COMPLACENCY

It's such a big word... But I have fallen into its trap. I have written a number of entries in this blog, but unfortunately they all are unfinished and now are growing in number in my draft folder.

It's very hard to find time nowadays to even read a book (I don't read mainstream newspapers, just in case you have forgotten). It's even harder to sit down and relax my strained muscles. Well... unless if you are up at 4 or 5 am doing work... and serving as a distraction, here I am, typing an entry to my blog.

I wish I had more time... I wish I had more money ;)... I wish I had a lot of other things... hehhee. Don't we all...?

ieja

FIRST DAY AT "SCHOOL"

After we terminated our helper, we decided to send Iqie and Afeeq to a nursery. There are a few in our neighbourhood, but not all are suitable for us. We would prefer to send both of them to an Islamic taska with an English medium (I would prefer to be with them all the time, but of course that's not an option at this moment). But that can only be found in areas like Kajang and Cheras. Other nurseries in our neighbourhood either don't take toddlers like Afeeq, or too expensive and don't match our "odd" working hours.

So, we decided to try one taska which is very near to our place - about 1 minute drive from our condo to be exact ;) The day before, we had sort of prepared Iqie for this transition. We kept telling him that he would go to "school" soon. So he kept on repeating "Iqie go skool" all day long. So, when the morning came, it was quite easy to coax him to go with us to his "school". Well... he can't actually hear the words "go out" anyway... hehehhe.

When we arrived at the "school", the principal was there waiting for us. While I was filling up the forms, Hubby was observing Iqie. Afeeq was easy... he blended in immediately, crawling to the boxes of toys and minded his own business ;) Iqie, on the contrary, needed some time. So, they let him walk around the place and play for a while. Then, when we say "Mummy go to work and Daddy go to work. Iqie stay at school", Iqie started to look worried... "No Daddy... Daddy no work...!!! Iqie go work with Daddy..." I was almost in tears, but the principal took Iqie away and distracted him with the playground. But he was already in tears and screaming for us. We had to quickly drive away.

At the end of the day, when we collected them back, Iqie was engrossed playing. The supervisor said that he had a good time playing and making new friends. He looked happy too. Now, I can't predict what the second day at "school" would be like. Hopefully, Iqie would adjust quickly and develop good social skills there.

ieja

DAYS WITHOUT MAID

As of 09 June 2009, I am officially maid-less. We terminated our "super-efficient" helper for the reasons that are just too painful to elaborate heheheh... Did I manage to make it sound so dramatic? We actually terminated her at the end of May. So reinforcement had to be called to watch over Iqie and Afeeq. Thank god for Mums...

My Mum came for the first shift... taking care of Iqie and Afeeq for 3 days. Then the second shift reported for duty from Thursday onwards. We sent my Mum-in-law back yesterday.

I was a bit skeptical about not having any helper at all after being pampered by the luxury of not having to do anything much around the house. Well... except for the weekends where the helper didn't come and I had to do everything. My worst fear was the cleanliness of the household. I now have developed the "allergy" to messy and dirty house... hehehe. See... I told you I was pampered!

To make things worst, my vacuum cleaner was broken. I don't know what was wrong with it but it refused to work at all. So, almost immediately after terminating our helper, I practically dashed to Carrefour and bought one, plus a new mop (the one that uses sponges). So, I was like slaving myself at 8 am hovering and mopping the whole house while Iqie and Afeeq was watching in amazement.

Then, my attempt to have the whole wardrobe pressed was cut short because the iron refused to be slaved by me after 2 shirts. It short circuited the whole house!! Again, I dashed to (this time not Carrefour anymore) Best Denki in KLCC during work to buy a new one. I ended up with an iron and a new hair dryer (they call it hair styler!) that uses hair brush to dry and style your hair ;)

Today, after feeding Afeeq dinner, I hovered the whole house again. My feet just can't stand the dust on the floor (Hubby said that I'm a freak, but what does he know about all these!). And at 2 am, I took out the mop and did the whole house! The feeling of clean floor under your feet and the fresh smell of it are priceless... I wonder how long I can actually stand doing all these at odd hours ;)

MY NEW REGIME OF DIET

I am so glad that Hubby is not the kind of person who would (either once a while or always) insinuate that I have actually put on "a little" weight. I am so fortunate that he doesn't mind how light or how heavy I am. Although he is concerned with what I put on - as in my dresses - when I go out. But as much as I like that about him, I have my own self-conscious about my own weight. The lighter I am compared to him the better ;)

I used to fit into size 'M' or '8' whenever I bought clothes. I can also fit into size '28' or '29' whenever I bought pants (how long ago was it?). But lately, I (sort of) was smacked in the face by the fact that my wardrobe now contains 'XLs' only. I can barely put on an 'L' size shirt. What actually went wrong?

So, to satisfy my super-ego (for not being able to fit into my old and very old clothes), I have decided to go on a diet. I call it my Smart Diet Programme... hehehhee... well.. i don't know about the smart part, but it is my diet programme. So... since I'm too lazy to run and I haven't bought a new swimming suit (the size could be the main reason), I now run up and down the stairs in my condo... hehehee...

The first two rounds were horrible. I couldn't move my feet the next day, and I couldn't even walk properly. So I had to stop for a few days, then resume the exercise. Thereafter was easy. As for the diet... I know it's going to be very hard for me to stop my bad eating habit - I eat all the time! So, I have decided that I will not stop eating, but I shall control what I eat. Hence - only veggie soup for dinner.

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up, but I will sure try my best to achieve size 'L' first! Then, I'll see what I can do to get to 'M'... heheheh...

ieja

SNIPPETS

I have been lagging in terms of blogging my thoughts and what I feel. I do have a lot to say, but so little time to express them. So, I'm going to summarise them instead ;)

1. It's our duty to be happy
I had a hair cut (after trying to find time for it for a few months now!!) today. While my hair was steamed, I read something interesting - a poet (or was it a philosopher?) said something like "being happy is not just an emotion, but a duty that has been bestowed upon us..." Well... something of that sort... but the meaning is very clear... we owe it to ourselves to be happy... not just to make other people happy. So, what have we done so far to make ourselves happy? I had a hair cut ;)

2. A son buying his father's 1 hour of attention
Today as well I read an email sent to my Yahoo! Group mail by one of my ex-MPIK mates. It was a story that I had read a few times before. Every time (without fail!) I read the story, I would feel my eyes getting watery. The story touches my heart in a big way that I always share it (again and again) with Hubby. It was about a son who asked his father for $25 after asking his agitated father how much he earned for an hour. When given the money, the son took out his own money and asked his father if he could buy 1 hour of his father's time. All he wanted was for his father to spend 1 quality hour with him. What does that teach me? How much time do I have for my sons in a day? How do I treat my sons after a long day at work? Do I appreciate the time I have with them?

3. To be a good leader is to be a good listener
Today (again... hehehe) I had a training on a KM system that we use in one of our projects. Throughout this training, I try to put myself in the actual users' shoes (which are our clients). But it was funny how most of my questions being brushed aside. Not just today, but for the past few months I think that my inputs were not being taken into considerations when plans were being made for this project. Those frustrate me a lot since I am the one interfacing with the clients a lot. What do I learn? When you work in a team, listen hard. Don't dismiss their inputs however useless they may sound. Take into considerations the inputs given when you make plans. This applies in life as well. Listen hard!

ieja

THE MOVIES I LIKE

I haven't been to the cinema a lot. Well.. considering internal factors... But thanks to the advancement of modern technology and (of course) in the name of knowledge sharing, I was able to catch up with quite a number of movies.

So far, I've watched Slumdog Millionaire, Twilight, Shopaholic, Sex Drive, Six Pounds, Australia and a few other more which I can't quite remember the titles. WOW.. looking at the list, that is quite an achievement for me... hehehe... Anyhow, among those listed, only 3 that I consider worth mentioning.

Slumdog Millionnaire - i think the movie earned the award. I like it the first moment the storyline started. It was so engaging that I didn't even wait for Hubby to sit and watch with me.

Twilight - OMG!! I loOOOoOoOooooVe it. I love it so much that I actually watched it twice (2 days in a row!). It was a simple movie. The storyline was very clear and simple as well. But what made me love it so much was simple. It made me smile till the end. It gave me the jittery feelings that I used to have when someone notices you and pays attention to you. That feeling as if your heart is going to burst with anticipation and happiness. Well... the actor of course helped a lot in bringing out those feelings... hehehhee...

Australia - Again it has something to do with issues that I can relate to. The passions (for a lot of things... if you know what i mean...) were very apparent. I even wished I was Nicole Kidman at one point... hahahhaa...

Now I'm on a mission to complete my other movie collection as well as TV series. I'm looking forward to watching Desprate Housewives Season 4 & 5, and Gossip Girls (XOXO) Season 1 & 2. Well... not that I don't have a life OK...

ieja

EARTH HOUR 2009

I'm a proud participant of this year's Earth Hour. Not just me, but Iqie and Afeeq too. It was on Saturday, 28 March 2009. The Sun reported the event. The response was overwhelming actually.

On that day, Hubby was not home (car fixing-related job), so there were just us - Mummy and sons. As usual after his bath, Iqie had his dinner. So did Afeeq. So all of us were mentally prepared for the black-out hour (well... maybe I was the only one!). A little before 8.30 pm, I already switched off all lights in the house. Iqie was confused for a while... "Oh no!" Then... "Mummy, light no? Mummy, no light?" How do you explain to a 2-year-old that Mummy was voting for Earth ;)

The telly was on, so that was fine with Iqie. Afeeq was cool. Instead of switching off the lights for an hour, we ended up being in the dark for 2 hours. We didn't mind. It was kinda fun for me and Iqie.

You know what, I think we're going to do this Earth Hour on a regular basis. Iqie and I don't have to wait for a year for another Earth Hour. I think we can do this bi-monthly. I guess that's just a little thing that I can do to contribute to this good cause. But as Hubby jokingly pointed out in his email when I sent him the details of this event - what's the difference with the lights off when we have the fridge, washing machine, telly, air-cond, etc. on?? Heheheheheee... how to answer that??

ieja