Feeling Bad....

Nabihah's fever is coming back on and off starting last Sunday. She will be very hot in the middle of the night, we have to put wet towel on her forehead and insert the bullet fever tablet into her anal to combat the fever. But then in the morning, she's all right. Last nite we went to clinic again cause the fever, cough and flu medicine has finished. But the doctor was not in, so we just took the medicine. Since she looked well except for the mild hot we felt when touching her skin, we thought it was ok not to see the doctor as long as we have the stock of medicine. But when we arrived home an hour later, Nabihah looked unwell and her skin felt so hot. We quickly gave her the fever medicine and she off to sleep. But we have to put the wet towel on her forehead. The whole night I couldn't sleep well, having to wake up on and off to check on her condition. But she slept soundly.

My husband was telling me last night maybe we should take her to the hospital for thorough check-up. Maybe we should refer her to the pediatrician instead of keep seeing the general doctor in the private clinic. But the problem is I can't take emergency leave to take her to the hospital. Remember my post on the MC issue? You can read it here.

My husband also in the midst of workload. He's busy with the university applications, preparation of final exam questions, some university management works he has to handle and all that, the dateline is by Friday. Already he's complaining for not being able to stay back at the office because he has to fetch the twins from the school before 6.30 pm. And I can't take turn to send and fetch them as I leave early and come home late.

He said he will be taking Nabihah to the hospital. I offered to send Nabilah to school but he refused coz he said it's a pity that Nabilah has to go to school without her sister. He said he can managed to bring two of them to the hospital. But I feel really bad for not being able to go with them. I'm not so career-ambitious minded woman but having a boss who couldn't understand problems of married people, makes me very cautious. But definitely if emergency things really happens, I have no choice but has to go off no matter what happen.

Funny is before I off to site, being in HQ is more flexible than here. Despite of having tonnes of works, I have no problem applying for leave, be on MC or taking few hours off from office (with permission of course!) to handle any emergency personal situation, like having to bring the kids to the clinic. That's why I thought working in SMHB for the past six years is very convenient because of the flexibility. Most of my colleagues who went to sites before always describe that working at site is heaven, because the working hours is more flexible (this gotta do with 'mengular' i guess....hehehe). But it doesn't happen here! Not that I want to 'mengular' but never would I imagine applying for leave will be so difficult or taking MC will be a critical issue.

How I wish I could just quit and stay at home. But I couldn't....I still have the financial commitment that I'm bound to at least until my husband is confirmed to further his study. I really really wish that his study plan works well. Now that he has passed his IELTS and going through the university application process.

Those who are stay-at-home moms, I really envy you guys for you all have the opportunity to raise your kids full time. I know this is about choice, but I just can't afford to choose being a full time mom now. Hope I will be able to join the club soon.

By the way, my husband did not take Nabihah to hospital this morning cause she didn't have the fever anymore. But if the fever still coming back tonight, going to the hospital tomorrow is a MUST.

The Cook

I came home with terrible headache and down with flu again. The virus just doesn't want to go away it seems. And cooking was the last thing in my mind. When Cik HB asked what to buy for dinner meal, I suggested (half serious actually) that he should cook kuetiaw soup. To my surprise, he agreed. I told him the ingredients for making the kuetiaw soup were available in the fridge. From my bedroom, I could hear he started digging stuffs from the fridge and the kitchen cabinet. On and off, he kept asking where is the black pepper, where is that, where is this....I was on the verge waking up from bed and took over but I was telling myself, let him do it alone. He should learn.

Not long after that, I could smell nice aroma kuetiaw soup in the making. But since I took the flu medicine which cause drowsiness, I didn't wake up and checked out. Then I could hear him feeding the twins and listening he praised himself for cooking the delicious meal...hehehehe. He then came and asked me whether I wanted to eat his kuetiaw soup but eating was also the last thing in my mind. If I could, I would have tasted his kuetiaw soup and praised him for the effort he made. Futhermore, he told me that the twins ate a lot. Maybe next time, I will coax him to cook the kuetiaw soup again.

This morning I woke up and found my kitchen in a mess. Well, at least he has cooked so I was not going to make any noise. One step at one time, ok! I will find a way to educate him on housekeeping later.

Way to go cik HB!!!!!

The Gathering

My ex-housemates in UNITEN have been planning for this gathering quite sometime. To get a date and time was our major problems. At first, Ati, Linda and I planned for a vacation but to arrange a vacation for 7 families (including Boney and spouse, Waty - Boney not our ex-housemate but has been a good friend to us since UNITEN time) was very challenging. So we just go for a day gathering first, see whether it's a success then only think about vacation.

Mis was the host this time, and it was a pot luck party. And everybody turned up. I brought nasi minyak, ayam madu, dalca daging and acar timun. Ati brought spaghetti bolognese, Linda with nasi impit n kuah kacang, Azma with baked macaroni and chocolate muffins, Ina brought fruit cocktails and ice-cream, Boney brought roasted chicken from Ayamas. So there were so much of foods. And Ati has surprised everybody when she took out a tray of cup cakes beautifully decorated with names of those persons that celebrated their birthday recently. There were candles lit up too on each cup cakes.By the way, yesterday was also Boney's birthday.

Anyway, the moms can't really have proper chat as we were busy tending the kids. This is also first time I met Azma's and Ina's husbands as I didn't attend their weddings.

It was great meeting everybody. Maybe we will plan for vacation later. That, I don't know how long will it takes to make it real.

The ladies n the kids (guys were the photographers...hehehe)

Saturday Blues

It's again the working Saturday. *sigh*

Actually it's really really unproductive to come to work on Saturday. It takes me 2 hours to drive to work, stay in the office for about 3 hours and another 2 hours driving to get home. But that is the arrangement. At least at the moment it's just the alternate Saturday I have to come as my boss has made arrangement that at least one engineer has to be in on Saturday. There are only three engineers here including my boss. But my boss has not put himself in this alternate arrangement. Only me and the other engineer. But the other engineer is leaving end of this month to HQ. That means by next month, I have to come every Saturday....arrgghhhh!!!!!

Really really can't wait for April to come!!!!!

Demam laa....

Seperti yg dijangka, demam hb berjangkit ke anak2, n then aku pulak. On Monday, first day of working after long holidays, aku paksa diri gi keje walaupun diri tak berapa sihat. Kalau aku MC on Monday, sure bos aku tak percaya punya, sure dia ingat aku saja nak memanjangkan cuti. Tapi unexpectedly, bos noticed that aku x sihat. Cuma yg annoying nya, instead of tanya aku tak sihat ke, dia boleh tanya 'What's wrong with u, are u pregnant?' Selesema n batuk2 tu simptom org mengandung ke? Oh, lupa...org tua ni kan tak kawin, mana lah dia tau. Saja nak buat aku annoyed la tu. Tapi dia punya la ambil berat ptg before aku balik, siap bg aku ubat selsema, pesan suruh jumpa doktor, suruh balik Melaka naik hi-way. Aku rasa pelik sikit sbb bos aku ni kan 'Hitler'. Dia tunjukkan compassion cam gini aku rasa cam pelik lak. Menyampah pon ada.

Esoknya, aku mmg dah decide nak amik MC. Aku confirm doktor sure bg MC punya sbb mmg badan aku panas, selsema n batuk. Pagi sebelum jumpa doktor, aku dah sms bos bgtau aku MC. Kalau bgtau lambat kang dia bising pulak. Doktor was very generous, dia bg aku MC dua ari which aku sgt2 appreciate. Before this aku takut nak MC, sbb bos aku suka bising kalau org MC. Bodohnya aku sebelumnya, dapat MC 3 ari sbb sakit mata, tapi aku cuma amik 2 ari aje sbb takut dia marah. This time I dont' care bebeh....MC adalah hak aku. Lagipon bos aku cuma contract staff, aku permanent staff, so pedulik lah!

One thing aku tak tahan demam ni sbb aku x berdaya nak buat keje2 umah. Dah lah anak2 pon x baik dr demam, so diorg still merengek2 ngan aku. Aku OK ke KO ke, tugas as a mommy kena gak buat. Boleh la divert keje2 umah yg lain kat cik HB, tapi hasilnya sgt la tidak memuaskan. Disebabkan aku pon x sihat, so aku ignore je la. Aku x berfungsi utk 2 ari, rumah pon x nampak mcm rumah dah....sungguh merimaskan!

Hari Khamis, aku masuk keje balik. But so annoying bila bos panggil and bising2 marah aku kenapa x bgtau aku dapat MC 2 ari pada hari pertama. Laa...aku dah sms dia bgtau masa ari kedua aku still MC. Tu pon dia nak bising? Then dia ckp, ikut entitlement aku dapat MC setahun 14 ari, so patutnya sebulan aku cuma boleh MC satu ari aje. Rasa mcm nak jerit je kat dia. Sapa ajar dia centu? Ini dia ikut rules utk annual leave la tu. Dia kata nak report kat HQ, aku cabar dia, gi la report. Sungguh aku nak dia report, biar HQ aku tgk betapa bangangnya RE yg diorg hire ni. N senang aku nak ngadu kat HR opis aku perangai dia yg sebenar. Datang keje tengahari, sabtu x penah dtg, ada hati pulak nak report2 org. Lagipon sejak bila jadi kesalahan MC dua ari ni? Selama aku keje dekat 6 thn ni, ni lah first time MC aku dipertikaikan. Geramnya!!!!!

Sungguh menjengkelkan la org tua sorang ni! Minta2 la kontrak dia mmg tamat this 31 March. Kalau aku kena extend pon stay kat sini, harap2 org tua tu dah xde. Kalau tak boleh jadi gila aku.

Journey to the East - Part II

Our balik kampung trip this time is not fun at all. My hb still not fully recovered from fever and the fever virus has spread to my twins later on. So we can't enjoy our normal routine whenever we are in KB. Most of the time, when we are in KB, jalan-jalan at PCB or Pantai Irama and eat colek is a must (Colek is a term used there for fried seafood sold at the stalls). And I also would love to go to Pasar Siti Khadijah to buy some keropok and other snacks. And to MPKB to buy new tudung. But not this time. We only went to my hb's cousin's wedding on Saturday.

Then Sunday, we headed off to Melaka. Thought of leaving as early as 6.30 am coz we were worried on the heavy traffic jam. But as usual, MIL insisted that we must have our breakfast first and bring the lunch pack together. So we left at about 8 am. From KB to Gua Musang, the traffic was smooth. So as from Gua Musang to Raub. We stopped at Jeram Besu near Kuala Lipis for lunch. At Raub, there was a minor traffic jam but still ok. We stopped at Masjid Bentung for prayers and queue in the ladies toilet was so long, I think it took me half an hour in the queue before I finally able to use the toilet. This is one thing I hate about travelling in the festive seasons.

Off to Karak Highway, the traffic was heavy with cars coming from Kuantan and Bentung directions but still not so bad as the cars were still moving though very slow. We reached KL at 5.30 pm and dropped my sister in law at her house in Wanga Maju. Then we proceed to Melaka. I was hoping by 7.30 pm we will reach Melaka. Sure the PLUS traffic towards south is smooth as people were heading towards KL. But wrong! After Bangi exit, going towards Bandar Mahkota, the traffic was so heavy, and it was bumper-to-bumper jammed. I didn't know how long we were moving so slowly, but only after Senawang exit, the traffic smooth. However, as we going to miss Maghrib coz it was already 8.20 pm, we have to stopped at Ayer Keroh R&R first to do prayers. And finally at 9.30 pm, feeling so energy drained, we have arrived home. So basically we were on the road for 13.5 hours...what a journey!

I guess, if money is not an issue, travelling by air would be my option. I couldn't bear the long journey, but still I have to go thru it as I'm married to my husband, and his family comes as a package :).

Journey to the East - Part I

Whenever there is long public holidays, our holiday destination will be at Kota Bharu, my in-laws place. I can't complain about this, in fact I think it's fair enough as we go back to my hometown almost once a month. We go back to KB perhaps 3-4 times in a year. I love going back to KB, I love seeing my in-laws but the the journeys is very very dreadful. On normal time, it takes at least 10 hours to travel from Melaka to KB. On festive seasons, public holidays, it'll take way longer than that. Once, when I was still staying in KL, it took us 14 hours on our return journey from KB. That was during Hari Raya Haji time. And imagine travelling with 2 babies....oh! It was so torturing.

We have planned to go back to KB on the Chinese New Year holidays for so long. The last time we went to KB was during Hari Raya Puasa. I planned to take leave the day before CNY and the day after the last day of the long weekends to avoid the heavy road traffic. But having a 'Hitler' boss, I was only allowed to take one day leave, so I chose the day before CNY.

Unfortunately, my hb got fever two days before we planned to go back to KB. And it appeared to be a bad one...he laid on bed helplessly. Though he went to see doctor, took the medicine, he was still weak. I told him, if he still not recovered, we should cancel our balik kampung trip. I can offer myself to drive but it's a long journey, he was not well so who's going to handle the twins? Besides, I hardly drive on the KL-KB route, and it is not a good idea to drive the whole journey off especially on this festive season. The night before the day, I just packed our stuff. If we were to go back, we planned to hit the road as early as 3 am in the morning. Hb said if he still couldn't get up the next morning, we cancel the trip.

By 2.30 am I woke up and asked my hb whether we going back or not. He convinced me that he was ok though I saw him still not fully ok. I said I will drive for as long as I could and he should sleep in the meantime. By 3.30 am we hit the road. Surprisingly, I didn't feel sleepy at all. Actually I hate driving at night but it was a good idea to be moving at the wee hours. Not much vehicles and it's cold. The twins also were sleeping soundly. By 6.30 am we reached Raub and stopped for Subuh prayer. After solat, my hb said he felt good enough to drive so he took over the wheel.

When we reached Kuala Lipis, the vehicles started queuing up. This is where an expert driver is very much required to over take the lorries and this is what I'm not good at. That Gua Musang route is very dangerous with sharp corners and hilly areas. I always feel my heart thumping so hard whenever my hb doing over taking. So who says a co-pilot can sleep? And with accidents rate is so high and the route is famously known as accident areas, I could never able to close my eyes when travelling back to KB.

Indeed, we were stuck in a massive traffic jam when reaching Machang. Apparently, there was a deadly accident. I didn't dare to look thoroughly as we were passing the wrecked vehicles but it was obvious there were people succumbed to death as we could see the police typical truck that normally carries dead bodies.

Finally we reached KB at 2.00 pm, happily greeted by my in-laws.