And we are off

I am so not prepared. But I guess we miss this sort of last minute trips. We are off to UK today! Horay!

Amongst the things we want to do:

1) Visit Legoland
2) Pick strawberries
3) Whipsnade Animal park
4) Stonehenge
5)Woburn Safari Park

We will be eating

1) clotted cream
2) fresh strawberries
3) Fresh cherries
4) Delicious salads
5) Pierre Marcolini

But we aim to settle a few things this trip. Like mowing the lawn, trimming the garden, clearing out all of my personal stuff and polishing the house.

Its time to let the flat pay for it self. No more emotional attachment!

Wish us luck!

I'm going for an allergy testing. Hopefully I'll know more about my body.

I am having a mini panic attack actually. I seem to have forgotten my pin numbers for my UK credit cards. They have a chip and pin now. Boy I am in trouble! Back to chasing after trains and train schedules. Perhaps seeing a rain drop or two (oops can't find my umbrella!) Selfridges sale starts today. But perhaps its not wise to go hahaha. I bet Harrods sale has started too. But I have real work to do!

The Little One could not sleep last night because she so wanted to go to pick her own strawberries. In due time sayang. I hope she will be able to achieve her dreams all the time. This child of mine, when she has an idea in her head, it doesn't seem to go away. Not even geography can get in the way apparently!

My DH needs this break desperately. It will rejuvenate him, I'm sure.

Tomorrow will mark the 10 years we've been married, boy oh boy it only felt like yesterday. It will be lovely to go back and go to our familiar places in London. Things and times have changed. So have we.

I look forward to going home.

Sometimes people are sent to you for a reason

Su K is one of those people that would make some people uncomfortable. She is non conforming. She doesn't really care how she looks or what she wears and sometimes does say things that may throw people off.

And she hates TV. Which does kill off some conversations. Some people find her downright strange, others find her intimidating.

But I am beginning to find Su K to be a friend and a teacher. Her unconventional ways may not necessarily be my life style of choice but I do find that there is a lot I could learn from her. (Like premaculture which could be a whole different entry.)

I remember her coming to a quilt meeting and for some reason or other her driver didn't show up. I didn't want to leave her and her neighbor behind but could not offer to send them home because they live way on the other side of town and I wanted to get home before the Little One's bed time.

So Su K said, "Its ok just drop me off outside somewhere and we'll hail a taxi."

Now thats a big thing here. 2 women, one of them a white Amer/c@n, hailing a taxi by the side of the road of an unknown neighborhood. I was very concerned for them. But Su K was not frazzled. She took it in her stride.

I happened to hangout with her the other day and she told me a story about Bill.

Bill was someone she picked up on her way home from her University. There were very few houses in her neighborhood and to see a man walking while trying to hitchhike was something quite rare . SO Su K stopped and told him, "If you are not dangerous you can come in my car and I'll take you to where you want to go."

Su K was brave that way.

So Bill told her that he had come from Illinois and was in Kansas because he heard that his uncle was building a log house and needed help. He had hitchedhiked part of the way, walked the other parts and slept in the rough, under bridges and so on.

Bill's uncle's house was about 30 mins away from Su K's house and she drove him there, only to find, upon their arrival that 2 M3xicans were moving into the house that Bill thought belonged to his uncle. They did not know about Bill's uncle and no one around there could give him any information about his uncle.

So Su K decided to bring Bill home.

She told him that he is welcomes to stay in their farm There is a lot of work to be done and they would provide him with room and board in return.

As it turned out that at that time Su K's husband wanted to run a bed & breakfast business. They had a huge basement which was in a huge mess and needed to be tidied up.

Bill stayed. And it turned out that they needed to retile that basement and guess what? Bill was a professional tiler.

So Bill tiled that floor. Help them fix up the basement. When he finished Su K and her hubby paid Bill and bought him a bus ticket to get home.

She has never heard from Bill since of course.

I don't know if I will take my chances with people the same way Su K does, but Su K's story reminds me how sometimes it pays to listen to our instincts.

My fear of getting hurt make me stay away from people. But Su K's story just reminded me that I don't always need to be afraid of helping people who may need my help because I may need their help instead!

Goodbye Rochelle

Just before I got into bed, I realized that I had a text message unread.

"Rochelle died in a car accident."

It said.

I didn't know Rochelle that well, but that didn't mean that I wasn't sad or shocked. We met through other people. She had started quilting and wanted to buy fabric from me.

Then silence.

I heard from other people she packed her bags for South Africa, left an abusive marriage. Which was a bit of a shock to me because I thought they were doing all sorts of treatments to try for a baby. Which goes on to show you never really know what goes on behind closed curtains.

Death is such that it reminds you of your own. That we all are mere mortals and our day will come one day.

So while we're here, I should embrace each day as it comes. I should not dwell on the small and the unimportant things.

Its your special day

Wishing you a very happy birthday.

May each day be filled with happiness, abundance, joy and good health.

If I had my way, I'd buy you a Ferrarri and fly you over to watch a race. Perhaps its not yet time.

So for now, all I can offer you are lots of love, hugs and kisses. With a promise that I will continue to travel the world with you, where ever you choose to go.

Wishing you many more wonderful birthdays to come. Because you're the one I want to grow old and spend the rest of my life with.


PS Kalau bawak Ferrari kang anak nak letak mana? Atas bumbung ka?

I'm motivated!

I am determined and motivated. Nothing stops me.

I feel great and am ready for anything.

I love life and life loves me back.

Today I am on top of the world, anything is possible.

I go for my goals and I reach them; nothing stands in my way.

I am not afraid of anyone or anything; I feel confident and assertive.

Today I start my fabulous new life.

I believe in myself 100 per cent and I am not ready to live my dreams.

I never make excuses, I do things on time and I keep to my word.

I am so lucky to be alive.

My full plate is decorated

What a difference a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain

Allah may plan a sequence of events that appear to be unrelated and coincidental, that I can only call Fate.

Sometimes I may momentarily forget that there is a silver lining behind every cloud.

But here I am today, glad and happy, thankful and grateful, that everything is mapped out for me, for the good of things.



Allhamdullilah

My plate is always full

"You are always committing yourself to all sorts of things," declared my friend, mentor and adviser.

I thought about it for a moment.

And she is right of course.

I seem to have a knack to take all sorts of things on. Sometimes without thinking and later realizing that perhaps I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Could it because I am trying hard to please everyone around me? Not really, I have kept people whom I think bring negative energy at an arm's length.

I guess I like the challenge. I like trying out new things and testing myself to the limit. There is a thirst inside me that says I am capable of more, just not realizing that I am human afterall and have my limits.

I seem to pack my schedule full to the brim and if I don't program things in my schedule I may forget.

But I do enjoy the company of my quilting friends. Their creativity and willingness to help, with regards to quilting or otherwise, just warms my heart that I feel that I too want to contribute my worth. With them I always feel that I learn something new, some thing different, be it about sewing, culture and life in general.

As a result I sometimes seemed to have neglected my "other" friends and neighbours. And may have even offended a few.

I have since decided that should they feel I am not good enough to be a friend to them, then it would be their loss, not mine. If they have some issues to deal with within themselves, I must not undertake to accept these issues as mine but rather see it as theirs.

I cannot help people who cannot help themselves.

If I appear to be selfish because I want to keep positive people and positivity around me, so be it. I need to love myself first. No one will love me if I don't love myself. And to love myself is to protect myself from harm, hurt and grievances.

I will be true to myself and accept that there are others who have different views about life and friendship than mine. I don't believe in teaching others' a lesson. Thats not my place.

I've had a tough month behind me and I may have a tough road ahead. But what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger.

I will live and let live. So be it.

The questions have started

At age 2 and a half, The Little has started the incessant why and where.

"Mummy where is your Mummy?"

"She is not here."

"Where is she?"

"She has passed away."

"Oh."

"Daddy, where is your mummy?"

"Wan?"

"Yes."

"She is in Malaysia."

"Oh."

"Mummy, is your mummy here?"

And the cycle starts over again. Perhaps death is not yet a concept she could understand. And I suppose it puzzles her that I don't have a "mummy."

And calling us Mummy and Daddy, thats purely, 100% her own choice. She rotates between Abah & Ummi and Daddy and Mummy.

And then there's Mongku.

Who is Mongku you may ask. I wondered too. From what I can gather, Mongku is a boy who sleeps in her bed which is next to us. I am Mongku's mummy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

She has also learn to interpret emotions from facial expression.

Just the other day, I caught her poking her paint brush at the domestic help. It wasn't in a mean, rather cheeky sort of way. I quickly reprimanded her for doing so because I do not want her think that its OK to poke people, even if it was gently with paint brushes.

"But mummy she is laughing!" She declared.

She was right though. The Domestic help didn't take offense to what The Little One did and was laughing at her antics instead. And The Little One felt that she was encouraged by the laughing.

She is definitely testing her boundaries to the fullest!

The girl with the (faux) pearl necklace

She's come a long way. From hating separation and school, she now readily goes to school. Its not that I want her educated in terms of reading and writing sort of way. I wanted to give her the opportunity to interact with other children without clinging on to me. I didn't want her to have the only child syndrome, spoilt and do not know how to interact with other children their age who behave inappropriately with other people.

Its wonderful to see that she is well liked by her peers. I mean of course I know my child is charismatic and agreeable. But to see her exuding leadership qualities at a young age is just something else. I guess she could just be bossy but amazing still is that other children want to be with her. They want to do what she is doing and greet her with such enthusiasm and joy. To have friends who like you at such an early age is surely a wonderful thing.

Last week they had a "graduation" day. The Little One of course decided that it was her most disagreeable day. Luckily enough we managed to muster this photograph. I was in two minds about the picture. On one hand I wanted her to look exactly as she does normally, a little bit mucky and a little bit cheeky. At the same time I wanted to dress her up in one of the beautiful frocks gathering in her closet. At least we'll remember that she had smocking dresses.

There is a story to the pearls she wore. It was given as a souvenir from a friend on our roadtrip to Madinah. I had wanted to buy the faux pearls because they were sold by Chinese looking young girls just outside the Majid with two qiblat. Unfortunately I didn't have small change then and another lady bought them as a gift for me. It just touched me that girls at such a young age are selling stuff perhaps as ways to help bring food in for their family. Its much better than begging I guess.

And it was My Little One who requested to wear these pearls I almost forgot and kept away in a drawer.

I almost think that The Little One knows that the pearls serve as a reminder to me how fortunate we are and how grateful I am to my Creator for all he has given to us.



My Little One I hope that you will always lead a life full of happiness and privilege. I know you will understand that it is through prayer, concentrated intent and hard work that you can achieve all that you want in your life.

I will embrace new adventures

I must remember to be brave and embrace adventures as they present themselves to me.

I always pride myself in taking off beaten tracks and paths less travelled, so when opportunity arises I will stand up, face the sun and accept the challenge.

I have done it and can always do it.

The best is yet to come.

Oppurtunity of a lifetime?

About twelve years ago, we were shopping for our wedding and engagement rings and some pink diamonds were presented to us.

I was young and naive and did not do my research. Back then the Internet was not as extensive as it is now.

Not knowing what pink diamonds were, I turned down that opportunity to pick them as my wedding ring.

I love the ring that we chose. But at the back of my mind I will always remember that instance as the ignorance of my youth and my lack of knowledge. It was an opportunity that presented itself to us, out of the blue, but I didn't take it up because I didn't know any better.

If anything it was a lesson that I kept. That I will not stop my quest for knowledge and to learn more about the things and the world around me such that if I stumble a treasure by chance again, I will grab that opportunity and not let it go.

It appears that on the 10th year of our marriage, (I still can't believe that its been that long) another opportunity of a lifetime approaches us.

I can still remember that instance when I saw the pink diamonds, it was "Oh really? Ok. Whatever."

Now these treasures are presented to me, with the possibility of me owning them. My initial thought is that we don't know enough. And even with the internet I don't seem to know enough.

Their owner is selling them because she wants to put her child through University.

And me? I am still undecided. But I am very grateful the opportunity is presented to us.