Ilyas' Wedding : The Aqad

Alhamdulillah. The aqad last night was without glitches.

The ceremony was short (mungkin sebab the aqad was after Isya', jadi dah lewat) and simple, tok qadhi pun tak ada cakap panjang lebar. Dan tak ada soalan yang tidak berkaitan dengan majlis aqad yang ditanya.

Yesterday afternoon I said to Ilyas, mama berdebar lah yang. He laughed and said dia sendiri pun tak nervous. Adik2 dia kata kami lagi lah tak berdebar! I thought wait till it is your turn and we'll see.

Thank you to everybody who has made the occasion beautiful - sisters, in-laws and friends. The hantaran did indeed look beautiful. The young men who carried them were equally so. The aqad was smooth. The pengantin, in gold wedding suites were gorgeous. Maka nikmat Allah yang mana yang ingin didustakan lagi? Semoga taqwa semakin bersemarak di dada masing2. MasyaaAllah. Alhamdulillah.

I have a few photos to share, if you'd like to see.

 

 

 

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L.O.V.E.

Kata bos saya, aku dah exhausted. Kesian. I understand the feeling totally. I am taking a breather from the office projects, wedding projects (walaupun countdown cuma tinggal 2 hari saja) and anything else.

Thank you Zana for putting that Yuna video; her voice is lovely and indeed very soothing (but I do wish she'll lose that huge turban she occasionally dons). I especially like her rendition of Nirvana's / Kurt Cobain's number (although I am not too crazy over the amateurish video) -

Things I love at this moment:

Dira at her engagement. I cant get over the pretty blue kurung she wore.

 

Reading that tagline, I wish I have a cupcake in my hands right now (we were at a place called Cupcake Chapter). I love their cupcakes (that came in at RM4.50 each!) But all the cupcakes we tasted and their frostings were heavenly.

Iman had this since she was 13! You can see how threadbare the tee has become. It is a Disney tee with all the girls / princesses on it. I had to take the photo before I get rid of it. For a moment I thought of turning it into a patched quilt; like the one Susan Sarandon made for her daughters in the I-dont-remember-what movie when she found out she was dying. Or the one Lily in How I Met Your Mother made for her husband out of his old alma mater tees - she had had it with his obsession with anything college-y. (Anyway I am digressing). Sedih pulak nak buang baju ni - it signifies that those time is over; things are changing.

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Random Thoughts on A Random Sleepless Night

Sleep evades me occasionally, lately. Sometimes I woke up instantly alert and knew, that was it with the sleep. Other times I was aware that I am worried over things, palpitating - over the big day plans - what else could it be? On good nights ada jugak sedikit kekuatan yang dikais untuk ibadat (yang pendek); other times the window of opportunity is simply wasted with tossing and turnings.

Saya teringat satu riwayat di mana Aisya ra bertanya pada Rasulullah saw apa yang patut diminta jika terjumpa malam lailatulqadar. Lalu jawab Rasulullah mintalah ampun dari Allah. Lalu saya cuba memohon ampun setiap kali bila berdoa.

Saya terbaca and from my understanding yang cetek concluded that salah satu erti beriman itu adalah percaya dan beribadat dengan yang ghaib, yang termasuk qada & qadar (yakni yakin bahawa semua takdir yang baik & buruk itu telah ditetapkan Allah. Namun semua itu dapat ditukar dengan usaha yang ikhlas dan doa. Dan wajib percaya bahawa takdir tersebut adalah yang terbaik dari Allah untuk kita). Lalu saya berdoa agar saya redha atas ketetapanNya itu.

Kata mat salleh (is it Margaret Thatcher?), 
Be careful of what you think, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of what you say, for your words become your actions.
Be careful of what you do, for your actions become your habits.
Be careful of what becomes habitual, for your habits become your destiny.
Thus I vow that I will try harder to only say what I mean from here on.

Berkali saya bertanya pada diri sendiri, what is my contribution towards the deen? (I fear I have very little).

Dan terbaca,"The intelligent person is the one who has authority over himself and works for the Akhirah".

The stuff in this post do not have a continuity I know, but that is what random is all about. Have a great day ahead. Sesungguhnya tiada daya dan kekuatan tanpa pertolongan Allah.

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A Wedding!

So yes, Ilyas is getting married!

And I've been busy with the wedding preparation. Next week is the aqad and the week after will be the kenduri at our place (and I refuse to think about the elections).  

Anyhow, some things are done. Others are work in progress while some are still in my head. I had long battles with the boys' baju Melayu. Serious headaches on what to give as door gifts. And where to place the pelamin.

But things have ironed out a lot since and the pieces are falling into their places nicely. Alhamdulillah. I love the card which turned out pretty, the hantaran that look rather gorgeous (pardon me for saying so myself) and the gifts that look quite alright.

I cant help but wishing that the preparations are easier and simpler though (rumit kerja kawen ni).

Dan tolong doa that the ceremony and the walimah goes smoothly, jika berkesempatan. Syukran.

For now I share the work in progress for the hantaran.

 

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Engagements and Weddings

Hi darlings. How are you doing. I have been superliciously busy (deliberately being repetitive here!). Work hasnt been too bad actually; but picking up again. It is other things that are creating the pressure.

For now I have some Dira's (niece) engagement and a few other wedding related photos. I have some news to share; but I'll do that next week, sometime.

 

Dira had on the softest blue kurung moden. I love her hair from the back; but unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of that. I was busy with other stuff and didnt have much opportunity to take many photos that day.

This is work in progress; I have lots to finish in fact.

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Books, Books and More Books Part 46 - The Diary of A Young Girl

I started reading this like a couple of weeks ago. I asked Iman then, ada buku best tak mama nak baca. And she recommended this from her collection. I read this slowly. Maybe 2 or 3 pages a day and finally finished it today. I always have a book with me when I travel, on vacation, balik kampung, in the car, waiting at the bank / hospital / govt offices (especially!) - oh, you get the picture.

This is a diary written by Anne Frank, aged barely 15, during the world war 2. She is a Jew living in Holland after her father fled Germany from the Nazi. Her family and a few others hid in a secret annexe in a house during the war for almost 2 years before they were betrayed and then caught by the Germans and were deported to the Nazi concentration camp. She wrote the diary while living in the closed quarters of the secret annexe. She didnt survive the camp unfortunately.

There is a movie made too, if you do not fancy the reading. I rather like to watch the movie I think. Saya suka cerita lama.

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Que Será, Será : What Will I Be (When I Grow Old?)

Hi everyone. I am currently blogging from mum's place; where I am keeping her company for the next few days. I suppose things are going to be rather quiet for a bit here.

I made the journey up north yesterday. I dont think I've driven this far alone; there has always been family or friends with me before. I took it easy, stopping at the r&r whenever I felt I should (I was mengantuk like almost all the way!)

When I got to the kitchen this morning, Kak Zah who's leaving for school said, mak kata dia tak sihat hari ni. I tiptoed to mum's room and sure enough she was lying in bed. Saya sapu lengan mak and she opened her eyes. I asked, mak tak sihat? She said mak sakit kepala hari ni and then questioned me, bila balik? According to my adik, mum has alzheimer (the web said that is a progressive form of presenile dementia that usually starts in the 40s or 50s; first symptoms are impaired memory which is followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness). Penyakit orang tua lah. Slalu lupa2. I told her to lie down and not to worry as I am home. Alhamdulillah she was much better later in the morning.

After breakfast I told mum, saya nak pergi market hari ni mak (orang utara tak kata pasar; it is market; dengan slang Melayu pekat and an emphasis on the rrr). And she said, jomlah mak pun nak pergi sama (which means she will wait for me in the car; bukan larat nak jalan pun mak saya); kita singgah rumah MakTeh lepas tu. I was relieved - that means she is ok. Kalau tak sihat mak will be moody and will always prefer to stay home.

We chat at my aunt's place for a short while; sempat jugak lah mak bergelak dengan adiknya who is almost as old as she is. Saya sempat tangkap gambar, dan mak bagitau MakTeh, dia suka tangkap gambar.. oopss.. I didnt know she noticed that! (saya sengaja letak gambar yang dah rendered in b&w)

And this is Badrishah, my cousin's 5 year-old. It is amazing that the kittens duduk diam je bila dia peluk, tarik ekor (oh, and almost cekik anak2 kucing tu!) Her mom passed away when she was barely two years old. She and her sisters are now staying with their MakSu and atok (that is nenek to you non-Utara). She is such a joy to watch.

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