Another day will pass...

...and soon it will be another year. And often at the end of the year and the onset of another, it does get you into a reflective mode. But one thing for sure, I have stop making resolutions because I will never keep them. However, I do have plans and I do have my own personal goals, but I am realistic enough to know that I may not be able to achieve these plans and goals within the year but at least in the coming few years.

Looking back at 2005, it is definitely an unusual year in many ways but it is also one of the most rewarding year. For one, I was confered my Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education from Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts. Yes, that studying, working, juggling wifehood and motherhood, and daughter-in-law-hood has finally paid off. I had always wanted a Masters degree one day and that resolution to actually do something about it came about only in 2000 and finally I embraced all my fears, my doubts and my insecurities and took the plunge at the end of 2003. So you know, my resolution took a couple of years to materialise. But I'm glad I did it. And I am sooooo happppppyyyyy!!!!

I have dreams of living in another country but it hadn't cross my mind that I would be living that dream in 2005 in the United States of America. But here I am living the good and laid back life of an 'expat' wife (ehem).

There were other moments when my life is not exactly rosy for me, and this year was also one of the worst time that I had to confront that moment. That painful and hurtful moment which I could still vividly recall and remember. But I am thankful that God gave me extreme strength and unwavering patience to see it through and still remain in one piece. Alhamdullillah. I continue to pray that that moment will not enter my life anymore. It will pass, really pass. Full stop. Period.

I quit my 'glamourous' job in June 2004 and for 7 months that I was not working but studying, I was the dutiful wife and mother, and also the unofficial chauffeur. The issue of not having any income of my own did bother me but that was one of the fears that I had to sort out myself and surge on with the support of my hubby. When I finally landed a job as a research associate in February 2005, I was happy and glad that this new position or career is so much in sync with the current priorities in my life and that would be a stepping stone to something greater and wonderful. But alas, that lasted for four months because I dutifully again, followed my hubby to the American soil. Once again without my own income.

I have no regrets, but much to be grateful for despite not having much income as I used to. Maybe He knows best and though we have sacrificed so much, I am satisfied to say that my not working has not been a financial strain to my hubby or our family. Of course, we could have so much more so that we can enjoy more things in life and settle any outstanding mortgage earlier, but I think my life has been richer for the lack of it. The only thing I feel is that I can offer so much of my time into good use like volunteering in my son's school but the lack of transportation has impeded my mobility. I write Malay stories but have not found an outlet for it to be published and shared. I wish I could contribute my intellectual thoughts somewhere but for now, only this blog and my multiply site have been my intellectual (and maybe emotional and social) playground. No matter what, cos the time will come when it comes, I'm loving this 'being at home in US' opportunity as it will not come that many times in anyone's lifetime. I don't know how 2006 will turn out to be but I know for sure, certain important things need to be done especially when we return to Singapore, and there's a whole long list waiting to be checked and deleted.

Have a happy and blessed new year to all. May He grant all your prayers and doas and may life be what you wish and pray it to be. Insya Allah.

What shall I talk about?

At times I feel that I have so much to say but when I hit the keypads, the words get totally lost. Things seemed to be churning in my mind, but how I wished I can just spit it out on print. Alas, it is not so.

So where shall I start? Shall I talk about my trip to Atlanta, where we found a Mustafa-Center-like Global Mall in the heart of the city. And when I say Mustafa-Center-like meaning it was a little building that has everything from Hollywood Videos to tosei and punjabi suits and Indian salons. It's so weird somehow, like suddenly stepping into a different place and time zone amidst the few minutes drive to CNN studio center, and billboards of "Daisy does America" and "Anderson Cooper on 360".

Or shall I talk about how I met an old friend online? I knew she has been a blogger but I did not decide to drop by her blog and comment until yesterday, and how the past just jolted back into my memory. The past about how I was still single and trying to make it in KL and I met her. She was also trying to break into the KL scenes plus a few personal reasons of her own, and spent a night at my apartment. Alas, KL was too much of a culture shock for me. Truly, despite being Malay and having almost the same identity in many ways, it was a culture shock that I returned to Singapore after only five months. Then we met again and worked together in many tv related projects, that we stayed overnight in an editing suite in a Joo Chiat shophouse, and told our life stories to each other. Got cheated out of our pay and all that. But after reading her blog, it's amazing how life has turned out to be good for her in many ways. Alhamdullillah, and I'm so happy for her.

Or maybe I should just rant about my transit life here in Mobile, or about my dearest son who is tirelessly playful but just sometimes too much for me to handle, or about my own paranoia and insecurities as a mom, or even mundane stuff about the suddenly hot winter in Mobile. Perhaps I should just count my blessings, and instead of ranting, feel grateful for the things that I have and have experienced, for there would be many others who will envy the position and the current *profession* that I am in.

Whatever it is, the grass always seems greener on the other side, but I find comfort in a borrowed phrase, "because we are not there to see it on that side of the fence."

Amin.

Autumn... and winter....

Now you see it...........


Now you don't.........(the leaves I mean)





Here the father and son are at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia. We were there over the Christmas weekend, just to soak in the atmosphere. Downtown Atlanta was like a ghost town because of the holiday but still it looks more fun than Mobile. There's the Georgia Aquarium, touted to be the biggest in the world (?). World of Coke, a sort of museum dedicated to the origins and evolvement of the cola. I later found out that the founder of coke was born and buried in Georgia. We toured the CNN studio, and got a snapshot with Larry King.

Love that bouquet ...

Me hubby gave me this bouquet on Christmas eve, not for any occasion though, but more so to say he is sorry and that he loves me. He's not a flower or gift-giving sort of person, and often times, I have to tell him point blank that my birthday is coming or that I would love that stalk of rose. But this around, nothing was said, because that was it, it was a couple of days of me giving him the silent treatment, and I guess he knew that it's time to make peace. You know, moi is very giving and loving sort of person and sometimes a big hug or just a stalk of rose can melt all the hurt and anger away. So to all men, it works. And to me hubby, you know *my promise* to you.

Appreciating the beauty of nature...

Nasi Lemak, Mee Maggie and McDonald

These are some of my son's fave food, albeit not healthy ones. Before we came to Alabama, we have 'psychoed' him that he will not be able to eat nasi lemak that easily. "Mummy cannot just go to the shop and buy. Mummy will have to cook for you but mummy cannot do it all the time." Nasi lemak is easy to make but I find that the sambal is the most tedious. You just have to get the right concoction of dried red chillies ground to a paste, correct amount of belacan, onions, tamarind juice, salt and sugar. And the aroma will penetrate every corner of your kitchen and house, sinking itself even into your clothes and your sofa. The best sambal I think, will be able to make you sneeze. And furthermore I have to import the chillies and belacan. I've tried one of the dried chillies here but it just didn't work. And Afzal loves sambal. All he needs is plain white rice (not necessarily the coconut milk flavored rice), sambal and that succulent crispy ayam goreng. And that is nasi lemak for him.

We have also brainwashed Afzal that he is not able to eat as much at McDonald like he would be able to in Singapore because the McDonald here is not halal. Either we are very successful in the brainwashing or Afzal is very adaptable and whenever he wants McDonald, he will only ask for fries and occasionally the chocolate sundae. Sometimes either me or my husband will purposely ask the other whether we want a cheeseburger or chicken, and Afzal will immediately retort in horror, "you cannot eat the burger and chicken here, it is not halal!" There you go, our little but very important talk have sunk into his brain cells.

When our stock of Maggie Mee runs dry, we will just go to Walmart and buy shrimp ramen and all of us are happy with that.

I always pack Afzal his lunch to school as we know the school does not serve halal food. And since the queue for breakfast is very long and as Ms Smith, his homeroom teacher is not there to watch over him when he has breakfast, I will make sure that Afzal has a good breakfast at home before he leaves for school. But unknowingly to me, sometimes when I asked him what he did in school and how was his day, he would tell me that he had breakfast again in school. I know my Afzal has a good appetite but I was horrified when he told me, rather innocently, that he had sausage! So petrified Mummy will tell Afzal that sausage is not halal. And Afzal's reply puts me in cognitive disequilibrium when he says, "But Mummy, sausage is not meat." Oops. Oops. Oops. Guess I did not foresee this situation. My blunder is whenever I cook beef, I would tell him it's meat. So he must have been thinking, "Sausage is not meat because meat is that stuff my mummy cook, so sausage must be something else that I can eat." So Mummy has to tell Afzal that sausage is meat and all the other stuff that is meat like beef, burger, chicken, nuggets, etc etc and these stuff are not halal in school but if Afzal wants to eat sausage, beef, burger, chicken, nuggets, etc etc, Mummy will buy, make and pack them for Afzal. So I put him in cognitive disequilibrium by changing his meaning of things, but then again he will soon be in "equilibrium" once he makes sense of all these. We've also educated him about gelatin so he cannot just buy any pack of candies without checking the ingredients. However, when we do not want him to eat too many candies, we would just sneakily told him there's gelatin in it, more so for his health benefit. It works because he would put the pack back but he will soon pick another and asked us "Got gelatin?". So can't be all candies have gelatin, isn't it?

It's hard especially when he has a party in school and will be getting loads of chocolates and candies, and I cannot be telling Ms Smith, please check for the gelatin, that emulsifier or even that lecithin etc etc. Ms Smith has asked me whether she can just take out the pepperoni from the pizza for Afzal. I don't know whether there was any look of "horror" on my face, but I would just say rather calmly, "oh no...he's fine with just the chips and the biscuits." But kind Ms Smith thinks that it will not be fair to Afzal and goes to another class in search of a slice of cheese pizza.

We want to instil these important values in Afzal and at the same time we do not want him to miss out on the fun in school or be alienated from society at large. It will be challenging anywhere we are in the world but as long as there are people who are kind and respectful to our values, it will be much easier. I also believed that as long as we are sincere in this, God will help us to make it easier.

I have told Ms Smith about Ramadan and fasting, and she openly admitted that it was the first time she ever heard of such a thing. When we celebrated Eid or Aidilfitri or Hari Raya whatever the names you call it in different parts of the world, I gave her a bagful of goodies that she was so happy with it that she lets Afzal share his festival with the rest of the class. She knows that Afzal does not celebrate christmas and when the class was making christmas tree ornaments, Afzal made a similar looking ornament but it was a fridge magnet instead. When we asked Afzal why he did not make the tree ornament, he would just say, "because I don't celebrate christmas, I celebrate Hari Raya." Good job Afzal! And thank you Ms Smith!




Afzal-made-fridge-magnet

Whenever the phone rings...

...and it has nothing to do with my drama-mama entries, I do sometimes get into a panic mode. I fear getting that phonecall. That phonecall that will mean someone really close to us, especially to my significant other, will ... Seeing my ever so reserved and steely other half crumbles to tears pained me. And being thousand of miles away on the other side of the globe does not console the heart and the soul, not only of ours but also of his family, who are mine as well.

Mak is taking care of ayah, being with him since evening until subuh without even taking her dinner, and considering her own health. Her other children are worried not only for ayah but mak as well and smsed their abang long who is like 28 hours plane ride away. All the adiks know that mak always listen to abang, but this time around, the always so steely mak herself breaks down, with little comfort from abang. Things happen too drastically and unexpectedly in the last few months. Abang got a great job with a training stint in the US for at least one year, and between the first trip home and the second, which was like only a short span of 2 months plus, ayah's health took a drastic turn. At 68, he has the usual old age ailments, but he was never in and out of the hospital but unexpectedly, he was admitted to hospital a week after we return from our first trip home and it has never been the same.

The toughest part is knowing that all your adiks and their families could spend their time with ayah and yet you are not able to. We were fully aware that our second trip home could be our last meeting then, but we choose to believe that we will meet again when we return from this stint.

Please pray for ayah, mak and for us.

Commercial Break : Blogger's Block

My last two entries were something that came up because of a blogger's block. Really. My life is not than suspenseful. Anyway, my friend, H, emailed me and said that she had not seen any entry since my trip to Florida. I was tired from all the holidaying and like I told her I do not want to sound like a desperate housewife on my blog but I guessed I just did. In my desperate attempt to blog, I created a fact-fictional story of me ...hahaha. Lame, isn't it?

And now I'm getting the same block again at how I should continue that "suspenseful" drama without being annoying or anti-climatic. Think, think, think.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" I answered nervously not knowing what kind of call I would be receiving. Would it be from the significant other? Would it be some good news, or bad news from that faraway place I called home? Or would it be some caller who had dialed my number wrongly? Or maybe one of those unsolicited spam calls. Or maybe some crackhead who just have got nothing better to do and decided to scare me to bits.

"Hello?" There was a momentary uneasy silence on both ends of the line. I could hear my own breathing and the beatings in my heart. The few seconds of silence in anticipation of a response to my simple greeting was like light years of waiting. I had enough. "Hello?" It was a harsh hello with the intended meaning that "if you do not want to talk, don't call." The line went dead. My heart skipped a beat as I felt the feeling of someone hanging up on me. I wondered why. Who could that be?

Before I could even put the phone down, there was a thunderous bang on the front door. My face did a 180 degrees sharp turn towards the white wooden front door. I felt almost frozen in time and space. I could hardly move my legs for fear that the creaking sounds of the floor would be a sign that I was in the house. Despite the chilliness of the morning, beads of perspiration were running down my neck. I have heard the news just yesterday about some assault taking place around the apartment. I wish I could dial a number for help, but I do not know who or what to call. I had no one to call, not even the number of my hubby's workplace. I was helpless and felt in absolute lack of control. The pounding on the door became louder, faster and furious, and I could almost feel that the door was going to crack. I panicked...


to be continued...

As I was...

... lying on the couch, my heart was filled with restlessness. It was 9.53 am, more than two hours after my son had left for school. I had taken a shower, checked my email, ate breakfast and read a few pages of the current book that I was reading.

I was reading but absorbing nothing. I put the book down, closed my eyes, hoping that this restlessness will end...."Ring!!!!!" the phone rang unexpectantly and my heart lept. Excited and nervous, I carried myself up and almost sprang to the phone. "Hello?"


Akan Datang...jeng, jeng, jeng!

This is America!

We were at the halal meat store the other day. And while we were patiently waiting for the ever-taking-his-own-sweet-time owner to prepare our poultry, a fiery red two door undiscernable brand sportscar pulled up at the front of the shop. Out came a young man who came into the shop and asked the grocery owner for phonecards. They made their exchanges in Arabic.

So this fine modern young main in fiery red two door sportscar is of middle eastern descent, got the phone card and a bottled juice, paid money and left. I thought of making small talk with this grocery owner in order to pass the time waiting for our poultry. "He must be rich." I commented. Muslim Arab grocery owner who is a migrant himself said "No, no, no. This is America. You got plastic (ie. credit card) you can have anything."

That statement was something both my husband and I did not quite expected somehow. We both smiled widely, and just agreed with him. "This is America, land of opportunity", the ever-so-often tagline that you hear. Talking about this is America, I ever saw a granny on the news. She made the news because she invented something. A very inventive entrepreneurial granny! She came up with her invention because everytime her grandchildren go to the bathroom and pull the toilet paper, it will just roll out continuosly and that really bugs her. So granny came up with this ingenius invention that will somehow prevent the toilet paper from rolling and rolling. It will just stop at perhaps two sets of sheets and there you go, no wastage, and no horrors in the toilet. So this is America, the land of opportunity.

This is America, the land of freedom of speech. You certainly can have the luxury of speaking your mind unlike in Singapore, where a reporter dubbed it as the "Land of Nos". The strange thing about this freedom of speech is that you are able to get away even if you are a suspected or pro-terrorist as long as you say it on American soil, eventhough your very speech may threaten the security of Americans. It will be unconstitutional to condemn the person because every one has the right of freedom of speech.

The right and the freedom of speech has made many newsreaders and journalists to make their own opinions and judgements even before the person on trial is proven guilty. A case in time is Michael Jackson. A particular anchorwoman is just so full of negative opinions of MJ, that she convicted him everyday on her show. When MJ was finally acquitted, she said "I need my therapist tonight!" That was how it was for her.

It will be tough if you are one of those that does not have a mind of your own because these anchor persons are much more powerful than the political leaders because they are on air like 5 days a week on primetime.

So this is America, you can say anything and you can have everything. Of course everything will not come on your lap if you don't work hard for it. But sometimes, all it takes is a bit of luck. Take for instance, William Hung. As long as you get your well-deserved airtime and I mean you don't even have to be the winner, in fact, in his case, be a total reject. But if lady luck shines on you, contracts and deals may come your way. Take part in a reality show, be it American Idol, The Next American Top Model, Survivor, Amazing Race, The Apprentice etc and somehow or rather, you might just get noticed and the money will just start rolling in.

This is America! If you have an idea or just plain lucky, seize the moment!!!

Perhaps I should get my brain cracking and come up with something ingenius because who knows that success may come so sweet eventhough if it's just a little something for the toilet. :)

Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida

Mess or Installation Art?

The real deal...

Singapore Math and Kitchen Table Math

I came across this blooki (part blog, part wiki, part book) called Kitchen Table Math, started by two mummies whose mission statement is to have fun, to share ways of teaching kids math and to support people who wants to help kids learn math.

I don't know whether I felt surprise or proud the fact that one of the mummies, Catherine, cited Singapore Math as a coherent curriculum. This time, to my surprise, Singapore Math Inc is a company based in Oregon, USA supplying maths textbooks and workbooks from Singapore to US parents and teachers. In fact, some users from UK as well.

Well done to maths-curriculum-made-in-Singapore for doing so well overseas!
(yet our Malay kids are not doing so well in maths, sigh.)

Ads by Google

Did you see that I have ads by google below the heading? If you drop by my blog, please click on the ads, as it may help me to generate some income, I hope. So click and keep clicking....

Aidilfitri in Singapore

We were back in Singapore for Aidilfitri, arriving at 12.55 am on 3rd Nov. Yes, on the wee morning of Aidilfitri itself. Got my brother to drive our car to the airport to fetch us and then we headed to my parents' Tampines home to surprise them. Yup, we didn't tell them that we are coming home. Mom was pleasantly surprise. Dad was shocked at first as he thought something bad happen. Why did we come back? he thought. He was a little sad that I did not call earlier especially after the last iftar. Well, now he knows I am on the plane to see him. We stayed for an hour at my parents' home as our main intention this time around was to actually see my father-in-law whose health has not been good since two months ago. We headed to Jurong at about 2 am and went to my in-laws place. They were already informed so they knew we were coming. Kinda sad and shock to see my father-in-law, who has lost a lot of weight due to his ill-health.

We stayed at my in-laws and did not do much visiting as we knew what our intentions were for coming back. I felt really glad that we were back because I get to eat good food and had good conversations with family members. There are just so many things to do, it kept me busy - tired but rejuvenated. Though I did not spend much time with my own family this time around, however, knowing that we are within close proximity helps to heal the lonely existence that I have been feeling for the past month. Though here in Mobile, there are my husband's Muslim colleagues and families, it is just not the same.

Now I'm back in Mobile again, and I don't know whether I will continue this almost lonely existence again for the next few months. I'm here because I am supporting hubby wholeheartedly with his career opportunity here. And I am happy as long as hubby is happy with his work and my son is happy at school. Because behind every successful man (men), there is his one and only woman! (Wife and Mummy!)This week will pass quickly, I just know it cos next Monday, we will be going to Orlando, Florida to meet my Mum and Dad!!! So akan terubatlah sedikit kesunyian ini...

Martha Stewart's Apprentice got the axed

There's not going to be a second season, and why am I not surprise? Because it lacks all the 'edge' that you can find in Trump's. To Martha, I have to say goodbye...

Daylight Saving Time

As of 1.59 am this morning, the time were changed back to 1 am instead of 2am. As a result, we are 14 hours behind Singapore instead of 13. Therefore, iftar is at 5.06pm instead of 6.06pm. In a way, we gained an hour more sleep but for those working during that night shift, they had to work an extra hour instead. As far as I understand, the time is actually reverted back to Standard Time, in other words, Daylight Saving Time ends. Daylight Saving Time will begin again in April next year.

I am wondering, if it's just bcos they wanted to save electricity, why don't they just change the timer for the road lights etc to be on instead of changing time itself? Surprisingly, it's a worldwide phenomenon except in countries near the Equator ....hmmmm

Raya Mistletoe

My very own "ketupat on the mistletoe". Looks messy rather than decorative, though. Perhaps I just don't have that decorative-touch. Or this mistletoe needs more ketupat. We'll see in the coming days whether I have the mood or the touch to recreate this "Raya Mistletoe".

Can I leak...

...about the Apprentice? For those of you in Singapore who does not want to know, don't read.

In one boardroom sitting, Trump fired all 4 apprentices. They did really badly for that Sporting Goods store, not only they did not make any sales but the sales dropped by over 30%.

Dedicated to family and friends

We appeared on Manja Nov 2005 issue page 56 with this family snapshot and a letter from Alabama to wish family and friends a Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin. We hope that you guys like it!!! Enjoy!!!

The Stork delivered

Yup, Rusini has another baby girl since last Friday. Welcome to Aya Reina Rosen.

Baby Boom!

Another baby has landed...Durrah Aqilah, baby girl of proud parents, Muj and Razali. No pics yet. Rusini should also have given birth. Will deliver the news ...akan datang.

It's 10 degrees outside

... esp in the wee hours and early evening. We are getting freezing cold. Afzal has put on three layers of clothing to school.

This is the Year of Births!

The Singapore government will be one happy parent. There are just so many new births this year. Seri, Omel and now Haslina's newest bundle, baby Nurin Amirah. I know one Singaporean who gave birth in the States and another, who happens to be Rusini, who will be giving birth by end of this week. And of course, Muj's baby is also on the way...

Pretty productive year for these ladies. As for me, I must tell the Singapore government that it's not that I don't want to have a second one but it just ain't happening. Like the Malay saying, 'belum rezeki.'

October is the Month of Horrors

With Halloween around the corner, the networks are busy promoting and airing horror flicks...I just saw the trailers for some scary stuff...I can't even remember which channel and what is showing except for Sixth Sense.

With over 70 free to air channels, it is just so hard to keep track of what's showing, when, what time and on which channel. I'm still so clueless and can never find the programme that I want to watch. Maybe I'm just plain lazy to even bother to watch the tv. At least I know Ch 28 and 29 is Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon respectively but asked me which cartoons air on which station, then I don't really remember.

I'm trying to watch Supernatural, but have missed two episodes. I missed the first epi of Desperate Housewives, then there's supposed to be the latest season of Gilmore Girls which I don't even know when, what time and where is it showing. Really, I'm just not tune in...

Which desperate housewife are you?

I was just thinking to myself that whatever quiz that you take, it should reflect you, and it should not matter at which point in life you are UNLESS the change that you are going through makes you a really different person.

You see, I took this desperate housewife quiz twice before when I was still working as a research associate like just last May, and twice I was a different housewife. I was a Bree and an Edie. As I was joking to Sue, maybe I was a "Stepford-wife-wannabe with a sexy siren screaming inside waiting to get out". Now, after being a SAHM for over 4 months, I'm a Susan, "the rather neurotic mother of one" and somehow I tend to think it does reflect me now. Being at home most of the time, all the time, here makes me really neurotic, and why I say this is also because I retook the online IQ test, and guess what, my IQ score has dropped by a whopping 4 points.

I think it's because I am using less of my grey matter. I am in an environment that is less adrenalin pumping as before but not necessarily less stressful. The stress is of a different nature now. I don't feel stupid but I feel 'lack of a better use'. Frankly speaking, I don't make a good housewife in the housewifely sense...my kuah lodeh sucks, and I can train my eyes to see beyond the dirt that's accumulating at the corners of my house. Hubby has totally, and I mean totally leave all household duties to me. Maybe he helped a bit, just by folding the laundry. Even teaching Afzal has been my duty ... and I mean not only the English but the Malay and the doa ...where is hubby in this part? Other than that, I know despite being a SAHM, I think I can do more - stretch my imagination, stretch my creativity, my mind, my cerebral cortex but there isn't seem to be an outlet for all these except this blog and the other blog and this laptop that I could furiously typed. And that's about it. What an inane existence! Not for long, I hope. So maybe I have a bit of each of the housewives' desperations...HELP!

BTW, Desperate Housewives second season is now showing on ABC at 8 CT, Sundays.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I was inspired by the tv show 'Intimate portraits of Ann Curry'.

Ann Curry is a news anchor and personality at NBC, and her sister, Jean was diagnosed with breast cancer. This made Ann, who initially would never believe in using her tv power to go all out in researching about breast cancer. Introducing herself as Ann Curry but doing it for personal reasons in her research, she was able to find out about the best medicine and options for her sister Jean. Because of her fame, Ann Curry is able to promote the awareness and the fight against breast cancer. Of half Japanese origin, she is very much an all-American girl. Her rise to be a cutting edge news correspondence and anchor is truly an inspiring one.

You can find her name in Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Curry

Sam's Surf City in Pensacola, Fl

We were here the weekend just before Ramadan, and it was a swell time for all of us...Afzal and Ayah on the inflatable....

Really Chilly

Yesterday, for the first time, we turned on the heater instead of the aircon. It was really cold outside that we had to put on a sweater.

Today was sunny but there was a nice breeze...

Lame Excuse

This morning, as my little Barnacle-inspired kid is combing his hair preparing to go to school, I told him he did not split the sides properly. So I recombed his hair neatly and guessed what he said,"This is kinda lame." "What do you mean by that?" as this mom, who was NOT surprised by what he said but kinda taken aback by what he actually meant when he used that expression. The things going through my mind was "Mom, what I did was fine, it's kinda lame that you recombed it the same way!" OR "Mom, you are so banal (insipid, lacking in taste, style)."

When I asked him what he meant, the usual "It means boring!"

Such a lame excuse coming from my kindergartner, and there is no excuse for any child to think that what the mom does for him is always boring...yes it was a neat hairdo, but it is definitely appropriate for a child his age and for school. Have I become so momsy ...but momsy is good isn't it?

First Fast

Alhamdullillah, it was a great first fast today in a foreign land. I woke up at 3.30 am because Tahir had to leave for work at 4.30am. I warmed up the leftover chicken rice, and we just had a little bit of rice and chicken. There were still leftover chicken. After Tahir left, I couldn't sleep so I surfed the net until it was time for Subuh. I still couldn't sleep so I was on the laptop until it was time to wake Afzal up for school ...well, in fact he woke up himself just like five minutes before 6 am wet from his pee, and I got him to hit the showers. After Afzal left for school, I just lazed around the house figuring out what mess I should get in order today. Let the mess be! Felt like sleeping but it was sleep interrupted. Got a long distance phonecall. Surfed the net, did some laundry, cleaned the kitchen, do some other stuffs and prepare the stuffs to cook for break fast. I finally decided to make porridge, not bubur asyura but just my own variation of my mom's porridge recipe. I added a little bit of mince meat and prawns so that it felt like as if we're having bubur masjid for buka just like back in Singapore. Also, made beef steak too... those beef, potato and cabbage in chilli and tomato sauce best eaten with french loaf. We didn't have french loaf but after the porridge, I only manage a slice of bread with the beef steak. Both meals turned out quite nice despite the fact that I was not able to taste it. So nikmat!

Afzal gets a Certificate of Achievement

Though it is only on plain white copy paper, it certainly made his day knowing that he is the only one in class who received this.

WESTLAWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT

This award is hereby presented to

Afzal Muhammad

TIGERRIFIC STUDENT OF THE MONTH

For displaying excellent character traits, outstanding behavior,

leadership abilities and working welll with peers.

October 3, 2005

Ramadan begins tomorrow

Following the Islamic Society of Mobile, we are fasting tomorrow, 4th October 2005. Therefore, we will be sahur-ing later. Subuh or Fajr as it is called here is at 5.28 am and Break Fast or Maghrib is at 6.34 pm. Happy fasting to all...Selamat Berpuasa!

Afzal's DIBELS score

Posted at

http://afzalmom.multiply.com/journal/item/5

Afzal took these shots!

Good framing and composition! Of course this is not his first time handling the videocam but this time, he got his shots well-framed!

Telescope

Tahir bought this telescope from Walmart hoping to catch some stars and constellations, hoping to get his son to discover the solar system, to discover astronomy...and yes, he has yet to get it to work. Seriously, I haven't get to see anything through the lens yet. So we'll see when, and I really meant WHEN my dear husband will get this to work again...

The Trump Blog

Donald Trump has a blog... yes The Apprentice's Donald Trump.


http://donaldtrump.trumpuniversity.com/

Cooler weather

Cooler weather are expected in the days to come, as the cool air travels from north down to south of US. So expect chilly mornings and nights from Friday through the weekend. Got to standby our sweaters and light winter jackets...

The official day of Fall.

The official day of Fall is Thursday, 22 September 2005. Autumn has begin in some northern states with the leaves of trees changing to brown. I am looking forward to this.

However, a tornado watch is in effect due to Rita and I'm not looking forward to this, if it's coming to Mobile's way.

A New Life is Born

Amidst the wrath of nature, a new and beautiful creation is being born onto this planet. Muhammad Alman, the firstborn of Omel and Nan was delivered on 5th September at 2121 hours weighing 2.765 kg. Omel is Tahir's little sister. Yes, she has been the baby of the family and now she has a baby of her own. We hope all is well with this little cutie and to the proud parents... Congratulations!!! Welcome to many sleepless nights!!! But I'm sure you will feel heavenly blissful knowing that you have created this being from yourselves...cheers!!!

Rita has reached Category 5!!!

I just pray that God is merciful to everyone on this hurricane soil.

Rita is reaching Category 4 status

There is now mandatory evacuation for people living in Galveston, Texas. But what I find really heartbreaking are those evacuees from New Orleans who were brought to Houston, Texas and now had to be evacuated again. Just listening to the news makes me hurricane-weary, what's more those lives who are directly affected by them. Rita is said to reach the coast of Texas by Wed late night or Thurs morning. I'm sure Mobile will be hit by rain or downpour as well during the late week. If you watch the news, there are daredevils who would stand to watch the waves in the thunderstorm at the edge of the sea. The media would also go all out to capture the moment - big waves and wind hitting furiously at shore with at least one reporter braving it. I just hope they have good insurance on their own lives!

For more information, check the following website for updates;-

The Weather Channel - http://www.weather.com/

New Threat : Hurricane Rita

Enough said.

An ocean wave crashes over a sightseer in Key West, Florida, September 20, 2005 as Hurricane Rita brushes past the area. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)from http://www.comcast.net

Fatigue and the future

I have been so tired. Maybe it's the remnants of my jet lag. Otherwise I don't know what it is and I am definitely not p******* if that is what you think. Been sleeping and staying awake at all the wrong time.

It is coming to the end of summer but it is still hot outside and infested with insects. There is this bug that the people here called love bugs or something because there are always two of them stuck with each other. They come in twos. Mate for life!

Guess fall is creeping in soon as the new fall collections are out and it's clearance for the summer wear. Daytime hours is getting shorter as maghrib is more like 6.23 pm compared to 7.58 pm in June.

Afzal is back in school and been telling me about this boy who keep physically hurting him. This boy is not much bigger than Afzal. I have told his teacher but I guess she has not seen this chap doing anything yet. Even when we told Afzal to do something about it like telling Kevin off, or 'telling him that he does not want to play with him,' Afzal just do not want to do it. Afzal is not traumatised by the incidents but behaviours like slapping, pulling the ear and kicking is definitely not acceptable. I have to go to his school and observe myself then or even talked to this Kevin.

Oh btw, I have written a simple children's story in Malay and I have printed it out on powerpoint. No illustrations yet but maybe I'll draw myself. Any publishers out there who is interested?!

Anyway, I realised that though Afzal can speak fluent Malay, it is conversational. When I started formally teaching him Malay, he is stumped and he can only think of the words in English instead of Malay. It is because he has taken Mandarin since playgroup as we wanted him to learn the language as we can teach him Malay ourselves. However, since we are in the US now, we do not know any Mandarin, therefore we have to double up on the Malay for him. This is just some of the tough decisions that we parents make.

I've brought some Malay books that we bought in Johor recently when we went back home and I've also bought some Islamic books in English online for Afzal and ourselves. Hopefully, we can homeschool him on Malay and Islam, Insya Allah.

The origins of Hurricane names.

This article is from Ask Yahoo! at http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20041105.html

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has drawn up alphabetical lists of male and female names to be used as hurricane designations from now until 2009. Unfortunately, the NHC doesn't explain the methodology it used to come up with these names.
According to this comprehensive hurricane site, hurricanes began officially receiving names in 1950. For two years, they were stuck with standard call sign names -- Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, etc. Between 1953 and 1978, for reasons we are unwilling to surmise, hurricane names were exclusively female. In 1979, the situation became more progressive, and male names were added to the mix.
Hurricanes only receive a name once their status is elevated from tropical storm. The names of a few particularly destructive hurricanes, such as 1992's Andrew, (and I would like to add Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina) have been permanently retired for reasons of sensitivity.
Why do hurricanes have names in the first place? According to the NHC, the use of "short, distinctive given names" is quicker and less subject to error than using latitude-longitude identification methods.

Katrina Aftermath in Mobile

An uprooted tree within the compound of our apartment crashed onto the gate. Though Mobile was not as devastated as New Orleans or Biloxi, Katrina did give the residents here a scare. We are thankful that we are back in Singapore when Katrina hit but for those Singaporeans who were still in Mobile, it was a wild gust of wind and thunderstorm on the night of Monday, Aug 29th. It was reported that the wind speed were 80 mph or 130 kmph. We returned to Mobile on the evening of September the 4th. And as our plane were moving over Texas and into Alabama, the change in the clouds and weather was significant. The sky from Dallas Fortworth Airport was clear and the clouds looked like little white shrubs sporadically scattered across the clear Dallas sky. But it was not so as the plane entered Mobile. It was as if the plane was moving into a kingdom of clouds... it was mountainous huge of swirly white and greyish clouds. It was like "kepulan kabu-kabu putih dan kelabu yang menggunung". When the plane entered the clouds, we could just see misty white stuff outside and as the plane was lowering its altitude, there was turbulent. It was pretty scary as we couldn't see much outside. There was slight rain too. When we drove back to our apartment, we could see fallen trees and damage billboards. As some traffic lights had been blown away, there was a police officer to help navigate traffic at affected road junctions. The pawn shop just outside our apartment had its roof blown away and the three gas stations at the junction were closed. We found out later that gasoline is a scarce commodity now and there is a cap of $20 for every pump. There was also a state of curfew in our area. Except for those who are working, everyone else has to be home from dusk till dawn (ie. 6pm) until further notice. Public schools in Mobile County are closed until September 12 so Afzal will be home until then. As I am writing this, the news from tv reported that the next hurricane - Hurricane Maria (of all name) is lurking in the Bermuda but the good news is Maria will not be heading towards land. However, they are taking caution to tropical storm Nate that is moving towards Florida again. It is definitely a Hurricane Depression in this region.

My neighbour Ida and the rest who were here during Katrina were without electricity for 2 and half days. This meant they were hot, in total darkness at night (except for some burning candles), fridge could not store food and they cannot use the stove or make hot water. Though they had water, it was noted that water had to be boiled in certain parts of Mobile. So for precautionary sake, they bought water from the supermarket during the first few days. Ming, a Thai housewife of one of my husband's colleague came to the rescue when she managed to collect some woods and make fire to warm food the first day after the hurricane. It's really survival at this time. Later on, the families bought themselves a barbecue grill and had to rely on grill food for that 2.5 days before electricity was restored. The halal store across the street were without electricity for 4 days and his frozen foods had to be thrown away. Business is really down. Even for Walmart in which we saw many foods not being stock up including their own plastic bags.

For Ida, it was definitely an event that she did not want to experience. For us, we are just thankful to God that we were back home in Singapore during that time. We hope that for the rest of our stay here, God will continue to protect us and the families who are seeking rezeki far away from home.

Some news of Hurricane Katrina in Mobile.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina.alabama/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/29/mobile/index.html

Venn and Graphs

What I like about the school is that they welcome parents with open arms. In fact, the principal, class teacher, parent and child signed a "contract" in which the signed individuals agree on the responsibilities each has and will work closely towards the mission statement of the school. Their newsletter encourages parents to come and visit the school, have lunch with their child and volunteer in the class or at school. So I have signed up to volunteer myself.

I visited Afzal for lunch last Friday and stayed in the class after that. Mrs Smith told me that she will be teaching them graphs... that will be interesting. I saw the pocket chart containing a square, circle and triangle. The children were asked to choose their favorite shape. Mrs Smith flashed cards that contain the children's names to see whether the children can identify their names ... a bit too simple if based on the Singapore system but for some children, this is their first time in a school environment. The children made their choices by putting their namecard on the pocket slot under their favorite shape. After everyone had done it, Mrs Smith went on to explain most and least, and how you can see it from the graphs. Then she moved on with their favorite letters A, B and C and went through the same routine.

I heard Mrs Smith explaining to the children that yesterday they learned about the Venn... that's marvellous I thought and so when we reached home, I asked Afzal to explain what was the Venn that he learned yesterday. I drew two overlapping circles but Afzal said no. He drew a circle and told me that all those who takes the car to and from school goes into that circle. Those who takes bus and other modes of going home are outside the circle. So he told me that he is outside the circle cos he takes the school bus. Asked him to explain more, and that is all he could tell me for now. But I liked what he is doing in school. They even have a review or reflective session in which the children are encouraged to 'write' something in their journal. Some children draw something, others doodle all over their book. I saw Afzal's journal. It was the first page and it contained some words that he already knew how to write by memory... words like boy, box, go, see etc...I didn't get to see all that he wrote but I'll get to take a peek at it one day.

Each of the kindergarten teachers has their own style and each of them does something a bit different for their own classes. I saw what another class did. The teachers pasted their works on the wall outside their classroom based on the book "If you take a mouse to school". There was a chart divided into two parts. On the left side "what mouse brought to school", and on the right side, "what we brought to school". The teacher circled the same things that mouse and the children brought to school and write the word "same". Besides language, the teachers were teaching a very basic maths concept, and I am impressed cos it looks fun and just the sort of things we should be doing.

In Farzana's grade 1 class, her teacher was teaching rhymes, but it's more so to get the children understand ending sounds. Farzana's mom, Sarina, was pleased too because she felt that the school goes a bit more in depth as compared to the "touch and go" situation back home. I'm sure there are pros and cons, but it's good to expose our children to their way of teaching as well. I also see a lot of language experience approach in the kindergarten and grade 1 classes. For Farzana's class, they read "The purple cow" and the children are encouraged to write about a purple animal that they have never seen before. Farzana wrote, "I never saw a purple cat."

Bcos the school is emphasising manuscript handwriting, Afzal's "l" and "u" have a little curved tail at the end now. After 5 days in school, I felt that he is writing much better, in terms of having all his letters on the line and the lowercase letters not going beyond the middle dotted line. I have never forced Afzal to write properly bcos I just want him to enjoy writing first. He seemed to be enjoying writing now and at home, we have been doing language experience approach rather than writing in workbooks. Afzal loves it because he wants to write stories as he plans to publish his books and open a bookstore in Australia. Yup his ambition now is to be a police officer, an author and a bookstore owner and mum is the cashier. Yeah...we've got things planned out, didn't we? While it's still burning hot, I am encouraging every single bit of writing experience that he wants to do :)

Books used in the K classes in the first week.

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten Author: Joseph Slate Illustrator: Asley Wolff

If You Take A Mouse To School
Author: Laura Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond

Organised Chaos

Organised chaos is how I would describe the early morning situation at school. Everyone enters by the side door that leads to the gym and cafeteria. Those who do not wish to eat breakfast or already had theirs at home head to the gym and those who are having breakfast will head to the cafeteria. The gym and cafeteria is just side by side and the entrance is nearest to the gym. The queue for breakfast is long and will continue pass the gym and through the door to the outside. At least, there is no flag-raising ceremony or anthem singing. Those in the gym had to sit quietly according to grade level and when they have enough students I suppose (because some of the teachers of the class have other duty to do and they don't take attendance at the gym), the staff in charge in the gym will get the students in line and one teacher or staff will lead the students to their grade classes crossing paths with the breakfast queue and that's when a lot of 'chaos' occurs. The 5 kindergarten classes are clustered together, so one teacher will bring all the kindergarten kids to their classes. And if their class teacher is there, they will go to their classroom. If not, they either wait outside their classroom and for those students who seemed clueless, they were all put into one class. The weird thing is the teachers do not make the students wear name tags. If the kids have name tags, at least, whoever is with them is able to identify their names or the class that they are supposed to be in. If the child is unsure, the staff brings him to each classroom and asked, "Is he yours?" So teacher will say "Oh yes" or "Ah, ah, no" and move on to the next class. So that's totally inefficient I thought. What if the teacher forgets the face? Especially when it was only like the second day of school. Sometimes a kid gets out of his line and gets lost, that's when there's more chaos. Once he or she starts crying, you don't get anything out from the child and he or she probably wants only his mommy and daddy. And there's no name tag to know which class the child is in.

The going home time...what I like which I think is great and Singapore can adopt. Walkers leave at 3.10 pm and go out through the front door. Aftercare and school bus will leave to the left exit of the school building and car pick up is on the right side. There are two lanes for the car pick up and when the car moves in, they will pass through a roundabout and wait by the side in two lanes. Each car will put the name of their child on a paperplate (they should also put the grade level) and put it on their windscreen. If it's a young child, the teacher herself will escort the child to the car. Parents are not allowed to leave their car (unless it's a rainy day and they need to bring the umbrella for their child). Once the child is loaded, the car moves off and the next car waits. The reason for the two lanes so that there is no bottle neck in case a child is not out yet. So at least one line can still keep moving. I think this is great because so often in Singapore, there are no car lanes and inconsiderate parents simply jammed up the roads and it can be very dangerous, not only for the children but for other road users.

For those leaving by bus, my son's teacher stick a yellow post-it with the bus no and paste a clear cellophane across the post-it on his t-shirt. One teacher will take all the kids who are going home by school bus and move to the exit for the bus. There are three buses, so there would be someone to ensure these kids take the right bus. The only thing is the number on the bus is too long...like 2000-83, 2004-35 etc. Thank goodness, there are only three schoolbuses and hopefully Afzal will not hop onto the wrong one.

The Yellow School Bus

That's Afzal's school bus and we were tailing it from behind after school. We missed the bus in the morning and we were not even late. The bus was supposed to be at the designated pick up point at 7.19 am and we were there at 7.15 am and yet the bus was early and didn't wait. But since we were ready to follow the bus to school so Tahir drove both Afzal and Farzana.

When we tailed the bus on the way home, the bus went through some bumpy route and it got my heart shaken a little as the bus tipped left and right when it went through a tiny lane. As a mother, I think if my husband is not working, he should definitely send and pick our son up. That looked quite precarious. But both Farzana and Afzal enjoyed the bus ride because I think it was a new and different experience for them. Afzal admitted that he enjoyed school better here than in Singapore...too much fun and no work...hmmm I don't know, but I'm glad he is happy. In fact, I think I missed him at home.

First Day At School!

It was the first day of the new school term. Both Afzal and Farzana are looking great in their white and beige uniform. Another milestone in the history of these kids. For Afzal, at least, while I was still lingering in his class, he actually told me,"Why are you still here, mummy?" That's a change from the usual whiny "I want my mummy in class" when I sent him to childcare in Singapore a few months back. Maybe it's the coming of age, maybe it's more fun here. At least, he is more independent now and is looking forward to school.

A new friend was made. I was surprised at the friendliness of the White girl. She actually mistook Farzana for her friend Helen and was embarrassed after the phototaking that Farzana was not Helen. But we made them friends. Farzana is one of Tahir's colleague daughter, and she is in grade 1 while Afzal is in kindergarten. That girl, I think her name is Casey or something, is from Grade 4. By the way, that cute little girl in blue is Sabrina, Farzana's little sis.

We came back during Afzal's lunchtime at 12.45pm. Afzal and a petite little girl named Hope were Mrs Smith's little helpers today. Hope was the first to stand in line and Afzal was made to stand by the door to let the other kids out. A lot of disciplining was going on as Mrs Smith mentioned that they have to get the students used to the routine. We headed to the cafeteria and though Afzal had brought his lunch pack, he still wanted to queue for the food. Since I've already informed Mrs Smith about his dietary limitations, we were there just to see what was the situation like. It may be tough but I think we just needed to educate the teachers and staff a little about our religious obligation and I expect that constant gentle reminders maybe needed.

We started by writing a letter to Mrs Smith, as if it was written by Afzal to introduce himself. It was more so to explain about how we write our names - I mean sometimes it's hard to explain that we don't have a first, middle and last name. Also, the fact that we have certain dietary limitations. We have taught Afzal about halal and non-halal food but just in case.

After getting their trayful of food, the children move to the designated tables and the serving was in fact quite large for these little kids. The works would include taco with meat sauce, some kind of colored rice, corn, cake, chips, choice of salad, peach, apple, juice and milk. After their meal, they were expected to put all thrash on the tray, wait for instructions, before they moved in one line to put their tray away, separating the fork into a "chute". Being kids, they were noisy, some eat, while some doesn't. Then it was loo time before they headed back to class. By the way, the Americans call toilets, restroom.

When the kids came in the morning, we had to fill up a form of how they were going home - by car, school bus, walk or aftercare. Today it was by car but we will get him on the school bus from tomorrow. And it's free. We do not have any school fees to pay as well except for a $5 registration and whatever amount we want to spend on school uniforms and materials. You can buy your uniforms from any departmental stores that sell them. So you can compare prices as well as the designs. Though the color is the same, the girls' uniforms have different styles. Some girls may prefer to wear skirts, others may prefer skorts, pants, jumper, pinafore etc or it's up to you if you want everything. There's not much choices for boys though.

Each grade level has a different material list that includes scissors, crayon, washable markers, composition books, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, paper towels, tissue box etc and so far we have spent about $75 on materials and uniforms. We think it's a decent amount bearing in mind that there are no school or transport fees. Lunch is $1.50 unless you are given discount because of your family situation which we doubt we will get that. Also, you don't have to buy lunch if you bring lunch or you can pay 35 cents for a packet of milk or something else that you want. Breakfast... yes breakfast is provided unless you come to school by 7.40am and it's a flat rate of 0.60cents unless you are under financial aid. Formal school starts at 8.20 am until 3.20pm. So that's the gist of my little kid's life in a public school here...

Barnacle Part 2

Me : You are going to school tomorrow.

Son : Is there a lot of work?

Me : This week, just play. Next week, there is work.

Son: Oh Barnacle!

Me : What did you say?

Son : Oh Barnacle!

Me : What does it mean?

Son : It means I don't want to do that.

Barnacle!

Scenario 1
Me : "Afzal, make sure you put your books on the table!"
Son: "Oh Barnacle!"

Scenario 2
Me: "Afzal, go and bathe."
Son: "What a Barnacle!"


Oh what the thing is this Barnacle! It sounded like some bad word, and I knew where the son got it from. Spongebob Squarepants! That yellowish mustard sponge from Bikini Bottom. And I really doubt that Afzal knew what it meant but he used the expression quite convincingly. And here's the meaning of Barnacle from Merriam-Webster:

also called Cirripede , any of a majority of the 1,000 species of marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia. Adults of cirripedes other than barnacles are internal parasites of crabs, jellyfish, starfish, and some other marine invertebrates. They have no popular name. As adults, typical barnacles are covered with calcareous plates and are cemented, head down, to rocks, pilings, ships' hulls, …

Hmm, by saying that, it means "What a parasite!", thus associating me with the Adult Cirripede - an internal parasite. Personally, it's does not sound too harmful but I think he should be made known of what it could mean or lead to. Should I wait till he is slightly older to explain...any comments?

A Hot Summer

We went to the swimming pool yesterday, only the second time since we came. All the kids were enjoying themselves... and all 9 kids in the pool were Singaporean. No one else except us. The summer can be really hot and though we were there at 5.30 pm, the heat was really eating into my skin. Maghrib is only at 7.38 pm meaning it's long daylight, but it's getting shorter... I guess it will be good for us if it's shorter daylight when Ramadan comes, especially being a first timer in a foreign land. I can't imagine how soon Ramadan and Idilfitri will be... and before I know it, it will be time for us to pack and head home...

Looking for that holistic word or words...

Before I rattle about the above, congratulations to my dearest friend Seri and of course Greg who just had their first bouncy baby boy, Dayan Tay. She called me all the way from Singapore to tell me that it was one of the biggest challenges of her life. It's amazing how some women have easy pregnancy tales to tell while others like me and Seri, doesn't. And I'm sure it's just the start of a long road ahead albeit an exciting and nerve-wrecking ones for the new trio.

That's what been getting me these days... for the lack of an all-encompassing word or holistic word that best describes what we, as parents, are doing for our child(ren).

When we talk about homeschooling our child, that's like being a real teacher and creating a classroom-like atmosphere in the home with your only student and teaching all the subjects (and more) that are taught in school at home . But when your child goes to school and you still do some activities with him at home, what do you call that? I mean I don't supervise any homework for now cos there's none but I do activities that I created myself or in which I feel Afzal should be learning. And even when we are doing the home activities, there's lots of disciplining going on as well. Besides "teaching" or "playing" with him, I'm constantly "nagging", "making him conscious of the consequences of his actions", "giving alternative views and opinions", "telling him what's right and wrong", "inculcate in him what's morally right"...blah, blah, blah and then there is the religious aspect that I'm trying to instil in him, "before you eat, let's say this doa", "before you read your book, let's read this doa", "what do you say when you are full?" etc etc and of course I also would like him to be able to speak, read and write Malay, and if he could also dabble with Mandarin and yadda, yadda, yadda.......so what is the "holistic term" that describes what I am doing with my child?

Guess that's the whole crux of the matter. We are parents and we are parenting our child the best we know how and the best we could...including teaching him his abcs, phonics, maths, general knowledge, his mother-tongue and his culture, his religion, what's right, what's wrong, say thank you and please, asking for orders over the counter, paying money and getting the right change, sleeping in his own bed in his own room etc etc and for new mommies, things that may seem simple like breastfeeding is a whole new learning experience for both mother and child which may turn out great or totally screwed (like mine), and for toddlers even peeing right or not peeing in their pants is a great deal of learning, educating, parenting... aren't these all part of home educating and parenting and schooling? ... so what's the fuss am I kicking? Perhaps Greg, yes that's Seri's hubby, described it best when he said, "I'm from the University of Life". Wouldn't that be something you want to give your child as well? The University of Life. Think about it.

Me and my new school uniform

What can I say? Don't I just look cool in this?

Class Time!!!

Afzal in Mrs Smith's class, getting a bagful of goodies on the last day of orientation. This orientation includes a visit to the cafeteria where the children were taught where and how to collect their utensils, tray and food. An exciting new experience for my kindie kid!

Me and my new school...Westlawn Elementary School

Time for class...

School is in!

The grass is greener where the heart is...

Living in a foreign land can be both exciting and nerving. When I was young and single, I told myself that I will definitely migrate elsewhere. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it? There's wide open spaces, beautiful mountains and fresh air elsewhere compared to overcrowded, hot and humid Singapore. And then, I thought, if I'll ever find a mate, I'll follow him wherever he goes. Then I married my husband Tahir, a true blue Singaporean, and the farthest he'll probably settle down is Johor. Johor is great for makan and cheap bargains due to the exchange rate but definitely not a dream home. Then one day in 2001, we went for a holiday in Melbourne and to visit my sister who has made Melbourne home with her Nepalese husband. Surprisingly, Tahir fell in love with Melbourne. He felt that it would be a good place to raise Afzal and it would be less of a bottleneck as compared to Singapore. Somehow I was not as thrilled as before. I guess it does not matter where I am as long as my family is with me. I have also grown to groom my mind to fit the Singapore way of life. If I were to bring up Afzal in Singapore, I am ready to embrace the educationally-obsessed-lifestyle of Singapore. What took a rethink was my career. I was working long hours, working my butt off and winning awards. I sacrifice my precious time especially with Afzal to put great performance at work but what do I get in return. The returns was not worth the sacrifices and the fact that Afzal is bonding more with his dad. I would rather earn less or nothing than to work so hard and earn peanuts. I quit my 10-year so-called glamorous job, finished off my masters in early childhood education and went into research for a tiny bit before we move here to Alabama, following wherever my husband goes. And now, equipped with a masters in early childhood education, I am a full-time homemaker, bursting with energy and ideas to educate or even homeschool Afzal here in Alabama... but that is another story altogether.

We evacuated from Mobile and headed to Huntsville, another not-so-happening place except for the US Space and Rocket Centre. That was fun and an eye-opening experience for us. This pic was taken on our way to Boaz, a small sleepy town near Huntsville where we thought we could find some factory bargains. However, Foley was a much better factory outlet than Boaz. In Foley, I got US100 over worth of Osh Kosh B Gosh for less than US50. Calvin Klein jeans were going for US50 for 2 pairs. Levis is a steal.

Kid on the Moon!

Afzal calling Earth!!!

Finally I'm connected ....

Just got my brand new Dell laptop yesterday....hurray!!!! It's been a month and four days since Afzal and me landed on Alabama soil, specifically Mobile... a very unhappening place. Now, I'm at a hotel's bed in Huntsville, 8 hours drive north of Mobile... because we had to evacuate!!! There was a state of emergency in Mobile and Baldwin County because of Hurricane Dennis. Hurricane Dennis is hitting Mobile on Sunday evening and it is a category 4 hurricane, much worst that last year's pretty menacing Hurricane Ivan (category 3). It is an adventure in itself having the highway jammed up with everyone moving up north. As for us, it is a forced all paid vacation by hubby's company. If it is not raining and storming here, we hope to catch some sightseeing. Love to all in Singapore! Moooahhh!

10.46 pm Fri 8 July Alabama time
11.46 am Sat 9 July Singapore time

Signed and Sealed

My house has been rented out. It was signed and sealed last night for a period of 1 year. The tenant is a Chinese couple, whereby the husband has just completed his Phd in Engineering at the university and has been offered a job there as well. The wife is a trained lawyer with a masters degree. But her masters is not applicable here so she is planning to take her masters in Singapore again. They have a 2 and half year old daughter. Looks like a pleasant couple and I hope they will take care of my house. Since they have a child, they like Afzal's room and I did not need to take down the alphabets foam and posters. Anyway, Afzal's room has a nice crescent moon lamp and I stick little stars and planets on the top wall so when the lights are off, it glows in the dark. The couple also wanted Afzal's whiteboard easel, the IKEA table and chair, and the husband even asked if we could leave some toys for their daughter. Well, at least they didn't ask for too much things ... just little things for their dear girl. As much as I want to rent out my place, for reasons that I know too well, I feel kind of sad though plus tired and overwhelmed with all the packing. Hubby, you hear me....

Volvo

Amidst tantrum-throwing in the car and lynette-desperate-housewife-threat that I made on Afzal, he actually read the word 'volvo' from a truck. I was too angry to say anything except an 'mmmmmm' but I was actually thinking, he saw that word only the day before while we were having dinner at Long John Silver's and he asked me what's the word on someone's shirt. I said 'volvo' and that was that. He remembered. I learnt something here, as much as I don't do much of Glenn Doman flashing, never underestimate the power of sight words or I would rather call them 'street words' in my case. Words like 'stop', 'exit', 'give way', 'turn left', 'no parking' etc etc that Afzal has been reading. He knows almost all car names though I don't think he read them but he learnt to associate the signs and symbols with the brand name. I enjoy 'teaching' Afzal this way and I think he enjoys learning words this way too.

3 Bigs, 3 Smalls

I hit the big 3, 3 years ago. As much as I hate celebrating it, my mum couldn't help reminding me. That's mum! Of course she had to remember the first time she had to go into labour and finally delivered me at 3pm on 2nd May 33 years ago. And hubby was not with me again. Well, that's the way my life has taken its path. I'm not sad, I'm just reflective. So here's a pic with gun-pointing fingers at Afzal. Everyone's irritated at him for wanting the chocolate on everybody's piece of cake! That's my dear son.

This is the chocolate monster!!! 

Alabama - It's not a desert! And it's not in the mid-west!

The time in Alabama now is 11.40 pm on a Thursday night. 13 hours behind Singapore. For those uninitiated, Alabama is not about cactus and cowboys! It's forests and hurricanes.

Hubby cook rice today. He actually bought a mini rice cooker for US10 but in the end, his friend, who bought a US16 rice cooker wanted to exchange with him. It's too big, his friend thought and maybe the bigger rice cooker will be useful to him if we are coming over later. Hubby fried a sunny side up too. And before he could decide what else to "cook", (yeah cos he never does that in Singapore) a neighbour who brought his wife and kid along gave him a bowl of tomyam soup. Not bad eh.

Hubby is posted to Alabama, USA for the next 6 months to a year. This new posting has impacted my life very much...the decisions that I have to make and the issues that I have to deal with here in Singapore. Hubby, I wished you had been more open and communicate truthfully about the issues before you leave... it's mind boggling really, you know what I mean. That's something you have to work hard on, dear.

I handed in my resignation today, because I will probably be joining him in Alabama in a month's time, to be ... guess what... a homemaker! I don't know whether I should be excited for my new job posting. If truth be told, I'm going there with my son because I want to support him emotionally in his new endeavour. But I do feel a bit.... can't find a word for it... just received my masters and not working, had to give up this new research associate position that is so exciting and maybe a stepping stone to something more, won't have my own income. Yeah, that's going on inside me. But I just tell myself, that InsyaAllah, if there is rezeki, if it's mine, it will be mine. And despite feeling a sense of loss in many ways - I don't go, I feel lost. I go also, feel lost. So let's be lost in Alabama, and maybe the winds (hurricane!) of change will hail me in another direction. A good one, I hope.

My little poser.

Graduation 2005

How I wished hubby had been here to see this momentous occasion. It's one of the high points of my life. Hubby, if you see this, you should know that you are instrumental in me achieving this degree. Thank you for supporting me emotionally in this pursuit. I miss you greatly!!!

My graduation day!

Dissolve is the new vocab!

Yesterday afternoon, while I was sleeping, due to my medication, Afzal took two plastic pails, those Nata de Coco bucket. As narrated by nenek, he poured some water into one and put in talcum powder. He then used a pencil and stirred the talcum powder in the water. He asked nenek, "why did the powder dissolve in the water?". Grandma was a bit taken by that question. I don't know what grandma says but I guess I have to start digging materials to explain to him about this scientific phenomenon of "dissolve".....oh how i have forgotten my primary school science!

Mummy loves you, Afzal, always!

Last night, despite my coarse voice, I read 'Cat in the Hat Comes Back' to my little koala, Afzal. He loves the book and he wanted me to read the Cat in the Hat again after that but I just couldn't. My throat was bad, I was groggy from the medication and really zonked out. But as usual, my dear son, don't seem able to take to my reasoning well. I was so overwhelmed with anger ... i just snapped and he cried and went to sleep with his nenek. I really felt bad, because this boy is really interested in the book and the reading, and here I am doing this. Am I a bad mom?

I'm so sick!!!

I was on mc yesterday... lost my voice, major headache, bodyache, block nose, sorethroat, cough...How i'd wish the doc had given me two days so that I dont have to be at work today. Really not in the mood.

My little baby dolphin.

The sendoff