I won't be coming to my hometown in the first week of raya. Maybe in the third or fourth week instead.

Mother, with her mother's instinct, sent me a text asking about how am I doing, what's for iftar and subsequently, asked me about my raya plans.

I told her the sad news. Then I asked her about my other siblings, whom all should be nearer to her than me. She said she didn't know about their plans yet.

She also told me about my cousin who recently got married and is already pregnant. I guess her family is really fertile. Her sisters, one is older than me by one year, one is 3 months older than me, were also pregnant very early into the marriages.

When Father was still alive, he used to say, despite the wealth and rezeki we were blessed with, "Tapi kita ni miskin anak," he said.

I guess, what he said is kinda true. So far, since after his passing, Mother still only has three grandchildren. When there was only one, we had to wait for 9 years for another to come by. Now that all of her chidlren are independent and married, none of us shows any signs for more babies. Yet.

------

My husbsand I rarely quarrel. If we got into a big fight, it would be once in the blue moon. I love this relationship and I love my husband so much.

I think he is the main reason behind the low quantity of bickering. I respect his high tolerance level towards my erratic, irrational behaviours.

When he explodes, he would tell me about what I've been doing and how he's been patient with me. That would make me realize that I am far from being the perfect wife and I would cry.

He would leave me for no more than two hours and he would embrace me back into his arms, telling me how sorry he is, even though everybody in this world knows he is not to be blamed.

Such a sweetheart.

I am so lucky to have a husband who
- sends things I forget to bring to work
- carries my heavy bag to work, even though I am perfectly fine and healthy and so not pregnant
- brings back the bag from work to home because I refuse to carry it, it's so heavy!
- brings me the food of my choice like a delivery guy
- lets me stay friends with my friends
- consistently mops and sweeps the floor and washes the dishes

He's such a gem and I'm such a spoilt princess. Haha.

He comes by to my workplace so often, even the cleaning ladies recognize him!

------

As you know, I am preparing for a trip, which is different from the normal vacation that I would usually have.

So, I've been filling up forms, for insurance etc.

At first, it feels kinda weird because my next-of-kin is no longer Father.

It feels weirder because if it was not Father, I would usually nominate Mother as my next-of-kin, but now, it's my husband.

I now belong to my husband.

If Father was still alive, I think I would still comfortably name him as the first person to contact if anything happens to me.

=(

-------

I have a new staff, I need to train him a lot.

He is also playful. On the other hand, I am trying to be the fierce boss. So that my staffs would be scared to approach me and make my life carefree because I would be having less people asking me about petty issues.

Like, "Benda macam ni pun nak tanya saya ke?!"

I've been establishing the reputation as the fierce but sweet, fierce but still approachable, fierce but still teaches you and has good intentions kinda boss, which I so enjoy.
As expected, I have less people calling me and they would rather call my colleagues if there was a slight problem. In the end, my other colleagues always need to stay back late after the office hours!

But this new staff that I need to train, he's somewhat different because he is not scared of me!

He bravely answers me back. When I am annoyed, he'd say something like, "Jangan marah-marah, bulan puasa ni tak baik marah. Ke, awak tak puasa hari ni? Hahaha..."

I can still tolerate him because at least, he is eager to learn. Whenever there's something that needed to be done, which is new to him, he would volunteer to do it despite not knowing a thing. I take that as a good thing.

Yesterday, we were attending a client. He selambe badak je pergi cakap dekat our client, "Pakcik, kitorang ni semua baik-baik. Kecuali boss saya ni. Dia selalu marah-marah saya."

Pakcik: Oh, ye ke...? Nikah dah ke?
Staff: Nikah dah...Ada dua anak dah...Hahaha...
Me: ......
Pakcik: Oh, dua dua ni nikah dah? (Pointing at both of us) Baguslah. Comel dia ni...
Me: Pakcik! Saya dah nikah, tapi bukan dengan dia!

Then I left the scene leaving my other colleague to supervise them. Gila awkward and uncomfortable...

Anyway, that Pakcik was quite funny. He's quite fluent in English, so I was curious.

Me: Pakcik, dulu Pakcik kerja apa?
Pakcik: Pakcik dulu tangkap orang jahat.
Me: Ohh...(Thinking he was a policeman)
Pakcik: Pakcik dulu umur 12 tahun dah kena mengajar.
Me: Ohh...(Patutlah pakcik pandai speaking, cikgu rupanya...)
Staff: Pakcik ni cikgu ke, kerja polis?
Pakcik: Pakcik tangkap orang jahat. Pakcik tangkap komunis!

Haha! Comel gila pakcik tu. Then he said we are a friendly lot. I guess, no other people tried to make conversation with him before this.