rawakramblings

Haywire, that's how my routine has been this past one week.

Last weekend, we had a bazaar, and after quite sometime not joining a bazaar, I have to say, we were quite 'karat'. Setting up and down was slow. Stocks kelam kabut. But alhamdulillah, sales were good.

But because the bazaar ended at 11pm, for two nights, we reached home to our kids around 12.30 midnight, when they were already asleep. And then waking up early in the morning again the next day.

Just post bazaar, on Monday, we decided to take things slow a little, and started our day a bit later, with the kids skipping school to spend some time with us. But on Tuesday, after picking up Luqman from school, he started vomitting and had a temperature, so on Wednesday, I had to stay home with him to monitor him.

Just as he was getting better on Thursday evening, Kakak Aisya started fever-ish, and was down the next day. Now, is already Sunday, and she's been vomitting for the past two days. Told ourselves if she vomits again today, then she will have to be admitted. Luqman on the other hand, who was looking better, suddenly down with fever again last night.

So, you can imagine how my resting and sleeping has been since last weekend. I've been waking up 2 -3 times at night. I even choose to sleep late, by sitting next to the kids, while watching some series, just to make sure that they're calmly asleep, no hike in temperature, then only I'll go to sleep. And then to wake up at 5 also for sahur, and then Luqman will wake up too, and then I'll be too tired, I'll go to sleep and then wake up again, shocked that it's already almost 10am in the morning.

But you know what, I'm a mother first, then only a business owner. So, work had to be my second priority, squeezing in whenever possible.

But my health, that's something I need to monitor too.

Looking forward for yoga this morning to bring that positive vibe!

I don't know about you, but for me when I was younger, I've always perceived that my future husband, should be my imam. So before getting married to Mr, I looked forward for the day that I will be his makmum. So on the first night of our marriage, I still remember it clearly until now, that feeling of happiness, when we prayed Isya' together, and then we make du'a, for a blessed marriage, and then I will kiss his hand and then he kissed my forehead (macam drama TV3 la pulak...insert some romantic song) and then years after, life happened, and prayers are done individually, only occasionally in congregation.

So the second night of Ramadhan, after breaking fast, we both took our wudhu' and was about to make our own prayers, that I said "You jadik imam je la," - "Hah, okay," - and then we do the usual du'a after prayers, and then 'I kiss his hand and he kissed my forehead' still happened but in a more fast-forward version, without any romantic songs. Haha. That is what happened after 7 years of marriage guysssss....but that is not the point here.

I spent sometime to reflect after, and then I realized how many chances Allah has given us to multiple our rewards (i.e pahala) and how we're wasting them and not taking those chances. Something as simple as congregational prayers (i.e solat jemaah) for instance, can be done with your closest family members, daily, and your rewards are multiplied, daily. The ramadhan month, all your good deeds and ibadah, they are all multiplied, this whole month, and yet we find excuses not to do the extras.

And then I started reflecting on our business, and realized also that, many doors have been opened for us alhamdulillah. But are we really grabbing the opportunity? There's just so many chances and opportunity out there, and here we are, giving excuses like "no time" and "too tired" - giving priorities on the wrong thing. Is this our overall attitude in life? How are we going to succeed in being the best of the bests? The creamest of the creamest? In business and in being a muslim.

There are Muslims in other part of the world, in a warzone, and some other parts, being punished and tortured for practicing Islam, and here we are, given the freedom and the time to collect as much points, yet we're not utilizing it. This is the best shortcut to all the sins we've done, as a human.

Time waits for no man. One day, it will be our time. Lets grab all the opportunities we can, starting with the Ramadhan month !

Yesterday evening, Mr. excitedly invited me and the kids to go for a walk at the lake nearby our house. And there I was, very low on energy, on my 3rd day of fasting, contemplating very hard on whether I should do it or not. But the kids were excited, so this Mommy had to take all the energy that's left and go for that walk.  It didn't turned out that bad after all :)


Later on in the evening, we all went to the masjid to break our fast, together with my mom and my sisters. We all shared a big talam (plate) of briyani rice with 4 pieces of chicken sambal and a handful of fried paru (lung) with some salad at the side. Quite a nice experience to sit around the talam and eating together. Talam was supposed to be shared by 4 people. There were 5 of us, and another 2 kids, but alhamdulillah, we all had enough portion - probably the effect of barakah - everyone was full.



And then we talked about how the masjid in Bukit Jelutong (about 15mins away from our place) always have nice moreh (supper) and then just like that, we decided to head over there for our Isya' and Terawikh prayers. Kononnya masjid-hopping, because we've also tried 2 different mosques during these first 3 days of Ramadhan heeeeeeee.

The masjid in Bukit Jelutong was sooo meriah! Macam hari raya! There were soo many people, the masjid was very lively, tents were put up for people to break their fast and eat moreh after their prayers, trees were light up with those Christmas-lights. Carpets were also placed outside at the walkway for people to pray because it was to full inside. MasyaAllah - hidupnya masjid ni, meriahnya suasananya.


Since we were late, of course we had to pray outside - with no air-cond - but the good thing is, the kids get to play at the small play area where they could see me. After the isya's prayers, there was a short tazkirah, reminding us on the meaning of Ramadhan. And then, the terawikh prayers started.

The imam chose to cut the surahs between the rakaats, instead of finishing one full long surah per-rakaat. The good thing about that is, that we don't get our mind distracted elsewhere, trying to focus on a long surah. And I think, the other good thing is, school kids and young working adults get to go back early, and even if the working adults stayed on, it is very possible to complete 8 rakaats too.

8 rakaats of terawikh ended in 25minutes, at 9.30pm, so if some would like to stayed on, it will only be until about 10pm, which is still okay. The masjid in SS15 Subang ends its 4 rakaat of terawikh at 10pm, so staying on will be a little too late.

So I said to Mr, I think my theory of why there are many people here is because:
1. Short recitations
2. Nice moreh! - we had bihun tomyam for moreh  - but the masjid 15 food is better!

What is your take? Do you agree on shorter terawikh prayers? I know longer is better, spiritually. But being practical, I just think shorter is better, for the whole community.

So, which masjid next?

If you refer to my post here, about 5 months ago, I realized that I've gained some weight. Something that is a shock to me, because all these years, my weight's been quite the same, no matter how much I ate. I've heard of mothers struggling to lose weight post-pregnancy, however for me, I actually lost 3kgs due to breast-feeding and lack of sleep but now after 1 year after I've stopped breastfeeding my youngest, I have gained 7kgs.

Last two weeks, I randomly did a body-scan, and then saw some insights on my body. Yes, gained 7kgs (alhamdulillah still there, not gaining more), but my body muscle falls in the 'under' range  while my body fat falls under the "above" range. What's worst, my visceral fat (fat around the organs) is also high. Seeee --- who says that just because I look thin, I'm healthy? I may look thin because of my height and my very-kurus wrist, but underneath all that 'abaya', 'jubah' and oversized shirts, you see flabby tummy and a big big hip.

So I asked Mr, what do I really have to do to work on my tummy and thigh. I've googled and YouTube and there's just so many out there. Where do I start? Do I have to get all those equipments that they've shown? I'm not used to the word exercise, and so this is quite daunting to me LOL. He said "Why don't you ask Coach Fareed?"

Coach Fareed is a dear friend of Mr - who has also trained and guided him to lose weight these past couple of months. Mr. have lost 6kgs after 2 months of training, alhamdulillah.

I took the opportunity to asked him and got some feedbacks.

I have a high metabolic rate - which is why I don't easily gained weight all these while- no matter how much I ate. However, I am now in my 30s, and so, my metabolic rate has gone lower, but since I maintained the same way of eating, my weight will now show.

I was told not to bother about all these infos on the internet, which can be quite overwhelming, but to do just this:

Walk, just walk don't run, but don't pause in between - for 30 minutes, 3 times a week, consistently for one month.

He said that as a mom, who's also got a business to run, this activity can easily be done, also with kids. Let them ride on a bicycle with you, or walk together.

Once I've succeeded with that, then only move on to other exercises (or not) because according to him, just that can also make me lose weight. Also to monitor on my food intake.

Following the sunnah of the Prophet who also loved to walk in a fast pace, and to make sure we stop eating before we feel full.

Sounds easy and achieve-able.

So last Sunday, I did that. I walked around the lake near our house, 3 rounds altogether - which totalled up to about 40 minutes instead. I should stick to 2 rounds next time. However, that 3 rounds of walk seemed like forever for me. But you know what helped? Someone's 'Good Music' playlist on Spotify and also the constant chanting my head that says "You gotta get out of that comfort zone to be able to succeed!"

Some say you need 30 days to develop a new habit or to change. Some say 60 days. I will start with 30 days. Wish me luck!

Day 1 of Ramadhan. Ahlan Wa Sahlan (Welcome) Ramadhan!

I've always love writing, and Mr. said that sometimes, he feels like I've lost myself because I don't write like how I used to - so I don't express myself, and ending up being moody with everyone else. Honestly, I always have things to say, and so sometimes I write them down in my phone. But being discipline to write, has always been that challenge, because I'm too "busy" with life.

Ramadhan is always a good month to start new habits and intentions. And because we wake up for suhoor around 5am in the morning, I thought, why not I set the target to just write, every morning after my suhoor and Fajr prayers?

This was also inspired by a cousin of mine, who's been writing daily since 1st of January, because she believes in 'creating habits' - and the Mr. told me about how successful people have a daily morning routine - while mine is pretty haywire everyday.

As I write this, I'm fighting to keep awake, but I need to, because:

1) Struggle needs to happen in order to change or be better.

2) I actually realized that when I sleep right after eating suhoor, I end up being sluggish and hungry when I wake up again.

Point 2 was backed up by Mr's Personal Trainer (PT) when he said that if you sleep after sahoor, your mouth will produce a saliva with a certain chemical/hormone (can't remember now) that will signal your body to feel hungry. Also read somewhere that if you sleep right after a big meal especially when it involves high carb food - your insulin level will suddenly shoot high and then suddenly low a few hours later, leaving you super hungry.

Ahhh.. so sleepy. But yes, the sun is out now. I got minutes left before the kids get up. Will write more tomorrow.

Check out these tips to stay awake after suhoor: