Living with Sarah

Our baju kurung cotton for kids side business is progressing quite well even though Ramadhan has just started. Last year busy sikit towards the end, this year people have started buying and inquiring before puasa even started. This year, the materials we found are actually "biasa". Why I say biasa because last year we found materials yang orang lain tak jual. And those materials - tahun ni baru orang start jual. For example - the polkadot materials - yang tu last year lagi we all dah jual. The ones yang tengah hot hot sekarang ie big polkadots and butterflies - those are Aliyah's baju raya last year! Linda and I scouted around trying to find different kinds of materials and did found a few. Those are the ones we are selling now. Tapi not much choice actually. One that we found yang sedang hot stuff is the mickey mouse material - big mickey mouse design in adorable colours. We found other people sell the small mickey mouse design. Anyway, we are having fun at this. Thi...

Bersyukur itu sememangnya lebih susah dari bersabar. Walau banyak mana dugaan pun, kita tetap bersabar - going from one day to another to another. Masih bersabar. Tapi sepanjang bersabar tu selalu terlupa nak bersyukur. Kan? No matter how hard life is, there are always other people who are having it harder. Alhamdulillah, we finally got the payment. Terima kasihlah Encik Kura-kura. However, by now, payment dah jadi macam air sirap cincau di bulan puasa - mengalir masuk bank terusss keluarrr... Tak singgah pun! However, I realise today how fortunate and blessed we are. We are surrounded by awesome people who would always help. From staff who accepts the difficult phase we are facing now, to partners who tolerate and continue doing projects with us. Syukur pada Allah for such great people around. On another note, we are getting more colourful people as tenants at our office soon. From teacher-writer to lawyer to health product agent. By end of the month, we will have enough to pay of...

I love Ramadhan. It just gives you the push to do more ibadah than usual. Contohnya, kalau biasa solat Duha 2 atau 4 rakaat saja, sekarang buat 8 rakaat. Bangun untuk sediakan sahur 30mins early and dapat solat sunat 2-3 round. Semoga lepas Ramadhan pun berkekalan. So far things are good. Walaupun payment yang dinanti tu masih belum dapat lagi (ya Allah, Kau ampunkanlah semua dosa Encik Xxxx yang memproses payment kami tu dengan kadar kura-kura itu...), tapi alhamdulillah masih boleh berbuka dan bersahur dengan makanan yang sederhana tapi sangat cukup. Alhamdulillah, Aliyah memang seorang anak yang sangat sederhana. Dia tak pernah la nak mintak pergi Pasar Ramadan (dia memang tak suka sangat pun) and nak mintak beli 4-5 jenis makanan dan air untuk buka puasa. To her - ada cempedak goreng dah cukup best, air - her teh bunga kotak tu. Lauk - kalau ada tomyam ayam memang dia makan banyak. All those food like ayam percik la, chicken chop la - memang dia tak pernah mintak. So I usually ...

This was shared on FB today. So very true... When we used to do what we usually do, nobody notices. Simply said - satu kampung tak notice. Now that we don't do what we usually do, simply said - satu kampung mengata. Yang penting - Allah tau. Itu dah cukup. Manusia tak tau, tak apa... Now that I don't and can't do what I usually do, the only thing that I do and can do is to pray for the health and happiness of the ones I love. Asalkan Allah tau...

We have been constantly getting small translation work from this particular insurance company. Some are just a few pages, others can reach to 50 or more. Depends. It's like a free-lance/part-time work actually in between our other tasks. The one we are currently doing is quite heavy - 48 pages. Plus 2 small jobs (from other departments apparently - we deal mainly with the Corp Comm Department). So, we have been spending the weekend and most certainly till end of this week doing translation work. I sit in our study while Hubby park himself at the kitchen table. With insurance-related terms flying back and forth (we have become a bit of an expert now!), the problem with doing this is backache. Seriously.

We bought Aliyah this label-maker as a present for being the top in class. As I wrote before, she's not in the right class - her average results still take her to the top. But still, she deserves a nice present for her efforts. She's been wanting the label-maker for months. My daughter is crazy over stationery stuff.  Back to her results... know what, I don't really care whether she tops her class or not, or whether she gets all As or not. I personally don't believe in our school grading system. Anybody can excel if one knows how. At the moment, the surest way is to send your kid to some good tuition centre that promises 5As. If you ask me - the only worry I have for Aliyah is that she feels pressured or even ashamed if she doesn't get good grades in her UPSR next year as compared to her other cousins. There surely be comparisons. I know it's still a long way to go but we need to stop this unhealthy practice. Each child is a genius in his or her own way. ...

Happenings around the house... I'm currently reading Eat, Pray, Love - 3rd part. I'm finally in Bali. Italy was awesome, India was a bit boring, but Bali is seriously interesting. I can just imagine the place, especially that Lizz Gilbert stayed in Ubud. I love Ubud. It was like stepping into history. It felt like Mr Bean (Mr Bean's Holiday) waking that morning to the shooting of that WW1 commercial! She said in her book - people who come to Ubud are "classy" compared to the tourists who sip pina colada by the surf. (I must thank Yatt for taking me to Ubud on our 1st part of our holiday last time). I wish I can visit Bali again... Let's see... I've started cycling again. I've stopped cycling for some unknown reason. I bought a new pair of cycling shoes to get riding again but only get to try on the pair yesterday - after 2 months I think. Felt good. Must continue.  I hope to lose some weight by cycling. My weight has been stagnant for years ...

Tajuk pun dah promo gitu. Memang nak promo pun! Today our training room is ready for use. Tomorrow our first client will be using it to conduct a motivational course (I think). So, dengan bantuan a very nice Bibik cleaner from downstairs, the stairs are now clean and smell good, and our carpets are all dust-less. Others, we do ourselves - clean the toilets, arrange the furniture, etc. Other "training-related stuff" has also been replenished - mints and bottled water, coffee, tea, etc for our free flow coffee and tea offer. The room is available for rent - at very reasonable price. Food catering can also be discussed. Long-term rent can get discounts :)  They requested U-shape without tables. Weird juga... One corner - the table for observer / trainer. On top of the low cupboards are bottled drinks and mints. We added potted plants. Nice touch :) Nampak fresh sikit...