berangkat subuh subuh - stopped by McD for breakfast - Konjen - Fedex Kinkos - Dunkin Donut - Navy Pier - Architectural Boat Race along the lake Michigan and the River Side - Crispy Penang Noodle at Water Tower - MNG by Mango - Michigan Avenue - H&M - Club Monaco - Kenneth Cole - The Renaissance - China town - Penang - Joyce (sp?) bubble tea - Chinese Bakery - Lake Shore Drive - Crown Fountain - Millennium Park - Nordstrom Rack - Starbucks w/ happy ...let's do it again guys..heheh..=). i especially enjoyed all the talks in the car, non stop 4 hours talking, full of haha hihi and interesting topics, mr raya and miss lulu is indeed a great companion. hopefully we can pay them a visit next year in dallas. 
well first thing first, selamat berpuasa ya untuk semua yang merayakan..mohon maaf lahir dan batin, mudah mudahan semuanya puasa nya lancar, di bersihkan hatinya dan di tingkatkan ketakwaannya..hopefully we all can be a much better person from this moment on..=)
times like this that makes me miss home even more, there's nothing like celebrating this month back home with my family..suasananya beda banget, i miss the atmosphere when maghrib is approaching..tv tv isinya ceramah atau ngaji ngaji gitu, teh manis hangat yang udah siap di meja makan, suasana hiruk pikuk dapur dan bau masakan yang tercium dari segala penjuru rumah..hmmm.....biasanya gue paling bantuin nata nata piring, sendok dll di meja makan, most of the time it was for the 5 of us. suasana di luar rumah juga nggak kalah ramenya kan...banyak yang ngantri beli makanan dan es kelapa muda. trus malemnya tarawih..enggak lupa bawa catatan tarawih tugas dari guru agama di sekolah. dulu juga sering bantuin nyokap bikin kue kue kering, caastangles especially..yang biasanya belom nyampe lebaran juga udah abis duluan sama gue..heheh. man i haven't been home to celebrate ramadhan since 1997.
sebenernya sih it's easier to fast here, especially when it falls on winter..heheh. soalnya lebih cepet jadi nggak berasa puasa nya....this time around is still okay i guess...wait till ramadhan falls on summer time..heheh..but i'll be home by then so i'm not worry about that.:p
hari pertama, kedua, ketiga sempet lemes juga sih kemaren, mungkin belom biasa kali ya, i was okay till about 3 o'clock sebelum akhirnya pusing pusing dan kelaperan.. dan biasanya tuh setiap jam 8 pagi sama jam 3 sore gue selalu minum kopi..now that i can't do it..it's haaard to keep my eyes open, jam 8 aja udah ngantuk berat dan memang selama puasa ini jam 9 juga udah tidur sih..heheh...gimana sih padahal kan bukan mentang mentang puasa trus jadi less productive ya..:D
anyway, this time have my own ramadhan resolution ..after all this month is a perfect month for me to do some self introspection, to reflect back and think about whether i've been the person i'm longing to be in the inside. besides, end of the year is approaching, it's time to check that new year resolution list again, cross the one that i've already accomplished and work some ways to accomplish the ones that i've been postponing to do, there's only 3 months left for that. pokonya yang jelas i don't want to be wondering how the hell this month just goes like that when it ends and don't see some significant improvement. intinya sih kalo menurut gue, there's more to ramadhan than just controlling your appetite for food..gue mau lebih merasakan makna nya..dengan harapan supaya yang di dapat dari bulan ini bukan cuma rasa lapar dan dahaga aja.
gue sih bulan puasa ini resolusi nya nggak macem macem, bahkan sebenernya nggak pantes di sebut resolusi karena memang sudah seharusnya di kerjain setiap hari. gue pingin untuk nggak ketinggalan sholat, i pray everyday..but most of the time, it's not 5 times a day, mostly 3 or 4..i know shame on me yaah. this is really something that needs to be changed, apalagi sekarang kan i'll be awake during subuh time anyway, so there's no reason to miss that prayer. trus gue juga pingin nerusin ngaji..i used to read the quran every single day after maghrib prayer..but i haven't done that in the longest time, i need to make that a habit again, pretty much i only read quran during pengajian now. i've started it today though, i took the quran from the bookshelf, the cover is covered with dust..i felt really bad..then i shook the dust off before reading it from the very beginning..you know..surat al fatihah..and then without realizing it tears started rolling down my cheek..huhu..where have i been yaa, why it took me this long to pick up the quran again. all my life, i have finished reading it twice...the third one is long overdue. it's just there's always other things that seemed more important to do at that moment, i always though that i can always read the quran later. i guess i have to get rid of that mentality and need to be more grateful and just spare a little more sprituality time. it's not that i haven't been grateful..but i've just been reminded again by the email that was sent by my bestfriends. they were talking about life and how everything were so much easier back then, a life less complicated. and then one of them said how she thinks i've had it easy..and that my life is pretty much in the right order, everything is planned well and i pretty much have what i need. and she's not the first to say that..and i was like wow....just when i thought i wish things could be upgraded a little more. i guess they are right afterall, i'm lucky to have the privilege i have right now. i really should be even more thankful.
other things i need to do is to maintain silaturahmi, you know just a simple email to my other friends that we don't communicate regularly. i know a simple email can brighten someone's day, it serves like a reminder that somehow somewhere, someone is thinking about you. i need to go through my inbox too, replying all the emails i have been neglecting. i have never want be the one who burn the bridge, but somehow there's always other things to do. kan kasian aja yang emailnya belum di bales, udah nulis panjang panjang, ngeluangin waktu dan nunjukin that they care about us ehh malah di cuekin aja emailnya..*lia, amy, azlin, liza, vil, marie, ze, aan..i know you guys read this..i'll reply your email asap okay?*..trus juga emailnya mbak sofia, mbak riefna and other pln clan...they took the time to email me, padahal tau sendiri di sana internet connectionnya suka nggak bener but they gave their effort anyway. i have some friendster msgs that i haven't replied too. i also need to call my grandma a litte more often..and talk to my cousins, my uncles and my aunties, or just sms at least..*yea there's lots of sms msgs that i haven't replied*. oh..and i need to remember more birthday, i've forgotten more and more birthday lately.
truus..i must not forget about zakat, it's 2.5% of the income..and what else? oh..and i've also promised my self to cook a more variety of food, afterall, it's fasting and you need to reward yourself with some delicious food..(just try not to overeat..;)..i guess that's it..and be a better person in general, you know smile more, love more, listen more, learn more, give more, think more, help more and you know the rest..=)
this morning i was trying to pay my traffic ticket on www.stlcitycourt.org but the site couldn't find my ticket #..so i called and tried to enter the ticket # on the automated phone system but it's also said that my ticket # couldn't be located..so i then talked to the representative and gave her the number...she too couldn't find the ticket #, tried looking from my first name, last name, and social security # but the ticket # still didn't show up. oh wow..is it possible that the officer somehow missplaced the ticket before he put it in to the system?...it's been 29 days since the violation date. the lady suggested me to still go to the court on october 2 and bring the copy of the ticket with me. duh males amat secara courtnya jam 8 pagi dan di olive pula!!...but i guess i don't have choice but to go..tapi gue nggak bakalan bawa kopian ticketnya deh..bilang aja ilang..gue cuma inget kalo harus ke court har iitu..biar aja mereka cari dari last name, first name, ssc#..kalo nggak ketemu juga kan ya udah...i'll thank my lucky star..heheh...soalnya kalo gue bawa kopiannya nanti bisa di tulis ulang lagi sama mereka trus di masukin ke komputernya...:p. Gimana niiih mas anggit?!?!..any suggestion..kan situ pakarnya?..:p
"don't deflect blame onto the system, the screwed up schooling you got, or the chances no one ever gave you. it makes you powerless and means you are not in control of your destiny" -- kimora lee simmons
"Do not wait; the time will never be ''just right.'' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along" -- Napoleon Hill
"A life lived with integrity - even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shinning star in whose light others may follow in the years to come."-- Denis Waitley
"It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not."-- Denis Waitley
"Most misfortunes are the results of misused time."-- Napoleon Hill
"I’ve never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation." -- Mike Todd
"Do not wait; the time will never be ''just right.'' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along" -- Napoleon Hill
"A life lived with integrity - even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shinning star in whose light others may follow in the years to come."-- Denis Waitley
"It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not."-- Denis Waitley
"Most misfortunes are the results of misused time."-- Napoleon Hill
"I’ve never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation." -- Mike Todd
"JIBRAAAAN...DON'T EAT YOUR BOOGER!!!!..That's YUCKY"...
never thought i would ever said something like that...
"MOMMYYY....I want my POOP" ---> jibran marah2 karena poopnya di flush sama gue, dia maunya nge flush sendiri!!!
never thought i would ever heard something like that either....
oh motherhood..........
never thought i would ever said something like that...
"MOMMYYY....I want my POOP" ---> jibran marah2 karena poopnya di flush sama gue, dia maunya nge flush sendiri!!!
never thought i would ever heard something like that either....
oh motherhood..........
balloon race, it was the first time we went there the night before the race. biasanya pas hari H nya aja liatin balon balonnya terbang. ternyata rame juga yaa..kita aja sampe parkir di skinker sana, deket amoco dan jalan sampe ke dalem forest park. jibran ternyata ketakutan sama balon balon raksasa itu..soalnya emang gede banget sih dan banyak banget..jadi kita kaya di tutupin balon balon kita saking banyaknya...mana angin juga lagi jadi aja itu balon balonnya miring2 kaya mau rubuh. api api nya juga lumayan mengerikan..takut juga kan kalo tau tau bikin balonnya meletus atau kebakar gitu....heheh. liat aja tuh mukanya ketakutan. dari situ mau ke cartell tapi ternyata penuh nuh nuh, parkirnya juga susah..jadi ya udah..pulang aja..=)
1. nanti gimana?
2. gimana nanti
2. gimana nanti
dua kata yang sama, tapi kalo di balik arti nya jadi beda...the first one makes you well prepared of what's going to happen in the near future, the second one gives you the unneccesary trouble that you can easily avoid had you prepared better.
memang bener kok sebenernya life is indeed simple..it's only complicated when you make it complicated. intinya sama sih kaya yang di atas, hidup bakalan simpel simpel aja kalo pola pikir kita terbentuk seperti yang #1..live by the rules, play by the rules..kalo masih student ya berarti belajar yang bener dan jangan berpikir "ya udah dehh gimana nanti aja toh test nya masih lama ini"..supaya nanti nggak ribet pas final week udah mau deket dan akhirnya nggak bisa ngerjain apa apa dan pas udah selesai baru deh stress sendiri when you see those Fs and Ds starting to appear on your transcript...jadi nya complicated kan karena bingung harus bilang apa ke bokap nyokap kalo ketauan kelas nya fail, malu kalo ketauan temen ambil kelas yang sama lagi, stress gara gara lulusnya berarti ketunda dan ngerasa bersalah udah buang uang yang nggak sedikit dan juga waktu yang berharga.
kalo untuk yang kerja..kurang lebih juga sama sih..jangan kkn kecuali terpaksa..oopss..heheh..ya pokonya gitu deh..bottom line i think this kind of thinking can be applied to any kind of situation..i'm sure you can find a lot of other examples out there. life is indeed simple..well okay lah maybe not THAT simple, but it's actually not THAT complicated either... semuanya gampang gampang aja..tapi kalo kitanya nge gampangin..ya nanti nya jadi ribet sendiri kitanya.
and yes... i'm schooling myself here guuyyysss...:p
ada satu lagi yang gue baru nyadar, and it is discipline. i know most of us dread this word and little do we know kalo sebenernya disiplin ini adalah hal yang paling penting dan paling berharga untuk di miliki. i don't think those who are at the top of their games right now will be as successful if they didn't implement discipline in their life. biasanya juga lack of discipline is the main reason why we experience disease, obesity, grades problem, financial problem and other failures. note the key word here is biasanya
memangnya disiplin itu apa sih? kalo menurut gue sih..it's doing what is RIGHT instead of what is EASY..doing the right things for yourself and for your future eventhough you don't feel like it and also to be consistent on a regular basis, despite situational changes or feelings.
"discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not." Elbert Hubbard
trus gimana dong caranya untuk disiplin? nah kalo itu gue juga kurang tau..hehehe...as it is one of the areas in my life that i really need to work at..:p. emang susah yah soalnya biasanya kita meng-asosiasikan disiplin with discomfort instead of hal hal menyenangkan yang akan terjadi kalo goal yang akan kita raih itu tercapai. oh well..
it was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through - Zig Ziglar
ini postingan udah di save draft dari kapan kapan tau..heheh, cerita soal labor day weekend..tapi males melulu nyelesainnya dan sekarang udah lupa ngapain aja waktu labor day weekend. oh well!!...pokonya sabtu nya yang gue inget ke missouri baptist hospital nengokin baby kathlyn trus ke west county mall..abis itu ke UMSL ngajak jibran main bola sebelum ke rumahnya manda. Ternyata jibran seneng soccer juga lhoo...minggu sebelumnya kita ajak juga sih ke UMSL tapi nyampenya pas udah gelap dan jibrannya nggak bawa bola, lagian anak anaknya juga udah pada selesai mainnya..jadinya ngobrol ngobrol aja di parkiran. pas labor day weekend kesana lagi dan kali ini bawa bola...wahh jibran seneng banget lhoo..kayanya dia berasa superstar gitu bisa maen bola di lapangan yang gedee..dan masuk terus lagii tendangannya..heheheh..*iya lahh secara gawangnya segede gitu dan nggak ada keepernya lagi..:p*..kalo main basket kan pake ring yang pendek. yah kali kali aja nanti kalo udah gede jibran bisa main satu team bareng brooklyn, romeo and cruz beckham..:p
tadi nya pas hari minggu mau ke botanical garden karena ada japanese festival..emang udah sampe sana sih tapi pas lagi ngantri ticket d pagernya bunyii karena memang lagi on call, ya udah terpaksa keluar dari antrian dan nggak jadi ketemuan sama manda sekeluarga yang udah di dalem..kita ke st. louis bread company yang di grand, cuma ke parkirannya aja sih nyari hotspot untuk login internet..tapi ternyata enggak bisa login ke servernya at&t..jadi kita ke rumahnya abdul di the hills untuk numpang online bentar. jibran main main sama anaknya yang lucuuu banget deh..baik banget deh ni anak sama baby nya, gentle gitu dan the baby loves him too..ketawa ketawa ngeliat jibran nge dance nge dance gitu. 
trus hari seninnya...tadi nya mau ke whinsky surprise party tapi d ada kerjaan lagii and i had a lot of things to do at home..bener bener beresin rumah seharian, rearranging the furniture, beresin mainannya jibran, buang buangin yang nggak perlu, bersihin kamar mandi etc.
kalo weekend kemarin...sabtu nya kita ke chesterfield mall..jibran seneng banget naik carrousel nya..udah gede dia sekarang, kalo naik kuda kudaannya udah nggak mau di pegangin lagi...padahal dulu kan suka takut..baru dua puteran aja udah minta turun..heheh..itu juga sambil megang tangan gue kenceng banget.
pas lagi di pottery barn kids tau tau idungnya jibran berdarah banyaak banget, pertama nya kirain luka kena apaa gitu tapi ternyata mimisan, soalnya jibrannya nggak kesakitan sama sekali..cuma bingung aja kok idungnya berdarah..ngeri juga ngeliatnya sih soalnya lumayan banyak darahnya.
sorenya pengajian di rumahnya mbak rita..jibran seneng main sepeda rame rame di taman belakangnya, trus sempet mimisan lagi dua kalii..i got to play with the adorable baby kaka..=)
weekend ini kita mau ke balloon festival di forest park dan mungkin ajak jibran main bola lagi besok...and we'll be off to chicago next weekend. Have a happy weekend everyone..=)
you know what, jibran is graduating this week. kan ceritanya kelas yang sekarang ini namanya rainbow, khusus untuk anak umur 2 sampai 3 tahun, kelas yang selanjutnya itu sunbeam, untuk anak umur 3 sampai 4. gue kira dia bakalan naik kelasnya nanti pas bulan january, makanya kemaren sempet tanya juga sama directornya tentang tahun ajaran sekolah. maksudnya, pingin tau aja biasanya kenaikan kelas itu pas setiap bulan september pas tahun ajaran baru atau pas anaknya ulang taun. katanya sih nggak selalu berdasarkan kedua hal itu, soalnya di liat juga kesiapan anaknya dan biasanya nunggu sekalian ada temennya untuk naik kelas, biar bareng dan nggak ngerasa asing di kelas yang baru.
trus directornya nanya ke gue apa emangnya 
maunya gue itu jibran cepet cepet naik kelas? ya jelas lah gue bilang enggak..it doesn't matter, really..i'm not crazy about accelerating his progress beyond the normal pace..karena nanti malah takutnya kasian kalo di kelas yang lebih atas soalnya jibran kan ngomongnya masih belum lancar kaya anak anak lain di sekolahnya, memang sih he will learn more..tapi kalo malah jadi minder gimana..heheh...lagian he is happy where he is at right now, guru gurunya juga baik baik dan anak anaknya memang yang seumuran. but apparently the director and his teachers think he is ready to take the big step and move on to the big boys/girls class..kaget juga tadi pas di bilangin kalo minggu depan jibran pindah kelas. untungnya ada beberapa anak juga yang pindah bareng and some of his old friends who had graduated earlier are in that class too, so there will be a lot of familiar faces. tadi jibran di ajak ke calon kelas barunya and spend some times there, besok sama hari jum'at juga so he can be more prepared for next week.
*sigh*..it's one of the signs that my little boy is indeed growing up...i'm so proud of you jib!!!..
barusan lagi liat liat foto jalan jalan kemaren...trus nemu foto foto ini waktu lagi di patung liberty.
begitu turun dari boatnya, jibran -seperti biasa- langsung lari larian kesana kesini...
di gendong nggak mau, di ajak foto apalagi...
sampe akhirnya dia jatoh ke genangan air yang berlumpur gitu..hihihi..kayanya yang geli sendiri dia soalnya bajunya, celananya sama sepatu nya jadi penuh lumpur dan semua orang yang..'eewwww' in dia gitu...dianya marah marah sendiri.."mommy wook (look), messy..i soll (fall) down mommy...messyy"...katanya...
eww jibran ewww
akhirnya terpaksa di bugilin, duh mana nggak bawa baju ganti lagi, bajunya di tinggal di mobil, soalnya kan di pikir ke liberty nya cuma satu jam-an aja, jadi cuma bawa diaper.
mau nggak mau beli baju di toko souvenirnya deh..abis di boatnya itu angin, kasian ntar masuk angin. ini jibran lagi nunggu gue masuk ke tokonya..heheh...
ternyata toko nya cuma jual kaos aja, nggak ada celananya...walhasil jibran jalan2 nggak pake celana..tapi dia sih cuek cuek aja tuh....
foto foto berikutnya ya bisa di tebak...nggak pake celana. tapi teteup aja sih cengegesan dan lari lari lagi.....
begitu turun dari boatnya, jibran -seperti biasa- langsung lari larian kesana kesini...
di gendong nggak mau, di ajak foto apalagi...
sampe akhirnya dia jatoh ke genangan air yang berlumpur gitu..hihihi..kayanya yang geli sendiri dia soalnya bajunya, celananya sama sepatu nya jadi penuh lumpur dan semua orang yang..'eewwww' in dia gitu...dianya marah marah sendiri.."mommy wook (look), messy..i soll (fall) down mommy...messyy"...katanya...
eww jibran ewww
akhirnya terpaksa di bugilin, duh mana nggak bawa baju ganti lagi, bajunya di tinggal di mobil, soalnya kan di pikir ke liberty nya cuma satu jam-an aja, jadi cuma bawa diaper.
mau nggak mau beli baju di toko souvenirnya deh..abis di boatnya itu angin, kasian ntar masuk angin. ini jibran lagi nunggu gue masuk ke tokonya..heheh...
ternyata toko nya cuma jual kaos aja, nggak ada celananya...walhasil jibran jalan2 nggak pake celana..tapi dia sih cuek cuek aja tuh....
foto foto berikutnya ya bisa di tebak...nggak pake celana. tapi teteup aja sih cengegesan dan lari lari lagi.....
....selamat jalan ya bunda inong..semoga tenang dan bahagia di tempatnya yang indah disana..insya allah abang zidan dan kakak syifa ikhlas dan tegar di tinggal bunda nya..lihat saja zidan, yang baru berumur 5 tahun itu, dengan tegarnya bilang kalau dia ikhlas bundanya pergi dan akan menjaga adiknya seperti bagaimana bundanya menjaga mereka berdua. mudah mudahan celoteh dan tingkah riang mereka akan tetap selalu mengisi dunia ini..walaupun tidak ada lagi sosok
bundanya yang menyambut mereka setiap pagi, walaupun bundanya tidak akan pernah ada lagi untuk membuat makanan kesukaan mereka, walaupun bundanya sudah tidak akan dapat lagi bercanda dan menjawab celotehan mereka, walaupun mereka harus melewati ulang taun tanpa kue ulang taun spesial buatan bundanya, walaupun pelukan hangat bundanya sudah tidak akan mereka rasakan lagi. suatu hari nanti mereka akan tau betapa bundanya amat sangat mencintai mereka.
aneh rasanya ngebayangin kalo salah satu blog favorit saya yang selalu di update setiap hari itu sudah tidak akan pernah di update lagi oleh pemiliknya. saya bakalan kangen sekali baca cerita cerita dan foto foto serunya. jelas bukan saya saja yang merasakan kehilangan, ada ratusan..bahkan mungkin ribuan orang orang dari penjuru dunia yang merasakan rasa yang sama. terbukti dari doa doa yang terketik dan ucapan belasengkawa yang terus mengalir di blognya dan di blog orang orang terdekatnya, dan juga postingan demi postingan yang di dedikasikan untuk dirinya, belum lagi ucapan selamat tinggal yang di kirim lewat berbagai milis yang di ikutinya, dan komunitas yang di dirikannya, bahkan ada yang berkumpul di masjid pondok indah untuk melakukan doa bersama. padahal, banyak dari mereka yang belum pernah bertatap muka dengannya tapi merasa dekat karena sering membaca cerita ceritanya dan secara tidak langsung jadi terlibat secara emosional. beliau memang sosok yang istimewa untuk semua orang yang pernah bersimpangan jalan dengannya karena beliau selain baik dan sayang banget sama keluarga terutama anak anaknya juga ramah, humble, sabar, bersemangat tinggi, aktif, kreatif, produktif, pintar masak, nggak pernah pelit untuk berbagi ilmunya dan selalu siap untuk membantu. banyak orang yang merasakan manfaat kehadiran seorang bunda inong. seperti kata nabi muhammad SAW..sebaik baiknya manusia adalah mereka yang kehadirannya bermanfaat bagi orang lain. Rest in peace, bunda.
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