Birthday Parties

It was a fun filled weekend for the kids last weekend. We had three birthday parties and they enjoyed all of them. The first was on Saturday at KidsSports at One Utama. It was my cousin's eldest daughter, Maryam, who turned 6.

The kids just love the place and I think it is the perfect place to hold birthday parties cause you don't have to worry about activities. Kids will always have fun at the play area and the organisers there are pretty entertaining too. I was surprised Ali was so well behaved. He actually sat down quietly next to his sisters. It also helped there was a little girl next to him.

The other two birthday parties was on Sunday and I don't have any pictures of those unfortunately. One was in the morning at KFC in Shah Alam and the other one was at Sime Darby Convention Centre. The second one was a real show mind you.

Some parents really go all and are so lavish with their children. The birthday boy was only 3 but my oh my ..... what a show. Sometimes you wonder if it's for the parents or for the children. I believe all should be done in moderation. One shouldn't be too extravagant lah. Unless you look at it like a kenduri for your friends and the birthday is a by the way thingy.

But still, the child will grow up with certain expectations. Know what I mean! Short of me calling them spoilt! Indeed our kids these days are really lucky. They get everything on a silver platter. My husband always tells me what a different kind of life he had when he was growing up and how lucky our kids are to be so used to the good life. They do not know hardships at all. There is some good and some bad there. Chances are parents who didn't have it as a child want their kids to have it now. It usually works that way.

I have decided to stop having birthday parties for my kids. The last was Najihah's at 8 and Nadiah at 7 too. I said birthday parties are kiddie things and it is more special to have a little dinner to celebrate with the family. I am hoping they will learn more positive elements this way. As for Ali, I don't think I will hold a birthday so soon for him.

Yesterday's birthday boy had a whole ballroom and the outside concourse rented out. It was filled with balloons and activities for the kids. Fun nevertheless but I think a little too extravagant for my taste. As my husband always says, we have to be a little bit more far sighted....

Khalif at Two Months

This is Khalif. He is two months old now. Isn't he handsome? He looks so much like Amir and Murni. No one in particular, he is very much his own person. He has 2 dimples too, just like Ali! Maybe they can even pass off as brothers.

We had dinner with their nenek on Saturday night and it was such a laugh to see poor old nenek juggling her two grandsons.

We had dinner at Swensen's in Subang Parade. Ali managed to make a mess of the table very soon. Water was spilled all over. His Pak Ngah and Mak Deque also had a tough time chasing him everywhere.

This is their nenek and her two grandsons. I was trying to get a picture of the three of them together but it was not easy to get all of them, especially Khalif, to look at the camera.

Ali was the hardest to hold as he was so wormy and wanted to roam around the restaurant more than anything. He was not even interested in eating! Until the ice cream came of course!!!

Now isn't this a sweet picture of Khalif and his nenek. He is such a well behaved baby, until he gets his feet going I guess.

SISTA will be at the Great Eastern Mall

I know many of you don't read SISTA's blog ( sistastyle.blogspot.com) but we are having a sale for two days. Hope you can come and make the occasion more festive!

WHAT: SISTA at the Homart Bazaar
WHEN: Sat and Sun Feb 21 and 22 2009
TIME: 10am to 6pm
WHERE: Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang

Thank you for all your support!

Kiss and Make Up

Friends. They are so very important to us aren't they. I believe so and I know a lot of my friends think so too. One of my girlfriends told me that friends are just like any other relationship. It has to be maintained. It is also very much like a marriage. It needs nurturing and maintenance. Lots of TLC and hugs and kisses.

But friends come and go don't they. Not all. I have friends that have lasted me a lifetime, 37 years of it too! Okay lah ... 30 years then. Yes, I still have my friends from when I was 7 years old and I am happy to call them my friends. Real friends. We help each other out when in trouble and are good sounding boards.

When I have something troubling me I will normally turn to my friends. Unless of course it is a delicate matter and will talk to my husband. But most of the time, I go to my friends don't I. Why because they usually don't judge me. Or at least I think so. But when they advise or share their opinions, I know they are being honest. I know that what they tell me is exactly how it is.

I have written about this topic many times before I think right here on this blog. Only because my friends are important to me and I hate it when there are "issues" among us circle of friends. There are some friends who don't (or at least I think so and if I am wrong please forgive me) feel so strongly about friendship and they have put aside some friends because of differences that cannot be tolerated with any longer.

I am not perfect either. There are certain friends which I don't want to call friends anymore. Actually only one. The rest are ex's that I don't want to associate myself with anymore and that is different right!

I feel sad about these friends who cannot reconcile their differences. Sad because in their anger and frustration they end up hurting each other more. So blinded are they by what I am not sure that they cannot see anymore that friend or friendship they once had. They have lost respect for that other person and do things with total disregard of how that other person may feel.

I don't like to see my friends like this but it seems this is the way it is going to be as far as they are concerned. Actually in writing this I have forgotten what I was trying to say. Whatever it is I am upset that these two friends are at odds with each other! I wish I could change the sitiation but it beyond my control.

So here ... have a good look at this picture of pure innocence. His only concern is how do I climb over that couch or how do I jump into that pond without being stopped by my mom. What a life he has at the age of 19 months. What does he know about friends etc ...

Mama ... I want to jump in the pond!

My SIM Card Died!

My SIM card died. Sounds wierd I know but really it did. I thought it was the networks down but I switched the phone on and off and it still couldn't find service. I even tried the SIM card on another phone just to make sure it was not the phone at fault. Still couldn't.

So called MAXIS, I repeat ... MAXIS, and know what they said. I can't get over this. The SIM card is dead, sometimes that happens. It just stops working.

HUH? Please come in and get a new SIM card. Oh!!

Technology at its best eh ... after all, it is just a phone and SIM card right. What can I say. It is such an inconvenience, now I have to find the time to go to MAXIS and get this fixed quick. Don't I!!! Can I ask for compensation you think? Ya rite! MAXIS nak compensate ....

Not sure what to say now about it. Not even sure I know what to write anymore.

My friends are also so amazed and asking me when is the funeral. A friend even said it should be cremated. I said cannot lah, Muslims don't cremate. He answered sorry cause he thot' the SIM card was a Hindu like its Big Boss. *ROTFL*

It's a good laugh for today yes ...

What Would Life Be Without Pillars of The Earth

Today is Monday and it has been a good start to the week so far despite the kids having replacement classes last Saturday. I enjoyed my Sunday somewhat with minimal activities. But I must say the weather has not been on our side of late has it.

It has been tremendously hot these past few weeks and no sign of rain at all! This is the hot season they say and they were not kidding were they. I dare say it will only get worse. This is all part of global warming too. Just two weeks ago there was that story (where I got that lovely picture of snow in Paris) of how the weather is taking a turn for the worse with snow falls of tremendous inches.

What is the weather coming to. I read somewhere that in 2020 there will not enough water to support global needs. Now that is a scary issue. Guess we won't be able to have our eight glasses a day then eh? *LOL* But seriously, there must be something we can do and I don't think any move is too late.

Recycling and green engines may seems like not such a hot think but it will help our mother earth. Better late than never. There are many other greener moves we can take too in addition to tree planting/ Does stop smoking contribute? I am sure many of us would like to see our other halves stop smoking.

Then when it rains (finally) it pours and we have flooding problems. But I believe that is man made. Cause if it were not for their vast and irresponsible development, flooding would not be such a problem. Tree felling and hill cutting is another issue. God did say the hills and mountains were built as a pillar for the earth. And man comes to destroy it. Oh well ...

Thoughts for today dear friends ....

Maid and the *(^*&^*&

I had a second maid. She was with us for one and a half years. She irritated me. She worked mostly at Bob's office which means she only came home at about 4pm or so. Only then I would see her and she would supposedly help with the house work. I never really liked her since she first came.

From day one her husband creared problems for her. He kept on bugging her, calling her, making her life difficult. Made my life difficult too cause he started to bug me. Sending me smses, calling me in the middle of the night to talk to her.Psycho!

Well now she has gone back. She didn't finish her contract cause her husband was giving her a hard time. No reason was given why she had to stop work but I suspect husband was threathening her with divorce. Why let her come in the first place. DUH!

Before she left I gave her last pay and she said I didn't pay her for one of those past months. I checked my books and said no, she must have been mistaken. Oh ya and since she wanted to quit before her contract expired, she had to pay for her own ticket back. About RM275 so we deducted it from her pay. By right, I should have asked her to compensate for lost months. As it is her permit alone is RM675.

Today her husband smsed me asking why I made her pay for her own ticket and accused me of not giving her that one month salary. For the record he has been trying to call me but I have not picked up the phone. He is an ASS! I have spoken to him in those initial months and he is an ASS!

I got very angry when he sent that sms this evening. I bet she didn't tell him that Bob gave her RM300 for her 3 kids. I bet she didn't tell him about the phone bills that I had to pay when he first started giving her a hard time those initial months. And I bet she didn't tell him that she had to pay access baggage of RM300.

The audacity of some people. I told my maid what happened so she will be aware of the situation in case he (the ASS) decides to call her and badger her about it.

And I thought I got rid of her!