The Collections

The month of October and as a matter of fact all the past months since late July have kept me extremely busy with the MCOBA concert practices which take place initially twice a week but eventually intensified to five days a week. These and the paper work I had to do to update matters related to the concert had let to late nights and of course physical and mental exhaustion, which fortunately did pay off when we successfully performed it on Saturday night Nov 8th at the Istana Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. It is because of these busy schedules that I am left with very little time and indeed energy to sit down and write my articles for our web site. In the light of this, I thought it’s best that I come up with something equally interesting and that is to reproduce the recent letters written by Farah all the way from Chicago - letters, which to me, could be considered as "articles" for our web site for posterity.

Hence I name this week’s article as THE COLLECTIONS.

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September 29, 2008.

Dearest Abah and Mama !

Assalamualaikaum and Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri. Maaf Zahir Batin from us. We hope you had a fruitful Ramadhan and an eventful Raya. At this point in time we are of course 2 days away from Raya. Who knows, may be tonight we might find it differently. Depends on what the American Board of Islam says here. There were people who actually started fasting on September 2nd and so Raya on 1st October. Every year is confusing. Anyway, we are looking forward to going to the mosque to pray insyaallah with Imran and Arshia his wife. It will be good for my Aisya to know we do celebrate Raya here too.

At the moment she is at the dining table chatting away and explaining about some picture she drew. She is pretty good with her imagination. I call it organized imagination. She loves drawing and translates whatever she imagines on paper quite well. She is very detailed in her drawings - every single aspect that is drawn is for a reason. Quite detailed.

She wants to join and participate in all conversations now. She hears and repeats and remember details like an elephant. She also seems to know when to turn on her charm with her Abah. Gets away with it too ! She is reasoning better now but there are days when she forgets she is 4 and becomes a 2 year old. That’s OK. Art of growing up.

Going to preschool 5 days a week seems to have an impact on her communication skills. She is picking up Mandarin pretty well. Everyday she tells us some new words or short phrases. I still have no clue what she else she does because she won’t say anything else. Although I know that she and the kids in class get quite a bit of computer time. She seems to understand certain commands and is able to work on it. There is this friend, who is turning 5 who plays games on her mom’s laptop and she told Aisya - "Click on the X, Aisya - close the window" And your grand daughter just slided her finger across the pad (no mouse here by the way) to the x and with the other forefinger, clicked it !! I was very impressed ! These are 4 & 5 yr olds !! She doesn’t get computer time at home very much, so to see her do that tells me she gets a lot of computer time in school. I think she also is learning writing because supposedly they do have their own writing book. Teachers aren’t saying much and I guess they won’t, not till parent-teacher conferences I suppose. She has also picked up some ATTITUDE from school and some need to be reminded that it is not accepted in this household or anywhere else. Talk about peer pressure.

Well, just got an e-mail from Uztaz Malaysian Students Dept. that Washington MSD confirms Raya is 30th ! As always, confusion ! They are still fasting while there are others who will raya ! We followed MSD for puasa, so we follow MSD for raya. My gut said it is 30th.

Anyway, the box is a Ramadhan /Eid box that Aisya made. It has taken us very long time to finish. The ideas trickle unfortunately. I wish ideas would pour. Also she has specific ideas as to how to fill those pages of your "buku Raya". Already she is wanting to keep it for herself. I will have to secretly mail to you ! We have worked on what Ramadhan is, who benefits Ramadhan, doing the Lunar Calendar with her looking art the moon (whenever present at night), listening to Raihan’s song about niat puasa & other songs, reading books from library about Ramadhan & Eid and took her along to my friend’s elementary school where I gave a talk on Ramadhan. We had our baju kurung on that day too ! She enjoyed making ketupat and coloring and doing all these. However to get her to focus on the subject matter selalu deviate to drawings of mermaids playing in the park , dia punya imagination. I am hoping we will be able to include a few other crafts in there for you. Better late than never right ? She said, " I can write what I want because bit is my idea and I want it THIS WAY" !! Hmm - so I had to negotiate with her in a rational manner that sometimes there are other ways that are more pleasant and shows that what she has done is definitely a 4 yr old work rather than a 2 yr old work ! Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not !

Anyway, we hope you enjoy the Ramadhan box and its contents. We love you, miss you both and we wish you again Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf zahir batin Abah & Mama.

Farah.


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October 10, 2008

Just a short note to say sorry for the late delivery. It has been hard waiting for Aisya to find time to work on more projects. As it is, I don’t think we have pictures ready for you as planned ! Insyaallah, we will make an album of some sort soon..

Hope everything is going well and you are keeping healthy. Aisya is again having coughs and sniffles - the pediatrician says it is due to allergies ( season changing). Kesian. More later - I have to send her to school now.

Take care and we love & miss you both !

Aisya, Arman, Farah


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October 13, 2008

Dear Abah & Mama

Salam from the cabin !

It is fall / autumn/and the trees are heavy with brilliant fall colors ; yellows, oranges, reds, browns, and very green evergreens. The weather is so far holding up - no rain yet. Once it starts to rain, then outdoor activities will be a little difficult to do. So at the moment, your grand daughter and son-in-law are outside. She helped John with the gutters on the roof, racking the leaves, picking the leaves, making forts, diving and burying her Abah or herself, fishing ( and catching some too ! ) Chalking on the sidewalk outside cabin, chasing the squirrels and chipmunks, feeding the deer and just enjoying and helping John outside. Of course just now, she wanted to make cupcakes, so she mixed and poured cake mix & other ingredients and put the mix into cupcake pan.

Just checked the oven - 2 more minutes before taking them out. Looking good. Karl and Mary will be coming over to the cabin for dinner, so thus the cupcakes.

Yesterday we went over to their home and picked apples from their apple trees. John shook the trees and Aisya helped put apples into a bucket. These are tiny apples. Not the normal sized ones. Sweet taste just like the regular ones. We brought it home to feed the deer and for us as well. I think Mary said we could even make apple crisps & pie if I know how !

We should be heading back to Chicago on Saturday I think. We will probably stop one night at Jim’s in Hartford. Just to make sue he is OK. After the rehab and moving back into his new apartment, he has help from his sons who took turns on a weekly basis. Technically at this point, he was not being independent and was slowly getting use to lots of help. In the end, I told John that he needs to let Dad be on his own again. This would be the only way for Dad to know if he can handle bedding on his own again or if he needs assistance on a daily basis. Only when he is on his own, can he decide. With constant help from the boys, no one will know. So there he is. Been 2 weeks now. He has supposedly managed to get in and out of his apt and has managed to drive wherever he wants but of course even 2 activities wipe him out and he goes to bed by 7pm !

He is so adamant to not want visitors, and yet when we come, he is so glad to see his "little brown mouse" as he calls Aisya. Now that he is on the ground floor, Aisya has access to play in the front lawn easily and play and we can still keep an eye on her easily.

Just finished lunch. Aisya is watching "Mulan II". John gave in and bought her both Mulan 1 & 2. And I too am guilty. I bought her "The Sleeping Beauty". She also has Ariel the Mermaid, I & 11. She does enjoy the Disney Princesses movies. If there is Pocahontas 2, she would probably want it too ! She already has P1 !!!

Anyway, we hope you like the craft box we sent. Not much but something we enjoyed doing for you !

You take care & we miss you both very much.

Love you !

Ainiah


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Nov 2, 2008

Hello and W’salam Abah and Mama

Hope everything is going well and in good health always. After a month of activities in October, I am hoping Nov will be calmer !

The weather is considerably still nice despite a week or two ago of cold spell. A little taste of what to expect for winter I guess ! Already in the Northeast of America, they have experienced snowfall. Way too early.

Aisya is definitely in full swing at school. She has established some friendship with a few girls but not with the boys yet. Very normal. Although whatever transpires between the girls she won’t tell us, unless the questions we ask during dinner time is not "nosy" then she will tell us. Sometimes when she and I are talking to either strangers or friends, she will " inform" some facts about what has/had transpired in school ! Supposedly, report card / evaluation day is next week, so we should know more as to where Aisya stands. We are planning on continuing her at Walt Disney Elementary School next year. I think only then will we know since serious academic work starts in kindergarten.

Our car was in dire strait for a while last month. That’s what cars do right ! Either in working order or not ! We were contemplating a new car but with the economy and falling stocks, we definitely need to tighten our belts. However, alhamdulilliah the car is fine now. We only use the car to take Aisya to and fro from school and activities after school and grocery shopping. There are days where we take the bus to school and to other places around the city, The public transportation is quite adequate here, as you know. However, now that winter is around the corner, we might have to use the car more. Thank goodness gas prices have plummeted.

Good to know the dates for Sabrina’s wedding. I think John would be willing to send us home for two months and not 3 ! He said 3 months is too long !

Aisya will be done with school mid June and new session starts September 2nd. I cannot forecast what dates but I have a feeling beginning July will be it. Itu pun insyaaallah we would have budget for tickets.

Aisya is busy watching "Star Wars". Her 1st time watching it. Some of her friends dressed as Star Wars characters for Halloween and obviously that packed her interest. She also just watched "Tinkerbell" the movie. Quite a good movie. DVD of course. Your grand daughter is definitely a Disney kid !

All right, will write again soon. Will try and call soon. Hope Abah’s MCOBA show went well.

Love and kisses always,

Ainiah



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