Challenge Accepted

OK, so it's a challenge from me to me, which is always the toughest challenge of all. I don't usually feel like I really have to live up to my own expectations but when I don't end up succeeding in whatever challenge that I've set for myself, the depression is worse than when I've let someone else down. So I offer/accept this challenge with deep breaths and great tawakkal. 

It is the month of Ramadhan and with an exclusively breastfed four and a half month baby boy, I am determined to ensure that he will get all the nutrition he needs this Ramadhan. Which means Mommy needs to get all her nutrition she needs and more. Which is hard because Mommy loves her chocolate and cakes. And no matter how much Mommy tells herself to drink enough water, cendol and Bandung still fill her glasses, and by the second week of Ramadhan, often would she sport the dehydrated look.

But that will all change this year. Insya Allah. With enough determination and enough thought put into my everyday menu, I look forward to a rewarding and healthy month ahead, for both Mommy and Baby Adam.

I broke my fast two hours ago, and being the first day, everything went smoothly, Alhamdulillah. Having said that, it is an off day from work and so, not a fair account of what a normal everyday routine is like. I am looking forward to stuffing myself with dates and fruits and finishing that minimum 1.5l of water. Here's to success. And I have to succeed because I don't allow myself any other options. More updates in the coming days.

Ramadhan Kareem.

"That's awfully sticky"

This just goes to show even further that sometimes you can't just trust everything you read in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poklen

If it weren't so derogatory, I would probably find it funny. On second thought, maybe not.

"I was working with luminous fish...and I thought, hey. Loom."

It's a Ramadhan miracle! I am finally sitting down to update my blog.

Now let's start with the stuff that I have missed out like a gazillion years ago: my 'new' fish tank.

It was what you can call a 'follow-up' of my first tank, which is much smaller. After a few months learning the basics, I announced to the husband that I am ready to tackle a bigger and slightly more demanding tank. And as it has been a dream for him to decorate a bigger tank (since the small one only offered such limited space) he responded in equal enthusiasm.

So along we went to the aquarium shop and ordered a 3 ft by 1 ft by 1 ft tank. The two-day wait to get the tank ready proved to be quite difficult for me to handle. So when an intrusive phone call woke me up on that unGodly hour of that fateful Friday morning, and the number showed suspiciously Bunut-ish (the area of the aquarium shop), a 'ding' in my head said "TANK!". When I answered, sure enough, the comforting Filipino lady's voice saying "Your aquarium is ready ma'am", sent me straight to heightened excitement.

Abandoning all restraint, I woke up the hubby vigorously, and due to my urgency, I am sure that was the reason why he didn't resist the interruption to his sleep. We got up and got ready, and set out for an 'adventurous' day ahead of 'fish-tanking'.

Any good aquarist would say to me to never, ever buy fish on the same day you are getting your tank. But as much as I know that, I still couldn't resist. Thankfully, I can say now that all my fish have survived and the 'deaths' in the tank are caused solely by another rookie mistake. I do digress, but perhaps on another blog, eh?

So the whole day is basically setting-up-the-tank day, with dinner with my siblings somewhat squeezed in in between. And to the joy of both me and the hubby, here it is, the glorified tank!

No More Delays!

I am just going to have to skip through all the other important things that happened in the month of August -including my birthday (!!) - to give way to the announcement that I have finally bought a new camera for myself. *exhales* there! I feel so much better.

Updates soon! :D

We have to take in nourishment, expel waste, and inhale enough oxygen to keep our cells from dying. Everything else is optional

I wish it is so. No wonder Sims characters have wishes after wishes after wishes, continuously expecting and trying to achieve something, and still left unfulfilled. Took me a while to realize that they are actually resembling real life characters more than I think they do. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I can't seem to sustain my character as well as I should have - especially not when I can't even organize myself in real life...tsk...

Speaking of which, days of relaxation and late mornings are now upon me. Well, at least I hope so. The third (and last semester) has commenced and I think I survived the first week. There is a great deal to celebrate when my role is changed again, from being the teacher to a teach-ee, the speaker to the speak-ee and the worrier to the worry-free!!! So here's to the last semester as a student...

Fish Night Lights

I. Would. Absolutely. Kill. For. One. Of. Those.

Speaking of fish, one of my Neon Tetras died. As if the weekend ending isn't bad enough. In fact, it might be the end of the weekend that drove the fish to its death. Slight exaggeration.

It was devastating! I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to sit down and look at their progress for quite a while now. I only get to have a quick look during feeding time, and a bit longer when I change the tank water. So when I actually sat down yesterday afternoon to observe the fishes, I saw one stuck at the plastic plant, already pale and bitten.

My two goldfish are also in dire need to be moved into a new tank, which I will get to by the end of the month. We went out this afternoon (details of which I will relinquish in a different entry, as it is of a much happier news) and saw a pet store in Kiulap around the Hotmart/Aneka Rasa/Ayamku area. It was awesome! The hubby saw a complete starter tank for goldfish which comes in different themes. I've set my eyes on the Pirate theme! And the store sells biological filters which I have been searching for all over the place since I started my tank!

So now, I can't wait to set up my new tank for the goldfish. Especially now that my pleco has grown a bit and is starting to attack the goldfish.

Moreover, once I remove the goldfish, there will be more space in my current tank. Hence, I can finally get those glass catfish I've been eyeing!

Picture: My current tank taken by Hajmi(thanks!). The background of the tank is kindly provided by my dear husband :D

'I don't eat cheesecake, I just think it's a good idea'

Well, that's actually a lie. I LOVE cheesecake! In fact, I'm sort of eating one right now, although it is more like a choco-cheese cake. From Le Apple. Which is where I like my cakes to come from by the way. Perhaps 3-D with Cinderella decorations. Or you know, whatever.

Cakes are the bomb! I can't wait for next month, because it's my birthday, and I already got the hubby to get me a specific cake and he said yes! (well, what else is he going to say, it's for my birthday!). Plus, it's also the birthday of so many family members, which could also mean that it'll be cake-time every week. August 2009, I herewith dub thee 'Cake Month'.

Anyway, I don't just eat cakes at random times for no reason at all. Last Thursday was my mother-in-law's Golden Jubilee celebration, so we got her this cake which is shaped like a gold bar. It tasted divine~ In fact, that was what I was having just now. *drool*

Just to confirm though, I AM still fully intending to fulfill the pact I made earlier this month i.e. fitting in some awesome old clothes that I haven't been able to fit into in a while. Food is just too awesome to cut down. And I WILL make it work. :D