Burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear

Just a little something I'd like to share with everyone. Life is definitely full of challenges and trials and none of us is an exception. But this is something that can serve as both a dua (prayer) and a reminder for us.

Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:286
Source

Which bears the following meaning:

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of ] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."

So, have patience everybody and remember that you will not be challenged beyond your capacity..You are strong enough to endure this..insyaa Allah.

Take care!

CKD's Little Rosebud Village

My little CKD has a massive imagination. A few months ago I noticed her playing with my collection of Starbucks Bearista Bear magnets that I collected way back when I was still working in Starbucks. Have no idea what stories she was making up because she was telling it in her own language which sounds mostly gibberish to me. Now she doesn't speak gibberish anymore but sound totally like a big small boss.. -

"Okay mama, enough. No more"she says when I'm having some of her juice.
"I taknak! (I don't want!)" when we tell her to go have a bath
"Pigi mandi! (Go shower!)" her way of telling us to go away..don't ask!:P
"MY teacher say put in my bag" to tell me that she brought back a book from school and its in her bag..
"Naiya kacau Keisha!" fibs she tells when she wants her baby sister to leave her alone. Yes, she calls her baby sister Rania - Naiya

Her vocab has improved a lot. And also has some mandarin and spanish thrown into her vocab thanks to Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai Lan.

So anyway, over the weekend, we went to Mothercare in Subang Parade just to window shop at the Christmas Sale that was going on. And little miss CKD discovered the Rosebud Village set. After some negotiations with the little boss, I finally submitted to getting her the Family Doll set comprises of a mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, big sister and a baby.

Rosebud Village Family Dolls

 She instantly associated the doll family to our family with the grandparents being my mom and my FIL (need to get another grandma to include her mak tok!)

Since it was on sale, I managed to get the dolls at RM40 instead of the normal RM60. And as I was paying for the dolls, the salesgirl asked if we already had the dollhouse and she said that it was going at a really cheap price of RM300 (cheap kee????!!!) I politely said no and declined. But she passed me the sale brochure which included all the other sales items anyway.

Rosebud Village Dollhouse

Suami got a hold of the brochure and immediately snapped photos of the dollhouse and sent it to his mother. So I asked him why is he sending the photos to MIL. He explained that she has been wanting to get CKD a toy kitchenette that costs about that price range but he declined because CKD was prone to destroying it. This based on experience when a cousin of his gave us her daughter's kitchenette set and yes..CKD ended up tearing it apart.

But this dollhouse we knew was going to be different. And so MIL replied saying its a go to get CKD the dollhouse and she'll reimburse us for it.

When suami told me so, I got even more excited than CKD! LOL! Because the dollhouse is originally RM699 and was only going for RM300 and it was beautiful! I immediately called the Mothercare outlet in BSC and booked a set because the one and only set in Subang Parade was already booked. They said I could come and pick it up Sunday morning because I had class til late on Saturday.

However, my class somehow ended early that night and when suami picked me up from class together with the girls, I said why don't we just go and pick up CKD's dollhouse straightaway. I could sense suami was just as excited coz he was so eager to get home and assemble it and didn't even allow me to help!

With the parents excited, you can just imagine how excited CKD was seeing her father putting the dollhouse together!

With all seriousness!

We also managed to grab a dining set that was going for RM60 (from RM105) when we paid for the dollhouse so CKD was ecstatic getting her dolls to sit down and eat.. kept on calling us "Mama! Sit down eat!"

Dining Set

That night, she slept with her dolls. It was the only way we managed to get her to go to bed.

Making sure the dolls are sleeping next to her

So from now onwards, I'll be collecting these Rosebud Village items to complete the house furniture and maybe when there's a sale at mothercare, maybe we'll proceed to other Rosebud Village items like the farms and hospital and school *faints!*

I have started a VERY expensive hobby and toyset for my CKD but seeing how she appreciate it (she's still not bored of the dollhouse even after playing with it day and night for the past few days! The longest so far! She'd normally start to terrorize her toys after a few hours of playing with it!) makes it all worth it. And honestly, I'm even more excited to get them for her because they are so cute and well made! Would've gotten them for myself but that would have been useless wouldn't it? ;)

So the rest of the Rosebud Village Dollhouse furniture that will be on the list are

Top from left: TV room set, Bathroom set, Kitchen set
Bottom from left: Figurine set, Kids Bedroom set, Main Bedroom set (got it!)

Can I make a wish list for her birthday next year?*hint hint*

Review: Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity

I have always been a fan of Richard Branson (read: Hollywood Bug). And recently, my choice of reading materials have changed from general fiction or chic lit to autobiographies or true account or motivational (sudah tua!) So my current read is Richard Branson's 'Losing My Virginity - The Autobiography'

A lot of people in my office that saw the title of the book gave me a funny look, because they didn't know who Richard Branson is..wth right???

But anyway..I can't seem to put the book down and always end up missing my train stop when I'm reading it (the only time I get to read is when I'm commuting to/from work) Its funny, personal and most definitely inspiring. He has been at the bottom of the wheel for many times in his career but has always persevered and took the risk to push harder. Obviously he's succeeded..

The thing about him that I discovered from the book is that he works crazy hard and a fair man in running his business, believing in taking care of his employees first, followed by the customers and then the stakeholder - which makes a lot of sense actually. He gets his inspiration and ideas from the surroundings, always wanting to provide what's missing or lacking in the current scene, wanting to make the world a better place. He sees the niche in the business and takes action upon it. Something I lack..taking action.

But most importantly, I think the secret to his success are the people that surrounds him, mostly his parents. They've been his biggest supporter right from the very beginning. If I were ever able to do the a piece on the success of Richard Branson, I would start by interviewing his parents. They've put up with all his adventures and pulled him out from his mishaps. Supporting him all the way.

I wish to one day be as supportive to my children as the Bransons were to Richard. Hopefully they'll be as successful as he is one day..

Most of the parts in the book that would make me laugh are usually of conversation or statements that Richard's father made..a excerpt from the book

More than anything, I marvelled at the sense of humour of the man who had seen it all! One fantastic example of this was early one morning on his birthday; we'd all just woken up and were quite grumpy after a night in the tent but Dad was beaming. We were all intrigued until he said: 'If I was Catholic I'd be doing penance today. I had the most wonderful dream. It involved a girl.'

'Did you misbehave with her?' I asked.

Quick as a flash Dad replied: 'I don't know what you mean. Well I behaved. She was outrageously naughty!' And this from a man in his eighties!

I haven't fully finished the book, on the last 2 chapter of it. Secretly delaying the book hoping there is more because I enjoyed it too much. Don't know if I would enjoy his other books as much as I've enjoyed this one, but maybe I'll give it a try after I've finished reading my Big Bad Wolf purchases! (made some delightful 'damages'!)

Carrot, egg and coffee

I got this from my facebook group. Its probably not the original source either therefore this is a disclaimer stating that I don't own this piece, but I am merely sharing this and I'm not making any financial profit whatsoever from it. I just hope that it gives you as much inspiration as it did to myself.

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'

'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked,

'What does it mean, mother?'

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting.

However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter.

'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

Work, study, mommy and wife duties!

CRM at 7 months
yep..she's grown since the last time she made an appearance here.

The end of my second week at my new job. Still not much happening because my boss is out for the entire week. So I'm still idling about in the office, trying real hard to keep myself busy so I won't fall asleep :P

Been a pretty challenging week too with the kids..for my mom especially since both babies are sick. Started with CKD sneezing and coughing, then little CRM caught the bug with a flu and cough..:( poor babies..missing both tremendously..

Since I've started work I'm almost certain that I've gained some weight! Fixed meal times and lesser movements (stuck in front of the laptop and only leaving the chair for toilet breaks or to get some water as opposed to being on my feet all day when I wasn't working). And time with the babies are sooo limited :'(

I get home from work around 6.30-7.00pm the earliest. The moment I get home, little CRM will want to latch on to me immediately and completely immobilizing me, leaving the big sis deprived of some play time with me. And once she's done with me, she'll want to be carried around all the time..so its quite a struggle for me to eat, take a shower or do anything when I get home.

And since classes has started, my saturdays are full..from 8am til 9.30pm!! Yes..you got that right..9.30.. AT NIGHT! But I do have a 4hour break between 11am til 3pm so I make it a point to go back home and play with the kids and bf CRM.

By the time sunday comes, I feel so tired and just want to stay home. But that seems to be the only day I have to spend some time with the family, and I also need to prepare for the new week..

Sigh..hectic! Soooo very hectic! But I guess, there will be no glory without any struggle or sacrifices right?

Well, as they always say..

"When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.."

But I do miss my babies....I hope both of them will fully recover from their cough and flu so we can all have a truly fun weekend this sunday..

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

Back to work!

This month has been a month of many first days for me.
- CKD's first day of kindy
- my first day of classes (after almost a year break)

And my first day of work..

Different from how I felt when I was starting work in UniMAP, I didn't really feel nervous about starting at the new place. I guess maybe because its in the city, close by to suami's office and I do have some friends in the area. Also maybe I think I've finally reached the point where I don't really care what people think of me. Not here to impress anyone. I'm here to work..

Probably got my priorities right ;)

But alhamdulillah, it has been 4 days since I've started and I've settled in quite comfortably. I still don't have full access of my desk nor have my pc/laptop assigned to me..but I don't expect much use for it on my first week anyway.

Before I started here, I was advised to make sure my workwear were corporately smart. A bit of a challenge for me since my previous employments work attire did not really contribute to my wardrobe. I was either in a uniform or the attire was more casual rather than corporate :P So after CKD started kindy, I obsessed over my wardrobe trying to make what little that I have (and the minimal funds I had) to work. Even made a look book out of it! LOL!

So I was kinda disappointed when I came in for my first day to see that the people here didn't really look like those I see on tv (think devil wears prada and ugly betty's office scenes) Or maybe I've set the workwear standards a tad bit too high! Haha! But I must say that the girls in my department are dressed quite fashionably, so I'm not ENTIRELY disappointed :)

Another concern of mine before I started working was my lunch budget. Thinking that my office is smack in the middle of the city's Golden Triangle, lunch was gonna cost me both arms and legs! How silly of me! But I guess my concern wasn't really uncalled for because unless you've worked in the area, you wouldn't know of all the small stalls that mushrooms during morning rush hour and lunch time. Happy to say that RM10 per day is sufficient enough for breakfast AND lunch, with a wide variety and tasty too! :D

Have spent my first 4 days settling my documentations with the human resources and reading up on the company. Made fast friends with the girls here and so far, I don't have anything to complain about MY department ;) I see a lot of potential for me to learn and grow here. Yes, I'm very optimistic that I have a chance to make it..insya allah big..here.

Either that or I'm just getting old and finally acting my age. Like I said, got my priorities right ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! Mine won't begin til tomorrow evening because of classes. But that's another story for another day.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device.

Baby's a Big Girl :'(

I know it has been almost 7 months since I've last blogged (I know this because CRM is almost 7 MONTHS OLD!) But things has been pretty havoc around here lately up til this week..sort off.

CKD has started playschool...

Must be wondering why she started playschool almost at the end of the year, but we've decided to send little CKD to Kinderland because I will be back in the rat race of the corporate world soon. And with two babies, my dear mother will not be able to handle both girls alone. So off to school and daycare for CKD while little CRM gets to spend some time with her grandma at home.

labeling daycare essentials

On the first day of school, was pretty hard to get her to wake up so I had to bribe her with a tube of chocolate Smarties and almost instantly, she was up and chirpy! *facepalm* Suami took leave for the day since it was such a big milestone for us, so we both could send her (secretly, he was more anxious about sending CKD to school than I was! He was up since 5am thinking about it! LOL!). CKD was so excited that both of us were up so early and wanted to take her out...not knowing what was in store for her.

smiling in her uniform

in my kinderland uniform

When we got to the school, the other kids was playing outside before the classes started. She spotted her big cousin, my nephew, who goes there too and immediately joined the other kids play. We stayed for a while to pay her fees and talk to the teacher for a bit, and then we slowly sneaked out, hoping CKD won't spot us. Later that afternoon, my nephew reported that CKD cried (heartbreakssss) wanting me and her grandma.

When we picked her up that evening, she was sooo happy to see us but I could hear that she still had little sobs in her voice from all the crying :'(

We took her to the mall in front of our place for ice cream and then went home. That night, she went to bed at 9pm..VOLUNTARILY! She was also very cooperative and ate her dinner without putting up a fight!

Day 2, since she went to bed early the night before and slept through the night, she was up quite early and I had to bribe her with gummy vitamin C to get her ready. Not much protest and my mom decided to tag along sending her to school.

Again CKD was excited to go out so early in the day, not knowing she was going to school again. So when we arrived at school, we were a little late and I had to ring the bell to get the school teacher to come and get her. She was alright up til the teacher closed the school gate and realized I wasn't going to stay with her.

I quickly rushed off but my eyes were looking at her and of course, heart was breaking seeing my baby girl cry for me..:'( But that evening when I went to pick her up, she was happy to see me as usual, and there was no more sobs in her voice. The teacher told me that she was still crying, but not too bad.

Day 3, CKD still hasn't quite compute that she was going to school again and didn't protest putting on her uniform. I sent her on my own and again, she was happy to be out with me early in the morning. But the moment we arrived in front of the school, she saw the teachers and started crying. I carried CKD out from the car and passed her to the teachers. And although she was crying, she didn't entirely protest being passed to her teacher. So I took it as a sign that school is not so bad, but she just wants me to be around too.

Day 4, she refused her uniform. So off to school she went not wearing her uniform. And all through the ride to school, she was begging me for everything and everyone (in her limited vocab of course) hoping I won't send her. Only god knows (and other mommies who has experience of sending their babies to daycare, I'm sure) how I felt that moment. My mom was already losing the battle..she kept on telling me to just send CKD for playschool and not daycare coz she couldn't take seeing CKD begging us like that. But I had to put my feet down. That evening when I picked her up, she was a lot more happier. Even the teacher told me that she has made some improvements. Less crying..and I was relieved.

Today is Day 5 and again she refused her uniform. She didn't even want to get dressed even though she was up since 7.30am. But she eventually saw her overalls and decided she wanted to wear it just like Max (one of her favorite show on Nick Jr - Max & Ruby). And since everybody was up, my mom decided to tag along sending her to school. She put up a bit more protest today. Not even wanting to get into the car and again, the begging all through the ride to school. Upon arriving to the school, her begging got more intense but not much crying. So when we arrived at the school, I carried her out of the car and passed her to her teacher. She was still begging and crying a little when the teacher took her away from me, but she didn't struggle. And as we drove away, we saw that she was walking indoors to the school on her own and not crying or throwing a fit.

Mach and Ruby as CKD pronounces it

My mom felt better seeing that she wasn't really struggling to go to school and submit to our plans of sending CKD there. Yesterday evening when I took CKD down to the playground, we met up with a few kids who goes to the same school as her. When they saw her they immediately called out her name and she was so excited to see them too. A reaction different from before, because although she has seen them before this, the kids are no longer faces in the crowd for her but some kids that she can actually relate to. One of the boys who was in the same class as my nephew was telling me that CKD likes to play in their class because her big cousin was there. The way he described it sounded like she was having quite a lot of fun.

The teacher did brief me that during her first week, they will not enforce anything on CKD but rather let her explore and get used to the place. Hence her crashing her big cousin's classroom!

Sigh..this little heart of mine feels so overwhelmed..My little baby girl is not so little anymore and is learning her first few lessons of what the real world is like. This whole week's experience has made me realized that we have been a tad bit too overprotective of CKD. Looking back, CKD has never been anywhere without me or my mom around for a long period of time (meaning more than a couple of hours) and I guess that is actually CKD's biggest issue with her school. Otherwise, I think she's enjoying the people and activities that they have there..

Well, hope she continues to enjoy school and maybe soon, no more protest but rather pestering us to send her. I'm sure this is good for her...:(

Please don't grow up too fast baby girl...

CKD at 1 day old - felt like it was only yesterday :'(