Cupcake Decorating Class

Aren't these cute???

I am proud to say that these were all made by yours truly, after almost 7 hours of work :)

Spent the day with several friends at a cupcake-decorating class, and I have to admit, although it was quite tiring (my face was so oily at the end of the day!) for someone without a single artistic bone in her body, it was really kinda relaxing and therapeutic too! Of course it helped that we had a teacher guiding us all the way, and the vanilla and chocolate cuppies were absolutely yum!

This was my tray, surrounded by the other trays at the end of the day...


I liked the hat and booties the best.... the roses were the most difficult for me...

Will definitely try out making the cuppies using the new recipes soon... the decorating? Hmm... we'll see how confident I am hehehe...

Latest bag creations

Over the weekend (before I got really really sick), I tried out a pattern from one of my new books. The end result:-

The size is about 15"x11"x2.5", and is big enough to fit a couple of books and magazines ( I thought it'd be a nice bag for my daughter to use for her 'mengaji' classes). Since a good friend has asked me to make her a document bag, I'm gonna see if she likes this design and make a bigger one for her.

The previous weekend I tried out this pattern from Cath Kidston's new book, Sew! Well, it didn't really require cutting out the pattern cos the book came with all items needed to make the bag on the cover. All I had to do was figure out the instructions hehehe, which wasn't that easy I tell you!

Patience and perseverence has its rewards, and so.....


Looks just like the one in the book, kan? :) It's a nice enough bag, but I think the next time I try it, I'll be making the revised version (the Shopper Tote) instead, cos it uses a lining, is slightly bigger and has a shorter strap.

I am SOOOOO enjoying making bags... just have to find the time to make 'em...

I've already bought the less-than-a-year-old Singer Confidence sewing machine from my mom (which gave her the fantastic excuse to upgrade to the Singer Quantum 9940... damn cool machine I say! but too advanced for me heheh), so am now the proud owner of a real, working sewing machine ya'all!!

Let the sewing continue!!!

Sick & tired...

You name it, I've got it.... fever? Check! Cough? Check! Phlegm? Check! Very sore throat? Check that too... Runny nose/sneezing? Yep... Tight chest & difficulty breathing... All in....

At the moment I'm lying on the couch propped up by a huge cushion... the chest tightness is slightly better after 2 puffs of Ventolin, and the runny nose is manageable while I'm on my back... after almost a week away from home, we are now back at our own place to do some laundry and general house-cleaning... but I just don't have the energy to do anything other than lie down for now... my poor Hubby's had to do some funky arrangements with the extension cords due to a blown fuse (or is it several too-sensitive fuses?) that's disrupting the power supply to the washing machine...

I willed myself to stay at work on Friday, with the hope that the weekend will give me enough rest to be OK by Monday... at the moment I'm not even sure I'll be well enough to go to work tomorrow though, but I have to.....

Do you think it's possible to negotiate with your own body? If so, then I'd like to propose the following arrangement, body... Monday, get me well enough so I can go and finish off the urgent paperwork... Tuesday, I can afford to be sick and rest at home, but I have to be better by Wednesday... agaknya boleh tak?

*sigh*... what a hectic working life... I can't even take time off when I'm sick... I am soooooo looking forward to finishing off my leave at the end of this month...

OK, enough whining....

p/s. Adik is doing a lot better... now just waiting for the scabs to heal and drop off before he can go to school again... the cheeky kid's been picking at the scabs and then complaining 'Mama, Adik thakit....' otherwise, he's his usual self.... get well soon OK...

Aidiladha under quarantine...

Adik has chickenpox, real bad chickenpox...

As a result, we spent Hari Raya Haji at my parents' place... had to cancel plans to go back to Seremban (although Hubby did go back this morning to help out with Qurban, and came back with lots of yummy food courtesy of my MIL and SIL :) ), had to cancel our planned family dinner outing, and have had to make alternative plans for tomorrow...

What's tomorrow? The annual school concert, where Adik was supposed to join in for the first time! He's got his own routine with the rest of the 2-year-olds, but we don't quite know what it is... But now he'll have to miss it and stay at home with Opah who's volunteered to watch him... I think I'm more upset about him missing the concert than he is hehehe...

We thought it was great that Amani got a very mild version only 2 weeks ago, and never thought Adik would come down with it again (within a span of 2 years!)... sekali tengok, his case is worse than Kakak's! He's got the spots everywhere... around his hairline (under his bushy hair, sian dia...), on his body, on his face, even right near his anus!

So now Kakak will get to do her speech with her classmates, and we can only record Adik's friends performing... hopefully when we show him the video, he'll do his own performance :)

*Sigh*.... dah la mama tak boleh nak cuti next week... Opah la yang tolong jagakan... sorry Adik ye... nanti Adik dah sihat & mama dapat cuti hujung December, we go jalan-jalan ok?

My New Project - Completed!!

Ever since I got started on the whole 'tudung'-making venture, I got a renewed interest in sewing. In particular, bag-making and tops for myself, for now at least. I've half-sewed a jersey top for myself (just needs the finishing touches around the hems and such), and now I'm so proud & happy to declare I have 1 finished bag to my name!!!


Meet my first-ever handmade bag!!!

I'm especially proud cos I made this from scratch - no patterns, no drafts... just a rough measurement as per my mom's instructions (and no cheating by asking mom to complete it too!) ... but I have to say, using a paper pattern would definitely have been easier... leceh tul nak lukis line atas kain yang bergerak as the pencil draws on it!

I started on this last week (just the outer shell), and got to work on the rest yesterday. Beriya-iya nak siapkan jugak this weekend, tau! Broke a needle in the process too hehehe... sorry mama... In the end, managed to complete it this afternoon. It's not perfect obviously... it's a basic, simple tote design lined with red fabric with no pockets, zippers or buttons, ada some wavy stitches, ada uneven stitch size (still learning to adjust the tension and stitch size for each fabric type), but it's all my own! I love the fabric pattern too... so bright and cheerful... I guess it's also reversible, cos I just turned it inside out and it still looks OK stiches-wise...

Now I can get started on the many other patterns and tutorials I've collected from the internet, magazines and books... I've spent a bomb on sewing books and mags this year, on top of my usual literary interests... no wonder I've exceeded my tax deduction quota this year! Cute fabrics are calling out to me as well... my wallet is doomed I tell ya....

Gatal dah tangan nak buat this very cute wristlet (like I don't have enough as it is!!) I saw earlier... the pattern seems do-able to a novice (hehe, confident je kata)... a girl can never have too many bags, right? A cloth wallet for my daughter, a wristlet for the many membership cards I have, a simple cloth tote bag for shopping, another for quick trips to the store, another for my daughter's books, another for me just for kicks, another to cart all my additional stuff to work, and another and another and another...ahhh, what bliss to think of all the bags to be made...

Of course, it doesn't mean I'll stop BUYING bags (that's still a must!! Even now I'm eyeing another acquisition... yum yum... can I afford it???? I must make myself afford it hehehe)

Kalau macam ni, my own sewing machine would make a good investment, kan?

Agak-agak boleh berenti keje and just do this all day long tak? Hehehe... ke nanti mati kutu pulak tengok mesin je manjang?

I love the feeling of creating something!!! Let's make more!!!

Catching up on reading

I have at least 5 maganizes at home (Impiana, Impiana Dapur, Impiana Apartmen) from various months that are waiting to be read...

At least 3 more are at work...

This weekend's goal? To finish at least 2! Since my 'extra-curricular' class tomorrow is cancelled, I get to 'lepak' at home yeay!!!

I'm trying not to think about the pile of laundry that needs ironing...



Additional potential plans - if I can convince Hubby to go to either the MPH sale, or to Fella Design's sale... quality fabrics on sale for my potential projects... hehehe... and of course books need no excuse...

How do you know???

How do you know what it is that you're meant to do in life?

How do you discover what suits you best?

Is there a formula? A course that'll help you chart your way? How do you peel off the different layers that make you a person, and find the real being underneath? How do you find your true calling, your life's passion? Work that you enjoy so much, it doesn't deserve to be called 'work'?


















I feel worn out....

Is it the job? The company? The position? I'm just a 'balaci', by the way... please do not misunderstand this as the moanings of a boss hehehe...

Is this what I'm destined to be, to do for the rest of my productive years? I enjoy going to work, yet lately I'm feeling my work is becoming more and more meaningless. Mounds of paperwork that I have to force others to complete, yet without any clear, discernible use... paperwork with info that we already can get from other sources... and yet, to give feedback for improvement to the powers-that-be is to put my neck out to be chopped, to be branded a 'trouble-maker'...

Help!

Oh to be a WAHM, or my own boss... 1 year and 3 months more... *sigh*...

Nasty Conmen

You know how you hear about so many different scams out there right now, and sometimes wonder how people can be so gullible to fall for them?

I'm not talking about the Ponzi-like schemes.... more like the ones you get SMS'ed about (the AF schemes, supposed PETRONAS and Shell contest wins, the buy-this-crappy-item-you-win-this-great-gift-that-you-have-to-pick-up-in-person) as well as the panic-inducing one of 'someone's trying to use your credit card, you need to give me details to avoid that from happening' sort of thing....

Well, a very good friend of mine just got hit by the latter!!! Kesian dia... apparently she got a phone call from someone saying that someone's attempting to use her credit card in a fraudulent transaction... of course you'd worry if you hear something like that kan? So this guy tells her she needs to secure her account or something like that, and she has to follow his instructions at the ATM machine... siap boleh pesan lagi jangan cakap kuat-kuat takut orang keliling dengar... hallo, so dodgy kan? If the others had heard her conversation, sure they'd have highlighted to her this guy's scamming!

So anyway, she followed the guy's instructions at the ATM, and somehow I guess he got access to her account. She lost RM 10K tau!!! I just found out about it from another good friend...

Is it possible dia kena pukau over the phone? Someone from our office (Kak M, I think) got this sort of phone call before, but she hung up on the guy... and all of us (including my friend) discussed the matter and we agreed it was an attempt to scam money from Kak M, so it's not as if my friend was ignorant of these baddies' modus operandi... but somehow dah nak jadi, terkena jugak kat dia...

Hang in there ok buddy... ada hikmah yang kite tak nampak lagi ni... dugaan Allah masa ni... I hope the d@mn conman (thief is more accurate kot?) gets what he deserves!

Salam Aidilfitri

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!

Finally back at home after being away since the Friday before raya... a week feels like a couple of days aje! I can't believe it's time to go back to work already!

This year we celebrated Raya in Seremban first (only the 2nd time in almost 6 years of marriage heheh) and came back to KL on the 3rd day (coincidentally Amani's birthday too). The snag about taking a whole week off? Other people are not around yet, all happily enjoying their holiday in their kampungs! Oh we poor people whose kampungs are in KL... but all was not lost, we took off to visit relatives outside KL too...

In the beginning, though, it felt somewhat subdued... hambar... usually we'd go and visit my grandma on the 1st day, and if we celebrated in Seremban first, we'd stop by on our way back to KL, but this year is the 1st year that she's gone... it feels strange not to see her... have yet to visit her grave, but will do so insya-Allah soon...

Am trying hard not to think about work... once we get back, the budget cycle's gonna be in full swing, and the mid-year review's coming up right after that... and the restructuring that's gonna affect us in Oct... not to mention the Hari Raya gathering in 2 weeks' time that I've been 'volunteered' to lead... aughhhh... any ideas for an independent work opportunity anyone????

Of The Less Privileged...

For the first time, yesterday I personally chaperoned a child I adopted under the company's annual buka puasa event... Previously a few of us would band together to adopt 1 kid, and sponsor his/her gifts, but none of us would attend the buka puasa event itself, not to mention the activities preceeding it. Nominate anak buah je pegi gantikan kitorang hehehe... Although we never attended the event, we loved participating in it from behind the scenes, simply cos it allows us the opportunity to share with those less privileged...

This year, I managed to adopt 1 child again, but since this time I did it individually (tak sempat nak ajak kengkawan join), I couldn't sub-con the attendance to someone else... I was looking forward to it though, especially since the organizing committee changed the format to resemble a mini 'Explorace', including a shopping portion! So this year, instead of us staff buying gifts for the children beforehand, we actually get to buy the things for them together! I thought that was a nice idea...

Needless to say, the little girl & I had a lot of fun... she was such a sweetie, smiling broadly all the time, and was not the least bit demanding. She was the third in a family of 7, and her eldest brother was living in another 'Rumah Amal' and went to school in Kedah. She was so surprised to see her brother in the same event! It was so touching to see the siblings' reunion... I get the feeling that they don't meet very often, unless it's the school holidays and they get to go home to their mom and family in Ampang.

We went to all the checkpoints (I didn't help her much during the mug-decorating part, she did a great job on her own! If I had, it probablywould have turned out worse heheh), and when we got to the shopping part, we got lots of books, some toys and tons of new clothes for her. Since she had no particular items in mind even after being asked repeated, I treated her as though I was taking my own daughter on a shopping trip... anything that caught my fancy that she liked, went into the basket! As you may guess, Iexceeded the spending limit hehehe... that's what you get with a shopaholic mummy :)

I was flat out by the time I went home (I'm still wiped out today!), but something lingered in my mind... I was more than happy to spend more than the allocated budget for her, simply because she wasn't pushy and demanding, and her requests were so humbly simple... When I spoke to some of my colleagues who were also participating, they experienced the same thing. This was in stark contrast to the same event from the past few years. You see, previously, when they put up the pics of the children from the various homes for the 1-day adoption, they also put up their wish list for us to fulfill. We're asked to buy the items on the wish list (on our own ye, not using the company money :p) within a certain spending limit set by the company (I guess to make sure everyone got the same value of items, no less), and the items will be handed to the children during the event. What began to irk me was seeing the items on the list. Very often you'd see very modest requests - black pants, white shirt, school bag, etc etc.... basic necessities for schoolgoing kids - very humbling requests for people like us who are used to buying more for our own kids and families. But we began noticing that starting some years back, some kids from certain homes were asking for things like Nike shoes, Adidas shoes, G-Shock watches... heck, these kids even knew which particular model they wanted!

It wasn't just me... my friends and colleagues felt the same way. When we saw the modest requests, we'd try our best to give even more than what the kid wanted and really make their day... but the kids with the branded wish list? We avoided them, full stop! I honestly didn't want to take any of them. I wanted to share our good fortune with someone, and I wanted to share it with someone who would appreciate what came their way... not someone who already had set high expectations beforehand and made a demand for things.

I try to see it from their point of view... Suddenly it's as if it's their birthday, or Christmas, and they have a chance to list down their dearest wishes, so they do it... but somehow it strikes a jarring note with me. So rather than b1tch about the things my/our adopted child wants, we'd rather go with someone who really touches us with his/her simple requests, and try our very best to make it even better. Is that terrible? I think not... someone else with a different outlook than mine would be able to fulfill those wishes, so let them go ahead...

All in all, we had a great day yesterday... I stayed behind till the kids got on their buses (tak sampai hati nak balik terus... my little girl and the girl our dept adopted had so many heavy bags to carry! Same goes for many of the other kids too, thanks to their generous patrons/chaperones...) My children are blessed to have two loving parents take care of them, fulfill their basic needs, love them with all our hearts... I was glad that for a few short hours, I could share what my children have with someone else...

Insya-Allah, I look forward to participating again next year... but perhaps I could start outsourcing the attendance again? Hehehe...

My Daughter the Shopper

Kakak has the makings of a shopping 'kaki' (abahnya kata, anak mama la tu... hehehe... I refuse to comment for fear of incriminating myself...:p)

And how do I know this?

We went shoe-shopping for the kids today... Kasut raya of course, as well as kasut nak berjalan-jalan... both Kakak & Adik have pretty much outgrown their 'nice' shoes (heck, Adik couldn't even put his foot in! That chronic wooo...), plus the sandals that they use to go to school are looking pretty beat up... Stakat nak gi nursery tu OK la, tapi kalau nak gi jenjalan, kurang comel laaaa...

So off we went to Jusco I Utama... Hubby and I like the selection there, and of course the prices are reasonable. Ingatkan it would be a short trip - grab the shoes, try them on, pay, leave (see Abah, no 'lencongan' from Mama... I had good intentions OK!) Rupa-rupanya anak daraku boleh tahan jugak shopping! Adik's shoes were chosen easily. Of course, it helped that by the time we got to Jusco, he was asleep in the stroller, so Mama sesuka hati je la tried on possible shoes on his feet as he slept; plus, he didn't get a say in the selection hehehe...

Different story with Kakak! Punye la banyak kasut try... yang I suka, dia tak suka... some that she liked were too pink for my liking (baju raya biru la, turquoise lagi!!) the ones she liked were pretty, but they didn't have them in her size... I literally felt dizzy, squatting down to put the shoes on and off, and standing up again. I'm sure if a doctor were to check my blood pressure tadi, it would have been on the low side.

In the end, we spent more than 2 hours there, just at the shoes section!!! Hubby & I wanted to finish the shoe-shopping there and then - malas nak gi cari lagi lain kali... in the end, tired out and sleepy, she finally found a pair that suited her (and us!). She fell asleep on Hubby's shoulder while waiting for the SA to bring the new pair of shoes.

So what were the fruits of our labor? 2 pairs of shoes, and 2 pairs of sandals, one each for Kakak & Adik... after this we only need to look for a turquoise Baju Melayu for Adik, possibly a sampin and songkok for him as well, and we're all set! Hmmm.... agak-agak Mama nak beli bag or kasut baru tak? Heheheh... We shall wait and see...










Oh, and why did I say Amani is a potential 'kaki shopping'? She kept on trying the shoes, even the ones she didn't like, just because she liked trying out shoes!! She definitely has taste, and doesn't hesitate to give her opinion on things! Tu yang lama sangat nak pilih kasut budak tu! Dia siap bagi input lagi to me when choosing fabric for tudungs hehehe... skarang ni dah terbantut kejap hajat mama nak beli bag baru, cos when I showed her a picture of the bag, dia kata tak cantik!!! Huwaaaaa.... anak mama... takpe la, maybe later you'll change your mind? :p Dah besar skit nanti mama ajak jalan sama-sama ek...

Takziah...

Have just heard sad news about an old friend of mine...

It was with great sadness that I read on her FB wall that her 2nd son had passed away....

She's miscarried before, and I know her pregnancies are generally difficult. She has a healthy son, about the same age as Adik, and she was expecting another baby...

She was only in her 7th month, but her waterbag started leaking... details on her hubby's blog are a bit sketchy but heartwrenching (imagine having to decide which one to save - wife or baby!) but I know they've agreed to do a C-section... but the little one passed away, leaving his parents devastated.

I realize that no matter how difficult my life can be at times, I've never had to face this sort of tragedy... Arwah Wan's passing was probably the most grief I've had to experience, and even that was tempered by the fact that she had lived a long and I believe happy life... but I think for any parent to lose a child, that has got to be one of the hardest losses to bear....

Takziah Lea & Fareast... stay strong... our thoughts and prayers are with you...

Kudos to LHDN! 1 person, to be specific...

Kudos is due to Pn Hazal of the LHDN who answered my call on Monday...

Earlier that day I called up the hotline and spoke to a male consultant about the CP38 notice... turns out the amount due was from assessment year 2007, and he read out the statements & transations etc. Apparently I filed the wrong info, saying that I paid 500+ in PCB whereas the system only recorded $51 of PCB (and basically implying that I cheated on my taxes!). I got so peeved at the guy that I got Hubby to email my e-filing for that year, checked my EA statement and asked our Payroll for proof that the payments were made as per the amount declared on the EA (they gave me the receipt nos siap!!!). Voila, the documents have it - I did not lie!!!!

So after lunch I called up the hotline again, and was entertained by Pn Hazal. She very courteously and in a very friendly manner handled my call (which immediately put me in a good mood - I'm a sucker for good customer service), and pulled up every single item she could find that could help us identify where the money went. As it turned out, the info I received about 'it doesn't matter which income tax file number you choose, it'll all be reconciled using your IC no' (which was actually reiterated by the guy I spoke to that morning!) was wrong!!!! Pn Hazal told me I was wrongly informed, and basically I have to ensure that my employer has the most recent no on file, otherwise it may result in my current predicament - for 4 months's PCB, the amount went into my old file no and then de-activated, whereas the rest of the year's payments were channeled into my current no.

She even told me I didn't have to go to any LHDN office to settle the issue! She very kindly said she'd email the results to LHDN Seremban (who issued the notice) to cancel the instruction, and even gave me the emails of the PR officer there (she didn't know who had handled the case, but was sure the PR would channel it to the right person) and the center's email so that I could follow up later. I don't know whether this is the SOP for handling cases like this, but I definitely liked the simplicity in managing and resolving the issue. I emailed both office & PR lady & cc:ed it to Pn Hazal, and the fantastic thing is both she and the PR lady (Pn Maimunah) gave me a call to confirm that they've got my email! Now all I'm waiting for is for the cancellation letter to reach KL, and my faith in the LHDN will definitely improve by leaps and bounds! If all their staff are like these 2 ladies (instead of the guy and the others before him who gave me the wrong info, and the person who mishandled my mom's account for more than a year), then LHDN is definitely going to be an effective, much-improved agency....

Thanks very much Pn Hazal! You really made a great impression on this customer :)

Floored by a Bug (2nd time this year!)

Hubby's been the lucky one so far... he's the only one who's managed to evade being infected by whatever bug it is that's infected our 2 kids as well as yours truly.

Amani got hit first... she began vomiting in the very very early hours of Saturday (we ended up sleeping outside in front of the TV at my parents' place and gave my dad a shock at dawn hehe), had a slight case of diarrhea and continued with up-n-down fever all through the weekend... she skipped school on Monday to fully recover.

When we got ready to go to work on Tuesday, Adik pulak started purging (3x before we even left our place! Our bed was a mess, believe me... had to do laundry pulak pepagi buta...) and eventually he stayed at home that day. Luckily Hubby has lots of days off still, so he stayed home for both days.

I went to work and spent Tuesday feeling very 'sebu', as if I ate the wrong thing that gave me tons of wind (at first I blamed it on the banana I ate that morning for breakfast), but by the time I got home, I was feeling even worse... my head felt like a band was slowly being tightened around it, and I nearly threw up when the doctor did the checkup... So I ended up staying at home yesterday too, together with Adik. Can you imagine what it was like to take care of a sick kid who was not behaving sickly, while not being well yourself????? He was purging every few hours, and I had to change him before the contents spilled out (yeah, gross, I know heheh) and also irritate his skin. We spent the whole day watching Toy Story 2 (interspersed with Elmo & the Bookananeers [Adik's version of Bookaneers] and a Reader's Digest Animals are Amazing video) in between trips to the bathroom for both of us. For the record, I absolutely hate throwing up and purging, OK? Especially when I didn't get any diarrhea medicine as well!

Today my fever and heachache has subsided, but I'm still at home - my tummy's still acting up... both kids are at school though, unless we get a phone call sometime today saying Adik's not well. Adik wasn't purging anymore, and he never ran a fever to begin with, so we felt he was fine already since the doc gave the bug about 2 days to run its course. I'm quite confident that his activeness (ada ke such a word?) and strong constitution has helped him recover faster.

Now I've got a few more hours to rest.... mama dia pulak yang lagi lambat nak baik...

Handmade Creations Updated!

Handmade Creations Updated!!

Latest completed items available...

Click HERE for more...

Gearing up for a Confrontation...

Psyching myself up for a showdown with....................................................




























The TAX MAN!!


Why, you may ask?

I got a letter in the mail yesterday, stating that I have to make a CP 38 deduction on my salary ASAP... the icing on the 'lovely' statement said, if there's a delay, I'll be charged an additional % on top of that amount!

Now, you may sense that I'm more than slightly p1ssed by this notice. Why I want to go head to head with the tax man is because, I've been a diligent taxpayer my entire working life (the only year I missed was the year I started working, and my total income for that year was not even enough to be taxable!) I submit my income tax returns within the deadline every year, and even pay the excess that's due within the same given deadline! And I'm d4mned sure that I've paid off everything that I owe! So to simply get this notice is mind-boggling, not to mention insulting! - yeah, yeah, I'm a nerd, and very skema... very by the book punye orang, what to do... hehehe...

I'm just wondering which year this amount was supposedly due from... I'm thinking it could be from the year I filed my taxes under my own tax number, and the amount of PCB that I've deducted to this account was not reconciled with the taxes that I've filed and paid in the joint account no with Hubby (can anyone tell me if this could happen? Dulu I've asked the LHDN hotline about this, and the person told me it should be OK cos the accounts are linked by my IC no, so all my payments should be reconciled against all the different accounts... was I told the correct thing???)

Anyway, before I go head-to-head with the officer at the agency, I have to dig up all my income tax submissions from year 2004... since I started using e-filing, I have the forms in softcopy, but for the ones before that, they're all in a file at work. So the earliest I can go over is on Tuesday.

It took my mom more than 1 year (even after writing a letter to the biggest boss in the agency too!) to settle her tax matters and get her refund upon her retirement, so I am NOT looking forward to this encounter...

*sigh*... wish me luck!

Harry Potter 6 and Transformers 2

My verdict of HP 6?

Where was the fight scene when the Death Eaters entered Hogwarts???? And why was the scene were Harry fought Snape so short??? They could have done away with the attack at The Burrows (which was not in the book) and do the major battle at the end instead...

Otherwise, it's quite OK... I felt Hermione's heartbreak (macam familiar je... ye ke? hehehe), I cried when he died (in case ada orang tak tgk lagi and tak baca the book - awww heck, I cried when I read the book too... so no surprise there kan?) Loads of laughs too... Looking forward to the next 2 movies... but after that, no more Harry Potter to look forward to... :( Hmm, mula la rasa macam nak read all of them again...

Transformers 2 - a whole lot of fun... but not so much of the storyline compared to the first movie, I think. But there's plenty of Josh Duhamel, so OK la heheheh... (hey, Hubby got Megan Fox, I've got my eye candy too!! :p) Tapi memang le the movie glorified the US Army! Bersungguh-sungguh tunjuk all the firepower and equipment that they have! To know more, go catch the movie!!

So all in all, the 3 latest movies I saw this year (the other was Star Trek in May) are definitely worthwhile to add to our DVD collection for future viewing :)

How I Celebrated My 30th Birthday

8.30am - had breakfast at kedai mamak near the kiddies' nursery after dropping them off (sorry my babies... mama cuti ari ni, but you still have to go to school ye heheh)

9.30am - entered The Curve parking lot (but none of the shops are open yet) and walked over to Ikano. Basically spent about an hour there while waiting for Cathay to start operations and pick up our tickets

10.30am - it's started to rain, and we've picked up the tix to Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince as well as Transformers 2 (yeap, it's a movie marathon!!!!)

11am - the movie starts after several previews and ads (biasa la kan...)

2pm - HP ends, time for lunch at Tony Roma's... Hubby had the Lunch Rack, and I had the Fiery Cajun Burger, and we enjoyed the Onion Loaf as starters. Rushed off for prayers after that

2.50pm - entered the theatre again just in time for Transformers 2

5.20pm - T2 ended, had a quick stroll around the mall after buying Big Apple, picked up the kids and went to my parents'...



Thank you Hubby dearest for a wonderful, relaxing day! And for the lovely present too... :) You know your wife is a sucker for presents hehehe...

Ever since we were together, birthdays are always our day off to spend time together (and since we had kids, that's pretty much about the only time we get to go out for a movie too!!) and we make it a point to go out on a date then...

*Sigh*... I wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow...

Physical expansion - my reason to shop??

*Sigh*

It is with great sadness that I have to acknowledge I have physically expanded :(

The signs were there... certain pants wouldn't fit anymore, or fit so snugly I won't be able to breathe... several skirts also seemed to enhance (or is it emphasize???) my derriere (sp?)... some (alright, many!) of my kebayas would have to go into storage for a while too...

The painful truth hit me when I sent some fabric to my tailor for Raya.... my measurements have changed significantly!!!!

Oleh yang demikian, terpaksa la I terima kenyataan and go buy new pants for work... which I did last week.

Habis la swipe kat plastic kaler biru untuk beli 3 helai seluar, yang confirmed berubah saiz... yesterday I saw some nice pants at Isetan as well, so may just take a look at them next week.

These past 2 weeks memang sakan bershopping... bought plenty of clothes for the kids for Raya and school, a nice linen shirt for hubby and a shirt for my dad during the Isetan members' pre-sale, bought tons of jersey for tudungs as the shops were having a sale (and they're still having special promotions!!! augh... how do I resist the temptation??? Dah ada sekotak penuh kain yang belum dipotong lagi ni...), bought those pants for myself, bought a birthday present for my dad yesterday (plus a little something for myself as well hehehe)... hari ni belum ada apa-apa lagi hehehe... nasib baik le not too much damage done on my wallet, cos the kids' clothes were courtesy of the Isetan vouchers my dad won in a golf tourney (which he generously donated to his grandkids for Raya hehehe... so I got him a little something from those vouchers as well la)...

Ni ada alasan lagi nak gi beli baju baru for myself... if I really go through my wardrobe, I think at least half will have to be put aside for now :( Tu la kan, sapa suruh beli baju size ngam-ngam je ngan badan... Kalau nak kurus balik, kena pregnant dulu pulak (the exercise option langsung tak masuk list hehehe)... belum boleh guna cara ni dulu kot, belum sampai masa lagi rasanya...

Sports Carnival Fun

I'd forgotten how much fun it was to participate in a sports carnival, tak kira la in whatever role...

The last time I was involved in a sports carnival, it was at the 2001 Midwest Games in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Obviously, I didn't play any games (duh! tak cukup terrer aaaa... hehehe...), but I was keen to join in anyway cos it was a chance to travel and meet up with friends from around the States, and I also cheered on the reps from UW. Since I was the only senior in the group of girls on that trip, I was the designated driver, and I tell you, to drive from Madison to Kalamazoo with a compact car full of girls (none of whom had driver's licenses, so I was the ONLY driver!) in a convoy with the guys (we eventually got separated somehow halfway through Michigan and only met up later once we reached Kalamazoo in the middle of the night) was definitely a challenge!!

That was 8 years ago!!!

This past week, I was involved in the company's annual sports carnival, as a member of our contingent's secretariat.

Granted, my involvement was not purely voluntary... it came packaged with the responsibilities of my new position. After 7-plus years of working with the company, this was the first time I was ever involved in the carnival. Heck, I never even went to the family carnival that's held right after all the games have concluded!

I'm glad I was part of the show though... for one, it gave me a chance to be away from the office but still be involved in the company... two, it allowed me an opportunity to experience something that I had enjoyed in the past... I'd forgotten how much fun it was to cheer on your own team, and still enjoy yourselves even though we weren't the overall champions... three, I made new friends! A part of me felt like I was back in my uni days, and it felt good! I'm definitely gonna be a part of this again next year! Four, I experienced a different side of the company during the carnival... and that was a good thing considering I'm starting to feel that the direction that the company is going in, as well as the values that it's exhibiting now, is becoming somewhat at odds with my own values (but that's another topic altogether....)

On the not so good side... I think I've turned a few shades darker from standing in the hot sun all week!!! Huwaaaa..... kalah player macam ni...

*sigh*.... it's back to the daily grind tomorrow (it's already today!!!)... dah la kena pakai baju kerja macam biasa... I was getting used to wearing t-shirts and jeans/track bottoms all day hehehe....

We had so much fun, we wanna do it again!

We're back from the trip, and it was MARVELLOUS!!!! I recovered from my cold just at the point of arrival at KLIA OK! It was THAT close!

So we went to Bandung for a day trip, and due to the time constraints, had to limit it to visiting only about 4 outlets in total... my buddies memang target nak beli baju-baju semua, so they spent more there... I tried to stock up on the kids' clothes, but for some reason only saw a few that I liked... even so, many of them my parents and brother have bought for the kids during their recent trips, so I ended up only buying several tops and a gorgeous stretchy skirt from t-shirt-like material for myself, plus a pair of jeans for Hubby, t-shirts for the guys & my dad, and some tops for my mom. I did get 2 cute pairs of pants and a t-shirt for Adik, and a t-shirt and a paired Minnie outfit for Kakak, so it wasn't a total loss hehehe... I can tell you, my friends did more damage to their wallets than I did! :)

We actually spent more time (and money!) in Jakarta... our target was fabric, and boy did we buy fabric!!! I guess for those looking for lace, dry-cleaned chiffons and other expensive fabrics, they're gorgeous and affordable too, but they didn't really catch my attention. We were more in love with the cottons from the shops in Pasar Mayestic... so many prints, so many colors!!! I can't speak for my buddies, but I know I bought loads and loads... enough for me to finally retire many of my old baju kurungs and also make some new blouses! I also got some cute fabrics for my mom to make her smocking projects (which most of the time ends up as Amani's anyway, so I might as well chip in with the raw materials kan? ;P) Asalnya nak cari jerseys, but the recommended shops only had plain jerseys and in limited colors, so I only bought 2 pieces (which turned out to be of comparable quality to the expensive ones I bought here, so next time I'll definitely buy more!). We went to Tanah Abang too, but because it was a Sunday, the shops close at 4 so we didn't really get to browse that much. Tapi pening kepala kat sana... too many shops, too many people, too narrow aisles... but those looking for muslimah wear, telekungs and such would have a field day choosing what to buy!

We also squeezed some time to get a facial at Martha Tilaar... memula nak buat massage, but due to the limited time, we went for the facials instead. One of us even finished her facial earlier and managed to get a mani & pedi done as well!! Jealous tul tengok dia enjoy the treatment hehehe...

All in all, we had a fantastic time... and we can't wait to do it again!!!

Kalau sempat nanti, I'll put up pics of the spoils later (but the fabrics je la kot mostly... penuh satu luggage!!!)

*sigh*.... my next phone bill will be a shocker... the kids called every night, and we'd talk for at least 10 mins each time... I should have bought a local prepaid sim! Will do that next time!


We had so much fun on the trip, we're thinking we might wanna do this on an annual basis at least... a shopping trip just for the girls...





Next on the agenda: a family vacation pulak... whoooohoooo!!!!!! Jalan je kerjanye!!!

The Trip

My friends and I are going on a girls-only trip this weekend...

Destination: Jakarta (& Bandung hehehe)

Why girls only? None of the Hubbies (yep, we're all married with kids :p) wanted to come along, cos our main itinerary is SHOPPING!!! Plus a spa session squeezed in between... maybe next time we'll get to come again with our families...

We're really excited about this... plans have been made (thanks in big part to my bro-in-law), potential targets identified (thanks to Mrs Noba and several other people for their recommendations hehehe), but I haven't packed a single thing!!!!

Since we'll only be back on Tuesday, Hubby's left with the kiddies, and to make it easier on him, I'm gonna pack the whole week's worth of kids's clothes for school... so that's double packing for me!!!

To complicate matters, very likely Hubby will have to go to Singapore for a conference next week, starting from the Tuesday that I come back! Sian the kiddies.... one after the other mak bapak deyrang gi travel without them... Never mind, Mama & Abah are planning a family holiday after this, we promise!

Wish me luck getting better before the trip!

Sick & Bored to Death

Today's the 2nd day I'm stuck at home... dah lama tak MC macam ni.... the usual culprit, a bad case of the sniffles, plus the accompanying non-stop sneezing & runny nose, sore throat, teary eyes and headache...

Normally, if it gets this bad, at most pun I'll take 1 day of MC, but considering I'll be travelling over the sea this Saturday, I need to get well ASAP!!! I don't want to be quarantined upon reaching my destination as a suspected H1N1 carrier!!!

The worst part about being sick like this? I can't do anything much!! Ni nak menaip pun kena stop byk kali, takleh nak tunduk aje (I'm sure you understand why kan? ;P) Tried to access office email using our secure connection, pun ada banyak problem (I wonder if anyone else has ever complained about that connection... leceh sungguh! Hubby's company has a much better IT setup for that purpose...). Nak menjahit, lagi la tak boleh... the heat is making it unbearable... maybe I would have been better off trying to recuperate in the airconditioned office?

Dah la I'll be away from the office for 2 days next week... this week pun dah hilang 2 hari... aiyoyo....

Robbed!

Our place was robbed yesterday.

The story:-

Because of today's public holiday, I got the day off yesterday as replacement leave, but Hubby had to work. So I spent the day shopping for fabric with my mom and searched for sandals at 1 Utama before picking up Hubby and the kids later to balik kampung...

We stopped by our place to pick up our bags on the way from my mom's to Seremban, and since it was supposed to be a quick stop je, we didn't park at our usual place, but just in front of the lobby entrance. After quite some time, Hubby came down with a strange look on his face. 'Rumah kite kena pecah masuk...' came out from his mouth.

I was in shock. While Hubby went to the entrance guardhouse to inform security and do the necessary, my mind was reeling with all sorts of thoughts. 'There's nothing of value in the house... I KNOW I locked all the doors and padlock before leaving... what did they take? How could this happen???'

I was pretty sure Hubby's laptop would be gone, but couldn't think of anything else the intruder would have taken since anything else of significant value would be big, ie TV, fridge, DVD player etc. Turns out he got away with quite a decent loot - the laptop, our digital camera (but without the charger, which was obviously moved from its original place but not taken), my watch (just a Swatch, but it was still a pretty watch, and still quite new), Hubby's company's complimentary backpack (it had a compartment for a laptop, and could fit in everything else he had taken), my Coach leather wristlet (barely used!), and the saddest thing of all - our rings. I don't have much jewelry, except for whatever I have on me, but I had a collection of rings that were of sentimental value to me... cincin merisik, my graduation ring, Hubby's RMC graduation ring, a lovely tanzanite & diamond platinum ring I bought in the US, a filigree white gold ring from the US, and the most irreplaceable of all, arwah Wan's diamond and gold ring, which my aunt had given to me since I was the only one who could wear it... everything else we can insya-Allah slowly replace in time, but Wan's ring is lost for good...

Memang I sedih pasal cincin tu... I was planning on turning it into an heirloom to be passed to Amani, then Amani's daughter, and so on and so on... and it was a link between Wan & me... I hate the robber for what he did!

It was a lot of hassle to settle everything... had to go to the police station to make a report (that experience alone is worth an entry, tapi malas nak citer... boleh buat sakit ati jugak kalau ingat balik...), be home for the investigating officers to come and do their thing, replace the doorknob and padlock (the padlock was completely missing, BTW, and the grille and doorknob forced open) - and all this had to be done even though none of us had any dinner yet...

Thankfully my mom and brother came by with some food, and my BIL helped buy the padlock and doorknob (takut by the time everything was settled, there weren't any hardware stores still open)... semua rasa macam taknak tido situ for the night after that. Amani was scared when I told her 'orang jahat masuk rumah kita', and wanted to sleep at Atok & Opah's... poor thing, she wondered what was going on, and I didn't want to lie to her... so the kids went off with my mom & brother first while we finished cleaning up, then all of us spent the night at my parents' house...

When I started cleaning up the mess the instruder left behind in our little wardrobe, I picked up a damp Ralph Lauren XXL shirt. I thought for some reason maybe my BIL came by with a different top and changed before he helped Hubby with the door, but he said it wasn't his. Then it dawned on us.... 'Omigod, it's his blo*#y shirt!!!' Even though it was technically evidence, we didn't want to keep it anywhere near our place, in case la kan... so Hubby threw it away. I guess we were lucky... apparently some robbers' pantang entails leaving their sh1t behind, so at least this one was 'cleaner'...

For a while, I wondered what would have happened if I had decided to just stay at home alone yesterday... would he have still forced his way in? If he didn't, that'd be OK... but what if he HAD come in while I was there? I didn't want to think of what could have been if that happened...


The ending:-

We are thankful that no one was hurt... but we're still shaken by the experience... I pray that this will never happen to us again... a family is supposed to feel safe in their own home, right?

Something to ponder upon... if the guards didn't see anything suspicious, would that indicate another resident is responsible for this?????

Wedding Dresscodes

I was at a wedding this afternoon, and as usual I saw various styles of dressing (and lovely handbags hehehe)...

One person caught my eye... but all for the wrong reasons...

I think she was most likely a friend of the newly-weds... came with a bunch of old friends of the happy couple that I recognized, and is obviously a Malaysian (rasanya she's from our old school too, but I can't confirm... Fairy GM, our senior jugak ke?)

The reason she caught my eye, the thing that I found to be soooo inappropriate is... she was wearing a bright red SLEEVELESS TANKTOP, to a Malay wedding. Heck, I know it's sweltering hot nowadays, but most people have a sense of decorum that tells them what's suitable and what's not for certain events... even if you don't know, even weddings at home have dresscodes OK, albeit not formally written down in the wedding invitation...

The fact that she was non-Malay is not an issue. I've got many non-Malay friends who dress appropriately for a kenduri at home (and when I say appropriate, it doesn't necessarily mean a baju kurung or kebaya ye...) and I've seen many Malays who dress in shoulder-baring, cleavage-showing dresses for Malay and non-Malay weddings at posh hotels. It all comes down to knowing how to dress according to the situation... and being a Malaysian who's most likely lived here all her life, the social norms should have been obvious to her, no?

Is it that difficult to decide what to wear to a fairly common event in Malaysia? I've also seen some people in shorts and t-shirts to such a celebration, which to me totally disrespects the hosts. No one's expecting you to come wrapped in silk and adorned with sequins and glitter, but you should at least look like you're going to a function, not to the pasar malam!

Too bad about the outfit, cos I thought she was pretty... the wrong outfit totally spoilt the look...

Whooppee!!!!

I ni tak reti nak berniaga... kalau suruh promote diri pun, tak reti... apa lagi nak promote hasil kerja kan...

But nevertheless, I still managed to sell several of my 'hasil kerja tangan', and I tell you, the feeling when I got the payment was MARVELOUS!!!! Made me even more motivated to continue doing this...

Before this, paling-paling dapat duit pun bila let go pre-loved items at charity/garage sales... but honestly the feeling's different between selling things that you simply own, to selling stuff that you made from scratch, with all the accompanying stress, headache, bodyache, etc etc...

Funnily enough, my 2nd batch tak sempat nak promote, dah ada yg berkenan almost all of the pieces... so now I still have some from the 1st batch, and plan to do more after this... drop by Handmade Creations to check out what's available...

Wish me luck in maintaining the pace!

Handmade Creations

Yeay, yeay... I'm pleased to announce that I've created a separate blog for the things I've produced for sale (for the moment, tudung la yg banyak ye :p)

Say hello to:-

Handmade Creations

and feel free to drop by often & to spread the word ye!

Besides the items I've put up at the moment, I've also got a few more almost completed (awaiting the finishing touches je) which I'll display soon... hurry, hurry! I'm dying to make more, so as soon as my current stock is gone, I can get to work making more! :)

In the future nak blajar buat benda lain gak (bags, smocked dresses etc), plus several things JV-ed with my mom will also materialize, so insya-Allah hasil kerja tu pun will end up on the new blog...

Up for Grabs!!!

I finally did it!!!

Went a little crazy some time back when buying fabric... I finally managed to turn most of the pieces into tudungs over the last weekend. The finished products?

I actually managed to complete 11 pieces, but 3 I wanted for myself, so no longer in the pic la hehehe... out of the above, 2 have already found their new home with someone at work, so the following are still up for grabs if anyone's interested:

This one tinggal satu je... face size M (if you wear Munaw M, muat la...) length also M (slightly lepas bawah dada, about 38cm from below the chin to the end), RM 30 (without postage & handling). Yang ni murah skit cos the quality of the fabric is not the same as the rest...

These 2 are face size M/L (cos the fabric's very smooth and stretchy... the ones I made for myself pun ended up a bit loose, so can fit both sizes), and length M... RM 55 (without p&h).

These 3 are size M/L (face) and L in length (falls down almost to waist level, about 40-42cm from below the chin to the end). Each is RM 60, not inclusive of p & h.

All awnings are made using Thai/Shantung silk unless otherwise specified, and with 2" bakrum (bab yg keras tu...)

Sorry for the picture quality... kena figure out where best to take photos next time...

The material for the body (except for the 1st tudung) is very cool and drapey... just the right weight for it to fall nicely once worn...

If anyone's interested, write to na_mohammed@yahoo.com yaaaaa.... we'll work out the details later...

Since I still haven't found the inspiration for a separate blog for this, in the meantime, anything available will be put here... feel free to let others know about this :)

I've got several pieces of fabric lagi (ye, I pegi kedai and borong kain lagi!! Tak hengat dunia tul once dah nampak kain cantik...) currently in the process of transformation, so more will come after this... watch this space!!

Of office politics and what you deserve...

I'm no good with office politics... I'm also no good with 'melayan bos' or managing bosses... I just try to get my work done in the best possible manner without sacrificing my family and my values...

I know some gurus say you need to market your own self to get ahead, but I subscribe to the belief that my boss is the one who should see what I do, recognize that and do the 'marketing' time appraisal time... so when I get stuck with someone who doesn't do that, then no matter what I do and how well I do it, I'll never be recognized for it... It's tough, you know, but at least I have the luxury of sleeping well at night anyway cos I have not thrown sand into someone else's rice pot...

Nevertheless, an chance encounter can and does bring pleasure to me at work, when it unexpectedly reveals what other people feel about you...

I bumped into one of the big bosses from my previous position (I recently transferred, remember?) and he asked about my new job... he casually mentioned that when the appraisal committee was discussing me, they wondered aloud why they let me transfer out... and these were the senior leaders that I only meet and talk to for formal, work-related matters... it feels good to know I've left some sort of positive impression, even though the formal recognition isn't there...

Right now at work people are talking about this one person who is hell-bent on pursuing her 'deserved' rating, without realizing that no one thinks she should get what she is chasing after... she is so sure that she's being victimized that it hasn't occurred to her that she's only getting what she deserves... and she's spiralling downwards as we speak, putting her entire career in jeopardy... the angrier she's getting, the more reason she seems to lose... all this while she's managed to get away with ratings that she didn't deserve because she 'managed her boss' well and marketed her staff's work as her own, and now that her boss has changed, she's finding that she can't get away with it anymore, and that people's called her bluff...

People in the know are saying 'what goes around, comes around...'

Nice guys (and girls) finish last, but they never lose sleep over it... and everyone eventually gets what they deserve anyway... So, based on your conduct, do you think you deserve something good in the end, or are you the only one who feels that way?

Let's hope the former, not the latter ye...

Sales are Dangerous!

Aduhai... kopak walletku!

Hubby made an unexpected (but pleasant) surprise detour to the MPH Distributors' warehouse sale tadi, on our way back from Seremban... tapi sebab the 2 kiddies dah tido, he stayed in the car with them while letting me loose in the sales area...

I only wish they had shopping carts in there! Sampai berbirat-birat tangan angkut bakul and plastic bags, tapi still tempted to take more books...

Hubby knows it's dangerous to let me go into a bookstore unsupervised... the result? Beratus jugak la habis!!! Aduhai... supplementary income yillek... baru je berniat taknak shopping banyak cos nak gi ladies'-only trip in June... now dah tenyeh lagi.... ouch ouch ouch... and the cashier told me MPH bookstores will also have their sale later in the year...

The consolation? I know I got some great bargains, especially the kids' books and my cooking books hehehe... after this kena puasa beli buku skit... it's only May, and I'm more than 1/2 way through my income tax allocation already!




Thanks for making the stop baby :)













Note on sales: On a whim, went to the Anya Hindmarch store to see the Mother's Day sale merchandise... one bag is stuck on my mind... augh... 50% off woo.... Yes? No? Yes? No? Am I crazeeeeeeee????

Spirit Day 2009 - Go Badgers!

Yesterday was 'Spirit Day'... got an email from our senior alums earlier to wear RED (or more specifically Badger attire) on 24th April... more details on www.uwalumni.com/spiritday2009

Actually, I forgot about it... but I did pick out a pink/red outfit yesterday, so together with my red handbag, kire dah tunjuk semangat la tu kan? Hehehe...

It's basically to showcase the valuable role UW grads play in the world... it's also a nice excuse to round up your pals for a mini-reunion ;)

I know some of the super-seniors did plan their group date after work... too bad none of us could plan for our own...

Alumni Weekend's also coming up in 2 weeks time... if only it were easy (and cheap!) for us to go to Madison for that weekend, you could definitely count me in! Alas... poketku tak cukup dalam buat masa ini untuk berjalan-jalan ke US sesuka hati... business trip? Laaaaaagi la tiada harapan hehehe... cuci mata tengok gambar aje la gamaknya...

My Productive Weekend

A shopping spree at Jakel on Friday gave us the opportunity to work on more tudungs... yeay! I reined in my shopping demons (mainly only cos I've spent so much this month :p), but Kak R really let loose! Hehehe... she's got lots of people in mind to make tudungs for, and she's already got some orders to fulfill as well, so she went a little crazy when buying material... I took 3 pieces of printed jerseys plus 1 of plain white cotton jersey to make Amani's tudung sekolah... yang lain tu tahan tak amik for now cos I've also ordered some fabric from the forum resellers hehehe...

We spent the weekend at my parents', cos with Hariz's viral fever we couldn't go back to any of the other kampungs (it's infectious to kiddies 3 and below, so had to hold off from visiting our newborn niece till yesterday). I really let loose on the fabrics from Friday night... apa lagi kan, dah ada mesin canggih yang I boleh pau :) ... that night I only managed to cut the white cotton jersey into 3 pieces (2 for Amani and 1 for my mom), and couldn't finish putting the awnings on the bodies cos Amani was already cranky and wanted me to go upstairs with her to bed... pepaham aje la kan, konon nak teman dia sampai dia lelap... last-last mamanye pun lelap sekali! Hehehe...

Picked up where I left off on Saturday, and basically cut all the fabrics out and connected them except for the last piece of fabric yang baru sempat potong je but belum cantum with the awning... Sunday morning my mom went to her regular shop untuk jahit tepi, and we continued till petang... it's more of a joint effort, cos I cut everything and piece them together (including the finishing around the face), and my mom does the finishing around the edges with the twin needle. I tried, believe me, but I guess the machine doesn't want to cooperate with me that much on the edging... so after numerous unpickings, fabric getting stuck in the machine and 'beautiful, flowery language' from my mouth, I left that part of the job to my mom :p

By the time we left for home yesterday evening, the 3 cotton tudungs are done, plus 2 printed ones (mine la, Mama buatkan I punya dulu heheh). The other 3 are with my mom for the finishing touches, and I just have to put the last 2 awnings together with the bodies so that my mom can send them for jahit tepi the next time she has her smocking project to work on...

Hajat di hati nak buat the last 2 sambil jaga Amani, tapi kesian pulak anak dara tu nanti bising satu rumah bunyi mesin... tunggu petang skit once she wakes up from her nap la jawabnya...

All in all, not bad la jugak kan? Very productive weekend, no? In total now I've got 5 pieces to call my own, plus the ones made for Amani and Mama, and I'm getting a total rush from doing all the work and seeing the final product! It felt good to do some work and to see the actual result in front of me, as opposed to some (most?) of the work that I do on a daily basis that takes up so much time but yet has no (or minimal) visible outcome...

Is that an indication of my inclination towards work? Am I, if not a salaried employee, more predisposed to go into something that produces a clear product as opposed to providing services? Definitely something to ponder on... my career path is not yet fully defined as yet... we'll see how that goes...




The only shortcoming was... I had to concentrate on the sewing, so Hubby and my brother spent a lot of time with the kids... I missed out on that... not fun at all... so payah la skit if I nak buat part-time business that'll take away my time with the kiddies... so how?

'Tis the Season...

For all sorts of illnesses, especially respiratory-related ones...

As I'm typing this, Amani has just fallen asleep on the couch. We're staying home (at my mom's) today cos she suddenly ran a fever since last night.

The thing about Amani & Hariz is, once they start running a temperature, we have to watch the like a hawk, cos their temp can suddenly rise to 39.5 and above literally within minutes. Each of them have scared us before by having a fever-induced fit while we were on the way to the hospital, so now we can't take even a slight temp easily.

While at the paed's this morning, the fever meds she took at 6.30am have worn off and she was already looking flushed by the time her turn came... the paed recorded her temp as 38.5C (on the forehead), so I knew that if we use the ear thermometer it'll be higher. True enough, she was already up to 39.9C when we checked at home, so on top of the PCM syrup at the clinic, we had to give her a suppository to bring the fever down... poor darling, as usual she hated the supp, and was kicking, screaming and crying as we put the supp in... she only calmed down when we repeatedly told her we didn't want her to be in the hospital and had to give her the meds this way... had to strip her down to her panties to keep her cool and sponge her down...

Amani ni kan anak Abah... at first nak duduk kat umah ngan Abah, tapi Abahnya memang tak boleh cuti hari ni... so at first menangis jugak la nak Abah, but after giving her the supp and Hubby left, she was pretty much her usual self (ye la, time temp tgh tinggi semuanya tak betul...) and watching anime on TV (that's the only cartoon yang ada la tengahari buta ni... we don't subscribe to the kiddie channels hehehe)

She's had her lunch and her midday meds, and even did some 'work' (coloring, Jawi, drawing). She was already nodding off while taking in her Ventolin, so she didn't make a fuss when I told her it was naptime...

So I'm off today... Hubby did his time last week when Hariz got this measles-like viral fever and came out in rashes... Dah le sekarang ni tengah busy period, what with the new job (I got a transfer - started this month; Hubby's dept was restructured and he's also doing something new now) and the performance appraisal cycle that's not over yet... hopefully our baby girl gets better soon...

Finished!

I finally finished the tudung I started at Yela's class (I had to unpick all the finishings cos the tudung was too tight hehehe...), and downloaded the tudung-making technique to my mom. She, being the experienced seamstress, of course found it a lot easier than I did :p

So while she started on a new one, I finished up my 1st tudung and continued with my second (the piece that I shared with Kak R.) The 3rd one (the same material my mom worked on) will have to wait till I get the awning from Yela.

Once the pieces dah dijahit tepi, then we can finish both tudungs... yeay!

Tengah dengki ni sebenarnya... Kak R dah siap semua, turned all the pieces she bought into tudungs and our office mates dah siap bertanya nak tempah dah... hehehe... akak sorang tu memang rajin, and dah terrer menjahit... aku yang beriya nak gi belajar, tak siap-siap lagi hasilnya! At least now mine is finally finished! Hooray!

Dapat la merasa guna my mom's new machine last night... daaannnggg teringin nak satu jugak!! It's pricey, but then again, I've spent cumulatively more on my bag collection hehehe... tapi savings dah kurang la... pinjam aje la dulu for now kot hehehe...

Now that I've started, I do find the whole sewing experience quite appealing, and want to continue with other projects like my own baju... but how am I gonna juggle the little time I have left at home between my darlings and the sewing??? Adoi laaaa... dah la skarang ni asyik dok keluar ofis after 8 je... penat badan and kepala...

That Time of The Year - Part 3

I don't want to write too much about this... those in the know (my close friends included), know what has happened, and who the various parties to the situation are, and we all know who is responsible...

Just wanna go on the record to say... 'Apa punye orang la macam ni, punye bersungguh-sungguh hasad dengki.... other people fight tooth and nail for their staff's benefit, but this one fights to lower her staff down... ' I am not a vindictive person by nature, but this I will remember, and I will not forgive, ever.

To this person - Tuhan tu Maha Kaya, Maha Adil... everything that you've ever done to other people in the past (not just me) have been and will continue to be manifested in the states of various parts of your life. If you think back, you may figure out why you've been very unfortunate in some things... Doa orang yang teraniaya tu makbul... But somehow we (yes, that's right... WE - there are many others who share my thoughts) know that you feel you're such a good person & great employee that you don't have any shortcomings. You are so busy denying other people their rights, you don't remember your own responsibility towards those you're oppressing and not appreciating. Remember what other people have done for you when you were unable to do anything, and not just what you think they should be doing more....

As for me, if this is my rezeki, then I accept it...

The best system in the world is useless if the people implementing it perverts it for their own benefit...

I have closed my book on my association with this person....

Weekend Expedition

Today my friend & I went on an expedition...

What did we do? We went for a 'tudung'-making class hehehe...

What brought around this whole interest in sewing?

My mom's always been a good dressmaker... sepanjang zaman sekolah, none of my baju kurungs were ever store-bought... all made by my mom! So siap boleh nak customize kain lipat belah mana, nak poket, poket belah mana, besar mana... hehehe... she usually works with cotton la, but I guess as a working mom, that's good enough rite?

Now that she's retired, she's been spending a lot of her time learning to sew new things... so besides all her kelas mengaji etc, she's been taking up quilt-making classes, smocking classes, and the fruits of her labor happen to benefit my little kiddies hehehe... so Amani has a lovely new smocked dress finishing soon, and she's already got a nice new flowery single-sized quilt for her bed... Adik punye the blue one katanya :p With her intensified interest in sewing, she even invested in a new portable sewing machine ok?!?! The kind that can do some simple embroidery as well, since her current machine is still in good condition...

In my case, it's not that I'm not interested in sewing, but I don't want it to be a 'hangat-hangat tahi ayam' kinda venture... I toyed with the idea of making kids' clothes, but the motivation wasn't strong enough............................................................

Until I discovered DIY tudungs, that is!

Apparently there's a whole bunch of ladies out there who do it, and their work is gorgeous! What drew me to them was the fact that they were also producing tudungs in printed fabrics, which I love! I am still loyal to Munawwarah, but the fact that they don't really produce many printed tudungs makes it difficult for me, cos I've got plenty of plain-colored clothes for work and I don't really want to wear the normal square tudungs anymore (yea, yea... Munawwarah has spoiled me in terms of tudung-wearing hehehe... give me a simple, pull-on tudung anytime bebbeh!)

So anyway, I started off by browsing some sites of other tudung makers (initial link courtesy of Mrs Noba, who had Mektwain on her blog list), and saw the gorgeous fabrics for sale... that led me to some other sites with info on those offering classes for newbies, and I immediately wanted in! I mentioned it to Kak R, who was interested and decided to join me for the class. So, after emailing back & forth with Yela (who has lovely fabrics for sale too), our date was confirmed. All this, within the past 1 week tau!

This morning, our darling hubbies dropped us of at Yela's house, and we began our crash course in tudung-making. Now I understand better why the good-quality ones are so expensive! Torture ok nak buat! Yela siap tanya lagi, lepas ni nak buat lagi ke, nak beli aje? Heheheh... well, that depends la kan? The more I practice, the better I get at it, hopefully the more motivated I am to continue, betul tak? ;)

By the time we left, mine was almost done, Kak R's pun lebih kurang, so we just have to do the finishing touches at home. Since we shared fabrics, we got material for 2 tudungs each, plus bought a few other pieces to try lagi at home...

Kalau bersemangat, I'll put the results up here hehehe... if I tak pakai dulu la...








What's next? Dah bersemangat dah ni... try buat another tudung with Kak R's fabric, continue with the other fabrics... Dressmaking la pulak! At least buat baju kurung sendiri, kan? Mula la gatal nak beli mesin sendiri (even though it'll probably be severely underutilized for some time first hehehe....) Mama, nak pinjam mesin jahit........:p

Wowweee... a new experiment!! :)

A new Belle found...

We had dinner a few hours ago at SACC Mall... semenjak jadi warga Shah Alam ni, ni la first time jejak kaki at this mall. I actually wanted to take a look at this particular shop that I saw online... had inquired about its merchandise via email earlier, tapi tak berapa confident nak beli dulu till I actually saw the product.

When we got there, surprise, surprise!! Ada kedai Belle rupanya!!! My wish came true!!! All this while I've been trying to figure out when to go to Alamanda Putrajaya, cos the outlet at Giant Kelana Jaya didn't really appeal to me merchandise-wise. But this one at SACC Mall was a very decent one, I tell you!

Almost terlupa niat sebenarnya nak gi makan and check out another store heheh... while waiting for our dinner to arrive, I brought Adik in the stroller over to check out the clothes. Baru je pegang a few to try on, Hubby dah call - our food's arrived. Terpaksa la patah balik to eat first.

Ingatkan dah abis makan nak pegi sana balik... Malangnya, kedai-kedai ni semua tutup awal!!! 9.30 semua tutup ok! Having been accustomed to 1 Utama, The Curve and Ikano all closing at 10pm or later, that takes some getting used to... so abis makan, balik aje le jawabnye... huwaaa :(

Hmmm... ada la alasan nak ajak Hubby ke sana lagi lepas ni hehehe... It's so near compared to Putrajaya & Kelana Jaya kan? ;p Tapi esok pagi plan nak gi Ikea... camana ni???

I need...

1 - New lipstick... my Stila is almost down to a stump... although I love the texture and colors Stila has, somehow I feel its lipsticks don't last very long... had the same problem with Clinique's... maybe these 2 brands don't really suit me? Been wanting to try Bobbi Brown or MAC, but not too sure what they'd be like... any advice out there?

2- New compact powder... ha, this one, I know I want Stila's... so no issue hehehe... just waaaaaaaiting for my paycheck to come in...

3 - New books... this is a constant need hehehe... do I get a mystery novel, a cookbook (bab ni Hubby will say 'Bilanye nak buat ni? Buku dah banyak dah...'), general knowledge, kiddie books? The list is endless....

4 - New clothes... huwaaaa.... my waist is slowly expanding again, and reducing my food intake (whenever I could, that is) hasn't made the least impact on my waistline... need to go to Belle soon la macam ni... Edmundser's stocks dah abis tengok dah, and my previous purchases macam dah tak muat aje... new baju kurung pun not a bad idea...

5 - Standing mirror (is that what people call it?)... that would fit nicely on the wardrobe delivered this afternoon... no more standing in the bathroom to check my tudung every morning, hurrah!

7 - Anniversary card (at least) for my parents... that's coming up really soon!!!

6 - More Munawwarah tudungs... hey, matching tudungs are always needed, plus old ones will need replacing hehehe... it can't hurt to continue building up my stock kan, and it's already been a while since I went to the shop...

7 - New bag? Hubby will stare daggers at me if he reads this... maybe not a bag then, not right now anyway... :p

To be honest, items 6 & 7 are more 'wants' rather than needs... but they're no less important than the others, are they? ;)








Side note on item 4 - is it just me, or do maternity clothes look really nice when you are NOT pregnant??? Time pregnant, takde pulak baju yang menarik... time takde plan ni mula la semua baju nampak lawa.... saw some really pretty ones at Motherclub earlier, the kind that you can wear even when you're not pregnant... can I just add the clothes to my wardrobe anyway, and use them now? As long as people don't really think I look pregnant, that should be OK la kan? :)

For the love of writing...

I was digging through some old papers in my parents' room some time ago (alright, they were my papers, menumpang diri in there ever since I had to move my bookshelves to her room before my wedding hehehe) looking for a copy of my degree, when I found several papers I'd written in the past.

Some were college assignments, others were drafts of papers, and some were actually my essays for my college applications written in 1996! Unfortunately, I didn't really take good care of the papers, so some had turned yellow and mouldy at the edges... luckily my high school certs were still OK! Those I had kept in the plastic folders, so are still in good condition.

What struck me as I browsed through the papers was how much I missed writing! Yea, I admit, I still write now - emails, notes, writeups of events at work, this blog - but it's not the same. Even my writing voice is not the same anymore. I remember enjoying my English Lit courses, the other optional Lit and Theater classes, anything with final papers to write. They were a pleasure to do! To analyse what I though the writer meant, what the pictures represented, what the images conjured... to me, they were the most enjoyable part of college classes! Of course my friends didn't agree hehehe... they'd rather sit through a final exam than write a final paper heheh...

Anyway, I thought I sounded more positive then, more hopeful, more cheerful... and more analytical, too, somehow... I wonder how I changed from that to what I am now... should I even want to write in the same voice as I did before? Would my material still be of the same mould, or has my life changed so much that what previously interested me would no longer hold the same appeal?

Over the years, I've wanted to go back to writing... even contemplating taking up long-distance writing courses (and UW-Madison happens to have a good program too!), but never managed to take that final step to enrol (I did ask for the program catalogue though hehe)... maybe I'll think about it some more and take the plunge, if only to satisfy myself... who knows, maybe I'll find my purpose through that... at the very least, I should continue to write for pleasure kan, which is where this blog comes in :)

And no, I didn't find any copies of my degree... the original's safely in my parents' safe deposit box... but there were plenty of my original transcripts hehe... hmm, I wonder, should I still keep them in case future needs calls for them? ;)



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I guess that's why I'm enjoying bloghopping... reading other people's thoughts, going through the different voices out there... the funny, the plain, the detailed, the poignant... so many people I can learn from! To all the bloggers out there, keep chronicling your lives ye!

Chocolate, anyone?

Was at Kinokuniya yesterday looking for a birthday present... I've been itching to buy new books, but couldn't decide on what to buy... so being able to buy something for someone else was good enough for me hehehe...

Paid for the books I chose, and while waiting for the sales staff to giftwrap it, I saw this at the counter...

Am dying to try the recipes out... and the book itself was a bargain!!! Only RM13.90! On my way out saw 2 more books, one about cookies and the other, muffins... maybe that should be my target for next week...

Now, to savor the delicious recipes in the book first...:) I think I wanna pop a piece of choc first before I proceed...

I did the Macarena with a ninja in line at the bank because I'm a Ninja!

Kihkihkih... Couldn't wait to do this once I got home... Thanks to Mrs Noba for the tag :)

Keep this going. Type out the sentence you end up with in the TITLE of your note and tag your friends.Have fun. :D


Pick the month you were born:

January-------I kicked

February------I loved

March--------I karate chopped

April----------I licked

May----------I jumped on

June----------I smelled

July-----------I did the Macarena With

August--------I had lunch with

September----I danced with

October-------I sang to

November-----I yelled at

December-----I ran over




Pick the day (number) you were born on:

1-------a birdbath

2-------a monster

3-------a phone

4-------a fork

5-------a snowman

6-------a gangster

7-------my mobile phone

8-------my dog

9-------my best friends' boyfriend

10-------my neighbour

11-------my science teacher

12-------a banana

13-------a fireman

14-------a stuffed animal

15-------a goat

16-------a pickle

17-------your mom

18-------a spoon

19------ - a smurf

20-------a baseball bat

21-------a ninja

22-------Chuck Norris

23-------a noodle

24-------a squirrel

25-------a football player

26-------my sister

27-------my brother

28-------an iPod

29-------a surfer

30-------a homeless guy

31-------a llama




What is the last number of the year you were born:

1--------- In my car

2 --------- On your car

3 ----------- In a hole

4 ----------- Under your bed

5 ----------- Riding a Motorcycle

6 --------- sliding down a hill

7 --------- in an elevator

8---------- at the dinner table

9 -------- In line at the bank

0 -------- in your bathroom




Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:

White---------because I'm cool like that

Black---------because that's how I roll.

Pink-----------because I'm NOT crazy.

Red-----------because the voices told me to.

Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want

Green---------because I think I need some serious help.

Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!

Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.

Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars

Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.

Brown---------because I can.

Other----------because I'm a Ninja!

None----------because I can't control myself!



Now type out the sentence you made, write 'em in my comment box and also as the TITLE line and tag your friends in the note!


I did the Macarena with a ninja in line at the bank because I'm a Ninja!


And now... passing the tag along to Fairy Godmother, and anyone else interested in doing so (sorry la... have not formally registered all the blogs I've been frequenting hehehe... any silent readers are welcome to do the tag & link back to me)

That time of year... part 2

I knew it (insert cynical laugh here)...

Had a quick discussion with my boss right before we left the office last night... well, she said it's just a comment on my writeup, not yet a proper discussion...

But anyway... from the onset I could already get a sense of how she's going to do the appraisal...

I think I'm already immune to this by now, having 'suffered' the same way twice now... so the third time's not gonna break my spirit, would it?

All I know is.... as a superior, whatever you do, you should be fair to those who work with you, regardless of what the final outcome is. Rate people accordingly based on the results against the agreed standards, that's all.... please don't give excuses etc etc... don't say 'In the future, it'll be easier for you to get excellent ratings in your new position' - are you then saying it's hard for me to get it now, despite what I've achieved? Oh yea, that's right... you did say that... silly me... I can already see what's gonna take place, but time will show whether my hunch was right or wrong.

Never mind... I know what I've done, I know the efforts I've made... my rezeki is in the hands of a Higher Power...

I have always given my own staff their due recognition... insya-Allah I'll never forget to do that, despite whatever other people do to me...

Hai... camana la agaknya the actual discussion will be like?

That time of year...

Yes people, it's performance appraisal time!

For the third time in my working life (sedihnye... 3 kali je baru), I feel pretty good about my performance... kalau ikutkan my results against the agreed standards, I think I've exceeded quite a bit of them. Siap mintak Hubby's opinion as an outsider lagi hehehe...

However, I'm not keen to sit down with my superior and discuss my results... bukan apa, I can still remember what happened last year. I didn't do too badly, but somehow coming out from the discussion, it seems that even though what I delivered matched the agreed standards, she still felt it wasn't enough to give me a better than average rating... to me, that shouldn't be the issue, kan? Cos the standards were already agreed upon up front at the beginning of the financial year, so the appraisal should be based on those standards... but being me, jenis yang tak suka nak tegang-tegang leher defend diri sendiri, malas nak argue... I mean, the superior should know la what his/her subordinate has done throughout the year. Results pun I dah tulis sendiri, you be the judge la whether my self-rating is correct or not kan... at the end of the day, it's actually the ownership of the superior to decide on a fair rating and to defend the given rating to the committee... if you gave me anything less than what I deserve, Akhirat nanti jawab aje le...

So this year... my superior may change and do the review differently, but I dare not hope she has... cos if she hasn't, and it's gonna be the same thing all over again, then it's gonna be a meaningless exercise. It's not that I'm dying to get an excellent rating (I know the process... so many other people and factors come into play), but recognition from my immediate superior, if no one else, would definitely be a morale booster... otherwise, memang le buat keje tertonggang-terbalik semata-mata...

Oh well... we'll see how things go within the next few weeks... the submission deadline is looming... I'm soooo tempted to just submit my form and let my boss edit sendiri anything yang dia nak tukar kemudian...

Friday expedition - Part 2

Did I say over? Hehehe... no no no... only over for me folks, not for other people!















After work, Hubby and I rushed to 1Utama to find a birthday present for Adik (yea... last minute, I know, but hey, it wasn't for a lack of trying tau!) We wanted to get him a toy, since between Kakak & Adik they've already got lots of nice books, but we're no good with toys... If you want me to find books as presents, consider it done! But toys are another matter altogether... I'm a bit picky when it comes to toys... I want them to be educational, but at the same time, fun and ageless, you know? So takde la abis season, tak usik lagi dah...

So, that explains why on the eve of his birthday, the luckless parents were still searching for something suitable... di Jusco dah tengok, Toys-R-Us KLCC pun dah tawaf... in the end we went back to 1Utama's Toys-R-Us, baru la jumpa! Got a little something for Kakak as well, so that she won't feel left out (Atok & Opah actually got them identical race cars, ok, supaya tak gaduh! Untungnye Kakak yang tak celebrate birthday lagi tu...). Hubby kindly picked up the tab for these...

Going to Toys-R-Us meant we went through Jusco on the kids' floor... saw a bunch of pajamas and t-shirts, and thought of Kakak's baju tidur yang dah senteng kakinya... bile dah nampak, apa lagi, amik je la terus kan? So we did... grabbed a bunch of cute pajamas (some were even on sale!), 3 pairs of leggings/pants for school, 4 new t-shirts for school, and a few kiddie suits for Adik as well... Yang ni I pulak la tanggung... for a total of 19 pieces, the cost wasn't too bad tau! That's why I love shopping at Jusco hehehe... boleh guna debit card lagi, kurang hutang plastik makcik...

Bile dah sampai rumah, rasa macam we went a little overboard pulak with the focus on Kakak... she ended up with lots of PJs, but Adik still needed a few more (which we didn't get!) Luckily some of Kakak's PJs can be handed down to Adik, so for the time being pakai je la dulu ye dik... itu pun mama dah pilih yang tak nampak girly sangat heheh...






And now, that was definitely the end of my shopping expedition for the day... until next time! :)