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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Ramblings Of A Beautiful Creation Called Woman

Thank you Zana for the sms that reads like this :

"A woman has strength that amazes men. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she's happy and laughs when she's afraid. Her love is unconditional! There's only one thing wrong with her, she sometimes forget what she's worth.."

It is somewhat invigorating - but at the same time made me feel sad - in a way. Dont we wish we WILL scream when we feel like it. And not smile.

That we will cry the moment the tears welled in our eyes instead of waiting when we are alone and then cry our hearts out in a secluded corner somewhere?

Or that we do feel conditional love; with every conceivable strings attached.

Dont we at times wish we are just as weak as a new born kitten and leave to fate to take care of everything.

Or wish that the jigsaw puzzle called LIFE would just fall neatly into its place..

I dont know about you - but I do.

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Living Life In The Slow Lane

I went over to the mall earlier. Got a couple of stuff at Jusco and then made my way slowly through the shops.

Body Shop doesnt have the marketing strategy to make me want to buy its night cream, eye cream or anti-aging cream although I was looking for something along that line..

Vincci bags and shoes looked uninspiring.

MPH has lots of beautiful magazines. Vogue says Reese has a new man, new life. Yeah, ok.. Mawi & Ikin berahsia menunggu hari bahagia. Whatever. Wan NorAzlin buang malu demi anak-anak. Good for her. Impiana? Next. Laman? I'll pass.

And books are aplenty here also. Devereaux? So dated. Sidney Sheldon? Been there. Judith McNaught? Done that. I picked up the book Duchess. It looked interesting - but I've sworn off novels for now. I'll keep that in mind instead. And those delicious ones by Dan Brown - I never finished his book - not even the Da Vinci Code.. Ok, let's run along now..

Poh Kong's bangles and rings designs seem all wrong. Its charmed bracelet couldnt charm a smile out of me..

And there is nothing at Guardian either.

What? Nothing interesting or anything to buy at the mall? That must be a first. I told my daughter it must be the age.

When I got home the smart guy said, cepat nya balik (it felt like rubbing salt on the wound). I blame the ultra sensitivity on age too.

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Books, Books And More Books Part 5

There is the thing about food binge; but book binge-ing?

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I did that I suppose when I finished this last night before sleep. The author also writes The Devil Wears Prada. I simply LOVE the movie and had watched that maybe 3 or 4 times.

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But nevertheless I think this particular book falls short of my expectations. It dwells too much on the characters instead of what's happening. Maybe in a movie that would be fab; exactly like in the devil and prada..

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I'm giving chick-lit and recreational reading a rest for a while now while I explore other recreations / non-recreational stuff..

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Not Really An Anti-Social

Not that I am a recluse - but I really like to sit at home all quiet and at peace.

But I love last night, we had company for raya and it was really nice. Thank you to you, you and you who had been so nice to come over to my place. It's not about food but company instead.

As I waved everyone off I told my husband - well those are the only people I want to invite for raya (but thinking about it again I do have other people I'd love to have over for raya also).

But my idea of raya do or any get-together has always been a small group of friends with common interests coming together for laughs, great conversation and of course bonding. I suppose that is what raya is all about anyway - bonding aka silaturrahim.

We must do something like this again (unfortunately there is no photo..)

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Books, Books And More Books Part 4

And no, I dont do this just to make Delinn jealous.

I picked up the book when I was down with the rashes. Of course I cant put it down once I've started - and had it finished within the day. And of course nothing else gets moving in the house while I read (but I dont presume anyone expects me to do anything - I am just not well.. ). Although I got dinner - we went to McD's drivethru!

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A nice book and I'd recommend it. But if you do read it, make sure you have lots of Kleenex ready beside you. You are definitely going to need them. Lots of them.

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Books, Books And More Books Part 3

Finished this a couple of weeks back; within the first few days of raya actually.

Being true to a promise I made to myself, I ignored the temptation of picking up any of my typical novel all through Ramadhan. Melalaikan.. So by Syawal I am like an addict looking for a fix. ha-ha.

As usual once I started I would never be able to put the book down till I closed the last page. Sigh. A pretty engrossing read actually. Read the book review here. This is her first book that I've read. And she has quite a few. So I guess there is a new author I could follow.

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