Random Rambles of Lotfi

The coccyx is still sore. No Viper Challenge for me tomorrow...boohooo!! :(( I was looking forward to swing from rope to rope, climb endless walls and falling into muds!! And 20km of running.  And being with my runningkaki brothers. Good luck , guys!! With no training, except for a few measly kms of walking in the last 2 weeks since the hike up Tabur West, let's hope I can finish the Istanbul 15km in one piece. That, I'm looking forward to! ;)) The coccyx pain is also bothering the upper right back. I should pay the acupuncturist a visit soon. Fear of needles on my butt! Lol! Not a good sight! I'm holding up for a bit, for the next few day.  It's one or the other, since I have no choice it has to be one that my behind can bear Since I am not going to the race tomorrow I have decided to register myself for a workshop, instead. it's a social media workshop for business. The quest for knowledge is never-ending. I love meeting like-minded, positive ...

1st day of the new Islamic calendar year. 1st day of the month of Muharam. Alhamdulillah, sempat baca doa awal dan akhir tahun semalam. So, I thought I won't wait till January to make some new resolutions. New year came early for us, so why not? Let's see... what resolutions shall I make. 1. Be kinder, have kind thoughts of people. More often than not we have , I have pre-conceived notions of people. Dia ni nampak sombong, tak mau tegur..dia tu poyo, yang tu kerek, that one too quiet, this one too noisy..hahahah. I am a kind person, but I aspire to be kinder this year. I have always practiced good thoughts of people, even if some of the things people do are less than kind, or almost spiteful. I just hope to be given the strength to be even kinder to them. 2. Give more often. Today I started by donating. No details necessary here. I just want to give more often, whatever I can afford, maybe monetary, some days materials, other days..my time and also, my energy.  3....

Exactly 5 months since my last post. Exactly 5 months since my last day in full time employment. How has it been?  I am still busy...I keep myself busy. There are lazy days. There are productive ones. But, I'm more relaxed these days, more than I like though.. Alhamdulillah, last Ramadan was wonderful not having to go to work 9-6. And Raya was wonderful, not having to think about going 'back to work after Raya holidays'. I get to see Mak in JB more than before :))    I get more time with Aisyah before she leaves for the US. Daily, I see more of the kids. I plan my outings and meetings around non-peak hours and avoid the traffic, so much so that driving at peak hours irks me now. I take on projects I like and I say no to those I couldn't spare time on. I get to cook more often, I read more books, I get to spend more time on spiritual practices. I ran a full marathon last month cause it's just nicer not having to go to work the days after. I water th...

There... I was just lurking around looking up stuff on the www and then I remembered this place. My last post was last year. So I told myself, why not? Maybe this is just a visit, maybe I will stay. Time will tell. Alhamdulillah it's Friday! TGIF!! Last day of the work week. The weekend's looking busy, as always.  Life as a full time employee. You only have that two days weekend for yourself and you try to squeeze in as much as you can. Monday you go to work like a zombie. Hehe, sounds familiar? I've done that for the last what? 17 years!! Giler la..crazy life!  So that's gonna change for a bit. I'm figuring out how to have more Me time, more home time, more kids time, more hub's time, more cat's time and above all more time for the Almighty, Insyaallah. Here's looking forward to a life full of blessings, more berkat. Is it possible to have more by having less? I would like to think so. Ini pengorbanan namanya, tapi cuma pengorbanan dun...

In case you've not noticed the blog has turned orange. I have this thing about colours. I love them...too much.. I'm surrounded by things orange these days. The company, after the take over , now has an orange colour logo..and suddenly I keep seeing orange stuff all around. Talk about the law of attraction. I'm drawn to orange now..the colour..I used to work in a place where the company logo is Purple and suddenly I found my wardrobe full of purple stuff! Is there anything that explains this affinity with a certain colours? What does your favorite colour say about you? I googled and saw this interesting infographics on colours from urbantimes.co At least, we got some things right. ORANGE is the colour of excitement and warmth. It's also good for signage, and to draw attention. Hmmm...perhaps I shouldn't be wearing too much orange. But, yes a business would want this. Here's hoping that more people will warm up to the Orange and a some sort of brand affin...

Assalamualaikum and hello, Yes, yes...am back...how long for, I don't know... This blog has been long idle...I'm beginning to question its existence...so many times I have contemplated looking for the "delete blog" button and then I re-read my past postings, decided against it. This is my syok-sendiri sanctuary when I need it..what gives? So many times, in the last 6 months since my last posting, I had wanted to revert to it...alas..with so many things happening that needed my limited attention, I have to admit that this santuary of mine has taken a back seat. Life goes on..with significant and insignificant happenings...some worth mentioning, some totally not worth any attention. Just to share what's been up or down with my life, if you care to read.. MAK Mak turned 73 in June last year. She has always had heart arryhythmia since she was 40 with blood that are too thick and an abnormal valve condition (which we only discovered recently)  She is slow i...

2nd week into the new year..so how has it been to everyone? I didn't make a resolution to update this like, everyday, so this is a good start. I made a deliberate effort to somehow welcome 2011 differently, not that there was anything remotely wrong with how we did it in the recent years. We've done city hotel stays before watching the fireworks from the 15th floor of Impiana KLCC, we've taken the opportunity to make a trip to Singapore at least 2 years in a row, even if it was a few days before the new year and there were countless "stay at home, watch fireworks from the front gate" which was cool as well, at least it worked for us.. fussy lot we're not.. G ENTING Having spent the Xmas weekend in Genting with the kids, the week before convinced us me that ok, enough spending...seriously Genting can be quite a spent, especially with food. But our stay at The Club Room was very pleasant and my ride on the Space Shot (the only ride I have the guts  ...

Today is the 12th day of Ramadan. Today also marked 9 days since my maid, Ana went on MC. She was about 5 months pregnant last week, when she complained that she has been feeling very tired so she asked for her weekend break last weekend. I told her to check the condition with a doctor. Last Sunday, when she called me she was in tears saying that the foetus has somehow lost its life in her uterus and she has to go through the D&C procedure. When she first told me she was pregnant a few months earlier, I was quite surprised coz I know that they were not planning for one, after all her husband has grown up children and she herself has a son from their previous marriage. But I guess, you can't plan these things and after her decision to stop working and then deciding to give birth here, I sort of got myself psyched to welcome a baby into our home. But alas, we can only plan. So we are left to fend for ourselves. Lucky that it's Ramadan and the kids don't eat durin...

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Maria Robinson Yes, a new beginning. Monday is coming InsyaAllah..slowly but surely... My ritual for beginning something new.... 1. Change to new wallet/purse...ey...nak simpan duit banyak nih...InsyaAllah 2. New shoes - 2 pairs at least hahaha! Kopak! 3. Spring cleaning the wardrobe - which could mean new clothes...fingers crossed..insyaAllah) 4. Trip to Peekaboo done - (my hair days are numbered..hijab soon...insyaAllah) 5. New knick knacks for the new office - a painting or 2 for the wall would be great and plants to match the green wall! 6. Visit Mak - which is easier coz she's in town! A mum's blessing is uber important! 7. New phone???Hmmm...still contemplating the iphone... Have always loved 7 so let's stick to that list... The last few days have been so fulfilling...More time with the smaller ones...more time at home..I guess this is...

"don't cry because it ended, smile because it happened" dr seuss I twitted this today...I felt like it today...So many things has come to their end in my life...so many...countless. If I look back and cry for them...they will never come back. So I chose to smile and rejoice because bad things has come to an end and good things has come and will hopefully recur.. Not saying that bad things won't but there's always a silver lining behind every clouds. I strongly, truly believe that. Too many things has happened in my life to prove this. When I was growing up, I remember thinking "ek eleh...berapa kali nak cakap nih...Nih dah dengar banyak kali dah.." each time my Mak says "Dulu masa Mak umur macam awak, bla, bla, bla.. and goes on and on to tell me what silly things she didn't do. And i told myself when I have kids I'm not gonna pull the same trick, but today I found myself uttering the same exact words that she said...OMG, OMG, OMG!!...

I woke up with Zaim's cheerful voice this morning, asking me to send him to school and later Aisyah came to bed, also with the same request. In my mind I was already figuring out that later at nearly 8am, Khairin will also be coming to my bed with the same "Mama, hantar pergi sekolah ok?"...So there it went, my hope for a Saturday lie-in, gone together with my other dreams. So wide awake, I might as well go for a good Saturday morning run. I've been lazy. Ever since, we came back from umrah, I've only ran once and today,which turned out to be quite good. Even met a few of the neighbours up on Subest Hill. Must try and get into the hang of running consistently again. With the 3 kids at school,thought...yeah! that's it! I can rest for a bit...but nah! Imran woke up and again "Ma, hantar g section 10 boleh?". I said "no" but tak sampai hati lah pulak..The plus point is I get to stop over at Mc D to pack breakfast...yeay coffee!! ...

Yes Aisyah, i"m not in denial. I will show the world my mug!! The beauty! Let's run! The cute card. Notice my chubby baby pic..aand my favorites that she added; shoes, my car, Sam Worthington (woohooo!!), Sue Sylvester from Glee and my recent favorite, Mekah. Betty is her alter ego, btw. I t's here. Came before I could even utter the word "wait, m not ready!!" Today, Alhamdulillah I turned the big 40. We went out for dinner yesterday. I felt like having fiish so we headed to Fish & Co. in OU. Langsung tak suspect apa when hubs and Aisyah left the place after dinner, while I hang around with the rest. I thot he was going for his smokes, while Aisyah said she's checking out the music shop. In a while, they came back with the birthday cake for both me and Imran. So sweet! Thanks love!! After shopping for some clothes for Zaim, we headed home. I checked out my facebook and saw countless birthday wishes from friends near and far. Thankful for ...

Sekarang pukul 12.54 pagi ...Apsal aku tak boleh tido walaupun kepala sudah nyut..nyut...nyut.. Just yesterday I went to see Dr Roy, and found out that my blood pressure is a bit on the high side..Apa kes?? Dr. kata could be because I'm having problems sleeping...Yang tak boleh tidor tu pesal...?Orang lain dah sedap berdengkur...kau dok terkebil-k ebil dalam gelap... Dr kata..I could be having hormone imbalance...ye ker?? Progesterone, Estrogen...apa kejadahnya?? I am SO seeing a homeopathy practitioner back in JB this weekend! Yeay...yeay...b alik JB, balik JB...Aku nak start puasa dengan Mak..bes tnyer....Wooohooooo!!! We had a nice bonding session with the biggie bosses on Wednesday nite, with each of the 9 of us bringing something that we cooked at home...and we had a good laugh having conversations that we would other wise not have in the of fice. Hey...bosses are human after all. Our CEO's going into semi retirement while the GMD is moving on to a new place...

I'm having problems sleeping....This has been going on for quite some time...I'm losing sleep over not getting enough sleep....huhuhu ....

I knew that today was going to be another fabulous day...I had that feeling from late last night. And true enough pepagi buta, si bujang berdua kat opis tu gave me my birthday present. This really nice, nice necklace with a biggie pendant that I absolutely love!! And a bit later, datang pulak segerombolan manusia to my table to present another gift, that surprisingly matches the gift that hubby gave me...What a wonderful coincidence!!! Very the girangs sesangatnyer!! Guys, I absolutely adore all the gifts and again many, many thank you yang tak terkira!! Later in the aftrenoon, I went to the launch of Xan's new show, that's going to be aired soon in May on ntv7. The launch went off smoothly. The venue,The Apartment is a very nice place and fits this new travel and lifestyle show of hers. Susan, Xan's mum was there as well and as usual it's always good to meet this duo of mum and daughter, both full of life and energy. I'm so happy for them that the show is fi...

Ingatkan birthday celebration dah abis hari ni...rupanya hari ni kengkawan surprisekan kita lagi dengan brownie yang besor dan syedap...Kita suker, suker, suker....! As my colleague Ee Ling puts it..."Fi, you have such sweet friends". I can't agree more. Terharu sesangat and thank you from the bottom of my heart!! These friends also treated me to lunch at our favourite restaurant, Delicious. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect thing to start my week.

My birthday started way before the clock turned 12am on the 12th April, when friends and family started sending text messages, facebook wall-to-wall and phone calls. Ah…the joy of technology!! Less paper wastage… Again, mummy duties overruled even birthday girl privileges. Was up by 6.30am to send Khairin to school for some drama thingy that she’s involved in. Then straight to yoga. The gym door was not even opened when I reached there!! Efficient tak akak?? After an hour of yoga, drove home and Imran was ready at home to be sent to Kota Damansara for a futsal match and Aisyah wants to get to a cyber café. Akak birthday girl yang juga chauffer anak-anak yer… Then back home again before me, hubby and Zaim went for brunch in this new café. Café Rozali in Kota Damansara has nice, cheap food. Pergi ar…!! After the boys’ barber visit, made a quick tour to The Curve and bought the kids some clothes from Debenhams. Cik Mur tau. Aisyah managed to get a lift from a friend so we’re relieved fro...

21 November 2008. This date yesterday would be a significant milestone in my life. After a 5 years period of attending classes, assignments, class projects etc, etc, etc…I finally graduated with upper 2nd class honours in PR. Most of my classmates that I started out with 5 years ago were with me yesterday. A lot of people ask why with my work experience I wasted 5 years doing a degree when I could’ve gone straight to do my Masters….well to tell you the truth when I first started I didn’t know that it was possible and after going through 5 years I have absolutely no regrets. What I have gained in knowledge and friendship for the last few years beats all the hardship of last minutes assignments, late nights cramming before the exams and all the time away from my family. The experience of life would not have been the same if I were to go to Uni right after school...Gosh! To just think of it and think of all the could've been and I wouldn't do it any other way. And all...

As crazy as April has been so far I love it...have always love April...sad things have happened in my life in the month of April, but like what I wrote earlier, always something good in store after anything 'not so good' happened to you.. Caya lah cakap mak...there's always a silver lining.. April, with our mall tour on the 12th, my class project on the same day and also the feel good reunion on the 11th and to top it all my birthday on the 12th as well, mak pengsan, salmah....And not forgetting, Imran's birthday on the 5th..My boy's voice is a croak now. At 13, he is growing up pretty fast. We went bowling till wee hours of the morn complete with birthday cake and sing song. The kids had a blast on abang's birthday. Our class final year project took place on my birthday. After months of preparation, the event finally took place. And the famous Angkasawan was there...The way he arrived, would scare off any terrorist, or whatever threat his bodyguards thin...