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Mood: goofin' Playing: Man of The Hour by Pearl Jam

Tidal waves don't ask forgiveness

I wanted to write about some drawings Ihsan made, but imagecave is down or something, kept telling me that my login has expired, even when I had created a new account.
So I've decided to rant instead.

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I think women are just not allowed to be happy with whatever they have.
When I was working, the most common questions asked were "So who takes care of your children?", "Do you brestfeed?" and if i say no they would go "Oh why not?".
(Fortunately I had never gone through the phase where people ask you "Why arent you married yet?")
Now that I've stopped working, they'd go "Oh, so what are you doing now?", "Arent you bored at home doing nothing?","Such a pity, what a waste of education.."
FYI,
I am NOT sitting at home doing nothing.
Yes there are times (9am to 10 am, and 1pm to 2pm, specifically), when I would be in front of the TV watching Oprah, but I'd also be eating, or ironing or folding clothes or trying to read a book or write stuff during commercial breaks.
Other times, there is laundry to be done, food to be prepared, bags to filled with books/clothes, floors to be swept, rooms and beds to be tidied up and heads to be filled with ideas other than wrecking up the house. That on top of other activities like blogging, typing up proposals, thinking up ideas for post-reading activities and driving/walking people to where they need to go.

but I am digressing.

Why is it that women are not allowed to be happy with what they have?

Can't a woman be unmarried and happy? Must they find a man to fulfill their lives?
Can't a woman be married and be happy? Must she not be commited to a man to feel independent?
Can't a woman be 'just a housewife' and be happy?
Must she have a career that has nothing to do with her children to feel succesful?
Can't a woman be a career woman and be happy?
Must she spend 24 by 7 thinking about her family to be considered responsible?

I say, Let us be.
Let us make the best of whatever situation we are in.
Let us be content be whatever life has dished out for us.
Let us be happy.
As they say, one's man's poison is another man's honey. To each, his own. etc etc etc

So the next time you meet your girlfriends and you want to ask her about her life decisions, instead of asking why (and judging her for it), ask her
"what is it about [whatever thing she's in now] that makes you happy?"
You might be suprised at to what you might find out..

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Hope dins' tide will recede soon

Edited to add:
No, this had nothing to do with the conversations I had during the Nasi Dagang party.. just in general.
Don't be so paranoid lah people!!

Tai Chi

Mood: same ol same ol Playing: Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam


Tai Chi is an ancient martial arts exercise. The gentle movements and postures are designed to achieve a harmonious flow of energy (chi) in the body. The movements are coordinated with breathing patterns and performed slowly so that the practitioner can focus on changes in balance, flexibility, and muscle tension. This can improve balance, stability, flexibility, and skill and promote a sense of relaxation, wellbeing and improved health.
Taken from www.harthosp.org/IntMed/glossary.asp

After I have gotten into the routine of sending the kids to school every morning, I joined my mom's tai chi sessions.
I had watched my mom and her friends do their tai chi for a long time and it had looked fun and pretty easy.
Woah, was I wrong.
It's not difficult as in you need to be a contortionist to do, but it was more strenuous than I thought it would be.
Watching them do the slow, graceful and controlled movements, you'd think you could easily do the same, but it's the slow and controlled movements that actually make your muscles work. And I was far from graceful.. :P
Halfway through the session, I found my arms were a bit sore and I couldn't lift them as high as I thought I could... I actually thought it was gonna fall off.
damn.. old women could do this better than me.. it was quite embarassing.

And these women came with bags of stuff. After the session, they'd dig into their bags and take out their wares.. from scarves to jewellery, to embroidered tiny purses, to maruku and rempeyek..
Wah.. kalah BNI (Business Network International)..!

Ilham the Schoolboy

Mood: dum dee dum Playing: Down by Pearl Jam

There was a five day holiday for the kids since last thursday so I hope that explains my absence.

I hate uniforms.
The thing I hate about it is that it makes everybody look the same.
I hate it the most when I am waiting to pick up Ilham. I will be standing outside the gate, looking out for him and everytime a short haired boy in a white shirt , dark blue pants and a dark blue back-pack walks around the corner and I see it's not him, I have a tiny heart attack.
It doesnt help that he's adventurous. He insists on trying a new exit route every other day.
There was one day when I had seen all of his classmates come out from school and there was no sign of him and I had decided to go see his teacher and I was almost crying, thinking the worst, when he snuck up behind me with his "Hi Bonda!"
I'm seriously thinking of dying his hair blond or something, or making him wear a hat, so that I can recognize him instantly.

There's somethng different about the way he looks since last friday though. I had left him with Ihsan and Adam (his cousin) to play with the PS2 at our house and when I came back to pick him up, he had lost one of his front tooth. He looked so goofy!
He got all worried when it was time to go back to school though, coz he was afraid if his friends would laugh at him. He even asked me to go buy a gold tooth to replace the missing one.
With the missing tooth and that goofy grin, he does a killer imitation of SpongeBob though. He got Ihsan rolling on the floor laughing with his 'ayyayayyayay' laugh.
After school I asked him whether any of his friends had laughed at him, and he said, no, coz everyone else had lost at least one tooth as well!

With his new 'cheeky look', I thought Ilham would have a change of attitude towards the worst.. but I was wrong. He's still such a good boy. He washed his own school shoes last weekend. Both pairs! I was so proud of him, even though after the first one he was already complaining about being tired.
Ihsan and Anis sat outside with him and rooted him on. Ihsan even helped wash one.
The next day we 'kapur kasut' together.
hm.. how do I explain 'kapur kasut'? 'Kapur' means Chalk and 'Kasut' means Shoes. It's basically applying a whitener onto the shoes. The whitener is made of chalk (in liquid form) and the canvas shoes absorbs the chalk and it acts as a whitener and also a protector for the shoes.
Do you still remember how to kapur your kasut ?
I almost forgot how to.

I don't mind if you get sick, but I am going to swoon about my husband again. He actually called up a friend to fix a laptop the friend had lying around so that I can use it. And he did it even before I complained about it.
Isnt that just the coolest thing ever??
*sigh*
don't get too excited though. I have not received the laptop yet. His friend is still repairing it.
Well, worse comes to worse, I'll have nutty or zan or pb or angel bring me to Low Yat and show me their 'supplier'. heh heh

gotta go home now.