the season for Family

It is currently the 7th day of Raya, and as I am sure goes for everyone else, it has been a busy week indeed. For me, Hari Raya is mainly meant for family to gather round, catch up and in some cases patch up. We have been to both of our parents' homes of course this year supposedly my hubby's turn first, but due to his family's visiting plans, we opted to go to my parents' house first. The usual eating session followed and then the annual picture taking. Then off to the in-laws place in K.J. This year we were busier than usual as my two sisters-in-law were back from overseas to join in the festivities, as well as my hubby's niece, Iman. Of course , my two younger girls were thrilled to have a 'temporary' elder sister, and they spent a lot of time playing together. It's really great watching children enjoy each others' company. There were other houses which we visited of course, and all of them have contributed to expanding yours truly's girth...(including the famous 'sambal goreng' from Kampung Jawa...yum...yum....every single ingredient in this dish is pre-fried before they are all mixed in together to be mixed into a sublime offering...) My kids being the happy recipients of duit Raya have already anticipated spending some on toys...and today we're probably headed out to the shopping mall for that very purpose..!

get ready for Raya!

Well...after all the hullabaloo surrounding the spring cleaning episode, calm seems to have temporarily descended onto the homestead. (although I wouldn't hold my breath seeing it's two days to Raya!) So far, I have managed to accumulate the needed so-called 'essentials' for such an occasion - baju raya, kuih raya, Raya decorations... but there are some other stuff to be done, namely some last minute alterations to my daughter's baju kurung,. Other than that I need to put up some picture frames and mirror around the living room.Thank God I had the curtains changed while the D.H. (domestic helper) was still around. Seems everything is set, and as per usual I'm not too worried about having to have a large spread of food in the house because we usually do the feasting at our respective parents' houses. This year will be a larger gathering than usual as my sisters-in -law will be back from overseas, so it will definitely be more fun.Hopefully all will turn out to be well and good this Raya! For this , I wish everyone the season's greetings and for all Muslims - Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin. Be safe and drive safe y'all!!

part deux of "trying to do a good deed..."

And so the saga continues.After launching a massive counter-attack on the termite colony(henceforth T.C.) , I was feeling justifiably smug..until 2..yes TWO days later my D.H. reported to me that the pesky 'terminators' had come back with their own form of retalitation. And they didn't even bother to hide their tracks. It was as if they were thumbing their noses right at me ( if they had noses, that is) My friendly neighbour Mr. Lee helpfully told me of his own plans to call the Exterminator for a routine maintenance spray session, so I gratefully asked him to call the guy and have him do my house. I was rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of soon getting rid of them. Of course , by now, my D.H. has already bid me and my family adieu for her said sojourn to her motherland. Which meant that I was , for now, the last man standing on the battlefield. As any good soldier would do, I manfully ( keyword: man , because the real 'man' in the house was no where to be found. He had helpfully instructed me over the phone to empty out the whole store after putting as many miles between him and the house ....Gee, thanks, sweetie!!) set about strategizing on how to best rid myself of this menace. I concluded that since I'm tad squeamish when it comes to anything of the creepy crawly kind, it would be a good idea to kill them first. Then I discovered the Ridsect was gone . Of to the nearby Petronas for some more ammo, and I was good to go. I went through two little cans ( that was all they stocked) before covering all of their tracks. Then came the torturous scraping, sweeping and bagging session. Pheuh,! Thank God my little girl decided to help Mommy out by not getting into too much trouble. Afterwards, grimy, dusty, and more than a little intoxicated by the insecticide fumes, I staggered to the car to collect my firstborn from preschool. Then off to my mom's to escape the fumes permeating the house.( and for some delish home - cooked food for buka puasa...yum!!!) Thank you Mak for helping me keep my sanity!

try to do a good deed....( and it bites you in the a**)

As submitted before, I was in the spirit of spring cleaning in welcoming the Raya season.And so I decided to , rightfully, tackle my storeroom. Little did I know of the 'delicious' surprises that awaited within. I had already ventured, tentatively, in the preceding days to stake out the possible condition of the store, which to be honest I haven't truly looked at for close to 2 years. At first glance everything looked pretty okay. The plastic boxes I had bought for the last spring cleaning session seemed to be neatly stacked, the odds and ends around it didn't look too bad. I was already imagining unpacking my 'arts and crafts' box in order to indulge in some seriously overdue glass and mirror painting ( a pet hobby I have not been at for ages) and I was already seeing the lovely ( I'd hoped) mirrors decorating my still-bare walls in the living room. And of course, the parquet tiles replacement I had bought beforehand on one of the numerous window shopping walks I take at my favourite hardware store - Ace...( I LOVE YOU ACE!!) was supposed to be replacing the ones which have mysteriously disappeared from the rooms upstairs. And lo behold! ( but you know by now that things didn't work out that way) my precious and not so precious things had been devoured by ferocious little white monsters. Arghh!!! The moniker 'white ants' just doesn't do these critters justice. I mean , come on!! That's like imaging albino ants innocently meandering along, minding their own business, not the actual reality of these highly efficient 'demolition experts'. Someone should really get into hiring these guys out for taking down structures( wooden of course) and they would do it in a fraction of the time for FREE!!! So, what it boils down to is this....no glass deco, no new parquet laid out , massive amounts of gross earthy clumps( that is virtually impossible to remove unless you take a Brillo to it) and loose sawdust. Oh yeah, I forgot about the gut wrenching and loud screaming guaranteed number of little brown black scattering resident German cockroaches that when stepped upon release a yucky black gooey residue. Do I really need to say more??? THANK GOD I still had my D.H. ( domestic helper) at hand to lend a hand ( ok, do most of the work). Just remembering all this is making me tired.Remember the proverb folks- "No good deed goes unpunished- Oscar Wilde".

Domestic Help!!

In only 4 days time my maid and her daughter will make their annual journey back to their 'kampung' to celebrate Raya. As usual, during this time I get jittery thinking about the time I will have sans maid...how will I possibly survive? You get so used people doing things for you that you've lulled yourself into a sense of inability. But, as happens every year, somehow I get through it, and sometimes find myself wishing I didn't have a maid( on VERY GOOD days, of course) Otherwise I usually find myself counting of the time..Pathetic,isn't it?So this time around I have resolved to make things as easy as possible for myself by making most of the Raya preps now , while the maid is still around ( because of this I'm sure the maid is even more eager to see the green pastures of home!) I take the opportunity to do spring cleaning, which I believe is essential anyway, at least once a year. Advice for the faint-hearted- be utterly ruthless! This will ensure you will not be left with unnecessary junk ( you know they really are) and maybe to give away things that you're not really using to others who might need it more. In aid of this I have been to Giant ( local retailer) to get some brand-spanking new boxes in which to stuff and organize the store. So, with all this clear space and neatly put away stuff, may I have the courage and fortitude to undergo this coming month.Amin!

one little lie..( among thousands of others)

Some people think it's ok to lie occasionally . Particularly in occasions where it would seem to smooth over situations instantly. I have to confess I occasionally indulge in that other form of lie- the omission of truth, but I'm happy to say it's not that often. However, if anyone thinks that it's okay to lie constantly, then think again. Almost certainly there will be consequences to this, not least of which is the erosion of trust of the person that has been lied to. Over time, the damage may even be irreparable and one stands to lose a close one over lying once too often. I myself hate liars. To me, they always have something to hide. And when they may rarely be found to tell the truth, you find yourself doubting them because of being burnt too often by untruths. It's a vicious cycle indeed.Lie once, then you might have to lie again to cover the first lie. Then it just goes on from there until the liar himself might have trouble differentiating which is the lie and which is the truth.As a Malay proverb eloquently illustrates - " Siakap, senohong, gelama ,ikan duri, bercakap bohong lama- lama mencuri " Translates to loosely mean if you make a habit of telling lies, you'll progress to doing other bad things. I find this to be very true for I find that liars in lying to others often lie to themselves about their own actions, hence allowing them to commit wicked deeds while shushing their own conscience with their own twisted perception of reality. I wager it will be very hard to find an 'honest' thief, albeit there being a saying about 'honor among thieves'. In the end, is it even worth it to loose the respect and esteem of those around you. What more of their love, which must thrive upon a bed of sincerity and honesty.