Wednesday, December 31, 2008

is this a year end?

yes...
and it is, Dan's birthday...

I have said that Happy Birthday words and wishes
but we still try to figure out what we're going to do to celebrate it
I mean... Dan always work till late every 31 december. yeah, new year eve at office..:P

well I guess I'll just go there to his office and sit by him. what do you think?

Monday, December 29, 2008

double new year

yes, moslem all over the world are celebrating Islamic new year 1430H at 29 December 2008, and the whole world will be celebrating the universal new year in 2009 couple days. so...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

memori masjid (tidak) tua

a memory of a (not old) masjid (mosque)

Ibit dan Ar-Ir sedang liburan panjang akhir tahun. Dua hari yang lalu aku dan Dan mengirim mereka ke embah di Wonogiri. Kemarin pagi, tiba-tiba mobil Dan tidak bisa distarter. Lalu Dan bersama adikku Bond mendoronganya, dan menyuruhku duduk di belakang setir, masuk gigi tiga, injak kopling - dan melepasnya pelan-pelan ketika mobil sudah mulai jalan. Great, mesinnya hidup. Diputuskan untuk membawa mobilnya ke bengkel, katanya ada yang salah dengan dinmao-nya atau apalah. Well, aku ngga peduli, benerin aja...

Ibit and Ar and Ir are having their two weeks holiday in this year end. Two days ago I and Dan sent them to my mother's house in Wonogiri. Yesterday, Dan got problem starting the engine. So while he and my brother Bond pushed the car, he told me to sit behind the steer, put the car in the third gear, step on the coupling and release it ad the car goes faster. Great, the engine was on. Then we took it to a reparation and the said something was wrong about the dynamo or something. Well I didn't care what it was about, just fix it up..



Selagi montirnya bekerja, aku dan Dan duduk dan memandang ke seberang jalan dan melihat ini... Aku agak berdebar sedikit..
While the mechanic was doing his job, Dan and I sat and looked across the road and saw this... And I stopped breathing for few seconds...



Iya, soalnya ini masjid tempat aku dan Dan dulu menikah.
Yes, it is the masjid where I and Dan got married in.

Dan memegang tanganku dan berkata:
"Aku tidak terlalu memperhatikan masjidnya. Aku tidak ingat bagaimana aku bisa berada di dalamnya, naik mobil siapa, duduk sebelah siapa... Aku cuma ingat aku mengucapkan ijab Qabul, dan kamu jadi isteriku..."

Dan held my hand and said:
"I didn't notice about the masjid. I couldn't remember how I got there, in whose car I sat, who was sitting beside me. All I remember was, I was there, saying the ijab Qabul and then you became mine..."

Aku melihat dia sedang mengingat hari bahagia itu.
I looked at his eyes, and saw him remembering that happy day.


"O ya? Aku ingat aku naik mobilnya Pak Madi bersama Bapak dan Ibu. Kamu sama Om Dalin"
"Oh really? I remember I was in Pak Madi's Car, with my father and mother. And you were in Om Dalin's"

"Apa iya ya? Ga inget sama sekali. Aku terlalu excited menikahimu, ga peduli yang lainnya"
"Was I? I can't remember at all. I was too happy to have you as my wife, I didn't care about the rest"

"Aku juga bahagia, dan jantungku berdegub keras lihat kamu masuk, tapi aku masih ingat hal-hal lain.."
"I was happy too, and my heart beat so fast when I saw you walked in. But I still remember other things..."


"Aku enggak... aku enggak..."
"I don't. I don't..."

Wow, aku ngga pernah menyangka ternyata Dan sebahagia itu... sampai-sampai dia hanya melihatku dan ngga peduli sekitar kami.
Semoga kami akan tetap selalu bahagia...
Wow, I never thought that Dan was THAT HAPPY... so he only saw me, and didn't give a damn about other things.
I hope we'll always be happy, as should be...

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Monday, December 22, 2008

happy mother's day!

in Indonesia :D

my kids gave me this:




and this is what they had to say


happy mother's day
we made this card
we love you
although you some times get mad
but you've been taking care of us
thank you for everything

:ar, ir, ur:

(sometimes I call ibit 'ur')

Friday, December 19, 2008

'late' is my middle name

'terlambat' adalah nama tengahku

for this week's sundayscribblings prompt:
'late'

why?
because......
kenapa?
karena......

in the office where I work, there is a morning briefing at 07.00, and every employee has to attend. now imagine. I live about 20 km away, and going through morning traffic jam, I need at least 45 minutes to get there.
di kantor tempat aku bekerja, ada apel setiap jam 07.00 pagi, dan setiap karyawan harus hadir. sekarang bayangkan. aku tinggal kira-kira 20 km jauhnya, dan dengan kemacetan pagi hari, butuh paling tidak 45 menit untuk sampai ke kantor.

means, I have to get out of my house at least at 06.15. but, I'm a lazy one. I usually get out my house at 06.20 or more. so it is a fortune if I could get to my office before the briefing begins.
artinya, aku harus berangkat paling tidak jam 06.15. tapi aku ini anak malas. biasanya aku baru keluar rumah jam 06.20. jadi beruntung sekali kalau aku bisa sampe kantor sebelum jam 07.00.

is it ok for me to miss the briefing? off course not. some important things are announced here, and I've missed some, because I was late. I try to go earlier, but my best is at least once being late in a week.
apakah terlambat apel tidak jadi masalah buatku? bukan begitu. ada beberapa hal penting yang disampaikan di apelan. beberapa kali aku tidak tahu, karena terlambat apel. aku sudah coba sih untuk berangkat agak pagian lagi. tapi hasil terbaikku adalah, telat sekali dalam seminggu.

I never make a full presence in morning briefings during my five workdays. does my boss mad at me? you bet. I'm not a discipline girl, I know. so I try to pay my 'late' by working as hard as I can after I get to the office. does it work?
aku belum pernah berhasil hadir apel pagi seminggu full. bossku marah ngga padaku? ya pastilah. aku tahu aku bukan anak yang disiplin. jadi aku mencoba membayar keterlambatanku dengan bekerja sebaik-baiknya begitu aku sampai di kantor. berhasil?


almost :D
hampir :D

Thursday, December 18, 2008

similar but not same

serupa tapi tak sama



I know I've been talking so much about how my twins are. But day by day there are always new amazing things happening.
aku tahu aku sudah sering banget cerita tentang kembarku. tapi hari ke hari selalu ada saja hal yang menakjubkan tentang mereka

Ok, just a little flash back for you who feels lazy to click on my link above.
Ar Ir was said to be an identical twin, but I always tried my best (because it is not easy as I some time still see them as one) to treat them as different person. And I found that they are different in some ways, above the special bond they have.
I insisted to put them in different classes in kindergarten to make them a little independent between each other. It was hard at the beginning but finally worked.
ok deh, sedikit kilas balik buat yan gmales ngeklik link di atas.
Ar Ir sih katanya kembar identik. tapi aku selalu berusaha keras (karena susah banget, soalnya aku masih sering melihat mereka sebagai satu kesatuan) untuk memperlakukan mereka sebagai dua individu yang berbeda. dan ternyata mereka itu banyak beda di banyak hal, di atas ikatan khusus di antara mereka berdua.
ketika mereka mulai sekolah, aku ngotot untuk memasukkan mereka ke kelas yang berbeda di TK, supaya mereka bisa mengurangi saling ketergantungan satu sama lain. awalnya berat, tapi berhasil.

So. There are two grades in the kindergarten with three parallel classes each , split based on ages. According to that, Ar Ir should be in the 2nd class. Since I asked to put them in the different classes, in the first year the teachers put Ar in the proper class, but Ir in the 3rd class with friends of ages above him.
I knew it would be hard for Ir to compete with his friends, but what could I say?
Results: Ar got a trophy for best coloring, and Ir got nothin.
jadi... di TK kan ada kelas A dan B. masing-masing punya tiga parallel yang dibagi berdasarkan umur. harusnya Ar ir masuk di kelas ke dua. tapi karena aku minta mereka dipisah, akhirnya Ar masuk di kelas kedua, sedangkan Ir di kelas ketiga yang notabene anak-anaknya lebih tua dari dia.
Hasil: Ar mendapat piala untuk terbaik di ekstra mewarnai, Ir ngga dapat apa-apa.

So for the second years, we made a twist. Ir in the 2nd class and Ar in 3rd. I guess it would be fair enough for both to feel how to be in the proper class and in a harder class.
jadi untuk tahun kedua aku twist. Ir di kelas kedua dan Ar di kelas ketiga. kupikir cukup fair, masing-masing mereka merasakan bagaimana di kelas yang pas, dan juga di kelas yang lebih berat.

The result, I found to day when I took their odd semester report. Ir is 1st rank in class while Ar is just another ordinary student.
hasilnya adalah apa yang kulihat dari rapor yang aku ambil hari ini. Ir ranking satu, sementara Ar menjadi murid biasa aja.

I mean, wow. I (I'm sorry) some times thought Ir is less clever than Ar. Just because Ar learns things quicker than Ir. Some thing I finally realized to be wrong.
maksudku.... wow. (maaf) kadang aku merasa Ir tidak secerdas Ar, hanya karena Ar lebih cepat menangkap apa-apa yang diajarkan kepadanya. sesuatu yang akhirnya kudapati salah.

when they started learning to read, at the beginning it seemed hard for Ir to understand about the letters and how he should say the words, while Ar caught everything easily. But in last few weeks, like Ir has found a pattern and suddenly made a boost on reading. Now he reads better than Ar.

ketika mulai belajar membaca, awalnya Ir kelihatan sulit banget memahami huruf-huruf dan bunyi yang harus dia ucapkan, sedang Ar tampak gampang dan cepat menguasai. tapi minggu-minggu terakhir ini, Ir seperti menemukan pola dan tiba-tiba bikin boost dalam membaca. sekarang dia membaca lebih baik dari Ar

Does it mean Ir is cleverer than Ar? NO! It definitely is not what I mean. It's just that they learn thing in different ways, and everybody has their own specific intelligence. Yes, I'm always amazed by Ar's skills in using computer. I'll tell about it someday.
apa artinya Ir lebih cerdas dari Ar? BUKAN! sama sekali bukan itu maksudku. hanya saja mereka punya cara yang berbeda dalam memahami sesuatu, dan mereka punya kecerdasan spesifik sendiri-sendiri. bener, aku selalu kagum dengan keahlian Ar make komputer. kapan-kapan deh cerita soal ini...

'Open your eyes Latree, open your eyes to something you should've known since first' -- I told my self.
'buka mata, latree. buka mata atas apa yang seharusnya sudah kau ketahui sebelumnya' -- kataku pada diriku sendiri

I've never been so proud about my boys before.... :D
aku ngga pernah sebangga ini tentang Ar Ir sebelumnya... :D

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PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

ketika embak pulang...

when the nanny went home...

long week end kemaren si embak pulang kampung. tapi rupanya aku tidak perlu khawatir. banyak volunteer :D
last long weekend, the nanny went home, but seemed I didn't need to worry, I had volunteers... :D


Ir bagian nguleg bumbu. pake kacamata, katanya biar ngga pedes kena bawang... keren :D
Ir mashed the spices. he wore glasses, he said mashing garlic and shallots made his eyes watering... cool :D



Ar bagian ngerajang, lumayan. walaupun ni mata ngga bisa lepas ngawasin, takut terjadi sesuatu...
Ar sliced onion leaves. not bad. but I couldn't take my eyes of the knife, afraid of something going wrong...



mbak Ibit bagian nggoreng tempe dan ayam, aku bagian was-was...
Ibit fried the chicken and tempe. I was watching afraid of the oil that might splash on her..



makasih semuanya...
yang lebih membahagiakan, siang itu anak2 makan sendiri dan lahap. enak katanya. padahal menurutku ya biasa aja, kurang asin sedikit malah... karena ikut masak kali ya, rasanya jadi beda...
thanks everybody..
what made me feel even better was, that day they had their lunch so well and quick. they said it tasted so good. I thought it wasn't that good. I even needed to put a little more salt actually. may be because they were involved doing it, made it taste different..



PhotoStory Friday
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Monday, December 8, 2008

birthday

ulang tahun

how important do you find birthday is?
what do you do in that time?
whose birthday is most important to you?
penting ngga sih?
apa yang kamu lakukan saat-saat itu?
ulangtahun siapa yang paling penting buatmu?

my birthday is important and not at the same time to me. it's not only something to celebrate, but also a time for me to take a look at myself for a while and see, what have I been doing in my life?
ulang tahunku sendiri sih penting ngga penting. bukan sekedar sesuatu untuk dirayakan, tapi jadi waktu untuk berhenti dan melihat diriku sendiri barang sesaat, dan mencari tahu, apa yang sudah kulakukan seumur hidupku?

the most important birthday, would be my children's, then husband's. I don't know why I put children's first, it just feels that way. because I watched them grow day by day, from their first day until now and hopefully on. I want to see their next and next and next birthdays...
ulang tahun terpenting adalah ulang tahun anak2ku, setelah itu suami. ga tahu kenapa anak2 aku dulukan. ya pokoknya rasanya begitu. masalahnya, aku melihat mereka tumbuh dari hari ke hari, sejak h ari pertama mereka lahir di dunia, sampai sekarang dan mudah-mudahan seterusnya. aku masih ingin melihat ulang tahun mereka yang berikutnya dan berikutnya dan berikutnya...

what about your blog? does it have a birthday? well it should be. but, I don't know is it right or wrong, I didn't pay too much attention to my blog's birthday. I need to look back way there to see when I did my first post.
bagaimana dengan blog anda? punya ulang tahun juga? mestinya begitu. tapi, ngga tahu ini baik atau buruk, aku ngga terlalu peduli dengan ulang tahun blogku. aku musti nengok jauh ke belakang untuk melihat kapan aku pertama kali posting.

my bloggie friend forgetfulone will be celebrating her blog's third anniversary on saturday. wow, three years! I hope some day I will get there. you know, some time I feel so bad mood about blogging, tired and no eager at all to write mine or read my friends'.
temen blogku forgetfulone akan merayakan ulang tahun blognya yang ke tiga sabtu nanti. wow, tiga tahun! mudah-mudahan nanti aku sampai ke sana. tahu kan, kadang-kadang aku bad mood banget dan jenuh blogging. males nulis, males juga baca tulisan orang...

have you noticed that I only blog once a week lately? how do get my passion in blogging back?
I hope I will find a way to. so I can keep blogging and meet friends, share with and learn from other bloggers around the world.
perhatiin ngga, sekarang aku cuma posting di sini seminggu sekali? gimana ya caranya biar semangat ngeblog lagi? mudah2an nanti bisa, jadi aku bisa tetep blogging, ketemu teman, berbagi dan belajar dari blogger lain di seluruh dunia...

happy third blogversary, diane!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Bersih Desa

Bicara soal tradisi, Indonesia memang gudangnya. Suku yang ribuan jumlahnya mempunyai tradisi masing-masing yang berbeda.
Aku tinggal di Jawa Tengah. Dari yang kuketahui, bahkan di Jawa sendiri, masing masing daerah punya tradisi yang berbeda.
Speaking about traditions, Indonesia is the place. Thousands ethnics live here, and each has its own traditions.
I live in Central Java. I have learned, that even in Java, every place has their own traditions.

Bersih Desa adalah satu tradisi di kampung tempat kami tinggal. Acara ini diselenggarakan dalam rangka bersyukur pada Tuhan atas segala yang telah diberikannya. Yang harus dicatat, ini bukan acara keagamaan, tapi benar-benar tradisi Jawa.
Bersih Desa is one of the treaditions in the village we live in. This occasion is held as one way to thank God for all His blesses. One thing is important, this is not a religion thing, this is purely Javanese tradition.



Acara ini diadakan setahun sekali, pada waktu-waktu di antara bulan kalender Jawa, Syawal dan Besar. Tahun ini diadakan tanggal 22 Nopember kemarin. Puncak acara adalah pertunjukan wayang kulit semalam suntuk. Lakon untuk kali ini adalah 'Arjuna Syukur'
We do Bersih Desa every year in times between Javanese months Syawal and Besar. This year it was held on last 22 November. The biggest event in Bersih Desa is wayang kulit all night show. This time the story was "Arjuna Thank God"
Wayang kulit is a Javanese Traditional puppets show. The puppets are made of bull's leather, and played by an artist called 'dalang'. The performance can not be separated with the javanese orchestra, gamelan. It has hundreds parts of stories, which all are fragments of whole story Mahabharata. The story is always about the battle between good (represented by the Pandawa family) and bad (represented by the Kurawa family). And of course, the good always wins.

Aku sih suka nonton wayang. Ngerti juga bahasanya. Cuma ngga tahan ngantuknya, semalam suntuk gitu lho...
I enjoy watching wayang. I also understand although the story is told in Javanese. But I can't stand to stay awake all night long...

Jadi kami sekeluarga cuma nonton pembukaannya, yang isinya cuma omong-omong di dalam istana. Padahal yang seru itu sebenernya 'goro-goro', yaitu ketika para punakawan beraksi, dan saat-saat terakhir di dini hari ketika tiba saatnya perang. Kalo dalangnya pinter... wayangnya bisa lompat dan jungkir balik berakrobat, asyik banget...
So I and Dan took the children to the show just to see the beginning part. The best parts were usually played at mid night, 'goro-goro', it's when the punakawan (some kind of clowns) perform and entertain us with jokes; and at dawn when the battle began. If the dalang is expert, the wayang will jump and roll like doing acrobats... so cool..

Ngga papa lah, yang penting anak-anak bisa kenal, kita punya kesenian tradisional yang hebat...
It's OK, at least I can show my children, that in this modern life we're living, there still is a great traditional culture we try to maintain...


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for this week's sundayscribblings prompt, tradition










and photo story Friday

PhotoStory Friday
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