The Coil

35 years old yesterday on Sunday.
I am old….well at least feeling old.

Yesterday, Suzanna and Sidiq invited us to have dinner at their house. Also came along Mark-Ghita also Jojo and Nizam and the kids.
We were at Ghita’s house on Saturday for her Eid open house and before at Mbak Anie’s. All were about food and gathering with friends..hahhaha. At Suzanna’s we had yummy Kebabs, Steak, and Seafood and Meat cooked in soupy liquid with vegetable and rice noodle on the pan in front of us. I can’t recall what the name of this kind of cooking process though, but it was fun!

Anyway, we finished eating and we -the ladies - were chatting on the dining room, when suddenly the light went off and people gathered around and they started sang Happy Birthday….for me….
AAA…….tricky….I was speechless for a while. It was very funny because on the way to the party I was thinking about giving one of my friend a surprise birthday party but then I got one…
It was very nice of them….I asked Phil if he had any idea about this and he said No at all.
Then, there even presents for me….A poncho, coffee set, bathrobe and oil scented….Nice!!

I felt touched. I mean I knew and get close with those people for only a year but  we are really become a big family so fast. Help and learn from each other about family values….that is nice.

Well, my in laws also want to throw a party for me next Friday…..It’s been so much fun.

Now, I am not feel that old anymore because there are still parties for 35 years old pregnant women…hehehhehe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MYSELF!!
35 AND GOING STRONG!!

Lebaran……

Pagi-pagi sudah bangun, karena musim gugur di luar jendela semua masih tampak gelap dan dingin..
Tapi aku semangat untuk bangun, pergi mandi dan pakai baju baru..hehhe..
Tengok kamar Kaela, tuh anak masih pulas, tapi nggak mau ambil resiko terlambat pergi sholat, aku bangunkan dia pelan-pelan. Dia protes berat, "Mama…it still dark outside! It still night time…."
But, akhirnya dia nurut juga setelah dijanjiin mau pakai baju baru.
Sudah kita siap, tinggal Phillip yang masih leha-leha ditempat tidur.
Aku turun ke bawah, buat sarapan telur ceplok dan teh hangat.

Akhirnya kita meluncur juga. Takbiran mulai jam 8.30 pagi dan sholat mulai jam 9..Tapi kita sampai jam 8.30…tempat sholat sudah setengah penuh.
Cari sana-sini yang pakai putih-putih (disini perempuan muslim yang mayoritas dari Middle East dan Africa memang tidak pakai mukena kalau sholat, cukup dengan jilbab mereka). Ketemu Jojo, Lulu, Frida, Mabk Novi dan Mbak Marti bersama anak-anak. Ternyata di depan sana ada Mbak Anie, Mabk Putri, Ghita dan Suzanna.
Duh, sholat disini memang beda dengan sholat di Indonesia yang biasanya tertib dan bersih. Disini?? Alamak…..takbirnya tidak sesyahdu di kampung, anak-anak berlarian dan berteriak kesana kemari, dan ibu-ibu bergosip sana-sini..duh..benar-benar nggak ada sendu-sendunya.
Sesudah sholat, khutbah disiarkan tapi sound systemnya malah bergema sana-sini yang akhirnya kita malah jadi ngobrol sendiri karena memang nggak terdengar apa-apa……

Setelah keluar dari gedung, bertemu Phillip. Cium tangan minta maaf, kita berangkat ke rumah Jojo untuk makan Lebaran. Ada undangan dari Emmy juga, tapi berhubung Phillip harus balik ke kantor setelah lunch makan kita decided untuk kerumah Jojo saja.
Wah, ternyata makanan Malaysia sudah tersedia. Ada sambal sotong (cumi), ketupat dan kuah kacang, sayur kuning, ayam kari, dan rendang.
Kaela makan 4 piring nasi dan rendang..huaa..huaaa….Ibu hamil ini, seperti biasa makan berpiring-piring, apalagi setelah Zam goreng ikan asin…haaaaaaaaa!! Makan bersama-sama keluarga Ghita, Suzanna, Lili, Marli, dan Intan nikmat rasanya….

Alhamdulillah, Ramadan dan Lebaran tahun ini lebih terasa. Buka dan taraweh bersama, makan-makan setelah sembahyang Lebaran. Belum lagi open house di rumah Mbak ANie, Ghita dan Eid gathering kita menanti minggu-minggu depan…rasanya jauh dari rumah tidak lagi membuat aku perih di hati.
Sempat telepon ke rumah, kadang membuat sedih juga. Karena memang tidaklah lengkap kalau tidak berlebaran tanpa keluarga sendiri. Tapi merekapun happy nun jauh disana…..Lebaran …mmmm….I love Lebaran.

Selamat Hari Lebaran
Happy I’ed
Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin
Back to pure soul and heart and to forgive each other.

Tadi baca New Yorker, mengenai pohon tertinggi di dunia saat ini. Jenis pohon : Redwood di California tingginya 115.824 meter atau 380 feet (jenis pohon ini memang terkenal tinggi-tinggi) sementara diameternya  (lingkar pohon) sekitar 30 feet atau sekitar 9.11 meter,s ekarang dinamakan Hyperion…..hiyaaaaa……Itu pohon atau gedung?? Usia pohon-pohon raksasa tersebut berkisar antara 500-2500 tahun saja….
God is Almighty!!
Semoga anak cucu kita masih bisa menikmati keberadaan pohon-pohon tersebut dikemudian hari!

Nah…musim dingin-dingin sudah tiba lagi, meskipun baru Fall tapi dinginnya udah minta ampun…Brrbrr…maunya minum teh hangat terus tapi nggak bisa soalnya takut caffeine levelnya kebanyakan buat si baby.
Nah ngomongin kehamilan, ternyata perubahan hormon memang banyak mempengaruhi mood. Kalau sedang marah, aku bisa meledak seperti kompor. Phillip yang biasanya suka ngomong balik kalau aku sedang marah, sekarang dia diam saja….habis katanya aku kayak mad women kalau lagi marah..hahahha…untungnya jarang aku marah-marah soalnya nggak baik buat ketenangan si baby.

Di kemarin hari, aku kebanyakan bengong. Lihat rambut Kaela yang mulai panjang dan awut-awutan aku iseng ambil gunting dan mulai kreatif…gunting sana —sini…..dikit lagi eh ternyata kependekan dari yang aku mau. Tapi dasar Kaela, dia sih imut-imut aja walau punya rambut panjang, pendek atau nggak ada rambut sama sekali..hahhahha…Kalau gue yang dipotong rambut sependek itu, duh muka gue udah kayak Jojon kali..huahuaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
Pas pulang kerja Phillip bilang, nggak apa-apa tuh! DIa sih bilang Kaela mah masih cantik aja bagi dia walau rambutnya kayak apa juga..syukur deh. Itulah akibat keisengan nggak ada kerjaan.
Satu hari kemarin, Marsha telepon kalau aku masih doing massage di rumah. Langsung gue bilang "Iyaaa….masih terbuka kok buat massage!"
Dia agak khawatir karena aku hamil nanti doing massage malah bisa bikin sakit. Padahal kata dokter, aku masih bisa kerja sampai 9 bulan doing massage…wah itu sih keterlaluan! Hamil segitu malah gue yang butuh massage!!

Well, lain hari aku lagi cari nama buat baby. Nama untuk anak perempuan kita sudah ada  tapi buat nama cowoknya masih nol. Kemarin iseng denger lagu Dewa "Arjuna Mencari Cinta"…mikir-mikir wah kalau dikasih nama Arjuna gimana ya? Wah, tante langsung protes, Arjuna itu dikenal Playboy Kabel lagi..masak nanti anak kamu jadi play boy..mau??
Wah…nggak deh!!
Terus mau tambahin nama keluarga ayah, yang saat ini diantara anak dan cucu kakek cuma Rubini (adik nomer dua) yang dikasih nama ini, "Prawiradisastra" (artinya keturunan kesatria)…tapi lagi-lagi katanya ini nama nggak sembarangan dikasih ke anak. Rubi sempat dicurigai keberatan nama, karena dari kecil dia suka sakit-sakitan…..hahahaa……Bingung deh, mau kasih nama pun harus minta ijin. Iseng mikir nama ORlando keren kan…eh Phillip bilang, duh kamu ngga kreatif amat sih, nama anak ngikutin bintang Hollywood. Dee..namanya juga ide!! Maunya sih ada nama Arab/ISlam dicamput nama BArat dan Indonesia..nah bingung kan? Kebanyakan maunya sih!

Ternyata mencari nama untuk anak laki-laki bagi kita memang susah. Jadinya sekarang kita nyerah aja deh, sebelum tahu 100% kalau babynya laki-laki kita belum mau hunting nama lagi…Pusing sih!

Well, last night Phillip came back from his 5 days trip, so we picked him up at the airport.
Kaela was happy and run to Phil and hold at him like a baby monkey to mama monkey while we were waiting for his luggage to show up.
As we were waiting, Phil shared his chewing gum with me and Kaela.
Then, when we boarded the car, suddenly Kaela asking about her chewing gum which just a second ago was in her mouth.
"Mama..where is my gum?"
"Well..I don’t know Kaela, did you lost it somehow?"
"Yes…I lost it….where is it?"
I helped her searched the gum everywhere and worried if that thing would made a mess, in her car seat, back of her skirt, on the floor..but none. So I figured that maybe she accidentally spit it out before she entered the car.
So, then it was time to bed. Me and Phil kind of cuddling on the bed (hmm..hmmm) when suddenly I heard Kaela screaming from her room.
"Mama…my hair is sticky…"
What???@#$

When I found her on the bed, there it was…..the chewing gum was stick and made a mess on her hair.
I couldn’t help but laughed at her because just to think how on the earth that gum got into her hair…..?? It was funny, despite her worried looks after Phillip told her that maybe we had to cut her hair….

Well, we had to delay our rest last night since I have to put peanut butter to get rid off the gum ( you can use cooking oil as well) from her hair then washed her hair…..

Oh my…it was funny!!

No..not yet at least.

Haaa…..This Ramadan things are heating up…what I mean is there are lots of activities going on here in my circle dearest friends.

Today, we performed Malaysia and Indonesia dance at University of Kansas Medical Center on their employee appreciation day. Ghita, me, Zurin and Marti were on stage. Felt like a pro, even though we practice a little but we were fine on the stage and whenever I made mistake I just kept smiling…hahaha! After that, we went to visit Ja, who just had  surgery yesterday at the same place. Hope she will recover soon! Then, me, Ghita, Zurin and the kids went to Cosco to buy items  for the Iftar at masjid. I just don’t know how Ghita and Zurin had so much energy did shopping even though they are fasting. Malaysian (mainly this is their deal every Ramadan)and Indonesia community, we are trying to cook at masjid for 200 people for the Iftar (buka puasa) next week and then we will do prayer together..Insya Allah. Some people ( I don’t have to mention their names) contibuted lots of money to buy foods…May Allah swt repay your kindness in the future!! Ghita asked Zurin and I for Iftar and taraweeh at UMKC but we just too tired to go this time, Insya Allah next time, at least when Phillip around..so then he will drive.

Before that, on Friday, I had Iftar and Taraweeh at home. I invited some friends and although on short notice, many of them put their time and  showed up, even Jojo, Zam and Daniel who came after their long day at work. There were about 20 people came and we had good times and had a chance to do jamaah prayer.
I cooked Chicken Adobo, Gepuk, Pangsit goreng, Meatloaf, Potaoes caserole, and Ghita helped me prepared yummy salad. I made Kolak pisang and ubi and I surprised that lots of people liked it. Also, lots of them brought desserts and fruits….I appreciate for your times and effort my dearest friends!

The next day, we went to watch Soccer game….Aa….after years and years finally I had a chance to watch live Soccer game at Arrowhead stadium. It reminds of my childhood when my father used to drag us to go with his soccer team from work…was a good time.
I surprised that there were lots of Kansas Citian….hahaha…love this game..I thought only Basketball and Football are  big in this country.

Of course,  I was ecstatic…..yelled and banged my hand on the chair…I love soccer!! We had to leave the game half time because we had to for taraweeh at Mbak Novi and Paul’s house. We arrived late but we still caught 4 rakaah of taraweeh.
The next morning Phillip had to go to Minneapolis for a week, so we drop him off at the airport. Kaela wept when she saw her dada left, but she was fine after I tricked her to play soccer at the airport.

So, that was my week….busy and fun..fun..fun…fun!!

I’m on my 16 weeks of my pregnancy.

About two days ago, I felt for the first time my baby moved.
I was lying on the bed and put my palm on my stomach lower on the left side and suddenly I felt some movement!!!
Oooo….it wasn’t my heart beating, and I am was sure that was the baby trying to exercise in mama’s belly……

I felt joy and happiness. Although I know that something cute growing inside my uterus, but when I felt the move then I knew that the baby is actually moving around and probably could hear my voice.

Well, baby……keep growing and be healthy inside. Here, mama is forcing herself to eat just because of you (I lost my appetite recently…don’t know why!). Mama, dada and kakak Kaela are exciting to meet you soon!

I love you baby!!