Books, Books And More Books Part 8

I cant tell you betapa sedih nya buku ni. Even after finished reading it I can still cry over it.

I had it since July and only finished it now. I would have read it sooner if I knew it is that good. It is sad, moving, compelling yet with triumph. Sedih sangat wo.. Not my usual story line but it is so good.

And actually everyone I know reads it - my sister, my brother, my boss, my friend's friends. Yeah I exaggerate a bit there..

If you are looking for a good book to cry over, this is the book I'd recommend to you. A thousand times over.

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This November

I have been busy - at home that is. Everyone's home and that means a lot of meals have to be prepared; including in-beween meals as well. Otherwise the boys would complain that there is nothing to eat!

The office is a bit more quiet (or a lot more..?) The boss is away on her haj. Can I say yey..? So there is less of submissions of anything needed.

I am contented in a way. So I've got not much to write. As you well knew that the blog is where we go to whine and unwind. Maybe at this time I've got no whining to do and no unwinding needed..

So thanksgiving is gone (in the States that would be the last Thursday of November). I wanted to bake a turkey - lol- but I didnt prepare early enough so there is no turkey. Thanksgiving is a good time for me - dont get me wrong - but we did get married over a Thanksgiving weekend. So it always have good memories for me. I love autumn anyway with russet leaves on the branches and those floating in mid-air. Or even those that fly around when you drive fast over it (now that sort of reminds me of Zarina and myself driving to the office).

The collage above are my favorite things in fall, all courtesy of the internet of course. From top right is my fave (used to be) Denver Broncos american football quarterback. Seven is my fave number too. Bottom right is the masses of pumpkins in fall. Bottom left is the color of fall in the mountains and top left is my fave aspen leaves. Arent the colors gorgeous at fall?

So November is almost gone. Then it'll be December and hey - that's the end of another year. Do you know the mags said it is never to early (or too late depending on your perspective) to make resolutions?

This time I'm making a long list of my resolutions. I forgot this year's - that's why I'm writing it down this time. Have the greatest year end, everybody!

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Books, Books And More Books Part 7

So yeah, I finished this too this week. I am sitting an hour nightly with Eirfan so that he will read his book which means I have to read too. It makes it easier for him. Otherwise he'll rant about the unfairness of having to read while others are playing the PS or on the PC or browsing or watching tv ie simply not reading like he is basically being forced to.

This book is actually a sad tale about a young woman whose husband had passed away and she has to recover from the tragedy and her sadness and finding her way to start living again. It was a NY Times bestseller actually. Not entertaining in the "entertainment" way, but a joy to read nevertheless.

I suppose with the nightly reading ritual with the young man I'll be finishing a lot more books - at least till school opens again anyway.. So holler me if you want to borrow this. It's Iman's.

ps Ton, I'll give you the other books the next time we see each other.

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Books, Books And More Books Part 6

Suddenly the thought that came to mind is that the world is such a quiet place without books / reading. Tiada topik yang berlegar di minda. So I picked up a couple of books to read; one over the weekend (which I am still reading on and off) and the other, above, yesterday.

I had asked someone to lend me the book but I guess she forgot (I am sure she is feeling / looking sheepish when reading this). But it is alright; kita bukan malaikat. I bought this while out shopping with Iman on Sun. We were looking for some Malay books for Eirfan to read. His penulisan in Bahasa Melayu is deplorable. When asked he said, Bahasa Melayu tu susah la ma; English senang. What better time to rectify this if not during the school holidays?

Anyway I am getting side-tracked there. Surprisingly there is something in common between this book and my novels – I cant put them down. I wanted to finish the book last night (it was too compelling to put down) but it was late already.

I’d like to recommend the book to everybody actually; not just anyone who’s interested about the subject of haj. The experiences he had included in the book are just too potent to be isolated for haj alone. At times without realising it you too had tears in your eyes and on your cheeks.

I woke up a couple of times thinking I should do my sunat muakkad – Allah is waiting di langit yang bawah kepada hamba yang tersedar dari tidur yang nyenyak. And when I put my feet on the floor this morning, the first thought that came to mind is I should berdoa for – whatever I want to. I wish I could honestly say that syaitan would go “uh-oh, she’s awake!” like in the mail we had gotten. Insya’Allah, but maybe not today.

Bacalah buku ni. You wont regret it, trust me.

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So You Think You Can Dance?

This is old story - but I had to write about it..

It was raya celebration arranged by the office. For once, attendance is not mandatory but surprise, surprise yours truly decided to attend after all..

Each team had to put up a 10-minute performance and in the spirit of celebration we did a medley of 3 raya songs. The boss was the choreographer (we couldnt or wouldnt (?) have done it without her..)

We were all shy initially. I mean come on, I didnt ever do this when I was young and now I am not so young after all but here I am doing a performance on stage? But the boss was very persuasive. She had said, makan sama-sama; suka sama-sama; kalau malu pun sama-sama jugaklah. Hmm.. sounds fair enough.

We had a couple of practices. But at the end of the 3rd or 4th such sessions we were still confused what the steps are like - the choreographer kept changing the steps as we go along..

That evening we threw caution to the wind, we danced and sang as we like it. Memanglah berterabur.. There were about 30 of us on stage. Space could get so cramped.

And boy was I glad when the whole thing was over. We won first place (of course..) I'll do it again if I was forced to. But the world is a safer place without me in the showbiz.


We even had our very own version of the raya night fever..

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In Search Of Perfection - Too Foolish, Too Brave ?

So I am taking .. hmm.. 10 minutes (?) break to update this a bit while I munch on my egg mcmuffin..

I was reading my fave mag the other day when I came across an article on "your idea of a perfect day".

I wondered and mulled over my own version of a perfect day. I havent gone too far on that actually. But I've already jumped ahead (far too much ahead I would guess) and thought about the perfect life, perfect me, perfect house, perfect job..

And that's where this got me into trouble..

Whilst talking about THE perfect job, I have no doubt whatsoever this one I'm doing right now is not it.

So when I was asked to put whose name in what box on the new org chart I decided not to put my name anywhere on the piece of paper. Friends said, we dont think you are doing the right thing. My boss asked are you sure? I told them I am looking for the perfect job. At which they all chorussed, "dont we all?" or "does that concept even exist?"

I made a few calls. And so this morning I told my boss that I have made up my mind and that I dont want my name to appear in any of the boxes (I sincerely hope this is a right decision Insya'Allah).

I am thinking of pepatah melayu berakit-rakit ke hulu etc etc. Or maybe this is the case of the thinnest line between being brave and being foolish (?) Or even the pengebom berani mati, who for whatever intentions made foolish / brave / wise (?) sacrifices in search of betterments..

Wish me well please.

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Morning Wishes!

I was dressed and ready for the office at ten past six this morning. I dont know about you - but that's way too early for me.

My husband asked what's up? I said I cant sleep. Have too many things on my mind. Might as well I go to the office (duh..?) Breakfast? he asked. I declined - I had dinner maybe about 10 last night - had some stuff to finish in the office. I thought I still feel full.

I hang around the house till 6:30 then left. Got breakfast at McD drive thru. I fumbled through the breakfast order - I rarely order breakfast at McD and it shows - and I basically hate it when people fumble through their order at McD. I mean, what's so difficult about saying 1 meal no 1 medium and 2 meal number 7, large? (So now I know..)

So far so good. 3 down (getting to the office, get breakfast, blog a bit) and many more to go for the day. I plan to rant about something perfect, dreams, office updates but I think I'll leave that a little bit later.

Have a perfect day, everyone!

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Manjalara ku

I think for once I have a skema title for a post. Oh well..

I was excited about the weekend as I've signed up for a beading class with one of the.. wait.. Delinn, are you saying oh, oh, here she goes again at this point.. ? - takpa, let me continue with the story first.

I've signed up with a beading instructor whose work I adore (thank you Fatin for referring me to her fotopages). I tried to attend her class twice before but they were always full. Although I wasnt feeling too great on Sun I still went; and despite the fact people at home asked if I should really go too. Betapa teruja nya.. I thought if I dont feel too great during class I'll just make excuses to leave.

Needless to say I love the class and stayed the entire duration although it was an all day long session. Checkout my work, uh.. masterpiece (yele tu) for the day here.

It was more informative than the class I attended with the glamorous fashion designer (read the story here..)

So why the skema title? The instructor has a design she called bunga manjalara that is so gorgeous and I love so much and must have it on my baju.. he-he.

So Delinn nanti bila I pakai baju dengan bunga manjalara I tu (insya'Allah - I hate the word, never, forever and things like that - that dream baju could take eons to finish..) you jangan nak keek-keek-keek lagi.. Tapi kan, baju pun takde lagi - macam mana nak jahit..

ps - that's the manjalara I love so taken from noraini's fotopages of course..

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Sealing A Relationship

Last Fri I came home to find Eirfan hobbling around. I asked what happened to his foot. He said maybe I walked too much today. I said seriously? Then he changed his answer and said, maybe I sat too long. My no-nonsense-please look made him said, I ran in school, fell down and hurt my leg. Most likely answer.

He limped so badly that we took him to the clinic where the doctor said, if that toe is not broken then the tendon might have been injured (literally the doctor said, kalau jari tu tak patah, tendon dia putus. Brutal pulak doctor punya answer pun..)

He gave a referral letter for an xray at the hospital. We hang around at the hospital for the xray, for the doctor, for the specialist, for the bill. It was almost midnight by the time we left. The orthopaedic said Eirfan had fractured bones at his toe. Eirfan came home happy, though - he got an MC for two weeks!

Two days later he was leaving for tuition. I was late from the office so he had bandaged his foot on his own. It looked loose so I undid it and rebandaged it again for him. When done, I asked him is this ok or too tight? He said it is comfortable (his actual word was sedap-sedap je).

I asked, do you know why it is "sedap"? He said no, why? I said sebab mama buat bandage ni dengan kasih sayang. He grinned.

Later that night after his Isya' I bandaged his foot again and asked the same question. He replied, sebab mama buat dengan kasih sayang. We laughed together. I slept well that night.

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Wedding Lessons

I wonder why the tepak sirih is so crucial at any wedding..

& so they are married..

My niece got married over the weekend (in Bangi, where else? Our lives seem to always revolve in and around Bangi..)

Early Sat we had arrived at her place for the preparation. Nothing much to do except bunga rampai, bunga manggar and the bunga telur though. Everything else had been taken care of. We chat and be merry instead; nak meramaikan before the wedding.

On Sun the akad went on smoothly although a bit late than scheduled (Traffic jam kut? What else can we blame everything on?) The groom was nervous - he cant keep still and was twitching all over the place. The bride looked serene. The qadhi was informative and was quite a charm with his eloquent nasihat. But the oscar went to the mother of the groom - who cried (a lot! Duh..?) The mother of the bride had kept her cool.

I didnt get to asking my sister how many guests she had invited - the steady stream of people coming doesnt seem to recede. At 2 the caterer officially declared the last of the cendol had been served - to which the bride's father said, mana boleh? At 3 the caterer closed one of the buffet tables (because there isnt enough food to put there anymore). Isnt this scary for the host/hostess? The late comers had less lauk-pauk to feast on.. (bukan le takde langsung) Moral of the story is dont be late for any occassion - you'll miss the best parts.

My sister gave a big sigh after all the visitors gone home and said, I am going for a long vacation after this (her other daughter had gotten married earlier in May).

And yes, I keep my eyes and ears open on these occassions - mana tau, esok lusa tiba-tiba you all dapat jemputan plak dari I.. muah-ha-ha...

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Forging Ahead

So raya has been here - and gone.

The office decorations finally came down. The pretty linen at home are cleaned and kept. The silverware are already where they belong. And the kain sampin all cleaned and hanging again in the closet.

It had been nice while it lasted . Giving us an excuse to visit - if we ever need an excuse in the first place anyway. And of course for us to be gluttons over food.

There is something about raya that gives you a purpose in the month of Syawal. And of course Ramadhan is always special and beautiful. Now it is Zulkaedah and it is time again to find a purpose in this month. Wish everyone a great month ahead.

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