homemade blues

For starters, I saw Twilight today. It's, in essence, a love story, and I see now why Rob Pattinson (Edward Cullen in Twilight) is such a hit with the girls... Oooh-la-la... Those brooding eyes... Very different when he was Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

Sigh. I remember those days. Young love. So naive. So mysterious. So intense. I was brought back to memories of such emotional intensity. And a memory of brooding eyes. Hehe. Can't share too much here. Don't want to give the wrong idea... But, I have been thinking... I've always wanted to write a story. What better than my own experiences (and inexperiences)? And I've always loved stories about love and relationships - happy love, obsessive love, puppy love, unrequited love... Maybe I will. I'll let y'all know...

So what happened during my (almost) month long absence from the blogging scene? Let's see...

We came back from our Alor Star trip, then the boys and me got sick with fever and flu, then Nenek was admitted into the hospital, then I got my womanly cycles, and then I had to go for a BAKAT course... Yeah, that was pretty much it. Took roughly about 3 weeks of my life...

To elaborate further, we had a good time in Alor Star, and good company. I'll be uploading pics on Facebook, but maybe I'll attach some pictures in this post - once I hook up the external DVD/CD drive to this laptop (which I'm soooo lazy to do). Then we came back to reality and got sick - which was no fun (and it was probably onset of my PMS already).

Nenek got sick (-er than usual) and was admitted in Putrajaya Hospital during the Labor Day weekend. That was a whole drama in itself, and I have no wish to air dirty laundry and discuss family politics, so... let's just leave it at that. She back in Mak Usu's home now, bedridden and barely able to move, and I'll have to make time to visit more often. Make up for thinking negative thoughts, you think? Yeah, I guess.

I've been out of sorts since coming back from Alor Star. One, thinking about surviving financially without going back to a desk-bound job (hence the idea of writing keeps popping up in my head). Two, going back and forth to the hospital and ferrying Ibu around, while still going about my usual routine with Danial, it kinda took its toll and I suppose I was emotionally and physically tired. And three, it's been a while since my last - ahem - cycle, and I guess the hormones came to a peak level that affected my mood swing, which in turn, made me go into my "recluse"/"hermit"/"antisocial" mode. I'm still reeling (and still recovering) from the surge.

So this past week of my cycle, I've been quietly spending time at home, (and not even going to the gym, mind you), but I had to haul my a$$ to the BAKAT TUDM course which I had to go (or else G will get "it" - I dunno what "it" is, so don't ask). For the uninformed, BAKAT stands for BAdan Kebajikan untuk Anggota Tentera, and it's basically an organization made up of the spouses of the armed forces. Membership is automatic - when you marry a soldier, you marry the organization as well. I've never been active in their activities, but when your husband receives a letter from his boss telling him that his wife has got to go for certain activities, then you go, y'know?

But I had a good time - it was called Kursus Semai Budi, meant for the TUDM officer's wives, and it was a whole day last Saturday of lectures on what BAKAT TUDM is all about, the organization history and stucture and its activities, then followed by lectures on effective communication, women's rights in Islamic law, introduction to counselling (apparently the bases'/units' BAKAT reps have to deal with certain "counselling" jobs when required), and also on health - dangers of obesity and certain beautification procedures (e.g. liposuction).

I guess the course did achieve its objectives. To disseminate information to the officers' wives, to create awareness of the organization, and also to allow the wives to network. I went with Nisha, G's colleague's wife, whom I already knew, and I made some new friends. But in the corner of my heart, I hope this is as far as it goes for my involvement in this organization - I've heard too many stories of politicking - 'tis definitely not my cuppa tea. Thank you very much.

Yep, still not fully recovered from my "hermit" mode...