Welcome baby Mikayla Rizka

I haven't been here for a while. Gotten a little scolding from the hubby... so here I am once again...

I wanted to start with a huge warm welcome to dear baby Mikayla Rizka... the longingly and lovingly expected baby of Susan and Ismail... hope she grows up to be a wonderful and beautiful young lady.. and yes, the prayers start now because you're gonna need it!! Just kidding... it's gonna be a wonderful journey for this new small family...

Congrats again...



As for other updates, we'll fill you in again soon... I've got some pictures I will start to upload... hopefully quite a few more by February...

Oh-so-close...

This morning I got up and realized it's the 11th of November!! Today Airasia is giving away free seats... I woke up late as it was already, but I rushed to turn on my computer.



Still bleary eyed I immediately woke up when I saw TWO free tickets that weren't taken for next year. Ooohhh... Frank and I are going on a trip!! Yippee.... I went to the bedroom, took out my wallet and began my online transaction to pay for the small fee.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the coffee that hadn't really kicked in, maybe it was knowing I shouldn't be doing this right now but instead I better hurry or I'll be late to school... I don't know... somehow after grabbing the free tickets I messed up my credit card transaction... I was BLOCKED. I think I didn't enter the data correctly or something... I don't know...

At school I called and confirmed with the credit card company that my transaction didn't go through, so I called home and asked Frank to try again. The school's internet connection is not being friendly right now. And HE has to attend to nature's call... so there you go... bye-bye free tickets!!

So close... but so far away...

Happy Birthday Sesame Street

The other day I saw this Google Doodle:



And found out that it's Sesame Street's 40th Birthday...

When I was around Adriel's age, I was living in Dallas, Texas, and my parents put a TV in me and my brother's room. And one of my most vivid memories is of watching Sesame Street on that small, squat TV. I have to admit, if I watch those old versions today I find it's pretty lame. But look, here's Bert and Earnie... don't they look cute together?



Although I must say my favorite so far was the Cookie Monster one and I didn't save it yesterday!! Oh well, the actual birthday will be on November 10th, so we'll keep seeing a new one until then... keep your eyes peeled for cuteness from Google!

The spy-kid

This is Matthew the spy-kid in my Sec 3 class.



Ha-ha... I got you back :D No just kidding, Matthew was being a helpful video-taker at the Partnership Program at school yesterday.

Black or White: Accept yourself

Yesterday after the Sports Day events, the teachers basically had to recharge by sitting for a while before getting up to go home or wherever they were headed next.

One of our teachers is a Canadian, and one topic went on to the next and next thing we knew she was ranting about how Asians buy all these lotions to make themselves white while Americans buy lotions to make themselves dark. She was saying that people are never satisfied with themselves and always want to be what they are not.

Myself, having the "fortunate" exposure to the "I want to be tan" culture when I was in my teen years, and then the "I want to be white" culture during my university years, am gratefully in the middle. I never used any tanning solutions (don't need it) nor the whitening solutions (gosh, I dont' think they even work). What I wish for the teens of today is: don't get caught up by the advertisements that try to sell these products to you. And don't listen to the people who don't know any better and try to change you into what you are not. Just accept yourself as you are. Of course we have the responsibility to take care of what God has given us. Like I will be sensible if I do go out into the sun and wear proper protection like a hat or some sunscreen. But not in the hopes I won't get dark. Cause I do. Easily. But because we know that the suns rays aren't nice to us during certain times of the day.

And I hope after people accept themselves as they are they will also stop judging people who are not like themselves. I hate it when I hear people making fun of others due to their skin color. I really do.

Getting too old to be a teacher?

I asked one of my form students to talk to me today. Apparently, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I thought all I had to do was make time. Apparently it's not enough. I kept asking question after question after question and all I got were two word answers.

Are the teen years so far behind me I can't connect with teens anymore?

I was struggling very badly with my form class the last term. This term it has gotten somewhat easier with some of the girls attending the retreat. I got a chance to get to know them outside of class. But still I feel like I haven't made the connection that I need.

The boys are still ruthless. It seems like I'm in a shouting contest all the time. But I am trying to compliment them at every chance I get. Hopefully this will build a rapport with them. I still have such a long way to go.

Don't give up on me class, because I haven't given up on you.

It's coming to an end

It's Thursday and Frank had to go back to work today. So it was me and my boy today. We had loads of fun together, but we'll be back to our regular schedule Monday. Yikes!

So much to do before the end of the holidays, most notably because Laela our helper isn't coming back. After about 3 years of having her I've gotten comfy. I didn't have the trouble of having to find another one and adjusting to a new one. So on Monday Frank's Mom will be coming to the rescue. Then we'll start the long process of finding a new helper.

In addition to that, we also have to get the house ready for the arrival of my mother in law. Suddenly I'm seeing the house from the eyes of a stranger. Eeww... gotta scrub the bathroom!! Gosh, that pile looks like it needs a tidy up!! Yikes, the closet is still full, gotta make room for Mom in law...

Yeah, and the list goes on... so better get a start on it!!

Meet Ted

I don't think I've introduced Ted before. He's a Mamahit Family member as well. Since it's our holiday, it's been Frank's job to clean out his home almost daily, and when Ted's house gets rinsed, Frank lets him roam around the house.

Today we let Ted roam our backyard as well. I thought I'd take a snap of him.

Here he is:



And this is my squeamish boy holding Ted.

09-09-09 Ardian&Chandra's Wedding

Last week was a very busy week. Not only was it the last week before the term break, it was also a church friend's wedding. Well, you could say acquaintance because we weren't really invited if it wasn't for our other friend who was put in charge of organizing the wedding.

You see, she asked if Adriel would be the ring boy. It was such a casual affair that the bride and groom didn't even pick the people who were to take part in their wedding. Other couples fight over who to place in certain positions. This couple? Well, I can't comment much because I don't know them all too well.

Anyway, I agreed to let Adriel take part because I knew he is finally old enough to understand what needs to be done. I asked him first though, if he would do it. Cause when he sets his mind on NOT wanting to do something, well he'll sure make a huge mess of it and we do NOT want THAT at a wedding. No matter who's wedding it is.

But he did pull it off. He was GREAT. Everyone said so. Here's a candid snap of him and the flower girl, taken by Frank.

Day One of Lebaran Term Break

Last night we had a very yummy meal. We were so full we all went straight to sleep. Don't you think with a nice meal I should've slept soundly? Well, this morning I woke up with fitful thoughts of my form class. Please. Don't ask me why.

Okay fine, since you asked... yesterday was the last day of school, but for some reason they managed to make it one of the worst days of school yet. They were talking NON-STOP. So I had to SHOUT. At the TOP OF MY LUNGS. I didn't even know it was in me. Huh! But you know? That didn't scare them one bit. By the end the of the class I tried to give pep talk. Teach them something. Well. That. Did. NOT. WORK.

They were doing it again. Talking while I was talking.

In the end I am the one being taught by them. That it doesn't matter how many years you've been teaching. There will always be a challenge. And this is it. God purposely gave this class to me. At the beginning of the year I was nervous about being the form teacher of a Secondary 3 class. Well, God is good. He gave me this class. It is SO MUCH WORSE than I imagined. But through it all I am still thankful. I am still here. I haven't gone to pieces just yet. Almost, I can tell you, almost...