the fine things

Wednesday   I wonder. Have you ever exprienced a perfect moment in your life? You know, like things just fall into place – as you want it, exactly?  

I’m not sure if this corner is still my favorite corner in our home. I don’t spend time here as much as I used to when we first moved back in.  Some time back, I remember sitting at this corner feeling just right, in other words, perfect.  Mid-day, no music or TV turned on, it  was one quiet afternoon.  From where I waas sitting, I saw my neighbor preparing something in his kitchen, possibly lunch but was making minimal noise. The stacks of laundered garments to be folded sitting next to me Picture by was not a bother. The moment was magical in a sense that at that very instant, the feeling was just right – the right level of noise coming in from the neighborhood, the right level of quietness from within and outside, the weather was perfect – not humid and stuffy as how it could get sometimes. It was just a harmonious surrounding. My mind was so relaxed as I closed my eyes,  so much so that it brought me …. to places I would love to visit and re-visit, cultures I would love to comprehend, people I would love to interact, lifestyle I would love to discover, things I would love to do and enjoy…

I liked what and where that  magical moment experience brought me - such harmonious feelings. 

Note:  Picture by Andreas Manessinger

Saturday  Ian’s spontaneous reaction as soon as he woke up this morning, ”Mom, let’s go. I wanna pick up  sands, stones and earth, lots of them!”  He took his bucket and one of his grandma’s gardening tool  -  the  ’scoop’ and hurried me to get ready as well.  It was 7.30am.  The weather was good and he was in good mood. Why not? 

Went out again late afternoon -  ended up at City Mall buying some casual wear which I’ve been eyeing for quite some time now.  Ian didn’t go back home empty handed too.  The message he was giving me, “if you’re bringing something back, well me too.”  He’s so into Transformers these days – seems like the whole world to him.  He already has a handful of them but know what, I’m finding it difficult to say ”no”!  

We were out for several hours; probably he had felt sleepy and dizzy too at some point but didnt say anything.  As soon as he got into car, he asked to recline the seat, soon after dozed off!  Had to postponed our trip back home  as I didn’t think he would be too well for the car ride to his grandparents’ house.   We took him off school for the whole week  this week- had high fever two days back which frantically sent us straight to the clinic!  He’s back to his old self now!  

Sunday today, the 1st of November!  Another 2 months to go before new year. The evening weather was wonderful! Daniel and Ian had fun at the swimming pool while I jogged at the  nearby park.  It was rather odd that while jogging,  I thought about  how I have exhausted this year’s leave entitlement so soon.  Of all the things to think about !  As of today, I dont have any more left!!  With a limited amount of vacation time in a year, I normally scatter a day or two vacation days across my schedule (with longer ones in between) which is normally planned weeks or months in advance.  I always try to  stretch things out as much a possible before surrendering any of the precious days,  still it seems  I didnt quite do a  good job of seeding the breaks across the calendar this year!  Here I am … so in need of breaks for Christmas and New year! 

Wednesday  Came  across some old pictures of countryside sceneries that I really like.  Thought I’d post them here to share ( again!).  I had them stored in my one webshots.com e-albums which I have thought of closing but finding it rather odd … feels kind of like ending a friendship!  I have  afterall had this account for more than 3 years!  This prompted me to thinking about the various  ways that we could share our images these days.

There’s a selection of community based image hosting sites online - we have flickr, webshots, picasa etc.  These image hosting sites come with forums geared towards critiques – it is up to you to have as much or as little interaction with other users.  Then, there are also photoblogs…

Monday   I must have been so tired!  At 7pm, I didnt go to bed intending to immediately doze off but did after some 15 minutes.  Now, widely awake since 1.30am, unable to get back to sleep, and hungry! Im not sure whether I was woken up by my growling tummy or the bad dream. Looks like tommorow will be a long day…

It’s rare that I even remember my dreams vividly but the one I just had…

I am in a dark tunnel, and I hear something coming, like a subway noise, and I know the minute it reaches where I am, I am going to drop dead. But I always wake up in time. – on Recurring Dream by Paul Taylor 

And oh the featured picture is “takob-akob”, dried fruit of the mangosteen family.   Having seen these fruits for the first time, Ian thought it can be eaten right away,.  He actually put one into his mouth!  The taste is sour of course, he said, “yakkks”!  The Kadazandusun people of Sabah know how to use this best as one of the cooking ingredients!  Mom picked them from the orchard and had them dried for a day or two.  She uses them as a souring agent for stews.

Friday    5.15am, it has started raining and it ’smells’ lovely!  A couple of things happening  – some “raya” food to enjoy at the office today, an official function to attend to over the weekend which also includes food,  and of course the weekend itself!    A different note - guess my ‘christmas bluez’ is now officially on,  have been listening to christmas songs  quite a bit lately.   At 5am++, here I sit, thinking if I should or should not get a new Christmas tree!  :) 

Have a fun friday!  

 Glad we were at the beach.  The sunset view was spectacular!

Sunday   My sunday started out good.  Woke up early with Ian waking soon after.  He used to get real upset seeing me leave the house without him.  I guess he was in the best of mood this morning, no fuss  but just said softly, ”Bye Mom” waving at the same time.  Promised to bring him to the beach after; he was looking forward to it. He said, “we go to the beach this evening and after school tomorrow, we go to the airport to pick Daddy up”.  A promise is a promise.  Kids remember well. 

even if you yakked, it would not have solved anything