Saturday, September 27, 2008

Eid on the horizon

september 27, 08 saturday
OH MY GOD! How I loathe this time of the year!! It so bloody boring!! For some reason, the whole forgiving/visiting thing during Eid is sooooooo cliche. I dread it every year. Apart from tradition, I do the whole sorry/visiting routine to shut my mom up, so I would not end up getting all pissed off and stressed up listening to her nag. The routine of visiting relatives....what the hell is that all about?? Mom keeps telling me, I'll need them in the future...Oh puh-lease!! We hardly meet, let alone talk. They are practically strangers to me. Maybe one, or two, but the rest.... *shrugs. don't care* Plus I have my family, they're all I need. Relatives, to me, are a waste of (my) time. Just keep in touch via FB, isn't that good enough??

El hub, J, told me something which struck a chord.."the way you treat your rallies is going to come back and bite you in the ass." (*bowing head down*) Yes, it's true. *sigh* I am being mean. And arrogant. And mean.

OK. Maybe this Eid, I'll do my tour of duty. Bring J to see rallies he hasn't met yet. I'm sure J would enjoy this.

But it still doesn't change the fact that I wish Eid would end quickly. It doesn't change the fact that I still find Eid boring!! Maybe when I have children, I'll break the tradition of celebrating Eid. Eh? Eh? Eh? OK, that didn't sound like a good idea. It sounded coming out from an arrogant moron. Seeeesh!!

*sigh*

*dragging feet*

(*Hence, the short, short blog*)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fasting! A week before Eid...

september 23, 08 tuesday
Yeah, I've only just started fasting. Today is Day 2. And Eid is next Wednesday, which means I'll only be fasting for a little over a week. It's been OK, uneventful to be precise. I don't normally sahur, but so far, I've been doing OK. No tummy ache. No headaches. Just the usual. Not feeling all that tired either.

I've been cooking faithfully since Ramadhan started 3 weeks ago. I've done it all: roast beef, roast chicken, potato gratin, steaks, pasta etc. It's scary the way I keep chugging everyday in the kitchen!! I've only gone out to the bazaar less than 5 times I think. But today, I'm going to the small Thai Fair happening at Giant Mall. We've had the tomyam noodles from there and it blew our minds!! So, today's the day where we'll have tomyam noodles again....And maybe the mango salad, a bit of somtam maybe.....hmmmmm...eyes bigger than the stomach...

It's hours away to break...I'm already hungry... Time to go buy that beehoon tomyam!!

Yumm!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Week 4 Post Surgery

september 21, 08 tuesday
Met with Dr Hamid a few days ago for a follow-up after the surgery. I've been given the "all clear". My wound is healing nicely, in fact it looks like just one line on my lower abdomen. It's amazing!! Looks more like a scratch than a cut. I'm so glad that the cut sits so low, definitely won't be visible when I have my bikini on. The doc gave me more multi-vitamin pills, folic acid and 2 months supply of clomid. Ugh! I hate hate HATE clomid!! It dries me up. It makes me extra moody. And it makes me (feel like) I'm fat!! But this time the doc seems more positive, so I guess we'll give it a go. 2 alternate months isn't bad I suppose.

Speaking of bikinis, I haven't been putting on one for like forever! I bought one white pair (I've always wanted a white bikini) during the Zara sales some months ago, and have not had the chance to wear it. The last beach-bound holiday was during Chinese New Year in February in Phuket. A few nights ago, husband J announced his desire to visit Sri Lanka and showed me gorgeous pictures of a resort on a highland. Don't make sense wearing a bikini there!!

I'm thinking of fasting this week. Which gives me 10 days of fasting this year. I feel I've healed from the surgery and that fasting the last week of Ramadhan is not going to hurt me. I can't wait to get over Eid. I find it boring and never am excited about visiting relatives... If only I can push the fast forward button...

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Week 2 Post surgery

september 6, 08 saturday
My week(s) post surgery have been uneventful. Although I would like to believe that I am recovering quickly, I still have to put up with the occasional strain on my left side of the wound and more recently, pain when I have a full bladder. I'm not sure the latter is the result of the surgery, but it has been quite uncomfortable when I need to go to the bathroom.

I've been able to walk around like normal, though I can't run or lift things. I can stand in the kitchen and cook a whole meal these days, it's not a problem anymore. It's just this sudden pain when I have a full bladder, and the pain comes in small spurts. I'll be sitting watching TV or surfing, and I'll feel an uncomfortable sensation between my legs. It's a bit annoying really. And I hope I've not contacted another infection whilst trying to recover from the surgery.

My left side of the wound in still slightly swollen. Actually there's a little lump and it's a bit tender and hard to the touch. If I twist my body too much, or strain the abs muscle a bit, it'll sting.

This Monday it'll be 2 weeks. It feels like forever. I've not left then house in 2 weeks, except for the rare trip to the ATM and driving around with husband J. All I do is surf. Thank God for wireless Internet access at home!!

It's coming towards the end of the first week of Ramadhan and for obvious reasons, I am not fasting this year. So for that reason I guess I'm not feeling the whole "Ramadhan spirit" at all. And I dare to say this: I'm not looking forward to Eid either. Maybe because I'm not fasting.

All I want is to get better so I can drive around!! I hate feeling so handicapped!! Arrgh!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Just a Google away!

september 3, 08 wednesday
Staying home recovering after a minor operation gives you plenty of time to....cyber stalk!! And that's exactly what I've been doing this week or so. And what better search engine to do in all from - Google! It's a amazing what stuff it brings you!! Just t
ype the name and voila!!

When I was about 16 years old, when things at home weren't so peaceful, I used to write short stories to escape. Reading back some of the stories I wrote, they were a fascinating insight into my teenage world. I used to write in Malay a lot when I was
younger, and would send my pieces to major teenage magazines. They were never good enough to be published I guess, but my effort got the attention of the magazines' editor. I was invited to attend the very competitive and prestigious 'Minggu Remaja' where about 20 under-18 budding writers were given intensive training on technical know-how on writing. That one week was priceless. I met so many talented young writers, established writers, and learned so many new things. I met one of the former participants and was completely taken by his presence. Faizal was 3 years older and at the time, was about to leave for Canada. We took one picture together and that was all it took to get this 16 year-old completely smitten. After the workshop, I only heard from him once. Many years later after I graduated and came home to my first job, I saw his name in a Malay daily as the reporting journalist. I wasn't too surprised, Faizal didn't stray away from the writing world too much! Last night I Googled his name and to my horror, there were blogs dedicated to him - Faizal passed away last year due to diabetic complications. My heart tanked. Life is just too short..

Another Google search was to my childhood memory, Zamani. He was one of the older guys who grew up in the neighbourhood and coloured my adolescent life. I've known Zamani for ages, but we only became really good friends when I was 15 years old
. We'd call each other often and talked for ages about anything. At the time, he was the funniest guy I know. Even when we lived close by and were calling each other, we would write letters! And they were hilarious!! I was so fond of that man, I went all out and made him a birthday card on his birthday!! That became the talk among the other neighbourhood guys!! And on my 16th, he baked me a chocolate cake (he was a budding chef)! He broke my heart when he told me one day (after not calling me for yonks) that he was getting married. Granted, there was never anything romantic between us, but I was devastated. I thought he would always remained mine. For some odd reason, his name suddenly popped up in my head, and so I Googled. Got an on-line diary of his (new) wife trailing back to their engagement to their wedding, their pregnancy right up to their first born daughter. I was happy for him, as I knew he struggled through his first marriage. He's doing well, runs a restaurant down south...at least this Google search brought me happy news.

My third Google search/stalking was on Shane Dennis. OK, our paths never did cross, but I had a bit of a crush on this guy!! Shane was a baseball player for Wichita State. And he was in my class. To have a Shocker baseball player in the same class was a big deal! And he was kinda cute!! Though I remember him checking me out while I was walking on campus and he was on the buggy in full baseball uniform going to the baseball pitch. That was my only claim to fame where college jocks are concerned!! And that made my day!

According to Google, Shane moved on to play major league and then to Japan to play professionally.

Now he
's back at WSU with the Baseball Operations office. No idea if he's married (I'm sure he is though). Saw a 1999 picture of him and made me smile.

*image courtesy of jamd.com

Boy! College was fun!!


What a way to pass time, eh?