We have guests

YES...

We have guests… but these guests wont be going away too soon…

İt was a few weeks ago… when i heard the groooooooo grooooooooo sound coming from our balcony…i assumed it was the pigeons looking for food…It went on for a few days….then it stopped… but i could hear flying sounds in n out of my balcony esp early in the mornings…esp during the times Hatice was preparing for going to school

It was then…..one day…
İ saw….
2 birds…
one holding a twig with his beak…flying into my balcony while the other took guard!!

I beamed…how could i be so ignorant??
It is spring!!
And they have chosen my balcony!!

And i am going to be …

A GRANDMOTHER!

Hahahahahahaha

The problem is… now i am hesitant to enter my balcony just in case i am disturbing the lovebirds….can u believe it? İ even apologize to them everytime i have to enter the balcony! Hahahah i think i am going crazy!

One of the birds in my balcony..

Have a nice weekend everyone!
Simah over n out for the weekend..see ya next week!

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

Looking into the future....

There i was walking with baddin when i decided to enter this one shop... a respectable beyaz eşya selling product...i took their products catalogue...what was staring at me was something of a shock...well..at least to me... especially since i never really bothered to look at the prices of these things....One Us dollar is equavalent to 1.4 YTL (New Turkish Lira)

Washing Machine

( we cant wear a clothhing once n throw it into the rubbish bin can we?)

Cheapest price:648YTL

Highest price: 3.087

Vacuum Cleaner

(or else...How to keep the house almost dust free?)

Cheapest price:125YTL

Highest price: 545 YTL





Dish Washer (The cute cat not included heheh)

Cheapest price: 702YTL

Highest Price: 1.672YTL



Fridge

(Else how to get my ice for my coke?)

Cheapest price: 650YTL

Highest price: 3.692YTL

Stove n Oven

(u do want to win ur husband's heart thru ur cooking, right?)

Cheapest price: 711YTL

Highest price: 1.710YTL



Living room set?

Dining room set??


bedroom set?
(for the prices..u may have to ask bellona..istikbal or deco... n many other furniture shops for the prices :0)


I mean if u wanna have a fully furnished home, these r just among the basic things u will need for ur new home....n these things..u dont buy all the time.... u will probably buy once (or maybe twice? or thrice? heheh) in ur lifetime... so u may wantit to be as sophisticated n yet simple as possible la kan?

That made me wonder... by the time hatice n baddin will be ready to get married (insyaAllah) one day... the pricess of these things will be at least triple (n most probably more) the price it is now...

ouch!

So hatice n baddin have only a few options...
For hatice:
She can either be very successful in her life... save loads of money n use that money for her new home...
or she work.. the hubby can work..together they can both save up to buy the contents of their new home..
or she can just simply find a young..cute...wonderful hearted husband (n RicH) to cater her taste in the new home..
or her anne n baba will have to sponsor her (ouch!)

For baddin:
He's a guy..so he doesnt really have a choice... he has to study hard... find a really lucrative job n earns loads of money..
or
both he n his wife can work...save up the money together n buy whatever they need together
or
his anne n baba can sponsor him (more ouch!)


hahahhhah just listen to me.... my haticem is only 6! n my baddin is only 5!! hahaha they have a longgg way to go before they will even get married!


but just think...
Wouldnt it be simpler to just live

on a tree hut (sure..right...with snakes n insects crawling around? ..no thanks... besides..where got tree ?? all chopped up)
or use this hand sweeper instead of the vacuum cleaner
(hand sweeper doesnt collect dust i think..)

or like these ladies... carry the laundry..
(oit... sakit pinggang la..my backbone is not so strong)

n wash the clothes at the river

(sure...sure...n get myself all wet by the river water n faint under the sun))

or cook using the old type of stove

(dunno how to..may burn the house down)

and use the banana leaves as the plate
(whatttttttttt??)

It may be possible to go to the basics... but i think we all r too lazy to do so...once u have the taste of technology....u cant imagine urself going back to the old ways of doing things...we r too pampered..

Take myself for instance.. all my life, i was brought up to wash the dishes by hand... in fact, i first see a dishwasher for real after i came here to istanbul.. but after 7 n a half years here.. i become tooo pampered... the only time i have to wash the dishes by hands or wash the clothing by hands is when we go to sapanca during summer...to start all over again to the basics si quite difficult.. but of course..once u get the hang of it... u can do it...

money money money... everything is all about money these days.. true..money cant buy love..but money can surely speed up the comfort for the love built to stay comfortable...if i am to choose between going to the basics n living in comfort... i will definitely choose comfort... :0)



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Thee, a child no more..

The moment she saw that big boquet of flowers, she burst into tears… The realization that her little girl is not so little anymore struck her like thunder..That little girl whom she used to cuddle…..the one she used to hold as a baby..is now…

This… 18 year old !!

(Merve's 18th birthday)

This young lady will face the university exam entry this year.. and in a few more years ..who knows? She may find the man of her dream.. have her dream*gothic* wedding…have 6 pairs of little feet running around the apartment that will left her screaming for help ? hehehe..Yes… Meşe, the mom…n Merve, the daughter…..but i suppose, in Meşe’ eyes.. Merve will always be her little girl…a child never really grow in a mother’s eyes…

Meşe, Merve n the Grandpa (baba)

Just like i keep telling this to my own angels…

*Ne kadar büyük olursan ol… ne kadar yaşlanırsan yaşlan…siz.. her zaman benim bebeğim olacaksınız…*

(No matter how big u get… no matter how old u have become.. both of u will always be my babies)

All photos r courtesy of Funda… The Zaim Family Official Photographer :0)
Elo,Ediz,Ekrem n Baddin

Zeynep,Keremcan,Hatice n İlayda

Hatice, Zeynep n Merve

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Photos

It has been ages since i actually snap their photos... not that i love them less... simply because we r so busy dealing with stuffs around us..that i forgot to look at them thru the lenses of my camera..

Hatice has not been wearing her headcover for months now as well... and out of nowhere, today when we were going to yenge for the doa reading for burhanettin amca (he died the year hatice was born)...she asked me whether she could wear the headcover... n here they r... my life precious..... my angels..my hayatım......

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Fruits n Veggies

Look at this glass..dont u think it is ugly? İ think it is..in fact,i personally feel that it is among the ugliest glass i have ever seen….

And i am the owner of that glass!! Hahahahah

I was in need of big size drinking glasses.. i saw these (4 of them).. thought…well..they were cheap (for a very obvious reason! Hahaha)…n so i bought it…i have been trying to break it for ages… but they just wont break!..only one managed to get a crack from the dish washer… so that is 3 more to go (so evil, arent i??)

But these glasses serve a wonderful purpose for me at home right now… they r the perfect container of this….

This bubbly orange yellowish colored bubbles

Which contains the important vitamins needed for growth esp if drunk immediately after being squeezed by…

This machine (yes! İt is back from the *machine hospital* :0)

Of a combination of these…. (oranges,apples n carrot)

To be drunk by these 2 kids
So that hopefully they will grow strong n healthy (with wonderful skin texture)
insyaAllah..

Who wouldnt want their kids to be strong n healthy right? Eating fruits....i dont have this eating fruits culture in me much... so i dont really make it a point for my kids to eat their fruits everyday...... Hatice Maşaallah... she asks for fruits whenever she feels like eating them... baddin on the other hand, even if i force him to eat his fruits....it will be sooooo difficult...(am guilty for spoiling him)...so what to do? what to do??

My solution: the above pictures...force him to drink his fruit juice! Alhamdulillah... he is drinking his fruit juice willingly..provided it is with a straw :0)

What about eating veggies? Kids eating green veggies? nightmare to make them huh? hatice again...she is easy..u tell her to eat something... she eats it... even if she doesnt like it... besides, at school, they do feed her veggies...since she usually comeshome with the *yemekhane yıldızı* (star of the eating room).. i am not so worried of her..Baddin? For yearssssssssssssit was only mixed soup...later..it was pilav (rice) with köfte n ketchap...but he will be starting school in a couple of months as well... he needs to eat his veggies...if i dont start now..he wont eat it later at school...

So for the last 2 months... in stages... i first forced him to eat his yoğurt... it was battle upon battle...how many times he had to get detention until he agreed to finish his yoğurt... how many times this yengeç (cubit) got to him...how many times i had to scream for him to eat his yoğurt... it was a nightmarish war..in which he realized after some time that anne will be as *inat* (stubborn) as he was... n that until he surrenderred n be a good boy... the battle would go on... YES! I won! now he is accepting his yoğurt everyday without much fight (even though he doesnt like it)...

Next: *kabak* or zuchinni squash u call it in english... ..it is good for helping u to *go* for ur big project... not so much of a battle... coz he kindda like it esp it i mix it up with yogurt....

his words :*köfte gibi tadı* (it tastes like köfte) hahaha it certainly does not..whatever!as long as he is eating his veggies...

Very recent project: Spinach....that is a bit tricky of course coz spinach is not a delicious veggie... very healthy

(simah singing..*i am popeye the sailor man... i am strong to the finish coz i ate my spinish coz i'm popeye the sailor man)

...but spinach tastes quite yucky... pahitttt...

So i make sure i buy the spinach from my fav baby spinach seller from pazar (the best spinach)...cook it as least as i possibly can (not totally soft n soggy like halil like to...too soft n the vitamins will all go away..) ..n feed hatice n baddin with yogurt (usually turks eat spinach with yogurt..a cultural thing)...

baddin said:*ispanak ....ispanak gibi tadı* (the spinach..it tastes like spinach* *chuckles...

u should have seen both of their faces.... hatice knew that she had to finish it... painfully n slowly, she did finish it..everytime...... coz she knows that spinach also helps her to let *go* easily... baddin too....painstakingly trying to finish his plate of his spinach dish..

i do pity them.. but i have to do this for their own sake...at least they r lucky coz they r not living in malaysia..else..i would have feed them ulam as well coz i strongly believe that ulam r very healthy esp to make ur skin not problematic..

Dear hatice n baddin... u may not see the logic behind me doing all these yet..but once u both grow up..u will thank anne for forcing u to eat ur yoğurt..ur kabak..ur spinach..ur fruit juice n whatever else anne plans to feed u both in the future hehehe... my poor liltle angels...:0).

One of my obvious aims is: to make my kids both taller than their mom!! hahahahahaha

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Dont forget to smileeeeeeee

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

A day together

This missing u..
It is burning a hole in my heart..
Making me want to rebel…
Making me wanna say..*stay*
(As if it is possible..)

This missing u..
What is the benefit for me to scream?
Will it lessen this feeling?
This missing u..?

Maybe this missing u is not as bad as it seems?
Maybe it made u look cuter in my eyes?
For whatever precious time we have together…
Made me want to poses u more…

I am happy most
When i am not missing u..

But then…
The clock turns round n round…
This missing u…
Starts all over again..

I miss u….

It was those rare days yesterday when Halil was at home.We decided to pick hatice up early from school n went to our beloved shopping place (Carrefour where else! Hahahah)..i needed to buy loads of stuffs from there anyway…

I entered the pre school building with baddin while Halil waited in the car… She was in the art classes… she would finish in 15 minutes’ time.I sensed this excitement in baddin… that feeling i get everytime he goes there… he gets excited inside.. knowing not too long from now… in a couple of months…insyaAllah, he will be a part of that building as well.. a pre school student..just like his abla right now..

Nilgün Hanim ( hatice’s class teacher) wanted to talk to me about something… I asked her permission for him to join his sister in the class for a few minutes… permission granted…he rushed to find the red doorof his sister’s classroom…

A few minutes later, baddin came out with his sister.. Hatice saying… *anne..baddin burada* (Anne.. baddin is here).. i told her he would join her for a few minutes…again they went into the classroom…

Baddin came out of the classroom..happy… ..he watched the sister n her friends did the paintings of the trees (they planted the trees earlier of the day)..i discovered that hatice’s girlfriends found baddin cute (hahahaha girls will always be girls n look at boys)… n one wanted to kiss baddin on his cheeks..but was shy even with hatice’s permission… (hahahahahaahahahahah)…

It was also a celebration of phase one of our diet program..in which Halil lost 4 kilograms in 10 days n i had lost only one kilogram in the same period hehehehehe

Well.. Halil followed the diet… but as for me…*chuckles*.. i sort of deviated (loads) from the list hehehehe (see www.refcobass4.blogspot.com)..u see..i have no discipline whatsoever when it comes to food!!!

We took one day break from any diet list yesterday…

Anyway..phase 2 starting today..but Halil has decided to *relax* the list a little bit more hehehhe a relaxed diet… but we both agreed on afew things…

no midnight snacking (esp for Halil)
a significant decrease on carbonated drinks (if we cant stand it..light coke is possible)
very less or none at all usage of oil in the cooking..

We both generally agree to start eating healthily coz we both know that we wont be able to stick to a strict diet…it is a good start in my opinion….we desperately need to lose some more kilos but we both desperately love our food! Hahahaha we r indeed a hopeless case… :0)

These r what we had forced ourselves to eat.. in the first phase of our diet..

white cheese, 2 thin slicesof bread n tomatoes for breakfast

For lunch- 2 meat portion (this time köfte), vegetable dish (this timespinach), yoğurt, n bread with
unlimited green salad (with no oil included)..
This time i decided to steam fresh peas n cauliflower till they r half cooked..

My tea
My dinner (cauliflower with shrimp dish) (1 meat portion equalsto 5 shrimps)
n Yoğurt
n Salad (no oil)



n fruit portions... for supper

And hear yee hear yee… Hatice n baddin r both promoting trident splash! (Chewing gum) ..see? u dont need to be beautiful n handsome to promote a product :0) A cute promotional technique indeed… inside carreffour, the promotor asked every kids whether they wanna get their pictures snapped…. ….n each kid gets these stickers of themselves in grapic characters like these to bring home…here r Hatice n baddin! Enjoy!

My daughter
(ouch.. these r a bit too sexyfor my taste)

My son

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A hug n a kiss

I heard a commotion in hatice's room... A crying voice could be heard...I know that voice...

It was Ediz crying... Ediz n baddin had obviously got involved in a fight.. n one way or another... baddin had pushed Ediz

Ekrem was saying..*simah yenge.. baddin edize itti* (auntie simah..baddin pushed ediz)...

Looking at baddin's face, i knew it was true...

*baddin..çabuk ediz dan uzur dile* (baddin..apologize to ediz quick)...

Baddin knew i meant business...came quietly to Ediz...apologized ... n both hugged each other...

I kissed the part where ediz said had hurt... pulled him into my arms in a big hug....kissed him on his cheeks while softly touched his face in an action of love.....

what a funny thing a hug n a kiss... he stopped crying n went into the room again... a minute later.... 3 childish voices could be heard gigling n laughing inside the room..no hard feelings... all fight forgotten...

Children r so simple arent they? they dont keep hard feelings... they forgive n forget as easily as the wind blows... at times,i just wonder... why cant we adults do that? R we so big that we forgot the simplest things of all? That to err is human n to forgive is divine? do we have to involve ego n pride in everything?? i dunno... only at times.. the pain n hurt caused by the other person had gone too deep that to forgive may be possible over time...but to forget... it is not as simple as that....

When i was a child, i so wanted to grow faster so that i could experience the things my elder sister was experiencing... now that i am older... i am wishing for the innocence n simplicity of my childhood...

u cant have both ways, huh?... and so... let us just live n enjoy the things we have in front of us... no matter how easy or hard it is... i think..a hug.. n a kiss... is essential no matter how old u get... the need for love care not the age u r in...

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Them kids

At 10am.. Özlem called to invite baddin to their place since Ekrem n Ediz wanted to play with him... 2 apartment doors opened face to face n baddin rushed there...

At 12noon, i knocked at my front door's neighbour to claim my son back since it was his lunch time..

At 12.30noon, again i knocked at our front door neighbour's apt to invite ediz n ekrem to our place this time...

At 2.10 pm, özlem knocked at our door to claim her children back for lunch... 2 children pleading to their mom....the typical Zaim kids' pleading...

*son 5 dakika*
(last 5 minutes)

I told özlem i would send them back after 5 minutes..besides, i needed to go out then... She agreed...

At 2.30pm Zar zor..With great difficulty , i managed to convince the two twins to go back home coz i really needed to go to the pharmacy n run some errands... n there was baddin....cryinggggggggg.

*ediz ekrem daha oynamak istiyorum...*
(I want to play with ediz n ekrem some more)

4 hours of playing with each other (sharing...fighting...laughing...crying...)n these kids still cant get enough of each other!! I mean..this is the same for all the Zaim kids... they just cant get enough of each other....!! Allah nazar saklasın...

And another thing i notice is..they prefer playing in hatice's room....even though baddin's room has more space.. i suppose they r used to the fact that before the room separation (hatice n baddin), playing room was hatice's bedroom n baddin's present bedroom was the study room which was normally forbidden for entry ... hehe in time they will get used to playing in baddin's bedroom of course..

The good thing about Ediz n Ekrem r, in my apt, they know that i am the boss... so they r kindda scared to do things that i forbid them to do..like climbing up hatice's new bed or say not so nice words like *salak* or *aptal*... it is so cute when for example if one of them do something or say something that they know r forbidden (by me), the rest would run to me n report that mischevious acts hehehehe.. of course.. my ears r all on alert when they r playing...so u see..i am quite scary for an aunt! hahaha

Here r the kids playing bowling...

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Can u help me please?

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

“If there is a beginning there will also be an end...

I came out of my mom's womb...and i will end up dead in my graveyard...

But there is also the middle....before the end...

It is where i take my journey...
the journey of life...

My life...”

These were my words as a started my writing in the blogging world.. I needed a pensieve to contain my thoughts… I had been cramping them all inside coz I am not the type to actually open up to people… not even my own mom… and particularly after I came to istanbul 7 and a half years ago….. my mind needed a release… it was when itique suggested writing a blog..n mona as my blog monitor… I started this…

“My lips may not say what I feel… but this quill represents what is inside…”
Yes…
This is the ..
*Quill of My Heart*
and from that date onwards… I had/have welcomed anyone interested (those without bad intentions) to come n experience my world thru my eyes….nothing complicated..nothing serious…… (I don’t even use the correct grammar here!)..
just a simple me…..as simple as my name…
*Simah*

All these while, I have had wonderful encounters with so many people in this blogging world… people I find though only thru virtual world…sincere people whom I am proud to call friends…..

Thus, this quill is not only celebrating my thoughts..it is also celebrating friendship…

“A friend is someone who understands ur past,
believes in urfuture and accepts u just the way u r”

I truly believe in that….

I really dunno how long I will be blogging… those things I wanna tell..esp my life experience here as a new bride 7 and a half years ago… some of them r already in my older blogs..I have also written about my Zaim family here in istanbul…I had touched a bit here n there about my family in Malaysia…I have written stories of my 2 angels.. n the love of my life…n I also know that I will insyaAllah keep on mumbling n bore u all to death!! Hahahahahahaha well… who cares, right? It is my blog after all *wink*

But I really need a favour from u all..my dear blog readers ..i need to do an evaluation.. I want to evaluate this blog… whether I am making u believe that I am someone else thru this blog… am I deviating u all from the real me…?? am i decieving u all? what r the characters that shine thru from my entries? What r the bad sides of me? What r the good sides of me… ? Pls do be a sport n start ur evaluation of me.. Besides… this may be the rare chances when u can really really condemn me ..heheh..u don’t wanna miss that chance, do u? don’t worry.. I wont get offended at all…I just need ur sincere thoughts… Can u all help me out?... I will be really really thankful..:0)

Someone said to me… Blogging is not real.. the people in the blogging world r not real… ..

Perhaps that person is right… perhaps bloggers r not what they seem to be… but I also know this… whenever I need a simple help or whenever I am feeling sad… I can count on kind words of those *not so real people* in the virtual world for comfort…

For now.. I am cherishing those both in the virtual world as much as I cherish those in my real life…..coz blogging is not as unreal as one may think it is..

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

Announcement..

U guys must see my 2 previous entries coz :
1. The room makeover (bed n bookshelves entry).. i worked hard for it! heheheheh
2. The *Dikaulah Ratu* is a song tribute from a daughter to her mother whom she had lost very recently

A few days ago, a *muka tak malu* sms reached me..reminding me that the 16th will be someone's birthday! hahahaha

Yup.. that would be from *MyBestBuddyEver*!!

And as i am again reminded of it today..... (thru hints)... Here u r my dearest Friend ...

a cake...

I cant give u any gifts..but i can still annouce it to the whole wide world...!!

Happy Ehemmmm Birthday!

Mona...Everyday i Thank Allah for Friends like u..Yup.. a pink cake! hahaha i know u love PiNK!! hahahah

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Dikaulah Ratu

*Selamat Pengantin Baru Halil n Simah!*
hahahahahahah
No..it is not our anniversary...just refer to my previous entry n the comment section to understand why...*wink*

True..u can say that i am at the top of my lively spirit now especially now that my work in tidying up the apt is finally showingoff (though istill have to deal with the rest of the place...ouch!)..i am definitely relieved of half of the burden..

But then, when i blog around... i am reminded that not everyone is happy... If u remember, only last week, the mother of my tesl mate died... 40 days ago, our Queen of the House's mom left this world... prior to that... Mama sarah's grandma left her body to meet her creator...n the trip to Malaysia for Adjzie...left her drained as she had returned to Germany with the pain of losing the lady who had given birth to her... n mama rock.. the death of her beloved dad... sooo many years ago.. still left her with an emptiness not so easy to forget...n kak elle.. her mom basically *dropped d**d* in front of her n her sibling even though they had tried to revive her...n they were so young then...

I may not know some of u... but i am sure...someone.. somewhere...must have lost someone... someone u love so deeply..

The living r left with the memories n pictures (if there r any) of their deceased to comfort them... I cannot say i know how it feels...the feeling of loss..all i can only offer u is a hug (even though virtually)... i can offer u my sympathy...i can offer u my empathy...i can offer u my hands of friendship...

This is a song lyrics written by my tesl mate dedicated to her mom when the call of death was not far from the door step.. u may have heard it... it is sung by a famous singer in malaysia.. It describes the pain.. the longing... the hope of a daughter... for adear mother... who will always be the Queen of her fragile heart...


Dewasa sekilas pandangan
airmata bertali arus
ku melangkah pergi
dari dambaanmu
walau getir
di hati kau selami
yang pedih kau jajahi
jalinan terlerai sudah

Pelayaran sepi
diulang sendiri
kau tiada di sisi
diriku tak lagi berkemudi
ku junjung kasihmu
dikaulah ratuku

sampaikan kasihku
pada ibuku

hambamu merintih pilu
sampaikan rinduku
oh Tuhanku

Kau melangkah pergi dari dambaanku
walau getir
di hati ku selami
yang pedih ku jajahi
jalinan terlerai sudah


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