I really don't know the reason for this entry.... Sorry

So Thursday my sister took me to the hospital to get my dressing changed. Our nieces came too but not my kids as Kamil's parents took them out for lunch.

I can't sleep the night before because the toe was a bit ngilu (I really do not know what is ngilu in English). And the dreams I had made me restless further. I don't know why my dreams consisted of me eating the toe. *Shudder*

Boss called early morning to ensure I went to get my dressing done. I know he does that because he wants me to be back at the office pronto. My team are already at site and they had to leave their team lead behind.

It is not like I didn't call them for reports and making sure they are on the right track.

Anyway, I went to the hospital anticipating huge pain. I was in a dilemma, trying to figure out the right time to eat the painkillers. If I eat it too early sekali I get to see the doctor like late afternoon ergo there is a chance by that time the painkillers will start wearing off.

If I eat too late, I was afraid that the medication tak sempat kick in.

Decisions, decisions.

We arrived during lunch so nobody was there yet for the afternoon clinic. Not even the doctor, haha.

Went down for lunch and after at length discussing with my sister who happens to be a doctor, swallowed the painkillers.

I was the third patient to be called but I was instructed by the nurse to go straight to procedure room.

I gulped. My sister and my nieces solemnly followed me, knowing that I so dread this moment. A nurse was already waiting there and she immediately grabbed my toe. I winced because I need tender loving care ! No grabbing is allowed. Especially since I was warned beforehand that it will be painful. Be gentle... please.

Luckily my sister stayed next to me and as I voiced out my fears the nurse said, "Mana ada sakit... Tak sakitlah...." and Alhamdullilah, it turned out to be true. No pain ! Apparently somebody invented a gauze that won't stick to the skin, allowing pain free gauze removal ! Which my sister had earlier suspected the hospital would use, it being a huge and expensive hospital and all (very expensive, luckily company cover... ).

But... there is always a but with me... when the nurse tried to clean the wound, it stung quite a bit. Oh yeah, me toe is UGLY ! Not blue anymore but the skin around the nail is gone, so there was an open wound there, all pink. The place where the nail should be was still oozing blood but doc and my sister weren't worried at all about that because they say the wound is clean.

Since I have to go to site on Monday, doc said I have to go to a clinic over there to get my dressing changed and thoughtfully supplied the miracle gauze for me to take home just in case the small clinics don't carry them.

My niece E from the very beginning didn't want to see what was behind the bandage but her sister A was curious and decided to have a look. But as soon as she saw the blood, she ran like hell to join her sister. Hahahahahha....

While the nurse re-bandaged my toe, received a call from Kamil. I am on the way to the hospital, he said. I am sooo sick. That Monday when I had my minor procedure, he actually visisted the ER right after work because he had H1N1 symptoms. 2 of his staffs were confirmed to be infected.

Like I mentioned before, he likes to steal my thunder.

And again when I was at the hospital to change my dressing, he needed the hospital too. Both of us can't be sick ! You know that Monday after my minor procedure, I was in bed with my leg up and he was lying next to me sleeping off the flu medication. Sian anak2 okay. They kept coming to have a look-see at their parents stuck in bed.

Anyway, I said goodbye to my sister and nieces and walked to the ER to get my husband. And there he was groaning in pain and was jabbed at the arse. Ha ha ! Now you know. He would usually scoff at me when I complained about the pain of being jabbed so seeing him rubbing his arse was poetic justice to me.

I am terrible.

Anyway, he still had to drive us home eventhough he was quite woozy. My sister did volunteer to wait for him and then drive us both home but I know he would go crazy thinking about his car being left at the hospital. That scenario is enough to create more agro for him... which will definitely cascade down to me. So tak payahlah Adik ku. Balik ajelah. Biarlah abang ko ni bawak kete balik sebab kang dia tambah pening mikir kete dia kena tinggal kat spital.

Therefore, I sooo didn't get my tender loving care ( I was anticipating being fussed over, him plumping my pillows, catering to my every whims and fancies ) at all as Kamil had it worse. He was vommitting and was gassy and woozy. He slept a lot. I was worried obviously and had to check on him constantly.

Since I still had my senses and he was fast losing his, I had to terkedek-kedek fixed his plate and fed him. When he looked a bit better I just handed him his plate kan, but he shook his head and mintak suap !

Gatal. He is sooo lucky that he is the love of my life. Kalau Adik aku tu agaknya kena pelakung dah kat kepala.

No... That is not true. Actually when my baby brother MJ was suffering from denggue, I drove from my office in KL to the hospital in Shah Alam just to feed him lunch and pat him to sleep before I drove back to KL. Everyday.

I should have been a nurse.

Hmmmm.......

Book reading

So what did I do the whole day of yesterday ?

Read.

Have no Astro in my room so could only watch DVDs. But I have exhausted all of them before I was immobilised and there is only so much of Airbender I could take, no matter how much I love it.

So I read. Started with Meg Cabot's Mediator series which was nice. Covered 2 books in like 2 hours. Then started with the Vanished series and I was hooked line and sinker ! It was awesome.

It is about this 16 year old girl who got struck by lightning and suddenly she would know the whereabouts of missing people by looking at their pics. I do find the protagonist a bit rude and very rough but I love the romance Meg Cabot had written for her.

Jess fell in love with a senior from the wrong side of town whom she met in detention. The way she described him was how I would describe the person(s) of my interests when I was just that age.

I could connect with Jess, the way she feels and the way she wondered if this boy shares her feelings.. because I too were like that. So whenever Rob showed any interest, I grinned stupidly like how I grinned stupidly 20 years ago (yikes !)when a boy I liked paid any attention to me no matter how smidgeon. The hearts a flutter, and the euphoria of being noticed just from a smile that he bestowed or if our eyes met, even if it was accidental. Parah kan ?

Aahh.... to be back to those days... the courting and the passing of messages... the "Do you think he likes me ?" and the long hours on the phone with your bestfriend to talk about his hair, and smiles and how he walked and held his files, how he tucked his damn shirt !.... And the heart skipping a beat everytime the damn phone rang ! Or if he stopped to talk to you. Kalau dia ajak pegi library lagi lah, pengsan sekejap (as soon as I reached home of course) before being resuscitated by my bestfriend because we have more urgent to do like choosing an outfit.

Dulu-dulu dating pi library... HAHAHAHAHAH !

So that is why I like that book because it reminds me so much of the delicious yesteryears of being in love.

So now... looking at my husband, softly snoring...flat from his flu medications, I tried picturing him 18 years ago when he was the source of my stupid grins.

Heheh !

WHOA !

So this morning I showed my boss my big blue toe.

He went WHOA !

One of my colleagues saw it and he also went WHOA !

I learnt my lesson and did not show it to the rest of the team. Nak jadikan cerita I accidently kicked the biscuit tin under my table and it was soooo bad I had to drive myself to the hospital. Dah lah takde parking dekat emergency. I had to circle twice and took the parking ticket twice jugak.

I had no choice but to park in the basement at the other wing, took the lift up, walked like 2 minutes to the lobby, took the stairs up 1 floor, crossed the bridge, took the lift down and walked to emergency.

The nurse waiting for me at the triage room went WHOA !

Sigh... here we go again.

She called her friend for an opinion and she also went WHOA ! The kind nurse ( the nurse was kind though despite her WHOA ! ) decided that I must be sent straight to an ortho (again !!!) but looking at me wincing she called a doctor and after the doctor also went you know what, jabbed me on my arse again. With painkillers of course.

The pain took a long time to fade. Long time. Anyway, the kind nurse asked if I have any ortho in mind. I said I want the gentlest and kindest ortho the hospital could offer. She laughed. I don't know why as I was serious as hell. I need tender loving care.

The lovely nurse showed me to the receptionist at the doctor's clinic. She went WHOA ! also and I rolled my eyes. I waited like 2 hours before the doctor saw me and his WHOA ! sent me to panic mode.

If the doctor went WHOA ! then I am going SHIT !

He told me that I have to have the toenail removed, he had to clean it up which he called debrifement or something. Sure, whatever but the most important thing is, "Are you going to put me under GA doc as I refused to be pelted with more pain !"

He leaned back for awhile. Not lah GA he said, local is enough. I though am not convinced as I think I need international.

I was sent to x-ray to ascertain if there are any broken bones. Nope. Alhamdullilah to that. But before that, the radiographger went WHOA ! and his was the loudest. Malu tau ! But he was nice and overly polite and so okaylah. Tak jadi nak ketuk kepala dia.

Doc filled up a form and asked me to sign it after he explained what he had written which was the procedures involved. "Doc you forgot to write it will be a painless procedure..." I duly reminded him.

He smiled. I hate the kind of smile he gave. He leaned back again and said that he will numb the area and I will feel pain from the injection. Damn !

I was sent to a procedure room where 4 different nurses came for a peek so I got my 4 WHOA !s. The sight of the blue toe was too much already and when they saw my supported left ankle I had to fib that I torn my ligament during tennis. I mean, I do not want to be the poster girl for Klutz of the Year. And jatuh tangga and having an ironing board collapsing on me was unbelievable enough. So better this way... heheheheheh.

Doc wasn't kidding when he said the injection would be painful as it hurt like a mutha ! Btw, all 4 nurses decided to watch the procedure sampai doc tegur, "Eh, kenapa ramai sangat ni ? You all takde kerja ke ?" They were just curious to see what was hidden underneath the ballooned and blue skin.

Eventhough my toe was numb, I could still feel whatever he was doing. But it didn't hurt. I could feel him godek2 to get my toenail out. Doctor tu pun saja, he kept asking "Sakit tak ?" while making funny faces at me. I told him don't worry Doc, you would know the minute I feel any pain. Then I started screaming. He was doing some sewing as I had quite a tear underneath the nail. HEHEHHEHEHE....... macam budak-budak tapi sakit tau !

The nurses clustering around me were nice. One advised me not to look and she held my hand. She even covered my eyes for me and before she did that she read the Bismillah for me. When the screaming started they chorused, "Sikit aje lagi...Dah, dah ... Okay, okay...."

I felt so well taken care of. By the way, the pressure on the toe was so great, my blood sprayed on the doc's baju. I sempat said sorry but I suspect his "It's okay..." was forced. HEHEHHE.......

So they bandaged me and told me to come in 4 days to get the dressing changed. One helpfully advised before I come to change my dressing, I had better get loaded with painkillers as that would hurt.

Aiiiiii.....

I quickly settled the bill and rushed home because I could feel that the anesthetic was wearing off. So now while I am writing, I have taken the painkillers and please pray that tonight would be a pain free night for me.

Please be careful when you use the ironing board, okay ? This is real advise folks. Don't be like me. It was such a traumatic experience for me that now I have developed a fear of ironing. Sungguh ! Malam semalam Kamil had to iron my baju for me.

Serious.

HEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEH........

My weekend

Yesterday I went to watch Harry Potter a deux with Kamil. The kiddos surprisingly didn't want to come. Come to think about it not surprising at all actually as since it was already school holidays, we have taken ot the Wii again so the lure of the games were much greater than Harry.

We arrived at 8.30 and there were only seats on the 11 pm show so what to do ? What to do ? I bought 5 books. I absolutely went crazy at MPH. I grabbed 2 by Meg Cabot (she is sectioned under Teen Readers ! A bit malu dok berebut space with an actual teen but who cares ? Err... I do actually that was why when I saw what I wanted I grabbed and scarpered.. Ha !)

Then Mitch Albom's newest, one of Adrian Mole's diary by Sue Townsend and a spy thriller by that Swedish guy I have forgotten his name. I read about the brilliance of his books years ago but tak terjumpa because I keep forgetting his name. But since Daniel Craig is acting in the movie adaptation teringat pulak title... That is the lure of Daniel Craig. *Swoon*

I already had dinner at home, eating the best ever daging masak kicap paired with sambal ikan bilis kering made by my mom. Kamil prefers eating Mom's food at her home so we went to find a place to fill his belly. So terhencut-hencutlah aku dengan kaki kiri with torn ligament and kaki kanan with hideously blue toe teman Kamil makan pancakes. While he ate, I read and to while away the time he waited for me to read.

The movie was dark. As it should be. It followed the book very well, building up the suspense before the real war that is gonna happen in the next installment. I like it because I am an ardent fan of the book. Kamil I think just endured because kena layan aku kan. But he might be more interested than that because he asked me what is going to happen in the next movie and asked about the characters.

So it was good. Have to wait for the next one lah pulak...

My foot is pulsating with pain. I never had a moment when I can't feel the pain. No amount of pain killers I took could help so am a bit worried. It has been a very uncomfortable and painful 3 days. Plus my toe looked hideous. Simply horrendous. It is completely blue... like the Avatar blue. And there is like a very black ring around the blue toe, macam frame pulak. The nail does look a bit detached so I suppose it is gonna come off soon.

Pagi tadi had a very late breakfast. I had 2 kuih aje but wasn't hungry at lunch. So did Kamil. Atas permintaan ramai I made carbonara. Yuck ! I cannot tahan carbonara anymore but I just made them because my kids missed my cooking.

My new job doesn't allow me the time to take care of my family, what with the travelling and what nots that I have to do when we are in KL again. So Friday I decided to leave early. I started making pasta marinara and the screams of delight my kids gave when they came home from class gladdens my heart and made me sad too.

"Are you making pasta ? I can smell pasta !" Asked my daughter excitedly. Seeing them wolfing down the food was a very poignant moment for me. It shows how much I have been neglecting them. Kesian... Saturday lunch I made pizza which again they wolfed down with gusto.

Well... my kids are not the only casualties of my travelling. It has some effect on Kamil too. 2 weeks ago he ordered Pepperoni pizza for me.

I don't eat that kind of pizza.

And during Raya Korban when his brother's wife made roast lamb, he actually offered some to me.

I do not eat lamb !

And he argued that he has seen me eat them which I find very upsetting because dia nampak bini dia yang mana makan lamb ni ?

Sudah jatuh tangga di timpa...

I am at home. It's Friday morning but I am at home. You wouldn't believe me when I tell you why. I didn't believe it myself.

So there I was last night, around 10 pm when Kamil ajak masuk tidur. I saw him inspecting his baju so I offered to iron it for him. So I ironed and then I ironed some more than suddenly the bloody ironing board was falling down and hit me toe.

The toe on the good leg.

And I started jumping because the pain was unbelievable. I still couldn't quite believe it myself. It was beyond excruciating and I started crying. My kids were frantic and being kids, they started crying too. The skin underneath the nail was already blue.

Couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't lie down as nothing I did could make the pain go away. While being assaulted by the pain and Kamil's angry tirade (jantan kan... kalau kita sakit ke apa ke mesti dia marah-marah dulu... more on that later...)I remembered the pain killers that the ortho prescribed for my torn ligament. Took one and tried to sit still. Masa tulah Kamil started using his head instead of his mouth. He filled in a bucket with water and asked me to soak my foot in it.

It numbed the pain somewhat and the pain receded by maybe 20%.

"Why are you guys crying ?" He asked our sobbing children. Because they love their mother lah, no need to ask.

The pain was quite bearable by then so Kamil took me to the hospital. Again. Sigh........

The good doctor was very sympathetic. Btw, Kamil did all the talking. Siap cerita pasal the torn ligament on the other leg. Why must he divulge that particular info aku tak tahu.

Doc injected pain killer on my arse and then said, "Jadi ni sudah jatuh di timpa tangga lah ni ya..."

I said, "No doc, sudah jatuh tangga di timpa ironing board..." Hehhehehehehe... Sempat lak buat lawak.

Anyway the way home was more pleasent for me. The oral pain killer and the one administered on my physiatic area must have kicked in but I must say it was not totally gone. The pain was still there but just more managable.

The pain however didn't get to be managed by moi at all around 1 am when I was rudely woken up by this super humongous pain. It was bad, I started wailing. Kamil said, memang lah just tidur. I happened to be sleeping just now okay but the pain woke me up ! Nak tidur apanya ?

I went down to do something but there was nothing I could do. I mean what could I ? Tried the ice but it made it worse some more. The throbs tu yang aku tak tahan tu. Aku berguling trying to take in the pain, sambil-sambil trying to watch the telly to take my mind off it.

Sambil-sambil tu berzikir minta ampun kat Allah as I have been told over and over again sometimes Allah nak cuci dosa. Apalah dosa aku sampai macam tu sekali sakitnya tapi aku reda. Sebab being manusia I could be rather narcissistic by asking apalah dosa aku.... Hhehehehe....

I went upstairs again and terus teringat air yang ustaz made for me when I moved to the house. He said use the air if ada yang demam or something like that so I took one bottle and poured it on my toe. It was a miracle as I couldn't feel the pain. I really couldn't as long as I kept a steady stream on my toe. So I mixed some of the air in the basin that Kamil made for me earlier and tried soaking the throbbing toe. It worked ! Really it did. I could still feel the throbs but the pain was much, much less. Tapi berapa lama I could sit like that ? Plus, bila air dah makin suam, the magic started wearing off.

I took my foot out and somehow, it was morning. Kamil had left for work and my toe was okay.

It is still very much blue now but I didn't feel anything.

Okay while I am writing this, it is beginning to throb again but nothing I couldn't handle. I have the pain killer ready and they better work longer than 2 hours as I could only take it once a day.

So... dua-dua kaki ada masalah. The torn ligament has not fully healed yet and I have to deal with this one pulak.

Aku geleng kepala. Mak aku geleng kepala. And boss aku so far belum kata apa-apa lagi. Kamil.. well I have heard him membebel already.

I mean, what is up with that ? Masa aku dok terloncat-loncat tu he barraged me with a thousand questions. What happened ? How it happened ? What did you do ? Blah, blah, blah... And then he started saying how the nail would come off later and went on and on and on.

What happened to tender loving care ? Kalau tak pun, meraung macam anak-anak aku sebab punya kesian tengok bini tersayang in pain is better than membebel tak tentu pasal.

So... that is my story.

Teenage Angst

One of my favourite bloggers asked me to write about my teenage angst.

I do not know about others, but for me (and my sisters too) I always, always blame my mother for everything.

If a guy I like didn't reciprocate my feelings, I blame my mother for making me ugly. After all I came from her kan ? SO if I am ugly it must be her fault. After all she passed me her jerawat problems didn't she ?

If I felt like I wasn't popular in school, it was because she wouldn't allow me to go out at night like all the popular girls could. Or because she wouldn't buy me cool clothes. Tak habis-habis pakai cullots and bermudas and my rolled up jeans (which my boyfriend si Kamil hated sampai nan la).

If I didn't get good grades, it was Mum's fault because she

a) Didn't send me to my tuition classes so I had to take the bus and because of that I was too tired to concentrate

b)Let my little siblings run riot and therefore the noise they made was a distraction and I could not concentrate (padahal dok busy daydreaming pasal si Kamil...hua hua hua hua)

c) She was too busy with my brother and care more about him so I was busy seething and stewing about it than studying

d) She forced me to take this elective and I have warned her many, many times I could not do it but she wouldn't listen (padahal dia tak cakap apa pun....it was all decided by me)

I believe hormones and stress from school made me like that. I just needed to blame somebody for my problems and she is the closest thing on earth for me to point my finger at. After all, my life depended on her and everything I did was by her laws so if things go wrong, who else to blame ? She was involved in every little details of my life so it made sense to blame her.I wasn't mature enough to look at myself back then. When you are 16-19 you are not calm enough to try rationalise everything. In fact, maturity only knocked on my door yesterday (Kamil would refute that).

Of course those angers were shortlived and when I got back my senses guilt would overwhelm me. But when you are stressed out you just want to shift the blame elsewhere. Itu yang start blaming Mummy for everything under the sun. I would sulk, Mum would ask why and then... big confrontation time. My dad used to call our episodes Small Titan vs Big Titan (Funnily enough I blamed my dad for only a fraction of my problems).

Remember Milli Vanilli's Blame It On The Rain ? Something like that lah. Just want somebody to take the blame as it made life feels a bit better.

And teenage life is very stressful. What could go inside a teenager's mind as she walked from the canteen to her classroom

I don't understand this subject but must pass my flying colours or else I wouldn't get to go to university and thus I wouldn't get to be a doctor... Do I want to be a doctor ? I think ballerina makes more sense because I love those tutus... And then maybe that handsome pengawas would finally notice me.... But then my butt has its own postcode so ada ke tutus yang muat....That is why kot pengawas tu wouldn't even look twice at me.... That damn zit on my nose is getting bigger ! Dare I pop iy ?..Yesterday I saw my bestfriend at the shopping complex with the girl who wanted to steal her and so I am so worried just in case she would stop being my bestfriend...Am I having my period ? Is that why those people are sniggering at me because I have a huge red stain on my back... I think I am going to fail my maths then everybody would laugh at me.... Cikgu just called me stupid in front of everybody tadi. Habislah street cred aku....

Disclaimer : This is just an example. These thoughts never entered the author's mind. Never.


I suppose only moms that are close to their daughters got the brunt of her daughters hormones. You know why ? Because if you are not close to your daughters, too garang and a no nonsense disciplinarian, I do not think your daughters berani nak buat temporary insanity in front of you. Only mak anak with a very ketat bond je experience this kind of thing. People are only brave enough to lash out at people that they are confident of offering them unconditional love. And teenagers are never mature enough to know that stern mothers does not equal bad mothers.

Or you are actually blessed with truly rounded daughters. If that is the case, you are lucky !

Hehhehe.......

I know it doesn't help much. As I really do not know the root cause. But I know this is normal.

You know, before mid-life crisis and menopause, you may have to go through teenage angst first.

Captain Abang

Want to relate what happened 2 weekends ago.

Kak Ezza Muffin Biru kawinkah anak. Since I have never been to her house, I tailed kak Kay of Sembang from behind. Alhamdullilah, kak Kay successfully steered me there.

If I were to go on my own, I think I would never get there. Kamil had to work and I have lost the invitation card so I wouldn't even know where to start !

Anyway, had a lovely time meeting Kak Ezza and Bella and the Superwoman. Kak Yatt was there too and I get to jumpa aunty May. Dah lama sangat tak jumpa Aunty May but she still looked the same.

Anyway I had to leave the kenduri early because had to pick up Kamil from work. He tried taking the LRT to work tapi malas nak balik the same way so I had to drive all the way to KL to get him. Dah kat situ terpaksa lah singgah KLCC and dah because we were already there, I was obliged to spend money. Loads of them. So now, I have to dok diam-diam as money has run out. Parah punya shopping.

My story though happened in the car as I tried to leave Kak Ezza's taman.

"Mum... do you know the way ?" Hmmppph... the perils of having school going children are they know and remember your foibles. And mine is bad sense of direction. Abang has been with me for 10 years so he had almost 10 years of being in a car with me. And experienced countless times of us getting lost while I was behind the wheel.

"Can you find your way out ?" He asked again after I ignored his question.

"I hope so..." Was my very sakit hati reply.

Upon arriving at a junction, I decided to take right. Didn't realise it was a tense moment until I heard Abang breathed out heavily as he exclaimed, "Yes ! I remember this house !"

He has no faith in his mother lah.

I took a left next (after almost turning right)and it was a long and winding road. All the way Abang's body was erect as he studied the street ahead. He was ecstatic when he recognised another landmark. "I remember that lampu Mummy ! The stadium lights !"

HEhehhehe.......

Then he saw a signage to our town. "Left ! Left ! You have to turn left !!" I know lah, little boy. I am not that dense. I could read too !

He saw anotehr signage and again he told me where to turn.

"Mummy, luckily I saw all these signs. I can see very well you know because I have big eyes so I can see a lot of things... I notice things faster....."

Sudahlah kau. Dah tulisan besar-besar, aku pun nampak le....

And you know what he told his Babah afterwards ?

"I navigated Mummy to the way home. If not we would have gotten lost...I saw everything and remember the way home..." He was so proud of his navigation skills, I didn't have the heart to whack his head.

Oh...

Please do not bother spending RM 11 to watch Skyline. Trust me, it was crap. Don't. Kamil didn't believe me and he wasted RM 44 for the 4 of us. You could actually judge a movie by its poster. Hmmmmmmmmmmm........

XYZ in a packet

The day before yesterday, my team mate bought a huge pack of XYZ (I do not have the courage to put down the name of the junk food kegemaran ramai. Satgi kena saman lak). Teringin pulak walaupun it was not something that I usually take.

Anyway as I reached out for one, my mind travelled back oohhh.....many, many years ago (too malu to actually put down a number)and as I opened the packaging, I inadevertantly let out a laugh.

V, whose XYZ I pau-ed remarked, "She likes to laugh..." and so I have to share just in case his remark meant that he thinks I am cuckoo.

Once upon a time, I was in the car with mom picking up my brother from high school, the same one that I went to 3 years after he did. Anyway it was after hours and mom parked her car in front of the main gate, which very, very typical of Malaysian school, was locked.

Aku seriously tak tau why kat Malaysia ni most schools diharamkan guna main gate. Main gate untuk perhiasan saja.

Getting back to the story, there were 3 Indian girls waiting in front of the gate, sitting on a pavement. I was looking at them, terliuq I must add, eating XYZ. They had packs and packs of them okay.

Mum hardly allowed us the luxury of junk food, so that was why le aku terliuq. So there I was watching them not knowing that my mom was watching them too and was getting angrier and more irritated by the minute.

My mother, people, she wind down her window and to my shock and horror started addressing those girls in a firm motherly tone.

"Kenapa makan benda ni ? Racun tau tak benda-benda ni..." I have heard this lecture so many times before but I was never as mortified as this to hear it !! And I wasn't even at the receiving end ! "Nanti sekolah tak pandai sebab otak dah rosak kena racun. Lagi baik you beli buah makan dari makan ini... Mari sini, you bagi saya. Saya ganti balik you punya duit !"

Can you just imagine the shocked faces of those girls ? I remember one had her mouth hanging open with a hand poised at her mouth just about to shove a piece of XYZ goodness.

My mother had to cajole them again and again to hand over the poisons as she so called and finally, finally those girls did ! I didn't know where to hide. As she collected those stuffs from her, she went on and on about how their parents sent them to school hoping they would do well in and here they are poisoning themselves.

She handed them money and then mercifully my brother arrived.

Gila tak ?

I mean, I wonder why I am crazy ?

hehheheheheheheh....

I am sleepy...

Today was a sleepy day at the PG office. Yesterday we checked in the hotel as soon as we arrived but then we just dumped our bags in our respective rooms and quickly head to the office.

So how would I know that when I finally entered my room at 9.30 pm after gruelling, gruelling work and dinner, that the air-cond would be blowing almost hot air. But because I was too bone weary, I ignored it and slept. Entah kenapa around midnight it stopped working all together. I tried ignoring it but it got stuffier and stuffier so I had to call for help.

Dah malam2 cuma ada receptionist and pak guard and after she godek2 a bit I had to call her back 10 minutes after she left my room. Tak jadi pun. It still wouldn't work. I was assigned to a new room with air conditioning that acted as it should but my windows pulak was facing a huge karaoke outlet.

So eventhough now I have a nice cool room, my ears were assaulted with boom boom boom.

So, which is the lesser evil ? Stuffy room or a noisy one ?

Of course today I was like a zombie.

Can't concentrate.

My mind wasn't working. During meeting pun I was quiet. Rest is important, children. Remember that. Get your 8 hours, okay. For your sanity.

Time like this I miss my ex-boss. He would've asked me to catch a few winks to freshen me up. He'd always maintained that unless I spend 10 minutes napping, I would have wasted 2-3 hours being unproductive.

So true. So true.

Yikes ! It is almost 11 so I must turn in now.

If the karaoke people have the decency to tutup kedai by midnight lah.

Yawnnnnnn....

I saw myself in 20 years time

Yesterday was Deepavali so Happy Deepavali to those who celebrate it. So it was a holiday and we as usual went to our favourite braksfats haunt to.. well get breakfast ! Ha !

Anyway while we were there, I saw a friend's mom busy tapau-ing food. Looking at the numbers of foam boxes she filled and other stuffs she packed I surmised she was buying for her whole house.

I don't know why the sight of her filled me with pity. Maybe because I always see her alone. Maybe because I see her do that alone almost every week, tapau-ing for her family. When I searched my memory, I remember seeing her with her family only twice. And I once saw her daughter there with her in-laws without this makcik.

Am I going to start deriding my friend ? Scorning and pointing my finger at her for not taking care of her mum ?

Nope. Because I do not know the real story. Because maybe she likes doing it.

My mom loves to menyusahkan diri dia for us. She actually buys my ikan for me. Especially now since I am always out-stationed she would inspect the contents of my freezer and if it is not filled to the brim, she would volunteer herself for the job of replenishing my supplies.

Last week she called to say that she has nasi lemak ready and when I got home, there was sambal sotong and bilis. I mean... why lah ? I could have taken her out for breakfast. Si Kamil pun dia call to mai makan when the man is at work. He called me while I was busy stuffing my face. "You makan nasi lemak kat rumah Mummy ye ?" Malam when he returned home he asked, "So.... Adik makan nasi lemak kat rumah Tok ke ?" heheheheh.. Jealous ke darling ?

The night before she called to say that she made steamboat and announced that she had just plunged the goodies into the hot boiling soup.

What ? Call me before the thing is ready lah. I could have helped you. Pegi beli fishballs ke hapa ke. Ini tidak she called me to just come and eat. Aku rasa kalau aku nganga mulut she would feed me willingly.

And because of that aku kesian. Bersusah payah for her kids. Why ? She wants to feel wanted ? And needed ?

She feels that the only reason we would come home of there are food on the table ? You know while we were there, she made drinks and poured them in our glasses. Layan cucu and menantu makan, topping our bowls and all.

Pernah sekali aku nak test dia. So while eating I told her teringin makan bubur gandum. And bubur gandum appeared on her table the next day. Nasib baik next day kalau dan dan tu jugak aku rasa aku pengsan kot.

HEhehehehehe..........

So... that is why aku kesian dengan makcik tu. Dragging her feet (she was a bit) to do what she knows best, feeding and nurturing her family while they still want her.

Sigh.......

Tactics Adik

While I am on the net reading a British daily, lying on my stomach, Adik was (is still is) next to me, her head on my arms as we read together. She would sometimes rubbed her nose on my arms a few times before returning to the screen.

Just like her Babah. He loves to rub his itchy nose on me. Nothing else could take the itch off like my skin. Ha ha.

Anyway, I remember one day this very smart little girl asked me, "Are you happy, Mummy ?" I said yes and, "Because I am the only person in this whole wide world ada little girl nama Adik...."

She beamed with plesure and curiosity. "Why do you say that ?"

"Yelah, there is only one Adik in this whole wide world and I am the lucky one Allah chose to be her mother.... I am sooooo happy because of that..."

And she smiled the whole day.

Anyway last night she called to inform me of her results. About 6 subjects over 90% but then, 70% for Bahasa. I questioned her in a very, very firm tone and she answered with, "Mummy tahu tak dadi ada budak lelaki ni nama A and then dia pukul saya ! Sakit tau ! Sampai saya rasa nak muntah..."

Tactics to deviate my attention from her terrible marks. I just let it slide lah because I was in Johor and I didn't want her to be anxious waiting for my return... or even worse her wishing that I delay my return until I have forgotten all about it!

When she informed her Babah afterwards, she slyly made no mention of her BM. Upon Babah asking, she said, "Ohh.... Tak dapat lagi...."

Hmmmmm.........

SO when I returned home, in front of her Babah I asked for her full results. She blushed and laughed nervously then mumbled and left.

Hai lah.........

Problem lagi

This morning a colleague asked whether I am going anywhere nice during this long weekend.

Sedih aku dengar.

I really want to but Kamil ni susah sikit. He doesn't like to travel one thing. The other thing is he is sooooooo busy with work. Especially since he just joined his new outfit.

He would only contemplate about leaving his office at 9pm. Usually he would arrive home about 9.30 to 10. I pity my kids. Evey night they would complain that Babah isn't home. Mak pulak is outstation.

And it is soooo hard to get him. Phone calls are usually unanswered. Sometimes I felt like flinging my phone in frustration.

Of course I would sometime (sometime ? hah !) think that "Is this guy really at work ?" I mean if it is 8pm and you could not answer your phone then do not blame me if I start to be convinced of other unpleasant things.

Okay.. sorry..... Out of topic pulak.

Anyway, Mum planned to go back to Penang for Raya Haji. Excited giler dengar because I love Penang. But then the problem lies with my husband lah if he can take time off. I hope he could because I need a break.

All these traveling and being apart from my family has taken a toll on my mood and body. Mood of course not good and body feels so damn tired. Maybe it is my leg. It is throbbing now. Am very reluctant to take pain killers but who am I trying to kid ?

Anyway, Abang informed me that si Janggut passed away. Hehehhe......... Our cat G gave birth to 5 more kittens about a month ago. 1 died after was run over by a car. Who was the behind the wheels ? It wasn't me so......

2 went missing. I didn't even know who catnapped them or if they became runaways but 1 day I just noticed that I could only see 2.

Now si Janggut took his last breath about late afternoon so now tinggal lah adik dia si Hitam (he is soooooo not black.. It is a mixture of dark brown and black).

I am not going to lie and say that I was ecstatic with their births. 5 ! I of course despaired at the thought of having 8 cats of varying ages and sizes running around the house and desecrating and consecrating it at the same time but I was planning to give them away to respectable and loving homes. I don't want them to go like this !

Tapi G kan has been very unlucky with her babies. Her first birth produced 2 kittens which went missing suddenly. She spent the whole day looking for them, calling them with forlorn meows that broke our hearts. Then she gave birth to N and that was it. Aku yang rasa rugi perut memboyot tak hengat punya sekali keluar 1.

Ini elok2 ada 5 sekali tinggal 1.

Apa lah nasib ko G.

Which reminds me Kamil has to take her to the vet to be spayed. Dah jadi bohsia our street dah minah tu.

Hissshhhh !

Masalah2 aku

I am too tired today.

The gammy leg didn't do me any favours as my movements are slow and when I walk in a group I have to drag my feet faster. It is hurting a bit and I of course am imagining the worse.

Staying at a new hotel. Well new in the sense that we are not at our staple hotel. Fully booked that one so we have to stay at a hotel further than the office but swankier.

Swankier pun all of us were given windowless rooms. It is cosy though and a nice change from where we usually stayed. But jauhlah and jalan jam pulak tu.

In terms of Astro, it only provides AXN and Star Movies. And for 2 days when I could finally settle down to watch the telly, they showed Amazing Race. I hate Amazing Race. So... there goes my only way to relax.

Katil kecik. Heheheh.... Everybody complained. Everybody claimed they slept with their feet dangling ergo sleepless night. Since I am vertically challenged, I slept like a baby. HAHHAHHAHAHAH.... The only pro for being short.

Work is hard. Everybody has team mates. I don't. I have to do my work scope alone. Hmmm.... Well my boss lends a hand from time to time but because we have 3 teams (sort of le as aku solo kan)therefore there are 3 objectives so he is a bit stretched.

Oh... bought a few tudungs just now. The kind that my husband doesn't like. I will only wear them when I am here, which is half of the time, so his eyes would not be sore from seeing me in it. Banyak songeh lak mamat tu.

I miss my babies.

And my husband has been neglecting to touch base.

So... aku meroyan.

Oh yeah, I think I chose the wrong combination of outfits for Thursday. They don't look flattering at all. Swithing the Wednesday baju with Thursday seluar didn't work. I did try to find a replacement but this is... well... this is here. Where got baju that is worth my money ?

Don't have.

So tambah aku meroyan.