Friday, September 24, 2004

Adam Faris Putra stole the thunder last night, away from his Nani by falling face down and chipped off one of his front tooth. What puzzled me was that he fell down face first, on a pillow. We were all (Balqis, Adam, their Aunty Rahila (My darling husband's younger sister), cousin brother Azim and me) getting ready for bed. We were all snuggling in the same room because that was the only room with the air-conditioner and you will never be able to have a peaceful cozy night if you sleep outside of this particular room in that particular house. Adam stole the thunder because up to that point, majority of the attention was given to my Mother in law, fresh out of hospital the day before. She was admitted on a Friday late afternoon and later transferred to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) for observations, before getting another transfer to the normal ward just a day after that. All throughout her entire 66 years of life, she had never been admitted to the hospital before thus naturally this has been a major shock to everybody in the family. She had never spent a day in the hospital not even for the births of all her six offsprings.

Adam's tooth had actually fell onto my lap as he stood up after the fall, to run over to me to be pacified. I stared at the tooth, horrified. It appeared that what I had in my hands was not the entire tooth only part of it! The now, much talk about tooth is safely wrapped in a tissue paper, by my darling husband, at my request and resides in my wallet. The affair left Adam with the remainder of the tooth still stuck in his upper gum. I am very sure Adam is in great pain. The entire of last night, he didnt want his feed. Unusual. He normally has at least three feeds. He cried every time he tried to feed from the bottle when I placed it in his mouth. I believe his gum hurts. The entire day today, he refused food.

Mak has always been the do-er in the house. Even Daddy who has probably spent the past perhaps 40-odd years with her does not know where things are in the house. She has always been the gregarious one. As sadly put by Daddy's younger sister whom we all refer to as 'Nyah', 'You took care of my brother when he was really sick (My father in law has had a stroke and lost balance of half of his body just recently) and you made him healthy again. Now that you are sick, I just cant take this.' She said this between sobs that left no dry eyes around the hospital bed. Of course, my darling Balqis asked me,'Mommy, why is that nenek crying and why everybody must cry too?' Then Nyah broke into a smile in between her sobs saying,'Why not the three of us stay together in that old house in Kampung Gajah?' Balqis's opinion came out loud and clear after observing this,'Oh ... that nenek just playing only lah ... see now she smile!' Balqis's mother who nowadays are seldom shocked at what is being said by her 4 year old, immediately looked around and was relieved to find that no one had really noticed.

Seberang Perai is one of the hottest place on this face of the earth -- I am comparing it to all the cities in the world that I've been. I think it's because of its location which is near the sea. It's hot and humid both during the day and night. But, if you like Penang style food/mamak style food, then it's a haven for you! I personally like the food and I think it's a nice place to live, with air conditioners available, of course.

Actually the plot is thicker - On our way back to Penang that late Saturday afternoon, in the heat of the day, the air-conditioner in the car decided to call it quits. My sister in law who hitched a ride with us together with her daughter (Balqis's age) and whom we had to make a turn for, from Malacca back to KL and off to Penang, noticed the failing air-conditioner. She had called us to tell us that she wanted to go back to Penang and we should all go back too -- the request came in between sobs. I had actually panicked, when I heard her sobs that is. The air-conditioner was a cause to be worried about -- RM650.00 was the damage just recently to have it repaired. The air-conditioner came back a short while after and all of us heaved a sigh of relief. Everything that happened after that was just within seconds and I forgot to form any kinds of opinion during the commotion. My darling husband noticed the temperature rising, before anybody could say anything, especially me who was busy thinking whether this is a perfect time to panic or not, the engine sputters and gagged and my darling husband expertly manuevoured the car to the emergency lane where the car stopped by itself, without my darling husband having to put any pressures at all to the brakes.

Never fear -- AAM is here. I pulled out the wallet and took out the AAM Membership card. It says -- Valid until: 7/2004. We were charged RM500.00 to have the car towed back right up to Seberang Perai (Non-AAM charges). Of course, it was pointed out to us rather bluntly and it hurts -- It only takes RM90.00 to renew your membership.

The car were towed with all of us (2 Mommies and 3 babies) in the towed car and my darling husband in the truck. We, later found out that this was against the law. Whatever it is, it was lucky that nothing happened during the ride back to Seberang Perai although I was actually quite scared sitting in the towed car with the babies. The tow truck was quite fast and I am sure exceeded the limits once or twice. The babies, oblivious to what has happened, slept all the way.

We spent the whole entire week in Seberang Perai, car-less and at the mercy of my brother in law's spare car. The kids were hyper active most of the time and I believe it was due to the heat. I was getting cranky myself! It was just a tiring 5 days away from home.

The car had to undergo major servicing which costs around RM1,070.00 and that is a lot of money. I never could understand the logics behind car engines and I would like those to remain just as rhetoric to me. We are finally back at home tonight. They had to take days to repair the car which was simply absurd and beyond my comprehension. Nevertheless, we are home with a new and enhanced engine for the car but Adam, he came back without one tooth.

I do hope that Adam's gums would be better tomorrow. I do so want him to have his normal feeds even if it means I have to wake up three times tonight. I just want my Adam to want his feeds again. And I am very sure that Adam too, would want to have his tooth back so that he could have his feeds.

But one thing I am sure off, Adam is glad that he is finally home. Home Sweet Home -- with or without the tooth.



signing off..Hazelinesnow at 11:08 PM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}

Monday, September 13, 2004

I worked from home today but then probably right up to 4.30pm where I've got to leave the comfort of my home to a 5pm meeting not too far away from where I live. Today was a relief. I only have a few writing assignments to complete and then the 5pm meeting to attend. Of course, let's not talk about the number of phone calls coming in .. but then that's just normal. No heels, no corporate suit, no need to style the hair in the morning, no need for make up. My bare footed self, my cotton bare-belly-button style t-shirt and black cotton shorts as the attire for the day up to 4.30pm at least. My staffs at the office and the part timers are all on Yahoo Messenger. They can choose either to be on yahoo or msn messenger actually which gives us all easy access to each other. I'm always updated as to the goings-on in the office and able to vet through everything before it goes off to the clients, pronto. I'd like to call it -- Running the office on remote control.

I remembered a director based in a Singapore PR agency who sneered at me when I mentioned that I sometimes worked from home. After trying to explain what it means to that old lady (no punt intended), I gave up after recognising the reasons why she snarled so at the idea. She does not have the faintest idea what real time messages are! She of course, has never used it before and not open to the idea of having to work when you are at home! Technology has its problems but so far we all cant live without it.

Balqis got to shower at home this morning. She was thrilled. Normally she goes to school in the morning in her pajamas and will have her morning showers there before changing to the school uniforms. She had me tie up her hair in two plaits. Looking very pleased, she was in a very good mood this morning, with all smiles. Adam on the other hand, dont care much for plaits but was pleased that he too got to shower at home before going off to the baby sitter's place.

This afternoon, a catasrophe landed. Then another one followed. Two catasrophes in one afternoon was all I can take. It was much harder to go through then a presentation or a pitch to a new client! The hair dryer died. It just went poofed! Tried it again. Nope. Not budging. No sound. I can imagine my darling husband's face when I tell him this evening. He knows that this means that his darling wife will be gallavanting to the hair salon every other day washing/blowing/setting the hair until he gets me a new hair dryer. And darling, please this time, I dont want the cheapest one at Carrefour. You know, the one before that lasted me 15 years. Of course I bought it in the US when I was still in school. But 15 years! and it wasnt that expensive too. Perhaps they just dont make things the way they used to anymore. I figured maybe I'll just use the thermo flat iron permer instead, which I bought a few months back at a warehouse sale. Okay -- it's working and looking good. Just as I was developing the second layer of the hair, the lights went out and I sat there in the dark looking at myself in the mirror. What else could possibly happen. A blackout at a very opportune time. 30 minutes went by until there was a flickering to the lights on the ceiling .... it's up! 3 minutes passed by and it's down again! Two blackouts in one afternoon was just too much for me. But all is well -- I finally managed to do the hair in peace.

Time for me to pick on what to wear and which make up to put on. Sigh .... a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do! So help us GOD!





signing off..Hazelinesnow at 3:43 PM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}

Thursday, September 09, 2004

The air-conditioner in the car broke down on Monday. Talk about bad Mondays. I was thinking about how lucky we are because Balqis & Adam most of the times would only be in the car early in the morning and again early part of the evening. I can imagine Balqis going 'Maaaa .... it's hot. I dont want to go in the car'. I finally managed to sent it in for services yesterday late afternoon and I would like to announce that I am still sitting at home waiting for the call from the mechanics. RM650.00 to change the air conditioner's cooling coil or something like that and again, for some valve somewhere in there plus of course labor fee and some other stuff that was mentioned but not registered in my mind. Of course I am hopeless when it comes to names of the engine parts of a car or any other things with engines. I am one of those mommys who only knows how to get into the seat and start the engine. Of course I know where the brakes and gear (does automatic count) are. The indicator, the wipers and the hazard lights key are amongst the few parts inside of a car that I use and am used to. Once my dad saw spark plugs on the floor of my car and asked me what were those doing there. I told him as a matter of factly that the mechanics said that I need to change those and I did. The mechanics put the old plugs inside the car I suppose so that I know that it was changed to the new ones. My dad stared at me for awhile before slowly shaking his head. From that day onwards, he took charge of the servicing part of my car. It was my first car that time and I am not willing to have extra un interesting inputs to my head, especially when it is a series of mechanical gibberish. I remembered my mom asking me to practice taking off the tyres and putting it back on should anything happened to it! Me! I even detest having to put in gas to the car or put in air to the tyres. I will do these chores only when it becomes absolutely necessary. Now, luckily my darling husband takes care of all the car services chores. I am simply not interested and not willing to learn. Having AAM membership I guess gives you confidence whenever you have to be on the road. Should anything happened, they are just a phone call away and they are reliable.

Adam was fetched at 8pm today with me racing through the LDP Highway trying to get to Adam as fast as I can -- with my air conditioned car. The mechanics had put almost the whole entire insides (or at least I imagined that)of the air conditioner on the car floor to show me that a new one has been placed. I just looked at it and shrugged. I suppose later when I show that to my darling husband he will be a little bit more enthusiastic about seeing the broken parts up close and personal.

Balqis was tired when I got her at her school earlier. She probably had a very busy and tiring day today. She went inside the car singing 'The Greatest Love of All', Balqis's version because other people would not have guessed that the song would have been that one.

Friday's here at last! Tomorrow will be another day working from home. I need a rest now. Thank God it's Friday!




signing off..Hazelinesnow at 1:30 PM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}

Sunday, September 05, 2004

Last night we slept to the backdrop of KLCC in the sky looking in to our window and woke up to a sombre KLCC staring back at us, looking magestic and serene. The last thing and the first thing in our eyes were the blinking lights of KLCC. We witnessed the multi-facet of Kuala Lumpur -- A very quiet and peaceful downtown Kuala Lumpur at 6.30am on a Sunday morning as opposed to a burst of colorful blinking lights and a buzz of activities the night before.

Balqis though, exclaimed that she didnt really like this 'house' as much as her own house. She probably described it as a 'house' because all of us are there, we eat there, we shower there, watch TV there and going to sleep there. Why she thought of the Renaissance as a 'house' is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps because of the short journey we took to arrive there from home thus she does not consider that this is a hotel where a short term stay is normally the case. And the normal case is that, we only stay in a hotel when the journey is pretty long and tiring for her and Adam. Oh and she has all that matters with her -- Mommy, Daddy, Adam, her coloring books and her colors.

Adam couldnt care less about all these details as long as he is having a good time exploring. Both of them slept before 9pm, after creating a fantastic mess of rice chicken porridge on the carpet and all over their body. A bath in the tub, air-conditioning buzzing, tired of exploring this other 'house', they slept peacefully without a stir until around 4.30am when both eyes still closed tight, cried for their feeds. Their bottles with them, they went back to their sleep unfazed. But of course, Adam the early riser forced me to open my tight glued eyelids at 6.30am when he woke up, a much more energised Adam.

Saturday morning, we all had roti canai for breakfast at home. It's Adam's favorite breakfast menu. The roti canai must be with the lentil stew and Adam likes to have a lot of it. They normally share 3 pieces together -- My darling husband, Balqis & Adam. As if rejuvenated by the roti canai, after breakfast, both Balqis and Adam had a non-stop let's-mess-the-house-as-much-as-we-can spree, with both me and my darling husband turning into tarzans when they started to do their dare devils stunt around the furniture. Of course, Adam fell from the sofa faster than a speeding bullet or us running and diving (me of course ala-Jackie Chan) trying to safe him. He was complimented by a bump on the top back part of his head of course, accompanied by a long, strong and very loud screams from him. I wasnt sure who screamed the loudest. Me or Adam. I thought my darling husband was going to get a heart attack. We cant both be getting heart attacks, so one of us has to be in control, I thought. We do this without having to communicate verbally, as if by telepathy. If I was the one that was turning pale and white watching these two dare devils' stunts, then my darling husband would be the rational and calmer one. The only good thing that came out of the incident was that Adam immediately asked for milk and napped.

Last Saturday, not realising that they probably would out-lived us anyway, both Balqis and Adam went into a pack together to further enhanced their degree of mischievous-ness. Saturday night, when they were already asleep, both me and my darling husband with our aching backs, feet and head, wondered out loud -- Are other kids like ours?


Today, both Balqis and Adam went to bed just before 8pm. And sometimes, whenever that happens, I feel that the whole world is just too quiet and lonely without them mischieving around. I managed to do some housework while checking in on them on and off. All are peaceful on that front.

Time for me. Precious time. Precious time for my precious. Precious time for me.

signing off..Hazelinesnow at 8:44 PM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}