Yet another marathon post...coz i refuse to be a slave to my blog...

Hehe...long time no see...or izzit long time no write...whatever...I shouldn't be the poster girl for ungrammatical English...considering I am an Eglish teacher :)

Anyway, to answer your questions...yes, I'm still alive...haha...

Ok, first up is... a little Aidilfitri get together organized by An's colleagues...after some persuasion. I figured, hell, let's just go... so with the children in tow, we went and it was alright actually. It was a pretty small affair so it was cool.

We also celebrated a few birthdays.

First up, little baby Eryna turns 1! Yes, the little angel is growing up. Lyn and Harun threw a simple but fun party with a lot of games and prizes for all the guests. Cool indeed.

We also celebrated Syahmi's 4th birthday! My handsome hero was all smiles when he saw the presents, especially the remote control car we bought him. Kids!

Last but not least, hubby turned 35! Happy Birthday honey! Like previous years, we didn't really have a big celebration...just a few small, inexpensive gifts and good food. Actually, I had planned a really good dinner somewhere nice but he declined the offer and opted instead for his favorite beef noodle at modestly priced "Secret Recipe", stating it's not really the food but the company. Hehe. *Blush. *Blush.

Ok up next, some milestones...first, Fuddin and his tippy cup! We've finally weaned him off the dreaded milk bottle. He was a little hesitant at first but as we know, Fuddin and his milk will and shall not be parted.

Then there's my new lappie! Netbook la actually. It's free! Well, if you really think about it, it's not really free coz they've probably included the cost price of the netbook in my monthly internet connection bill but that's a different story.

It's nothing fancy but I like it. Now, I can surf anytime, anywhere! Woohoo!

And oh, here's the biggest milestone ... my little girl in her primary 1 school uniform.

Cute, right? However, after much introspection, I think the skirt is a bit too long. Hmm, probably have to go back and exchange it for a smaller (thus shorter?) one. One of my colleagues said she looks like she's wearing a long dress. Haha. Poor baby. And oh, the kiasu mother in me also decided to take photographs of all the food stall signs in the canteen. The thing is, Ayra is still a bit unsure about handling money so I'm actually going to "train" her. No one's gonna cheat my little girl (God knows she might end up "cheating" the stall holders instead!).

Talking about school, I managed to trail Fuddin on one of his thrice weekly school sessions. I mean, I managed to follow him up till the time he boards the bus as I happened to be on leave that day. Anyway, we had a case conference with his teacher yesterday. Seems like he's doing alright but of coz, there's still a lot more work to be done. My pledge? To put in more effort from now on! Anything for my baby boy!

Ayra also went with Ryan and his parents to the SAF open house and did some swimming with them as well. Ryan adores his "kakak" so Ayra's pretty lucky as she gets to tag along with them everytime they have a fun outing planned.

As for work, the end is in sight! I just have Dunearnite to survive and I am done! All my marking's done! I still have irritating little tasks to do but it'll get done....hehe...somehow. To be nostalgic, here's a pic of my BFFs... we're all going our seperate ways and we all promise to stay in touch but let's face it...we have our own lives and even meeting up for the occasional lunch can be difficult...so I'm just gonna say this girls... We had fun and we'll try our best to keep in touch... and we'll keep the good memories alive alright babes? All the best!

Good grief! It's taken me more than an hour to blog this entry. This is why I hate to write these long entries so I vow to be a good blogger and try and update as soon as something worth mentioning happens. I don't know how the students do it. They blog about the minutest details and will proceed to describe their whole bus journey to school or something to that effect. Maybe it's the age gap but I can't imagine myself doing that. I mean, I love writing and stuff but that's pretty impossible (and redundant). Maany a times I've thought of giving up this blog but then I think of my childrenand how they'll love to look back at this blog when they're older so that's why I'm still here.

Alright. I'm gonna go. Stay cool, calm and collected, people. If all else fails, eat lots of chocolate. It always helps. You get fat but it helps. Trust me...been there, done that.

AidilFitri 09

Okieee....my long awaited Hari Raya update! Managed to snap some good pics this year and yes, I am gonna print the good ones for my parents who never get to see them! Hehe. Blame technology!

Anyway, I wasn't too tired on the eve of Hari Raya. Mom had finished cooking all of her oh so mouth watering (and calorie-laden!) dishes and we only had the cleaning left to do. Sometimes I wonder why we bother cleaning the rooms because it's not as if guests enter our rooms to inspect them but then I use the occasion for an excuse to clean the whole house. Call it THE annual spring cleaning. Yup, (almost) no dusty corners are spared. This year, we didn't get anything new. We didn't even re-paint so our humble little home looks exactly as it did last year. Haha. Who cares? Anyway, here's the result. I forgot to take photos of the room but seriously, you ain't missing much, i.e nothing fantastic.

Why the lack of furniture? Coz my (not so little anymore) babies need SPACE! Space to run, roll and do what have you. We gave up on the coffee table when we had to scream everytime Fuddin got on it and started jumping.

Anyway, after waiting for hubby to come back from the mosque, we got ready to go to his mom's place. We managed to slip in some photo taking though. Yup, it was RED this year. Bright.



As usual, it was a cheery at my mom in laws. What was (pleasantly) different though was Fuddin. He was astonishingly well behaved. Usually, even before we reach his grandma's flat, he would start protesting and end up wailing, refusing to enter. This time though, he was so very co-operative. He entered without fuss and proceeded to sit on the couch like a good little boy. He would walk around once in a while when he got bored but he was exceptionally sociable, even allowing us to snap photos of him! I even managed to snap some photos of him smiling! Woohoo!




After that, we went home where my siblings had gathered. Hubby wasn't feeling too well so he had a quick nap while all of us did what we do best...EAT! Hehe. We then posed for some pics and did the asking for forgiveness thing. while I was pretty "steady" at my in laws, I turned to a bumbling mess when it came to my immediate family. Banyak dosa agaknya! Ya, but I'm glad I did it and I did it sincerely. I'm all pumped up now to be a better person and treat those closest to me with as much love and respect I can muster.




In school, the Muslim teachers had a repeat of last year's "perjumpaan" or in simpler terms "makan" session lah. Of course, our non muslims colleague were invited to sample the many goodies we pot lucked.



I also invited my very lively form class, 3 Amber, to my place for a makan and get together session. My dear mommy agreed to cook some noodles and chicken wings for them. Dear Aishah and Jasvinder even bought me a cake as they said it'll be weird to come empty handed. how thoughtful. So they came, ate, played with my kids and we even managed to slot in a round of Bingo! Haha. Trust them to come up with fun activities at any time and at any place. You rock 3 Amberians!



Finally, it's done. Hari Raya and this long entry. Actually, my Hari Raya celebrations is done. I'm not in a "Raya" mood anymore actually. Fuddin has also kindly destroyed all my kuihs by shaking the container they were in. The result? Mashed up kuihs! Ewwww! So a note to those reading this and intending to drop by my palce, sorry sayangs, no kuihs ah... hehe.

Alright, that's it. To all my fellow muslims, Salam Aidilfitri. Semoga bulan yang mulia ini membawa keinsafaan pada kita semua. InsyaAllah! (Steady ah, As!)

Goodbye Ramadan, Hello Syawal...

Finally found time to blog! Waiting for hubby to pick me up from school and then we're off to start our AidilFitri weekend! Woohoo. To be frank though, I'm not really looking forward to Hari Raya. Why? Coz it's a lot of work for me! Whine. Still, I try to get into the spirit of things so as not to spoil everyone's mood.

An has been quite helpful, lending me a helping hand whenever he can. My parents are totally immersed in their menu for Sunday. Ayra tried on her red "kebaya" for the second time yesterday, obviously excited about the coming celebrations. Fuddin is the coolest; he doesn't give a hoot! Haha.

Anyway, Ayra has been keeping herself pretty busy these past few weeks. She's into her playdough cake set and roller blading now. Ayra's like that. She would be totally into something (new) for about a week or so and then her enthusiasm starts to wane. I know that's not very good but I do recall that I was pretty much that way as well when I was her age.



As for Fuddin, he went back to school this week after the one week September break. As always, he seems to be enjoying school and we're gonna meet up with his teacher and therapists next month for his second case conference. In the meantime, I'm just happy to see Fuddin out and about and not just sulking at home. As usual, he's gonna have a lousy time during Hari Raya coz we drag him around and force him to enter unfamiliar houses (his paternal granny, maternal grand uncles and grand aunties). He'll wail and throw his tantrum but after a bit of coaxing, he usually warms up. My job is to have all the coaxing strategies at my fingertips. Here's my little trooper. Hope he'll be as jovial on Sunday and Monday.



Ok, gonna go off soon. Gotta clean! Urgh! Alright, Happy AidilFitri everyone! Eat all you want! You guys deserve it for voluntarily starving yourself. The Diet starts Tuesday...eh wait, going out for lunch with colleagues on tuesday... Wednesday. Hehe.

Are you an Oxymoron or Are You just a Moron? Hehe...

Angel died. The tortoise. Yeah, she died. Poor thing. Now Adam's alone. Ayra's not as sad as I expected her to be. Hmm, what's going on?

Anyway, the one week break came and went. Like lightning. Whooooosh! The house is still a mess. My bed frame broke. I am still behind in my marking. I still haven't lost any weight. I haven't transformed into the perfect mom, wife, daughter, teacher I envisioned myself to be. I'm going blind. The list goes on....but halt! Let's talk about the good things now. They are rare but there are few.

At least I had a week's break from teaching. I still have a roof over my head. Hubby fixed the bed frame and now it's stronger than before. I will finish my marking...eventually. I haven't gained any weight. I'm a better mom, wife, daughter, teacher now than I was before. I'm going blind; ain't blind yet.

Ahhhh...see how positive thinking works? Have you heard the crap about whether you see the glass half full or empty? It's crappy but there's some truth in it, don't you think?

I'm an oxymoron. Do you know wht'a an oxymoron? An oxymoron is an "oxy" who's a "moron". Hehe. No la. It's two conflicting ideas/ objects or something like that. An example would be "clearly misunderstood". Well, I think I'm an oxymoron. Don't ask me why. I'm too lazy to tell you now... but yeah, I'm an oxymoron. Are you?

Good God, this is turning out to be such a waste of time. Me updating when I'm in my weirdo mood. Ok, I'll come back and update when I'm feeling better but wait, that would mean I'll never update.

Yucks. Vomit.

Whateva.

Later.

I Survived!

Yeah, I've got tons of marking to do but I haven't blogged for so long so here I am. I'm listening to Pink's new song...the one with the chorus that goes "Please don't leave me..." It's really nice.

"Please don't leave me
I always say how I don't need you
but it's always gonna come right back to me"

Anyway, Fuddin came down with stomach flu two weeks ago. It was HORRIBLE!!!! I cannot lie. It was oh so horrid! His diarrhoea went on for a week and the whole house smelt of...pardon my language...SHIT! I know... ewww right...but being his mother, I steeled myself and cleaned him and the accident area up everytime he had a go and believe me, did he go! Hehe. He was throwing up a lot too so I alternated between cleaning poo and spew. Woohoo. He wasn't eating and drinking much at all and was really weak for a few days. I had to sleep in the living room with him for 2 nights coz Granny didn't want him "spilling" onto his mattress. To make it worse, Mom and Dad also came down with the same thing so for almost a week, I was living with people who didn't eat, went to the toilet frequently, threw up a lot and basically were very grumpy (can you blame them?). Bottomline is...I DON"T LIKE! I'm glad everyone is so much better now. It's so sad to see my loved ones so weak and I'm powerless to help them.

Now Fuddin is back in school and he's bouncing along well. He has also regained his appetite apparently. Haha. Yup. I don't know whether to be happy or sad for that. Dad is still pretty weak but better. My poor daddy spent his birthday being ill. He wasn't even in the mood to blow the candles on his cake. Whatever it is, I'm glad he's better but I'm not taking chances. Gonna make sure he has plenty of rest from now on. Mom's doing well. Did I tell you she cooked her famous and my favorite "lontong" the other day? It's been a year since I had it. I refuse to eat anyone's "lontong" except for mom's.

Muslims also welcomed the fasting (and holy) month of Ramadan. I've been pretty steady. Hehe. I mean, I can function normally although I'm fasting. I go about my daily ritual sometimes not even realising I'm fasting but some days, my throat is reeeeaaaallllyyyy DRY but I just ignore it and soldier on. Hubby says the best food/ drink I can ever eat/ drink are the ones I break fast with. I agree. I miss my hubby. I mean he's not away or anything but during Ramadan, our activities are curbed. We don't go on our "dates" in the evening, we don't really bring the kids out and all that. An says he's gonna make it up to me. He's gonna "wine and dine" me after Ramadan. I like. I love, love, love you Baby!

Celebrated Teacher's day. The concert in school was surprisingly good. I actually enjoyed it. You know, I will miss Dunearn. No doubt about there. Faults and all, it's been my second home for almost 10 years. I've grown so much since the day I first stepped in here. I've learned to be a better educator and hopefully, a better person. I've made friends here I will never forget.



I've taught wonderful young people who allowed me to say young through my interaction with them. Too many memories to recount but for all these, I thank you Dunearn. Haha. So lame but I mean it.

I gotta go. I need to make myself feel better and mark a bit.

Ciao.

Ready, Get set...Fast....

Fasting month starts tomorrow. A new beginning.

Just thought I'll post some backdated photos. Here's a really cute one...look at how intent he is on my laptop!


Here's some more pics of my little munchkin doing what he does best - just hanging around. Hehe.



And oh, here's 2 pics taken during the wedding of An's ex classmate at Bukit Merah ITE. Those others were all his classmates. They still keep in touch after so long; unlike me who needs a school reunion to catch up with friends from way back. It's not that I'm anti social. I guess it's too much effort. I don't know.



Last but not least, here's introducing the new additions to our humble family. Adam and Angel (no, the're not twins).



These two little terrapins belong to the one and only Nur Ayra. She's been pretty good with them, feeding them twice a day and changing their water (with a bit of help) everyday. I bought it for her after we read a children's encyclopedia with tortoises in it and we started talking and I ended up asking her if she wanted to get them as pets. Grandma was not pleased to say the least but Ayra's been good with them so she's learnt to accept Adam and Angel.

Hmm, what else? Oh yah!!! My dining table like totally gave way la. One of the metal screws like broke in two but the other parts of the table is still good so I brought my broken, little metal part to school where a helpful colleague helped me fix it. Bravo! I am H-A-P-P-Y! I don't have to buy a new dining table. Phew. With Aidilfitri in a month, I'm really not looking forward to anything breaking down or just collapsing/ dying on me.

I'm gonna go to Geylang. Waiting for Roshan. Gonna get the boys' Raya clothes. We really hate the crowd there during fasting month and the weather is usually uncooperative (way hot!) and when you're not allowed to drink even a drop of water, it's really not appealing. Forget "soaking" in the Raya spirit, I'd rather soak in a baththub (not that I have one by the way). You get my drift. Me and hubby have never been "joiners". I mean we're very Malay in our upbringing and stuff and we have total faith in God but we just can't bring ourselves to agree or follow some of the practices/ customs practised by our community. We don't criticize those who do. Hey, it's a free country.

Anyways, I'm gonna go off.

"I'm off to see the wizard. The wonderful Wizard of Oz." Now, that was random)

Tons of marking to do over the weekend and it all has to be done on an empty stomach. Hehe. I like!!! Hehe, welcome to my world.

PS: I love you honey. You rock my world An.