Just to cheer up the day

Desperately need something to boost up my mood..

Hahahaha!!

Ok, now.  Happy mood on, thinking cap is on. To thesis, bismillah.

We don't say goodbye!

"So how many kids do you have now?" He asked.

"One, the other on the way." She answered.

"Gosh, what are you gonna do? Clean the house all day?"

"I'm gonna have a day maid come over."

"What are you going to do? You're gonna get bored!"

The above conversation took part when a dear friend decided to retire at the age of 28, with a Master degree. And by retiring means, at the moment she is a full time stay at home mum (SAHM), with no part time business whatsoever - just the way I dream my retirement days would be. Just some passive income because I'm not into business.

And the questions were asked by a husband (I guess I should rephrase that to husbands, because many asked) of a SAHM wife. For me, it's an insult!

They seriously think raising a child would be a simple, boring job and expect the house to be clean by the time they got home and the wife to cook and then still we got bored?

Funny! A SAHM friend barely had time to eat, busy taking care of her three kids and making sure the house was organized.

But SAHM is still my ultimate dream regardless of however challenging it might be like. I once asked this dear friend, just remember your ultimate reason of why you want to retire, so that in difficult days you'll always think back of that reason. Love called it, the "in case briefcase".

She wrote her "in case briefcase" in a book that she gave me on her last day, "Remember in life, our goal is "lillah" (for Allah)! Insya Allah, that will keep us steadfast, happy and contented always, Ameen." I took the advice to heart.

For that is a very strong reason why my ultimate dream is to be a SAHM.

At this moment, I still feel at lost. That dear friend, Dr. Sumay is the closest to me in Uni. She is part of who I am today. I love her beyond words.

But I am so secure by her retirement, that I know, she is a friend I will keep for life, insya Allah :)

We're just a WhatsApp away, I love you to bits!

Penang with Khaira.

Had a conference at Park Royal, Penang and just had to bring the 2 important Ks in my life!!

I must thank this sweetheart for driving me all the way to Penang, supporting my conference and taking care of Khaira while I worked.

It was a relaxing holiday. Arrived Saturday night. Checked in at Holiday Cove.

The next morning, brought Baby K to swim :)

I didn't swim. Dah cukup "putih" from Langkawi's sunburn.



 Check out in the morning and had breakfast at Kapitan. Owh the best Nan Cheese and Tandoori!!

Then, check in at Park Royal, man I love this hotel..

Look, Kokonut Club, play area for kids!!

And the view is breath-taking.

Then, off to work. It's daddy daughter time. Tada!

My parenting vs your parenting

After about a year nursing Spiderbaby, I guess nursing has become very natural to me. Alhamdulillah. I am forever grateful as I remember how hard it was for me, that first couple of weeks when Khaira was born. I always believe that everything happens for a reason though, and after a year I finally understand why my breastfeeding journey started off so.

In the environment where I live, breastfeeding has been a norm. Everyone that I know in my office breastfeeds. Even before I got married, in every conference that we went, they would bring two large bags, one for their laptop and the other for their breast pump. And I would observe with amazement of how this magnificent machine works.

I admired their determination. In my mind back then was that, my baby had to be breastfeed. There is no alternative way. Back then, I had a perception that those who did not breastfeed were either ignorant or plain lazy. Little did I know the challenges of breastfeeding. And how much determination it takes. I learned, not in an easy way, but owh well.. if that's the price I have to pay, Alhamdulillah :)

When my EBM's stock spoilt due to power disruption in our house, my heart broke into million pieces. At a sight of seeing random friends posted their dozens of bottles of EBM in the freezer made me numb.

"We have to always look back at the purpose of why we breastfeed," my pumping buddy once told me. "Is it to give the best to our baby? Or more of for show? We don't want the good 'niat' at first changed to 'riak'." I took that advice to heart.

A little reminder to self and to all mommies, and so we breastfeed our baby, yes. And give her the healthiest food we thought we could. And the best stimulating toys. Even the best educations. And we attended the best parenting courses. How sure are we that our child would turn up as the best? And is our best equivalent to other people's definition of best?

Having one healthy happy baby doesn't give the right for us to condemn other people's method of parenting. Whether she wants to breastfeed her child or not or whether she wants to dress her child in high heels or etc.

There's a fine line between 'condemning' and 'advising'. And between 'showing off' and 'motivating'.

May we be on the better side of the lines. :)

Langkawheeee again :)

Langkawi again!! :) Third time in three years. First, during our honeymoon (read it here) and then with my mom (read it here).

We travelled to LCCT by bus and ERL. Khaira? It was her (and mine) first time by train, super excited! No worries, mommies, ERL and shuttle bus are super convenient for babies. ERL is on time and the interval is every 20 minutes.

As of the plane, it was Khaira's second time (read Khaira's first time at 7mo here). So, she behaved better :) Plus it was just an hour away! We rented a Suzuki ERV MPV auto for RM350 for 3 days, super cheap. Thank you, SIL and BIL for the contact numbers!

Day 1

Our first visit is to Beras Terbakar, shopped for some souvenirs.

Then, to Mahsuri's tomb.

After lunch, we checked in, stayed in Perdana Beach Resort Apartment. Very convenient especially with Baby K. I blended the rice and vege beforehand, cut the fish into small cubes. So, in order to cook Khaira's food, just dump the rice, vege and fish in the microwave for 10-15 minutes.

Later in the evening, we went to the Eagle's statue. And after dinner, we wrapped our day!

Day 2

Was drizzling in the morning, but just as we reached the island hopping's jetty, the weather was all perfect, Alhamdulillah. The boat ride was much better than Bali's but somehow Khaira was a bit unsettled here.

First stop, Tasik Dayang Bunting :) Had a timeout just Love and I for our solar boat ride. Owh how wonderful!

Next stop, Eagle feeding.

But the best has got to be, Pantai Beras Basah!!! Look at my little girl! How she loves the beach! ♥

Later in the evening, we shopped at Chenang and then to Wan Thai, Kuah for dinner as suggested again by BIL and SIL! Sedap and murah okeh. All these for RM156 :)

Day 3

Started our morning with swimming at the pool. Khaira was super happy!

Then, after lunch, shopped a little bit more. Love and I took another time out for a little Spa treat. Had my pedicure and scrub, Love and a foot massage.

And that was how our sweet trip ended. Best! Alhamdulillah, since I brought my whole family with me, everything is smooth sailing. Food sedap, murah, even island hopping we got it for RM25; previously with hubby and mom, RM35 each.

And travelling with my little traveler meant the word to me!

Next trip, Penang!!

Procrastinating

At this very moment, I have my marking to do, some thesis to be read, presentation slides for my conference in October and of course my PhD and some final stuff to settle for my holiday to Langkawi.

"Ay ay so much work to do. Never mind, can do later, work can never finish, let's blog first. I have been abandoning my blog for a while!"

Ah ha! That's procrastinating already!!

Procrastinating has been like a drug to us, we know it's bad and yet oh my god how addictive and convenient.

I once heard someone say, "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." And that was when I knew I had to change.

"Nah, I'm gonna do this after a little facebook." And while browsing your Facebook, you found out that your friend just got engaged. Called her up for a while to congratulate.

"Well, how often do a friend got engaged." Since you guys haven't been catching up for quite some times, you talked for about half an hour.

 "How often do I call her anyway?" Then, when it's time to start doing your work, you'd feel you should have a toilet break for a while. Then met your friend, go for a tea break.

Trying to start doing your work again, boss gave another job. And then that was it, that was when it was 5pm, you should be packing but you're just about to start your actual work.

How fun is procrastinating, right?

I have an easy punishment to myself. Every day, I would use my sticky notes, writing what I should do for the day, if I couldn't manage to get it done by that day, I would stay in the office until I can finish it. Go back late = very little time for Khaira = not happy = cranky Khaira = sleepless night = full of regrets.

Usually works, my motivation is of course my little ones.

However, some other suggestions that work for me:

1. I believe in "Blink". A little planning = good. A lot of planning = equally good. Stop thinking too much, just start/decide whatever you want and usually, insya Allah the ideas flow like a waterfall.
2. If the task is hard and you feel like holding it until you have the mood, then just starts doing it. The more you push it away, the less mood you'll have.

3. Just start, even though you are 5 minutes away before lunch time. At least you get some basic idea on what you should do.

4. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” - Dale Carnegie

5. Stop procrastinating with the simplest thing. When you wake up in the morning, snooze for 5 minutes, that's procrastinating already. If you can eliminate all the small things, the big one will be just a piece of cake.

Let us all aim for a quality lifestyle.

Baby steps insya Allah.

Woman :)

Pardon me for the lack of update, am currently in thesis writing mode.

Menawhile, would like to share this..