Just Another Manic Sunday

It's just another Sunday. I'm at home with my daughter & our kitty, doing our own things, & we are all healthy. What more can I ask for? 

Loud noises are starting to come from everywhere. Kids laughing & screaming. Cars & motorcycles. Right now I can hear the ambulance siren blaring loudly from outside the cluster. I hope it's nothing serious... Birds are chirping right outside the windows. Sometimes I wonder whether they are the same birds with the ones who always sing in the morning. I can hear Moochi snoring. He's taking a nap on the dining chair next to mine. That's his current favorite spot. In short, nothing is unusual. Someone once asked me if I ever get bored because it seems that what I do every day is always the same. My answer was: no. Because it true. Nothing is the same, really. 

Since this whole COVID-19 School-At-Home thing I'm at home 24/7 with our 12yo daughter. Sometimes I wish she'd go out with her dad more. But oh well... I think it should be them who solve it out. Not me 😋 I just hope SiBapa won't be too sad or disappointed or too late to realize that his daughter keeps on growing. Then just like that #FINGERSNAP The time when Kukka chooses friends over her parents will come #bigsigh Even now the things she does-says-asks-wonders-and others are already different. AND CHALLENGING! In shāʾ Allāh in 2 months Kukka will turn 13. An official TEENAGER. Oh god... I know this might sound cliché & boring but it's true. My baby girl doesn't have the mind of a typical (almost) teenager. The comments she gives. The questions she asks. The actions she makes. Lately I have this weird feeling that my daughter will be the one who teaches me about life. Not the other way around. Many times I even think that our daughter might be psychic 😂 Well... That's another blogpost to tell. 

Every weekdays I have 2 maids who work in our house from morning until late noon. They have totally different personalities but they get along quite well. Dewi & Yuli like to tell me stories about their lives, here in Jakarta & in their villages. What kind of traditional food they cooked with their mothers & grandmothers, what games they played when they were kids, what kind of troubles they've done. Sometimes, after a lot of "Maaf, Bu..." it is them who ask me questions. The range of questions can be from what is it about that I'm watching on CNN to what is the english word for- 😁 Yes. Dewi & Yuli are learning how to talk in english & it involves a lot of laughters. It was SiBapa's idea & both of them are enjoying it. Of course there are times when the maids are frustrated about it but I think they are grateful too. And then there are times who is ME who's wondering what on earth the maids are talking about. They talk in javanese & most of the times it includes lots of loud laughters. Dewi said one of the reasons why she gets along with Yuli is because they come from the same part of Java & both are the same age. So what they experience, from childhood to marriage life are pretty much the same. So you see? The maids are another reason why my day-to-day life is always different 😋

Taking my daily walk around the block is another story. To you it might sound boring but to me 30 minutes walk feels like a month of adventure. Because of my health walking around 3 houses can be tough & challenging 😅 But also fun! Our cluster is pretty big to walk around & there's lot of things to see. There's a basketball court where the boys shout, fight & play, usually with no sandals. Even now I'm still wondering how they do it. I mean doesn't it hurt their bare feet??? Then there are 2 playgrounds. Usually full of smaller kids with their mba/nannies who feed them milk & snacks, sometimes even very early dinner. Awkward part of my daily walk is when I meet the same person over & over again. Which means we (have to?) smile at each other or at least nod our head again & again 😝 There is though, 1 woman who always takes her daily walk at the same time & never says or even smiles at me whenever we cross each other. I think she takes her walk very seriously 😉 Me? I just enjoy it. Eventhough I walk quite fast I do take the time to "observe" other people's houses. You can tell a lot about a family from how the house look. And of course the kids. You can tell quite a few things about a family from how the kid behaves.

Healthwise is still a very big adventure. Not only for me but sadly also for the people around me. Especially my pretty girl, who I've mentioned above, spends every minute of her day with me. Although now Kukka can take very good care of her Bubu but still... I can see the worry in her eyes whenever I have the lightest seizure. 15 minutes ago I had to stop typing because I could feel a light seizure was...on the way. Which means second seizure of the day, 4th this week. I didn't want to make my baby worried but I also didn't want to get another chipped tooth or a bruised eye. So I laid down on our new super comfy sofa & just breath. Later I realized it was time for the pills... AND next month I have to see The Rocksy! Okay! That one will require a special blogpost 😆

So you see? I'm having 24/7 adventure every single day. Don't you agree? 😉

Inktober 2018: DONE!!!!

Finally!!!! I did it! I FINALLY FINISHED INKTOBER 2018!!!! :)))) I've tried doing this one-month-drawing thing since a long time ago yet I always failed to finish it. But in the beginning of this year's October I promised myself to do it again. AND THIS TIME I FINISHED IT!!! :))) Not that I want to promote or gloat or anything... But I think personally it has something to do with doing it on an iPad and using Apple Pencil :D Why?? Well... First of all it's more practical. When I go out I didn't have to add more stuff inside my bag. No drawing book and a pencil case. What do I already have in my bag? Oh just the usual... Like a wallet, pills, iPad, chargers, a novel, sometimes my diary and some women stuff. Yes. I do carry around a big bag :))

Anyways... The Inktober2018... Yes. I did it and it was a lot of fun! Sometimes I couldn't stop drawing! I could draw 2 dates in 1 day. Many times I couldn't stop drawing even if it was already past midnight. And I'm very sorry to say that every so often I even kind of negleted my precious Godsend :D I found the Official Inktober Prompt List on Pinterest. I started to draw and failed. Then I tried to do it again and again and again. But nope! Couldn't do it :))) It turned out I'm not THAT talented. But I refused to give up. Then it occured to me that the main reason I gave up was because I didn't have any idea what to draw really... :)) After some time I had this idea. I decided to cheat by searching-looking-copying from other people's drawings. I searched on instagram, Pinterest and Google Images, everywhere. I was amazed by how many people have done the Inktober and their drawings are astonishing! So many talented people out there! At the end I decided to just copy the drawings that I like and gave a little changes here and there. Some personal touches if you might say... If you know me very well and pay attention to the drawings, you can see the insights I've put in them. So yeah... That's basically how it started! Everyday I checked the list of Inktober 2018, searched for drawings that I really liked and copied them one by one. One day, one drawing :D

Copy... Sound so easy but trust me! IT'S NOT!!!! Especially if you have high expectations of yourself. Of your ability, your discipline, your concentration, etc :))) The drawings that I liked were obviously so beautiful, creative and many of them are extremely complicated to even copy it!!! But I tried. How hard have I tried? Well... Check them out, in random order :)

Now these... Are my personal favorites. Why? Oh just because :)

And finally today.... It's DAY 31: SLICE

The last time I went for a check up, I told dr. Rocksy about this "project" and she was quite impressed when I showed her my drawings. To dr. Rocksy my drawings were...very informative. This activity is good for me because it involves a lot of things. One of them is boosting my confidence, which apparently I'm quite lack of. And also by looking at some lines that I did, my doctor could see that my hand was shivering while drawing. Some lines are tolerable. But some... :( I told her some lines were so "jiggly" I almost use a ruler! :)) 

So... This is it. Finally I would like to thank everybody who had encouraged me and showered me with very sweet and generous compliments about my drawings. I would also thank the people whose drawings I've copied. Now all I have to do is find a new project to draw. Or... Finish my writing which have been neglected for a long time. Wish me luck! :)

Mother - Daughter Must Watch

Today I spent my weekly me-time by watching Lady Bird. One word. WOW. I’m not trying to be some kind of a snotty movie critic who thinks she’s capable to judge movies, write about it and then share it everywhere. I don’t write reviews often enough to be that kind of blogger. And this is not exactly a movie review either. I do want to share my opinion about Lady Bird though. Why? BECAUSE IT’S AN AWESOME MOVIE!!!

SPOILER ALERT. Lady Bird is a very insightful movie. This is the kind of movie which you can totally relate to. Especially if you are a woman, who naturally used to be a teenager. But in this case more of an “adventurous” one if I must describe it to be more precise. Lady Bird sums up pretty much everything that most of a teenage girl will and has to go through. Struggling with grades at school, having conflicts with mother, fighting with besties, changing BFFs, drinking those first sips of alcohol, smoking, falling in love with jerks, writing the boy’s name on the wall or every space available, breaking boys’ hearts, being heartbroken, partying and... Everything else 😅 

Sadly there are lots of things that I forgot about my teenage years. But thanks to Lady Bird movie I do remember, just like Christine, during teenager years I had my tough times with Mom. I remember we had fights because she didn’t like my highschool boyfriend. Now I know that she must knew whenever I lied to her (God-given special gift to mothers). I get it now why Mom always had a car and a driver ready to take me anywhere I needed to be. I was never allowed to be in the same car with my friends, most of the time driven by a boy who probably didn't have his driving license yet. I totally understand now why Mom never allow me to go out at nights. Almost all of my friends were allowed to go out until whenever they wanted. Meanwhile I had to be at home latest at 6pm! Now that I am a mother of a daughter myself, I totally understand why. I’m very sorry that I hated Mom for everything.

Throughout the movie I wanted to scream at Christine’s mom. I dislike her character sooo much!!! Yup. Laurie Metcalf’s acting is THAT good! While focusing on the big theater screen I keep promising myself not to be that kind of mother to Kukka. I vowed that I will be the kind of cool mom who Kukka would be proud to show off to her friends. But whenever Christine has fights with her mom, I instantly remember my arguments with Kukka. The second Christine asked her mother "But do you like me?" I remember Kukka's expression and the sound of her voice when she said “I know you don’t care...” (This one still cracks me up! 😂) So yeah... I definitely AM a mother and probably NOT that cool after all. 

I don't want to spoil too much about this awesome movie. The point is I totally understand why Lady Bird gets Oscar nominations as Best Picture, Actress in a Leading Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Directing and Writing. And that's not all! Lady Bird also gets nominations in Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Movie Award, Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award and I don't know what else. And while writing this blogpost, I just told Kukka to remind me that when she's 18, I want us to watch Lady Bird together. Why?

Because it's THAT good.