dumps everything on her table.

And here's the belle of the ball. Fiza is a NEAT FREAK! She has aromatheraphy and all! The table doesn't look that great because she was away for two days but when she's around, it looks really good (and freaky!)

Haha. That's it! My corner! I'm looking forward to the June holidays so that I can CLEAN! Till then, I have to be content with the current state of my table.

West Coast Park...Finally!

We finally made it to West Coast Park! Hurray! This time, Fuddin only attempted to eat sand once. Instead, he was quite happy walking on the sand but the sun was shining a bit too bright for his liking so he didn't really do much. Instead, he was walking hand in hand with his beloved Abah most of the time. As for Ayra, she did have some fun. She attempted to go up the maze (is that what you call it?) but chickened out so Abah did the honours. The kids (and us) were sweating lots after about half an hour so we decided it was time to go off. Maybe next time we'll go in the evening. It should be much cooler.

Ayra & Fuddin's Day Out

The title seems exciting, doesn'i it? In actual fact, it was just an ordinary Saturday. We didn't have any real plans. We are supposed to go to the zoo today but An has to work. He even has to miss his much loved Motor Gp which plays live on tv at 5pm.
Anyway, I digress. I decided to take snapshots of the kids yesterday to liven things up. Ayra was her chatty, noisy self and Fuddin was his usual "I don't want to enter any stores. Neither do I want to walk very far self" Heehee. Okay, I won't be mean. Here are the photographs.

First, we took some photos at home. Fuddin seemed uncomfortable with his T-shirt so I changed it. Then, while waiting for Abah to get the car, we took more photos. I couldn't get any photos while we were walking around Causeway Point as I was too busy running after Fuddin. I finally saw a kiddy ride and promptly put my two kids in it. Fuddin wanted to get out of it after 10 seconds though. We then went to Pizza Hut as Abah was super hungry. We tried out the thin crust pizza. It was good but service was slow and not very good. I suppose it was crowded. We then visited Nenek Chik at home. Qomar and Ayra wasted no time and started playing together, first throwing the ball and then progressing to playdough and some memory game. Cik Lin was kind enough to play with the kids while I was busy supervising Fuddin who found the furniture in the house ideal for climbing. We reached home at 9pm. By 10pm, the kids were asleep. Phew! Rest at last!

Playtime!

Little Siqqi came over for a visit last week. He's really quite cute and well behaved though his parents claim he can be quite a handful at times. Looking at that cute face of his, no one can guess though. The kids got down to "business", busying themselves with the blocks and even Fuddin, who's not usually into socialising, decided to sit down and play together with his sis and cousin.

L'Amour De Ma Vie

I haven't featured my little munchkins for quite a while now so here they are. Little Yusuf is there too...he's growing up well. Both mum and Steven celebrated their birthdays on 9th April. Sis bought a cake and guess who got to blow the candles out? No prizes for guessing. Haha...Ayra is always in the thick of things.
Anyway, Ayra is learning her phonics now. She can identify the beginning letters of almost any word I give her but that's about it. Sigh...I know I shoudn't pressure her but I am a bit worried she isn't able to read yet. I will persevere.
As for Fuddin, he's as active as ever. My parents claim he's getting more mischievous every day, screaming when he doesn't get his way. All he wants to do is climb up on the sofa and do his Superman impersonation. Scaaary!
We are planning a trip to the zoo next week. That should be interesting. Ayra is also looking forward to the long awaited release of Spiderman 3. She has already promised her stuffed Spidey that she will bring him along when she goes to watch the movie at the theatres.

Speech Day 2007

Yup, it's finally over! All those rehearsals finally paid off! The students were great and I actually enjoyed myself today. I won't say much. Enjoy the pics!

Count your Blessings...

Oh my...It's been such a hectic, draining, tiring week. To make it worse, it's only Thursday. I still have to run the concert on Saturday for Speech Day. To top it all off, my mid year exam papers are due, my sec 2 files are due for checking this term, my cheerleading team for Sports Day is in shambles...the list goes on.
Why am I whining? I'm not really sure myself. I suppose I just want to get things off my chest. I hardly see my family during weekdays and during weekends, I'm either sneaking off to the computer to do some work, desperately trying to mark a script or two or just too tired to enjoy the company of my loved ones.
Sometimes I wonder why I am still in this profession. It is a totally exhausting profession. Being a teacher drains you physically and mentally. You are expected to mould the future of the nation while your own life withers away. Sigh... such negativity.
It's not that I don't enjoy my work. There are times that I feel it is the best job I can ask for. I feel fulfilled and happy after a good lesson or when the students come up to me to thank me for teaching them well. I have great colleagues whom I can always count on and let's face it, the pay isn't too bad.
The point of all this? Nothing actually. I just need to stay positive, that's all. I used to think that "positive thinking" is a whole lot of crap but I've come to realize that it does help. I have to count my blessings and I do have many. My beautiful family, my great friends, my health, my good students, my working brain, my humour, my God...the list goes on.
So you see, there is a blessing to offset every bad thing that happens. There is a silver lining behind every dark cloud... or maybe all this rambling is a load of bullshit. Heehee.
Okay, I'm gonna stop. Work calls.
Ibu loves you, Ayra and Fuddin.

Cheryl turns 2!

Little Cheryl had her birthday party on Sunday. It was at Aloha Loyang. The chalet Nat rented was pretty cool. It was large, airy and the pool was just nearby. Ayra had a wonderful time splashing in the pool (Thanks Auntie Angie for the swimming costume). Cheryl was such a darling, running around to her heart's content. Anyway, Auntie Asrina wishes you a really happy birthday on Wednesday. You deserve it for being such a cheerful girl who brings such joy to those around you.

My Sleeping Beauty

Fuddin's been causing a lot of trouble with his less than constant sleeping habits. He will wake up in the middle of the night and refuse to go back to sleep till 6 am afterwhich, he will sleep till about 10am. To make a long story short, I have succumbed to waking him up once he has slept for an hour during his day time nap. He does seem unhappy with this arrangement but I really do not have much of a choice as I need to regulate his sleeping hours. I decided to snap a few pics of my grumpy baby while he was being prodded by me to wake up. He does seem unhappy, doesn't he? Haha... I do feel bad but to preserve the sanity of those around him, I have to be unkind.