Learning To Dance In The Rain

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-10-20T08:42:00.002+08:00

Ahhhh... Don't they look just gorgeous?

I was sitting at home yesterday browsing through the Internet, while a migraine slowly pounding behind my left eye, and came across some pictures of red velvet cuppies. And I thought to myself, this could be fun. So I searched for the recipe at Joy Of Baking and after making sure that I have all the ingredients, started taking out the butter and egg from the fridge to bring them down to room temperature.

Went up for solat Zohor, watched a little movie for a while then went down to the kitchen to start baking.

First I preheated the oven to 175 degrees C. Then I prepared the buttermilk. Since I didn't have any at home, I read in the web that you can make buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of white distilled vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. So that's what I did and set it aside.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cups (125 grams) sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons (10 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

There's also the recipe for Cream Cheese frosting but I just used the frosting left over from mom's carrot cake.

Taste was yummy and I know I'll be making more of these little devils soon!!!

Ta ta.. see you real soon!!!

Vampires Are My Thing These Days

2011-10-13T16:57:00.005+08:00

No, I'm not talking about those sissy Cullen vampires girls are crazy about. Nor am I impressed by the werewolves from the same series. I don't do Vampire Diaries either. In short, I don't read teenage vamps or wares or any kinds of prenatural creatures.

But I do so love the adult vampire romance books from writers like Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, Kerrelyn Sparks, JR Ward, Lara Adrian, Lynsay Sands, Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione and Gena Showalter. These creative authors created a whole world of supernaturals; be them vampires, ware-animals, demons, harpies, valkyries, witches, wizards or angels (fallen or otherwise). I mean, I don't believe they exist in the real world. At least not in the forms that the authors created but it's so much fun to read.

Take the Dark Hunter world that Sherrilyn Kenyon created. It's based loosely on the Greek mythology. Although some characters are somewhat true to their myth like the Gods Zeus, Apollo and Artemis. However, most are a bunch of make believes.

What about the demon world of Larissa Ione's Demonica series? There are all types of demons, either human like or not, and the point of the story is that there are good demons as well as bad demons. Interesting, but so far-fetched the mind boggles. And those good demons work in a demon hospital called the Underworld General.

Then there are the vampires from Kerrelyn Sparks' Love At Stake series. Not only do the Vamps abhor killing mortals, they drink blood from bottles and they have fun Fusion blood drinks like Bleer (blood+beer), Chocolood (blood+chocolate), Blood-Lite (for the calorie conscious vamps), Blissky (blood+whisky) and the newly introduced Bloodonnay (blood+chardonnay).

I mean the imagination that these authors brought into their books are just amazing and so much fun. It's not just a typical romance book, but you are transported into a different world/realm and it's addictive. Well, I am at least. I've got every one of these authors' books and whatever I can't get from our local bookstores, I usually order from Books Depository. I just can't get enough of 'em!!

So in the last week or so, 5 of my latest 6 orders have just arrived. I've already finished 2 of them and on to the 3rd book. When I read, I'm lost in the books that people around me always complains but hey.. I don't care. It's my only guilty pleasure!!!

Cinnamon Rolls

2011-10-11T17:48:00.003+08:00

I made cinnamon rolls today. I've been browsing on the internet looking for whichever recipe or method that is the easiest.

So I found this video which uses baking powder instead of yeast, and shortening instead of butter. I decided to try this because:

1) I've never had a good relationship with yeast. My bread making skills are sadly lacking.

2) I want to use up the extra shortening that I have in the pantry before it expires.

3) It looks real easy and quick and I only have about an hour before going out to fetch Nadiah.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

6 tbsp shortening

2/3 cup milk

2 tsp melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon powder

Preheat oven at 215 degrees C.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, shortening and milk in a bowl. Using a fork mix them together (like you would a pie crust), incorporating the shortening into the flour.

Once the mixture has come together into a dough, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately 7" x 16" rectangular.

Brush the dough with the melted butter. Mix the sugar and cinnamon powder together and sprinkle over the buttered surface. Gently roll in the dough tightly. Cut about 1 1/2" rolls and arrange them in a muffin pan lined with paper cups.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

Taste great although the texture is more cakey rather than bread-ish. Maybe I should call it Cinnamon Cakes rather than Rolls. But the taste is good and everybody loves it. So mission accomplished. It only took me about 45 minutes to complete, baking time included.

Flying With Nadiah

2011-10-06T22:23:00.005+08:00

I have been meaning to blog about this for many months now. Mostly to share my experience and hopefully to help those who have children with autism or other disabilities, or even normal children travelling on an airplane for the first time.

Having a child on the autism spectrum can be a real challenge. But I believe that it's you, the parents, are the ones to determine how to handle the challenges. Knowledge is the key. In today's world, knowledge is at the tip of your fingers. With a bunch of typings and a click, you'll be able to get help on how to handle certain situations.

A year ago, hubby and I decided to take Nadiah on a vacation which would involve flying on an airplane. We chose Perth, Australia as it's a place where the culture, weather and atmosphere are different than Malaysia, but at the same time it has the shortest flight time which is approximately 5 hours. So we bought the tickets in September 2010 and flying out in June 2011. So that gave us 9 months to figure out how to prepare her for the flight. Plenty of time, right?

Nadiah has only been on an airplane when she was still a baby. Since then, we've only taken her on car trips around the country. So as a first step, we decided to test her on a trip to Singapore. But that meant 4 plane rides to and fro: Alor Setar - KL and KL - Singapore and back again. Each ride only takes about an hour or so. We booked tickets on Air Asia because they were cheap and should anything happens, we'll just close one eye and ignore the monetary loss. But to tell you the truth, I was sure she was going to love it.

So a week before the trip, I started taking Nadiah to the airport which is only about 10 minutes from home, just to familiarise her with the place where the airplanes land and pickup passengers. But we didn't actually see planes landing and taking off because it's a small airport and planes coming in and out are pretty limited. I don't think she has actually seen an actual airplane prior to the trip. She knows what they are but have only seen them in books, on TV or on the computer. And everyday we tell her that she is going on an airplane, making flying motions all around her to get her excited about the trip.

So the day came for our trip to Singapore. Woke up early in the morning, we told her that that is the day for our plane ride. We got to the airport and went through check in smoothly and when the plane arrived from KL, Nadiah was standing at the big window all excited. So far, so good. We decided to get on the plane last as she hates waiting in line. But what we forgot about cheap flights is the fact that we have to walk on the tarmac to the plane itself. There was no aerobridge to take us right into the plane. So as soon as we opened the door to the outside, Nadiah had a shock of her life. It was 8.30am, the sun was already shining bright and the door was facing east. With the sun in her eyes, the sight of a big giant bird thing and the loud sounds from the plane, I guess it must have seemed like a horrible monster to her. Nadiah stepped back, laid down on the floor, had her hands to her ears and screamed her lungs out. No amount of persuasion could get her to stop and sit up. She simply refused to listen, shutting everything out but her terror. Only after we managed to move her to the side of the door did she stopped screaming and crying. We tried again to persuade her to go out to the plane but she refused to budged. The airline people were getting restless and in the end we decided to cancel. We had to wait for them to get our luggage from the airplane and as soon as Nadiah saw me started walking the opposite way, she just calmly followed me back out of the waiting area.

Funny thing about Nadiah is, her response to new things are very unpredictable. If we go to a new place, we have to be aware of just about everything: sound, feel, sight. Basically what information may attack her senses. I say attack because some autistic children lack the ability to tune up or down whatever information that reach their senses. In Nadiah's case, she has very sensitive sense of hearing but only to some types of sounds. Loud booms like fire crackers or music blaring from the speakers at shopping malls are fine with her. But sounds of high pressured moving air like a giant fan or an aircond compressor or airplane engine noise, those are a no-no.

To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. I was crushed! I had hoped so much to be able to get her on the airplane that thinking of our failure threatened my tears to start running down. So I just stopped thinking about it. I ignored everything and everyone. I got a book out of my bag and started reading. I just needed some time to come to terms with what's happened. If I talk about it, I knew I won't be able to stop my tears. By then Nadiah was just fine; sitting quietly waiting for my dad to come and pick us up at the airport. When we got home, I was able to function again. But everybody was questioning how are we going to go to Perth if we can't even get Nadiah on a plane to Singapore. I can't be angry with her. That's just the way she is and I've got to accept that real fast. There was still another 8 months to go till our trip to Perth and I promised myself, by hook or by crook, dammit we are going to Perth!!

This time I started early. Like I said, knowledge is key. I may forget my own advice sometimes but I learned fast. I remembered watching a cute video of an inflight safety demo done by kids so I searched on YouTube and found it. It's so cute and it shows what the inside of a plane looks like and because they were done by kids, Nadiah was able to relate to it. This is the video:

Cute right? I also searched for videos and pictures of people getting into airplanes or what you do when you're in an airplane. Being autistic means language is a big problem for Nadiah and simply explaining to her what was what, was a waste of time. She learns and understands better visually either through still or moving pictures.

I also googled on ways to keep Nadiah occupied when on the airplane. There is a famous scrapbooker, Ali Edwards, who has an autistic son, Simon and in one of her blog posts she wrote about her preparation when travelling with her kids. I found it very helpful and what's more, there were loads of people giving suggestions and sharing their own experiences while travelling with kids in the comment section. At that time there were over 40 comments and I read every single one of them. You can read Ali's blog post HERE.

One of the suggestions that I found useful was to prepare little treats wrapped up like presents. Nadiah loves getting presents and for her, tearing off wrapping papers is the best in the world. Another suggestion was an I Spy Bag. It's like a small pillow with a clear 'window' on one side. Inside there are a number of small objects that you need to find buried in plastic beads. You'll have a card with a list of names of the objects. So you manipulate the bag/pillow until you find them all. It's a great game that keeps kids occupied.

So a month before our big trip, we decided to have another test run. This time just a plane ride to KL. We opted on Malaysia Airlines this time so that we'll be able to use the aerobridge to get into the plane. And we also decided on an evening flight. These are the things that I prepared:

Headphones and music - I found a Barney Songs app and downloaded that into my iPhone so that Nadiah will listen to music via the headphones when getting into the airplane. That way, the music could hopefully eliminate the loud engine sound.

Little presents - I wrapped up 5-6 little toys and books to make like presents including a box of Rocky biscuit sticks for her inflight snack.

A laptop - uploaded with her favourite shows

A change of clothes

Nadiah's own backpack with her favourite toy, a notebook and a pen for her to scribble anything

While in the waiting room, I showed Nadiah the presents that she would get once she gets into the airplane. She was so excited that she actually walked right to the door wanting to get on first. We had to pull her back and make her wait a few minutes until it was time for boarding. Before boarding, I put on the headphones and plug it into the iPhone and started the music. She was so busy with pushing the buttons that she didn't even realize that she was already on the plane. And whilst waiting for all the passengers to get on, we started giving her presents one at a time. I had wrapped the presents tightly with lots of tape so that it would take her a little more time to unwrap everything. See.. the little details matter. Before long the plane was taxing on the runway and when it started to speed up for the take off, Nadiah loved that. She kept counting "3,2,1 blast off!!". I actually had tears in my eyes.. tears of happiness. Yet another hurdle that we managed to cross and I was so very proud of her.

Needless to say, the trip to Perth was a total success. We learned from the test run that Nadiah won't eat or drink anything from the flight but she would eat or drink anything that came from her backpack. As long as she has the headphones on, even if it's not plugged to anything, she's good to go. It's just having the sense of security around her ears I guess. Since the flight out to Perth was a night one, we brought along her pajamas and changed her before boarding the plane. That way she will sleep on the plane because sleeping time means changing into her PJs. She slept almost all the way and only woke up less than an hour before we reached Perth.

So that's my story that I wanted to share. I just hope that my experience will help other parents who are facing a hard time getting their children to try something new. Never ever give up. If you fail, find another way, use a different approach, talk to other parents, research and most importantly believe in yourself. Remember.. where there's a will, there's a way. Insyaallah, Allah will help those who help themselves.

Thanks for stopping by.

Beading Classes

2011-10-04T08:52:00.001+08:00

After more than a year, I've decided to start giving beading classes again. Mostly because there has been a lot of demands in the past year. Ever since I started posting my work on my FB page, more and more of my friends hve become interested in learning the arts of beading embroidery.

To tell you the truth, I would never in a million years thought that this is where my life would take me. When I was young and still in school, I always thought I'll either be working in an accounting office somewhere or stay at home and be a mom. The latter is preferable actually :D. But staying at home wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I needed an outlet for my creative side and beading just began as a why-not-since-there's-nothing-else-to-do kinda thing.

You see, it was actually my mom who went and took a class with Rosita Jaafar, a beading guru in KL. Mom came back and taught me 1 technique. Then she gave me a book with lots of how-tos and as they say, the rest is history. I found that my brains were clever enough to understand diagrams and why is this important? Because later on I learned that what I found very easy to understand, a whole lot of people couldn't. And that's how, and why I started giving classes. But classes started after 5-6 years after I started beading myself.

Now I feel like this is something I can do on a permanent basis. As long as there is demand for the knowledge, I know this is what I have and what I can do to generate income.

I've held classes in Alor Setar and in KL, and I dreamed of going around the country holding more classes. Soon, I hope...

Sushi

2011-09-25T23:48:00.002+08:00

We had sushi for lunch yesterday. Homemade. Having a husband who went to Japan to study a long time ago means we eat Japanese food on a regular basis.

The best part is that from when she was little, Nadiah was introduced to eating with chopsticks and she LOVES it. Even now, whenever we eat any sort of noodle, she would insist on using chopsticks. And I have to admit that her chopsticks skills are wayyyyyy better than mine. Her finger control is just fantastic. In a way, mastering the use of chopsticks help in her fine motor skills

Back to sushi making, this time is the first time that I had to roll them sushis on my own. I have to say that my rolling was a little sloppy but the taste was great. We even made one roll for Nadiah. But hers was wasabi-less of course. So here's Nadiah with her sushi and her chopsticks

Blogger On iPhone

2011-09-13T18:38:00.001+08:00

Hello.
I just downloaded Blogger for iPhone and trying it out. Hope it looks ok viewed on the PC.

Nadiah Speaks

2011-08-11T00:38:00.003+08:00

Nadiah: Baba, baba. Go to swimming waterpark. Every morning, sun going up

Translation: Baba, baba. Let's go swimming at the waterpark. Tomorrow morning when the sun rises.

At age 9, this is how Nadiah speaks. Not perfect but we get the gist of it. What's important is that she is able to express herself by putting it into words. And we are able to understand her.

Love is Life

2011-04-07T20:56:00.000+08:00

Love is life.

If you miss love,

You miss life!

Grow Up And Be A Chef

2011-03-22T00:02:00.002+08:00

For the past few years, Nadiah would tell us that she wants to "grow up and be a doctor", exactly like what she hears in Barney. But last night when she was getting ready for bed, all of a sudden she said "Grow up and be a chef".

Me and hubby were surprised that we burst out laughing. Not because she wanted to be a chef. But that out of the blue she just blurted it out. So we started asking her what she wants to cook. She said she wanted to cook egg bread (French toast), spaghetti, cake and something else I can't remember. Basically all the things that she loves to eat.

It's so cute. And to think that when she was little we thought she might not lead a normal life. I pray to Allah that she WILL be a chef when she grows up.

gLee

2010-07-29T23:04:00.006+08:00

Yes, admittedly I am officially a GLEEK!!! I have been running a GLEE marathon with hubby for the last two nights. Thank God for Graboid, I can download every single episode of the first season. I missed them all while if was showing on Star World and only managed to catch the season finale. Even then it was the last 15 minutes. Totally fell in love!!

I have to say that my favourite character is Kurt. I love him - the dressing, the attitude and THAT voice!! Wow!! Simply amazing! I also actually love Sue Sylvester. She can really be a nice person sometimes but her mean-ness is sometimes so OTT that it's funny! Oh and Will Schuster... *sigh* don't you just love his moves?? And what a voice!!

We've finished 10 episodes and only 12 more to go. Some of my favourite songs/moments so far are:

1. It's My Life/My Confession mash-up routine by the boys. The look on Finn's face when he started was hilarious. The guys were crazy hyper after popping some anti-depressants and they were jumping around so much.

2. The episode where they have to do a ballad. And Rachel has a crush on Mr Schu. They sang Endless Love by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross to each other and Rach has this crazy in love look in her eyes while Mr Schu has a look of horror on his face. It was hilarious!! Then what about the thoughts that was running through the other members...

Puck - "I love the days I don't wear underwear. Full commando"

Finn - "I've never realised how nice Rachel's butt is. Crap, I think Quinn knows I'm staring at it."

Kurt - "I could totally sing this to Finn. But screw him if he thinks he's taking the Diana Ross part from me."

You gotta love them!!

I'm sure there will be more scenes that I'll love,, but these two just crack me up!!

McDonald's GCB

2010-07-28T23:47:00.000+08:00

I'm lovin' it!
Sent via BlackBerry from Maxis

Grow ye corn tree!

2010-07-19T13:38:00.002+08:00

Nadiah insisted on getting some corn seeds to plant at home some weeks ago. So we came home and she started digging around in the flower box and planted 2 seeds.

After just 2 days, we could see something shooting out from the earth. Nadiah was SO excited, and so was I, if I do say so myself. I have never been interested in planting anything but this was kinda fun.

Then today, after about a month, this is how high the plants have grown. And one has started to bloom. Ooo.. how exciting!!! Before long Nadiah will be able to eat corns she harvested herself!! Coolness!!

Cooking With Nadiah

2010-04-25T22:33:00.006+08:00

These last few weeks I've been so busy running around that I hardly had time to blog. It didn't help that Nadiah has also been busy wanting to cook every time she goes down to the kitchen.

One day, while driving back from school, she wanted some bananas. So hubby and I stopped by this fruit stall and got some for her. When we got home, without taking off her shoes and uniform, she grabbed the small frying pan; the one we always use to cook eggs sunny side up, and started slicing bananas into the pan. Then she gave the pan to me and said "Cook!"

And I did. I scooped a little bit of butter and added to the pan and cooked, just like she wanted it. I don't know where she gets the idea, that she HAS to cook bananas as soon as she comes home from school. They probably did some experiment or something in school. I have to ask her teacher.

I managed to snapped some pictures...

She really loved those fried bananas!!!

Two days later, she wanted to make pizza. Earlier, she insisted that I buy a pizza pan while we were out shopping. Actually she had wanted that pan for a little while now. It's just that I've been ignoring her request. Well, we've got lots of cookie sheets that work just fine for baking pizza that I just don't see the point of getting a pizza pan just for that. But that day, Baba was pushing the trolley and I had stopped at another section and Nadiah managed to wheedle Baba into buying a pizza pan. Hahaa.... SUCKERRRR!!!!

Anyway, back at home Nadiah again conned Baba into making pizza dough. But the thing is, she doesn't have any patience. As soon as Baba mixed water with flour, she decided to take over. She started kneading and had the dough sticking to her hands and arm and face. Somehow she managed to roll the dough with her rolling pin but it was nowhere near a circle. Basically her pizza dough is just flour and water. Then she got her pizza sauce out and started spreading on the pizza base and sprinkled with slices of cheese (we ran out of grated ones, so sliced did just fine). And lastly, into the oven her misshapen pizza went!!

I have pictures of course...

See that brand new pizza pan? I insisted on the waxed paper so the cleaning part would not be horrendous.

A close up before going into the oven.....

Nadiah seems to love her pizza and ate it with gusto.... after I managed to scrape some pieces from the paper, that is.

So that's bananas and pizza. She's done a lot more. Next I'll post pictures of her baking muffins and making spaghetti... if I remember to snap some pictures though...

The Time Traveler's Wife

2010-04-17T23:14:00.006+08:00

Nadiah is not feeling well today. I took her swimming yesterday morning and now she's down with runny nose and a slight fever. That means no school for tomorrow.

While she was taking a nap today, I decided to stop all work i.e. beading and scrapping, and just enjoy a movie. I have been so busy the last couple of weeks that I hardly had any time to sit down and enjoy the telly. I just got some DVDs recently and one of them was The Time Traveler's Wife. Saw the preview some months ago and thought that it would be a good one.

And IT WAS!!! Oh wow.. it's such a sweet story but also so sad. This guy, Henry (Eric Bana), has a genetic anomaly that makes him able to time travel in a blink of an eye since he was 6 years old. The thing is, he can't control when or where he travels. One day he meets a girl, Clare (Rachael McAdams), and she seems to know all about him and has been in love with him since she was a child. Apparently, when Henry is in his 40s, he time travels to the past and popped in the meadow at the back of Clare's family estate when she was just a little girl. Over the years, he keeps coming back to the same place and she would be waiting for him and as the years go by, fell in love with him. In the present time, Henry and Clare got married and it was a lot more difficult for Clare to handle being married to a guy who keeps disappearing all the time. And when she gets pregnant, she always end up with a miscarriage because the fetus would 'disappear'. It's so sad. I bawled like a baby when Henry finds out that he will die soon and when he meets his daughter.

After almost a day, the story is still playing in my mind and I can't help mentally sighing over the love Clare and Henry feels for each other through time...

If you haven't seen it, go out and get the DVD. You won't regret it!!

Autism Awareness

2010-04-16T22:36:00.001+08:00

Last Wednesday, I took Nadiah to KFC near our house after fetching her from NASOM. She loves going out for a bite especially to places where we have to order at the counter and get the food ourselves i.e. KFC, McDonald's. Don't even think of Pizza Hut's salad bar coz she would just scoop up just about everything just for the fun of it.

Anyway, we had finished our meal and I was getting up and telling Nadiah to go wash her hands, when a guy sat at the table next to ours with his tray of burger, a drink and Cheesy Wedges. And while she passed the table, Nadiah just casually dipped her finger in the melted cheese and licked away. I was horrified and embarrassed and started apologizing to the guy. But he was cool about it and said that it was okay. Then he asked me if she was autistic. I was really surprised but told him yes, she was. The guy said that it's totally okay because he understands very well about autism. So I asked him if he's had experienced with autistic kids and apparently he did a research on autism and that's why he understood.

The thing is, I've never met anyone in the general public who's not a parent of an autie, or someone who works in a place that deals with auties, and understands kids like Nadiah. Especially in situations like this when she disregards common courtesy and just barged her way in. See, an autie has no telling features that you take one look and know that the kid is special. So when you tell people that she is autistic and a special child , they'll take one look and starts doubting you. And especially around here, autism awareness in sadly lacking in the general public. Not a lot of people know what autism is or has even heard of it.

Incidentally, NASOM Alor Setar will be having a charity event on the 8th of May where we'll be selling tickets of RM20 each and with the ticket, you can come to the even and eat all you want. There will be lots of food and we'll be taking the opportunity to spread public awareness about autism. If you're interested in buying tickets and making donations, do let me know. The event will be taking place at WNS Homestay, from 11.30am - 4.00pm.

Then on the 21-22 May, NASOM Alor Setar will be taking part in another charity event which will be hosted by the Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah. We'll have an information booth where people can come and ask, read and listen about autism. At the same time, we are planning on selling handmade greeting cards to raise some money. The cards will be made by some of the students, including Nadiah (oh boy, she'll have so much fun making all that mess with sticky glue), and teachers and parents.. well the latter would be me. I've asked for some immediate help for some card making stash from my scrapper friends and am so grateful for their support. Some have already started sending the stickers, flowers and embellishments to be used by the kids and some are even making cards so we can sell them straight away. I'm so lucky in my friends!!

So if you would like to help out in whatever way, do let me know. I hope in the near future more people will be made aware of what autism is and how they can help in giving these children a better life.

How To Plant A Banana Tree

2010-04-02T07:20:00.006+08:00

Well... my very brilliant daughter does it this way. First, get a banana fruit and peel it. Then, get a butter knife and using the blunt edge, cut it into chunks. Then get a paper towel, fold it nicely and shove it down a drinking glass. Then, just drop in a few of the banana chunks, and fill it in with water.

TA-DA!!!!

Hahaa... does that sound familiar? Remember that green bean planting experiment we used to do in science classes. I guess N thinks that banana trees work the same way too. We only had to wait a few days for a green shoot to emerge from the paper towel, but N's banana tree would take forever!!

Here's were N got her idea

Ok, on another note, I received a Beautiful Blog Award from my friend, Ica. Thanks, Ica. Didn't know that I was one of your inspirations to start blogging. Feeling so honoured here :D

Now I gotta write 7 random facts about myself. I've actually posted some 16 random facts about myself already some years ago. So now I've got to squeeze my brains out for 7 more that you don't know about. Thanks, Ica *as sarcasticly as possible*.

Ok here goes:

1 - Sometimes I would go to Nadiah's school really, really early and wait under some shade just so I'll have some peace and quiet to read a book.

2 - When I was 14 my family and I went to Italy and we got stuck at the airport for 8 hrs. But boredom soon turned to excitement when the band Duran Duran was also there and I got to meet Simon Le Bon.

3 - When I was doing my A-Levels in the UK, me and my friend, Iza, lied to the house mistress saying that we had to go down to London to see the students' representative on some scholarship business. But in actual fact, we went down to watch David Copperfield Live Magic show ;D

4 - I've gone to an all girl school all my life, except in kindergarten and university.

5 - The first time I found a grey hair on my head was on my wedding day and I completely freaked out.

6 - I hate cooking main dish but love making desserts. I love eating them desserts too!!

7 - I'm a simple girl at heart when it comes to ice-cream. Most times when we go to Baskin Robbins, I would ask to try all sorts of flavour, but in the end I always get myself plain old vanilla or strawberry.

Well.. there you go... I managed to come out with 7 after all. But I'm not tagging anyone. Sorry...

When Tomorrow Is Today

2010-01-15T22:23:00.001+08:00

Whenever Nadiah wants to go somewhere like swimming or Tesco or McDonald's, she would say "tomorrow swimming". What she really means is that she wants to go now, today.

I am having a hard time explaining to her the difference between tomorrow and today. I thought drawing it down of paper would help. So I sat her down, and drew in a book sort of like a time table with names of days at the top of the columns and under each school day I would write SCHOOL. And I go through with her.. Sunday, you have school. Monday, you have school and so on. And she would repeat after me. Then when we came to Friday, I wrote down SWIMMING.

Since it was Thursday, I explained to her that "Today, you went to school (we just came home from school then) and after you have dinner, sleep and wake up again, it's Friday and you can go swimming". She said, "Friday go swimming". We went through again and again from Sunday to Saturday and Nadiah seem to have grasp the meaning and settled down for the night.

So Friday morning, she woke up and the first thing she said.... "Tomorrow swimming".

"Arrghhh!!!!!"

American Idol Fever

2010-01-13T23:12:00.000+08:00

Today was the start of American Idol Season 9. I love watching AI but honestly, I rather love watching the auditions more than the concerts. They're such good laughs especially looking at the horrified looks on Simon and Randy's faces when a particularly horrible singer takes the 'stage'.

I actually had to wrestle the remote with Nadiah because she wanted to watch Playhouse Disney now that she's watching them on TV. A few months back she would only watch PD if I recorded the shows and copy them into her pc. It's weird but we just go with the flow. Now that most of the pcs are either not working very well or not connected to the internet, she has chosen to watch TV. To the despair of my mom because Nadiah would insist on watching it in her room, depriving my mom of her Indon or Korean dramas. Not only would Nadiah keep a hold on the remote, she would also take it with her when she leveas the room. Hehee.. poor mom!!

Anyway, I hope this year AI would find someone as original as Adam Lambert or one with the beautiful voice of Danny Gokey.

Ooo... and I also can't wait to see Ellen as a judge. That would be so, so cool!! I was quite dissapointed earlier when Victoria B was there instead as a guest judge. So not her fan!! Hope Ellen makes an appearence soon.

2009 Recap and 2010 Hopes & Challenges

2010-01-07T02:22:00.009+08:00

I hope it's not too late to wish everyone a very happy 2010. May the new year brings you happiness and blessings from the Al Mighty.

I'm trying to remember what went on over the last year. So many months seemed to have passed by in a whizz and others stayed in my mind as clear as day. So let's recap..

In January, it was Nadiah's first day of school at Superkids in a normal class room. Hubby and I were worried but she loved being in school even with hundreds of other kids and didn't mind the big number or the noise. It's just when the teacher started shouting through the microphone that she got upset. Who wouldn't??

Because of the age difference, she was at least a head taller than every kid.

In February I discovered the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon and completely changed my reading genre. ASH IS THE BEST!!!

In April, the girls of Sultanah Asma School class of 1992 had two reunions. One was a karaoke nite in KL and the other was a tea party in Alor Star. It was great!! I had loads of fun at both venues catching up with old friends.

Then there was also Nadiah's 7th birthday. We had a little party at home with cake and lots of little presents for Nadiah to open. I think the best part for her was opening up presents.

In May, I won a mini album challenge for the first time. I made a heart shaped album titled 10 Things I Love About You. It's about Nadiah of course. Please click on the link to see the whole album.

Also, I was honoured to be part of the Scrapbook Showcase hosted by Scrappingville and held at the concourse of Bangsar Shopping Complex. The guest of honour was Tun Dr Siti hasmah Ali. What a day that was.

I also bought myself a new laptop.... which is currently in need of service as it's as slow as a snail *sigh*

In June, I was made a member or a design team (DT) not one but TWO international scrapbooking challenge blog. One is with a Singaporean based blog, Scrappin Kids and the other is with Twisted Sketches, an American based blog. What a major achievement that was!!

In July, I held my first SB/altered arts class in Scrappingville. It was on Perfect Pearls and I don't know if I'm right but I seem to be the only one using PP widely in Malaysia. I love PP because it's very versatile. You can use it dry or use it wet. Either way goes. I could be wrong though. But I would love to see more people use Perfect Pearls.

In August, I held my first of many Beading Classes. But the first was always the most memorable. It was held in WNS Homestay, Alor Star. 17 people turned up for the class. It was tiring but well worth the aches and pains.

In September, I realised that Nadiah had started to talk in long sentences. When she loose something of hers like her fave cat, she would say "Where's my cat? I lost my cat." or something like "My ball is all gone". Not only talking but she had also started to argue. When I tell her to go and get ready to go to school, she would say "No school. Go swimming" or "No school, go KL". And she learned the art of emotional blackmail. How? When she wants something she would come and give me a hug and say "Kiss, kiss". Usually when she wants to get out of going to school. :D I just love arguing with her.

After a few classes of beading, I was able to buy my very own DSLR camera : Canon EOS500D. Soooo proud of myself. That was in November, just after 3 months of conducting beading classes in Alor Star and KL.

December saw me being admitted into the hospital. I was down with pneumonia and was warded at Kedah Medical Center for 6 days. And let me tell you that I was never more thankful for having the forethought of getting medical insurance 4 years ago. First I had a chest X-ray done, then I had to have the water drained out of my right lungs (for which name of the procedure I do not know), then did another chest scan on the CT Scan machine thing. The latter had to be THE most painful experience I have ever had to go though. Not the scan itself but when they inserted the dye fluid into my vein. It was only a few seconds but the most painful few seconds of my life. But thue to my Leo nature, not a tear drop came rushing down. But I cried buckets when I was alone shut out in the toilet. Three days later I had to do a broncoscopy. Another not so happy experience. Right after, I threw up everything I had for breakfast (again in the toilet).

Well, that was life in 2009, albeit brief but full of good and happy moments (except for the hospital part). For this new year, I have a few hopes and challenges. I wouldn't call it resolution per se but rather challenging myself because once I put the label RESOLUTIONS.. they usually don't last very long.

So in 2010 I hope to:

- Have another baby or two..

- Be a DT with at least one manufacturing company. Preferably Prima Marketing but for a start, any would do...

and I challenged myself to making 100 scrapbook layouts and I mean strictly layouts.

Wish me luck and I really, really wish that one of the two hopes will come true!!

Grab Yourself A RAK

2009-12-28T17:20:00.003+08:00

I am having a contest over at my scrapping blog. So if you would like a chance to win some pretty cool scrapbooking stuff, do hop over HERE and leave a comment at the end of the post. You have until the 3rd January 2010 to do it, so hurry up!!

Why am I giving away stuff, you may ask? It's simple really..... because when I buy more stuff (like I did yesterday :D) then I don't feel so guilty about it. I don't have to look at stuff that I have and not using while I spend $$$ on newer stuff. Heee....!!!

Strike a balance, see... Do something good by giving away and then turn around and do something bad like shopping!!

So go now to my scrapping blog and leave a comment. You might be one of the winners....

Modern Day Hari Raya

2009-11-28T09:02:00.003+08:00

When I was just a girl, Hari Rayas are usually loud with the TV blasting out with raya shows and us kids running around the house and the adults gossiping around the kitchen table. But these days, us kids are all adults and even our children are big kids now and are more likely to sit around a laptop than running around stepping on each others' toes... literally.

Sometimes I wish the kids would take a page out of the old days and just enjoy being kids!!

Even Nadiah is sitting around the computer... or rather she is surrounded by computers....

SALAM AIDIL ADHA
TO ALL THE MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD

Glass Slippers

2009-11-02T21:25:00.001+08:00

YOU LIKE?

Mom bought this for Nadiah at the slipper shop. She just love those blings!!

What's The Surprise?

2009-11-02T11:26:00.002+08:00

So what's the surprise?

HERE

IT

IS:

Yup! Got meself a brand new dSLR camera. I've been wanting this since forever. I got a Canon EOS 500D and loving every moment of it!!!!

Back Again an Hopefully For Good

2009-10-30T13:40:00.007+08:00

I can't believe it!! With all the trouble and hassle of changing my blog, I was still not motivated to keep up with blogging. I go on everyday thinking to myself that oh! I could blog about this or Oh! I must blog about this. But.. NOTHING! Zilch, nada!!

Granted, I was very busy over the Ramadhan and Hari Raya but that is beside the point. I guess it's just plain laziness. Simple and right to the point.

Anyway, some updates...

Just bought Nadiah a bigger girl bike. She has long outgrown her old ones.. knocking knees on the handle everytime she paddles. She is so tall now that the top of her head is almost reaching my nose. And she's only 7 years old. Not to mention the size of her feet!! She's now wearing adult size 7 or 38 or British size 4. That's how big her feet is.

Back to her new bike... it's black and red although I wanted to get her a pink one but that one was too big for her. But she seems to like this one. Although I have to be honest and tell that she's still using training wheels. I was quite surprise that they have training wheels for the bike considering that it's a big girls' bike. It took me literally a year to get her to paddle the right way round when she first started to ride a bike. I don't know how long it will take for her to ride on two wheels.

Of course, not forgetting her furry stuffed babies, a pinwheel and butterfly fairy hairband.

Ok, that's it for now. I do have a surprise to tell but not today. Maybe tomorrow or the day after... just wait.... I can hardly contain my excitement!!

The Original Cuppycake Song

2009-10-30T12:21:00.000+08:00

I love this girl!!

Check it out...

Day 2 of Ramadhan

2009-08-23T14:46:00.005+08:00

How do you convince a 7 year old autistic child that once a balloon burst, you can't tape it back together with cellophane tape and blow it up again?

And for that matter, how do you tell her that the reason her balloons do not go flying up is because they are not full of helium, but instead they are full of air liur!!!

Somebody help me PLEASE!!!!

Ramadhan Comes A Calling Again

2009-08-23T00:45:00.003+08:00

As the first day of Ramadhan passes, one thing struck me as always being true. And that is a big, fat migraine on every first day!! It's there every year without fail. Today the migraine was so bad I can hardly open my eyes. And as soon as I break the fast, I downed 2 tablets of Panadol. Usually I just let it be and let it go off on it's on once food has settled in my tummy. Not today, though But I should be okay tomorrow.... hopefully.

This year I promise myself that I will not be doing any beading, or at the very least to leave it to the minimum. But somehow rather I ended up with lots to do. I was doing up a schedule on Excel and to my horror, I seem to have only two days of free time before raya. How did I ended up with that? And it doesn't help that Nadiah has a week off from school and plus Merdeka day holidays, she has roughly a total of 11 days off. How the heck am I suppose to work on schedule with her at home all the time?

I mean, I love having her at home when I don't have to work. But when I do, it's just impossible. Sigh... I'll just have to work around the clock again this year, I guess.

Well anyway, one day down, 29 more days to go. So to all the Muslims around the world, happy fasting and may you have a blessed Ramadhan Al Mubarak!!

Out And About Alor Star

2009-08-21T07:40:00.009+08:00

Everyday after picking up Nadiah from NASOM, I usually take her out for a bite or just driving around Alor Star. It's really good fun especially when she enjoys it so much. Sometimes hubby would join us but most of the time it's just me a Nadiah.

This week we went to Burger Gemilang, to the new KFC/Pizza Hut that had just opened in the old Cathay cinema spot, to Souq Albukhary and Dataran Tanjung Chali.

Burger Gemilang - This is not the Burger Gemilang that's in Medan Kota. But rather the new one which is next to the State Museum and along the river. We like coming here because ,for the most part the burgers are great and also it's a nice quiet outdoor place especially late afternoos and you can just gaze out to the river. Granted, nothing hardly ever passes by but the odd crocodile or so, but it's still nice to look out at the sun setting.

Although the museum is just next door, we've never actually been into it. I went in the old one like ages ago but never in the new one. But there are a few cannon guns at the arch separating the museum from the eatery, which is a good spot for pictures.

Nadiah playing around with baba's phone while waiting for her food

Souq Albukhary - or more commonly know as Giant because of the hypermarket being the anchor at the place. We mostly go to Giant shop for groceries, to Merrybrown to eat and get some DVDs. Very seldom do we go to the bazaar in the next building to Giant because although it's suppose to be somewhat like Pekan Rabu, the 'feel' is just not there. Not to mention that most of the shops are always closed.

Nadiah loves eating at Merrybrown though, because they have the swing set eating corner and she just loves swinging back and forth while having her fries :D

New KFC/Pizza Hut - A couple of days ago, me and Nadiah went to Pizza hut at the new spot, which was the former Cathay cinema. It's a big place with KFC and PH side by side and a playground in the mid front. As usual, Nadiah would have her speghetti bolognese with a glass of iced milo, which she would whoosh down so fact you'd think she hasn't eaten in a week!!

Then she rushed out to sit on the swing set and starts rocking back and forth so high I was afraid the speghetti and milo might make a reappearance.

Dataran Tanjung Chali - After PH, we drove along the river in Tanjung Chali and stopped to take some pictures of Nadiah. It's really quiet here in the evening although the tide was out and so the water level had gone down. But the best thing was that there was no bad river smell which usually accompanies low tide. And it's surprisingly clean too!!

Got some really good pics of Nadiah overlooking the sunset which would be good to scrap.

But I have to say that since the last time we went there, the tower standing at the end of the Dataran has been repainted into this UGLY green and yellow colour. Yes, I know that it's the colour of Kedah but still, it so does not go with the place and is such an eyesore I refuse to take pictures of it!!

Can you see the green and yellow tower at the end there? How ugly is that? And it's not even fully painted. It's as if someone painted it half-way and thought '"Hey.. this looks kinda ugly, why don't we just stop now before we ruin everythig?" Sheesh!!!

Anyway, it's definitely fun going around places once in a while. I know there are more things to see in Alor Star that I could take Nadiah too, but I'm seriously running out of places. Any ideas???

New Look, New Name...

2009-08-17T09:16:00.003+08:00

and hopefully new semangat to blog a lot more!!

Welcome to my new blog. Well.. the old contents are basically the same. It's just that I've change the look and the name from Beads n Sequins to Learning To Dance In The Rain. I also changed the URL to match the title. I know the name is kinda long but I like it!!

It's actually from a book which is one of my favourite called ACHERON. The full quote goes like this:

"Life isn't about finding shelter in the storm.
It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Basically it means that you should grab what life brings you with both hands and not running away from your problems. Of which I totally agree.

Anyhow, I hope I'll keep updating the blog regularly from now on and not let it be janji tinggal janji!!

Should I Or Should I Not?

2009-08-16T09:49:00.007+08:00

I've been thinking and rethinking and rethinking yet again if I should just end this blog altogether. After all I've hardly ever update anymore and I do have my scrapbooking blog which I do update on a regular basis. Granted, that blog is mostly about my creative work and not really a day to day update of my life.

Ok, so I don't record my day to day activities before this anyway but then again when I think about it, the reason why I started this blog was partly because I wanted to record things that happens in my life. Or rather, things that revolves around Nadiah. So that when I'm old and krepot, I can read about the things that Nadiah used to do, of places that we've gone to and etc etc etc....

Plus, I've had this blog for 3 years now and I sayang to just let it go.

I think I'll just hold on to it for a little while longer and will see in a few months what I decide.

Oh! and another thing.. I feel like I want to change the name of this blog from Beads n Sequins to something else. I mean, honestly.. what does it have to do with beads and sequins anyway? This was suppose to be the name of my beading blog but then I've already given this one the name and I thought I wasn't able to change it and now am stuck with it and I don't like it... Oh! I'm so confused!!!

How does The Facts Of Life sound? Very 80s?? Yeah... like that sitcom with back in the old days.

What about Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolate? Too Forrest Gumpy?? But I love Forrest!!

Ok, le'st see... I'm thinking Life Is About Dancing In The Rain. How does that sound?? Very Zarek!! I loike!!

What is this obsession with LIFE anyway??

Alright.. I think I'll go with Rain... I might as well change the URL too while I'm at it.

You know what? I guess I have decided not to end this blog after all. Maybe when I give it a new name, it's sort or a new start, new breath of life (there I go again with life) to this blog. Maybe that's just what I need!!!

Leave Out All The Rest

2009-05-09T02:54:00.002+08:00

I am loving this song at the moment

LEAVE OUT ALL THE REST by Linkin Park

I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared
But no one would listen
Cause no one else cared

After my dreaming
I woke with this fear
What am I leaving
When I'm done here

So if you're asking me
I want you to know

[Chorus]
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
[End Chorus]

Don't be afraid
I've taken my beating
I've shared what I made

I'm strong on the surface
Not all the way through
I've never been perfect
But neither have you

So if you're asking me
I want you to know

[Chorus]
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

Don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
[End Chorus]

Forgetting
All the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well

Pretending
Someone else can come and save me from myself
I can't be who you are

[Chorus]
When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

Don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest

Forgetting
All the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well

Pretending
Someone else can come and save me from myself
I can't be who you are
I can't be who you are

Laptop and Photos

2009-05-05T01:55:00.006+08:00

I got a new lappy!! Yeay!!

This is my first ever laptop which I bought with my own money. Before this I was either sharing hubby's or it's a second hand lappy from someone else. So this is quite an excitement for me.. tee hee!! Bought myself a Compaq Presario CQ40. I don't need anything too fancy. As long I can do my work, surf the net and organize my photos and video files and maybe play a little bit of pc games, then it's enough for me.

So that's the latest news... :D

On another note, I was out with Nadiah today just chillin' by the river near the museum, I decided to take candid photos of her. Also trying out the colour accent mode on my camera. And I have to say that I loike!!

And a couple of photos in normal mode

These were taken a few days ago when she was busy playing around with my hp.

So next on my buying list.... a DSLR camera. Oh definitely a must!! But probably not for another few months though.. :D

Nadiah Turns 7

2009-05-03T02:04:00.004+08:00

My baby girl is a big girl now. She turned 7 on the 26th and we had a small dinner thing at home with my parents and Amir and family.

I wanted her to wear something nice even though it was a small event but she insisted on wearing her PJs since it was night time. But then again, Amir also came in his PJs so it turned out to be a pajama party.. :D

This year, instead of getting Naidiah something big and expensive for her birthday, I got her many small presents. I felt that she would appreciate the quantity better than the quality... coz she LOVES opening presents.

CA, see.. I told you it's a bunny. There are no holes on the nose for it to be a piggy!!

Another Reunion in Alor Star

2009-05-03T01:35:00.004+08:00

We had another Asmarian gathering the weekend before last. This time it was for those in the north and we had it at The Regency.

The number was small but we all had a great time catching up with each other. Thanks Wina, Ita, Yusni, Ziti, Pinut and Hanisah for making it to the gathering. I hope we can do it again soon.

SAS Gathering and Karaoke Night

2009-04-16T16:28:00.004+08:00

Last Friday nite I attended a mini gathering for ex-Asmarian batch 1992. Sumat was the person who organised it all and it was held at Red Box, The Gardens. I flew down to KL on my own.. no hubby, no kiddo was with me. And it was a BLAST!!

There were 16 of us there and not just from my class but from other classes as well and everybody turned up in red and black. The food was good.. I think, because I only eat a little. I was too excited that food didn't hold any interest for me. Not even the dessert. Except maybe those Jaffa Cakes that Wina brought back from UK. Those I ate a lot!!

It was great fun and very loud and we were like teenages again. The best thing was that even those most of us have not seen each other in 17 years, we all just jumped in the conversations like all those years never happened. It's so great. I'm happy to see that the friendship that we've build in school has carried on till now.

By the time it was 2am, those left decided to call it a night (but really only because the karaoke machine thing refuse to let us play anymore songs... if not, we would have happily sang more songs) and left Red Box and took the party over to Bangsar at the mamak's. Even the mamak shooed us out becaus it was already 3am and he wanted to close up. So everyone said their goodbyes and Nana and me send off Kimi back to her place in Shah Alam. Then Nana took me home, waited while I had a quick shower and packed and she sent me to KL Central. My flight was early that morning and with no sleep whatsoever in almost 24 hours, I was just dead to the world the whole flight.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful night and I hope we can make it an even bigger event for our 25th reunion!!

Picture time...

Pleasure and Pain

2009-04-05T11:46:00.004+08:00

So I went for my monthly facial treatment session this morning. As usual the treatment involves a 20 minute session of neck and shoulder massage. I tall ya, in all of the 10 years of having facial treatments, the massage is the one thing I absolutely hate. It's just pain and more pain to me. I just can't stand it. No matter how many times I keep telling the girl to go easy, the pain is still there. But I don't cry out like a banshee or anything like that. I'm the 'suffer quietly' kinda girl. Hey, I'm a Leo. Pride can be such a virtue to us Leos... or a bane. Which ever way you want to look at it.

I hear you asking why I don't just tell the girl to stop altogether. I don't know really. I guess I have to admit that the end result is good. I do feel more relaxed. It's just the thought of going through pain for a whole 20 minutes is what makes me suffer through it. But I don't have to like it!!

I know some people loves getting a massage; one of whom is my dear hubby. He often says that the pain you get from the message is good for the body. That's what makes it pleasurable. The more intense you push on a pressure point and the harder you roll out the muscles, the more painful it is and thus the more pleasure you get out of it.

What? Pain is good? I beg to differ. The only pleasure I get from getting a massage is when the pain stops.

But it's weird really because I usually have quite a high tolerance for pain. If I can stand it, I can ignore it. Like now, my neck is aching like the very devil. It's been days now but since the pain is bearable, I've been ignoring it. I could not be bothered to take any painkillers or rub in hot oil or such things. But this morning, the pain was even worse and I could hardly look down to type on the keyboards, let alone looking down to see if I've got my feet in the right pair of shoes. So in the end I succumb and swallowed a pill for the pain. It's better now and I know I'll be back to ignoring it again.

I know what I'm doing is bad. We should always listen to what out body is telling us but I have this odd believe that sometimes your body is just going through spring cleaning and you just have to let it heal itself. Like having a cold. There's nothing much you can do about it but drink lots of water. It would just go away once it run its course.

Well, I hope I'll feel better soon or I'm going to be having a horrible time at out mini reunion this Friday. I so can't wait for the day. Will update on that after the event. Till then....

6th Prime Minister of Malaysia

2009-04-04T09:55:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for his appointment as the nation's 6th Prime Minister.

May the new leadership breathes a new lease of life into the country.

First Day of School

2009-01-17T11:13:00.003+08:00

Last Monday was Nadiah's first day of school at her kindy. This year, I am happy to report that she is in the normal 6 year old class with 20 other classmates. For the past two years, she had been in SuperKids kindergarten but she was placed in the special class for kids with autism, down syndrome and other learning disabilities. But last year, her teachers have been saying that she has improved so much and was talking a lot more in class and able to understand instructions that they think she would do well in the normal class. That was one news I was estactic to hear. Something I have been praying for since we first find out she has mild autism four years ago.

So early that morning, I got Nadiah up real early as school starts at 8.15 am. She didn't make a fuss when she had to get up early. But when she saw that outside was still dark and she had to wear her school uniform, she started asking for her pajamas. To her, when it's night that means everyone has to change into PJs. I kept telling her that it's okay and that light would show up in a few minutes. In the end when the sun finally came out did she relented and gave in to wearing her uniform. But she was still a little teary-eyed. We had to dragged her to get into the car.

I was worried that she wouldn't be able to handle the crowds in school. She was used to being around 20 or so kids in school with a few teachers. This time there would be over 200 kids plus their parents! I kept my fingers cross that she would not cry.

To my surprise, once she saw the school, she could not get the safety belt off fast enough. She was happy to be back in school and had such a great time in the playground before the bell rang. Kept wishing those teachers that she recognize "good morning". When the bell did ring, she just grab her bag and lined up like she usually did with no fuss at all.

After school her teacher said that she did alright and was such a good girl. All my worries were for nothing and I thank God that she adjusted well.

Snapped some pictures on that day:

Of course, her cat and hat had to be with her on that day. But she left it in the car.

Writing her ABCs in the sand in the playground. I guess she was eager to start learning.. hehee..

Can you see her? She is the tallest kid in school, topping everyone by one whole head!!

16 Things You May Or May Not Know About Me

2009-01-02T09:24:00.009+08:00

I've been tagged by Izan.
It's interesting and I have to think long about what 16 things I'm to reveal about myself.

Directions: Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog/Facebook note with 16 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment or tag them in your note to read this.

1. I am the youngest in the family and an only girl in a world of boys. My daughter, Nadiah is also the only girl among boy cousins. Whenever my mom, Nadiah and I spend time together, I always secretly refer to us as "The Girls"

2. I am such a romantic. I love romantic gestures and love to read romantic novels. I have hundreds of the books that can hardly fit onto my shelves.

3. Although I may act tough, but I am such a cry baby whenever sappy scenes in movies come out or in a book. I just cry like I know those characters personally and as if I'm somehow involved with what's happening.

4. I talk to myself occasionally and not just to boost up my confidence like you always see on TV when a girl is going in for an interview or confrontation. I talk to myself just about anything really. It's like a whole conversation.

5. I don't like to read chick lit. Give me a romance anytime. I guess it's because the heroine in a chick lit is usually independent and the ending is usually not what it seems of a happily ever after with a guy. I rather go for the damsel in distress kinda situation especially if it's a historical romance. But don't get me wrong. I am totally independent and can't stand helpless women in real life. It's just to read.

6. You probably know this already, but I love scrapbooking and the altered arts. Although some of my old teachers were surprised when they heard that I am doing any kind of crafts. Hello! Didn't I take Arts in school??

7. Before we got engaged (or even got married), hubby and I went out on a proper date only three times. Most times, he would come to my house and we would just spend time together under the proper supervision of my parents or one of my brothers. Talk about being old fashioned huh? But we didn't mind. After all, we see each other everyday in the office and he comes over everyday after work. So we pretty much spend most of our times together.

8. Although I do a lot of beadwork , I am getting pretty tired of it. But I still do it because the money I get from it supports my scrapbooking expenses. No beading, no more SB stuff (DIE!!). But honestly, I am struggling to come out with new designs and am ever so slow with my work these days. I would happily come out with one lame excuse after lame excuse just to buy some time out of beading.

9. I am so like Monica from Friends. I just love organising and labeling my things. Just ask my hubby and he would tell you how he first laughed at my neatly stacked boxes (and labeled too), when we first got married. Ask him what happens when he can't find his stuff and had to ask me where his randomly kept computer componetnts are. So who's laughing now, buddy?

10. I have a thing for British accent. Think Hugh Grant, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Sean Connery and Rupert Everett (yes, I know he's gay but what the heck? His voice and that accent... I just melt *sigh*). I guess it's also in their way of dropping a dry sarcastic joke with a straight face and you're thinking "was that a joke?"

11. I am impulsive when it to comes to shopping. I buy things just because I like the colour or shape or looks pleasing to the eye. They may or may not be practical buys but there you go. So out of sync with my Monica trait.

12. I love Lord of The Rings. I have watched the movie again and again and again, that I practically memorized the whole three movies. That reminds me; I have not had a LOTR marathon in a while....

13. I am such a horder. Seriously! I love keeping stuff for their sentimental values. I still have those movie stubs from more than 10 years ago from movies I watched in the UK. And what about those free maps, catalogues or brochures you get when you visit a place of interest? I've still got them all. They are too precious to throw away...

14. I love cats. I think they are cuddly and cute. But I am allergic to them. I mean, seriously allergic! I'll sneeze and my eyes start to water and my nose starts to tingle when I'm in a close vicinity of a cat. Especially to stray cats. I don't even have to touch them. Even just being close to them gets me going. It's just my luck that Nadiah just adores cats and would start chasing after every Tom, Dick and Harry cats. I think it's the fur. The dirtier they are, the louder I sneeze. I wonder if my allergies will act up with a sphinx cat....?

15. When I was a girl, I was such a tomboy. I guess it was all the influence from having lots of brothers. Once mom nearly had a heart attack when she found her precious little girl in her big brother's boots kicking a football in the hot blazing sun, practicing for the World Cup. Poor, Mom *sigh*

16. I love making friends. I'm pretty understanding and accepting of people's nature. I don't judge people and can always get along with most.

Well, I guess I can think of 16 things about myself. Now I am tagging:

1. CA
2. Kimi
3. Naddy
4. Chow Chow
5. Jessy
6. Liza

7. Wati

8. Jazz
9. Vivs
10. Dina
11. Iza
12. Spec
13. Fasha
14. Akmal
15. Nana
16. Hani

School Holidays

2008-12-28T08:16:00.005+08:00

School holidays for us lasts for just over a month. That's because Nadiah's classes at NASOM went on till the end of November. Everything was jam packed in the first two weeks of December with weddings, Nadiah's schooling for 2009, Nadiah's school assessment and taking her jalan-jalan. It didn't help that everyday over the holidays she woke up at 7 am when before that it was such a struggle just to get her to open her eyes at 8.30 am. But this past month, she's up and about, all fresh from her shower by 7.30 am. Then right after breakfast, she's out of the house playing with water and sand, building sand castles.

No, we're not at the beach. Hubby got some sand from next door where they're doing some construction, and dump a load in the empty flower bed. But water + sand = a girl who is soaked all over from the "extra" shower. This happens several times a day, so just imagine the laundry I have to do each day... *sigh*

Hubby and I have to take turns watching over her every hour or so, because she gets into all sorts of trouble. During craft time, she gets glue all over her, the blanket, her hat and don't even mention the table. Or she finds some blue tack, thinking it's play doh: she's rolling it out, stretching the thing and opps.... it's stuck on her head, pressed flat over her hair and scalp. So we had to cut some chunks of her hair to get it off. *sigh sigh*

But to give her credit, she loves doing all these. They might drive Mama and Baba up the wall, but what does she care? She's a kid and kids do these things huh?

Anyway, over the holidays we were down in KL for two weekends in a row. The first was for my cousin, Nana's wedding to Faizal in Damansara. She's the youngest girl cousin on mom's side of the family. It was great to be able to meet up with the family again and catch up on each other and get the family gossip of the moment.. hahaa!! Although some cousins couldn't make it but all in all, everybody was pretty happy with everything. Here's some pics from the events:

The bride and groom (obviously!)

Mother of the bride blessing the couple

At the reception, Nadiah was a lot more happy spending time at the fountain rather than in the hall...

Imran, my cousin's son, being cheeky

Me with cousin and niece

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then the next weekend, we were back in KL again. On Saturday, we decided to take Nadiah to Taman Pertanian Bukit Cahaya Sri Alam (or something like that) in Shah Alam. We were hoping to get her to experience some snow as we heard that they have some over there.

So off we went to Shah Alam, not really sure what to expect. We got there around 10.30am and saw on the board that the 4 Seasons House is experiencing winter. Oohhh.. we were so excited. Or rather, Mama and Baba were. Nadiah didn't really know what was going on. She thought we were going to see some lions.

We got in line for the open-air bus ride which would take us (we hope) to the House. When the bus came and we got on, Nadiah was really amazed that the bus had no windows and she could feel the breeze in her hair. I had one arm around her all the time in case she leaned out just a tad too far. The bus took us everywhere in the park and it was a BIG rain-forest park. S0 many things to see in just a glance from the ride. I saw an animal park, a spice garden, a bird park, some cultural buildings which I didn't get to read the name and of course the 4 Seasons House.

When we got to the House, we got our tickets, and pushed through the entrance, we could already feel the slight drop in temperature. The first hall had some exhibits on how the snow house was made and such things. We didn't bother with that but went straight to the double doors on the other side. So we rushed in and.... Man, it was cold!! It's a hallway with glass windows on each side. In the windows we could see scenes of snow in the winter with frozen lakes, penguins, snowman and an igloo. Basically everything was covered in snow. There was also a door on each side where we could go into the "scene" and walk on the bridge and pretend like you're actually somewhere in Canada or Hokkaido or the North Pole (that's the igloo bit). It was freezing in there!

The thing was, we weren't prepared for the place and didn't even have on a jacket, let alone mittens and scarves. Nadiah had on a skirt and I imagined her legs were probably freezing by the time we got out. But she didn't want to go into the glass rooms. I reckon she was confused by all the whiteness and the cold that she was feeling. The 'snow' that we've been having at home, courtesy of the freezer, felt cold to the touch but never to the whole body. So that was quite a shock to her system.

But I thought it was beautiful in there. I would love to return for the spring, summer and autumn seasons.

Christmas Greetings

2008-12-25T07:54:00.002+08:00

Wishing those celebrating a very Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year

2008-12-08T09:45:00.001+08:00

Wishing all the Muslims SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILADHA.
To those driving back to their respective kampungs, do drive safely and take care.

A Fall And A Wonderful Revelation

2008-11-30T09:04:00.005+08:00

Last night, while getting Nadiah ready for her shower, I slipped and fell in the bathroom. Although the fall was painful and the result being that I ache all over today, I realised something wonderful: not quite like Einstein had a revelation when an apple fell on his head but something of a smaller scale.

When I was lying on my bum (a very undignified position, I can assure you!), Nadiah came running to me crying out "What's wrong? what's wrong? oh sorry" and then she asked "Are you ok?" and tried to give me a hug. That's when I realised that she was concern and empathic.

*Empathy is the capacity to recognize or understand another's state of mind or emotion. It is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes", or in some way experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself.

In most cases, an autistic child seldom feels sympathy or empathy towards another due to the fact that they are either unable to comprehend the feelings in theirselves, let alone the feelings of others, or if they are able to understand, they find it hard to express empathy to others, as appose to feeling it internally.

Example:
Many times in the past years, I have cried out of frustration whenever I feel like such a failure with Nadiah's progress. Sometimes just little things like trying to get her to sleep after 2-3 hours of lying on the bed beside her and failed to get her to drift off. Usually after a whole day of running here and there and all I want to do is close my eyes and get a good night sleep, the last thing I want to do is lying stiff like a board on the bed, NOT being able to sleep because as soon as I move or close my eyes, she would be up again and the whole process would just start all over again. There are times when the frustration just boils up and I just had to have a good cry and while I was bawling like a baby, Nadiah would just ignore me and do her own thing as if she could not here me. And this frustrates me even more when a good hard hug would have been a balm to my soul.

So back to the fall, I realised three wonderful things.
First: Nadiah was able to understand that when you fall, you may hurt yourself and that it can be painful. And thus, she understood that and felt empathic towards me.

Second: She was sympathatic and corncern for me and that was why she wanted to know what was wrong and asking if I was ok.

Third: Not only was she able to feel those things, she was also able to express herself verbally. And not just a one word expression but a whole lot of stuff was coming out of her mouth.

In the midst of the fall, all my pain was just brushed aside, insignificant to the incredible feeling of my realisation. I pulled myself up, gave Nadiah a quick hug and a kiss while blinking rapidly several times so that tears will not fall. And I've been doing that several times since the incident whenever I thought of it. Even hubby was rendered speechless when he rushed over to the bathroom to see what was happening. Note that I pulled MYSELF up; no gentlemanly behaviour here, people!! I guessed he was struck dumb by Nadiah's show of concern.

It's days like these that I live for. One little incident that would erase all the other failures....

Twilight

2008-11-22T08:28:00.001+08:00

In honour of the opening of the movie TWILIGHT on the 21st November, I have changed my blog background.

I think it's so cool....

Snow In The Hot Sun

2008-11-22T07:15:00.005+08:00

A few days ago, Nadiah decided she wanted to dress up in winter gear. So she dug out a pair of gloves, a jacket and nicked the cerkup I wear for prayers. And after a few minutes of searching, I found my old woolen scarf and hang it around her neck.

She was ecstatic and ran downstairs to scrape for some "snow" in the freezer. I don't know where she gets these ideas but am only too happy that her imagination runs well. And so, to help her with her play, I decided to gather as much "snow" as possible into this big plastic cup. She was deliriously happy that she started to sprinkle some "snow" on herself and they look kinda real, like flecks of snow droppings on her clothes. I had to take pictures, of course..

With "snow" on her head and scarf

Tying her scarf

"Snow" in her hands

"Snow" from the freezer

Vampires Anyone?

2008-11-15T10:40:00.004+08:00

Do you ever notice that since the emergence of Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings on the silver screen a few years back, books and more movies are made around these fantasy, paranormal, psychic, urban myths and legend hullabaloo? And it was no surprise that I fell right into the trap!!

I adore the Harry Potter series, both the movies and the book series. And I just can't get enough of The Lord of the Rings. Admittedly I was one of those who saw the movie first without reading the book. But when I did, I straight away went out of my way to get the books and read it cover to cover, including the appendix. Not enough with just reading the book, I had to browse every LOTR site there was on the internet. Once or twice a year, I still have HP or LOTR marathons whenever possible.

Then about 2 years ago, I got hooked on vampire books. The first book I bought was Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. And wasn't I ecstatic to find out that the movie will be coming out soon. Since Twilight, I've read New Moon and bought Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, of which the last two books I've yet to read.

Then there came the Otherworld series by Yasmine Galenorn. The books are about the three D'Artigo sisters: Camille is a witch; Delilah, a ware-cat; and Menolly, a vampire. These three sexy, ass-kicking, half human, half Fairie sisters are out to save the world from the evil forces of Shadow Wing, the leader of the Subteranean Realm. Hahaa.. you're probably thinking what the heck I'm talking about. But it's great!

But the books that I really got seriously hooked on are the Dark series (or sometimes called the Carpathian series) by Christine Feehan. One day I saw a couple of titles in the series at Popular Bookstore and I chose just one, just to give it a try. The next day, I went back and bought all the other titles. After browsing the website, I found out that there are 18 books in the series that have already been printed. And I had to have them ALL of course. Those that were not at the bookstore, I made the people there order for me. And it wasn't just to be any book printed on the series. They had to be from a certain publisher so that when I arrange the books on my shelf (in order of the series, of course), I have the pleasure of seeing the books in order and of the safe cover design and height. That was how obsessed I was!! And yes, you've guessed it, I have every single title from the series except the latest new release. That is only because it's in largeprint and thus will not be of the same height as the other books. I read the books day in and day out and in a year, I've read every single book twice already and some even 3-4 times. Hubby is baffled with my strange obsession with the books. And so am I.

Nah... no, I'm not. I'm just weird. I just get into the characters and the plot that sometimes I have difficulty drawing a line between reality and fantasy.

Ok, now that we've establish how weird I can be, shall we stop now before you decide what a complete nutcase I am?

I'll leave you with a picture of some of the Dark books

Ta, see you in a few days....

Bowling Day

2008-11-14T10:10:00.005+08:00

This time I'm not going to even comment on how long it's been since I last blogged, nor make any such promises that I would be more diligent and update regularly. Because I know I will renege on that promise again and again. So I won't even bother. Instead, I'm just going to start blogging like months and months had not passed and ignore the "basi-ness" of some news. There! Now I can start.

Among Nadiah's hundreds of VCDs, there is one that shows kids playing bowling which she keeps watching again and again. So one day, hubby and I thought we would take her to the bowling alley and see if she would be interested. Usually places like that are really noisy with the music blaring out of the speakers, bowling balls being rolled across the floor and crashing against the pins. Not to mention people shouting and jumping up and down when there was a strike. So I wasn't too encouraged when we neared the place.

But then Nadiah suprised me when she walked in without a blink of an eye and only belatedly tried to reduce the sound around her by sticking a finger in each ear. And even that was done half heartedly. When I tried to get her hands down, she complied without much arguement. So that was a start.

One look at her face, I knew that she was excited. What with all those coloured balls sitting nicely in a row. I think she was amazed to see that she was actually there, at the bowling alley, just like the one she's been watching on her computer. But then, that day was just a trial to see if she would even step into the place. We stayed for a few minutes more to let her soak everything in and promised her we'll come again another day.

And so we did. After a few days, with our socks on hand, off we went. On the way, we kept talking about bowling to get her all hyped up. And she was. She was so excited that we could hardly make her stop and sit for a little, while Baba registered and get our shoes.

So how did she do?

Well, she's 6. What do you expect? I don't think I'll be dreaming of her in the Olympics pretty soon. I think we spent more time chasing after her then we did on the floor rolling the ball. She just did not get the concept that different coloured balls have different weights. If it was up to her, she would like to "throw" the ball according to the colour of the rainbow, regardless of the weight. At one time, it was Nadiah rolling on the floor instead of the ball. Thank God there were not many people around or we would have gotten the boot for sure!

But all in all, she had a blast!! Mama and Baba on the other hand, was totally exhausted.....

Choosing the right ball

Getting ready to "throw" the ball

Disappointed that her ball just disappeared down the drain

Giving Baba a hi10 after she managed to hit a few pins

Trying to pick up the 15lbs ball on her own

But she sure did enjoyed herself.... so that's what matters.

In The Month Of Ramadhan

2008-09-21T16:10:00.002+08:00

Everyday, time and time again, I would tell myself that "today I will update my blog". But today becomes another day, and another day etc etc... Mostly it' s because I've been swamped up to my head with beading. I hardly have any time at all for anything else. It's the 21st day of puasa and I've only been to the pasar Ramadhan twice. But I am happy to report that the beading is coming to an end and hopefully by Friday I'll be beading-free. Well, except for my own baju kurung, which is looking like I'll probably be going bead-less again this year. Don't have the energy or the enthusiasm to work on my own baju.

Despite the workload, I did managed to go out once in a while to do my shopping for the coming Hari Raya. I'm glad to have done most in my list. There's just the kuih raya to get for Nadiah's teachers, MIL and for our house. Then it's to the kitchen for the back aching work of preparing our traditional cookies: makmur and cornflakes cookies. Mom has already warned me that she'll be sitting out for this year's cookie-making. Said she is too old to sit for hours on end shaping the makmur into perfect ovals and thus leaving everything in my capable hands. Oh dear, I am hoping this week would go slowly so that I'll have ample time to rest before the back-aching work starts.

Ok, I'll update again later on. I'm feeling really tired now and can hardly get my eyes open. Till then, selamat berbuka puasa...

Singing Diva

2008-09-04T00:26:00.003+08:00

My brother bought Nadiah a cool microphone set with speakers the other day. The mic is in the shape of a flower and the speaker is also a flower coiling on the floor to hold up the stand. It's so funky and I have to say that it was a brilliant buy coz my darling Nadiah has turned into one singing diva!

In the beginning, when we were unpacking the mic from the box and she didn't know what it was, she wasn't very interested. Then I called to her through the mic and I could see the curiosity in her eyes. She tried a couple of lines from one of her many favourite songs and from then on, she was unstoppable.

Picture time:

Of course I couldn't resist scrapping about it and you can see my layout here.

Ramadhan 1429

2008-09-01T00:07:00.000+08:00

I would like to take this opportunity in wishing all my Muslim friends and blog readers a very happy Ramadhan. May you be blessed in this holy month.

Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!!

2008-08-31T10:48:00.000+08:00

Happy 51st birthday, Malaysia!!!

May we have peace and harmony for many, many years to come!

Summer Olympics 2008

2008-08-09T10:50:00.002+08:00

Did you watch the Beijing Olympic opening last night? I thought it was absolutely spectacular!! Admittedly I didn't watch the whole thing, but what I did watch held me in complete awe. That dance-handwriting routine on the painting scroll... amazing!!! And that moving blocks... fantastic!! That the performances were practiced since the last 8 years was well worth all their tremendous effort!!

Feeling The Blues

2008-07-28T20:27:00.002+08:00

I think I'm coming down with something. Got a tummy ache, I hurt all over and I feel like throwing up a time or two. No.. it's not the P word!! Just a bug, I'm sure.

I'm going to have an early nite tonite. So, nitey-nite and see ya!!

{Fishy} Update

2008-07-25T08:34:00.004+08:00

For those of you who have been wondering about Nadiah's fish... I have good news and I have bad news.

The good new is that she loved the fish so much that we've been adding more and more fish of different types. At the last count, there were about seven of them.

The bad news is, one night was I prowling around in the semi darkness looking for something (I don't remember what) and I think I must have kicked the wire to the oxygen/filter thingy and apparently it was a good hard kick that the socket came off and stopped all O2 from flowing into the water. Then next morning I see 7 dead fish floating away in the tank.

Yup!! That's me... the fish murderer!!

This Blog Desperately Needs Updating

2008-07-25T07:52:00.003+08:00

Yes, yes, I know. Don't need to tell me. I've been lazy and neglecting this blog. Plus, I've been neglecting my friends' blogs as well. Don't really know what's happening in their lives as of this moment. Some of them has probably gone private and block me from their sites. Ok, I'll try to be a better blogger from now on. But mind you, TRY is the operative word here. I'm not making any promises!! :D

Anyway, things has been happening in these last few months. Well, 4 months couldn't have gone by without SOMEthing happening, right? In this case, it's mostly in my scrapbooking world. I've been chosen to be in the design team in another scrapbooking site - ScrappingGlitz. It's new, it's fresh and has lots of new product brands. At the same time, I've been reinstated as a Guest Designer's Team with Scrappingville till the end of the year. So that's another great thing!! I guess that's why I've been a little busy lately. With projects to complete, challenges and online crops to host etc, etc, etc.... Do visit my scrapping blog here to see some of my latest work.

On the home front, everyone is doing fine and dandy. Nadiah, especially. She is doing so much better this year in school and NASOM. Teachers are all happy to report that she is talking so much this year. Also, she's not afraid to do things that she was last year. So that is very good progress. Next week, Nadiah is taking part is the school's Sport's Day. Last year, she absolutely refused to go down to the grounds even for practices. Simply dig in her feet and started crying hysterically. But this year, oh she's been enjoying the practices so much that I'm so proud of her. I especially love the times when I fetch her from school and she would tell me "That was great!" as soon as she comes out the door. Keeps repeating it until I acknowledge her day. Those are the moments that I treasure most!!

It's just over a month to Ramadhan and a month after that, Hari Raya comes along. It would be very soon that I'll be swamped with beading work, I'm sure. So I'm taking what precious days I've got and take things easy and enjoy life.

Till the next time, my friends!!!

Gold Fish

2008-03-22T23:05:00.003+08:00

We got Nadiah 2 gold fish today. One is named Dorothy; as in Elmo's Dorothy. And the other is named Goldy. It's been 5 hours since we brought the fishes home and since then Nadiah has fed them at least 7 times. I just hope they'll still be swimming around tomorrow morning... *sigh*

12th General Election 2008

2008-03-08T09:24:00.003+08:00

9.25am

Right! I did it! I've done my part. Now we'll just have to wait till results' time...

Another Tag

2008-03-06T21:26:00.005+08:00

I got tagged by Liza. Finally going to do this..

You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

H = Honest

A = Adventurous

S = Scared of a flying cockroach

N = Nice & friendly

I = Independent

I'm tagging: Hani, Anis, Sha, Naddy, Ida

Sunday Morning Ramblings

2008-02-24T10:44:00.003+08:00

Gosh!! Feeling really tired this morning. Had a late night last night with online cropping at Scrap-n-Crop Forum. But before that, we went to Sg Petani to take Nadiah swimming. Most of the family was there also and everyone opted to have dinner at the club. I kept looking at my watch, hoping that dinner will go quickly and we can be back by 9 pm when the cropping starts.

Arrived home a few minutes before 9 and had to quickly rush through my shower, getting Nadiah into her PJs and printing photos for the crop. By 9.30 I was in front of the pc and all ready to go. The crop was fun and the challenges were... well challenging. Mainly because my brain was tired and it was refusing to work and I just could not think artistically!! Anyway, you can view here for the layouts.

Now I'm just chilling out waiting for the time to go fetch Nadiah. I do have some beadings to do but really not feeling up to it... Will probably play game on the pc instead!!

38 Question Tag

2008-02-22T08:50:00.004+08:00

This is in reply to Spectacularwave's tag which she did ages ago and I am only just doing.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
My daughter, Nadiah when she tried to cut her cat's fur.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Updating my blog.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Still updating my blog.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
Can't remember.. must dig up my old diary

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
"Nadiah, go to sleep!!!"

6. How many beverages did you have today?
None as yet. It's still early... or could the milk in the cereal count??

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Black.

8.What was the last thing you paid for?
A mini shelves in the shape of a house... which was a steal at RM25.00!!

9. Where were you last night?
Home.

10. What color is your front door?
Mahagony Brown.

11. Where do you keep your change?
In the coin compartment in my purse.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Hot.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Vanilla and Chocolate.

14. What excites you?
Newly arrived scrapbooking stash and recently watching Capt Jack Sparrow in the Parites movies...

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Definitely.. if only I could find the time

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yup!!

17. Do you talk a lot?
Depends on the company.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
Nope

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Don't think so... can't remember right this moment

20. Do you make up your own words?
Oh yeas... like 'merapu' + 'merepek' = 'merepu'

21. Are you a jealous person?
Not normally but there are special cases.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Anis.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kay Own

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My mom

25. What does the last text message you received say?
It sas, "Mebe next time i dtg plk... ehehe", Nad smsed me all the way from Perth

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Never.

27. Do you have curly hair?
Yes.. although it's more wavy rather than curly.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
The post office.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
I'm fortunate in never have met a person with extreme rudeness.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Cereal

31. Will you get married in the future?
I'm already married. What sort of a question is this???!!

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (ya I know, I know.. I'm a little ketinggalan!!)

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Oh... it has always been Brad Pitt.... heheee!!

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Last night

35. Are you currently depressed?
No.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because Spec tagged me and it is polite to do so when you've been tagged and plus, it's something to update my blog....

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I'm not going to tag anybody

2 Months in A Flash

2008-02-22T07:00:00.007+08:00

Yes, I know, I know... I have been MIA again. But if you noticed, I have not been away completely. I have been updating my scrapbooking and beading blogs. It's just this one that I've been neglecting.

Many things has happened in this past two months. Some sad news and some good news touched our lives. I shall share the sadness first. One of our cats has passed away. Chit Chat or Chat as he is usually called, one day just became sick and deteriorate from then on. It started with a nose bleed. We took him to the vet but he could not find what is actually wrong with Chat. The vet said he could have had an accident or was in a fight or might have fallen from somewhere. Chet did have bruise at the back of his neck, but that appeared ages ago and we suspected a fight. After the vet had stopped the bleeding, we took him home. But he refused to eat and drink. After two days he just passed on. Poor cat... now Orange is left alone and missing her brother.

Honestly, Nadiah didn't really feel anything because she does not understand death. Furthermore, Orange has always been her favourite and nowadays she seldom play with the cats anyway.

The good news is, I have been selected as one of the Designer's Team for Scrappingville, a scrapbooking store in Bangsar Shopping Center. It will be for 6 months and I get to showcase my work at the store. I have done a few projects and you'll be able to see them at the store. So do visit Scappingville and have a lookie!!

Through scrapbooking I have met many talented ladies around the the country and also from Singapore and Brunei. Now if I go down to KL, I'll try to meet up with some of them. Most times are with Nad and Michelle. One of the times I was there, we had a cropping session at Michelle's and Nad brought some yummylicious cupcakes!!! And she even initialed the cuppies with a Y for Yatie and N for Nadiah. Nadiah loved it .. and so did her mom, naturally... :D. Nadiah also had a great time making art with Mich's kids, Clarissa and Sean. (psst.. guys, I know this was long ago but I just had to put up those photos of the cuppies... heheee!!)

Last weekend when I was in KL again, I dropped by Mich's house again for a lovely chit chat and she presented my with a handmade box full of creativity. She's such a creative lady!!
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First there was the socks phase..... stripy and colourful ones....

Then, came the wellies phase.... a fiery red ones!!!

Nadiah loves her wellies. As it had been a dry and hot month last month, all the water that she could find was in the dried drain which she sprayed water into. So that she could splash around.
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We also did a lot of swimming these past few months. Or rather, Nadiah did. It was either at the club or at home in our foldable pool. Sometimes with Amir, sometimes on her own. Nowadays Nadiah is more confident in the pool that she's refusing to use the floats on her arms and swimming float-less. She is also confident enough to get out of the kiddy pool and into the bigger kids pool, which she just decided to do so on her own. We have been trying to get her to try the bigger pool without any success. I guess she just decided that she's ready and just did it.

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Now that we're busy with school, Nadiah seldom has time to swim except on a few weekends. It's back to twice a day of school now. But her afternoon classes had a time change and now starts at 3 pm.

Ok, I now have two tags to write up and hopefully I can do so today. It's about time I catch up on my friends' updates....

Mighty Irfan

2007-12-29T10:03:00.001+08:00

Nadiah is sitting on her stroller

But who is pushing her???

Oh.. it's a superbaby... it's Mighty Irfan....

Play And Swim

2007-12-28T23:45:00.001+08:00

Took Nadiah and Irfan to the park today. Oh I forgot to tell that we are babysitting Irfan for 2 weeks because his nursery is closed for two weeks for Christmas. We are most happy to have him here. He seems to be enjoying himself chasing after the cats :D.

Anyway, park time was only for a few minutes because I cannot handle one kid whose wanting to walk everywhere himself now that he has started to walk, while the other kid running around and trying to take her shoes off so she could walk on the sand that's crawling with red ants. Uh-uh I SO cannot handle it on my own. Shukri had gone to the barber which was nearby so left me alone with the kids in the car. I thought I could handle both in the park. But decided to bundle them all up back in the car to wait.

Then after lunch we went to SP because Nadiah wanted to swim at the club. G was with us but we left him at Bro#1's house so he could "play" with Daniel. At the chalet, we met up with Amir who was all dressed for swimming. So I quickly get Nadiah changed into her swim suit and off we went. The kids had a great time in the pool and keep splashing me and Shukri. And we of coursed counter attacked. But they were already wet so there really was no point in it. But oh sooo much fun!!

After the swim, Shukri went out with Amir and his dad, and on the way picked up G and Daniel to go and get some dinner. It was fun having everybody gathered up like that while watching The Fugitive on the telly.

We all left around 9 pm. Sent Daniel back home and headed back to Alor Star right after.
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By the way, this is my 100th post. So happy 100th Post Anniversary to Beads n Sequins blog!!

Christmas Day

2007-12-25T23:07:00.000+08:00

Christmas morning.... seems like any other morning. Nadiah got up early today. Most of the family had gone to Langkawi for dad's family gathering. We couldn't go because it will be a difficult thing to get Nadiah on the boat. Maybe when she's older, we could go if they have another gathering.

Since Shukri had gone to help out his dad at the shop, I took Nadiah out shopping. Well, not really shopping, but to exchange some of her clothes that I had bought because the size was wrong. Since it's Christmas time, they had a lot of christmasy decorations on sale and Nadiah especially liked the colourful garlands hanging on the rack. I found her buried in them and wrapping them around her neck. What fun she had :D. I just had to take these photos of her. Didn't much care if people were looking.. LOL!!

In the evening, all three of us went out for a drive. First we stopped at Gemilang Burger stall in Medan Kota. If you like those stall-made burgers, I would have to say that Gemilang makes THE best burger in all of Alor Star. And they are fast too!! Then we drove over to Tanjung Chalie to eat them burgers. It's a beautiful place along Sungai Kedah. Very tranquil, especially with the sun setting over the river. I've never actually stopped and parked at the tanjung. Most times we just drive past it without even giving it a second glance. They have now made a dataran or square and a tower where you can sit and just relax, looking out to the river.

This school holiday is turning out to be quite an exploration. We are taking the time to stop and really "see" what is in our hometown. One of these days we must go to the Padi Exhibition Center we've been hearing so much about. Dad has been bugging us to go for quite some time now.

Hari Raya Aldiladha

2007-12-25T22:55:00.000+08:00

December 20th, 2007

Raya haji this year did not feel like raya. Very quite and not much fuss around it. We didn't even make any cookies, not even my very quick, very simple chocolate cake. The men were not even dressed in their baju melayu, except for the prayers, and they got changed immediately after. Shukri and my dad went to see the korban after the prayers and only got back around 2pm. And only then that we went to my in-laws. And by that time all the other in-laws had come and gone, so we didn't get to meet them.

After a few hours, were were back at home and some relatives came and went. So that was about it for this year's raya korban. But we did get G to take a quick photo of the three of us.

So SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILADHA to all the Muslims... err.. a belated one, that is.

Kuala Kedah Marina Habour

2007-12-17T22:49:00.000+08:00

December 14th, 2007

I've been neglecting this blog again. Been meaning to post this one since we went there which was on the 14th December. We went for a drive one evening and decided to take Nadiah to look at the sea. So went up to the Kuala Kedah Marina Habour which is about 30 minutes drive from home. The castle-like building is the central point of attraction, I think, to those who come by this place. There is also the Old Fort (or Kota Lama) which is in ruin nearby, but this 'castle' is still the main attraction. Why, you ask me? This is why..

Does it not look like it came out of an English scenery? Somewhat Normanic or some sort like that. It just doesn't go with the surrounding area, which I might say is very, very kampung.

It's bad enough that this castle was build here, now take a look at this:

Don't you think that zinc roofing really top it all off?? I agree that the castle is beautiful, design-wise. I have no complains there. I just don't think that it should be BUILT there. So sayang. Such a beautiful building ruined by all that roofing. Maybe it's under construction or something and the roofs are just temporary. I hope they are.

Anyway, we went further along to stop at the beach and probably have Nadiah wet her feet in the water (although she refused to go any further from the car) and found that the beach has become a dumpster. There were rubbish everywhere.. I mean, literally everywhere. People over here are so lacking in civic mindedness (<-not sure if this word actually exist). They don't care about the beauty or cleanliness of the landscape. They don't care about having to enjoy the time and not have to step on rotten food. I just don't understand why they can't just throw rubbish in the bin. I mean honestly, how simple can that be??? Okay, enough of my ranting and raving. All in all, the trip was educational for Nadiah because she got to see boats, or rather tongkang. Plus there were a lot of real-life cows and goats to feast her eyes on.

That's as fas as Nadiah would go...

See all that rubbish??

Old Friends and New Friends

2007-12-14T19:20:00.000+08:00

The power of internet sometimes still has the powers to amaze me. This couple of months, I've been introduce to Facebook. A netwoking program that has taken me everywhere, meeting up with old friends. Some of which I have not seen or spoken to in more than 20 years. Amazing!!

I've always like having friends and making friends. I think friends are the most treasured thing that you can find. And I am blessed by having a handful of really trusted and TRUE friends. If you've never tried or have never heard of Facebook before, go here and try searching for some friends of yours. Chances are, you'll find them there.

On the other hand, I've also made some new friends over the internet. Friends that share the same interest as I do: scrapbooking, beading and books. A year ago, I have never been into a forum or a blog and had no interest at all to try them. Then one day, I just thought why not? So I tried and a year later, here I am richer by a number of more friends that I did before.

Two days ago, I met up with two of my forum buddies, Nad and Michelle and had a great time just talking about scrapbooking... for 2 hours... non-stop!! Thanks, Mich for inviting and hope to see you guys again soon!

Then they were the friends I've made, but have never met... too many to count right this moment. But know that you are all appreciated and treasured. Hope to meet face to face one of these days...

Another Zoo Trip

2007-12-14T18:29:00.000+08:00

*Please go here to see an Exploding Zoo Box that I've created.

We just got back from KL last night. This time we made sure that the trip to Zoo Negara was definitely on. No more cancellations. We have been planning to go for months and months but each time there was always something better to do... namely shopping... hahaa!!

So we finally did go this time. As this KL trip includes G and Daniel, we brought them along too. Two days before the actual day, me and Shukri has been feeding Nadiah with zoo ideas. We keep mentioning the word zoo or spelling out Z-O-O for her and calling out animal names. She got excited about it all that she was literally jumping up and down early that morning.

So the day came and I had the map in hand and practically memorised the road as we didn't want to get lost. It took us about 1 and a half hours from Bangsar to the zoo. The traffic was terrible that it actually took up more than an hour just to get from the front of the apartment to Jalan Duta. Luckily Nadiah did not make any fuss but was rather enjoying the sights of so many cars. After that it was smooth sailing.

I am too lazy to write up on every single animals that we saw, so just enjoy the pics

It's About Time I Blog Again

2007-12-05T06:03:00.000+08:00

Gosh! I'm a bad, bad blogger. I update a day or two, then I'm MIA for a month. Sheesh!!

It's the school holidays now and I hardly have time for myself. Been cracking my head with what to do day after day to keep Nadiah occupied. She misses her school. I know coz everytime we pass the junction to her school, she would say "skool, skool". Poor girl. I wish the school would open even for just a few days. Even the thrill of having cats at home has almost gone. The only thing that she still does is getting the cats out of their kitty house and stuffed (I mean literaly stuffed!!)the cats into a smaller cage. Then the little madam would do her stuff - ride her bike, ride the scooter, go on the swings and running around having fun. Basically just ignoring the cats. But don't even think of letting the cats out because Nadiah has some magic eyes and she knows when the cats have escaped. I feel sorry for the cats. No freedom at all *sigh*.

Yesterday we all went out for a drive and Nadiah saw a kite flying high up in the sky. And so she cried out "kite" and pointing to it and baba straight away turned the car in the direction of the people selling kites. He thought of getting Nadiah the pretty butterfly shaped one but she wanted the stripey rainbow coloured one. Since it was a little windy, we decided to go to the stadium vacinity and have a go at the kite. Nadiah had a blast. And so did Baba. There was not that much wind and the kite only managed to go up a little over 15 feet high. But that didn't matter to Nadiah coz it was really flying!!

"I Can Only Imagine"

2007-11-17T05:04:00.000+08:00

Recently a scrapbooking buddy of mine who has a brain injured child posted a link of an article about a father's love for his special child. It was such an inspiring read.

Here is the whole article (or you can read it from the link at: :http://www.teamhoyt.com/history.shtml)

Racing Towards Inclusion by David Tereshchuck
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete just about continuously in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon — that daunting, almost superhuman, combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming. Together they have climbed mountains, and once trekked 3,735 miles across America.

It’s a remarkable record of exertion — all the more so when you consider that Rick can't walk or talk.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

At Rick’s birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development.

"It’s been a story of exclusion ever since he was born," Dick told me. "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now."

The couple brought their son home determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as his siblings. Dick remembers the struggle to get the local school authorities to agree: "Because he couldn’t talk they thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true." The dedicated parents taught Rick the alphabet. "We always wanted Rick included in everything," Dick said. "That’s why we wanted to get him into public school."

A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator." A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.

When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season, and his family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. "So we learned then that Rick loved sports," said Dick.

In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night, Dick remembers, "Rick told us he just didn’t feel handicapped when we were competing."

Rick’s realization turned into a whole new set of horizons that opened up for him and his family, as "Team Hoyt" began to compete in more and more events. Rick reflected on the transformation process for me, using his now-familiar but ever-painstaking technique of picking out letters of the alphabet:

" What I mean when I say I feel like I am not handicapped when competing is that I am just like the other athletes, and I think most of the athletes feel the same way. In the beginning nobody would come up to me. However, after a few races some athletes came around and they began to talk to me. During the early days one runner, Pete Wisnewski had a bet with me at every race on who would beat who. The loser had to hang the winner’s number in his bedroom until the next race. Now many athletes will come up to me before the race or triathlon to wish me luck."

It is hard to imagine now the resistance which the Hoyts encountered early on, but attitudes did begin to change when they entered the Boston Marathon in 1981, and finished in the top quarter of the field. Dick recalls the earlier, less tolerant days with more sadness than anger:

"Nobody wanted Rick in a road race. Everybody looked at us, nobody talked to us, nobody wanted to have anything to do with us. But you can’t really blame them - people often are not educated, and they’d never seen anyone like us. As time went on, though, they could see he was a person — he has a great sense of humor, for instance. That made a big difference."

After 4 years of marathons, Team Hoyt attempted their first triathlon — and for this Dick had to learn to swim. "I sank like a stone at first" Dick recalled with a laugh "and I hadn’t been on a bike since I was six years old."

With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.

"We chuckle to think about that as my Father’s Day present from Rick, " said Dick.

They have been competing ever since, at home and increasingly abroad. Generally they manage to improve their finishing times. "Rick is the one who inspires and motivates me, the way he just loves sports and competing," Dick said.

And the business of inspiring evidently works as a two-way street. Rick typed out this testimony:

"Dad is one of my role models. Once he sets out to do something, Dad sticks to it whatever it is, until it is done. For example once we decided to really get into triathlons, dad worked out, up to five hours a day, five times a week, even when he was working."

The Hoyts’ mutual inspiration for each other seems to embrace others too — many spectators and fellow-competitors have adopted Team Hoyt as a powerful example of determination. "It’s been funny," said Dick "Some people have turned out, some in good shape, some really out of shape, and they say ‘we want to thank you, because we’re here because of you’."

Rick too has taken full note of their effect on fellow-competitors while racing:

"Whenever we are passed (usually on the bike) the athlete will say "Go for it!" or "Rick, help your Dad!" When we pass people (usually on the run) they’ll say "Go Team Hoyt!" or "If not for you, we would not be out here doing this."

Most of all, perhaps, the Hoyts can see an impact from their efforts in the area of the handicapped, and on public attitudes toward the physically and mentally challenged.

"That’s the big thing," said Dick. "People just need to be educated. Rick is helping many other families coping with disabilities in their struggle to be included."

That is not to say that all obstacles are now overcome for the Hoyts. Dick is "still bothered," he says, by people who are discomforted because Rick cannot fully control his tongue while eating. "In restaurants - and it’s only older people mostly - they’ll see Rick’s food being pushed out of his mouth and they’ll leave, or change their table. But I have to say that kind of intolerance is gradually being defeated."

Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. That was followed a few weeks later by another entry in the Boston Marathon. As he fondly pictured it: "On the day of the marathon from Hopkinton to Boston people all over the course were wishing me luck, and they had signs up which read `congratulations on your graduation!’"

Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.

Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the country.

Rick himself is confident that his visibility — and his father’s dedication — perform a forceful, valuable purpose in a world that is too often divisive and exclusionary. He typed a simple parting thought:

"The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life."

David Tereshchuk is a documentary television producer. He currently works for the United Nations.

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And now watch this video

By the time I finished watching this video, I had goosebumps and tears were streaming down my face. I felt that what we have to deal with Nadiah's mild autism is nothing compared to Rick Hoyt's. If they can do it, we most certainly can do it too.

-I CAN ONLY IMAGINE-

Good Luck

2007-11-12T11:52:00.000+08:00

Today is the start of SPM. All the best to G. Hope you'll do well. Hope you are prepared, and even if you are not.. well... too late to do anything else!!!

I made a card for him and all of us wrote something in it. My favourite is the advice that Amir wrote for him, which reads : "Good luck, jangan loklaq". Well said, Amir!!

So G....

GOOD LUCK
ALL THE BEST
BONNE CHANCE
GAMBATE KUDASAI
GUID LUCK
and all those good wishes....

More on cats..

2007-11-10T16:39:00.000+08:00

We just came back from KL yesterday. Nadiah didn't even miss her cats. Hmmm.... this probably means that she is over her cat-crazy phase. This also means mama and baba are stuck with taking care of the cats. Darn it!!

As soon as we arrived back, my mom brought Orange to Nadiah, and she promptly took the cat back to it's kitty house. Under lock and key. Poor cats.. no freedom at all.

We left the cats for 3 days and they stink to high heaven. Sheesh!! This morning we gave each a bath and a blow-dry and they are smelling nice (as nice as a cat could smell, that is!!) and fluffy again.

The Magnificent Four

2007-11-03T15:09:00.000+08:00

Nadiah had fun yesterday playing with her cousins. Everybody had a bike each so they were racing around the house to Nadiah's "On your marks, get set.. GO!"

It's good to see her having fun with the others. I see my dad watching from the porch, happy and proud to see his cucus enjoying themselves. I wish Irfan could have been here. We could put him in the stroller and he could join in the race too.

I caught this on video:

Oh BTW, yesterday was Irfan's first birthday. Too bad we all couldldn't be with him to celebrate. Maybe we'll have a little party over the school holidays and take a trip to the zoo or something. That would be so much FUN!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRFAN..
Hope you had a blast at the aquarium looking at the fish... :D

Cats

2007-11-03T14:39:00.000+08:00

We now have 2 cats living with us. It all started with Nadiah going ga-ga over the cats at the pet shop a few weeks ago. Everyday we would stop for 15 mins or so at the pet shop so Nadiah can have fun poking, pulling furs and feeling the texture of the cats' ears. Then one day, 2 kittens suddenly appeared at our house. Nobody seemed to have any claims on them so Nadiah declared them hers. As I am allergic to cats, I stood as far away as I could just taking pictures of Nadiah. Shukri had to do most of the work like bathing the cats, feeding and the best job EVER... scooping up cats' poop from the sand dish (thank God for my allergies!!)

Anyway, in order to make sure the kittens are clean and well fed, Shukri made a kitty house. He took two days build it from scratch and I must say that it was a job well done!! Hats off to Baba!!

Although there are two kittens, Nadiah only like playing with the orange one, which she aptly named Orange. The other kitten which is grey had different names almost everyday before we finally settled on ChitChat. I pity Orange because she's stuck in the kitty house most of the time and whenever we let her out to run around, Nadiah would scoop her up and take her for a walk everywhere she went. I fear Orange would suffer from laziness eventually. Sometimes she would take Orange on her bike, but refusing to let the poor cat sit in the basket but would hold the cat in one hand. As seen in this video:

Then she would take Orange up on the swings with her. But Orange would just curl quietly in her arms making absolutely no fuss (probably dizzy from all that rocking!!).

Happy 17th, G

2007-11-03T14:29:00.000+08:00

Last Wednesday was G's 17th birthday. There wasn't much of a celebration except for a cake and some cards from various family members. With SPM just around the corner, I think he would rather not take time for a party. Instead would postpone till after the exams.

Here are some pics taken of him with the cake:

Of course, since I had started scrapbooking, I had to make a card for him myself or it would not have been worth spending all that money on SB supplies. Click here to view the card. G loved it so I'm happy.

Raya, Raya, Raya...

2007-11-03T12:57:00.000+08:00

Yes, I know. It's almost the end of Syawal and I am just writing about the Hari Raya celebration. So sorry but I have been busy, busy, busy. Everyday through the month of Ramadhan, I've done nothing but sew, sew, sew. I was even sewing beads on my own baju kurung on hari raya it self. Luckily I managed to finished it by noon and the cina gambaq was due at 1 o'clock to take pictures of the family. Or my undone work would have been framed up on the wall for everyone to see for many, many years.

Anyway, since I was too busy beading, we did not make any kuih raya this year. There was simply no time at all. So my brothers (and me too :( ) had to forgo mom's kuih cornflakes and kuih makmur. All I managed was chocolate cupcakes and even that was the instant-pour-from-the-box-and-mix type.

These were the only ones I managed to pipe the icing and they look presentable, which was then taken to the in-laws. The ones left at out house were never served to the guests because Nadiah sabotaged the icing by piping herself. She managed to get more icing on her fingers and mouth than on the cuppies.

At the in-laws I met Nadiah's new cousin for the first time, who was then only 22 days old. Little Mohd Shahrul Ilham. Baby Shahrul was born a couple of weeks early but there was not much complication that he was able to go home with his mom few days after birth. I took a picture of him looking so innocent in his sleep.
(*have got the picture somewhere...)

Unbeknown to us that that would be the last picture ever taken of him because baby Shahrul passed away early the next day. So the second day of Hari Raya started with a solemn note. Shukri rushed to the hospital when he was first taken because he had difficulty breathing. But a few minutes later the doctor informed that baby Shahrul had passed on. I can just imagine what my BIL and his wife must have felt like to loose a child they had only for 23 days.

Day 3, I went to an old classmate, Awein's house and also took the chance to meet up with Iza. Another classmate was also there with her hubby and daughter. So that was a nice reunion. The next day I decided to ask them over to the house, plus a few more friends with their respective families. It was great fun to gather again and took that moment to catch up. But as we all grow older, each with their own children, I find that conversations usually comes back to the kids. What mothers do not like talking about their offsprings??

All in all, this year's raya was quite with ther exception of the mini reunions. The most important thing is Nadiah's collection of duit raya was almost as much as the duit raya that I was giving away. So that was good.. hahaa!!

More raya pics

Nadiah in her first day raya dress

me and Irfan

he's soooo CUTE!!

Nadiah giving a bollywood pose

I love this picture

Nadiah being naughty

I'm Lovin' It

2007-09-27T06:41:00.000+08:00

Last night, hubby said the most wonderful word.

He said “Let’s go to McDonald’s”

McDONALD’S….. *sigh* music to my ears.

It seems like forever since I had my last bite. Every Ramadhan I promise myself that I’ll try not to eat McD for the whole month. But every year I’ll succumb to the smell and sound of the food. Yes, SOUND because me and hubby had to sit and stare and listen to Nadiah munching on all that fries twice already since the first day of puasa. Nobody makes fries like McDonald’s.

Hubby came back early from tarawih last night but even so, we had 15+ minutes before closing time. So I rushed to get changed, get Nadiah out of the room, run downstairs and get her shoes on in just five minutes flat. Usually it would take like 20 minutes just to get Nadiah to put on her shoes. So last night was certainly a Guiness Book Record moment. Even she understood all the rushing around like crazy because she heard the word McDonald’s and ice-cream. Nadiah rushed back into the room to get my handbag which I had purposely left opting for just my handphone and purse. But no, I had to bring along my big fat handbag too. She was jumping up and down, hurrying me along because I took 30 full seconds just to put on my shoes.

We got to Star Parade with 5 minutes to closing time. Even the parking attendant was nowhere in sight so that means no parking fees. Woohoo!! That’s a first. By the time we got in, the shutters between Pacific and the outer stores were half closed so we ducked under it and slammed right into the long line of people waiting for their turn at the McD dessert stall. Hmm… I guess we weren’t the only ones desperate for some sweet and tasty treats. So we decided to line up at the main counter where lines weren’t that long.

Finally our turn came and let’s just say that I am now full with greesy fries and fishy burger and the white, smooth and cool stuff. I think that would hold me till the end of Ramadhan.

So far puasa month has been smooth sailing. We haven’t had the woke-up-late-and-rushing-through-sahur morning yet. Which usually happens once or twice every year.

On a different note, Nadiah had another appointment with Alex in Loh Guan Lye Hospital last Saturday. She had another one-to-one session with him and me and hubby had to wait outside (which we spent trying hard to keep our eyes open). The last 15 minutes of the hour-long session, Alex called us in and said that he was happy with Nadiah’s progress. I asked if she said anything to him and he said yes, she did say a few words which he did understand and was able to communicate with her. She also told him to shush when he talked too much but that’s beside the point. The main thing is, they are able to make each other understand. I have been worried because we, hubby and myself, seems to understand her wants and needs well enough. Maybe that’s because we spend a lot of time with her. But most people don’t seem to have a clue with what she is trying to convey. So that is an improvement. I guess all those times in NASOM and school are really paying off. Next appointment will be in January 2008.

After the appointment, we made a quick visit (when I say we, I meant me and when I say quick, it was like an hour) at the only scrapbooking store in Penang. I had visited Smidapaper online many times and was really excited to be going to their store. It was pure heaven. They have so many things and everything was colourful and I was like a kid who just stepped into a candy store. It was a good hour spent although not so much on my credit card. We had the foresight to bring along a laptop so that Nadiah was occupied waiting in the car for that hour. Can’t wait for that appointment in January. But then again.... maybe I DON'T have to wait till January to pay visit now, do I???

Rest In Peace, Little Girl

2007-09-22T08:03:00.000+08:00

When a little girl of 8 went missing on the 20th August, the country was sympathetic and help search for the girl. Almost a month to that day, another little girl was found dead in a gym bag, all battered and bruised and worst still, sexually abused. The whole nation went in shocked. When the authorities confirmed that the missing girl and the girl in the bag were one and the same, the whole nation was outraged. How could this happen to a little girl? An innocent and sickly little girl. What has become to this country when parents are afraid to let their children play and enjoy life in fear of the same tragedy?

Perhaps there is a hikmah that the said little girl did not survive the ordeal. Imagine what her life would have been like relieving the nightmare again and again. The psychological impact to her life would have been tremendous that she would probably wish for death itself. I pray that the end was quick for her. I pray that she did not suffer for long. And I pray that the monsters that did those despicable acts on her die a thousand death and suffers every single time!!

Our religion teaches us to forgive and forget. But how could her parents not wish for death for those people? How could the parents forget the look on their daughter’s face as she laid in death? How could we forgive if we were in their shoes?

Let us mourn for the loss of innocence. Let us mourn for what has become to this country. Let us mourn for little Nurin Jazlin. May she rest in peace and may her soul be blessed by Allah Almighty….

Al-Fatehah

******************************************************
We say,

"FIND THOSE BASTARDS!!! AND CUT THEM UP INTO PIECES!!"

Selamat Berpuasa

2007-09-12T19:05:00.000+08:00

Here's wishing all the Muslims
"SELAMAT BERPUASA".

May you have a blessed Ramadhan.

I Hurt

2007-09-12T18:49:00.001+08:00

Uhuk uhuk!! I had an accident riding a motorbike 2 days ago. I loss control and slammed into the pillar of our porch. It was all me, me, me!!! Nobody was moving and no car was nearby except the one that was parked on the other side of the porch. I did it all by myself and have no one to blame but big 'ole me!!

And now everything hurts. I have a long gash on the inside of my cheek which got caught between my teeth and the pillar. Bruises on my shoulder and wrist and my muscles ache everywhere. Even in places I didn't even know muscles existed.

What's worse is that it all happened right in front of our neighbour doctor who was on the other side of the fence where the motorbike fell in the end. I think my dignity took the worse beating than my body. Thank God the blood in my mouth stopped or I would have had to go to him to get stitches. Argh..!!! The embarrassment

Crafty Nadiah

2007-09-08T12:07:00.000+08:00

While I'm busy scrapping in my tiny scrapping space, Nadiah would come and menyibuk nak scrap as well. She would be sitting on her little table and work on her "spider". That's when she would take a piece of A4 paper and fold it down the middle. Then trace the palm of her left hand and cut out the picture. Then cut out her "thumb" and unfold. Voila!! You'll have an eight legged spide look-a-like. Cut out 2 small circle shapes for eyes, a triangle for the nose and a smile.

I've got a picture of the finished spider somewhere. I stopped taking pictures as she makes the spider 3-4 times a day since she learned it about a year ago. Sometimes the trash can is full of finished and semi-finished spiders.
---------------------------------------------------------

A few days ago, Shukri bought Nadiah a box of 24 tubs of poster color. It's the one thing that I always try to avoid buying for her. I usually get her those that come in tubes. The thing with Nadiah is, she would always try to use up the whole box in one sitting. So the safest choice would be tubes. But Baba being Baba... just could not resist being twisted around Nadiah's little finger, and so bought her the big set.

When we got home, he was worried that she would use up the whole 24 tubs. So he went out again and bougt a kilo of flour to make his very own finger paints. He tried 3 colours: red, yellow and green. Nadiah loved it. She loved the icky, squishy feel of the goo. Not only did she paint with her hands, she also made footprints everywhere in the room (thank God I had the sense to remove all the carpets in the room or it would be hell to wash!!).

Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka

2007-08-31T10:47:00.000+08:00

Happy 50th Merdeka to Malaysia and all the people of our beloved country.

MERDEKA

MERDEKA

MERDEKA

Scrapbook Mini Album

2007-08-29T07:29:00.000+08:00

When I went to KL, I went crazy over scrapbooking stuff. I went to practically every scrapbooking shop in KL. I alsogot to me my best friend, Wina and her daughter, Dania, while she's back from London for the summer. Wina got me and Nadiah some clothing stuff as gifts and also brought back my purchases from eBay UK which includes Making Memories Mini Flower Brads. Five packs of them, which would have cost me a bomb if I were to buy that much here for something so small and tiny.

Anyway, I was thinking of something to give to Dania before they went back to London and decided to make a scrapbook mini album.

Am too lazy to upload detailed pictures here but you can view them in my scrapbooking blog. But here's a picture of Dania with the album.

I'm told that Dania already has 7 or 8 scrapbooks, secret diaries etc but hey.... this one is handmade by Aunty Yatie so it's got to be something special, right??

Of all the stuff that I got in KL, the best was a circle cutter which I found in my brother's old drawer chest crammed with his architecture rubbish (ok, to me they are rubbish... maybe not to him) when he was a student. It's ancient but still in good working order. Woohoo! What a treasure!!

Melaka Trip

2007-08-28T22:46:00.000+08:00

Our trip to Melaka was from 20/8 to 22/8. We went to Ayer Keroh and stayed at Paradise Melaka Village Resort.

The building was a little old and needed lots of refurbishment. But at least it was clean. And the swimming pool area was nicely maintained. Lucky for us because we spent most of our times at the pool. The problem was ,you could see the pool from the room and Nadiah kept looking out the window. Excited to see people swimming and she kept running around the room saying,

"Schwiming, schwiming!!"

As soon as we entered the room when we first arrived, and she saw the view, Nadiah had all her clothes off in record time.

Nadiah enjoying herself at the pool

That's our room, top right, taken from the pool

Living and dining area

The swimming pool taken from the room

The next morning we planned to go to the zoo. But had to postpone because the pool was too tempting for her. So we went in the afternoon and missed some of the animals because they were napping. But those that we saw were great and Nadiah loved the zoo.

When we moved from one animal to another, she kept saying "Bye-bye, see you later". Just like Baby Bop did in Barney's Visit To The Zoo video.

Enjoy the slide show

Back in KL, we spent some time with baby Irfan. He's so cute and cheeky. I caught this incident on camera on him trying to get Nadiah's attention

1. Irfan eyeing Nadiah

2. Getting closer....

3. Hold out his hand to get attention
And Nadiah looked bored and uninterested in all those pictures, not to mention very unphotogenic (if there's such a word).

And here's a picture of Irfan, zoomed in:

HUNGRY!!

2007-08-24T14:15:00.000+08:00

Yesterday Nadiah told Baba'

"Eat. Hungry, hungry."

She has never express her hunger verbally before. Most times she would just go down to the kitchen and started opening and closing the fridge or cupboards. So this is a first. We didn't even realise that she knew the word "hungry", let alone knew how to use it.

Well done, Nadiah. Hope you'll be using a lot more words to tell us what you are feeling.

Pictures Tell All

2007-08-21T17:39:00.003+08:00

I was going to update on my birthday a few days ago but have been so busy that I couldn't find the time. I am now in Melaka taking a break during this week long school holidays. As Shukri has taken Nadiah to the pool (for the third time since we got here yesterday), I'll take this chance to just upload some pics.

1. Birthday lunch at Damiral's Grill with Shukri, Nadiah and G. Parents and everybody else has gone to KL. No cake this year except for a slice of chocolate cake with ice cream for Nadiah.

2. We've been planning to go to KL for weeks. A day before the actual date, Bro#3 called up to say that his son, Irfan, has been admitted into Damansara Specialist Center due to very high fever. So mom joined us to KL to have a look at her youngest cucu. Irfan is so small that it's heartbreaking to think of him being injected with long needles and confined to the bed. When we arrived at the hospital, there he was in his baba's arms, greeting us at the ward entrance. The poor baby has got several mosquito bites on his face and legs. And his voice was so husky when he's moaning in pain due to some inflamation in his throat.

3. On our latest trip to Toys 'r Us, bought Nadiah a harmonica. At first she didn't know what it was and thus wasn't interested in it. But when I started to blow into it, she whooped for joy and grabbed the darn thing from my hands. And hasn't stopped blowing into it since. Luckily she left it in KL since we came here to Melaka.

I'll update on our trip to Melaka in a few days. Tomorrow we'll be back in KL to send off my parents for Umrah and will return to Alor Star either Thursday or Friday. I'm hoping Friday so that I'll have more time to go round the scrapbooking stores in KL. Have been to a few.... and ssshhhh..... will not mention how much I've spend on all those lovely, colourful papers, flowers, brads and god knows what else... Ta!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-08-11T21:32:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

ME!!!

Coincidences

2007-08-10T09:53:00.001+08:00

When I was 10, the 'jungle' next to our house was cleared to make way for a new house. Before long, a family moved into the new house and they had 3 kids. The eldest was the same age as me and we found out that we were both born in the same month. Not only that, but he was one day older than me. What an amazing coincidence. After years of living in this house, then suddenly a family moved in next door and they happen to have a son who is exactly a day older. Once in a while you'll hear of someone who shares the same birthday as you but usually not in the same year.

Another coincidence: my second brother, when he came back from the States, was introduced by his friend to a girl who works in the same office as he (the friend that is). So my brother started dating this girl and after exchanging infos on each other, they found out that not only were they born on the same date, they were also born in the same year. Same day!! Amazing!!

How many people can say they date a girl/boy born on the same day as them. Better yet, how many people can claim they married a girl/boy who was born on the same day. Yes, they got married.

And let me say that it proved that people born with the same star or in the same year, share the same traits. Because they are sooooo very much alike. I also know another person who shares the same birthday with them (but not the same year, of course) and share some of the same traits. Amazing!!

So to my ex-neighbour, Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day.

psst... that means my birthday is tomorrow... heheheh

Found It!!

2007-08-09T17:04:00.000+08:00

Cat has been found.

I repeat.

CAT HAS BEEN FOUND!!

A few days ago, I bought a big plastic box/container to put in Nadiah's old clothes. And in the box was where the Cat was.

Who else must have put it in there if not the owner herself.

Now everything is back to normal again.

MISSING: One Cat

2007-08-08T22:40:00.000+08:00

OK don't panic, DON'T PANIC!!!

Nadiah has lost her cat.

It's stuffed, it's dead and it's wearing a collar with the name Tabatha around it's neck.

If you've seen a faded orange and white cat, who looks like it's been rolling around in the washing machine one too many time.... that's the one. It answers to the name CAT.

Below is the latest picture of the missing cat:

SEEN IT?

GIVE US A SHOUT!!

HPATDH Part 2

2007-07-24T08:58:00.001+08:00

And so it ends, this tale of Harry Potter, the boy wizard. The ending was expected, but the how it gets to the end was what kept me stuck to the book till the wee hours of the night. All questions answered. I never did believed that Severus Snape
was really bad.

Feeling kinda sad that there will not be another HP book. Maybe JK will write about his children's tales. After all, there'll surely be another wizard in the future who would try to conqure the world. for the greater good.

We'll see....

HPATDH

2007-07-21T12:55:00.000+08:00

I GOT IT!

I GOT IT !

I GOT IT!

Nadiah's Few Words

2007-07-20T09:55:00.001+08:00

1. When telling her to go to the bathroom to do her business…

“NO NEED!!”

I think she got this from school. The way she says it is sounds very Manglish.

2. When coming out of the bedroom and seeing Baba and Amir watching TV….

“Hi guys!”

This one she got it off watching Barney.

3. When she wants to play with us…

“Ring around a rosie”

It’s an indication that she wants to play with us by having everybody holding each other’s hand in a circle. Her ‘rosie’ usually sounds ‘roghi’ which kinda sound like a French ‘G’.

4. When brushing my hair…

“Comb my hair”

Instead of saying “comb your hair”, she’s just repeating what I’m saying to her

5. When she falls down or knocks over something…

“Oh sorry”

I think she associates the word ‘sorry’ with pain or getting hurt. Because the first time she said it was when we were at the park and she was playing on the slides. One girl rushed to the steps and accidently bump into her. The girl said “oh sorry”. Then I heard her repeating it to herself. That’s why whenever she falls down and crying as loud as she can, she’ll be screaming “oh sorry” at the top of her lungs.

6. Holding out her foot to us…

“Syok”

What she’s trying to say is ‘socks’.

7. When she takes out 2 pieces of bread, she would ask us for some…

“pee-a buder”

‘Peanut butter’ if you haven’t already guessed.

8. Her favourite song at the moment…

“The more we get togewer, togewer, togewer
The more we get togewer
The happer were be”

Sang an octave higher than the one she heard on Barney

9. When she puts on her apron and sweetly looks up at us…

“Painting”

She wants to make a mess… err… I mean do her painting, of course.

There are more, but at the moment I can’t remember. But she is slowly learning to grasp the language and we are learning to understand her more and more. The most important thing is, when she’s trying to say something, and it comes out all jumbled up, we try to put ourselves in her shoes. Then look at the surrounding or at the things she’s pointing to or what’s in her hand, and then try to remember every single lines or songs spoken/sang in either Barney, Elmo’s World, Fun Song Factory, Teletubbies, Preschool Powers, Baby Bumblebee, Hi 5, 102 Dalmations, The Sound Of Music or Stuart Little 2.

See…. it’s easy!!!

Scrapbooking

2007-07-17T01:02:00.000+08:00

I have a new interest: SCRAPBOOKING

Recently, out of boredom, I bought a magazine on scrapbooking from Popular Bookstore. And I fell totally in love with the sample layouts in the magazine. So I thought I’ll give it a try. I know I’m suppose to use special acid-free materials so they wouldn’t damage the photos in the long run, but there isn’t a store in Alor Star that carries them. So I had to make do. Here’s my first attempt:

It’s Nadiah’s first birthday. I’m planning to create an album of Nadiah’s birthday each year. Hopefully it’ll be an on going thing. And not like her baby book which got abandoned sometime in the last 2-3 years.

If you would like to browse around on this subject, check out:
Scrapbooks etc or Scrapbooks.com

Surviving Motherhood

2007-07-16T02:26:00.000+08:00

Gosh! Children can be such a trial to their parents. In my case, my one child seems to be multiplying by the minute.

It’s been raining these past few days and Nadiah is finding it hard to be cooped up in the house all the time. Especially on weekends. Last Saturday, she was in the room most of the time because of the rain. First she wanted to do painting. Painting sessions means it’s stripped to the panties and an apron over it. Why you asked me? Because no matter how big the apron is, she will get paint smeared all over her clothes. And which ever manufacturer said that the watercolor or crayons or felt tip pens are washable, they are all lying. Believe me, most of the colours stain forever.

Then Nadiah decided it will be fun to crush biscuits and insert it into her water bottle and in the process scattering crumbs all over the floor. And it’s up to mama to clean up of course.

While I was in the bathroom, I heard Nadiah laughing and screaming and basically having a whale of a time. So naturally I became suspicious. When I went to inspect, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Nadiah was jumping up and down with a pair of scissors in her hand and cutting away chunks of her hair. Right in the middle of her head! Some of the remaining hair barely measures an inch. Hair was everywhere on the floor. The previously cleaned floor, I should say. So out came the broom.

Can you see the short uneven lenght of hair?

After washing my hands, I heard Nadiah in front of the computer watching The Wiggles. When I went to check up on her, I noticed there was a puddle of water underneath her stool. She peed in her pants. Man!! Again??!! Thank God I had the foresight to remove the carpet when I started potty training her 4 months ago. Yes!! It’s been 4 months and yet she still doesn’t go to the bathroom to do her business. The main problem is that she does not tell us when she needs to go. We have to regularly take her to the toilet for her to go do her business. Most times we get it right on time but there are days when she just goes everywhere BUT the toilet every single time. Those are the days when my laundry loads increases.

Despite all these… I wonder why I don’t lose any weight???

Happy Birthday, Mak

2007-07-11T23:20:00.000+08:00

Today is Mom's 66th birthday. All I want to say is:

Sometimes, we seem to take for granted
the people we love the most…
Those who are so important
to our daily lives;
And, who are so important to us.
It doesn’t mean we don’t care;
and no disrespect is intended…
It is just that sometimes, life gets crazy
and there isn’t time to do it all,
or say it all.

Especially today,
I want you to know how much
I appreciate the loving things you do;
And how much I admire you
for being the kind and giving person you are.
I hope you know how very much
I Love You, Mom…
Not just sometimes,
but Always.

(poem by RosaLinda Buchner Graziano)

Happy birthday, Mak.....

I'm Still Here...

2007-07-09T10:02:00.000+08:00

Yes! I’m here. I’m still alive. I know a lot of you have been wondering where I’ve disappeared to. I’ve been so busy these last few weeks. Plus laziness on my part too.

Since the start of the second school term, Nadiah has been going to two schools. In the mornings from 9am to 12 noon, she goes to a National Autistic Society Of Malaysia (NASOM) center, which is like a training center. Then after lunch from 1.30 to 3.30 pm she has goes to kindy. But that’s only for 3 days a week. So that three days we’ll be rushing here and there sending and picking her up from schools.

And then there was my aunt who had a stroke (I think I wrote about this before), and after 3 days of being discharged from the hospital, she had another one. So was rushed again to the GH. But after a night with nothing much being done for her, my dad asked for her to be moved to KMC. After the doctors did an angiogram on her, they found out that there were 3 blockages and that her heart was only functioning at only 30% strength. How she has been surviving all these times, none knows. But she is one determined lady!! So after her bypass, mom decided to bring her home with us to recover. Since her daughter and son-in-law who have been staying with her are both working, there will not be anyone to look after her.

Mom decided that Mak Lang will be staying in the room next to mine, which used to be my brothers’ room. She, mom that is, has been going after my brothers to clear out the room and sort out all the junks from those that they still want. This time she gave an ultimatum. Sort it now or everything is going to the dumps. That sure worked really well because Bro #2 came over in a flash (and he who is known to dawdle all the time). To Bro #3, don’t worry, all your guitar magazines have been nicely packed and stored!! So the clearing up took a couple of days because we also had to clear out the upstairs living room so that it was habitable. Because we seldom use the upstairs living room, it had become a kind of a transit spot for those junks we were not ready to throw out. Yes, we have a hard time disposing things so would put them aside for a few years until they are deemed old enough to be disposed.

So now everything has returned to a slower pace and I have time to sit down and enjoy the coffee. I still have so much work to do with beading and catching up on my reading and ironing but I don’t have to rush about doing them. And now I’m planning to check out what’s on TV. So see you later….

Over And Over Again...

2007-06-02T09:08:00.000+08:00

Have you ever been forced to listen to the same song incessantly over and over and over again hours upon end?

Last night Nadiah found an old birthday card that plays the birthday song upon opening. She was so intrigued by it that she kept opening and closing it. Then she decided to keep it open and left it like that so the song kept playing continuously.

After about an hour, I decided I've had enough and went in search of the card to put an end to it. To my surprise the card was nowhere in sight. When I went into the bedroom the sound seemed to be coming from the TV room. But when in the TV room, it seemed to be coming from the bedroom. I searched and searched but just could not find it. The sound was loudest at the door and I finally realized that it was coming from the partition wall.

With torchlight in hand, I directed the light into the slit between the sliding door and the wall. Sure enough, I could see the card lodged deep inside. No way of getting it out.

And so the song goes on and on and on until the batteries run out. Hopefully soon!! In the dead of night the sound was unbelievably loud. It drove me crazy all night.

It is now 9:21am…. and it’s still playing over and over and over….

Visits To The GH

2007-05-24T23:48:00.001+08:00

Gosh! It's been one hectic week after another. For the past two weeks we were the regular faces at the Alor Star GH. First there was the setting up of Nadiah's appointment for Speech Therapy (ST). Since this is our first time dealing with the GH, we thought it was a simple case of making an appointment and then walking into the room at the appointed time, like we always do in Penang with Mr. Alex.

How wrong we were to think so!

Alex had told us that we would need a referral letter, preferably from a health clinic or doctors or anyone in the medical field as long as he or she is government based. So he couldn't give us a letter. Fine. We tried to think of anyone we know who could give us one and I remembered a school friend of mine who is a doctor and is now working at the GH. The problem is I don't know which department.

So we keep putting it off. But one day while visiting nephew Daniel at the Kedah Medical Center (KMC) (here's another guy who's a regular at a hospital for the last month or so but that's a whole different story), I met the said friend and took the chance to ask her about the therapist and how do we go about getting an appointment. Hint! Hint! Hoping that she would make all the necessary arrangements.

(Photos are meant as a distraction so you won't get bored reading this :))

Then she said to get a letter either from Alex in Penang or Nadiah's peadiatrician in KMC and to bring it to her and she will write another letter. Of course we chose Dr Razif who was right that minute only 2 floors above us.

So with the referral letter in hand, I went to the GH to see my friend. She had said to just go in through the back door so that I wouldn't have to take a number (hah ha! I love having doctor friends...).

After getting a letter from her, I went straight to the ENT department to set up an appointment. Surprisingly we got an early one which was the next week.

OK, all of my life, I have never been to the GH for any medical attention except to visit patients and when Nadiah was in the incubator for a month right after she was born. Neither has Shukri but in his case, he seldom needs any medical attention anyway. I'm not a snob or anything; it's just that that's the way it was. Most of the time I'll go to KMC or on several occasion to the private clinics. So I have no idea what the system is like in GH.
Nadiah with her new shades she got at school

Boy, were we in for a big surprise. On the appointed day, we left the house at 10am to go to GH because that's the usual time we always go to KMC. At the registration counter, we found out that we were number 69. At that moment the nurse was calling number 25. Wo! Such a long way to go. We reckoned our turn will only come after lunch time, so we went home. It's only a 5 minute drive so we'll be able to take out own sweet time.

At 2.30pm, we were back but the waiting area was quite empty. When we asked the nurses, it seems that the doctors do not stop at lunch time and afternoon sessions are only for appointments with the therapists or special cases or something like that. And apparently we can't go straight to the therapist but instead have to see the ENT doctor and then we'll get to see the therapist. So we had to reschedule to the next week.

Come the next week, I made Shukri go to the hospital early and get a number while Nadiah and I will follow later on. He was there at 8.30 am and still only managed to get number 30-something. Nadiah and I were on standby since 10 in the morning waiting for Shukri’s call to come to the hospital. The call finally came at 1.30 pm. SO we rushed to the hospital and had to wait for only 10 minutes. Alhamdulillah Nadiah did not post any arguments with waiting and was fine going into the doctor’s office. Dr Siti was really nice and Nadiah seemed to like her. After some Q&As, she suggested Nadiah to go through Audio Test, ST, Occupational Therapy (OT) and a formal assessment with the psychiatrist.

Phew!! I thought initially we were only going to ST. How did we ended up with all these other stuff? Never mind. If it’s going to help Nadiah, then we’ll go through everything. The nurse got appointments for us for the audio and ST because it was in the same department. But we would have to go and get our own appointments for OT and the psychiatrist. And of course it WOULD have to be in other buildings which are on opposite sides. So off we went. OT for the next week and all the others for the week after that.

To cut the long story short, Nadiah did OK at the OT; even managed to leave her alone with the therapist for some one-to-one session. The next OT session will be on the 30th May.

Green-fingered Nadiah planting pokok temucut (don't know what it is in english)

At the psychiatric counseling session she refused to go into the office so the counselor asked for just me to be present while she did some interviews. Then we were given a date to see the consultant psychiatrist and hopefully he will successfully conduct the assessment on Nadiah. While I was in the counselor’s office, Nadiah was golek-golek-ing out at the reception area. Still in the throes of her tantrum. Shukri said that people were starting to look and then there was this one guy who approached him, and from Shukri’s telling I gathered the conversation went something like this:

Guy: You know, you should try and take her to see Ustaz Jamil
Shukri: Oh really? Who is he?
Guy: He treats people. He was one of Harun Din’s students and has an office around here
Shukri: So what is he good at treating?
Guy: He’s good with mental people. You know, I was a mental case before but now look at

me, I’m OK now
Shukri: Ooo-kay… thanks. *and walks away with Nadiah*

Yeah like he’s going to take advise from a nutcase!!

Anyway, yesterday was the audio and ST appointments. Uh-uh… did not go well at all. We have to reschedule the audio test because she was not responding at all. Although the tester said there might not actually be anything wrong with Nadiah’s hearing, she would like to do the test just to be sure. So we’ll have to come again in two weeks time. Then at the ST, she cried all the way through and refused to do anything. But then again, Nadiah has always been wary of new faces and new places. It was the same when we first visited Alex but after that she was always the first one to go through the door. Hopefully the next visits will be better. Even if she just sits at the table not doing anything, please don’t let there be anymore tears. I can do without the tears. When she cries, I feel like crying too because I feel so helpless and frustrated. I don’t know what she wants and she won’t speak to us and it’s just so heartbreaking to go through these episodes.

While all of these were going on, my Mak Lang (mom’s sister) had a mild heart attack. We got the call at 1.30 am last Friday and rushed to the GH. But she had already been admitted into the CCU so my mom and I kept my cousins company outside the unit. But at 3am we decided to go home since there really wasn’t anything to be done except wait.

Inai on her nails

The next day we made a visit in the morning but still weren’t allowed to see Mak Lang. Were only able to see her during the evening visiting hours. She looked frail but was holding herself together. Most of the aunts and uncles and cousins came back to be by her side. But I am now happy to report that after three nights in the CCU, she was then taken to a regular ward for another 3 and is now back at her house. She would have to take it easy for this couple of months and hopefully be back to her usual self.

So that’s what’s been happening these past few weeks. A couple more weeks I think I would know the hospital from one end to the other. Alas, they will be moving to the new hospital, an even bigger one, sometime in July…. and me and Shukri will once again be threading Nadiah behind us looking for the ST, OT and psychiatric blocks. Hopefully we won’t get lost. Hopefully Nadiah won’t cry on every first appointments at the new place. And hopefully they have more parking spaces at the new place….