More things to say as the due date approaches

Saturday was a flurry of activities. Munirah was to be picked up from her school at 10pm and we (MrM, myself, Zarif and Aliah) went to find a breakfast spot. Note breakfast spot. Zarif and Aliah wanted their usual roti telur at M&S (not Marks and Spencer), I wanted egg toast at Pak Tam Kopi Tiam, and MrM wanted just nasi lemak bungkus. I didn't want M&S because since they have been cost cutting, there weren't many choices for breakfast anymore. MrM and the kids didn't like Pak Tam because the service is lousy and food is expensive. We made our rounds and all these breakfast spots in Seremban were crowded. If there is one business that is not affected by this economic downturn, it is the restaurant or food serving business. We then decided to go to Pit Stop and even that one is full with people waiting for the nasi lemak to be wrapped. We gave up. In the end, MrM suggested Bumbu and that was where we had our breakfast. I had mee bandung special lagi....

Picked up Munirah, sent her back home to pack for her Math camp in Bangi, and both MrM and I were off to do the monthly dry groceries at nearby T*s*o. Itu pun crowded jugak since orang baru dapat gaji kot. Bought the usual stuff for the month, 2 packs of 10kg rice, cooking oil, lowfat milk for cereal, condensed milk, garbage bags, milo, nescafe.....blah...blah...blah.....and that was a total of RM600 plus.....that does not include diapers and baby formula....sigh! I hate doing dry groceries. It is becoming a chore. Masa pregnant ni bolehlah delegate to MrM, tapi dah beranak nanti dah tak ada excuse tak pergi menjalankan tugas.....another big sigh!

Lunch was simple, telur dadar and sambal ikan and sayur yang tak terusik semalam dipanaskan.

Then ingat nak terlentok tidur dah almost 2pm and promised the mother of Munirah's friend, Iman, to send them to Bangi at 2 something. Asked Munirah to get ready, printed out the directions to the college in UKM, asked Munirah if she has enough clothes for 3 days, blanket, slippers etc...yes, I am that kind of mother. Bukan nak tolong pack, tanya je anak tu dah ada tak barang keperluan secukupnya.

By 2:30pm we were out of the house, stopped by at Bukit Kepayang to pick up Iman and off to Bangi in the sweltering heat of Saturday afternoon.

Lucky MrM knew his way about in Bangi because if we were to rely on the map from the website we would have landed in God knows where. And there were ample signs by the camp organizer to lead us to Kolej Keris Mas of UKM. That wasn't too difficult. The two girls registered themselves, got themselves pillows and bedsheets, and we went to check out the dorm where they will be staying for 3 days. Alamak, teruknya tempat tinggal! I have forgotten that those days where we were in boarding school we used to live in even dire conditions, ha ha ha! At least they were sharing two to a room, as opposed to us dulu 10 to a room dengan almari sekangkang kera tu.....

Jangan salah sangka, itulah kenangan sekolah berasrama dan disitu jugaklah we learned to be independent, mandi pakai air satu baldi ataupun mandi kat tank air kat belakang bangunan akademik, disitulah kengkawan yg sampai sekarang masih lagi kengkawan and in some cases, kengkawan yg rapat, disitulah lessons about life began.....(like macamana nak ngelat kelas Physics, my worst subject, macamana nak mengamuk kalau makcik dapur bagi ayam kecik, macamana nak keluar town tak pakai uniform dan lain2 lagilah..:-)

Anyway, after showing the girls around i.e. how to go to class from the dorm, where to eat, who to ask what etc...both MrM and I left. Munirah seems so independent. Mulalah I emotional (walhal hantar 3 day camp aje) mengenangkan how fast time flies and in a few years she will be college bound. As a mother, I pray for this daughter of mine to be the best that she can be and that she will turn out all right. As I hugged her good-bye, I can only remember not so long ago holding her for the very first time on August 24th morning in 1994 and how alert she was, her eyes darting from left to right...and that mop of thick black hair and even the smell of her is still very clear in my memory.....

We thought of going to KL to see the condo MrM and I were contemplating to buy but I was dead tired. Balik ajelah. So balik rumah, I slept while MrM played soccer with Zarif, Aliah and Zarif's friend from school, Sheikh Zikri. By the tme I got up MrM was already in the room berpeluh2 and I decided to (no, no, no nothing of that sort) go to Pasar Malam with him and kids to buy our weekly navel oranges stock and vegetables since this week we are not going to the market.

The house seems so quiet without Munirah, or is it without Munirah to nag to....