New chapter.

Salam and good morning...

After a stressful, hectic and certainly eventful 3 months... we are finally settling down. Phew... I say, phew!!

It had been, for the record, the most stressful time of my life! Uprooting is never a breeze, I know that much, but I naively did not expect it would drive me thiiiiiiss close to losing my sanity. I'm not exaggerating, ok? There were miscommunications, and disagreements that escalated to fights and I don't mean the kids tau! There were damages and losses to content with. There were decisions to make regarding the new house... fixtures, fitting, cabinets, wardrobes bla bla bla. There was so much to do and so little time for rest, let alone spending some "me time" which I thrive on. There were certainly weaker moments that I wished never happened and that I had a better grip of myself *sigh*.

Imagine stress tahap tarik rambut sendiri sampai muka hijau hahahaa!

And the stress affected all of us, even the children whom we always assume to be carefree. I could sense their frustration sometimes at the absence of routine and consistency in their lives. They craved mummy's cooking, and longed for their toys tucked away, en route somewhere between Miri and Cyberjaya. (Yes, mak dah berkampung di Cyberjaya uols). They certainly needed more space than our cramped temporary abodes (we shifted a few times). And all of us had had enough of living out of our suitcases!

And then, for the older kids, there was also the challenge of adjusting to a new school. Mak aii... stressnya bab ni, I tell you! But alhamdulillah, in between fears and tears, and sometimes lengkap dengan muntah-monggeknya, they soon began to adapt. And so does the rest of the family.

Though not quite completely cosy (yet), we are definitely settling in. Just some tucking in, here and there, and some finishing touches, we are on a sure path to making this new house homely.

What's most important now is that we are together, and this... is our home.

Alhamdulillah... syukur tak terhingga.

Of cakes, teachers and crocodiles.

Part 1

I mentioned once before in one of my earlier postings that for me to spend time with my family without the pangs of anxiety creeping in every now and then, doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, it would creep up on me, making me edgy and easily irritated and I'd usually end up being the party pooper. To keep that from happening, I would normally choose to excuse myself from whatever activity they planned to do and stayed home instead. It seems like the better option rather than spoil their fun, right?

Yesterday, however, I didn't have the luxury to hide in my comfort zone.

Humaira's school held an all-in-one fundraising event to celebrate Teacher's Day and making it a Family Day at the same time. Parents were asked to contribute food for sale, with each class year being given a particular type of food. Lucky for me, Humaira's class was asked to bring "kuih-muih kering atau basah". I decided to make congo bars.

2 pans of freshly baked congo bars.

Packing time. I reserved the unsightly, crispy edges for myself.
Wicked eh? =)

It was my first attempt making these and I promise you, they were so easy to make, yet crazy delicious!

I baked and packed these the night before the event, and sent them over to her school early in the morning, as was told. I had intended to just send the cakes in, and skip the event altogether. But luck was not on my side, I bumped into the Penolong Kanan and she asked if I could help man the stall later. Alamakk! I muttered a half-hearted "insyaAllah" and politely excused myself.

The 5-minute drive home felt like a looong one as I pondered and psyched myself up for what was to come. No running away this time... 

I reached home as the whole family was getting ready. Humaira was the most excited, and I almost felt sorry for her. I was the last to get ready, buying time, I suppose. I grabbed my camera bag and checked if everything was in order and found this...

What's become of my 77mm polarizer =(

This was still attached to my 24-70mm Nikkor lens, and I thank God for that. Or else, this would've been a full-blown photographer's nightmare! What happened was that, few days prior, the strap of my old camera bag gave way and I dropped it as I was alighting from our Naza Ria. I didn't bother to check, assuming the bag had enough cushion to protect my photography gear. How wrong was I! Thankfully though, the polarizer took the full force of the fall and I guess, saving my lens (or better yet, me) from agony. I can replace the polarizer but I doubt I can ever replace the lens. It's that once-in-a-lifetime purchase kind of thing, you know what I mean? Alhamdulillah...syukur....syukurr....

Anyway, made a quick change to a lighter lens and off we went to Humaira's school. Let me just put some pictures to show how the day went eh?

Humaira and friends. I asked her "nape Maira tak senyum?"
She said, "tu senyum la tuu..."

Sneaking on the performers "backstage".

The Gerai PIBG. My congo bars are somewhere in that
mixture of food and drinks.

We got served laksa sarawak. A very delicious laksa sarawak, I might add.

Hubby got the "Anugerah Bapa" or something like that, much to our surprise.
A token of appreciation from the school for his involvement in the welfare of
the school. I guess there wasn't much competition on the bapa side.
Women are more actively involved, so susah la sikit for me to get the "Anugerah Ibu".
Cewah! Alasaann!!

Respected teachers reciting the teachers' pledge.
May Allah reward these dedicated educators amply.

One of the contestants of Pakaian Beragam Dari Bahan Kitar Semula.

The contestants. From left, dress made of tali rafia,  dress made of garbage bags and plastic bag roses,
dress made of plastic bags and fruit wrappers, dress made from (believe it or not) umbrella!,
outfit made of garbage bags and newspaper and lastly, an Iban warrior outfit made from newspaper.
Thumbs up for these creative students and their mummies.

We left the school before the event finished as the day was getting hotter, everyone was sweaty and Muhammad was starting to show signs of an impending tantrum. Not wanting to disrupt the majlis, we decided to leave. For me, that was a good excuse to make my move too heheh...

Part 2

We got home, and I took a long nap. Firstly, because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Secondly, I needed to sleep off the drowsiness from the anxiety meds I took the night before and thirdly, I was pretty sure the laksa sarawak had some involvement too.

Later that afternoon, I felt good enough for another outing so we decided to go to the Boat Club where the kids can have a go at the playground before we settled for an early dinner.

We saw this posted on the wall at the club. Ho-humm... nothing unusual on this part of the world. *yawn*.

Add caption

This pretty much set the topic for our dinner conversation heh!. Kids came up with all kinds of crocodile stories! I can't recall any of them but I remember laughing at the hilarity of some of the stories. Or maybe, at my inability to understand the stories. Whatever it was, it was nice to get to chat with them like that.

We left just as maghrib approached and I had to take one last shot, just for the heck of it.

At the end of the day, I was glad for 2 things.

One. That I'd had a good, full day of time spent with my family. Anxiety free, no meds necessary. That's a big thing for me, you know!

And two. The Penolong Kanan did not insist that I man the PIBG stall hehehe....

Cheers y'all!

                  

Gratitude Journal #1 - Loving Family

Alhamdulillah...

 Apart from the obvious basic necessities like food, shelter, family (which of course, I am thankful for), there are countless other blessings that we sometimes take for granted.

This is just the start of a hopefully regular postings to remind me one of the many, many, tak terhingga banyaknya blessings that Allah has bestowed upon me.

Just ONE thing/event that affects me in a positive way, every day. I hope to look back on these postings in darker times and be reminded that the good far outweighs the bad.

So today, I am touched by a gesture by my eldest daughter (who is going to be 10 next month, and who I consider as a miracle and a determined fighter. I'll tell you about her in my future postings insyaAllah).

I came home this afternoon from running errands to find this posted on the outside of the main door to our house.

It's a welcome home note for her father who has been away for 3 days and will be coming back home later this afternoon (safely, insyaAllah).

In case the writing is not so legible to you, it says, "We love you and we miss you dad"

Nak terkucil airmata I tau...

You may wonder how a 10-year-old's writing look like a 6-year-old's. But for me, this is a reminder of how far she has come and how much we, as a family, has endured.

It's a reminder that no matter how bleak the future had seem to us then, it can be turned around with determination, hard work, love and lots of doa. Without His love and mercy, none of this could've happened.

So this, my friends, is what I am eternally grateful for. The blessing of a family who love each other enough, to beat the odds.

Peace!