Living with Sarah

One month after Aliyah started her "preparations", today she got her braces installed. (Installed is the word, no?). If you ask me, she actually looks really cute :). She was giggling at first, then, after a few hours she started to feel the strain on her teeth. Ngilu, katanya.  She's quite conscious of the food she can and cannot eat. Mak Longnya kata, "Laa... tambah kuruslah Aliyah!".

Today we finalised the physical book version. Very satisfied with our partner's work. Alhamdulillah... Insyaallah, they will send for printing very, very soon. We have started sending out invites to our event. It's to fulfill one last requirement of getting the grant. Dah lama tak organise event, letih rupanya :).

We visited our partner - Code's - new office in Oval Damansara yesterday to finalise our iBook. Alhamdulillah, it is finally completed. So totally completed. Now just waiting for them to create account and upload it for us. After that last correction/change was done on screen, and we browse through the iBook one final time, this heavy burden I've been carrying on my shoulders for the past 1.5 years suddenly just disappeared. Such a relief. And such a joyous feeling. We also finalised the book version. So, we'll have 2 products at the same time - the iBook and the actual book. With about 3 weeks to go before the launch, things look quite smooth. Insyaallah... One good thing about meeting our partner is - they are a bunch of energetic and optimistic young chaps. I have done the outline of the next book, but I have put it aside for now. Belum allocate masa untuk ponder, think and strategise the next steps. The huge hindrance is of course funding. But these guys actually as...

We received a surprise visit from ByRoadtoMalaysia today. Such an honour. Pernah terbaca somewhere before. We were at the counter discussing some advertising matters and suddenly this huge motorhome parked itself in front of the shop. Apparently Encik Jamalulail was driving around in this area and asked around for a bike shop. He wanted to change the grips of his bike. However, we don't have the grips at our shop. Hubby checked his bike and gave him 2 tubes as a gift :) The motorhome. I wish I could see how it is inside tapi segan pulak.  The bike. He said at some places, motorhomes are not allowed on the street, so he uses his bike to go around buying supplies. Encik Jamalulail with towkey Mysa Bike Hub :)

Semalam pusara arwah my father kami naikkan batu nesan dan letak kepok. It's been one month plus now. Reality has started to set in... On Friday, I submitted the A Form for Agihan Pusaka Kecil. Alhamdulillah, everything that needs to be done, has been done. Semoga Abah tenang di sana. The photos - from start till finish:  Mula-mula tanah diratakan. Lepas tu letak kepok di atas.  Our cousin assisted. Penuhkan tanah dalam kepok.  Lepas pacak batu nesan, pasir satu layer.  Tanam pokok kecil sikit, one last layer of batu halus.  Yassin dan tahlil led by Hubby. That's my brother Angah, my Abang Ben and furthest is my Pak Usu Mansur, my father's youngest brother.  Nephews - Abang Ijam and Along Iwan.  My father is sorely missed... Doa kami semoga kuburnya dilapangkan, diluaskan... semoga kuburnya bagai sebahagian dari taman-taman syurga...

Ya Allah, where should I even begin... Last night, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz passed away at 9.45pm. Malam yang sangat mulia. Malam Jumaat. Innalillah... A loss that just gripped my heart. For as long as I can remember, TGNA has always been a political figure so strong in the country. And highly-respected and well-loved ulama. Such down-to-earth man. Small yet hard as steel. His death touched a soft spot in my heart because he was sick just at the time when my father was sick. And one FB status of his son shared by a friend stated that a few weeks ago he got a bit better but still weak - very low sodium content in the body. Just like my father. And while I was browsing FB and Twitter for more information, a friend who's a lecturer in UPM wrote the passing of another well-known person. My lecturer at UPM when I was taking my Masters, who also happen to be our ex-project advisor for our iBook project - Prof. Musa Abu Hassan. Innalillah... He passed at 9.05pm last night. I was du...

Am I the only one or it's now considered normal to be surrounded by people and yet feel so alone? At dinner table, playing games or checking Whatsapp is more important than having a decent conversation. Just tonight, I spent 2 hours watching a movie on TV and not speaking to anybody because those "anybody" were busy with their phones.  Lately I have given up trying to start a conversation because it feels so not worth it. Deep inside, I tell myself that one day when people look up from their phones and realise that the people who used to care about them have grown tired and sick of them, then that time, it might already be too late.