(George)

There’s an adage that says something to the effect of “behind every great man stands a great woman”. Well, in my case, the following is so much closer to the truth and reflects how I feel about things:

“Beside every great man stands a great woman…”

My wife and I were at dinner this past Tuesday night with one of her friends, and some people that we had never met before. Such occasions can be tense and stilted affairs, as people stand back to scope out “the vibe” before deciding if and how the ice should be broken. I have to admit that I am usually one of the “vibe scopers”, and I was holding back at the start of this event. Enter my wife, who jumps in with both feet to start up an immensely interesting conversation with one of our dinner companions. I was in awe of the way she got the conversation going, listened intently to the other person, identified common ground between her work and his, and then shared her own vast experience and knowledge. I felt such an incredible admiration and respect for my wife while watching and listening to her. I couldn’t help but glow inside as I recalled the day of our marriage, when this wonderful woman had so happily and enthusiastically agreed to share her life with me. This woman is my true equal – walking not a step behind – but right by my side through the rest of life’s journey together, Insha Allah.

Tuesday night, I fell in love with my wife all over again…

I wanted  to do a quick grab of some grocery items at the Giant supermarket in Atria, Damansara Jaya when coming back from the city. It has been a long day. It was raining cats and dogs.

As I grabbed the green basket from the side of the entrance, I saw her. She was kind 0f petite, long wavy hair and clearly had it set before she went out from the house. She was wearing this white mini dress with an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, little strap that ran on her shoulders and matching white heels. Full of war paint too. As I make my way nearer to her to pick the pack of curry leaves near the isle, I couldnt help but to notice the label to her dress was up and out turned. She was wearing Miss Selfridge.

Wow, I thought. What a garb to wear for grocery shopping in Giant…

My 10 minutes quick grab had an about turn as I was distracted with some new displays of fruit juice  at the juice isle. And so as I walked out towards the check-out counter, I saw Miss Selfridge was queing up infront of me. As her items were cleared on the conveyor I grabbed the “next customer” stand card and placed my basket.

That was when she started to push back my basket. Pushed my basket wayyyyy back towards me. I wanted to grab her itsy, bits, teeny, weeny, little white strap! What had just happened here? As I I was just about to open up my mouth and say something not as nice as “good afternoon”, the cashier totalled her grocery and gave her a promotion stamp.

At that exact moment I knew God answered my prayers to make me a VERY patient person and to bite my tongue when I need to as it will lead to some trouble if I did.

God created snooty human like her.

She picked the stamp from the cashier, promptly asked her what it was, and as the lady was explaining to her that the promotion stamp could entitle her to buy some pots and pans at a discounted rate, Miss Selfridge literally threw the stamp towards her and said, “Oh I dont need this. I have more than enough pots and pans at home!”

I rolled my eyes.

As the cashier was checking out my items, she asked me whether would I want the stamp. I said of course, I still havent had enough pots and pans at home!

 And we both smiled at each other. She smiled more and said her thanks when I wished her well as I left the counter.

I took leave from work today. For one, there was something I had to sort out at the JPJ (road transport ministry) ever since I lost my identity card and driving license not too long ago. I also make a point to visit my doctor for a medical check up. The headache had been bugging me again since a couple days back. Not nice.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped by at P1 Wimax hub in PJ to pay for my bills.

And decided to surprise Mr Sunny Beh, the SM Branch Operations of P1 by paying him a personal visit *grins*. And surprised he was. (sorry Sunny, for giving you THAT surprise). Drawing from a typical Malaysian hospitality, Sunny and I had a chat over a up of teh tarik in the lounge of P1. It was great to know that there are things that have changed ever since I blogged about my last experience with them. Though there are still gaps in a few areas, but I must admit that he was being open about all these changes and I appreciated these. I guess it wasnt his every day experience to have a blogger paying him a visit like that.

Oh well. The teh tarik was great. Kow to my liking. And so was my experience at the counters today. Kudos to Sunny and his team and hope you guys keep on improving the services as time goes by.

When he takes me in his arms
and speaks to me softly
I see the world through rose-colored glasses …

Quand il me prend dans les bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose

~ Edith Piaf

He extended my prepaid top up credit across the counter as I was distracted by the multi coloured condom packs displayed nearby.

And then, it just hit me. Right there. Assaulting my entire olfactory. My entire being. Went straight up to my head. I was reeling.

I choked.

I almost died there.

Died while standing across the counter. 

Yeah, just right there. Across the counter.

The most obnoxious body odour that, I believe, seeped out when he raised his armpit. That I was very sure had never been touched by any deodorant product before.

I am sure people would find it amusing to see a dead woman died while standing for olfactory assault.

Oh.

My.

God!

The lyrics of a song by Tom T. Hall goes like this:

There wasnt anyone around cept this old man and me
The guy who ran the bar was watchin ironsides on tv
Uninvited, he sat down and opened up his mind
On old dogs and children and watermelon wine

Ever had a drink of watermelon wine? he asked
He told me all about it, though I didnt answer back
Aint but three things in this world thats worth a solitary dime,
But old dogs and children and watermelon wine.

He said, women think about they-selves, when menfolk aint around.
And friends are hard to find when they discover that youre down.
He said, I tried it all when I was young and in my natural prime;
Now its old dogs and children and watermelon wine.

Old dogs care about you even when you make mistakes;
God bless little children while theyre still too young to hate.
When he moved away I found my pen and copied down that line
bout old dogs and children and watermelon wine.

I had to catch a plane up to atlanta that next day
As I left for my room I saw him pickin up my change
That night I dreamed in peaceful sleep of shady summertime
Of old dogs and children and watermelon wine.”

(Hanie blogging at home with the fur-babes asleep. Snowy The Cat looks like he definitely need his bath this weekend)

It is still too early to hit the shower.

As I looked out from my bedroom windows, I am thinking about some of life changes events that happened to me in the last couple of years. And in less than a couple of months to go, God’s will, I will have another two major events again: 1) new career 2) George will be within the same continent/time zone/zip code/under one roof with me.

Two entirely different events and yet they have the same question tagged: would I be able to deliver the expectations?

New career means embarking on a new slate with a new organization. What with the new position comes with expectations as much as exciting as it is. Deliverables were discussed and agreed.

Having my partner together with me again is absolutely exciting. But there are times when old baggages creeps in and these little thoughts inch their way. “Would I be able to hold the fort this time?” has been countered with “What are the things that I need to change to make this work?”

I realized that there are no answers to every single question we have as much as we want to. We make decisions based on what we know and what we researched so that we make informed decisions.

Sometimes we have been conditioned too long so much so that we have some sort of fear or certain low self esteemed that we dont talk much about. It is very important to be self-aware and conciously minding your words, thoughts and behaviour.

You know you need to do things differently if those things didnt work out the last time. On the same note, if things worked well, there no need to re invent the wheels,just need to maintain and upgrade them so that it would work at its optimal level.

(Hanie blogging in the evening at home with the October heat, wondering how much more a new unit of aircondition would put a dent to her pocket)

The Teenager and I was at an old friend’s Hari Raya Open House over the weekend. KL-lites have just started to have their open houses by the second week of the Eidil Fitri and this trend will escalate towards the final weeks of the month.

So KL-lite-esque, so Malaysian.

My friend, lets call him J, looked fabulous in his batik shirt. He looked more relaxed, fitter and the most important thing – positively happier. His wife, Mrs J was the ever graceful hostess and we had a great time enjoying her chicken briyani, catching up about work and family.

I knew J when I was living in my old neighbourhood many years back. We both had spouses who were not keen to share our passion for singing, albeit off tune, at the community club house.  We both enjoyed  the friendship we formed with the rest of the club house friends and certainly enjoyed the respite from whatever turmoil we had back home. It was a simple, pure friendship.

Years passed away. His children grew up and so was my  Teenager. He was finally divorced from his estranged wife. I had my fair share of heart breaks in my own marriage.

One evening, J called to share some good news – he was getting married to a lady who was our mutual acquantance. Articulate, pretty and with a good head on her shoulder, she was, no doubt someone that I would be happy to see my old friend rebuild his second life together.

Three years later, as I was sitting across my beloved George during our akad nikah ceremony, I saw him stepping in together with his wife into the hall. He came by to see me starting off on my second life around too.

As I stood on his 32nd floor apartment balcony at an affluent neighbourhood somewhere in Jalan Ampang, I looked out and saw Kuala Lumpur nightscapes. Awesome view, I must tell you. He joined me not soon after. I asked him how would he rate his happiness now, from 1 to 5 where 5 is the best.

He looked back at his wife and without hesitation, he said, “10″.

I met EM not too long ago. Maybe sometime early this year. We often say that God made us bumped into each other at the animal farm so that we can be friends. I make a remark about a kitten she brought in. She asked me whether we could go to the animal farm together on weekends. We became fast friends. Dog poos and cat sand became the main topic whenever we spend our time there.

She was married to a guy a few years back. Her first, his second. I was told it has not been an easy sailing for both of them as the 2 adult unemployed children (and their wives) from the husband’s first marriage hate her, thinking shes after their dad’s wealth. And the husband is always siding the children even when they were rude.

I always think that when you enter into a marriage, it always seemed that you are walking into a sort of an agreement, which technically is the case. There are expectations from both parties, alongwith hopes and dreams. It is very important for both parties to understand all of these expectations.

She wants to have a child. Unfortunately the husband who is 8 years older than she does changed his mind towards the last couple of years and has decided that he doesnt want to share this dream any longer. 

It has come to a big strain lately I was told. So strained that she has decided to walk away from the marriage when the husband has repeatedly told her her that he married her only for the companionship and nothing else.

Could there have been a missing communication here, I wonder?

Planning to have a life together is a dream. To create a new life in this relationship is a dream. Creating something together when you were in love is the ultimate dream. What would a person do when the other partner no longer share this dreams together? It would be easier if there were no legal binds that tie them together but the reality is they do.

• I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. ~ Bill Clinton
• Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night ~ Woody Allen
• A hard man is good to find ~ Mae West
• I always remember how her smell sticks on my skin ~ an idiotic whatshisface ex
• Someone actually pays you money for work? ~ ex relative
• It doesnt hurt ~ my dentist as he peeped into my mouth.
• It only costs less than RM2,000 ~ The Teenager talking about her dream camera for her Broadcasting course.
• Deodorant is bad for you. I like au naturel ~ another idiotic whatshisname
• I see a white hair! ~ my hair dresser
• Why didnt you marry him the last time? ~ my sometimes-memory-lapse mom talking to my old friend
• It is just a cigarette away ~ the Orang Asli man telling my grand dad as we walked towards the waterfall in the jungle (took us close to half a day….)
• My gf never cooks for me as you did ~ ex husband