This past month....

Where do i begin....

It's been almost a month since I wrote anything and what a month it has been. So where do i begin. At the beginning is a good place as any i suppose, so here goes..
Hari Raya Aidil Fitri was fun and hectic. It started for us on the malam raya where after the last buka at precious 4's Uwan and Atok's house, we had the takbir group come by. This year saw a few new faces and a crowd of about 45 men and boys, larger than what we've had for a number of years, alhamdulilah. Since Uwan was still not well, for the first time, the task of preparing the takbir meal was put on the girls' shoulders. We served mee kungfu (cooked by me!) and the usual rendang, lemang, nasi impit and kuah kacang. Then all the boy cucus followed their Atok and dads takbir, which ended at 11pm. First day Raya was spent first at Uwan and Atok's, then at Tok Ma and Tok Pa's, then back at Uwan and Atok's and finally ended the night at Tok Ma and Tok Pa's. We stayed till past 10pm, after we all talked to A's sister and nephew, who are spending raya in Wales, via skype. Ahhh, the wonders of technology.
The rest of raya week was spent visiting relatives. This year we didn't go back to kampung in N9 since Uwan couldn't take the journey. In fact we had to check her into a hotel for 3 days to let her rest and keep her from having to entertain people who wanted to visit. Alhamdulilah, this week, she's finally feeling a bit better and more mobile.
Then came PMR.
Precious girls's PMR exams began a week after school reopened. She opted not to go visiting much during raya and only followed us when we went to our parents' siblings homes ie sedara terdekat. The rest of the time, she was ensconced in her room. The exams were "not bad" according to her. Mama can just contribute numerous and countless doas. InsyaAllah all will be well. On the last day of her exam, which finished at 9.30am, we took her out for breakfast at her favourite kopitiam. Two of her aunties and some of her cousins tagged along. Then we went to her favourite store - BORDERS! She bought 3 books to add to her stack of books waiting to be read after PMR and after lunch we had a girlie movie date watching Mamma Mia with another aunt and her girl cousins. Nowadays, she's catching up on her reading and her online mangga series!
In between, we had our share of the flu and coughs. Precious J had a bad time with severe tonsillitis which required 2 doses of antibiotics. Unfortunately he developed an allergy reaction to the first dose of penicillin and was covered in a rash! The doctor switched his medication and alhamdulillah he's doing great now.
I've been busy for the past 2 weeks with the primary school magazine. Some of us volunteered to help the school publish the yearbook (this is the 2nd year of publication) and have been going to school to organise the photo shoots. Then worked on the proof reading. It looks really nice. The moms who are graphic designers working on the layout really did a great job. Not your run-of-the-mill school magazine. Next week we'll be setting up the booth in school to collect the orders.
This week is the boys' final exams. Come friday we'll be about done with exams this year, save for if precious Abang gets selected for boarding school. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
This weekend is again filled with more visiting. Precious Girl wants to invite some friends over, so mama is figuring out the menu. And Precious Abang and Chik want to tumpang sekaki. So more kids! Time to go to the supermarket. Be back soon...