Home Alone

Taufik is in Dubai today. He left yesterday afternoon, stayed overnight coz his meeting is really early this morning.
I revell in some of the freedoms of not having him at home, like not having to rush to cook lunch, not having to HAVE to have rice for our meals (I made Curry Noodles instead), ... hm.. that's about it..
I still miss him though. Besides for the obvious reasons (takde geng masa tidor), it's also because living in a country where women are not allowed to drive out alone and the shopping hours are awkward, being without a husband is like losing both your legs.
If I were back home, I could just go drive out to the supermarket or roadside stall and buy food or whatever provisions I need. I could send/pick up my kids from school, without depending on other people. I could basically do anything I wanted to. Here, I'd have to wait for the bus. Or be contented with whatever is available at the compound's mini market. Or cook whatever I felt like eating myself.
I dread to think of what I would have to do if something horrible happened and I have to go to the hospital or something ... hmm.. come to think of it, we never thought of a contingency plan for this situation.

Today is Ihsan's sports day in school and luckily Rhadha (the only other mommy in my compound whose kids go to the British School) also wants to go, so I could hitch a ride to and back with her.

I am also so used to having Taufik take care of the kids in the morning. He is usually the one who wakes them up, nag them to brush their teeth, take a shower, get dressed, hurry-up-and-have-your-breakfasts, put on their socks-shoes-jacket-cap and then kiss your Bonda .. while I would prepare their lunch boxes and make sure their bags are all packed with the necessary stuff.
Without Taufik around, I had to plan ahead. I made sure their bags are packed last night. All their clothes laid out. I warned them to sleep early (we slept at 9:30pm) and get out of bed as soon as I wake them up coz I would have no time to nag them and watch them "like Ayah does". I warned them that if they occupy me too much, I would not have time to toast their bread and peel their apples for their lunchbox. That would mean soggy sandwiches and a whole apple, with skin on and seeds in for lunch.
God bless their souls, they were such good kids this morning.
Even Anis woke up early and brushed her teeth. It was a good thing too, coz I got an emergency phonecall from Noran, asking me to be the bus monitor this morning.

I really can't wait for Taufik to come home this evening.
heh heh.. yeah, he's just gone for one night, and I'm making such a big fuss over it.. :P