Ramblings of a Mami of Two

Hakimi is still in his talk-ask-non-stop phase. Why this, why that, how this, how that, who this who that.  He would ask the same question tens of times that sometimes I just had to tell him to stop. Or else I would go mad.  Tonight, in the car on our way home he asked us about sembelih and one question led to another. I gave up about 10 mins into the conversation, while Ach continued answering him. Tiba-tiba I noticed that Hakimi was talking less and less... apparently Ach had turned the table on him, asking him one question after another. Ayah: Kenapa kereta dalam cerita Mr Gru boleh masuk dalam air?  Kimi : Sebab dia tere. Ayah : Macam mana dia boleh masuk dalam air? Kimi : Macam dalam cerita Cloudy 2! Ayah : Kenapa Mr Gru bawak kereta dalam Cloudy 2? Kimi : Tak, dia bawak kereta yang boleh masuk dalam air, sama macam cloudy 2. Ayah : Kenapa mesti masuk dalam air? Kenapa kereta kita tak boleh masuk air? And it went on and on and on until.....

Daddy's boy through and through, this one. One of the mornings Ach made me send Kimi to school so I did. Kimi made face even before we entered my car, asking why am I the one sending him instead of Ayah.  I was fine with that and with him not being happy, until: Kimi : Kenapa mami yang hantar? Mami : Because I want to talk to your teacher. And plus, I miss you.  I was hoping that would stir some emotions but I was wrong.  Nothing happened, there was not even a smile on his face.  Mami : What? Why? Tak suka mami hantar? Kimi : Suka. Tapi suka jugak bila Ayah ada.  Mami : Kimi tak sayang mami ke? (I just HAD to ask) Kimi : Kimi sayang dua-dua. Tapi kalau ayah tu kimi sayang 4. Mami kimi sayang 3.  I felt like my heart was hit by a tsunami so hard it left a hole deeper than Mariana trench. Drama. But then come to think of it, nak terasa pun buat apa? Ach spends more time with him, taking h...

No, sebelum ni dia takla buruk pun. Ach and I seldom talk about his business. Its either we don't talk work stuff at home ( which I don't think is true - Ach knows whos who and whats what in the office ) or Ach is not much of a talker, or aku yang tak observant to notice things.  Because of this, I don't know much about Aidan's development - how they are doing, who their clients are, etc. I did not even know that Aidan was renovating their office. Baru malam semalam je Ach showed me the new office facade - sangat cantik. Sangat sangat.  And saya tiba-tiba mengalirkan air mata kebanggaan. Saya bangga dengan suami saya and his team. Picture from Suhaimi Ramly Tau tak, masa mula-mula they set the company up, I saw how my husband worked hard to keep up with two jobs at one time. He was, literally, working night and day. Siang kerja makan gaji, malam kerja untuk bagi orang lain gaji.  When I was pregnant with Kimi, Ach would teman me until I fall asle...

In my last entry I told you that I like personalised stuff, stuff that tells stories. Charm bracelets do exactly that. They tell stories that only the owners can tell.  Earlier last year I stumbled upon Pandora & Thomas Sabo, and I fell in love with both ever since. I imagine each charm to represent something special in my life. They will look like ordinary charms to you but to me, they are more than just charms. They are stories. The reason I did not get them was because they are too expensive. Tooo expensive for a cheapskate like me. Fortunately, dear husband tau perangai aku and gave me one for my 29th birthday. I was happy. He gave me the "starter kit"; the bracelet, 2 spacers and 1 charm. Dia kata, the rest isi sendiri.  Baiklah! Sebelum cari my charms, I must first set the criteria: Since ada 3 column (2 spacers), my charms must fall in either one of these three categories: family, for family stories. One for each family member, signi...

I have always been a very sentimental person. I don't show my emotions on a daily basis but seriously, I am sentimental, to the point that it gets mental sometimes.  I adore scrapbooks - I keep things that may seem meaningless to others but tells  a thousand stories for me - I keep movie stubs for most of the movies I'd watched with Ach in RPI, I still have a piece of a Fall leaf from Prospect Park, when Ach and I did nothing but baring-baring on the grass, back in Fall 2004. I still have that piece of  receipt on which  Ach wrote "New York Spring 2003".  I am a sucker for personalised, handmade cards and craft projects - they show how much you care about someone, well enough to spend some time designing the cards. Bila ada celebrations coming up, I would be busy thinking what kind of card am I going to make. Beaded? Quilled? Felt? What design? What is the celebration? What does he like? What do I want to tell in the cards? I'll incorporate all of th...

This has got to be the sexiest song of all time. p.s: Sorry for a star-struck post like this. Can't help it.   When moonlight crawls along the street Chasing away the summer heat Footsteps outside somewhere below The world revolves I let it go We build our church above this street We practice love between these sheets The candy sweetness scent of you It bathes my skin I'm stained by you And all I have to do is hold you There's a racing in my heart I am barely touching you The moonlight plays upon your skin A kiss that lingers takes me in I fall asleep inside of you There are no words There's only truth Breathe in Breathe out There is no sound We move together up and down We levitate our bodies soar Our feet don't even touch the floor And nobody knows you like I do The world doesn't understand But I grow stronger in your hands We never sleep we're always holdin' hands Kissin' for h...

Welcome 2012! Time for new resolutions. Personal: Must, MUST, lose the 3 kgs ( ntah2 dah 5kg dah by now ) that I gained troughout last year.To do that, I MUST eat start eating healthily I must, must, must increase my monthly savings from almost nonexistent to xx. Must be a better Muslim by not missing my prayers and praying on time, to always think the best of other people i.e. reduce mindless gossiping.      Career: I must not procrastinate. I must be a good colleague (pun tak mau explain) I have a few that i dont feel like blogging on. Family: This one I must get back to you sebab this one kena jointly develop dengan ach. Ach: Must be a good wife to Ach. (too broad tapi takpelah, I dont have to explain) I must make my family eat healthily (which is why I WANT a countertop george foreman grill), less oil, less white carb, less fat, more fibers, etc.  Kimi: Kimi must be able to recognize all alphabets by ...

As I told ya last week , its the year of Appliances. On the 7th, when I got home from work, Kimi ran at me and ajak aku naik atas to our bedroom. Ach jerit "Kimiiii jangan bawak mami naik atas!" while giving him the death stare. Kimi cepat2 cover and said, "takde ape ape mami.. jom turun balik jom." Gelak besar aku. That night, we took mak for dinner at Sekinchan Ikan Bakar. Before we left the house, Ach gave me a heavy box, an envelope, a kiss on the cheek and said, Happy Anniversary. Kimi pun sibuk-sibuk, kissed me and said, "beytu mami!", that's I love you too mami in his language. I brought the box into the car, Kimi cakap, mami bukak la sekarang. Bukak, kimi nak tengok. I opened the box, and got this black thingy. Ach kata its a power surge protector. So I ws like, oh okay. Maybe I need this in my house. Yeay! Thanks husband! We ate ikan bakar, got home, I gave ach a power drill, because I know he wants to  DIY a lot of things  whe...

Ya Allah, Dialah cahaya hidupku, Yang membawa aku jauh dari kegelapan yang menyedihkan, Dialah kebahagiaanku. Ya Allah, Dialah semangatku, Yang tak pernah putus asa dengan aku, Dialah pendukung aku. Ya Allah, Dialah gelak tawaku, Di saat aku duka, Dialah kegembiraanku. Ya Allah, Dialah teman aku, Dialah suamiku. Ya Allah, Berkatilah suamiku, Rahmatilah suamiku, Murahkanlah rezeki suamiku, Jauhkanlah suamiku dari dukacita yang menyakitkan, Kurniakanlah dia kebahagian seperti mana dia membahagiakan aku. Ya Allah, Andainya aku yang terbaik untuk suamiku, Jadikanlah aku isteri yang baik Jadikanlah aku isteri yang solehah Kerana aku ingin membahagiakan dia seperti mana dia membahagiakan aku. Happy 29th Birthday, Dearest Husband. Love, Wifey aChieaJanie, 3rd June 2011, Impiana KLCC

Whoa. Four years. Yeah, our fourth anniversary is coming soon. According to Wiki , (try googling for Wedding Anniversary), fourth year is the year of Appliances. Last year's was leather.Last year, Ach gave me seven handbags. Yeap, you read that right, SEVEN. One handbag a day up to the anniversary day itself. Didn't blog about it for fear of sounding too happy macam kanak2 ribena or monyet dapat bunga. You see, I dont like to spend my money buying bags (branded or non branded, sama je). The last time  I bought a branded bag (not designer bag) was hmmm, 4 years ago. Tak sampai hati nak belanja RM500 for a piece of leather. Ada some of the bags yang aku gantung je dalam almari sebab sayang nak guna. Business Card Holder that Ach use as hiw wallet till now Anyways, yeah, this year's theme is Appliances. Kalau ikut traditional gifts its linen / silk, tapi since we are we are planning to move into a new house next year, appliance...

... that I finally, finallyyyy, saw Kimi and Ach both enjoyed my food. The same food. I know Ach has always enjoyed the food that I cook ( either that, or he's a good actor ), but for Kimi, I've always had to prepare different set of milder food. Eg: Ach gets ayam sambal, Kimi gets soup ayam. But last night, Tuhan turunkan wahyu suruh aku masak spaghetti aglio olio (sp?) ikut resepi sendiri... Mostly because i didnt know what to cook. But I was surprised to see both  of them ate like they had never eaten for the past 10 years!!! Kimi voluntarily kissed me on the cheek and said, "Thank you mommy masak sedap!" and Ach pun sama kissed me and said, "TQ Bie!". They finished their serving in 10 mins. It was a small serving tho. Eh? Ehhh? Since when did this happen? Why did this happen? I am so not used to this! I was overjoyed. The feeling could easily beat the feeling of getting a new job. Seriously. Haih, the joy of being a mom and a wife. The smil...

Honestly, I'm running out of romantic mushy mushy words to use here. I gotta start reading more Nicholas Sparks books, I guess. The Wedding was a good start. By the way, it's our 3rd Anniversary today. Time flies when you're having fun. For the past week we've written about us ( a bit too much, sometimes? Kimi wont have any problems telling our grandkids about us ), how we met, what we did... The only thing I think I should write but did not is " Why him ". 'Cause I don't know why. It just feels right. He makes me feel good. Don't ask me how and in what ways, because I don't know. He just knows me. In and out. Like the back of his hands. Better than I know myself. It feels like, if anything happens to me, he wouldn't leave me high and dry. I feel safe with him. Oh well. Too bad you ladies out there, he's taken. He's mine. He loves me. And I love him too. =)

5th December 2002 It was the last day of Ramadhan. I was a freshman. He was a sophomore. "Ajan dah bukak puasa?" "Dah buka dekat Commons tadi." "Jom teman Amal buka puasa. " "Boleh gak. Ajan tunggu kat bawah." I called myself Ajan. He called himself Amal. It was winter, it was cold. I was wearing my favorite Applemint black tank with my favorite grey cardigan. He was wearing his dark blue long sleeve with yellow stripes. Not one of my favorites. It was still too early to have favorites, anyways. He came to pick me up. I saw his Putra from my room window. Cary 304. I met him downstairs, near the dump bin belakang Cary Hall I grabbed the only handbag I had, a denim Marie Claire handbag. I rushed down the stairs. He said hi. I smiled and said hi back. He opened the car door for me. I thought he was charming. We arrived at Shalimar 15 minutes later. I ordered chicken vindaloo with naan, he ordered chicken tikka masala with plain...

One night... Ajan : Awak sayang saya tak? Ach  : Sayang. Ajan : Nape awak sayang saya? Ach  : Sebab awak cantik. Ajan : Tapi ramai yang lagi cantik dari saya. Ach  : Aah. Tapi saya tak dapat diorang. Cis.

After seven years , aChieaJanie is now complete. =)

Disclaimer: What happened was totally accidental. Wasn't planned at all! Background setting: Ach bought us a 2-day entrance ticket to the Disneyland. The story: Later that night, we went to Disneyland to watch the nightly fireworks show. I thot we were gonna watch it from the outside. Sampai je dekat entrance gate, confidently, ach hulur ticket kitorang. Maka kami pun dapat la masuk. But then, somehow i felt uneasy... I said to ach: Ajan : Yang, kalau kita masuk malam ni, kira ticket kita tinggal satu hari je la kan yang? Tak ke? Ach : Taklah. Mana ada. * three seconds later * Ach: Eh... hmm... Jap. * Ran to the gate girl and dissapeared * * 20 minutes later * Ach : * all smiles * Bie! Kita dapat masuk free malam ni! Ajan : Hahahaha. Good job husband! What happened in those 20 minutes he dissappeared: He found out that our 2-day ticket dah tinggal jadi one-day ticket. Memang sangat logic la pun kan? Kiranya we've used our first day ticket and instead of dapat ...

Kawan rasa ini merupakan perkara yang paling sukar dalam sebarang proses ubah suai rumah. Kawan dengar macam-macam rungutan rakan-rakan tentang kontraktor mereka. Ada yang cabut lari lepas dapat deposit, ada yang buat ala-kadar dan cincai, ada yang asyik minta naikkan harga dengan alasan barang dah makin mahal. Macam-macam yang kawan dengar tentang pengalam rakan-rakan lain ubah suai rumah. Sebab tu dari awal, kawan nak pastikan kawan tak sama tersilap langkah dalam proses ni. Kawan akui bukan senang nak cari kontraktor yang boleh puaskan hati sampai siap ubahsuai sebab tu kawan senaraikan dulu apa yang kawan mahukan. Kontraktor tu nanti mestilah Harga Murah Harga merupakan faktor utama yang kawan kena fikirkan. Kalau boleh cari yang paling murah. Kawan rasa apa saja yang kawan boleh buat sendiri, kawan buat sendiri, dengan tu boleh kurangkan harga keseluruhan projek. Lagi satu tips untuk dapatkan kontraktor yang murah, cari kontraktor yang buat semua kerja. Dia tauke, dia juga kul...

Perkara pertama dalam Project Dua ialah besarkan dapur rumah kami. Ini adalah projek terbesar dan termahal dalam Project Dua. Jadi sebab tu kami putuskan untuk siapkan penambahan belakang rumah ini terlebih dahulu. Lagi pun kami bayangkan kami sekeluaga akan luangkan banyak masa di dapur bila Dua siap nanti. Jadi kami mahukan dapur kami diberi perhatian terlebih dahulu. Lagi pun Ajan sangat gembira untuk tackle projek ini dulu macam dia tulis kat sini , sini dan sini . Dapur Asal Masa kawan putuskan untuk beli Dua tiga tahun dulu, memang kawan dah bayangkan yang kawan akan sambung dapur sampai ke hujung. Saiz asal dapur memang agak kecil, cuma 84 kaki persegi. 14 kaki lebar dan cuma 6 kaki panjang. Kat belakang tu pula tiada dinding cuma ada grill sampai ke siling. Kawan memang dah tahu tentang grill ni, dan memang dari awal kawan nak besarkan dapur, sebab tu tak kisah sangat tentang grill ni masa beli dulu. Dan satu lagi, kalau perasan, sekarang ni hampir semua rumah baru pemaju...

Last  night, Ach was teaching Kimi using his flashcards. 10 minutes later Kimi got bored and started throwing his cards around. Ayah : Takkan baling satu je? Yang lain tanak baling? Kimi : *Baling lagi banyak kad* Ayah : Ini, car ni tanak baling? Kimi : *Baling car* Ayah : Lagi? Truck? Lego? Kimi : *Baling everything* Note: I have absolutely no idea what Ach was trying to do. I guess he was trying to do this reverse psychology thing, but I don’t think it was working, because: Ayah : Ha, dah takde benda dah ke nak baling? Best ke Kimi baling2 barang ni? Kimi : Deh! (best) Ayah : *Gave up* Mommy : Hahahahahahahha gelak guling-guling sampai sakit perut. Picture credit to Kay @ the Photolicious

Malam tu lepas makan malam, kawan dan Ajan borak-borak pasal Project Dua ni. Apa nak buat, bila nak buat, macam-mana nak mula... Malam yang sama juga Ajan jemput kawan tulis dalam blog ni. Jadi secara tak langsung, kawan rasa sebab ni juga Ajan jemput kawan tulis kat sini. Apa Project Dua ni? Kami panggil rumah kami 'Dua'. Kenapa 'Dua'? Apa kaitan dengan gambar ni? Itu nanti lain kali kawan cerita. Dua akan penuhkan masa lapang kami setahun-dua ni. Tujuan utama projek ni nak jadikan Dua dari simple house kepada sweet home kami. Vague? Oklah secara terperincinya Project Dua ni adalah projek kami sekeluarga (Ach, Ajan and Kimi) ubahsuai rumah idaman kami. Rumah ni kawan beli tiga tahun dulu, masa tu Ajan masih anak dara sunti lagi, Kimi, hmm kawan pun tak tau, mungkin masa tu tengah sibuk dikelillingi bidadari syurga kot! Dua tahun lepas tu, rumah pun siap. Kawan ambil kunci rumah, tapi sampai dua bulan lepas, kami langsung tak buat apa-apa pun kat rumah ni. Se...