pharmacystorejunkie

2007-11-20T09:08:00.000+08:00

TIME TO MULTIPLY

i'm moving to where it's more convenient.

http://shoogahigh.multiply.com/

do visit if i'm your cup of tea. :)

2007-11-11T21:14:00.000+08:00

THE GREAT RAYA SEASON

i'm done with all the raya visiting! mana-mana rumah yang tak terpegi tu, kira burnlah ye! there's always next year. :p

seriously, the exam season had put a real dampener on my celebrations this year. i was only done with all the marking, yada yada yada, well after the third week of raya. many relatives' houses went untouched (my own family came over to my place on the last raya weekend! says a lot about my free time hmph.) neymind, next year, when i'm NO longer in the service (yeah baby, tendering end of the month! merdeka!!) i plan to raya every single day of syawal. cover every single house. make ketupat from scratch. bake 20 types of kuih. fuyooooh semangat 2008!

i'm sure if you guys had seen fina's, hana's or esah's multiplies, you'd have found evidence of our jalan raya hebat - 10 houses in 2days1night! it was exhausting but deemed completely necessary. bila lagi nak catch up on lost time ooiii... :D tahun depan buat lagi ye.

managed to squeeze some time for my tkgals too.

and see this!

no more curls! i still can't get over their traumatic haircut (for everyone involved, including the hairdresser who cut her finger due to a struggling adam :S), nor the loss of their trademark locks. so sayang kan? the good thing about it is there's no more mistaking them for dainty little girls. now they are lanang through and through. next hair cut? in a year's time. this mummy wants those curls to come back!

2007-10-19T18:59:00.000+08:00

SELOKA RAYA

makan kuih pelan-pelan
kalau tercekik, ish buruk padahnya
selamat hari raya kami ucapkan
dari damdils serta keluarga

kawan baru, geng-geng lama
apa khabar mu nun di sana?
tak lama lagi kita bersua
jalan berconvoy, mesti fun punya!

salam lebaran dari kami sekeluarga, mohon maaf zahir dan batin. :)

2007-10-10T16:03:00.000+08:00

CUKURRAMBUT

today is THE day. the boys are going for their haircut!! first virgin trip to a proper kiddy barber - i'm hoping and praying the tools of distraction (ie the video screens and toys) will live up to their roles. i don't want the boys to throw an unwarranted fit in public or worse still, end up with a lopsided mangkok hairstyle that will only sit well with the orang ibans.

this mummy's sure going to miss those curls (*sniff*) but they MUST look like boys during raya visiting, otherwise my mouth is going to jam up with all the dorang-lanang-lah-bukan-wedok retorts for curious&confused relatives.

will update again with pics. wish us luck!

***

BEFORE PICT:

AFTER PICT:

no heb!!!

why? because they didn't cut their hair lah, kensel!

don't get me wrong. it's not another case of procrastination. we DID go down to a kiddy barber, and we DID queue. but *because* we queued, we had the chance to scrutinise the hairdresser's workmanship on the other kids. all i can say is, WAH PIANG, really cannot make it sia!! all of them ended up with some cinabukit hairstyle ~ tak stylo langsong! even the husband winced. to think that the poor kids looked better before the haircut.

before the boys fell victim to her highly specialised trim, we promptly packed them into their strollers and bid the nyonya goodbye, "we'll come another timelah, queue's too long..." to which she acknowledged our adieu with a smirk. it was either that white lie, or risk butchering her confidence by telling her she needs more training at redken.

it was already too late by then to be looking around for another barber, so i started to feel resigned about my boys spending their raya with girlish locks. gasaklah, susah sangat toncet aje. until we stepped into pumpkin/patch to get some raya togs for them.

while the husband and i were browsing through some plaid shirts at the boys' section, we were approached by a very concerned looking sales staff. "madam, this is the boys's section. the girls' section is at the other side." i nodded and blinked at her and said, "we know" and continued to pick out some nice red shirts for the boys. the sales staff stood her ground and broached the subject again, "madam, if you want girl clothes, they are over there." i could detect a hint of exasperation in her voice.

sigh. typical scenario.

when we told the nice salesperson that our twins are in fact bona fide males with nice hair, the look she gave us was priceless. macam tertelan katak. LOL!

that was when i decided, by hook or by crook, tu dua budak punya rambut mesti kena tebas jugak. by tomorrow. which is insanely impossible given my workload at the office.

maybe i should just cut their hair myself. rambut mangkok pon, rambut mangkoklahhhh...

2007-10-05T08:50:00.000+08:00

EMANCIPATION

i'm feeling extremely, positively HAPPEEEEEE.

had a talk with the husband in the morning and we figured out a way that allows me to be a stay-at-home mum in 2008. well, at least for a couple of months. *beams*

sacrifices are definitely in order but it's totally workable, baby! and i no longer have to be in a mad rush to snag myself that elusive deskjob by jan next year.

all that and maybe we'll have more in our savings account too. alhamdulillah.

is it time to launch my foodcubesforlilbubs? i think now i can. :D

so working mums out there, wait for more news from me ok!

2007-10-01T17:33:00.000+08:00

MAKANSUTRA

my boys' typical menu for the day:

upon waking:
120 ml of milk

breakfast:
1 slice of bread each
1 egg (scrambled)
mashed baked beans
1 petit miam yogurt each

pre afternoon nap feed:
120 ml milk

lunch:
beef porridge with vegetables
chocolate pudding

tea:
1 banana each

pre evening nap feed:
120 ml milk

dinner:
chicken bolognaise pasta with vegetables
homemade strawberry custard

bedtime feed:
120-210 ml milk

as you can see, they don't drink that much milk for their age. they only guzzle a higher amount during the last feed. it is more like a thirst quencher for them, rather than something to fill them up (they prefer real food any time). and lately, adil is showing signs that he is outgrowing his enfagrow. i'm really thinking of switching to friso gold. it's received pretty good reviews in online forums. maybe i should request for a free sample!

you see, as paranoid as i am about providing a balanced, nutritious diet for them, i also worry about overfeeding! cos the boys loooooovvvveee their food, and they won't stop opening their mouths as long as i'm feeding! so far, their bowel movements are ok, they do it 2 times a day on average. stools are good too. but for the amount that they are eating, they sure are not putting on much (where is the ketak??)! i'm wondering whether they've inherited my high metabolic rate (makan apa pon cekeding aje) or that they're simply too active at this stage. or lack of milk?? entahlah.

i will always insist on homecooked food. usually i'll prepare in batches, enough to last for 2 weeks at a time (remember my baby food business that's dormant for now?). but if i'm having a crazy week at work, then my mum will have to do the deed. it's difficult enough to care for twins while tending to the needs of my dad, my bro and 2 sisters, so i really feel guilty whenever i've to pass the buck to her. buat porridge from scratch is quite leceh, you know? furthermore, i - the anal retentive one - will always have *specific* requirements that my mum has to adhere to (like including one green veg, one yellow/orange veg, carbo (potatoes or sweet potatoes) and meat in every meal). she always complains, "kecik-kecik dulu kau dah cerewet, sampai dah ada anak pon masih cerewet!" heh. but it's paying off mah, the kiddos enjoy their vegetables! and they are not picky with food either (that's why i have to be on high alert around people who like to sental them macam-macam). i really do appreciate my mum's co-operation on the matter, instead of questioning me all the time (and telling me her method is better!). she even helps in reminding relatives not to feed them junk, hurray!

what is your baby menu like?

2007-09-25T13:18:00.000+08:00

PREP-ARATION

there has to be a change of strategy this raya. size before colour.

this mummy is so petite that getting baju kurungs in her size is a perennial problem. ok lah, i have to admit ever since i gave birth, it's no more XS for me haha! now i fit S very nicely (thanks to expanded tummy and waistline), so getting a baju kurung is not as troublesome as before. even so, i have to find the right kind of cutting ~ some S sizes are a tad too gedoboh.

so... find the correct size i have (during a quickie trip to yokoso on a weekday), and i ended up with 3 (very nice) pairs! takyah nak alter lagi, except maybe i have to lipat the kain a bit. brown, beige and green, quite an earthy mix. it's now up to the hubby to choose the colour he wants for the first day before we make that 2nd trip to geylang to get baju melayu for him and the boys.

i'll be adopting this painless process for the rest of my rayas. sure makes life a lot easier.

the husband is at home now, painting the house! virgin attempt hokayyy, berkobar-kobar member! oklah so it's not the whole house, just the olive green wall in our living room. after 2 years of clashing with the brown sofa, it's time for it to go. he was dying to paint the living room crimson red, but i told him to postpone the crazy idea at least till we get the sofa sorted out to black or something. we'll spend raya 2007 in a neutral-looking house, takpe. save the dramatics for 2008.

the house is so berkerak i cannot take it already. with no maid and no time on my hands to execute proper housework (coupled with a false sense of "i can do everything on my own cos i'm a damn superwoman"), the house is in desperate need of the china amahs on wheels! i.need.people.to.scrub.the.daki.away. *cringe cringe*

ok i want to go home now. tolong laki cat rumah, if he's nice. :p

2007-09-18T09:16:00.000+08:00

VELCRO BABIES

that's what my twins are turning into.

whenever the husband and i come over my parents' after work, the twins will be stuck to our hips until they go to sleep. every time we leave the playpen to go to the toilet/kitchen, a big drama will usually ensue. lungs at maximum capacity, tears at maximum velocity! if they stayed quiet at the sight of us leaving for punggol back when they were younger, now they tug and claw at the gate, and scream for the whole block to hear! like my mum said, "takot kena tinggal lagi."

kena tinggal. that's my kids' daily routine.

i don't blame them for acting out. as it is, they spend so little time with the both of us. by the time we reach my parents' from work, it is close to maghrib. we'll play/feed/bathe/read/put them to sleep before leaving for home at midnight (sometimes even later if we have work to do on the pc). kadang-kadang tu both of us penat sangat sampai tertido dalam playpen (lepas tu bangun terkejut pukul 5 pagi, kelam-kabut balik rumah, terus siap pegi kerja). it's like that every day. it's a pretty vicious cycle. the kids only enjoy the luxury of sleeping at home on fridays and saturdays cos by sunday noon, they'd have to be shipped back to their grandparents' house. why? cos of my damn marking and lesson planning.

if you really look at it, saturday is the only full day i get to spend with the kiddies. and sometimes there are too many places to go, too many relatives to please that it's not possible to accommodate everybody. turning down invites is a norm when our schedule gets a bit too tight. sometimes when we don't turn up for some makcik's jemputan or party pyrex for that matter, all forsaken for some quality family time, we are deemed unreasonable (not that i care, really). i'd rather watch reruns of the backyardigans with the damdils or show them a porridge-making demo in the kitchen.

i don't blame them for becoming velcro babies (although it can get a tad tiring when you're at a social gathering); i think they're simply deprived of their parents' presence. the sept school holiday was sooooo great for me cos i got to have them at home for close to a week!! a normal experience for other mums but a precious-nak-mampos time for me. tak payah nak pergi exotic overseas destination sumer, duduk kat rumah 24 jam dengan anak sendiri dah cukup bagos, haha!

and that's why i want this year to whiz past quickly. i want my kids back at home. safe under my ketiak. they're growing up too fast and i wouldn't want any more regrets.

on another note, the velcro babies are in serious need of a haircut.

dah jadi girls.

2007-09-11T12:39:00.000+08:00

ENOUGH

9 months into the job and i've had enough. it was really a big mistake on my part to return to the scene of the crime. BIG, stupendous mistake.

if not for the fact that i'm helping out the family financially, i would have bid my adieu months ago. now, job or no job, i'm leaving at year end. not only do i have to endure the role of a weekend mum, the thankless ingrates i face day after day really kill every ounce of motivation that i have to teach. this current breed is really something else. what kind of children would purposely defecate in plastic bags and throw them into classrooms for the hell of it? what kind of human beings would intentionally smear their own faeces on toilet seats just to make the school cleaners work overtime? what kind of students would unapologetically turn down a teacher's plea for help with her heavy equipment? what kind of 13-year-olds would push and shove female teachers around when told to keep quiet (and then threaten them with a penknife)?

all that bad press on educators in our daily papers? one-sided baloney. i think MORE harm is being done to teachers than students, it's just that the very idea of immoral, ruthless teachers sell better press! and the thing is, our hands are tied most of the time, whatever disciplinary problems we face will be taken care of by the "higher powers" who more often than not, will pander to the parents' demands and complaints (stakeholders mahhhh) so the kids usually end up scot-free.

well, i'm disillusioned for the 2nd time. lost my faith in the system totally. if previously i told myself to never say never , this time i can confidently say, NEVER EVER AGAIN. sumpah. i rather drink rat urine.

i say it's time i devote my time to my own kids, so that they don't grow up to be thankless ingrates yang macam takde mak bapak. especially after what happened in one of my classes today. enough lah. no teachers on the face of earth deserve students like that.

2007-07-05T18:00:00.000+08:00

PLAYTIME

just some pictures of the boys that i love, taken at 10 months old.

2007-07-02T23:18:00.000+08:00

XTINA

if this someone's really pregnant, she sure heck didn't behave like it. what a vocal powerhouse, what a cili padi! i had *goosepimples* just listening to her. too bad, she didn't appease the crowd with an encore at the end. i would looveee another rendition of candy man (heh, mentel song, that one). then again, if she's really pregnant, she would be utterly pooped. and i don't blame her one bit (even though i continued chanting "christina, christina!" way after the stadium lights were turned on and people were emptying their seats - like they were on fire - to avoid the horrible Post-Concert Kallang Jam). nope, not a bit.

but i can tell you who's not pooped.

kita!!

we grew listless towards the end cos people around us were just too... still. so we made way to the side aisle and moved to the music, the way concerts are meant to be! if only we had our moulin rouge costumes on to match the cabaret-laced performance, haha!

mana anak? :p

celeb mesia

sempat amik gambar dengan ning. heard my jodoh-tak-sampai anuar zain pon ada. alahhhhh tak jumpa pon!

next up, gwen stefani. aiyah itu pompuan banyak stylo. maybe i should make my own houndstooth ensemble, dye my hair peroxide blonde. and draw six pecs on my rockmelon-from-china tummy with my marker pen.

(ps// thanks esah-lipstick-merah for the pics!)

..........

my boy is finally walking!

that's right, BOY. not BOYS, cos one is still doing his ketam crawl.

as usual, adam lives up to his name (adam = leader, mah). he surprised me with his first steps on the day he turned 12 months. :)

now he's all over the house with his kuda mabok stagger. LOL.

i don't have to worry about adil. he'll follow suit in a week or two.

maybe someone can teach me the art of running in 2 opposite directions. cos once adilbagedil walks, i'll need it BIG TIME.

2007-06-16T17:01:00.000+08:00

ANDA MAU ROCK?

despite the initial self-restraint, i eventually had to relent and give in to the twins' first birthday gig! :p nothing fancy-schmancy really, just a little get-together with close friends and relatives (it was actually more for us adults than the lil tots, heheh). a chance for us to makan, lepak and catch up on one another's lives. strictly NO games, boogie-ing to barney songs or bouncing in air castles! run a full-fledged party AND after 2 active boys? not possible beb! (well, unless you're terribly high on designer pharmaceuticals.) we're reserving the more complicated logistics for their Terrible Twos Party. wish us luck on that one.

*however* what made the otherwise run-of-the-mill, makbapak-get-together-to-lantak-on-pretext-of-the-children affair more fun was the dressing up on the part of the kids! (save for one adult guest, who gamely came as a rockstar in her own right. wa caya sama lu beb, lu rawk ah!)

presenting:

rock neber dies!

wait till you turn 2, damdils. mummy might just dress you up as elvis.

2007-05-15T11:21:00.000+08:00

BIG BOYS

happy 1st birthday, sayang!

mum-meh loves you both very much. you'll grow up to be good sons, Insya Allah.

we have some celebration to do later, don't we? (nevermind mummy's pending exam load. and nevermind that you can't eat cake yet.)

if you think mummy's rendition of your first birthday song sounded good on the phone just now, wait till you hear it live at omah's place later! mummy's waaaaaaaay better than your peberet uncle barney! :p

happy birthday to you
you are both stuck like glue
even though you have no clue
happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuu!

2007-05-08T15:31:00.000+08:00

PARTY POOPERS

my damdils are turning one in seven days.

and we haven't planned anything!

very lazy and unmotivated parents we are, no?

actually we are not very keen on having a party. not a major one anyway.

cos we think the two dudes cannot appreciate a full blown out party yet. dorang belom tau jalan pon! and they are actually only eleven months old on their birthday... tak cukup umur, tsk!

the hubs and i think it would be better for us to reserve the big she-bang for their 2nd birthday. the twins would be better 'equipped' to handle the demands of the party! ceh, demands seh... i think they would remember the event better, plus we parents get ample time to save up, LOL!

maybe a nice dinner with both sets of grandparents would suffice. since the twins now have two teeth each (like FINALLY), i'm sure there is *something* on the menu that they can gnaw on. :B

the question is, which halal restaurant? it's like we've run out of options! hmm must think harder on this one... (note to self: must be gentle on the pockets too. :p)

perhaps a mini (and i mean, mini) celebration during the june hols wouldn't hurt. it will give a chance for the 77clanaunties to pin clips in the twins' hair (which i've tried by the way, and yes, they look like girls!! tak boleh angkat!)

ok better start recceing for that elusive, baby-cum-pocket-friendly restaurant. craving for japanese food actually (eh ni party untuk anaknye ke maknye?) but alas the pils don't really take well to the idea of sushis, chawanmushis and udons! macam mana nehhh...

2007-05-02T14:59:00.000+08:00

ANGRYHORNYMOB

in class today, a chair flew over my head and landed in front on the classroom, missing a girl's head and my (flabbergasted) face by a few inches.

in class today, 2 boys got into a murderous fist-fight over a bag that had fallen to the floor. too bad nobody had broken bones.

in class today, a boy boasted to his classmates about his close "brush" with an unsuspecting girl's bosom at some playground. not a hint of shame or remorse, only a morbidly misplaced sense of pride.

in class today, a male student asked me, "cher, can i borrow your body?" i don't even know where to begin with that one.

in class today, a student told me, "cher, do you know most of the kids our age are not v/i/r/g/i/n/s anymore?" yes, i know, but it's a painful thought to bear. you people are 13/14 for goodness' sake! kencing baru nak straight, you know??

in class today, 3 curious buggers asked me, "cher, your husband's s/p/e/r/m must be strong ah! so strong can break your egg into two, give you twins! tell us lah what he eats, we also want our tadpoles to be superman!"

sigh.

i fear for my damdils. i really do. i pray they'll grow up to be sensible, decent children who are able to distinguish between right and wrong, and who THINK before they speak (and they better not have any anger management issues!). i hope they grow up respecting others (and themselves), and don't behave in any way that deserves one big pelangkong from me in the future.

the future generation is one big scary mob. it's sad when you can't help other people's kids, even sadder when it's your *own* kids you can't mould.

tomorrow is yet another day for the angryhornymob and i. what other (mis)adventures, i can only imagine.

2007-04-15T15:39:00.000+08:00

BACK, BABY BACK

hello! have you missed us damdils?

lately our lives have been all about babes. babe aunties, babe kakaks, babe adiks... we say, bring it on! we can always do with that extra lovin'. :D

the day that we visited lil sharleez with mummy and aunty hana, not only did we get to drool over the lil cutie, we even got to ogle (is that how you spell it, mummy?) at 2 very tall and beautiful aunties! we were smittened speechless (and mummy knows that's very rare). all we could do was stare at those pretty faces. wait till we grow up, man.

*click on pict*

then came ili and iva's double birthday celebration at aunty shireen's. by golly, it was babe heaven! this time, only one of us got to enjoy all the attention cos the other was busy snoring (guess who?).

*click on pict*

the day when mummy's friends came over to pay us a visit, we got excited at the prospect of more babes lavishing us with undivided attention. her royalty tengku tisha was there too, and all we can say is, "notty, notty!" :p

*click on pict*

but the most special day had to be when we bumped into another pair of identical twins at a relative's house. even they couldn't resist us one bit. heh.

alright. enough about babes. *chuckle*

we made our way to the zoo again (yes for the 2nd time this year!), only because ayah was not able to join us the previous time. mbah and bibik dilah tagged along too, and we must say that it was *still* enjoyable despite seeing some animals twice.

*click on pict*

mummy says we're lucky to have each other because we can never go lonely since we do almost everything together! we *do* fight sometimes (hairpulling and sitting on each other mostly), but more often than not, we're partners in crime, ready to infuriate mummy with more of our double trouble antics. right, mummy?

we learnt to stand and cruise together.

we read bedtime stories together.

when mummy needs to do something important like take a bath, she'll put us in one cot. that's the time to indulge in self-amusement. together.

can you spot who's the jock and who's the bookworm?

right now one of us is cutting his first tooth (that's me, adam) and the other is recovering from his 2nd bout of fits (who else but adil, who is still bogey by the way). so wish us both LOTS OF LUCK cos this journey to toddlerhood is anything but smooth!

till the next update, lots of love, the damdils.

2007-03-27T12:34:00.000+08:00

ATTENTION SHA!!!

can the darling sha who provided me with the republic/poly job lobang please please please give me your email add? i have many questions to ask you regarding the academic associate position. danke!!

i'm sending the twins for the first ever haircut today. their wispy straight baby hair has grown so much - it's now a mod-looking mop with tiny curls to boot! actually, i don't have the heart to snip off all that lovely hair - so cute lah, macam britpop - but it's beginning to irritate their ears a lot and they can't seem to stop scratching, not even when their ears bleed. sigh. so off to the (kiddy) barber we go!

"watch out for the next entry, ok! both of us have interesting stories to tell! sorry about that black blob in the background, we just *had* to censor ayah in his sexy boxers. mummy said those are for her eyes only. tsk."

2007-03-06T13:18:00.000+08:00

SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND

i think i've made a mistake.

3rd month into the job and i'm slowly evolving into a weekend parent.

the reality is, there is so much work to settle that the 12 hours i clock in school daily are still not sufficient to get things done. in the mean time, the work continues to snowball. when that happens, i'll need to use up my valuable evenings to settle all the necessary marking and lesson preparation (plus reports, reports and more admin crap).

my boys??

forced to sleep over at my parents' place. just so that i can do work.

what i had strived so hard to avoid all this while is HAPPENING. me, the weekend parent. slowly, but surely.

this cannot go on, and will NOT go on. i have to do do something quick before i lose the bond that i've formed with my boys during my 'hey'days.

don't tell me to get a maid ok. that's not an option for me. correction; i don't want that as an option for the family as yet.

get a new job?

maybe. most probably.

anyone out there got lobang? i'm keen on staying put in the civil service if possible (somewhere pro-family!)

my sons need their mummy back.

2007-02-21T17:42:00.000+08:00

NINE

sometimes i look at my sons' photos and wonder in amazement how Allah has blessed me with their existence. masya Allah, how these little persons can tranform your life!

the damdils at 13 weeks, doing the 69 :p

fresh from mummy's oven!

presently at 9 months, doing "the maknenek"

i wish have all the time in the world to document their antics and latest tricks here, but sadly life and work get in the way and whatever time i have left is spent getting some shuteye! there is a gazillion things to talk about; how adil got hospitalised for fits (and how i nearly had a heart attack witnessing my child jerking and frothing at the mouth with his eyes rolled backwards), how different they are as individuals (one has a penchant for books while the other is obsessed with the computer), how they are slowly taking after their ayah's features (but still have their mummy's big eyes!), how they still manage to stay toothless at 9 months, how they enjoy their meat and vegetables, how they respond to their own names!

i also long to lament about my dateless life with my husband, my slowly disappearing teletubby tummy (it's finally happening lah, and without help from A/m/o/r/e too!), my dying milk supply (really nazak already), how i spent the long cny weekend with the family, how i'm actually entertaining the thought of having another set of twins! siao, i know.

but cannot lah, no time! must TRYYYYY to do some updates this weekend. maybe take more family photos. been rather slack in that area lately. the boys have also changed in their appearance i think... the "baby" look is no longer there. now they both look so abang-abang, you know! dah besar anak omak!

2007-01-29T19:50:00.000+08:00

IT AIN'T EASY

sometimes i catch the boys laughing over each other's antics. don't ask me what's so funny, even the mummy doesn't know! but when they do laugh, it's so infectious, tak tahan!

some of you asked for more of the damdils' photos. i've put up their zoo photos here, enjoy!

i think i won't have time to blog as often as i like now that i've started working (not that i've been regular in my updates to start with). but this job is starting to strike some old nerves in me. i'm beginning to be reminded of why i left the service the last time! the kids are REALLY testing me. somehow, i feel that teachers of my size and gender have to work doubly hard at maintaining discipline. it's that stupid sizism factor at play again, this time throw in the sexism factor and you get disrespect at its best. this is a real problem faced by many teachers, but as usual, swept under the carpet for the problem to fester. a teacher like me can impose the SAME bloody rules as those of a strapping male teacher, but who do you think will get better results? definitely not me.

maybe i need more time to adjust to this school. i hope i won't come to regret my decision to rejoin the service. i hope i won't go crazy with all the emotional rollercoaster that i have to face on a daily basis.

nasib baik ada damdils. sejuk sikit hati bila balik rumah. :)

2007-01-18T18:55:00.000+08:00

MRS NICE. NOT.

CAK!

how was my first day eh?

tiring!!

i think i'll need some time to readjust to cheacher mode. all that voice projection has made my throat sore... i'm now coughing like a dog. my betis pon macam dah ada muskel sikit pasal panjat tangga 4 tingkat 20 times in a day.

the kids call me mrs n/a/z. don't want to confuse them with another teacher with a similar name. yesterday, someone called me mrs nice! haha! i'm nice eh... just you wait. :p

most of the staff at the school thought i was fresh from a levels and only there to do relief. ok i know i look young, but not THAT young. can seriously pass off as 18 meh?? my big 3-0 coming hokay! a friend told me, "enjoy the illusion of youth!" mmm... ok lor. when i told people i'm NOT 18, they asked me whether i'm married, but got a shock all the same when i said yes (with 2 kids to boot!). one staff commented, with all the exasperation she could muster, "but why SO YOUNG???" this coming from someone 3 years my junior. she must think i'm some kind of anak met who had nothing better to do but get married young and procreate for recreational purposes. i just gave her a curt i'm not as young as you think and left it at that.

sizism, ageism. they shadow me like nobody's business.

i think it'll be a crazy balancing act for me from now on, but i say, bring it on! all the the better i can lose all the babat-babat tersimpan.

...

adam has learnt to sit on his own. and of course i had to miss it! the bane of working life. god knows what else i will miss. :(

...

and you. what can i say? i don't care what you do now. just don't involve me anymore. from this point on, you're on your own.

...

have i mentioned lately that i love my boys to death?
well i do. they're my reason for living.

2007-01-11T15:48:00.000+08:00

SILVER LINING

just when i thought i can kickstart my baby food business since i'm *very* free currently (jobless lah tu, heh), i received that call.

kena start kerja next monday awak!

my head is spinning. so fast??? tak kasi ample warning langsung!

i have literally the weekend to metamorphose from a mouldy mummy to a full-fledged moulder of the nation!

eh syllabus semua dah lupa hokay! macam mana ni?? ada time ke nak revise my stuff? nak prepare pencilbox baru lagi, haha! i swear, this mr m/o/e buat aku macam lipas kudung hokay!

tomorrow i have to report to the management... to find out my share of the workload. which school? seclet can? suffice to say it's a govt sec school, very much a neighbourhood one. but it's still considered a new kid on the block, so you can call it a work-in-progress. just like my budding baby food business. which i still intend to pursue, for your information. looks like the official launch of my foodcubes biz has to be pushed back, till i'm more or less settled in my new capacity as a cheacher.

a cheacher seh. dah lama tak pakai itu title.

madam r/i/n/i? mrs n/a/z? mana satu eh? when i left last time, i was still a 'miss'. apparently that gave many prepubescent boys the lesen to menggatal with me. haha. now that i'm a mak budak with a tellytubby tummy, i'm sure they will think twice before nak kenyit-kenyit mata ni sumer.

malam ni the hubster will be back from ostolia. satu bulan tak jumpa, sampai lupa rambut dia kerinting macam mana!! i can finally go back to my place, sleep on my bed! no more nomadic lifestyle at my parents'...

no more nomadic lifestyle period. the hubster will be staying put by my side from now on. no more overseas trips! *widewide smile*

this 2007 will be full of changes for us as a famliy. our rezeki has been good, Allah has been kind! rezeki budak-budak agaknya. alhamdulillah.

ok, nak balik punggol, masak, pakai cantik-cantik and tunggu the laki depan pintu. there are lots of catching up to do. heheeeeeeeeeee.

budak-budak, ayah nak balik! go practise that mudskipper crawl of yours and show off to him later ok!

2007-01-08T12:32:00.000+08:00

PREVIEW

the response has been very encouraging. hence, i present you...

a preview of things to come.

http://foodcubesforlilbubs.blogspot.com

things are still in progress, so do not order yet ok!

check out this space of mine soon for the official launch.

:D

2007-01-04T02:52:00.000+08:00

BABY MEANS BUSINESS

it's about time Inspiration strikes me. i'm going to turn something i LOVE doing into a business opportunity! (heck, why didn't i think of this before?)

i love cooking for my boys. i do it every weekend, egged by my desire to provide them with healthy, no sugar, no salt, preservatives-free, homemade baby food. i prepare the food in batches (fruit/vegetable/meat purees ~ enough to last the boys a week), and freeze them in ice cube trays. once frozen, they're knocked out and kept in ziplock bags, labelled and dated. when it's feeding time, i just mix and match the different flavours of food cubes and heat them up before feeding the twins. stir in some ground brown rice, and voila, you have a balanced meal for your growing bub/s! it's really effortless, money-saving and fuss-free! i don't have to slave over the stove every day, plus i *know* what goes into my children's food. these frozen baby food last for 6 weeks in your freezer, and they taste SO much better than commercial jar food (those, i save for emergency outings). commercially prepared baby food is cooked in high temperatures to ensure a longer shelf life (up to 2 years!) and this removes much of the taste and results in a bland and watery paste. not to mention, sometimes preservatives and fillers are added (yikes - no good for baby and definitely not your money's worth). with homemade baby food, the kids eat healthier, and i get to experiment with different tastes and textures (kids exposed to different tastes early in life tend to be less fussy about food later)... it makes the twins' mealtimes something i look forward to very much. cos they just lurveeee their food, thank goodness. :)

pureed food goes into ice cube trays

frozen food cubes ~ just reheat when needed

single pureed food, for e.g. carrots, for early stage of weaning

a more exciting mix of vegetables, fruit and meat to tantalise the lil one's tastebuds... for 7 months onwards.

*images taken from annabelkarmel.com ~ my baby food guru!

soooooo.

there are definitely mommies out there who do not have the:

(a) time,
(b) energy, and/or
(c) knowledge

to prepare their baby's food, especially if they are just starting out with the weaning process (hey, i was a blur sotong once too). working/busy moms who want wholesome, homemade baby food for their kids but do not possess the above, LET ME DO IT FOR YOU!!!

you order in advance the frozen baby food of your choice (from my list of the Tried and Tested - Akan Datang on this blog) and self-collect over the weekend. order just enough for a week or two, so that when you order again, you can be guaranteed a fresh batch of baby food. cos the food is made only when your order is received.

how, sounds good?

let me know what you think. kindly leave your comments in my haloscan or drop me an email. if response is good, i'll get started on my babyfoodsite!

omg, so exciting lah! :D

2006-12-27T23:30:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BOYS AND GIRLS

it's 11 pm (way past their 9 o'clock bedtime), the lights are out, but my bananas in pyjamas are still AWAKE. AND HAPPY. si bibik dilsbedils pulak melayan! oi, bila nak game ni?!

on another note, happy 3rd anniversary, seventysevenclan!

click!

3 weddings and 4 babies later, we're still going on strong. from cyberspace to a real friendship, it's only a matter of time before we berbesan with one another! like this must produce girls for a change hor? (esah, remember, NOT on ovulation day! :p)

some people take us too seriously. lighten up daa dey. kita harmlesslah. no intentions to take over the (cyber)world or anything. we're just shiny, happy people holding hands. shiny err... from overactive sebaceous glands (yes, at this age).

ok girls, next year, the big 3-0. are you ready? i'm not.

masih nak feeling 18, can?

2006-12-23T01:36:00.000+08:00

TRIPLE As

so the two (desperate) housewives met up over pizza and some mindless shopping - for our little bubs, what else. it was high time i met lil adriana in person too, for the last time i saw her mummy elektrik was when she visited the damdils while i was still in confinement... when lil A was still snug in the womb!

with our triple As

it was my first time ever venturing out on my own without the hubster or my mum. terkial-kial jugak seh. but dilsbedils proved to be a very reliable bibik, and so the day went by with minimal glitches. the real struggle only came when it was time to lug 2 prams into a cab or out of one. with no extra hands, 2 *very* wriggly and heavy babies, and one heck of a lazy apek driver (kenapa dorang malas pon tak tau, buta agaknya), boarding or alighting from a cab can be a very painful process. sigh. but i came out of it unscathed! heh, this mummy dah terrar sikit. boleh buat lagi ah, asalkan ada willing assistant. :D

hot(sling) adriana flanked by cheeky adil and sleepy adam. mummy dia dah 'chope'kan adam untuk dia daaa.

mummy elektrik with a very vocal adriana :)

now all the two sahms need to do is wait for that letter. one mummy wants to re-mould the mouldy nation, while the other can't wait to fly the blue skies again.

lucky thang, elektrik you. *this* mummy can forget about fitting into a tight kebaya anytime soon. perut dahlah macam teletubbies. triple sigh.

2006-12-20T14:52:00.000+08:00

ROUGEY BOYS

if you look at this picture, you can't really tell my boys' personalities apart.

but this one, maybe you'll have a hint.

adam the emotional, pensive, snag material. adil the downright JOKER. selamba selalu.

lately, they've learnt how to terrorise each other. stress mummy dia.

but at the end of the day, one never forgets to sayang-sayang one's best fwen.

i think they miss their ayah. since the ayah left, they haven't been able to sleep peacefully through the night. cranky cranky cranky. takde ayah nak dodoikan back to lala land ape. show them the ayah's pict on the pc, and they'll terkinja-kinja macam kera kena *sambal* belacan.

haiya, jangan cakap dorang, mummy dia LAGI miss. :/

2006-12-16T17:42:00.000+08:00

THE WORK PUMPS ARE CALLING

the damdils turned 7 months yesterday. the same day the hubster left for his offshore trip (hopefully his last). he's making that much-needed a career change - much needed by me actually - so that he can stay put in this country for good. so that he'll be around ALWAYS. so that i won't be left behind to fend for the little babies on my own like a featherless and headless chicken. so that i have someone to sleep with EVERY night. but his new job only starts in march next year, meaning i would have to tolerate him being away for the time being. a feeling which i still can't get used to. darn.

as for me, i've gone for that interview. i have absolutely no idea how i fared or whether i want the job even. haha. yeah i know, very bodoh. i still have a week to muddle over my decision whether to take up the job offer if accepted. it can mean hellhole days all over again. deja vu. deja vu rabak punya. the essence of the job, i love. but the politics, the admin crap, the kurang ajar nak mamposness, i loathe. back then, i spiralled into depression and got more burnt out than my dad's blackened toast on a sunday morning. i even swore never to come back again. but at the same time i know it's more realistic to never say never. well, that day has come. but how to decide with this kind of dilemma?? i mean, i've been there, know what it's all about, the grit and shit. but at the same it's also a wonderful thing to do, to touch lives, where every day is never the same (not like the humdrum of a deskjob, which i've done too). what if i can't cope? cos the workload was already super heavy then... and i was SINGLE! now aku dah ada dua budak nak kena jaga. macam mana nak cope?! aku ni takde maid tau. and what if i get burnt out again?

how come i'm not serik oneeeee???

one week balls. that's all i have to decide on my fate. my 2 months of SAHMing have been a blessing, i've never felt closer to my babies, but i *have* to work to provide better things for my family. maybe when the boys are bigger and more independent (so that mummy here won't lose her head), and when the hubster earns truckloads of moolah (haha), only then can i resume the journey of being a sahm. it *is* the most difficult job on earth you know.

till then, kena kerjalah beb.

to the husband in perth, wa rindu sama lu. i think by the time you balik, dua budak kecik ni dah jalan agaknya. :p

2006-11-23T14:12:00.000+08:00

IDEALFITRI

weeeeee.

hari raya just whizzed past us yeah?

this syawal saw me celebrating aidilfitri for the first time as a full-fledged mummy :), me quitting my job over office politics (opis aku yang SUNGGUH tak pro family life tu, nak express breastmilk pon tak boleh!!), and me getting my first taste of nursing 2 very sick babies simultaneously. a rollercoaster ride!

yes, i am a stay-at-home-mom now. tai-tai tak jadi. hoping to rejoin the workforce soon cos somebody's gotta buy those boys some toys! :p in the meantime, i'll enjoy whatever precious time i have with the damdils. jaga dorang kat rumah sorang-sorang is very kecoh ok! but to see them perform new tricks for the first time in front of ME for a change? priceless!

ok tak boleh tulis banyak-banyak, gotta go jiggy with the babies. let the picts do the talking, can?

aidilfitri 2006 with the damdils

beraya with the bloggals

adam's 5-day stint at KK

2006-10-19T15:46:00.000+08:00

WEANING THEM OVER

i've started the damdils on solid food. they've always had good appetites, so it was no surprise that they enjoy their food! the mummy is also one excited lady: reading up on weaning articles, doing her research on baby food and also ordering baby recipe books!

what have they tried so far? well, they like fresh fruit juices, especially honey dew juice (woah terpekik-pekik kesukaan!). they are currently on frisocrem rice cereal mixed with BM. frisocrem on its own is nice and lemak. frisocrem with BM? lemak manis! sedaplah tu! this week i've started to be more adventurous (since no allergic reaction to the frisocrem) and added mashed fruit to the cereal. i tried adding bananas (tasted like jempot-jempot, YUM), will soon try avocadoes and sweet potatoes.

i also got organic brown rice cereal from healthytimes. personally i think this is a good brand, it's organic and salt/sugar free. very good for babies' delicate tummies. a bit pricey, but nevermind. will start them on this once they turn 6 months next month.

i'm trying very hard to reconcile the differences between what we know now about weaning and what our mothers practised during their times. sometimes the differences are so glaring that we end up arguing about "what's right". like whether giving eggs is ok (egg whites are to be avoided till baby turns 1). like how thick the cereal/porridge consistency should be (starting cereals must be runny cos babies have yet to learn how to swallow properly). like whether salt should be added (baby's kidney cannot handle too much sodium), etc. it seems that for many of our mums, the earlier the baby eats, the better. the thicker the food, the better. the more salt/sugar, the better!! i can't even imagine people adding oil to their baby's food. seram seh.

even before i had children, i had already envisioned how their diet should be like. strictly no gassy/soft drinks. only milk, plain water or real fruit juice at all times. no chocolates/candies either unless it's an occasional treat. no merepek snacks before mealtimes. must start them on vege from very young, hopefully dah besar tak cerewet makan sayur. if they insist on a snack, i'll let them have fruits or vege sticks or cheese even. mackers? boleh, tapi jangan selalu.

how? you think the family et al will give me support? haha! lagi-lagi my mil yang suka sekali kasi budak-budak coklat at any opportunity. macam mana eh? pening kepala pikirkan benda ni.

i've seen with my own eyes babysitters blatantly ignoring the parents' feeding instructions when they are away at work. ada satu budak tu, baru 3 bulan dah kasi makan nasilah, kuihlah! madness kan? sakit perut berak-berak saper nak jawab? kesian baby tu, everything also kena sental. i think if that ever happens to me, jangan haraplah that babysitter can see my baby's face again. auf wiedersehen to you balls...

presently, i'm happy that my mum is willing to compromise on our feeding decisions. but she still thinks i'm damn cerewet lor. "dulu kau kecik-kecik dahlah cerewet, sekarang ada anak pon masih cerewet!" eh, ni bukan cerewet sembarangan apa. this is informed cerewet mah... cerewet for the bigger good. it's not about being uppity, hoity-toity, aksen clever or whatever ok. it's really about understanding and respecting our babies' digestive system and not to anyhow sental them with stuff cos "nanti cepat kenyang and so they won't grow up cerewet" (tell me if you've never heard that one before).

saya mau anak-anak saya sihat dan gagah, insya Allah. their diet, like everything else in life, must be balanced. especially since there is a history of diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure on both sides of the family. i know once they get out there (i.e. school), i can't really control what they consume. but i believe that if we set the foundation early, it is much easier for our kids to adopt healthy eating habits to last them a lifetime.

i just hope they don't inherit their ayah's sweet tooth for that daily dose of ice-cream. nanti not only the tooth, his perot also they will inherit!

2006-10-16T11:16:00.000+08:00

ONE FOR THE DADDY

hi b, since you missed the boys turning over, you should be delighted to see them in action here. :)

we miss you too. please come back soon... preferably *before* raya or else i'll form a picket line with the twins in front of your eunos office on the first day of raya. yes, in our gold matching outfits nonetheless. HMPH.

2006-10-10T00:38:00.000+08:00

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

the heart wants what the body is not ready for.

yes, i feel like having another baby.

i KNOW lah. it's simply too soon! the boys are still tiny (with nary a tooth to speak of!). my perot is still longgar for goodness' sake. and yet i feel this way.

God i love children. my boys give me so much joy; i want more!

but i must be realistic. i must be fair towards the boys. must shower them with as much love and attention as i can for now. dahlah everything kena divide by two. as it is, when i entertain one, i'll automatically feel guilty for 'neglecting' the other. and there's also the question of budget. and babysitting.

ok rouge. please be level-brained and not do anything hasty like sabo-ing mr rubber. HAHA!!

hubby loves to have 2 more. "girls," he said. i'm looking at *just* 1 more. the 4th instalment is tentative. see how. but if we're granted with another dua bundle the next time round, it's ok cos that's a sure sign for us to gulung tikar and tutup kedai. by the way, i already have my twin girl names ready. just in case you know. in case my egg feels like splitting into two again.

yelah rouge, suddenly you forget ALL the suffering you had to go through during your trying pregnancy and post-op recovery (which is still on-going, by the way!).

i'm sure i'm not alone in feeling this way. i know there are many other mummies who understand what i'm yapping about! :) let's see if i can tahan 3 more years. gosh, is that a mighty long time to wait or what?! i hope my eggs won't rot by then.

but hor, if a certain contraption chooses to be defective before the 3 years are up (hey, don't look at me :p), i won't complain!

rezeki beb!

jangan triplets sua!!!

2006-10-06T12:34:00.000+08:00

AKSI MAT YOYO

were you around during the days of mat yoyo? tok selampit, cerita si kompi dan lain-lain lagi? all the kiddy hari raya shows included!

i loved those years. yelah, walaupon ianya satu era kegemilangan baju obit dan mekap ala ramlah-ram-eyeshadow-minimum-tiga-kaler, the eighties served me well. cos i was a mat yoyo kid! hurhurrr (errr but i'm not the cat leh... why do people always think i was one??) i loved the entertainment world. i loved performing. i think my exposure then as a kid to the world of tv made me the candi person i am today. *breaks into joget kanak-kanak riang*

even though i "retired" (chey) from the business aeons ago, along with the rest of my 1986 batch of bengkel kanak-kanak kakis, i sometimes wonder what has become of them since we last lost touch. they were buddies i grew up with; friends whom i got along better than my own peers in school. kamcheng abis.

imagine my pleasant surprise when i got an sms from an unknown number asking for a reunion iftar meet-up. i was going to meet friends whom i haven't seen for a good 20 years! my mat yoyo gang. 2 bloody decades man. under no circumstances was i about to give it a miss.

so it happened. the meet-up. even though we couldn't get the whole gang together, i was still happy to see some familiar faces (a couple of whom i couldn't recognise! semua dah besar panjang mak oiiii). do you recognise 'em faces? :p

the girls: nenny, me, fara, fiza, cikgu erna, sereena... all mak budaks now.

the guys: ustaz del, raydza aka the semut biru, dr (yes doktorrr) iqmal (famous identical twin iqbal unfortunately couldn't make it)

remember yoyot and yayat? ahhh ni dorang dah besar panjang! yayat pon dah ada gigi sekarang, sampai tak kenal kita! that's haiz and shida

nenny and faradibah. we were virtually inseparable last time!

teringat zaman dulu brought out the kekeks. we were all so ketek last time hokay! especially me! and they still think i'm ketek ~ "you didn't grow an inch! you still look the same!" haha what's new kan? "err i just gave birth 4 months ago..." "WOT? tak macam mak orang langsong!" ye saya tau, kengkawan. saya perpetually look 18.

i had fun lor... looking forward to the next reunion which is going to happen after raya. this time with more of the gin gang, including old-timer producers like cik khamaliah salleh. dapat tengok video lama you! i get to see me in my prepubescent years! joget-joget and jiggle-jiggle on the big screen! hilarious seh!

can't wait. maybe i can pirate a copy and show it to my damdils. haha. priceless.

2006-10-05T17:01:00.000+08:00

TURN BABY TURN

just received a call from my ecstatic mum.

"anak kau dua-dua dah tiarap sendiri! sekarang tengah face-to-face layan each other, cute nah! aku bangun tido tadi tengok si adil dah kat bawah kerusi, tengah tiarap. macam ni dah tak boleh biarkan dorang sendiri lagi... tengoklah tu, macam ikan buntal."

!!!

kan, dah miss one milestone!!

*sniffles*

anak-anak ikan buntal mummy, nanti mummy balik work, must give mummy encore performance ok?

too bad ayah's not in singapore to see you turn over. kesiaaaannnn ayah.

2006-10-03T11:05:00.000+08:00

EMINEM : M(entel) & M(ontel)

nowadays my mum's sofa has become the standard background for the twins' phototaking sessions.

MC Mentel and MC Montel

ending macam gini pon standard.

2006-09-29T16:51:00.000+08:00

@ HOME WITH THE DAMDILS

i took leave today. hubby's overseas again and my mum had to attend a funeral. so it's just me and the damdils at home. kelam-kabut jugak seh! tapi best pon ada, cos tak payah nak mengadap orang-orang mengarot kat opis! hehe... eh sesungguhnya aku berpuasa...

to be honest, i was quite hesitant to fast at first cos i was so scared my milk supply would dip permanently. cos it had dipped before when i had the flu, and never did return back to its original state, and that worried me to no end. till today, i'm still finding ways and means to increase my supply again - tried fenugreek etc. - but i've yet to find a solution that works. next thing on the menu: salmon omega 3 capsules!

thanks to my mum's advice, i tried fasting anyway and alhamdulillah, my milk is not affected much. there *is* a dip, but nothing that warrants a panic attack. kan Tuhan dah tunjukkan. padan muka ko. nak skip posa konon. mudah-mudahan after ramadan, my milk will flourish again. in the meantime, togok air by the gallons come sahur.

just now the damdils were making so much ruckus among themselves, potpetpotpet non-stop. but once i hovered above them with the camera, members terus bisu. LOL! camera shy is itttt.....

tengok dorang hilang penat puasa. :)

2006-09-25T14:09:00.000+08:00

TWINS 101

my sis sent me a doctored photo of my lil baldies.

haha! macam yunnam punya mascot!

anyway, nowadays, these two insist on having autonomy on their bottle. nak pegang botol sendiri konon!

nilah jadinya kalau aksen pandai sangat :p

adam has also turned over by himself. no wonder he's been extra active lately (and not gaining much weight as a result!). my mum said, "nak ringankan badan." yeahhh, si kenit dah tiarap! adil will follow suit soon i think, at least i hope so. his pantat sebakol lah. he just loves his milk too much.

i've been receiving emails from curious parties asking me how i cope with the twins on my own. well, it ain't easy i tell you. but as the cliche goes, if there's a will, there's definitely a friggin' way.

(1) do you have a maid/ why didn't you get a maid?

hah soalan cepu emas! no, i don't have a maid nor do i intend to get one. it's simply a matter of lifestyle choice. like choosing not to smoke. i choose not to have a maid. fortunately for me, both my mother and mil are still around so they can help. i'm very possessive lah. i cannot stand the thought of a stranger handling my babies. can't help it lor, i'm like that. so getting a maid is absolutely the last, LAST resort for me. i'll use up my other options while i still have them (let's see how long i can last, haha!). one thing i don't like is when people/relatives *demand* to know WHY i did not straightaway get a maid in the first place. huh? is that what's expected of me? have kids so i MUST get a maid? like that's a maternal SOP? just because other people do it, i have to conform? apa ni?? jaga sendiri kan lagi baik. nenek jaga pon lagi baik. maid tu last resort. LAST sekali. bukan first resort, hear? eh but i don't go around judging people with maids. masing-masinglah. lain orang, lain seluar dalam. the most important thing is to do what's best for you, kan? must see the situation lah. i'll take care of the damdils on my own for as long as i can manage.

(2) how do you manage your workday week with the babies?

ouh, i have a timetable! mon, wed, fri -> my mum's. tues, thurs -> my mil (but we send her and the babies to mil's sister's place. cos mil can't cope alone.) looks very messy but it's doable. plus it makes both grandmas very happy cos they get to see the boys every other day. so kira macam fairlah gitu. we fetch them home after work every day. we only leave them overnight at my mum's if there is a very important meeting/event in the morning that we cannot afford to be late for. previously, my mum strongly suggested for us to bring the boys home only on fridays so we can get ample rest, but not wanting to be weekend parents, we had to decline. cannot ah. rindu! tak cukup tido pon takpelah...

*when hubby travels, i sleep over at my mum's. life is nomadic like that.

(3) what about night feeds?

well, hubby and i take turns. usually we alternate babies and stick with that particular baby for the night. if i happen to get the twin who chooses to be fussy that night, i'd just have to grin and bear it! macam russian roulette, aye? and we no longer get to sleep on our nice comfy bed. these days, kita empat beranak camp in the living room. the damdils don't like their cots, for some strange reason. so it's golek-golek on the tilam for now.

(4) weekends?

the weekend is our time to enjoy with the twins! just us and the damdils. <3 catching up on precious time, be it quality or quantity ~ that's the bane of us working parents.

full-fledged SAHMhood. that's something i've been coveting for the longest time.

2006-09-20T17:22:00.000+08:00

DAH HALAL PON...

as promised, esah's wedding dinner pictures!

my double trouble all ready to go to see pakpakbingbing at their aunty esah's!

this is what happen when one is still too fat to fit into one's old clothes. you can't stick to the given theme. i was the only brown cow!

eh wait seminit! there was actually another brown cow around ~ kak nina jamz @ fashionista!

pengantin lama with pengantin baru. sorry photographer tangan tak maintain. esah, you look damn gebu. fadz, you lucky, lucky man. you two is like the pisang, the very big pisang (the one on esah's hen nite cake) dibelah dobelas!

mudah-mudahan berjangkit hendaknya. hehe. eh i carried twins on *my* wedding and unexpectedly got myself a pair! so esah, kalau gua boleh, lu pon boleh!

a nice one with the couple

with our blogger kakis

an attempt to take a picture of the 4 brudders. betul punya tak reti diam...

can you guess which baby uncle izad is carrying? :)

we unfortunately had to miss the sanding day. so sad. and so the very kempunan. the pengantins were so beautiful tau! but i know i'll get to see more pictures when the newlyweds return from their hornymoon in hawaii... hopefully with a baby in the belly too! or two! :D

2006-09-14T13:57:00.000+08:00

DOUBLE TROUBLE

cute aye? they're looking more and more alike by the day. if adil grows more hair and adam fattens up a bit more, even *i* will have difficulty telling them apart.

akan datang: aunty esah's wedding picts!

2006-09-07T17:59:00.000+08:00

I CAN'T GET NO... SATISFACTION

i need to rant.

my freaking workplace is not supportive of my BFing. such an ignorant, unenlightened bunch of neanderthals.

this is what happens when you work with people who:

1) don't believe in getting married and/or having children (kes jaga anjing dah cukup)
2) have grown up kids (but have never attempted BFing before)
3) takde harapan nak kahwin (atas sebab-sebab yang malas saya nak explain)

what makes it worse is when you happen to be the only one in the office to break the 10-year-no-preggers spell.

but first of all, a disclaimer: this is *not* a militant BF message. cos this BFing mummy happens to supplement too.

however i do think that BM is the best source of nutrition for my boys, and *will* give them as much as this tikooos body can offer. that includes pumping 3 times at work... which unfortunately has become an issue with those idiots in the office. so much for working in a medical environment!

when i returned to work after my maternity leave, i had to scout around for an available room to do the deed, and found the (cold) server room to be the most suitable. (not the conference room, and definitely not the training room! toilets? don't be disgusting can? you want me to pump amidst floating goreng pisangs is it??) anyway the server room is used only occasionally, so all the more suitable lor.

when i told my office manager (who falls under category 3 - see above) about my intentions to pump in the server room, she went, " ahhhhhh??? must pump ah????" and proceeded to give me that i'd-prefer-if-you-don't-do-that look. i nearly gave her the wtf-just-because-your-tetek-will-never-have-susu look, but decided against that and simply responded with a curt, "yes, cos i'm still breastfeeding (you twit)." after which she menyenyeh-ed away about how so-and-so (kononnya some big f*cks) will want to use the room to check their emails so i must "be careful". then she menyenyeh-ed some more (at which point, i'd chosen to space out at will). whatever it is, the point she was trying to make is: YOU ARE CREATING AN INCONVENIENCE FOR THE REST.

what inconvenience, i ask you? i've already covered the glass walls and door with mahjong paper so nobody will accidentally witness thelma and louise being milked. and the room is soundproof enough, so no noisy disturbances there. i've also created a very nice sign saying, "Kindly do not enter. Cowmilking in progress.", complete with a very nice pink polka-dotted cow. plus i use the room only for 15 mins at a time, not 24 hours! and the big f*ucks she was talking about? they come only one or twice a week, and there are many other available PCs in the office they can use!! eleh setakat nak check email aje. PUI!

being no pushover, i proceeded to mass email the office to inform the rest about my pumping schedule. and if they need to use the room urgently, just knock and i'll wrap up my pumping immediately. reasonable kan? i'm not about to let misinformed bigots deprive me of my BFing experience just because they think i'm skiving. PUI PUI!

tapi citer blom abis eh. recently a colleague told me some people have been gossiping about my pumping and how they think i'm hogging the room lah, blablabla... kan aku dah cakap, KETOK?! apasallah bahalol sangat. dorang yang tak nak ketok, abis nak mengumpat pasal kita pulak? i was so pissed sia. then i was told to EMAIL the entire office every time i want to pump, so that they can keep track of me. so bloody calculative kan? i complain to m.c.y.s can??

to make the story short, i'm now looking for another job.

maybe, just maaaayyyybeeeee... i'll go back to teaching. :)

we see how things go.

2006-09-07T17:50:00.000+08:00

PERMAI[SURI] OF THEIR HEARTS

see lah. what a gorgeous baby.

what a perfect combination of the mom and dad, doncha think?

she makes me wanna start production for number 3. for that little girl i've always wanted. or two.

LOL!!! gila nak mampos aku ni.

dua hero kat rumah tu kencing masih blom straight hokay!

2006-08-23T23:16:00.000+08:00

PANJANG UMURNYA

the hubster finally turned 29. that's one more year to full-fledged bapak-bapakness.

the hubster initially wanted a lomantik time. so we made plans for chijmes. only the 2 of us.

then the hubster remembered the boys. then he realised he didn't want to be without the boys. hence our lomantik plans were shelved for a simpler vegetarian fare at little india. twin entourage (plus their oma and bibik dilah) included.

the twins on their ayah's birthday

hepi burfday ayah!!

mummy and ayah

with the two milk monsters!

adam the superboy

adil the curious one

what i call the penyok look

ambik angin outside the restaurant

adil & adilah :p

the boys with their chaperones for the night - Oma and Bibik Dilah (without whom we couldn't eat in peace!)

we had a swell time... the boys enjoyed the lights very much! oh, and the public's attention too! :D

i think we can say bye-bye to all future plans to go out/away without the boys (err..for now). cos i hagree with the laki, cannot ah... RINDU balls!

2006-08-18T14:50:00.000+08:00

MUMMY DEAREST

my mum is a constant companion of mine when i'm out with the twins without the hubster. and people always assume SHE'S the mummy!

i look too young i guess... too small? but when i reveal i'm the actual mummy, the nyonyas always go, "very creverrrrr!" clever betol. hehe. i wonder if this is a standard universal nyonya reply.

and i tell you, i must never, NEVER be around my boys without makeup or proper jalan-jalan clothes. cos otherwise people will straightaway assume i'm the maid. i was even stalked by a couple of banglas when i was out with one twin buying diapers at n/t/u/c. cehhhh.

i also get interesting reactions from cabbies. the most memorable one came from a nonchalant apek who said, "lu mak dia olang ah? wahhhhh... mak dia badan maciam tikooos, sekali belanak keluar dua hor!" *checks self for resemblance to mice, rats, hamsters and the likes*

my point is: i don't look like a mummy!

i WANT to look like a mummy leh. how ah? this young salesgirl at junction 8 thought i was her age and asked which poly i'm studying at. LOL! when i told her i'm anticipating my 30th birthday, she became speechless. when i showed her my hp wallpaper of my boys, her jaw dropped open and i could swear a bird flew in. then she went, "you sure or not?!" :p

oklah. i look like a small kid lah. i accept that.

i'm just looking forward to the day when my teenage boys pass me off as their big sister.

oklah, perasan.

2006-08-15T14:19:00.000+08:00

HUR HUR

our first family photo together.

dah 3 bulan beranak baru nak teringat ambik gambar satu family. kental betol laki bini ni.

2006-08-14T17:02:00.000+08:00

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE AND TWO KUIH PAUs

today's my 2nd wedding cum 12th dating anniversary. and we've conveniently forgotten *all* about it as a result of perpetually rushing around with the two kuih paus!

SO... happy 2nd anniversary baby! nevermind the fact that we have absolutely no plans and no gifts for each other. but hmm, suddenly the material things don't matter so much aye... tengok muka dua budak tembam tu je dah happy. :)

speaking of dua budak tembam ~ i miss them so much lah! i've started work since last week and lemme tell ya, the separation anxiety was pret-ty bad. now i can't really focus at work (shhh); i kept on calling home and sniffing their baju kopet! and visions of their toothless smiles plague me every minute. mummy dah macam sakit angau kat opis. padahal dorang kat rumah nenek tengah relek macam ni:

adam: "adil, look, there's a chio bu on mtv!"

hehe.

also greatly missed: their baby talk! a sample from adilkodils (sorry, poor mms quality)...

that was taken when he'd just discovered that he could make sounds! now both adilkodils and adamkodams offer a much wider variety of sounds, thankyouverymuch. from "A-Ge-Ge" to "Heh Heh Heh!". cute sangat takblehtahan.

last 2 weeks, they had their cukur rambut cum aqiqah... and the house was jam-packed to the core! it was even more crowded than my wedding day! LOL! ni dua pengantin lagi fofular lah!

thanks to aunty raihan who gave us these hamsen jubahs from dubai!

with ayah, mbah and yai (apadah gambar senget)

the pengantins all pooped out after their big day

"...but mummy still won't stop taking pictures!"

what to do. cute sangat.

this mummy actually has tons of things to write about. serious issues, petty issues, even controversial issues about bringing up the babies. but she's fighting for time all the time, and right now actually skiving at work to create this fluffy entry. but she won't be keeping her issues welled up for long, mind you. just wait for the day where she actually has time to scratch her butt and type something substantial. simultaneously.

tomorrow, the 2 boys turn 3. happy 3 months in advance, anak-anak mummy. <3

2006-07-15T23:14:00.000+08:00

MY KUIH PAUs

happy turning 2 months, darlings. (or in actual fact one month, since you two came out 4 weeks earlier than expected!)

my babies are a constant reminder to me of a mother's boundless capacity to love.

loving these two keeps me busy. and whole. :)

2006-07-06T23:39:00.000+08:00

TO AYAH WITH LOVE

this entry is for our ayah ~ who has just left us for his job assignment somewhere far, far away. mummy said he has gone to a place called ostolia. we don't know where that is but we sure hope that mummy and ayah will take us there someday.

we hope that these pictures of us will make ayah smile, because mummy said ayah misses us a lot. he can't call from his ship, so this is the only way he can keep in touch with us at home! actually (psst don't tell mummy) we miss him too! there is nobody to talk to us about everything under the sun, nobody to tickle and kiss us silly, nobody to play RedHotChilliPeppers songs for us to sing to! ayah will be back only in 2 months' time, hopefully he'll get a brief break in between to see us for a few days, and so the house will be a bit quiet. well, we say 'a bit' because it still gets rather noisy sometimes with mummy running around like a headless chicken! LOL! we like to see her run helter-skelter like that, and sometimes we purposely cry and wail together for a good kick (again, don't tell mummy this)! hehe...

ok we have to go give mummy a good scare now. she's been resting for too long. kekeke.

*waves to ayah*

2006-06-26T20:04:00.000+08:00

6 WEEK UPDATE

my pantang days are over. *flashes a huge grin* and i've been out, out, out.

nevermind the fact that my post-op tummy resembles a wobbly tayar pancit. nevermind that the healed external stitches leave a numb feeling around the pelvic area that renders my gait funny. nevermind that i can't fit into ANY of my old bottoms (most tops too!). and most of all, nevermind the fact that my once flawless tummy is now a dead ringer for a rockmelon from china. stretchmarks lah kak, apa lagi. nonetheless, motherhood is the most wonderful gift a woman can ever ask for. and i embrace it wholeheartedly, battle scars et al.

my sweethearts, shortly after coming home

badam (left) and bagadil, haha!

how to tell them apart? well...

adam: more hair, longer eyelashes, 200g lighter, fairer, rounder head, and has 3 birthmarks on his cute butt

adil: less hairy version of adam, tanner (though we don't know why, cos they're supposedly identical :p. could be all that incubating in the nicu!), a lot more tembam, has no birthmarks but still has a cute butt

i loveee watching them sleep.

as for the ayah, he has since developed an addiction to kissing his boys. no longer the mummy. hmph.

oooh here's a bit of beckham action for you curious aunties. :)

not yet michelin babies, but i promise you they're on their way there ~ bagadil is already sporting a double chin! the powerful combination of my BM and formula milk will make them berketak-ketak beberds in no time. a far cry from the shrivelled lil raisins that they were when they first came out from my womb. as they say, preemies have a slow start, but they always catch up. :D

i know i'd promised a birth story, but since this mummy is on a tight schedule, a summary is in order!

monday, 15.5.06

1000 hrs: went to kk for 35th week check up (in a wheelchair, hah!)
1300 hrs: gynae confirmed i was 4 cm dilated (but i still felt fine, save for very mild cramps)
1400 hrs: warded
1500 hrs: epidural administered, gynae broke waterbag, induced to speed up labour
1700 hrs: adam's heart rate suddenly dropped to a dangerously low level because i shifted my body (major ER scene ensued, hubby and i too shocked to react)
1710 hrs: situation stabilised but gynae didn't like the way things were progressing
2130 hrs: good strong contractions, but only dilated till 6 cm, gynae strongly suggested c-sect
2145 hrs: had to stop resisting idea of c-sect, agreed to op
2200 hrs: wheeled into OT, sans hubby :(
2200++ hrs: could feel sharp pain as gynae made the first incision on tummy. either not enough epidural or epidural did not affect my left side fully. whatever it was, i screamed bloody murder behind my gas mask (which sent the nurses scrambling to top up my epi). if they were to put on the gas mask on me 5 seconds earlier, i wouldn't have been able to scream and would have gone through entire c-sect in excruciating pain. *shudder*
2230 hrs: adam delivered
2231 hrs: adil delivered (both to a VERY spaced out me)

the next time i got to see and hold them was 3 days later. heart pain you know.

i hatehatehate the c-sect and wish i'd never have to go through it again. macam traumatised gitu. the recovery also sucked (aiyah but i know no pain, no gain!).

natural birth next time round please? *prays hard*

but not till the next 3-4 years yahhh... let me enjoy these two darlings to the fullest first. :)

2006-05-22T23:35:00.000+08:00

SE7EN

it's hard seeing your little ones in this state. but i know it's for their own good.

i made my first hospital visit today since i was discharged. i missed them so so much. i can't walk that well yet, but i didn't care... it took me forever to painfully waddle to the special care nursery, but i made it! even though i only spent several minutes with them, seeing them made my day.

adil

adam

such fragility.

while the twins have reached their one week milestone (they're no longer hooked to the ctg monitor, and have started bottle feeding instead of being tube-fed), mummy here has also achieved something she is proud of:

SUSU CAP ROUGE :D

as a result of my kerja keras at expressing BM, i managed a good 130 mil after a week! that's quite an achievement for someone with non-existent boobies. hehe. yay boobies. now i've to work even harder in my pursuit to be the ultimate mother cow. have 2 mouths to feed mah!

will kiv birth experience for next entry. promise.

2006-05-21T00:19:00.000+08:00

THE BEBERDS HAVE LANDED

they've arrived. my miracle duo. Adil Rayyan (left) and Adam Naufal bin Mohd Nazri.

the twins were delivered a minute apart via an emergency c-section on 15th May 2006. adam, being the engaged baby, was delivered first. he might be small at 1.7 kg compared to adil's 2 kg frame, but he's still one fighter of an abang. :)

i'd like to thank EVERYONE for all the well-wishes and prayers, they really meant a lot (they worked too, alhamdulillah!). adam is doing a lot better in the NICU, now that his heartbeat has picked up. i'm now recuperating at home, having spent 5 days in the hospital, but the babies are still in special care at kk. hubby and i are waiting anxiously for their homecoming. i miss them so :(

a special shoutout to shireen and malik, my unofficial birth paparazzi couple, who were there to receive the buns fresh from the oven, heheh. thanks also to the good people of izadnhana, who helped me spread the good news!

i will share my birth experience at the next blogging opportunity. for now i hope these videos will do.

ADAM'S FIRST VIDEO (ONE DAY OLD)
always the alert one

ADIL'S FIRST VIDEO (ONE DAY OLD)
the sleepy half

ADIL'S BURPING SESSION (5 DAYS OLD)
lookit those eyes! awww

ADAM THE ZORRO (5 DAYS OLD)
my poor baby feeding while being treated for his jaundice

so... who do you think they take after? :D

2006-04-30T17:58:00.000+08:00

APRIL FULL

april has been a quiet month for this space of mine. that's largely due to my extreme inertia to even face the pc. the back-breaking aches and pain are also a great deterrent.

in the real world however, april has been a fabulously colourful month. i shall attempt to sum up some of the more meaningful events that took place.

*THE DAY I GOT A YEAR WISER*

my big two-nine was celebrated in the form of a quiet pasta and seafood dinner with the hubster (after which we had to settle with going home cos i wasn't doing too well post-dinner). trying to emanate a "romen"-tic aura is a bleak task when you are heaving like a kuda sempot, walking like a ketam tempang, and getting a simpul biawak every 5 metres . nevertheless, since spaghetti vongole saved the day, i wasn't about to whine about the steam-kering nature of the rest of the birthday evening.

hubster said i don't look anything like my real age. hmm ok lor. can save money mah, no need to use botox. then again, even he doesn't look his age. teehee!

*THE DAY THE BRO FINALLY GREW UP*

my younger brother finally got rid of his commitment issues and "choped" himself a future wife! the engagement ceremony was humorous and lively; the bride-to-be beaming with radiance. that was what i heard anyway from my two sisters (the ones in the picture with future sil) since i was, again, not very mobile to be travelling with the entourage of relatives to witness the engagement ceremony. another steam-kering moment for me.

my favourite bit of the gift spread? it was the pink striped fresh flower cake that i ordered from simplyayu. very lawa-nak-mampos kan? so pretty that my aunts thought it was a decorative item. :p anyway, congrats to the bro. time to scrimp and save like mad. and i promise i'll be a very good sister-in-law. none of that conniving kakak ipar nonsense. that one very suriachannel.

*THE DAY TENGKUCHIK ARRIVED*

remember the hudds? *quick flashback photo*

well, their daughter has arrived - every inch an arian baby, just like the godma! :D

introducing tengku tiara laetisha bte tengku hudd. her parents call her tisha. i call her tengkuchik. the third instalment to my godchildren brood. her mummy's doppelganger at birth. although now she's beginning to resemble more of her abah.

her favourite "surrender" position. plus she mews like a kitten. cute sekali!

the other 2 godchildren of mine? they were there too, of course.

iman and aniq. <3

the hubby trying to practise handling 2 babies simultaneously. alahai... :p

babies. what's there not to love about them?

*THE DAY MY UNBORN ONES HAD THEIR FIRST PARTY*

some lovely people got together and organised a baby shower for the dudes in my tummy. ah what can i say... great food, an even greater company, not to mention the gorgeous gifts! it was a good friday indeed. :)

*click*

"thank you aunties, we boys really appreciate all that wonderful effort. both of us promise to allow all of you to pinch our cheeks as much as you want when we come out soon!"

speaking of coming out soon, i am currently on a serious bedrest. not going anywhere except to the hospital for my weekly check-ups. i'm in my 35th week and the boys are actually reaching their 2kg mark soon - which means i have the choice of a natural delivery and not the dreaded c-sect. i'm amazed and thankful to God to have reached this far, really. a 4kg baby load for this tiny mummy is quite a miracle.

the cots have been assembled, the necessary shopping completed, the baby laundry done (2 matching pieces of everything!)...

all i can do now is WAIT.

2006-03-24T14:29:00.000+08:00

IT'S DRIPPING TESTOSTERONE!

baby yazid.
simplyhana's pride and joy.
a splitting image of his daddy.
my boys' future soccer mate.
a definite liverpool fan (he has no choice :p).

shortly after, i met with another mini liverpool fan.

that's him. hanging out with 2 (much much) older fans, gawking at a liverpool game.

macam real je eh? concentrate habis. :D

he wasn't too happy when i tried to distract him from the erractically moving figures on the goggle box.

boys will be boys lah. and i'm trying to imagine my life with two of them. ai-yai-yai!! can i grow 2 extra hands tomorrow please?

i watched as the drumstick boy got prepared for bedtime. he knows where to look ok. methinks his mummy has trained him well. hee. after all that bedak, he was grumpy no more. i wanted to carry him around, yes i did, but he weighs like a sack of rice now, and i just couldn't risk going into labour at his mummy's house. LOL.

and that's me with my 7 mth old sack(s) of rice. all 3 of us are already granted leave till delivery as of yesterday, so the mummy is taking things very easy now. work can wait. it can wait for the next 5 months. :p

2006-03-17T17:36:00.000+08:00

IKAN BUNTAL

i'm 27 weeks currently, and tummy is close to full term size.

boys are growing well (almost the same size, give and take 4 grams). no signs of Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome whatsoever. syukur. but it can still happen, so my kk gynae is keeping a close watch on me.

and i've been naughty too, seeing 2 gynaes on the sly. can't help it lah. my previous lady gynae is so much more informative and emphatic... plus she's located 5 minutes away from my house. i see her when i miss my boys, or when i experience small hiccups in this pregnancy of mine. but i still keep my kk doctor for those mandatory fortnightly scans and of course, my delivery! besides, having a 2nd opinion is a good thang.

both doctors told me my bedrest should start now (pretty early yes?)... all the way till delivery. that's easily 1-2 months' worth of mc! but i can't, cos i have yet to settle things in the office, and my replacement has not even arrived (lagi cialat cos i'm supposed to train her). not to mention, some people in the office are not happy about me leaving so soon. they just don't understand that i need as much rest as possible now, or else the boys will pop out tomorrow! i told dr tan wait till i reach 28 weeks lah, then i'll gladly take that mc.

BIG MISTAKE.

i experienced contractions a few days ago and had to be away from work for 3 days. must be all that darned commuting from punggol to outram! AND PEOPLE IN THE MRT NEVER GIVE UP THEIR SEATS FOR PREGNANT LADIES OK. even when you look like you've just swallowed a whale and can burst like an over-inflated balloon. i think people will only get up if you pengsan. itu pon sebab kepo punya pasal.

now i am soooooo looking forward to my long bedrest next week. donch pray pray ok. bedrest sampai beranak!! best kan? hope the boys will stay put inside for as long as possible, at least till they reach 32 weeks. i, in the meantime, will hibernate and keep on eating so that they won't be tiny like me. heh.

here they are at 23 weeks.

dua-dua segan; dua-dua malu. see, they are both covering their faces with their arm/hand.

i just love those round heads. :)

ps// big, fat congratulations to simplyhana on the birth of her lil boy. mother and son are doing superb. my bananas and i will see the both of you very soon!

2006-02-28T11:38:00.000+08:00

THE SIX MONTH MARK

no, i haven't fallen off the face of the earth yet. still here. still breathing (albeit with much effort).

i've gotten considerably bigger now that i'm going into my 25th week. dr told me i'm carrying a 7-mth-plus load and that i might run out of space earlier than expected (cos i'm so tiny lah, why do you think). so the reality of premature labour (with really tiny-weeny babies) is definitely there, and it's scaring the heck out of me. *breathes in and out*

while the boys are growing fine, it hasn't been an easy ride for me. i'm experiencing all the 3rd trimester 'treats' way in advance! yippee. the pains, aches, cramps, headaches, sleeplessness, constant hunger pangs, nausea, breathlessness... the list goes on. best kan? only 2-3 more months to go. i *shall* endure.

now i'm left to deliberate, with whatever time i have left, on the mode of delivery that i want. natural or planned c-section? i've been informed of the respective pros and cons, and i'm afraid i'm nowhere near a resolution yet.

any advice?

2006-01-22T17:31:00.000+08:00

ONE WEDDING AND A CUKUR RAMBUT

the hudds and nazris attended an old NIE friend's hyatt wedding last friday. we were aptly placed at the preggers table, where the ladies' room was easily accessible (for that active bladders of ours!). yes, mrs hudd is 7 months along (even though you can't really tell from this polaroid). both mum and her little girl are doing fine. that's one future calon menantu, you know! you better start 'choping', boys!

saturday was spent visiting farizah aka zany and her little elyza marsya (who's a total carbon copy of her daddy, by the way). mummy farizah used to slog in the same jc as her seniors, mummy hana and mummy-in-the-making rouge. how time flies. and yet, we don't feel *that* much older, kan kan kan? 18 at heart, always. :p

have i told you how much i love cradling babies? pure joy. only 4 months to go, rouge.

2006-01-11T22:03:00.000+08:00

HELLO!!

yahoo!! i can put on make up already!! no more mabok days; bye-bye super selekeh first trimester! the rouge can finally melawa again! it's about bleeding time~

hari raya haji with the sisters (and one cousin). see my tum-tum?

with 13-yr-old dilsbedils. dah sama size dengan kakak dia!

that was my hari raya sans hubby, parents and parents-in-law. but we still went jalan-jalan. baju pon sempat ber-matching. :)

and say H-E-L-L-O to MY BOYS!

that's a sample beberd from one twin. hehehe. hensem tak beberd dia? LOL!

must think of names liao. :)

2006-01-08T12:51:00.000+08:00

WET SUNDAY

it's going to be a quiet aidiladha.

with the hubster away in kiwiland, the in-laws performing their haj, my own parents a-traipsing to batam to oversee a korban ritual, i'll be left with only my baby sister and the bananas for company. pandai-pandailah kita survive nanti eh. the only consolation we have is my mum's promise to make us satay goreng and sambal tumis udang! *senyum kambing (pun intended)*

meanwhile, the weather hasn't been kind. i was caught in the rain and has been nursing a bout of fever through the weekend. thankfully my temperature has not skyrocketed, or else i'll be in a fix and worry to no end about 'em bananas. a bit of sleep will do me good. then it's back to online shopping for baju mak buyong! :D

2006-01-05T21:20:00.000+08:00

THEY GROW SO FAST

remember this cutie-pie? this was iman fresh from the oven.

this is her now, all of 7 months. look at those gorgeous curls!

notice how baby-infested my blog is? 'tis the season for baby boom! my friends everywhere are churning out their own mini-mes, one by one... i'll follow suit soon, Insya Allah!

nak tengok my tummy now?

that's 3 kg of tummy for ya! :p

yes, i've FINALLY put on weight. 3 kg je... hehe, alah jadilah... the vomiting has stopped, and i've been eating like normal again. 3 kg in a month is not too bad kan? after this, i expect to balloon up even faster. i call the stretchmark cream my new best (and breast) friend.

bring it on!

2006-01-01T12:46:00.000+08:00

WO AINI

this is baby aini. daughter to mama herda and papa kamal.

this is her favourite pout. watched too many top model episodes perhaps? :p

*wink*

this is aunty rouge feeding aini.

lil aini concentrating hard on feeding.

aah, that's the mama. looking all radiant. :)

that's aini's burping face. again, concentrating hard.

uncle naz giving it a go. need to practice mah...

she looked pretty contented in uncle's arms. :)

here's a video of us trying to coax aini to smile, or rather, half-smile. hee.

***

a lil update on the twins. they're 16 weeks plus now, and doing very well! been kicking mummy and somersaulting a lot, but will keep still when mummy lets them listen to raihan songs. they like "asma ul husna" the best! look at how big they are now (actually that's just one of the twins sucking its thumb, but looking at one is as good as looking at the other! LOL!)

and they are still secretive about their gender. so it's still a guessing game for now. :)

2005-12-15T11:56:00.000+08:00

MY HUMP, MY LOVELY LADY LUMP

it's not much, but i have my mini bump already!

macam baru habis makan buffet kan?

:p

2005-12-13T13:05:00.000+08:00

THE MANY FACES OF ANIQ IZHAN

fresh from the oven :)

the one on my hp wallpaper - his burping eskimo boy picture!

very cute lahhhhh...!! must see him again soon!

2005-12-10T14:18:00.000+08:00

A GODCHILD IS BORN

izadnhana's lil boy has finally left his comfy nest in mummy's womb! he arrived this morning at 3.45 am, all bright-eyed, with a nice set of lungs to boot. peed on the spot too! LOL

mummy's labour was an easy one, with no epidural ~ another superwoman! both mum and baby are doing fine. daddy izad must be beaming from ear to ear. :D

happy birthday lil one! godma would love see you today, but she has to send uncle naz off to new zealand... i see you tomorrow ok? gosh, all that hair! who would've thought!

guess who he takes after? ;D

2005-12-09T12:45:00.000+08:00

PITTER PATTER

A BIG FAT CONGRATULATION to ogy and zany for safely giving birth to their gorgeous, a-lil-ahead-of-schedule baby girls!! :D

both mommies are Superwomen - they didn't need any epidural! *must* ask them for tips. i'm in awe, really.

take care mommies, insya Allah i'll visit you and your princesses very soon.

2005-12-08T15:41:00.000+08:00

AISEYMAN

Got this email from my biol sister. Mentang-mentanglah kita orang JAWO.

Kalau nak cari nama untuk cucu atau anak, Berikut diturunkan beberapa nama pilihan ala-Jawa (dlm IT term: Java).

Harap2 besar esok akan:

Pandai tanam bunga, diberikan - Rosman

Pandai membaiki kereta, - Karman

Average dalam golf, - Parman

Pandai dlm penulisan, - Suratman

Gagah perkasa, - Suparman

Boleh mendengar sambil berjalan, - Wakiman

Selalu bertanya, - Azman (loghat jawa bunyi Asman)

Pandai buat kuih, - Paiman

Pakar jualan, - Salman

Pakar pasal alam sekitar, - Jasman

Pandai melukis, tulis sajak, nyanyi lagu, - Saniman

Doktor gigi, - Sugiman

Supaya cepat naik pangkat, - Yasman

Bakal kaki pukul dan dera orang, - Deraman

Yang ada darah Bengali, - Manbai

Mat rock, - Rokman

Pakar kunci, - Lokman

Baik budi pekerti, - Budiman

Buat kerja ala kadar - Kadarisman

Suka bagi orang susah - Sukarman

Suka mengada-ngada - Ngadiman

Dua alam - Herman

Paling Haprak - Koman

Kalau yang kuat berlawan - Ultraman

Yg suka main daun terup poker - Pokeman

My twins will stick to their very glamourous "Labu and Labi" for now, thanks. :p

2005-12-03T16:31:00.000+08:00

BABY BOOM

there was a big hoohaa at my house the other day. but it was a much anticipated hoohaa!

we were showering two VERY pregnant friends with food, gifts and well-wishes for having their first babies soon. :) yours truly (aka main organiser) had a super swell time planning the party with the rest in secret. special thanks must go to the games committee trio, who had worked very hard to entertain us! i hope you had fun, mommies! the rest of us had a blast!

double baby shower extravaganza

***

i guess it's timely that i announce something else too.

i'm also fantabulously expecting!

that explains the LONG absence from this blog. let's just say i haven't been well. busy merlion-ing. :p

i'm 13 weeks along now, alhamdulillah. after over a year of trying, we're finally blessed with our own bundles of joy. :)

bundles, you ask?

that's cos i'm having identical twins! (if you are surprised, imagine my shock)

have a peek at their latest scans.

the smaller but active twin (very round and boncit, right? cute!)

the sleeping twin, sucking its thumb (lying upside down)

the kinky twins doing the 69! LOL

they are both doing well and growing well too, despite the mummy losing weight from all that morning and night sickness. hopefully the second trimester will see the mummy putting on at least a kg.

and yes, no raya pictures either cos the mummy looks like crap. LOL!

2005-10-26T00:37:00.000+08:00

THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST

the dubai princess' rare return to her tanahair almost resulted in a mass orgy in her comfy carlton bed. there we were, some dara, some mak dara, and not forgetting one mak budak, frolicking amidst canadian pizza, chicken wings, salsa dip, polar cafe creampuffs, chocolate dates, and banterings of 'gentellation of the third nipple'. what's the orgasmic occasion, you ask?

raihan dah balik daaaa... and we got to iftar at her hotel room! tuan punya rumah jugakkkk yang paling kecoh.

orang yang paling excited selalu pose extra-extra kan?

looking for that third nipple :p

shiok sendiri solo pose

raihan admiring my shiok sendiri solo pose

karaoke-ing to hazimi's winter sonata! berterabor man!

this picture was supposed to be of me and raihan *only*. tapi tengoklah tu, papparazi yang tak diundang! sempat balls!

cik raihan, lengkali turun singapore, buat lagi tau. saya menunggu, with every bit of my impending porn-se-tar proportions.

2005-10-11T22:08:00.000+08:00

GENG TO THE RESCUE

it was nice catching up with you girls. :)

2005-10-09T11:14:00.000+08:00

LAKILESS INC.

sent off husbter to korea last evening. will be spending the most part of ramadan on my own. hope he will make it home before raya. kalau kerja tak abis-abis jugak, he'd better SWIM home, with the dolphins and the jerungs and the typhoons. gua tak kisah!! raya sorang-sorang SUCKS!!

to make myself feel better, i simply remind myself that hey i don't have to cook at all this month! nak sahur? nak buka? rumah makbapak and PILs ada. geng pon ada. i have a feeling i'll be dining out A LOT. not that i mind. hehe.

tu rumah nak kena cat sikit. my lovely olive green wall sungguh tak kena with my mocha couch. macam hutan amazon. tulah, dulu plan nak beli kerusi cream. now all plans have changed. the green wall must go. that means my bapak to the rescue.

gee, i'm so psyched already. even though the baju for first day belom hantar tailor pon. hahaha. mampos. ok good luck rouge.

2005-10-08T11:03:00.000+08:00

SEBEN

i'm doing this cos i promised one minah krayon i would. i told you it'll take 7 hari 7 malam. :p

7 things that scare me
1) tempat-tempat yang gelap gulita
2) being next to humongous buses and lorries on expressways
3) closing lift doors
4) being tickled (cos it leads to unbearable pain - i'll punch you if you tickle me)
5) operations (never had one)
6) the plane taking off and landing
7) that i'll never have children

7 things that i like
1) pretty makeup sets like anna sui's
2) curious perfume by britney (bau sek, macow)
3) chicken (except the kaki and kuku)
4) collecting cookbooks
5) smelling my hubster's ketiak :p
6) keeping my bathroom spick and span
7) my new couch (comfy as hell)

7 most important things in my room
1) my half nekkid hubster (abuhden)
2) my handphone
3) my books
4) my calendar (to track down those crazy cycles)
5) tissues and more tissues
6) my drool-free pillows (as opposed to hubby's)
7) my wedding portrait

7 random facts about me
*feel free to refer to previousprevious entry*

7 things i plan to do before i die
1) don the tudung
2) perform umrah and haj
3) fulfil my roles as a daughter, wife and mother to the best of my ability
4) katam quran again (and again)
5) have my own business
6) sky dive
7) learn how to swim

7 things i can do
1) i can sing
2) i can dance (but don't ask me to bellydance, breakdance or pirouette)
3) i can draw portraits
4) i can cook without cookbooks
5) i can imitate accents
6) i can eat chicken everyday
7) i can curse like a minah

7 things i can't do
1) i can't drive
2) i can't see anything without my lenses and glasses (your face will look like the back of a spoon)
3) i can't reach the luggage compartment in planes
4) i can't throw a frisbee
5) i can't walk past a baby without smiling
6) i can't sleep without the kipas or aircon on
7) i can't cut my own hair

7 words i say most
1) baby!!
2) Insya Allah
3) eh?
4) macow
4) is itttt
5) macam siak aje
6) shit

7 celeb crushes
1) johhny depp
2) sam rockwell
3) jonathan rhys-myers
4) orlando bloom
5) jude law
6) hans isaac
7) jins samsudin (whom i still find sexay)

2005-10-07T10:11:00.000+08:00

THANKFUL

it's that time of the year again. have a blessed ramadan, people. i am going to enjoy every.single.minute of it. :)

2005-09-24T20:07:00.000+08:00

ABOUT THE GIRL

hello hello hello!!

i disappeared for so long that some people started to complain. LOL. especially cik diah kita, kan kan kan? oklah, this update is de-li-ca-ted to you hokay. and i promise i'll be more disciplined with my updates from now on. cheyyyy.

so you want to know 3 random facts about myself is it?

since the rouge is feeling extra generous today, she'll give you more than 3! nah, amik kau!!

some kental facts about the rouge:

1) i absolutely abhor wrinkled/preserved food, especially raisins, asam asin, "taik hidong masin", dried apricots, prunes (omigod prunes), that disc-like plum candy... you get the idea. but i have nothing against scrotums.

2) i can't swim. especially in deep waters or the sea. i can swim face down for about 5 seconds, but that's it. no freestyle or the breast stroke for me. does floating on my back count? cos that's the only thing i can do for more than 5 seconds. so many people have tried to teach me swimming, but so many people have failed.

3) i can tie a knot using the stem of a cherry in my mouth in no time. it's helpful in, err, french class.

4) i'm scared shitless of going into lifts by myself. but you guys know that already.

5) my childhood ambition was to be an SQ girl. that says a lot about advertising and product branding. alas, genetic factors cut that dream short (pun fully intended). at 1.5m, i'd probably be asking passengers for help to store away *my* luggage.

6) i love watching documentaries about egyptian mummies, esp tutankhamun, akhenaten and nefertiti. there's just something about ancient egyptian curses and hieroglyphic codes that never ceases to amaze me. besides SQ, archaeology was also on my list. that's another ambition yang tak kesampaian. but i WILL go to eqypt, dammit.

7) i have a 'mild' case of obsessive compulsive disorder. i like to arrange things a certain way, and get veryyyyy upset if anyone messes with the arrangement, for example if the toilet paper is not draped a certain way, or if the toothpaste is not squeezed a certain way. if you check my bathroom, you'll know what i mean. that's why the hubby uses the common bathroom. now, *he* doesn't have rules. by the way, does anyone out there wipe their toothbrush dry and place it in a container at a 45 degrees angle after use? i do. i also wash my face twice at any one time.

8) nobody, and i mean nobody, can use my nail clipper. not even if your toenail is attacked by a deadly fungus and your life depends on pulling out that dastardly toenail and i'm the only one on the planet who has a nail clipper. not even hubby, whom i've shared various bodily fluids with, can touch my nail clipper.

9) i was a mat yoyo/bengkel kanak-kanak kid. we shall not elaborate on that.

10) i want 4 kids. 2 girls, 2 boys. and i'm terrified of having twins. so God, hear me out.

11) the guys i date(d) must have nice hands. i stopped going out with a good-looking guy once just because he had stubby, grubby fingers. and i went out with another guy simply because i fancied his wrists. hubby has nice hands and wrists. that's why i married him. really.

12) i don't eat taugeh unless it's in epok-epok sayur. i find chocolate bars sickening, but chocolate in ice-cream and cake is fine.

13) i don't smoke and drink. a fact that many people do not, and *refuse* to believe. why, cos i look like an spg ke?

14) i've dated one american guy briefly (oh there you go, PROOF of my spgness!!), and put an end to it cos he was a tad strange for me (and that's putting it mildly). imagine this, he wants to "do it" with spirits. phuckin' freak.

15) i am turned on by guys who don't miss their prayers.

16) speaking of turn ons, my hair is my ultimate schmultimate erogenous zone. so don't anyhow stroke-stroke my hair ok.

17) banglas always mistake me for a filipino/indo maid.

18) i've gone for my umrah, and witnessed truly unbelievable things. like the arabic word "Allah" displayed boldly across a cloudless orange sky. i kid you not. i'm dying to go again.

19) i still get pimples.

20) i am a closet britney fan.

okay dah penat.

2005-09-10T11:25:00.000+08:00

SYUKUR

phew. what a trying 3 weeks it has been, i'm just glad i got out of it alive. literally.

i've lost every bit of the 2 kg i'd gained, and am now scrambling to get them back. very precious, you know. now i'm back to gracing the cicak kobing on a crash diet look. not pretty, and definitely not healthy. must get that 'chicken and potatoes' chubbiness back.

i've come to realise that a person's health is fucken important, and one should never ever ever take it for granted! things that you think "always happen to everyone else but me" CAN HAPPEN TO YOU! so one must be proactive in going for checkups ok. seriously. i'm making mine a compulsory annual ritual already. thanks to the recent scare that i had. which i'm still recuperating from.

so girls, GO for that pap smear (only if you're sexually active yah). GO for that mammogram. go for whatever checkups you can, at least once a year. sometimes things can creep up on you unknowingly. especially if you have a history of illnesses on your parents' side (and no, rouge is not telling you to go all hypochondriac on yourself). just for safe measure. don't get a scare that is 5 years too late.

sekarang the plan for rouge is to:

* eat at least 3 square meals a day - lotsa vege and fruits and less spicy dishes. and STOP eating before i get full (v impt!).

* exercise? haha... ok seriously, i DIE-DIE must get cracking on this. i'm already brisk-walking on a daily basis, but i suspect my body needs more than that. hmm, howsabout a weekly dance at a happening club? that'd jiggle whatever needs to be jiggled. :p but that would also mean lots of unwanted smoke, so must rethink. amore dancing classes? ok, definitely a consideration.

* not sweat the small stuff, and appreciate the family more. go out more with friends, esp those who make you laugh. should 'maintain and retain' happiness whenever you can. living in this country is already so stressful.

* immerse myself more in the spiritual stuff. i'm not getting any younger eh, so must confide in God more. and indulge in more kind acts. put a stop to all the unkind ones. forgive and forget. wah liao, i think this point is the most impt one leh!

* not to give up in the baby-making dept. not get too sad when i see other people's beautiful children. not to get depressed and shut myself out from people. there must be a reason and hikmah to all this, so i must persevere. and yeah, to dismiss all the makcik kepos of the world (with a tiny flick of my wrist). they're not worth it.

now rouge is tired. she needs to retire. something still hurts and throbs, but all the well-wishes make the pain somehow go away. thanks fwens.

2005-08-26T16:26:00.000+08:00

MY WOMB, MY BUSINESS (IN OTHER WORDS, F.O.)

i think some people have kacang kuda for brains.

of late, i'm been bombarded by THE question of the year by the makcik kepos of the world ~ "kenapa masih takde baby?"

*stumped*

like i know. like i'm God???

take one incident for example.

when i answered, "masih belom rezeki cik..."

she went, "you are still young, you shouldn't have problems..."

so i reiterated, "masih belom rezeki, apa nak buat. we're still trying ah..."

to which she insisted, "how can you say you're still trying? young people shouldn't be still trying! you're supposed to sangkot a long time ago!"

i then retorted, "eh manalah kita tau, Tuhan belom nak kasi! we can only ikhtiar, but He decides when!"

her reply to that logic? "you guys must be doing it wrongly."

wahhhhhhhhh, so crever horrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

me; all of 28 years; schooled in science; working in a medical environment - IGNORANT ABOUT THE BASICS OF PROCREATION!!

nak cucuk tang mana? tang sini eh cik????

bodoh punya kacang kuda.

this weekend, my new house will be sprawling with hundreds of relatives (literally) cos of the housewarming kenduri. i just *KNOW* they'll be killing me with the same stupid question.

i don't like this one bit.

i like kacang kuda, but not for brains.

must.prepare.sarcastic.ammo.

2005-08-23T10:40:00.000+08:00

DAVE NAZARRO

somebody's got a new toy. somebody couldn't stop grinning since last night. somebody better compose a song QUICK. *somebody else* is in dire need of a romantic serenade.

happy 28th birthday b! may you look 18 always. nari kita makan besar haaa. :)

*many thanks to you-know-whos who helped this clueless being with her purchase. now the laki wants his AMPS. macam mana ni??

2005-08-14T22:16:00.000+08:00

ONE

taken a year ago, time baru pak-pak bing-bing

today's our first wedding anniversary. and our 11th dating anniversary. :)

i was greeted by these first thing in the morning. one can never go wrong with flowers and ice-cream cake!

this pair of pengantin basi decided to have a quiet, domestic celebration for a change. no need for fancy restaurants or over-the-top gifts. after all, the husband is finally fulfilling his 11-year promise to cook for the wife!! eh FINALLY tau! do you know how LOOOONNNNGGGGGG the wife had to wait for this historical moment?! for 9 years, it was, "my mum tak kasi i touch her kitchenlah b." throughout the 10th year, it was, "i very paiseh want to cook in your mum's kitchenlah b." now that he has run out of excuses (semenjak domenjak dah ada rumah sendiri ni), he has no choice but to strip himself of his kitchen virgin status this very day! and i am more than happy cos the feeling *IS* like striking lottery you know! wah piang eh!!

next came the big question. nak masak apa? member ambitious you! telor tak pernah goreng, tapi mati-mati nak try resipi asmah laili! hehehe! baby steps, b!

it was quite chore to think of a dish that is not too difficult to whip up, but is not taik gigi either. before i had the chance to tell him my suggestion, i found him in the kitchen, all raring to go.

see that? he was all dressed for the occasion.

the kitchen virgin - undeniably excited about his first time. :p

it turned out he liked my suggestion and immediately set himself to work. i was there only to bark out the necessary instructions. hee!

kitchen virgin having *wee* too much fun.

half an hour later,

the vegetables are ready,

the rencah is ready,

and so is the seafood.

can you guess what the virgin is cooking?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

kway teow tom yam!!

not bad for your first time eh? *clap clap*

i enjoyed the dish very much. next time, we'll use more cili padi ok, b? :) somehow eh, this feels more like my birthday than our anniversary. but i'm not complaining! :D

now he's saying maybe he should quit his day job and become a full-fledged househusband. *winces*

NAH~

that's MY turf. :p

anyway, thanks a lot for today b. you are a very good and useful husband. LOL!! boleh diharap!

for that alone, i promise to love you for an extra 100 years! don't stop that loving feeling baybeh!! (and don't you ever menggatal hokay!)

i loveyouloveyouloveyou! <3

2005-08-10T23:27:00.000+08:00

NI ASTHMA LAILI NAK CAKAP SIKIT

this is now my new makeshift living room - until the sofa set comes. mrs izad must be happy now that there is no more tikar mengkuang to cramp her style (and her butt). :p it's reminiscent of a bachelor pad, but we like it. empok dan gebu. benda lain tak penting. haha.

oh yeah, there are curtains in the living room now - an advance present from the mil for my up-and-coming anniversary!

curtains for the bedroom too, to match the purplish-silver wall. no more frantic, towel-clad, 2-metre dashes from room to room for me! (tengok tu, wedding portraitku masih berbungkus lagi. ish ish.)

the hubster prefers a shower curtain for his study. unconventional, but i think it works. not to mention hassle-free.

tonight i decided to break my own cook-only-on-weekends rule. feeling *extra* rajin punya pasal.

lauk emergency no 1: sambal tumis udang

lauk emergency no 2: ayam masak terengganu

the mouths i had to feed. :)

a very satisfied punggol neighbour. kesian dia, laki jauh nun di scotland. don't say i never take care of your wife hor, mr gopal!

at this point i'm so knackered i have no energy left for a bath. how *do* some working women do it?? cooking, while therapeutic, is something else if executed on a daily basis (i'm of course referring to fellow full-time office hoggers). you'll spend so much time cleaning up afterwards, you won't even have time to garok your pantat!

i think i'll confine my asmah laili inclinations to strictly weekends from now on. monday to friday = makan kat rumah makbapak. kalau susah sangat, kedai kopi 24 jam kat blok sebelah ada.

janji dapat garok pantat.

2005-08-05T18:12:00.000+08:00

RANDOMLY RAMBLING

so many things to write about, so little time. i shan't bother with the swirling archives in my head.

all i know is, july passed by like yesterday's angin pus-pus. didn't even feel it. where the heck did july go??

it must be the new house. the new schedule as homeowners. the sudden barrage of chores. the sudden onslaught of bills. wahlan, like this ah, i make sure the next time i flush, i better not press the button so hard. so use less water. damned bills.

still adjusting here.

now it's august, the GOLDEN MONTH. for me at least. both the 1st year anniversary and the laki's birthday are coming soon. my poor head feels wrecked with all the half-baked plans that i have to cook up. theme *must* revolve around "highly meaningful" (read: minimum cash, haha!). eh "meaningful" is always good ok. think sappy poems and other similar jiwa retak entities. now can someone teach me how to write a poem? i only know i love you, you love me, i kentot, you lari. *eyes dog-eared, primary six autograph book*

work is still overwhelming, house is still sparse and echo-ey, housewifeliness is still not up to par, womb is still trying.

but i'm thankful.

my nazzmatazz makes a hell of a (house)husband. all he needs to do now is learn how to cook. goreng telor pon jadilah b!

it's funny that you can *still* discover new quirks about each other after, what, 11 years together? i DIDN'T know that he'd turn out to be such a neurotic nitpicker!! he even makes the bed better than me! tsk tsk.

this husband very good hor, very efficient. i think he can be best friends with mr izad's roomba. in fact, i think mr izad and wa de laokong would make the perfect gay couple (if they ever get together, that is). one simply loves to cook and the other, has a questionable fetish for cleaning.

we so lucky hor, mrs izad.

2005-07-27T17:32:00.000+08:00

ALL IN A (72-HOUR) DAY'S WORK

work is like quicksand. lately i feel like i'm sinking more and more into an abysmal void; never to get out. assignments are snowballing at an alarming rate, leaving my colleague and i gasping for oxygen every other second. big boss is considering hiring another person, but even that is not enough to cope with the demands of the job. we need at least another 3 more people, balls! as of now, the publication i'm handling is already planned 10 months ahead of schedule. TEN FRIGGING MONTHS. filming days of our lives pon kalah. if i eat, sleep, berak, kentot at the office 24-7 also not enough. i think i need 48 hours in a day. maybe 72.

the mess on my right

more editing to do on my left (and ALL URGENT. ptui.)

people have one "in" tray. i have three!! very the lawan towkay lor~

i simply can't remember the last time something was NOT urgent.

see that? that's the torn scrotum i was talking about. i get to feast my eyes on things like this every day. yeay for me.

with medical jargons like these for my daily decipherment, it's a wonder the screws in my head are still intact. etoricoxib my ass.

aren't you guys going to congratulate me?

i think i just got married to my work.

2005-07-25T18:00:00.000+08:00

PRE-RAYA FEVER

it's becoming a yearly ritual for us - that trip to arab street to satisfy our kain fetish!

the baju raya theme that my laki and i had agreed on for the first day had also been officialised as the theme for the makcik-makcik 77clan! sep duit aku! while last raya we girls looked like langsir hijau bergerak, this year we hope to look, err, less boria? but still stick to the theme nonetheless.

i *always* need company when it comes to buying material. that's because i NEVER bother to bargain. don't know the art of it; never ever gonna pick it up! thus i must be forever flanked by the makcik-makcik tawar-menawar, who i swear have the thickest skin ever!

eh i found the songket of my choice!

a very lame attempt at bargaining. sungguh tak jadi.

me having a go at a couple of famous boobs :p

vertical lines: flattering, you!

the hunt for the perfect material has also brought something else to light. besides putting on 2 kg ever since i started my new job (which i'm *very* happy about), my waistline has also expanded (like duh!). no more tiny 24-inch anorexic kerengge waist! now it's 26 and a half inches, thank you very much. though a bit boncit, i like it. more of me to love right? hihi. but it *will* stop at 26 and a half. no more buffets for you, rouge.

after all that hunting, i only managed to settle one outfit. hmm, no good. this calls for arab street part two. and hubster is just as good as any makcik tawar-menawar out there. he's my true blue abang-abang bargain.

*picts courtesy of makcik bargain #1

2005-07-23T00:00:00.000+08:00

:(

am very VERY angry. my plans for a romantic sunday with the spouse-who'll-be-back-from-downunder has been ruined. just like that. why do i even bother in the first place.

f*ck the best laid plans. i guess for some people, priorities differ. f*ck lah. next time, i won't bother.

2005-07-20T11:53:00.000+08:00

SENDIRIAN BERHAD

my baby's gone to sydney for an entire week. it's definitely lonely at the new crib. i succumbed to sleeping at mum's only for a day, and decided to brave it out on my own for the rest of the week. haha. penakut. actually i dragged my baby sister to stay with me for the week. she has less things to pack, no? so now i'm playing mother to her - preparing all her school stuff; making breakfast too (usually it's breakfast at the workplace for the hubster and i)!

and tonight my dapur will finally berasap, cos i'll be having visitors over. visitors who want to take the night off from preparing dinner themselves. the menu? simple. fish and chips with a side of chicken salad. no laborious malay dishes for me yet, balik kerja penat oiii!!

alright salad pon dah siap, sekarang nak siap pegi kerja pulak. tata!
.............................

fish & (good) company

the product of my kitchen deflowering :)
*picts courtesy of izadnhana*

2005-07-10T17:06:00.000+08:00

ORIENTATION NITE

tonight's officially THE night. we're inhabiting the lovenest for good. :)

most of our heavy furniture and boxes have already been moved to the new abode last evening. the belen-belen harta will be moved in gradual stages throughout the coming week. *more travelling like nomads*

to tell you the truth, i'm a bit sad to leave my parents' place. i've grown so attached to my room (but rouge, change is g-o-o-d!). i really wonder how i'm going to cope in the new place on my own. what if i suck at maintaining a home?? the constant vacuuming, mopping, dusting, wiping... dahlah hall macam padang bola.

the yet-to-be-furnished house has been receiving quite a number of visitors lately, ranging from random relatives to random strangers! i must say that i rather enjoy doing the vanna white, explaining every nook and cranny to the interested audience. everyone loves the kitchen. :)

this vanna white also had to keje keras these few days tau - mopping and scrubbing away all that post-reno dust and dirt. macow punyalah bertepek! and it's still not 100% squeaky clean. my guess is, it will take another month before i can walk without dreading that berpasir feeling.

vanna white polishing the glass, pakai tangga lagi

husbter tenyeh-ing the french windows

my mum mopping the paling bertepek kitchen floor ~ thanks ibu!

budak kecik a.k.a. dilsbedils, the ever reliable $5-an-hour tukang sapu

macam besok nak raya gitu kan?

i even found out that my fellow tingkat enam neighbours are a very affable bunch. highflyers in their thirties and forties, very "clickable" people. we have only engaged in a few conversations but i like them already. they said we are the youngest babies on the block and even gave us a name ~ we're "the cute engineer and editor pair". haha. cute kaper.

oh, we also learnt, albeit the hard way, that this particular nyonya at tingkat empat is a bitch from hell. i hope i will *never* have to experience a chance encounter in the lift with her. confirm perang lagi. condescending, motormouth, shameless (she wears her suar sepen in public for goodness' sake) and the cari-pasal type, she's now a splinter in my toe; a potential health hazard. seeing that she doesn't like us much, i see trouble brewing in the future. perhaps i should load up on the pepper spray.

other than that stupid nyonya tak sedar diri, everything else is going as smooth as a baby's bottom. speaking of babies, it's high time that we commence baby-making at the lovenest! i sincerely hope that amongst all that stubborn remaining dust in the house, lurks some precious, precious babydust. :)

2005-07-03T14:45:00.000+08:00

PINING FOR PUNGGOL

am supposed to be packing now. but heck, the hubster is away for soccer, so i shall carpe diem! (read: curi tulang) and blog for a few minutes. :p

the lovenest is complete. YEAY!!! saya excited nak mampos!

my parents' place is currently littered with packed and unpacked goods. the mess from my bedroom has spilled over its boundaries and meandered into the living room area. we are supposed to move today, but 'circumstances' are forcing us to wait another week. the suspense is mounting.

i'm slowly savouring the idea of our newfound independence, however premature it is at this point. i can finally have a kitchen to call my own! also very important: my own system of organising the kitchen stuff. both mum and mil have their own ways of doing things, which i no longer wish to adapt to (aku anal lah, bukan apa). now my collection of cookbooks will have a new sanctuary, along with a new purpose in life! enough of collecting dust in the corner, hokay.

the lovenest has been QC-ed by both sets of parents this week. hubster and i were rather apprehensive at first because we thought they wouldn't approve of the minimalist approach (especially my handle-less kitchen cabinets!), but the very unsangkarable thing happened da dey. they loved the concept! "very clean, needs minimal fussing," they cooed. that's the idea mah... :)

while the kitchen (to me the most important aspect of the house if you haven't noticed by now :p) is fully equipped and raring to go, the living and dining rooms are still empty spaces for now. seeing the terminal state of our pockets, i think it's wise to restrain from a furniture-buying spree for the time being. golek-golek atas carpet pon ok aper. janji TV ada.

ok, back to packing now.

2005-06-29T12:23:00.000+08:00

IMAN

my goddaughter iman turns one month old today. have a happy one month, sweetheart!

she has changed quite a bit since i last visited her at the hospital. yesterday she looked more like her mama (actually 100% her mama!)... *too bad*, ayah! her soyabean-white skin has turned a lovely shade of olive - must be all that suntanning the kiddo's getting. :)

godma - me - splurged on more iman gifts (can't help it lah). her mama loved the white lace dress so much, she's planning to let iman wear it for her cukur rambut next month. *grins from ear to ear*

sleepy iman

smiley iman!

babies are such miracles, aren't they. they are so tiny and yet conjure such boundless unconditional love. this kiddo is not even mine, and yet i'm already smitten by the love bug. <3

2005-06-25T00:35:00.000+08:00

COUNTDOWN

the lovenest is 90% done. just a few more days left to home sweet home!

this future mistress-of-the-house managed to take some pictures of the shagpad with her trusty handphone - with a couple of day and night comparisons - she *is* jakun after all.

the outstanding works (remaining lights installation, kitchen cabinets and painting of the walls), i believe will be done in no time at all. after all that hentam keromo decision-making, the house came very close to what we'd envisioned it to be: minimalist with lots of clean lines and neutral tones. certain areas looked a tad too pale to me (blame it on the generous use of white fixtures), but it's nothing that can't be fixed with a few loud accessories. oh well, have a looksee will you?

LOVENEST IN PROGRESS

false ceiling (before and after downlights)

view of living and dining areas

my most favourite thing in the house, the dining lights

bomb shelter disguised by feature wall

study-cum-game room (before and after parquet flooring)

the wall of my master bedroom. just love that colour.

what i call the albino kitchen. still in progress. a bit pucat for now, but i know what i can do to make it more sexciting! :p

kitchen lights

so the pictures are rather pathetic. oklah, VERY pathetic. damn small and unclear. but it's ok mah, since it's just a preview. later when it's all done up, with furniture to boot, i'll take proper pictures pulak lah. with a proper camera. i promise.

i CAN'T WAIT to move out. imagine all that sacred privacy! imagine having the choice to go topless or bottomless at will! (imagine no parents!!)

damn priceless i tell you.

the jakun queen would like to continue waxing lyrical about her royal abode but alas, she must sign off for now. fulfil her royal duties she must.

packinglah beb, apa lagi. chet.

2005-06-23T12:45:00.000+08:00

MORE STORK NEWS

2005 is awesome or what? it has been raining baby girls all around me (what productive friends i have)! i'm only too happy to share in the infinite joy that comes with every newborn baby. that toothless gummy smile, those bouncy cheeks, those smooth kepak ayam thighs!

i had the pleasure of seeing miss nura junior that other day. she goes by the pretty name of NYLA (last i checked, no connection to britney spears whatsoever :p). mummy nura was kind enough to entertain us even in her confinement (she's looking good i must say), and was even generous with the pre and post-natal advice! you know, in case i give birth tomorrow or something.

congrats again nura ~ she certainly *is* one leggy beauty!

someone's basking in the glow of motherhood

lil nyla has her mummy's eyes,

her daddy's nose,

and hmm... mummy's lips?

rouge just *has* to 'tangkap bau' from every newborn baby, no?

thanks for all those tips awak!!

when is it going to be my turn, i wonder. *scratches tummy*

2005-06-16T21:34:00.000+08:00

PAK PAK BING BING LAGI!

last weekend it was the hubby's turn to play wedding chauffeur to one of his best pals, hafiz "jonik" imram. it was high time he returned hafiz the favour for being our helpful chauffeur-slash-errand boy last year.

all i can say is, they very secocok lor.

hafiz and haniza, bride and groom du jour

the graffiti art on the wedding RAF4 - courtesy of groom himself

do you spot someone familiar? yup, that's haizad imram a.k.a. singapore idol contestant a.k.a. groom's younger brother

what's having an idol for a brother for if he's not going to sing at your wedding, aye? and he *is* macow-peh-hensem. even my laki agrees. :p

10 month old pengantin

apologies to charm for not being able to make it for her big day.

hubby berkepit dengan pengantin = rouge berkepit dengan hubby = rouge tak boleh pegi mana-mana lagi

nonetheless, i wish you selamat pengantin baru; may both you and rafee have a blessed life ahead. it's only going to get better from here. :)

on an entirely different note, rouge has been feeling listless and lethargic of late. she needs some ACTION. maybe she'll sign up for dancing classes or something. maybe some karaoke-ing will fix her up. unless you're ready to pay, please don't suggest shopping to her, as she desperately needs to save up some precious moolah for her dream furniture. the lovenest is waiting.

but then again, maybe she should wait till the lovenest is done. maybe that's where the REAL action is. *guffaws*

2005-06-01T21:59:00.000+08:00

INTRODUCING: THE CURRENT LOVE OF MY LIFE

that's iman misha. i've been waiting for her to arrive ever since her mom told me of her 7-week existence. she arrived, wide-eyed, on May 29, 2005. with skin as fair as alabaster (thanks to mom's daily intake of soya milk), full head of hair, and itty-bitty pouty liv tyler lips. my goddaughter is one lovely babe. :)

that's mommy sabs with lil iman. and that's me, not wanting to let go.

2005-05-26T22:01:00.000+08:00

DRIVING MISS DUD

the hubster has been bugging me to get my driving licence for the longest time. and i'm still iffy about it.

passing that basic theory when i was 17 was a breeze. now 11 years later, i'm still queasy about taking it to the road. my sense of direction is so koyak it's not funny. strap me behind the wheel ~ and watch me turn kamikaze.

remember your primary school trip to the road safety park? i was the only cyclist going against the entire world on a one-way street. needless to say, i didn't leave the park with that sought after self-validating certificate. hopeless then; hopeless now.

i will never fail to shudder every time our baby Em passes by a bus or worse, a lori balak. i am perpetually dogged by this paranoia that these huge metallic monsters will flatten me in a matter of seconds. it's the same kind of fear that will grip me whenever i enter a lift. it's a known fact to my family that i will never enter a lift without someone going in and pressing the 'door open' button in advance. blame that on a little incident that happened when i was three. let's just say that i was once sandwiched in between lift doors. bad, BAD experience. but what excuse do i have for my phobia of the roads? even i can't answer that.

and what's worse, driving is not a phobia that i can face up to ala fear factor without affecting other people. one mistake from spatially-challenged me and POOF! someone's gonna get hurt.

so dear hubby, can i be excused from getting my licence for like, forever? besides, you're already a fineeeeee drebar. i'm no competition. :p

please come back soon from thailand ok. i want to go see our "under-progress" lovenest togeder-geder. shopping for lights this weekend will be a hoot!

2005-05-18T22:22:00.000+08:00

ADAKAH SAYA MENYUSAHKAN NENEK ANDA?

oooh where do i start?

once again, the blog terrorist(s) have struck. maligning unsuspecting people in their paths. focusing on hate, hate and more unnecessary hate.

tak paham. i'll never paham.

but it's ok lor. i'll stick to my "f*ck it, pi mampos lah musibot" philosophy. works for me. nak cakap apa, cakaplah. as long as i'm happy and "feel good about myself" (hurhur), whether alone or flanked by fellow kamchenghoes. orang nak kritik, irihati, umpat, muntah darah - suka hatilahhhhh...

hmm, rasa-rasa macam dah lama tak update gitu. hmm, memang betol pon. been busy at work that's why. what's new aye. been having 7-day weeks. ni keje ke, jadi kuli batak? but i really shouldn't complain. my work rocks even though the workload is UNFRIGGIN'BELIEVABLE. every day i process research papers until i see stars. torn scrotums and swollen rectums are a daily treat. making out illegible doctors' scrawls has become a *really* specialised skill. recently, i discovered that event management falls under my size-24 belt too. hence the 7-day weeks. bring it on, i say. what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.

looking forward to a 77clan outing soon. a bunch of ordinary, run-of-the-mill twenty-eight year olds are meeting up for some harmless fun.

*looks left and right for hidden sniper*

2005-05-08T15:35:00.000+08:00

LOVENEST OVERHAUL

i've been taking precious leave from work lately to settle my reno stuff. and i'm expecting more hectic shuttling from the workplace to the lovenest from now on; all in the name of nitpicking and scrutiny. dear apek(s), you must do work on time, and do it well, hokay.

i'm sure those who have been there, done that, would agree with me that renovation takes a hideous toll on your energy and bank balance! i'm just beginning to recover from the aftershock of the wedding... only to be confronted with this next huge step in my matrimonial existence. decisions were made fast and furious (none of those fickleness during my wedding planning), cos of the time factor and also, both the hubster and i know very well that if we sit on a decision for far too long, we're bound to change our minds at least twenty times after that.

we didn't buy that many decor magazines (compared to the gargantuan stack of wedding magazines i have in my room). neither did we produce any cut-outs or scrapbooks for the benefit of our interior designer. this time it's just flip-flip-glance-glance, and try to absorb as many inspirational ideas our befuddled minds would allow us. when it was time to choose the concept/materials/colours, our choices were impromptu but resolute. cantik? amik. kena ke tak kena ni? hantam sajalah. go with the gut baby. kalau dah jadi tak cantik, nanti boleh pikir.

renovation's gonna take 6-8 weeks. kesian jiran sebelah-menyebelah.

2005-05-04T13:45:00.000+08:00

MAK SAYA KATA DON'T EVER SERKAP JARANG OK

*clears throat*

i'm here to declare that i'm NOT pregnant. a mere discussion of four-letter baby names is NOT, in any way, indicative of my pregnancy (or any other people's pregnancies for that matter). UNpregnant women are allowed to discuss baby names, no? you mean i'm not allowed to be mentel and daydream about my imaginary kids? so please, enough with the assumptions already. assumptions can be dangerous you know. just look around at the blogwars around you. *shudder*

but supposing i *do* get pregnant one day (insya Allah, make that sooner than later please), i wouldn't just announce it to the whole anonymous blogging world at such at early stage. some things are best kept private. everyone knows how fragile the first trimester is. ok so not everyone knows. but if you don't, well, you should.

anyway, people have been asking me abt my nurofmyeyes blog. i've stopped writing there for various reasons, one of which is to put a stop to all the irritating assumptions people have about me. i may start writing about my ttc efforts again, so if you're interested, you can always email me. if i think you're one of those who are able to "embrace" my frustrations without going all judgemental, then i just might give you the new url - if i should start writing again of course. my email's on the top right-hand corner. feel free to drop me a note. and this is not being elitist tau. ni namanya not tolerating any more crap from the "anons" of cyberworld. takde masa.

2005-04-27T23:31:00.000+08:00

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

i made a new discovery today.

i found out that my name, in japanese, means little bunny.

patotlah aku cute. LOL!!

seriously i had *no* idea that my name is a legitimate japanese word (albeit a slang derivative). rin hanekoma adalah. but rini? doesn't that sound more indonesian than japanese? i am a bona fide javanese minah after all.

i grew up struggling with my given name. i felt that it lacked creativity; a certain je ne sais quoi. i resented its extremely alphabetically-challenged nature and had long suspected it to be the reason for my similarly vertically-challenged self. yes i know. how silly. but really. my name is so short that people thought my dad's name was my middle name. ridiculous but true. and somehow, people could remember my name better if they included my dad's name as well. so in class, farah was farah, alvin was alvin, and monica was monica. and i was - yes - "rini saadon". rini saadon this, rini saadon that. rini saadon, can you help me carry the books? rini saadon and rizal will do the sums on the board today. get the picture?

there was this period of time where i kept bugging my parents to legally change my name. yes, how very mentel and ungrateful of me! i conjured up as many "pretty" names as possible (to go with my own name), wrote them in my little notebook, and showed them to my parents to get their consensus. i remember my favourite ~ rini arianna. of course my parents brushed me off. they thought i was nuts. heh.

i didn't sulk for long though. i grew to like my name (i didn't say love). people started telling me that it's unique and not as common as the other "rin" alternative - rina (no offence all the rinas out there). anyway, it sounded good when my french tutor pronounced it ~ "rrrrrrrrenee! ecoutez, s'il vous plait!" please don't forget to roll your 'r' until your kahak terkeluar ok.

nowadays, people don't call me rini as much. close friends know i very much prefer to be called rin. and i'm going to do the exact thing to my future daughter what my own parents had done to me.

i'm giving her a four-letter name. :p

2005-04-24T19:30:00.000+08:00

NEW BEGINNINGS, OLD BONES

i have about two weeks left until my 3 month probation clears. and i'm feeling darned good about clearing it. my boss told me,"you should have no problem getting confirmed." besides, he flirts with me a lot. LOL. harmless flirting yah. and i tell hubster about it every time. he thinks my boss is old and ridiculous, bordering on senile. eiyerrr, he's anything but senile. smart, smart ass of a man. but make no mistake, hubby's perky rear is still very much the object of my desire. heh. haiyaaaa, where are youlah husband?? i'm so lonely and kering kontang without you here!!

bet some of you have totally forgotten about my lovenest in punggol. i'm happy to report that it is steadily going through renovations right now (thanks to flirty boss who gave me my editorial job). previously when i was the pathetic unemployed pseudo tai-tai, i couldn't jolly well apply for a reno loan. but now, everything is going as well as planned, alhamdullilah. we would expect the makeover to be completed in june. i hope the minimalist art deco theme for the lovenest would materialise the way i'd envisioned it. oh, except for the walk-in wardrobe. that place would totally be *retrofied*. think fur, candy colours and lots of psychedelic lamps! our new house project is uber duper exciting it hurts!! i'm also squirming to plan my own - my first ever - housewarming party. aku sukalah jadi (house) hostess ni sumer! boleh feeling-feeling jadi martha stewart-cum-nigella lawson incarnate gitu.

lately i have many newfound friends to meet up with, even more old friends to catch up with, but why does it feel that i hardly have time to squeeze in anything nowadays? either i'm slowly becoming a slave to work (*recalling mounts everest, pinatubo and krakatoa sitting unprettily on desk*), or age is simply catching up with me. i no longer possess the zest and energy that used to prevail in my early-twenties body. clubbing is out of the question. naik tangga dua tingkat je dah tak larat. kental betol.

2005-04-21T18:04:00.000+08:00

RAIHANBINIAZIMYANGSAH

yeay yeay, raihan dubs dah kahwin!!

and it was truly a GLITZY, RITZY affair.

some blogger friends and i had the honour of gracing the exceptionally romantic occasion. and boy, was i swooned off my feet. not only by the lush decor and ambience, but also the love i witnessed between the newlyweds - raihan and azim. *especially* the love. it was as if noone else existed that night.

inspirational. rasa macam nak kahwin lagi you...!

thank you for letting me witness the most meaningful event of your life ~ you were breathtaking! *still sucking on oxygen mask here* lawa-lawa gitu pon kau sempat buat kelakar eh? you're a one-stop comedienne-bridelah; that's what you are. :) and please tell azim he looks fabuloussss in makeup (ada potential jadi MAC model ok!). alright, i'll see when i see you yah? have a shaggadelic honeymoon awak!!

to all the new faces i saw (and interacted with) that day, it was great meeting you...! it's always nicer to have real human contact, don't you agree?

to the hubster in thailand, i miss you, cepat balik ok. otherwise i'll be pekerja paling-and-terlampau mithali and stay in the office every day till 9 pm. nanti ada eyebags you jugakkkk yang susah. itu eye cream estee lauder jugak kena beli. :p

2005-04-08T23:21:00.000+08:00

FABULOUS TWOEIGHT

i turned 28 two days ago (yes happy birthday to me!). three hours before i earned a new wrinkle on my forehead, i got myself a tattoo. someplace where the sun doesn't shine.

*picture masked for obvious reasons*

nice? hehe. i've always wanted a rose on my ****.

relax ah... it's not permanent ok. it's HENNA. thanks to her, i made the hubster one very happy man. yes, i know... even though it was *my* birthday. well, if he's happy, then i'm happy, yes?

a few hours before i became officially closer to the big threezero, i also received this from her.

tarching ah. in my favourite colours no less. thanks kamisah elizaku! that was really sweet of you. really made my day. :)

misa wasn't the only one with the tarching gesture. the hubster picked me up from work on the big day itself and handed me this as i boarded baby Em:

his flower substitute (he made sure got futterfly!)

what it said on the outside

what it said on the inside. awwwwwwww.

he took me to a majestic place

where i had my fill and was actually craving for seconds

and then it was time for dessert.

"would you like to have chocolate? how does max brenner sound?" he asked. (my, my... is that a perky face or what.)

"i heard chocolate is an aphrodisiac you know." is it? hehe. naughty boy.

ended up being a sucker for suckao

with a new tattoo and a potent aphrodisiac coursing my veins, what could possibly go wrong after that? LOL

merci beaucoup for the lovely evening baby. thanks for the new hp too. remember, it's your turn next to get that tattoo. preferably someplace where the sun AND the moon AND the stars don't shine. *evil smirk*

the fun didn't stop there. earlier today, the 77clan took me out - *heart* - my 2nd birthday with 'em gals! we were sadly missing birthday gal no. 2 though. if you're reading this, happy boobsday vj ash!!

click

and that was just Part One.

to be continued.

2005-04-05T10:54:00.000+08:00

IT'S RAINING GIRLS

when i received this mms from her, i was over the moon. nevermind that she's not mine. so happy was i that i made it my hp wallpaper for the next few days. i showed it off to colleagues and forwarded it to other bloggers who knew the mummy. i think she looks just like her daddy. ok, ok... i *know* she's not mine. :p

and so i rushed to a place where i knew i could find baby thingies as adorable as lil adawiyah. i got my heart set on these, even though they were probably 5 sizes too big for her tiny feet.

zara booties!

on friday night, i got my wish fulfilled. i got to see adawiyah in the flesh. :)

here's mummy sofia and the lil sleepy one

auntie rini got potential or not?

just imagine the baby smell that comes with that adorable face. :)

babies. how i just love them.

another bundle of joy is also due this june. the firstborn to dearest tk galpal, sabs. the rest of the self-appointed tk godmommies are just itching to know what she looks like. sabs thought we should see what baby iman looked like at 7 months (in the tummy), so she asked us godmommies out for a lovely mediterranean dinner.

self-appointed godmommies with mummy-to-be (and baby iman of course!)

the very pregnant sabs

and boy, can she kick!!

sabs intends to get some prophet stories for children so that baby iman could be equipped with islamic history while nesting in the tummy. do any kind souls out there know where sabs can get these, in book or cd form? your tips are greatly appreciated. :)

2005-03-29T14:08:00.000+08:00

SINGAPORE IDLE

what did i say about this week getting shittier? it's like i've gone psychic or something. rrrrright on the money.

ok shit aside.

yesterday both the hubster and i dreamt about the singapore idol. tulah, tido lagi macam laden and laleh! mimpi pon sebijik. but then eh, in his dream, i was the singapore idol. heheheh. he said even though the judges hated me, i was the crowd's favourite. you know why? cos my performance was over-the-top vegas style, complete with backup dancers of sorts. but whether they were topless, he didn't elaborate. *sengih*

in my dream, i was with the singapore idol. yes, with my beloved taufik batisah. i was a sneaky two-timer though, cos in lala land, i was dating *both* the hubster and the idol. but guess who was playing the hard-to-get bugger? laki aku daaaaa... taufik batisah jugak best. romantic you!!

if i sleep with his cd under my pillow tonight, do you reckon i'll get a deja vu taufik-my-love screening? one rendition of me and mrs joned from my lala land amour would really make my week.

2005-03-28T12:25:00.000+08:00

SHITTY SHITTY BANG BANG

today's a shitty day. pagi-pagi buta dah bingit. why do i get blamed for things which are not even remotely my fault? if it's so fucking hard to please both parties, i might as well not even try. i have my own life, so stop it with your unreasonable demands. there's no need to scream and shout when there's clearly a more civil way of doing things. i'm an adult. so treat me like one.

baru monday dah shitty. i foresee an even shittier week coming up. too many nitty-gritty issues cropping up everywhere.

i need to be away from all this unnecessary nonsense. pegi shopping kasut lagi baik.

2005-03-22T18:35:00.000+08:00

KETOT

quite a few conversations that cropped up lately seemed to revolve around sizism - the number one issue in my life! how can it not be, when my miniscule stature is often the cause of debate over my real age and maturity. as much as i try not to let it get in the way of living life, somewhere, SOMEHOW, sizism would never fail to be the thorn in my side. being small gave way to certain unfortunate incidents in the past, which irked me to this day.

i didn't get to date in primary school like all the other (TALLER) girls. even the katek boys preferred the taller girls. nah, don't get me wrong, it's not like i cared to date in my prepubescent years (for my even tinier nose was always buried in books), but i did feel the occasional twinge of envy when i saw the popular (read: TALL) girls constantly being courted by the katek mats. not even my hubby noticed me (same class, remember?). tapi takpe, at that time his jambol dingdong was too kembang for my liking *anyway*.

in secondary school, i fared a little better. i shot up by a full head by sec 2, but was still one of the shortest girls around. but hey, it was ok - cos having boobs seemed to change everything (ok, *antbites*). i dated. yup, i dated! secondary school life was colourful even though i was in an all-girls school. height wasn't really a factor. as long as you're a bonafide anak makcik.

then from jc onwards, just when i was starting to be comfortable in my own skin, sizism claimed me full-strength.

i hated how people would automatically assume that i was still under 16 when in fact i had already reached the age where i could easily be a bini orang. hated the fact that i would be demanded to show my i/c at R(A) shows, and then having my i/c scrutinised with such doubt that i would no sooner be dragged away by the authorities for having a fake id.

i also hated how cab drivers would ask me why i was not wearing my school uniform when in actual fact i was the teacher. and i hated the way i was handed polytechnic pamphlets on the day *my students* were due to get their O level results - DESPITE saying "i teach here" 3 freaking times. i super hated the way my pantat of a principal call me "little girl" in the presence of other colleagues. the worst of it all, was the problem of respect from the kids. just because i'm petite, somehow it gave them the idea that respect was something i didn't deserve. what did they think i deserve? a lot of inappropriate names, gestures and touching. yes, touching. one thing i will never tolerate, especially from those budak-budak hingos kencing malam. i wish i still have all those "you want to be my stead?" notes i got from some of them. hilarious, come to think of it. but that eventually killed my passion for teaching. i was my own impediment. and there was nothing i could do to change the way i was treated by the kencing malam fraternity.

now, what about those times where i was mistaken for a filipino/indo maid? priceless i tell ya. now i NEVER go to the mamak shop without dressing up. t-shirt, berms and no makeup are a recipe for disaster. the banglas will somehow sniff me out from their hiding places and literally circle around me like sharks. even with my perfectly singaporean-accented english (i even tried the queen's english mind you!), they would never budge!! there was this one incident that still plagues me...

me: (waiting for bus)
banglabrengsek: hi, you indo or filipino?
me: i'm singaporean, thank you.
banglabrengsek: you want to follow me?
me: i'm not a maid. leave me alone.
banglabrengsek: come follow me go home. come.
me: eh u crazy or what. leave me alone lah!
banglabrengsek: i very good. come follow me (pulls my hand)
me: ehhhhh what the hell are you doing?? who gives a fark how good you are?! i'm better okay!!! let me go before i slap your face!!

which i did. which didn't freaking help one bit, cos he tried to grab me again. i had to run to the middle of the road where there were absolutely *no* cars/taxis to flag down for help. that blardysekmenek proceeded to hide in the bushes at the side of the road, ready to pounce at me again. farker. nasib baik dapat taxi. i was *this* close to going to a police station.

oklah maybe it was my features (more so than my height) that rendered me maid-worthy. but most maids are similarly built as me, and i believe that my height somehow played a big role in "Molest by the Bushy Bangla Episode 1: The Big Insult".

so now you know why i wear makeup and put on heels. for safety reasons, baby. :p

now that i'm married, i still get the evil eye from the makcik-makcik interchange whenever i hold hands with my husband. wait till i get pregnant. woahhhh.

jeling lagilah makcik, jeling sampai juling!!