Syawal is here again

I'm writing from my office PC, and it's 3 days before Syawal. I'm planning to take my leave only in the noon, a day before the Eid Mubarak.

It's hard to imagine we're still going to have a meeting this very morning. Things are very different here in HQ compared to my working life in the power plant. By this time, all the staff at the power plant would be busy chatting with each other, either inside one of our collegue's room or at the newspaper corner in Level 3 about how we were going to celebrate our Eid Mubarak. Here in HQ, life is a bit mundane and everybody is still into their work, which adds a little confusion, as to what it is that's causing them to still throw a meeting at this time.

Anyway, this year's celebration won't be as much fun as last year, due to the following reasons:

1. My cat comel died on the 19th November 2010. I miss him, still do.

2. My Aunt Zukiah passed away in March 2011.
She 's one of my aunts who are still single (1 have 3 aunties who are not married) and when I was small , my perfect life would be ..you guess right, SINGLE, UNATTACHED, INDEPENDENT just like they are. They set the bechmark for me to be single lady who is confident to make her own decision, without any strings attached.
Anyway, things have changed as i'm married now. Back to Aunty Zukiah, she's overly perfectionist. However meticulous anyone is, nothing can compare to her level of perfection. She managed to bring the perfectionist world to a different height. Like Bonia and Coach, or..or..Kate Spade and Salvatore Fereggamo...She'll be the Coach and Ferragamo while the rest of us would be the opposite.

Take this for example, whenever any of her siblings were having open houses during raya, she would be the one to take control on the arrangement of things/food/utensils.

She was always there to criticize and re-fix our table and food setting which i find a little bit irritating and annoying (no, in fact it's actually VERY irritating) and we were always telling mama that there is no point in arranging and setting the table as she would come and re-arrange everything in a split second. (which made my mom furious as the person we were talking about was HER sister).

She passed away due to stroke and it was actually a tragic end to her life as she fell from the bathroom, all alone for 2 days. She was in a semi-coma the day my mom and her siblings broke into her house after many failed attempts to contact her handphone and her failure to turn up at my grandma's house during those 2 days.

Now, during this coming raya, things would be very different without her. Gone are the days when she comes for our open house and re-arrange everything and instructed us to follow her way. Gone are the times when she drops by to pay a short visit to her grandchildren (my son and my siblings' children).

We miss you Aunty Zukiah. We will always miss you. You're one of a kind. Selamat Hari Raya Aunty Zukiah. May Allah SWT bless your soul and place you in the Paradise.

3. My grandmother passed away on the 12th July 2011.
My grandmother, hmm...there's a lot to speak about her. I'll make a special post for her rite after this as i'm due for this MEEEETINGGGG sharp at 10.00 am

I finally received my bonus for 2010 (at last) and after setting aside more than half of it, I’ve decided to splurge on a new pair of good running shoes. Influenced by the advert in SELF Magazine, I bought myself a second pair of Reebok toning shoes, but this time, it’s focusing on the running aspect.

The shoes is quiet costly, RM 399 but thanks to the Christmas Sale, there was a 20% discount which reduced the price to RM 319.00

I was intrigued for a pair of these shoes after months of reading this enticing Reebok advert promising a more toned calves, hips and butt for its wearer. I finally have to agree with my hubby that my butt has been giving its fair share of ‘saggingness’ (if there is even such a word).

My first reaction when I tried these shoes was how comfortable it is. It’s light and very airy and it has a bouncy effect during walking and running which I found different from other types of running shoes that I had. The color is not to my liking (green and silver, whoever thought of that!!) but it’s not something I can’t live with.

I've tried running with these shoes in the gym and after 15 minutes, i felt soreness and tightness especially on my hips area. I can't relate whether it's the shoe that’s causing me to feel this way or is it because I haven't been running for more than 1 week.

So, on whether it fits the purpose as promised by Reebok, let’s just wait for another 1-2 months while I try it out and re-measure myself.