All this while

Assalammualaikum, and hello everyone...,

My life has been very hectic for the past 9 months. A lot has changed and I hope I have changed for the better too. Mysha is 9 months old now and I had looked after her all this while except when I was away for one and a half months to perform the haj.

Haj was more challenging due to the huge number of pilgrims. One really has to be very patient when performing the ibadah. Doing umrah during the haj months was equally challenging. Thousands circling the Kaabah at any period of time. My husband and I managed to circle the Kaabah at the ground floor only twice. The rest, we either do it on the second floor or the top floor. The distance is longer but I really liked it since I can recite more doas.

The ibadah required more physical strength and being a senior citizen, I tried not to overdo certain ibadah, lest I tire myself easily. I thought by walking 5 km everyday before going to Mecca, I will be okay..It was the weather that my body could not take it. The days were hot ( around 40 degree celsius) and the nights were cold. Worse when it was windy. I suffered from cough..who didn't? But the cough made me tired very easily....

I am glad that I managed to do my Haj all by myself. I did the melontar, tawaf and sai' without the help of others, Alhamdulillah..

No matter how difficult it seemed to be at that time, my husband and I have no qualms of going again if Allah permits. I missed the ibadah, the crowd, the mosque, the ambience..I missed the tranquility of praying in the Masjidil Haram and Masjid Nabawi..I missed looking at the Kaabah...

I hope I get the chance to go again in the near future..and today, when I spoke with my sister over the phone..she and her husband had registered for the haj..Her purported time is 2044..

She will be 85 years old at that time..Luckily she has done her haj before..

Mysha Irene Azman Faiz Azman

That's the name of my granddaughter. She was born on the 29th March 2011. All 3.2 kg of her. Can't really express what joy she brought to our family. I am a nenda now and my husband is her Tok Wan.

The rest of my children decided to call themselves Aunt Sarah, Uncle Idan and Uncle Im. No more Pak Uda, Pak Su and Mak Lang. Imran put it this way...Zaman dah berubah, dunia dah moden... thus no more old titles that I'm so used to. Even there's no nenek title to my sisters. They decided to confer the title nenda before their names.

My father, I could see through his eyes, how happy he was when he first saw Mysha. My father.. the first generation and mysha , the fourth generation..A gap of 82 years. Amazing....

Welcome

I have to start writing again. It's been such a long long time since I last wrote. The reason for such a long break is I'm having a frozen shoulder. The pain is terrible and I'm still under treatment. Every fortnight I have to go to the hospital for rehabilitation ( physiotheraphy).

Still I cannot miss this opportunity to share some good news with my readers ( if there's any...I doubt I have any readers).... I am going to be a grandparent any time now. This will be our first grandchild and the first great grandchild for my father. A grandmother...me.

Can't really wait to see the new arrival of my family. Welcome aboard ( what a welcome from your nenda)