Friday, October 14, 2005

What? What? Whaaaaaaat?


I just had to get out of the house yesterday. You know how some people are lucky to clock out at 5 pm and forget about the office. My job, on one hand, requires me to be online almost the whole time of my waking hours, and a major part of my sleeptime. On the other, I have a house to maintain in considerable, livable order while it is being continually messed up while I am actually cleaning up. In other words, my job does not leave me nor can I leave it. All that just so that I have a little dough to put aside for rainy days and shopping days. Ok, ok, it's more for shopping than the rain okay?
So I badly needed a break after a few back to back, back-breaking assignments, while trying to keep my faculties in check what with Aishah interchangably slipping into some kind of toddler nightmarish frenzy one moment and an absolute angel the next.
I decided against a soupy noodle dish called Mee Thye Mak which I thought might soothe my mental fatigue for Iftar and opted for Swensen's to lick the Yummy Raisin (with fake rum) off its cup clean.
Twas still early so the restaurant was not jam-packed yet. It's funny how a lot of mid-scale restaurants for our blue-collared budget here arrange their tables so close to each other that a mere pop of a tiny fart can be audible two tables away from you.
I chose a corner with a high partition that cordones off most part of the restaurant, you know, for little privacy. Apart from a lil din in the atmosphere it was rather cosy until a party of mother and daughter found the table immediately next to us.
I was intent on having a relaxing dinner but my plan fell flat on the floor as Aishah decided to play, let's-toss-the-salad-in-the-air game and whining obnoxiously, endlessly. She gets like that when she is self-conscious. That lady sitting next to our table kept staring at me and Aishah back and forth exchanging comments with her daughter. CA and I were already feeling hot in the head, supressing the urge to snap and throw a sarcastic remark. I even role-played in my head how I was going to poke that lady's nose with my own and then throw her against the glass wall- a scene from a retro Jackie Chan movie. I got so edgy, that the monster in me prompted me to straighten my back, drop my cutlery and stared back at the lady. I think it worked as she lifted the menu book and hid behind it. The whole time after that she cowered down behind the menu while the daughter spied on us on her behalf. Eh, tak reti-reti lagi tu...I stared back at the daughter and later she too hid behind the menu book. In the end, I managed to finish my Salmon Teriyaki without any more drama.
Sheesh, nasib baik I tak tukar jadi Incredible Hulk or Suria Perkasa Hitam. Eh, jadi Space Cop Gaban pun cool eh? Just don't mess with this frazzled, hungry, dog-tired, chocolate-deprived Mom of a toddler. Thank you very much.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Strange Meme

I don't really see the point of the meme, but then I've been tagged.
I am IT.
So just like any of my bendulful impulsive acts, here it is.
For you, Nadya.
The Rules:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.
My 23rd post was actually my long pot-pet entry about being nice to each other. Reading it again made me shudder, as I am reminded of the ensuing repercussions of my statements. The drama and the sticky mess that occured thereafter.
Here's my fifth line...
"I have been observing passively like a spineless coward, the ruckus over nitty gritty things almost with voyueristic fascination and had kept my protests very quiet in order to avoid conflicts with other people"
YIPES.
I am tagging :
kakteh
who has just been freed from the shackles of the big D
kak tenah
who needs a little break from her Permanent Head Damage paper
iJun
just because
anuarfariz
who's been waaaaaaay too quiet
foxymophandlemama
because I miss you

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Mission Accomplished


I have always wanted to put my name on a book cover. You know, something to show-and-tell my anak cucu, so that one day they can say, hey, that's my Makwo's book. Heh.

Although I must warn you that I am just making baby steps into publishing, so there are definitely teething problems. Like they say, those who can't write, edit. But I am sure a lot of editors out there can and do write. I am just testing the waters. Don't get mad if it is not up to scratch.

I am just happy that a book that consists of real life accounts of nursing mothers is going to be launched this Saturday. This is a book that tells you things like it is, or at least, that's the intention. Nursing a baby isn't always a clip from a Baby Johnson's advertisement. The snags of motherhood can be really a drag and horrific. There are also tips and alternative treatments to common nursing problems.
Most importantly, this book goes to show how people who have not met each other in real life, only via an online forum, a mailing list and email can really do something big together. What makes it even more heartwarming is that this is a book for mothers by mothers. Syabas, to the contributors from Ummiku Sayang and especially Nae, for being there for me during the darkest moments.
And to Kak Teh, for keeping me company during those graveyard hours. I am especially grateful to Allah for salving my guilt of taking time off from Aishah with the birth of this book. I just hope that my intention to share inspiring nursing stories with others in hope that more people would nurse their own babies into toddlerhood justifies all that time I spent working on this at Aishah's expense. Luckily for me, I have an understanding husband who practically lets me do whatever pleases my crazy little head(as long as I let him keep his marine tank and play music. Heheh) and inlaws' who practically let me get my way and spoils me rotten. Alhamdulillah.
Oh, I have so many people to thank but I do not want to risk sounding like an acceptance speech for an imaginary Oscar. So I'll just say this, all of you who have helped me make this happen, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

Click this to find out more.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Sigh....

Am just back from visiting my Mom. She has been feeling a little under the weather. I have not recovered from that pang of guilt I felt when I hugged her before I left Bangi. Something on her face tells me that she did not want me to go back to Singapore yet, sort of longing for me to make what she is feeling at the time go away by some kind of magic.
I am not in the best shape to update properly just yet. You guys take care okay?