Resolution updates.. kunun! Hehe..

Its only the beginning of the second month (errr, 10hb boley pass as beginning ka?) of 2014 and already I'm breaking a new years resolution of mine: To write more in my blog.. at least an entry a week! So from my calculations, I owe my blog around err, 4 entries?!

Well, not that I have a lot to write about anyhow.

Ohh.. but still. I've managed to revive my other blog (http://caterpillarbuku.blogspot.com). I'm the only one writing in it now, just like in the beginning. It was fun though while my friends had time to update, but they have their own families now so I understand their time constraint. Me, on the other had, didn't actually have a valid reason to stop writing there. The best excuse (which is still quite a lame one) I could come up with was because didn't read much for quite a while. Then when I started reading again, I didn't have time to write about my reviews. This time however, with me somehow having time to review in Goodreads, I decided this old blog needed posts too.. at least for my own reference since I don't like including spoilers in Goodreads. So after 3 years,that blog is now 'breathing' again =)

Hmm.. what else?

My classes are ok. So far, my aim to be a better teacher is going well. Better in sense that I still haven't shouted at my students haha.. Am getting better at counting to 10 whenever they test my patience. I've even managed to make some hard-to-smile students give me a smile or two (instead of taking half the year to do that) and coaxed them outta their shyness. Not much to some but to me, that's progress =)

And my resolution to lessen my time on mindless FB thingeys, though quite shaky earlier in the year (I still had to log on 2-3 times each day), by today, I've managed to NOT log on for more than 2 weeks already. Well, I actually logged on 2 days ago but when I saw the number of notifications, I simply logged out.. takuuuutt! Hahah..

(Though that DOES seem like I'm putting off things huh? Still, am kinda sure most notifications are just game or like related)

Ohhh.. I'm also Farmville-free for, hmm, lemme see, 3 weeks tomorrow!

Hehe.. ok! I know, most people wonder WHO plays Farmville nowaday?! Well, I'm one of them. Not the original Farmville which is too much already. Jenuh la nak maintain 4 farm pelik² cam depe suh maintain tu. But rather Farmville 2 where the animals give a happy dance whenever you feed them.

Well, yeahh.. still lame haha..

Anyway, another resolution that is quite on track is to FINISH READING all those books I keep buying. Especially last year, I bought more than I could read so when I was arranging my books into a new book shelf I had bought, I was surprised (and ashamed) to see how many books I haven't read..

..which lead to the other resolution to NOT buy books in January.. which I had broken.. which I have postponed as 'To NOT buy books in February'. I'd have added March too.. but lets not get ahead of ourselves eh.. I don't want to feel bad if I skipped February but buy some in March. If I manage to NOT buy till March, than it'll be an accomplishment for me.

Back to the actual finish-reading-all-books resolution, I've managed to finish 10 books now. The guilt of buying too much books last year is wearing off bit by bit hehe..

One important resolution is to clear the PhD clutter from the house once and for all. Its still where I had dumped them last year, even though half is now cluttered in my once-pristine 'library'. Seems like I just can't even start on it coz even now, it still hurts. I think I've got over the feeling sorry for myself stage (I should've gotten over long ago, I know.. but walk in my shoes please..). So those two 'dumping places' I have in the house is still as it is, with added dusts and cobwebs to make me even more determined to put off clearing it.. bad Ayu!

Ooohh.. another resolution I make every year: lose weight! Not really making much of a progress there even if I don't eat that much. Am thinking of taking up walking (jogging tu macam sangat impian tinggi melangit) like I used to do a few years back but as for today, I still haven't managed to make myself get ready after Subuh for the morning walks. The walking's not for weight loss though, more for a healthier start each morning coz I'm now feeling like 30 (haha..) instead of 16, like I always tell my students I am. The morning fresh air would help too, I guess, for a more positive outlook in what lies ahead (nope, am not trying to poetic here, more like trying to trick my mind into only positive thoughts)

Anyway, enough for now. Am on to my 11th book and hoping to finish it soon since I need to rearrange my bookshelves (I now arrange them by read and unread to make sure I don't leave any book out).

Am crossing fingers too, hoping that not much negativity could get past me like last year. It was tiring enough, and now I just wanna feel free..

Stumbled upon this.. err, a few weeks ago..

..and I wanna share it here! ♥

*Okay.. this is a 'main tipu' entry coz my blog dah lame without a new entry hehe..*

Huishhh.. blog sape laaaaaa ni?!

So much to update..

..and soooo malas to do so!

ape nak jadi ngan Ayu nih?!?!

I was down with a fever a few weeks ago that didn't wanna go away and from the on, perasaan malas tu tak ilang²..

*sigh*

Pengisian blog yg berabuk ☺

Okay².. as if the update is much awaited la kan hehe.. tp diri sendiri bukak blog mcm tak bes je takde entry baru. So pk punye pk, ape la nak masuk dlm blog nih?

Actually, if this was a private diary, byk bende I wanna talk about. But since this is kinda open to anyone who knows my URL, can't really write down all that stuff kan.. *sigh*

*******

Ahad aritu did some spring cleaning of the fridge (Yup, my blog is not the only thing I own that needs some airing hahah..). Found a-week-old cut of salmon I bought at half price in Jusco (dah half price to confirm la yg semalam dia potong kan so actually should've done something with it sooner) and a week old green pepper (or capsicum if you must). Tatau nak wat ape but then thought of the old boring thing to do.. TOMYAM! Hehe..

So headed off to the market (Funny how I can NOT sleep after Subuh whenever my heart sets itself for a trip to the market hehe..) to but some baby corn and tomatoes and mushroom and the result.. tadaaaa..

Okay, I am SO NOT showing off my non-existant cooking skills ye (Read some where about someone being sick of people who show off their cooking.. nape la dia rase camtu ye?) In fact, this is something I would not even make for my worst enemy haha.. and its made by the ADABI paste okay :p

Sorry thing is, sampai malam ni (its Tuesday) still tak abis lagi hahah..

*******

Then petang tu Arep and Rashid hinted about their cempedak and my promise to goreng for them hahah.. So I did as I promised, though I sure have to polish up my skills in doing these kinda fritters sbb everytime I make them, sure berminyak giler no matter how I drain them *double sigh*

Then when Arep came to take the dish, I was awarded with a suprise yg sgt cute hehe..

Chumel kan? Lembu salt and pepper shakers.. that I WON'T use la kannnn..

TQ Arep!!! :)

Just to show I'm still alive haha.. (as if anyone cares!)

Yup! Came back alive and kicking from the Sg Sedim - Sg Pinang Expedition. Was meaning to do an update on THAT but just not in the mood. Plus, I don't have the picture for it anyway.

Had a wonderful time.. hari² tanpe memikirkan PhD ku yang sudah lame ditinggalkan ini huhuh.. I loved and hated the kids all at the same time :) But this morning, I got to wake up late.. yeay! Hahah.. no more waking up earlier that usual. Still, I kinda miss the noise..

..AND my whole body has been screaming in protest. Courtesy of an unfit me. Gile tul, sungguh lame tak exercise so padan la jugak ngan muke kan. Even today pun, my legs are still a bit sore from the 'panjat'ing and 'turun'ing from various levels of the land. But haven't felt better in months.. so thats ok.. I guess.

Anyway, as I had last year here, of course la I will update. Tunggu photos from the cameras assigned to us (Yes, each group got their own camera.. gile byk duit deme nih!). But takde la my photos hahah.. sy kan pemalu org nye tak suke amik gambo. Besides, sgt can harap to abg Fauzi to take my pictures at my worst moments haha.. tunggu je la gambo from him and from Mazlan la kot nih. Tgk le camne..

Anyway, I'm off to class (Such bliss.. I missed class for three days and I can't believe I actually enjoyed missing class hahah.. cikgu yang tuang kelaih, apa nak jadi niiii?!?!)

P/S
To Bai, Bart, Misa and Ami.. sy belajaq expression baru laaa.. 'panaih lit lit'. Believe it or not, budak JOHOR yang ajo me this expression hahah..

Blog bersawang ini.. :p

Ye, saya tau.. blog sy bersawang giler.. mahu diupdate tetapi tiade mase lagikkkk.. ni pun baru pas tolong bebudak ni angkat barang for tomorrow!

Ade ape ye esok?

Heheh.. tomorrow would be the 2nd time for our Sg Sedim-Sg Pinang Expedition. Tak tido sy siapkan modul untuk budak² ni.. tp hasil akhir, sy puas hati. Sbb? In the midst of helping Leong correct her student's thesis (yg almost a nightmare itself.. reminds me of my own thesis-writing period), helping Dr Taksiah with the IBS booklet and my owm serabutness, I got to produce a 50-page module hehe.. Tahun lepas around 30 pages but tahun ni dapat la tambah. Thanx to Sha (yg contributed a few pages), Arep (yg help me with ideas and lagu), Rahim (yg bg sumbangan idea disaat² kritikal) and Amir (tukang lukis dari tahun lepas lagik). Gile oooo, 2 mlm tak tido woooo..

Anyway, yesterday was the final preparations for it and arini relax sit, only a few lil' things. Then tomorrow morning will see us going to SKPJ to pick up the kids and thus start a 4-day expedition like last year.

This time around, we have 'junior facilitators' who were previous participants of the project last year. I was the one to distribute the groups and I didn't realize that I got both budak² yg bes hehe.. yeayyy!

Anyway, I'll be away from the PC for 4 days..

No Neopets..

No Pet Society..

No Travian..

No Restaurant City..

No Barn Buddy..

No blog..

*gulp*

I hope its worth it!!

Entry jumble-mumble hehe..

Its 1am and I'm still in school..

Hehe.. actually I just arrived around 11pm tadi. Came home after tuition and realized my whole housing area as well as my jirans in Taman Sempadan were in the dark. Huh, ape tadek letrik niiiii.. I wanna watch TV!

I solat² and trus head to school. Had some work to do pun but was planning on coming after midnight. Oh well, what does a two-hour differance make pun kan? (TWO favourite TV shows.. thats what!!)

I've been reading and correcting Younes's thesis for quite a while now and wanna do some non-academic reading/writing.. thus, this jumbled-up entry. So bear with me please..

..eleeee Ayu. Macam la org bace sgt blog awak ni!! Heheh..

*******

Last week was a 'serabut' week for me *sigh*

Was insomniac and lazy (though thats is NOT a suprise la kan) and just wanted to stay and home and sulk :D

However, one 'perk' in the week was a PARCEL! Yeay! I ♥ parcels.. and don't lie! Who doesn't love them kaaaannnn :)

Fared was the one who told me about it right before our meeting. I quickly went to abg Joe with this large sengih on my face and before I could ask him, he handed me this box..

Ape ek?

Yeay! My mini chopper akhirnye sampai! :D

Actually, I won't waste money on these kinda things. But it so happened that my Bonuslink points were about to expire. I browsed through some things and found this item to be on the 'points-knockdown' list. After going through the other things I could redeem from my points, I decided the chopper was the most 'attractive' item on my list hehe..

Anyway.. jom tgk BILE la Ayu nak gune mende alah ni kan (Still dlm kotak kat umah hahahah..)

*******

As I said earlier, last week was full of I-cannot-sleep nights. On Wednesday night, I was at wits end trying to force myself to sleep dan sungguh tak berjaye. Ended up opening the fridge looking for an early morning (Read: 2am) snack (mane tak tembam!)

Anyway, as I was trying to figure out what to put in my sandwich, my eyes fell on the tub of butter I got free a few weeks ago for buying some cream cheese. Then I started counting the eggs I had in my fridge. A little while later, I found the bottle of Sunquick orange that was partly hidden on the kitchen counter.. and finally I located the self-raising flour I had bought earlier.

C'mon, reading all those ingredients, everyone should already know what I did that morning! Right?!?!

Tadaaaa..

Heheh, Mama's not-so-secret Orange Cake a.k.a ngelat-gune-sunquick-orange cake :D

THIS is my first time baking a cake (baked cheesecake aritu tak kire) When I was smaller, Mama loved making cakes to the point I was bored of it hahah.. Cakes NEVER interest me, I was more a cookie gal! Any cake Mama did was finished by the family but I'd only take a wee bit of it.. sometimes I didn't even take a bite. My friends also loved Mama's cake, but not me. Not that I didn't like the taste, I was just NOT a cake-person..

..the only cake I'd eat was the honey muffins I used to make. Tu pun I got tired of it quickly but didn't mind making them whenever there was a request. I loved baking them.. but to eat them was another story altogether.

Anyway, that morning I suddenly remembered this cake. Though Mama was the one usually whipping it up, I sometimes helped so ingat la jugak sikit kan but had to confirm the measurement of the ingredients with Mama first (bertuah punye anak tanye soklan camtu kul 2 pagi!)

Still, kali ni ade beze. If dulu I used an electric mixer, kali ni I pukul gune hand mixer je, babe! Hahah.. baru tau penat lelah! (Kunun, padehal tak mampu nak beli electric mixer :p) Kirenye my hand mixer tu (which incidently I also got from redeeming Bonuslink points) mmg berjase sungguh laaaaa..

Though I had lost touch in the baking cake department but the cake turned out okay.. yeay!

And guess what: Since I had only used half a tub of butter, I made another batch of cake mix and baked another cake while the first cake cooled on the rack! Hahaha.. mati la nak ngabiskan hehe..

After Subuh, a considerably sufficient time for the cakes to cool down, I was happy but pening on WHO to give the cakes. I had cut them into quarters (quite large quarters jugak tuh) so I had 8 foil-wrapped cakes.. eh silap! 1 quarter I took for myself la kan hehe.. (though tadi bwk ke school jamu kawan² :p)

So I had another 7 la kann and quickly decided to give one part each to Shahril, Lah, Pojie, kak Hafsah, kak Jah, Ija and HiTEG. Selesai masalah heheh..

Hmm.. maybe I WOULD try other cakes lepas nih hehe..

*******

Tadi sy lapo nak makan nasik tomato. Sy pun pegi Bamboo Inn.. tp sy nmpk satu bende yg lazaaaaaaaattt.. apekah itu?

Jeng.. jeng..

Heheh.. Yong Tau Foo Taiping! Kak Nurul, recipe diberi blum try pastu pi beli kat kedai plakkk.. Aparaaa Ayu ni, mntk recipe bkn main lagik kan kak Nurul :D

Takpe², InsyaAllah akan di try.. takkan sia² kan usehe kak Nurul bg recipe kuah Yong Tau Foo kat sy :D

Just coz I'm bored..

Yup.. I'm bored!

Been staring at the literature review I was hoping to update but can't think of a single thing to add.. and lets not talk of the journals, a.k.a my-sleeping pills, that I haven't read yet for this purpose.. *sigh*

*******

Know the picture above? :D

Okay, once again, taken by my phone which in realtime is not quite old though not quite new.. but in technology years, is already considered ancient. A few months ago (must be before August last year as I quite remember I still had a housemate then), I wrote about the birds nest in the 'tree' I couldn't seem to get rid of that has 'grown' through the cracks of cement under my porch. Well, lets just say, this is the fourth time its happening.

I don't understand whats so tempting with this chosen location haha.. but I guess the mother bird knows best. I can't even take a peek as she's always nearby and a mere glance would make her chirp like crazy while watching me from the gate or the clothesline or the bouganvillea (I'm certain I've spelt that wrong!) plant outside. Alahai mak burung, sy bukan pembunuh anak burung maaaa..

Anyway, her 3 eggs have just hatched. 3 very pink lil' bird with no feather which I unsuccessfully captured with my phone camera..

Can you see them?

*******

On Sunday, I went to kak Wahid's reception with Mama, Adi, Izati and Iskandar. Met with Yun, Sid and Adik there.. my other friends from our batch were nowhere in sight. Even Arif and Aizul who told me they were coming were MIA.. oh well!

Anyway, knowing my phone won't be able to take 'respectable' pictures in the dimmed Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang hall, I asked Izati to take some with her phone. Ye, yeee.. sy tak betulkan lagi kamera sy!

So this is kak Wahid during the 'makan beradat' (Mind you, this is still a picture from a phone.. not from an actual camera)

..and this is her during the cake-cutting ceremony!

Congrats kak Wahid :) I'm gonna miss going to your place whenever I like.. but rest assured, you parents won't be lonely as I've self-appointed myself as their new daughter heheh..

*******

Yesterday plak went back to Abah's for The Discussion (Actually, ade byk bende tak puas hati di sini but I'm trying to ignore them in hopes that those feelings would go away quietly.. and to Adi, takde kene ngene ngan you tau! :) Don't worry!)

But first, we did a suprise birthday celebration for Mama. She's 51 now hehehe.. dah tuaaa! Me, Adi and Ikram went to buy the cake with Izati wanting something chocolatey and Adi wanting something cheese-cakey. Ikram wanting one not too cheese-cakey.. adeh! But we managed to agree on a choc cheese cake.. with even layers of chocolate moose and cream cheese to satisfy Ikram and I chose I sugar doll to put on it.

..though at last the sugar doll dapat kat Annisa who can't resist anything pink.

Then waited for Abah to start The Discussion but he slept right after lunch (Umi made some bihun sup!) Me and Adi started to nudge each other then Mama woke him up and he went to perform his solat first. Then guess what?

..Adi n Ikram plak had a lay-in and went to sleep. And Abah joined them after his solat.. ceh! Sabo je laaa.. Ikan² paus tersadai di pantai hehe..

But in the end, the discussion went quite okay la.. except for the few things yg I tak puas hati. Doesn't it just bug you that people pretend to know you when they really don't?

*sigh*

Anyway.. now we'll be having something BIG to look forward to this September.. yeay! I've already had all sorts of plans in my head already hehe.. But lets keep it a secret first ek :)

*******

Lupe plak another thing: Remember my students, the twins I call Upin and Ipin?

Well, yesterday I had to rush from Abah's place to Jawi for my class. Managed to arrive on time.. yeay! Then I noticed only Afnan (Ipin) came to class (actually, half the class was absent which I think is due to the long weekend). I asked where Adli (Upin) was and he told me his twin had gone with his adopted father (long story!) to Johor so naturally he was left behind.

Then I asked him why he came, and he said, "Nanti kak Ros marah klau tak datang.."

To those who don't watch the cartoon, kak Ros is the garang eldest sister of the twins.. and while talking with my students, I realized, Ipin didn't really have a sister. This was when Ainina asked him, "Bukan tadi hang cakap kak Ros marah klau tak dtg? Klau hang takdak kakak, Kak Ros tu sape.."

He laughed cheekily while pointing at me, "Cikgu kite kan garang macam kak Ros.."

Aik..

Hahah.. ampeh tul!

Quick entry.. and the realization its a small world after all hehe..

There were so many things I wanted to update about, starting from Isyam's wedding last Saturday to me, searching for extra questions for my students.. a whole lot more in between! Tp sedang agak busy, I haven't even been bloghopping for the last week, and thats NOT NORMAL for me as most of you know hahah..

But in a nutshell, its been a good week, even if I don't have time to 'panaskan' my seat here in the room haha.. and yes, thanx also to the 'Ayu Syndrom' (actually name of the syndrom will not be enclosed here, malu hahah.. Only Sentot and Bart know about it! Haha.. and ye Baizurah, laugh your head off if you want :p)

And oooohh, I almost had a heart attack earlier this week haha.. okay, I'm exagerrating here but you get the picture. A few entries ago, I was fuming on someone who purposely googled my name.. creepily! I don't mind it when my friends do it, but I hate it when not-actually-friends do it (and that reminds me: Dey! I told you to berambus.. so berambus laaa!).

Anyway, someone added me to his YM, and the 'welcoming note' sent shivers to my spine as only one person had ever called me that name (and I actually had kutuk him in my blog about it a few hundred entries ago hahah..).. trying my best to pretend I'm confused, I finally laughed out loud when I realized who the person was hahah.. and to think he found me by googling HIS OWN NAME!

So remind me next time: NEVER name names in my blog EVER AGAIN! Hahah..

To Hairil, I actually seldom la name names in my blog.. cam, ne la leh terlepas pandang ek yg tu hahah..

And another quick one (Ceh, quick one kunun, cam panjang jek entry nih!), going to Abah's on raya morning, Izati was searching through Abah's laptop for some songs (Yes, apparently my ancient father knows how to download songs from the net.. something his daughters pun tak baper nak tau!) and usually I ignore her. But this time, I practically shrieked in delight when I found some old songs I really love :) Ape lagik, curik le MP3 nye dari Abah hehe..

Tried to find it on imeem.com but only got this version of the song, currently on my playlist.. tak bes as the original tapi bleh la for you guys to listen to..

It Doesn't Matter Anymore by Linda Ronstadt

There you go and baby here am I
Well you left me here so I could sit and cry
Golly gee what have you done to me
Well I guess it doesn't matter anymore

Do you remember baby last September
How you held me tight each and every night
Oh baby how you drove me crazy
But I guess it doesn't matter anymore

There's no use in me a-crying
I've done everything now
I'm sick of trying
I've thrown away my nights
Wasted all my days over you

Now you go your way baby and I'll go mine
Now and forever till the end of time
I'll find somebody new and baby
We'll say we're through
And you won't matter anymore

There's no use in me a-crying
I've done everything now I'm sick of trying
I've thrown away my nights
Wasted all my days over you

Now you go your way baby and I'll go mine
Now and forever till the end of time
And I'll find somebody new and baby
We'll say we're through
And you won't matter anymore
No you won't matter anymore
You won't matter anymore

P/S Lets just say, around 5 years ago, I listened to this song again berulang² haha.. but thats a different story la kan :)