MY story....

the joys of baking

2011-07-04T23:43:00.001+12:00

We have been at our home for well over a year, during which time I have not used the oven to bake. I got home from work tonight and discovered much to my delight that the problem had been fixed. Nadim immediately asked to test the oven by baking a cake. Now normally that would be a chocolate cake but since we seemed to have more than we could eat bananas.... A banana cake seemed like a better solution. Big little miss almost seven dislikes banana cake to say the least, it's not that she doesn't like bananas.... She just doesnt like banana cake. So when she discovered banana cake on the menu this evening... She naturally express her displeasure but stuck around to help and chat up a storm.
She watched the mixture go from from creamy liquid to golden brown in the oven. And because she watches way too many cooking competitions on tv, her food critic expressions and comments are never ending. She snorted when I offered her a piece of hot cake, " u know I don't eat banana cake".
No cake is complete without icing or frosting so I started on that under the watchful eye of big little miss almost seven wanna be a food critic. As I added a few drops of lemon to the icing she snorted "yuck lemon what are u doing?"
I dared to ask again if she'd like a piece. A few shrugs and Umms later she identified the exact location and size of the cake she wanted ( don't u know selecting a piece of cake is an exact scientific process?)
As she took a delicate nibble of her selected slice... I asked the feared question " so how is it?".
The response?
Hmm. Umm lemme give u a piece to try
( breaking off a crumb then misdirecting it to her own mouth)
Oh sorry that was for you
Hmmm yumm
( with a mouth stuffed with cake and three thumbs up and a few eyerolls later)
The verdict is given. The much disliked banana cake. Is now a goer!!!! Classic little miss almost seven going all chef on me.

the time had come

2011-02-25T21:49:00.001+13:00

I decided this week that I had to start blogging again. I just had to find the time to update my blog, then it dawned on me that with technology these days I could blog from my phone. Which meant I could blog anytime with the help of a handy app on my phone. Another great reason to keep loving my iPhone.
It's been a while. We are still in NZ. Noesheen has started year two this year. It's a bit hard to fathom how fast this child is growing. She is a constant joy in my life. When I decided that it was time to shed some excess, she comment " please don't do that, if u get skinny, I won't know who you are"
I got myself a full time job a year ago come March 1. Vodafone NZ has been good to me thus far.
It's mid summer in NZ and we are loving the warm warm weather. The entire country is still reeling from the most recent Christchurch earthquake though. All these and other event s around the world are testimony and a reminder to get my oil lamp filled and trimmed.
Thats it for now. Lots of catch up to do from my end. Picts and all.

UP DATE time amongst other things

2009-11-03T14:18:00.004+12:00

Really quickly....

HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN!

We don't celebrate Halloween this side of the world, I know... I can just see all the shocked expressions on your faces. But yes, it's true we DO NOT celebrate the dress-up-and-collect-candy-and-enjoy-pumpkins-day here in the islands.

Noesheen and I are heading back to New Zealand this month, for good...hopefully! Its been rough with our little family scattered across the Pacific like this. Its been a true test of a lot of things for me. While I have missed being in my own home and with my husband, I have enjoyed spending time with my mother and siblings here. I have silently observed so much about my family during the last couple of months, I have learnt so many spiritual lessons and enjoyed the companionship of the sweet spirit that is my child.

So as we prepare to head back to New Zealand I find myself starring up at huge list of things to do. okay maybe not that huge, but it feels like it when you are starring up at it from the bottom of the list...and the items on the list are in large format font...LOL

Speedy and effective hand-overs at work (how I will miss being super busy and in the thick of the advertising industry in Fiji)

Quick Check of my already packed suitcases (I will not miss living out of a suitcase, and even then, I have to re-pack....don't ask how that works)

Noesheen's Concert ( I must say I am more excited for this than my child is....all the costumes are done, thanks to a wonderful grandaunt!)

Smaller nick-nacks (funny how the smaller things to do on my list take up the most time)

Re-take of past farewells (less then a year ago I had to say goodbye to relatives, friends and co-workers....now I have to do it all over again. I feel like the little boy who cried wolf, in that story....which changes my perspective on that little boy, maybe he really thought the wolf had come the first two times...LOL)

Which means you may not hear from me again, until we are back in New Zealand. I can promise you that you won't have to wait for Thanksgiving for that next update.

Now where did it go....

2009-09-21T14:23:00.004+12:00

WOW! a whole month since I have last written....Where does the time go?

hmmm maybe it went into the four twilight books I devoured in two and a half weeks. No I think I spent more time discussing the story with my little sister than I did reading. Gosh darn it, those vampires and shape shifters. And that very human teenage girl.

Maybe it went into diving head first into Wuthering Heights and Sense & Sensibility. I have to make a mental note somewhere to remind myself that I cannot just start reading Wuthering Heights after reading a really "normal" book like Twilight. Noooooo....it requires a whole deal of mental preparedness to be greeted on every page with words like "ejaculated". Hang on, let me finish giggling (deep breathe, regaining composure...okay set). Thank goodness somebody got to live happily ever after, the tragedy!! I shake my fists at the injustice! What's the deal with falling in love and not been able to live happily ever after? Isn't the true test of true love in being able to endure it rather than dying for it? sheesh! (Allow me to remind myself that its just a work of fiction not meant to resemble real life.....)

Sense & Sensibility wasn't that bad....it was hilarious! Such a draft for "pride and prejudice", which may be the reason why I liked it. Because I absolutely adore "pride and prejudice".

Next on the agenda on my list of *(available books) to read is "Jane Eyre"....hmmm Yes it would seem I am on a Jane Austen and Bronte mission.

*There are a lot of other books I would like to read....that are just not available for me to read in this country.

I am a little pleased that my recent choice of literature has begun to rebuild my vocabulary list. Not that I will be using the word "sipidity" any time soon. One day when I have more time I want to reread Sense & Sensibility just to count the number of times that word was used.

Perhaps, time sped away with our Fathers Day weekend. It was total surprise to have Nadim visit Father's day weekend (celebrated that first Sunday in September). There I was in the middle of a TV shoot on location, with the rest of the crew and talent, and my husband walks up!! Silly boy! I had to remind him that he better stop giving those kinds of surprises, my poor heart! It already looks like it (my heart that is) will be prone to having clogged arteries with all the stuff I consume on a daily basis. I diviate....it was nice to have Nadim around and to be a real family for a few days. Noesheen LOVED having daddy around!

aah maybe it went into all the new scripts and campaign proposals I have been doing at work. I hardly seem to be getting one script out without the need to start on a whole new one. Its utter madness I tell you, but I love it! So I am grateful that I have a job that keeps me busy and a little crazy.

Or there is a huge chance time went into dealing with the drastic change in my five year old. I am sure there is a button that got switched on (that was supposed to stay off) when she turned five. The "let me do what I want to do not what mom tells me to do" button. Urggghhhhh! (Patience....is a virtue I will be blessed to acquire... when I acquire it)

So there! That's where all my time went... all that and sleeping, because like normal humans I can't function without sleep. Although I must admit a great deal of the-supposed-to-be-revitalising-sleep has been nightmarish and weird, so of course I have spent a bit of my waking hours wondering "where the heck did that come from".

Maybe next time....I will have a better more longer narrative to share.

PS I have enjoyed your updates though!

"My own personal brand of..."

2009-08-17T09:45:00.003+12:00

Its not new, no it isn't by a long shot

I had heard of it....often in passing...on others blogs, Facebook, it was like an epidemic...and I was on the outside..watching, listening.

The craze was...unfathomable..at times

My friends spoke about them as if...as if they knew them, you know Forks was a place they had all visited, it was oh....so accessible....so inviting...so tantalizingly...SAFE.

I was ignorant to what existed in Meyer's mind and spilled over into her books...until...

One boring Saturday, our supply of watchable DVDs were running low. You know what I mean about watchable, there are only so many DVDs you can watch over and over and over and over again and it doesn't get boring....mmm, like a good book, with the binding almost gone, the pages yellowed and bent with use...like her copy of Wuthering Heights.. the only other comparison I can make is...like my copy of the BOM

There it was, that particular DVD I had been avoiding staring up at me. "I luuuuvvvv it", my sisters high pitched voice edged on, implying that I would too. After all we share similar tastes in most kinds of things...like literature for instance. And that one small instance was perhaps where our similarities ended, movies were after all a whole other story. So I picked it up, stared at the words calling out to me "Twilight" the words rolled off my tongue

"what the heck" I thought, I could sit through this, it was time to find out what all the fuss was about. Actually technically, what i was doing went against my own personal form of logic.

what logic you ask...simple logic

If there exists a movie that came from a book...don't...never watch the movie....read the book first!

So there I sat, watching the TV screen, wondering what kind of lunacy had driven me to break my one simple logic....

Once....twice...three times maybe even four....was I really??

I should backtrack a little...just so that you know a little bit more about my "secrets", humm I laugh out loud saying that... Do you know what my major was at college? No? any guesses?

Fine Arts...because I loved the aesthetics, the why, the how, understanding not just the context of the mind that created, but the vision of those who experienced it...I wanted to become a historian, an art historian...maybe even a curator..to work in a museum was...no still would be a dream come true.

And Humanities...Anthropology to be exact, why? It fueled my former desire, the whys? the hows? The myths and legends, old and new that influences us. In my mind there is nothing greater then understanding a situation...not after its over but while you are in it...confused?? imagine the state of my mind...LOL

So what did these two things do to me?? It made me analytical of any literature,movie,story I came across...my college mates and I would compare, contrast, analyze.....just thinking about it makes me all warm and fuzzie...LOL

For instance in an effort to increase my "Hindi speaking skills" one summer I watched over 10 tapes of the dramatized epic poem MAHABHARATA with a close friend, I still needed the subtitles, my Hindi only improved....like a millimetre but that one summer of videos became topics of discussion the entire semester...and the one after that, a paper for a final, actually two papers now that I think of it...

Pride and prejudice was next in tow, almost everything that passed by my hands or eyes became a portal to understanding something else, some faint comparison, some contrast backed up by the logic of the greatest minds.....

Can you then imagine what happened when I watched "Twilight", it was like an eruption, my mind wired by this new tale, drew lines up and down the dialog, making connections, underlining, words popped out, others got circled. It was like after six years of hibernating, the embers of light were ignited in my mind....now as I write...it was like light falling on tiny little diamonds casting rainbows on everything it touched.

I felt like ....like I would self-combust, I needed to ....let it all out

My modem is not so slow you know, its fast, well moderately fast, atleast I never need to grab a snack while starting up the computer...modern age, don't you just LOVE it?

My friends a.k.a the discussion panel, are now only an email away....our discussions would go as fast as we could type and hit that SEND button....I spilled they listened okay read...they shared...I re-analyzed, it was like the old days..almost.

"No No" my friend's words coxed, "you have to read it....you just have to"

She had a copy of the first book, that she would pass along to her sister who taught my sister biology in Highschool. Connections....don't you just LOVE it?

But there was a wait, til the book arrived, I didn't get to see it until my little sister got to devour it...in a way it was her little gift for being the middle man, the messenger.

Then it was my turn, page after page, word after word, onyx to topaz the story unravelled. I have a vivid imagination I tell you, so vivid....I don't watch scary movies...don't snicker its true, one of my many mysteries my husband cannot fathom.

All too soon it ended...can you imagine how wired my mind was...is....it was my own personal brand of intrigue....under whose spell I can never grow old. And I don't mind it a bit. So a warm....VINAKA (thank you) is in order to the author...for dusting off the cobwebs in my mind and ...short fusing the circuits ....LOL...I have to say it "can you see my crooked little smile?" LOL

The Yellow Spotted Pink Dino

2009-08-13T11:17:00.004+12:00

Have you ever seen one?

On the Flintstones perhaps?

Where do little girl people (and little boy people for that matter) come up with this kind of stuff?

Dreams....the lingering bedtime stories that Mum makes up twists and turns, swirls and swishes around the days events and the subconscious to come up with....Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaurs?

What ever it may have been....that Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur kept me awake all night Tuesday night. Was it really that, or the hot sticky evening that make sleep go up in smoke? Maybe it was the five year old (sleeping) next to me, tossing and turning, pulling and kicking, mourning and groaning, another good nights sleep goes down the drain.

There goes Jars of Clay and Sixpence None the Richer at 3.30am "with every breathe" its my turn to groan, now who set the alarm for time in the morning? Have I lost my mind as well as sleep?

I look over at Miss Five, looks like she is still at Hogwarts playing Quidditch or wait looks like she is riding a dragon. I wrap my morning glory yellow sulu tighter around my waist, slap an invisible mosquito on my shin, "okay Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur, here I come"

The morning dragged on as I cut, adjusted, shaped, prepared frosting and frosted the cake. I have enough cake, but do I really want to put the legs on? I decide against it, attributing that decision to "morning-i-tis", you know that sickness that affects the "I'm not a morning person" people.

To my left the sun rose over the Suva Harbour...mmmm pretty pink. On my right the streets got busy, buses rambling by and in the house, all in quiet slumber. Except for Mom, who waddles into the kitchen in her hot pink long flowing night-dress to check on me. She grunts something about "the kids can take sausage, we buy lunch" , stands at the sink to watch the Suva Harbour for a min then disappears into her room again.

Is it? No? It is? Finally, its done!!! Whoo-hoo!

Noesheen wakes up and peers at the Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur resting on the dining table, a slow sleepy smile spreads on her face. You know that smile, each child has it, and only Moms understand it. The one that says, "That's the one", that smile that makes getting up before the birds and the sun worth it, that smile that makes you regret your moment of "morning-i-tis" weakness that made you leave the legs off.

So off she went to school with her Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur cake, thank goodness that episode is over.

Oh wait...my nephew turns two on the 24th of this month, guess what his mom wants to do for his birthday? Well you are half right, A BIG BLUE Dinosaur!!!!!! hmm I hear its a distant cousin of the yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur.

Here are glimpses of the Yellow Spotted Pink Dinosaur, Noesheen tells me it rested in peace much to the joy of the Twinkle Stars Preschoolers.

Hopefully, I get a good nights sleep before I meet the BIG BLUE DINOSAUR....wouldn't want to leave his legs off now would I? Atleast it doesn't have any spots yet...well with about 10 days left...it may grow stripes..

Fevers, birthdays and butterflies

2009-08-11T09:35:00.002+12:00

On the 9th of August, Noesheen turned five, but that isn't where my story begins. It begins earlier, in-fact a few months earlier, where sitting on my lap as I combed her shoulder length hair Noesheen chatted about everything under the sun in her usual manner, then came the "Muuuummm?"

My well-trained mother ears are knows that tone, the way my title gets dragged out longer than is needed, a request was sure to follow. So I answered, "Yes Sheen".

Just incase I missed the subtle message the first time, she checked again, "Muuuummmmm?" Patience has its virtues you know.

"Yes Sheeeenn".

" I want two cakes for my birthday, a butterfly cake at home and a dinosaur cake for school and the dinosaur has to be a pink dinosaur. Muuummmmm, you can make it?"

"Of course", why not right, after-all after one Sponge-bob Squarepants episode last year, I am a pro at these kind of theme cakes, NOT!

So almost every other day after that day, Noesheen never forgot about the two cakes she was going to have for her birthday.

But this was going to be a damper of all birthdays so far I suppose, since it was going to be the second birthday daddy would miss and her first birthday where she would be sick (hopefully the last as well)

Friday night, we have been counting down the days to the 9th. The icing sugar in bags brought home from the store, the food colours checked and checked again, the eggs bought in trays, the design of the butterfly and the dinosaur cakes carefully etched and re-etched in my minds eye....SHOWTIME?

Apparently not, because that's when things got heated up, literally. Noesheen goes down with a fever, that won't break. There is nothing more tormenting then when my child is ill. There goes the sweet tickle of medicine down her throat, still nothing, not a sign of a sweat bead forming on her body.....this means sleepless nights for both of us.

Saturday....I could see how she fought to be "I am better mum", but her eyes gave it away...there goes more medicine...still nothing...Saturday night comes. Noesheen spends her evening curled up on the sofa under blankets watching George swing through the trees..."watch out for that..." while I bake. Still no sign of the fever breaking....instead we get a lot of throwing up and more medicine.

9th of August...the birthday girl is fast asleep, the fever has subsided for a while. Church?? well only if we could go in our pre-school tee-shirt, I don't think the Lord would mind. So off we go to church and sit through sacrament meeting once again covered in blankets listening to the speaker talk about a kind and loving heavenly father who gives us more than we can imagine. I look at my daughter curled in my arms and say a little prayer. And slowly her eyes pick up its former spark, I smile knowingly..."there comes the sunshine" There is an old Indian saying, "Bhagwan ke ghar mein derr hoti hai undherr nahi" rough translation "In God's house there may be delay but never darkness"

Her grand-aunt has a gift for her after church, a brand new pink umbrella! Prefect gift for an umbrella fetish just turned five-year-old little girl, and so she finds the strength to walk along the streets of Berry Road holding her precious umbrella shielding her self from the beautiful Suva sunshine.

At home she manages a morsel of fried chicken and grandma mashed potatoes and sausages..."my cake???"

Well I have told the story so far, let the link tell you the rest

here you will find pictures of her special turn five day

Oh and that fever....it broke...finally. Is all well? I have hope, we will see. The Dinosaur cake you ask? well I will finish that story tomorrow....or the next day..

Time for an update

2009-07-20T16:29:00.002+12:00

In the short time since I have written, it seems that a lot of little things have happened in a ridiculously big way.

Noesheen and I were lucky enough to spend 12 cold glorious days in New Zealand with Nadim. It was a trip that was a bit too short for our liking but was long enough for us to long for the warm temps in Fiji. It was wonderful to be able to be a family living under one roof again and be able to do things together, just the three of us. If anything, the trip has left me pining to be done with this affliction of separation. The frosty mornings of Auckland are looking much more appealing then flip-flop days in Fiji. Alas, I must bear for a little while longer. Its been such an assurance to know that we really are in the hollow of the Lord's hands.

Now that we are back in Fiji, I am working away as usual and Noesheen is at school (preschool) which I think she has a love-hate relationship with. Hats off to this child for being able to spend a very long day at school...8.30am to 5.15pm...if that doesn't prep her for college now, i don't know what will.

Although her ability to get the ball rolling in the morning leaves a lot to be desired for. I can now safely say that she is definitely not a morning person. Well unless of course, it takes a morning person ten Min's to get out of bed after saying morning prayer, or half an hour to brush her teeth after the toothpaste is applied to the toothbrush. Don't mistake the duration of the task with dedication for the role, NOOOOO...We seem to be awake with our eyes wide open, but our minds are far away still in transit from dreamland.

What she lacks in being slightly in-active in the morning, she more than makes up for in the evenings, with non-stop dancing and talking! So much so, that while exiting a store on Saturday "Your little highness" froze at the doorway. What was that she could hear blaring from another store across the street? Music? And music calls for dancing on the spot. So while I ventured on, my child stood there in the middle of the street dancing to her hearts content much to her 17 year-old aunty's embarrassment.

On a more irritating note, the flu season is here, and my darling daughter has welcomed it with open arms. This included two visits to the kind doctor with our teddy-bear in tow. Syringes, cough syrups, anti-biotic, tissue paper have all very politely rendered their services. Thank goodness that phase is almost over, all we have to deal with now is a nagging cough that refuses to leave.

Jodhaa Akbar

2009-06-19T12:20:00.006+12:00

For those of you wondering about the strange foreign music I have posted! Its from this Bollywood movie

Its based on real people in India's rich historic past, combined with fantastic costumes and cinematography and even better music. I have my own opinions about the movie which I will share when we meet sometime....hehehe. The main actor in my opinion did a fabulous job but really hats off to all the people behind the scenes who worked on this movie.

still interested? well check out the movie's website here

Oh and if you want to see it...well you can buy the DVD off the net and of course it had subtitles! HOORAY for SUBTITLES!!

These days...I have been thinking

2009-06-02T11:51:00.002+12:00

My warmest appreciation for your kind words, I did not realise I was "that" missed! While Noesheen and I spend yet another few months away from Nadim, I cannot help but be grateful for all the small things yet big things I have in my life.

My bosses at PASiFiKA who were more than willing to take me back to work. While most people all over the world are without work to provide for their families, I am grateful to have work. Not just any kind of work, but work that I like...enjoy and am somewhat good at.

I am grateful for my mom and her hospitality! I live with mom and my sisters now, and while its a bit cozy sometimes, the past few weeks has made be grateful for my mom and for all that she continues to do for us. Although her flat is tiny, it really is as big as her heart and there is always space to spare. I am also grateful to have a home in NZ, in the back of my mind I am grateful that we have a roof over our heads and a place to rest our weary heads at night.

On the same note I am glad for my mother's cooking! While I have had a break from cooking I have been privileged to get back on my mum's lunch list. All this work and this woman still goes out to work to earn a living in the morning. I feel glad that I have been given another chance to help influence my younger sisters lives...aka boss them around!! It has made me realise that even within our family I was raised differently than my brothers and sisters. I think that society has a lot to do with this as well.

I am grateful for my daughter who doesn't seem to be phased by her changing environments. I thought that moving to New Zealand would be a big adjustment for my very LOCAL child, but she proved me wrong and enjoyed every bit of NZ. This child taught me a thing or two about murmuring...that is never to murmur. She had never lived in conditions colder than 26 degrees Celsius. There were 5 degree nights in NZ and 14 degree days and my little girl took it head on, enjoying the new experience of piling on clothing. Then when I brought her back to Fiji...she quickly adapted right back into it...no tears...no fusses...just making the most of her time where ever she goes. What a blessing!

I am grateful for a husband who fusses when I don't txt in the morning and email in the evenings. Who continues to remind me of his love for Noesheen and I.

I am grateful for all the extended family I have here in Fiji that make weekends fly by like magic.

Then there is technology, that has the ability to keep people who are far away in different countries still very much in the same place on my computer and in my life!

Most of all I am humbled to be a member of the church and to be taught the saving principles of the gospel. So much so that I am not worried by living away from my husband for months on end because I understand that families can be eternal. I never have to worry about food in the cupboards or clothing because I understand the law of tithing. I am not phased by what is happening around me because I understand the scriptures. In fact, I don't mean to boast but its true, I know that my family will be watched over, protected and shielded as long as I keep the faith and honour my temple covenants. My heart runs over with gratitude for the unfathomable endless mercy the Lord has showered on me. It is truly a privilege to be able to go to the temple, it has always been a place of peace, refuge and pondering for me.

I suppose this is one of the lessons I have had to learn during this time between two countries.

The grand update

2009-05-26T14:50:00.002+12:00

Its been five months and ten days since I left Fiji to join my husband in our new home in New Zealand. Five months and a few days since I have job searched in Auckland in vain (thank you fathers of the recession). And it has been 13 days and a few hours since we arrived back in Fiji, nine days since I started work at PASIFIKA COMMUNICATIONS again, nine days since Noesheen started at a new preschool in Fiji and a long 10 days since I have seen my husband....feels like two months already! In a nutshell that is the latest and greatest in my life right now.

For now I am dusting off the cobwebs .....five months geez and there is so much cobwebs everywhere hehehehe.

School Time

2009-02-02T09:34:00.003+12:00

so did yah miss me?? Our Internet speed at home is really slow (don't ask), which is one of the reasons I have not been updating at often as you or I would have liked. You would think that being a full time stay at home mom, I would have more time on my hands. I wish it were true.

Noesheen started her first day of Preschool today at Tiny Town

It will be for only half a day, while I am at home. Then once I get a job, she will be going full day and then transitions into first grade in August when she turns 5.

I was more nervous then she was I must say!

Getting out of bed - Not a morning person at all, when I finally went to wake her up at 7am, this was her reply, " Mum, I did not sleep well, just give me five more mins then I will get up". So I gave in and retreated to the living room, to wait out the "five more mins" after which i marched into her room, she had a little smurk on her face, her eyes shut tight....."okay okay, I am getting up". Then it was prayer time, she told me, " I will say it in my mind" as knelt on her bed and buried her face in her covers. About ten mins later we were ready to brush our teeth and get ready for breakfast.

Breakfast - For a person who usually loves to take her time having breakfast, this morning, Noesheen did not want any! After a lot of coxing, a few threats ("If you don't eat brekky, we will be late and your teacher will be upset), she managed a few gulps of warm cereal.

The Walk to school - The fastest thing she did this morning was get dressed!!! Then she was ready for a few pictures, before we headed out into the chilly morning to walk to preschool. Tiny Town is just walking distance from our home, which is really nice, it takes us less then five mins to walk to the establisment. As a result we were like the first ones there, talk about eager-beavers.

When we finally got in at 8am, Noesheen as super excited. She hung up her bag on the little silver hooks that lined the classroom, took off her hat and put it into her bag, removed her jumper and handed it to me with the look, "yah i dont think i will need this for the rest of the time here" and made herself at home exploring the classroom.

For a min I just stood there, feeling really quite out of place, like a weed in a flower garden until my child sensing my discomfort turned to me and said, "its okay, you can go now Mum, don't forget to pick me up". With that I turned away and walked out of the classroom and slowly made my way home.

Now I sit here, watching the hands of clock tick..tick...tick, all of a sudden the house is so empty and quiet. It would be perfect painting or sketching time, which I will get to in about a min or so.

Just a little more time will go by and then I will pick myself of this couch, lock the house up again and walk just a little bit down the road to pick Noesheen up. What stories will she tell me today about how her first day was....hmmm, I will let you know soon enough.

Okay as you can see, I only managed to get one pict up.....slack I know. I will try to get more up later, which means I have to resize all the picts before posting.

take care ladies! til the next post

Moving to a new nest in a new tree..

2008-12-22T11:45:00.002+12:00

Hello! or as I now should say KIORA!

Nadim suprised us and arrived in Fiji on the 6th, after a wedding, selling our belongings, a few dramas, a reunion and sad good byes we left the islands 10 days later for our new home in Auckland.

The last few days settling into the new nest in our new tree has been....an experience. Luckily Nadim did a wonderful job setting up the nest (will post pictures later), the only things missing was shampoo and a hairbrush (his latest hair do...is the "no hair at all" look, so he did not need shampoo or a hairbrush)

Noesheen is settling in well, she loves the mall! She has asked to go home a few times, but as soon as Nadim mentions the mall....she automatically loves NZ.

The weather is totally different to Fiji, and its a nice different. So now I find my self sleeping -in in the mornings, taking my time with breakfast, cleaning the house on a daily basis (umm sometimes two or three times before I give up trying to clean Noesheens crumb trail) and job hunting. It sure is a lot different from what I have been used to doing in the past, but I know once I get a job ....the leisure life will dissappear.

Time to go, the laundry calls. Here is wishing all of you a WONDERFUL Christmas and a JOLLY New Year!

It's Time.....

2008-11-28T13:59:00.002+12:00

I have a very very very good excuse...I hope, for being silent for so long! Its time, yes my friends its time.....

1. Its time for the Mad Rush before Christmas

Its this time every year, we experience a huge influx of ads, campaigns and other advertising material that need to go out, like yesterday! The TV station will tell us..."sorry that program is booked out" and our clients will tell us, "there's one more thing we would like to do". Needless to say, my work keeps me up during my dreams at night.

2. Its time for weird weather

Fiji has now entered its CYCLONE season, which means for the most part that it will be blistering hot in the morning. Then at lunch, the sun will go on vacation and the rain will pour in buckets, as the skies darken.

3. Its time for the cold & flu & fever

Due to the sun/rain weather we have in Suva, the number of cold & flu & fever cases increase. It doesn't help that dengue is around as well. Noesheen was down with the fever for a few days, then with a heart wrenching cough for a few more. She is fine now, and is of course making up for lost time by redoubling her efforts to watch every cartoon, destroy every sign of tidiness and fill up all the silence in between with questions, stories and other fun banter.

4. Its time for my favorite time of year

Growing up I loved Christmas. My parents had several traditions and it was always fun to be a part of that, and watching the joy these selfless acts would bring to the faces of others. Although I sound like a frog drowning, I love Christmas carols!!!

Since BYU Hawaii and Georgia, I fell in love with THANKSGIVING....What a coincidence! So HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL!!! Although we do not celebrate it here in Fiji, around this time of year, I take extra special time to be thankful for all the blessings I have received all year round.

5. Its time for Weddings!

Nadim's Family have two weddings over the next few weeks, so we are going to be all weddinged-out by mid Dec. Nov - Dec is wedding season in Fiji, so there is always a mad rush to .....get married before Christmas.

6. Its time to move!

That's right, sadly enough....well it's a twist of emotions. Noesheen and I join Nadim in New Zealand in the next three weeks. What this means right now, is that I have even more to do at home as well as at work. House items to sell, clothes to sort, car to sell, finances to put in order, clearances to gain, new person to train etc etc So I am taking one day at a time, and finding that I am running out of days! heehee

I also am trying to spend as much time in the temple (only up the road from my home) as in New Zealand it will be several hours away. Its all these little things about Fiji that I love.

Don't get me wrong after almost nine months of separation, we are happy that we will be together in a few weeks time!

Time to resurface!

2008-10-20T14:24:00.002+12:00

Hello! I'm back....I found a little window of time in my schedule, so I thought I should write a bit. Lots has been happening! Life is very very tight.

I managed a trip to the West two weeks ago (other side of the island), and the night before when i was explaining to my dearest child that I would be leaving very very very early in the morning, she asked where "Lautoka" was, as i explained, she realized that she lived on an island! what a wonderful discovery that was, her eyes widened with amazement, "an Island? we live on an Island?"

Although i have been teaching Sunday school twice a month for a lot of months now, I don't officially have a calling in church (ahem...rephrase "didn't). Well, now i got one, my grandmother is the Relief Society President, so......yah! You are reading the new RS teacher's BLOG! YAY! I love RS! oh and I still teach Sunday School as well.

There has been a super lot going on at work, as the year rounds off, we get busier and busier....once we have launched a few things, i will put a few pictures up. There is something really big on the horizon for one of my clients, Vodafone! So it will be super and bit nerve wrecking to get stuff done.

As for my child, she has learnt that baking choc chips taste just as good if not better than actual confectionary chocolate..... I have learnt that umbrellas are for all seasons; you should show them off as often as you can, especially if its clear with pink polka dots and is too big for you.

I have also learnt that my child is the bestest missionary ever, she has directly asked her great-grandpa, " Do you love Jesus?", "Next time you go to church with me!"....10 children, 44 grandchildren later, my grandfather exclaimed, "This kid will have me converted".

Prayers are indeed answered!

ONCE again....thank you Janan!

2008-10-02T12:09:00.002+12:00

So I open my blog, after what seems like yoncks! and what a surprise, I have been tagged, I think Janan is getting very good at helping me update my Blog, thanks gal!

Okay so, wait give me a min...let's just read what i have to do....okay set, i will shortcut this a little bit okay, just cuz i can!

Seven random facts huh....

1. I think like you watch an animation/cartoon....a bit funny at times, and sometimes it just does not make any sense...to anyone else, but me of course! Bits and pieces glued together like a collage, no that does not make me very creative, it makes me...random!!! See this first fact did not make any sense at all!

2. FOOD- I love food, I have never met a food that I did not like...I have had this addiction since I was born...ME LIKE FOOD! and if you saw me, you could tell, since you know i'm like a size 6, hahah, yah just add 1 in-front of that, or maybe put a 1 in front of it and add a 2 to it...but yah food, from chinese to pacific to Indian to mexican to Italian to stuff you can just throw together coz you so hungry you could eat a .......In fact over the years, i have just totally stopped listing my favorite food, because, it's just so hard to decide!!

3. DESSERT- Unfortunately for my teeth, and my body...i love cakes and cookies and ice-cream and cheese cakes (that needed a mention on its own) and brownies and pies and all the other mouthwatering yumyums there is out there, but i prefer homemade to store bought, only exception is ice-cream of course. And if i do buy cakes, it has to be from the really expensive place (my wallet suffers for my addiction). I also have a fetish for Indian sweets, but as i get older, i realize that my body cant handle all the sugar like it used to....ah the frailty of age!!! So since Nadim has been away, guess what i have been doing? Making cupcakes and cookies almost every weekend i can! My excuse, well Sheen needs Sunday snacks!

4. ORder - i live like i think, unorganized and all over the place. I am not the neatest most well organized person in the world, if any of you have lived with me (ex roommates, mission companions) you will say "amen" to this! This really bugs my husband, who is like the opposite of me

5. writing - you would not be able to tell from the way i keep this blog, but i started writing a journal when i was like 12 ( I think i started before then but kept loosing my notebook) and by the time I was 17 I had already filled like 13 or so journals. The habit forgot to kick in when i got married, but now almost 5 years later, i got my groove back! and so i am writing my journal again, its not like it was back in highschool, when i just rambled (something that has not changed), now i ramble about more important things...of course there are less dramas in my life! Because i have so many books filled, i had to started going back and putting everything into separate categories ....like school, religion, friends...so once that massive task is done, then i can compile according to categories and hand those out to my ....daughter! That way i sound so much more sensible!

6. Stories - i love to read and then making up stories, in fact this became a small fun group thing we used to do in Uni when my kiwi friend Winnie was there. i have started writing a book....and am yet to finish it.

7. umm lets see......my wedding, yes, i let my mom plan my entire wedding and did everything she wanted done...because at that time, I thought it was really important as the oldest child that I let her do that....and you know what, no regrets! I mean when Nadim and I celebrate an anniversary (which one i haven't decided yet, i think i am waiting for the light-bulb effect), i want to re-new vows and do things....well my way...then again, i have gone through too many bride magazines, maybe that's not a good idea. Oh ya and I had a hobby of collecting bride magazines when i was at Uni.

Phew!! sorry, random i know! and again, sorry for not updating in a while, i have to sit down and talk and talk about all the things that have been happening around me....for now i think this much reading is reading enough!

you thought i forgot to tag.....hahaha okay i tag

Kamaile

Whitney

Marie

Sue

Victoria

Jessica Bills

sorry, guys, no links, i have to get back to work!

ramblings

2008-09-04T14:44:00.008+12:00

First of all "thank you Janan!". I have been wondering what to write about, then I read Janan's message to update this blog, and thought to myself, "just ramble woman....something interesting ought to come out of that" so here goes....

I turned 30!

For those of you who did not know, I turned 30 on the date of my last post. It was a nice day. For those of you wondering how the day went....the sun was out, but there was this nice cool

breeze....the gang at work got me a cake and sang "happy birthday".....so i got cake! All my friends from almost all over sent me nice little messages....thank you facebook! I went home and made roast for dinner....which was nice....so it was nice, of course it would have been

nicer if my husband were around, but that's okay, many more birthdays to come....

Zedekiah's Birthday Party

Sharon's son's birthday party was held on the 30th.....the busiest weekend of ....i think...the year! Because I love my sister so much...and it was her first kiddy birthday party...i helped. Thi

means I ended up doing the pinata (from scratch), pin-the-pants-on-spongebob poster, cupcakes, cookies, packed the party bags, as well as decorate the two birthday cakes. If I did not mention it before, i'll tell ya now, the two cakes were Spongebob and Patrick...it turned out alright, I was more happy with how Patrick turned out this time. Sorry, I don't know where the pictures are, when i find it I will post it.

So we were up til four on Saturday morning baking, then went to bed only to get up a few

hours later at 7am, helped Sharon with a bit of last minute shopping before I dedicated myself entirely to decorating the cakes.

Noesheen had super fun at the party, and was a bit upset to leave at 5.30pm for a quick shower and change before we headed off to another function,which ended at 11.30pm. Needless to say, Sunday we were super super tired as we sat in church (our meeting starts at 8am).

No and I am not superwoman, because we arrived at church an hour and a half late!

I learnt a lesson though....DO NOT OVERBOOK YOUR WEEKENDS!!!! Having said that, i know I am bound to do something like that again!

I am looking forward to a much much quieter weekend this weekend, heavens know my house needs it!

THE ROAD-TRIP!

On Tuesday, I was supposed to take a road trip to the other side of the island

to see a building we are to brand for a mobile company. I was excited! Super excited, what an adventure!

Getting up at 2am in the morning for a road-trip to a place I hadn't seen in over 15 years! Then the more and more I thought about it, the more I realized that I needed to let my other ME (media executive who also happens to be my brother) do it.

Why?? Several work related reasons, I am in the process of off-loading a lot of my work in preparation of my departure (no its not like I am leaving next week, or next month for that matter...have to ramble about this later)

As a result I gave up a good trip. For those of you that are not familiar with Fiji, the country is made up of a group of over 300 islands. The main island, which is Viti Levu is where I live. The island is also home to the capital and has the main ports of entry into the country. The main island has two major highways that go around the island....Queens highway and Kings highway. The Queen's goes from Suva passed Sigatoka to Nadi and Lautoka and I think up to Ba. The Kings highway goes from Suva in the opposite direction to Nausori passed Rakiraki and Tavua and I think meets the Queens in Ba. The Queens is the road most often travelled, its faster to get to the airport on this road. The Kings is mostly inaccessible.....under-construction...and requires an off road vehicle. Its getting better though as the pictures will tell.

Although after a rainstorm most of our roads require an off-road vehicle...but thats another rambling for another day...bless the hearts of all the men who work tirelessly in the hot sun to repair all the pot-holes only to have their hard work go down the drain after a storm! Sorry, i have to take a moment to laugh at that statement!

So where, was I... oh yah...the Kings road...yes that's the road the boys took in their road trip. I couldn't go but I have some pictures...that Simon took of the trip and the

natives...enjoy!

the natives ...well the chick belongs to the chicken who belongs to the natives that live on this side of the island!

AHHHH...I've been tagged!

2008-08-26T10:59:00.002+12:00

I have been tagged by Whit,
DA Rules: Answer da questions using only ONE WORD. Then tag four others.
I'm going to tag Kamaile, Janan, Marie and Sarah.

1.Where is your cell phone? TABLE
2. Your significant other? NADIM
3. Your hair? Shoulders
4. Your mother? working
5. Your father? Away
6. Your favorite thing? SPIRIT
7. Your dream last night? CONFUSING
8 Your favorite drink? WATER
9. Your dream/goal? EXALTATION
10. The room you’re in? OFFICE
11. Your hobby? TALKING
12. Your fear? DROWNING
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? NEW ZEALAND
14. What you’re not? Organized
15. Muffins? BLUEBERRY
16. One of your wish list items? VISA
17. Where you grew up? SUVA
18. The last thing you did? SNACK
19. What are you wearing? COOL WATER
20. Favorite gadget? BLACKBERRY
21. Your pets?NONE
22. Your computer? DESKTOP.....UMM SOON TO BE A MAC (i know i cheated!!!)
23.Your mood? GRATEFUL
24. Missing someone? EVERYONE!
25.Your car? NISSAN
26. Something you’re not wearing? EARRINGS
27. Favorite store? HUH????
28. Like someone? YESSIRREE
29. Your favorite color? UNDECIDED
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? SUNDAY....

Our put-put turns one!

2008-08-25T12:00:00.004+12:00

Zedekiah, thanks to Noesheen and I has inherited a lot of nicknames...some really hilarious ones "put-put" is just one of them. He turned 1 yesterday and Sharon had all of us over for lunch after church. If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you would know by now, we love cakes.....making them, eating...we just love cakes.

So we had a problem with keeping the smarties on the cake and the fingers off the cake.. As soon as those candles were blown out...how you like our candle?? Sharon forgot candles (Zedekiah has his big party next saturday, this was just a get together and practice for him).

So as soon as the candle was blown out umm i think three times...the first time sheen blew it out, the second time, I was trying to get him to blow it and accidently blew it out myself....yah I know, Zedekiah got it the third time and blew it out himself!!

That last picture tells the real story...that we are all a-related-cake-crazzy bunch!!!

CHOW TIME!!!!!!

Here's the update

2008-08-25T11:31:00.006+12:00

I know, its been a bit of a while since my last post, no excuses here! So I thought I'll show you all the pictures first, then do all the talking ummm ranting and raving later.

So Noesheen found my missionary tag in the drawers I was cleaning out, and of course she knew exactly what it was..."missionwaries!!!!!" That morning she had to wear my nametag to Sharon's house, I thought when I picked up up after work, she would be over the ....."missionwaries". I was wrong, I went to pick her up and she was not just wearing my nametag, but had removed the dark lenses from zedekiahs sunnies (oh she has sunnies of her own, but my goodness if she removed the lenses from those, she couldnt wear them now could she...thats little girl logic for ya) and was now using it as another "missionwary accessory". My sister Sharon (pictured) thought it was hilarious that Noesheen was imitating mummy, all I have to say is....she still has a way to go to master the dressing up part! heeheh

A few weeks ago, Noesheen inherited some of Sherneez's old church dresses. So that meant a little trip to Nadim's aunty who is a seamstress. We took up the hems of the dresses and added a few bits here and there. This dress is one of the results of that trip. Noesheen loved the dress.

So yesterday as I struggled more than usual to get sheen out of bed for church, she was disappointed to see what I had selected for her to wear. Another one of Sherneez's hand-me-downs-amended-to-fit. I thought the dress was lovely and really very "with the times" as we just finished our local Hibiscus Festival. Noesheen did not think so, so of course there would be naturally no smiles for the pictures as a sign of protest. She was also upset that I put all her hair up!!! kids these days!!!!

But by the time we reached church and she was complimented on how nice she looked, I did not have a problem at all!

The story with Fairy Bread...mmmmm!!

2008-08-12T11:58:00.003+12:00

This post is especially for my dear hawaiian friend Kamaile, Fairy Bread! Fairy Bread is very simple to make and kids love them. Traditionally, you just spread some butter on slices of white bread and cover them with sprinkles...better known here as 100's and 1000's. I cheated a bit and since i have such a sweet tooth (honestly, I will be wearing dentures when i am 40....pray for me) I used left over choc and vanilla frosting, and covered that with the sprinkles...ohh and cut the edges off the bread too please....oh and i also used as another option nutella...mmmm yummy (that's a choc hazelnut spread)....the kids loved it.

Thankyou everyone for all your nice comments on the cake...I have Zedekiah's birthday coming up and guess what cake the birthday boy's momma wants??? thats right, our good ol friend who lives in a pineapple under the sea!!

And then it was Sunday!

2008-08-11T12:27:00.008+12:00

Noesheen just loved the dress that my land lady (who Noesheen calls Nani (or granma)) gave to her for her birthday and wore it to church on Sunday. But before we went to church the dress had to be put to a photoshoot test! Noesheen loves pictures, but she wont pose for just anyone..again note to reader, I did not direct this shoot, i was just the cameraperson (not a very good one but a cameraperson still the same).

"Okay mommy, I have had enough!!"

Noesheen with her great-grandmother (my maternal grandmother) after church. Well it seems Noesheen is too big for big ol hugs now too! or just really moody.

..and my baby turns 4!

2008-08-11T09:51:00.011+12:00

Okay if you are not planning to sit down and read for a while, I suggest...finding time to do that first before you start reading...because this is going to be a long post, haha. Noesheen turned 4 on the 9th of this month. I can't believe how fast these four years have past. It only seems like last sunday, i put on that tent of a dress to go to church....because at that stage of my pregnancy that was about the only thing that could fit me...i was huge! a hippo-mummy-to-be! Although the docs wouldnt tell me (they do that here you know) the sex of my baby, i knew my baby was a girl...and before i was sure of it, my mom was sure of it...from the time i got pregnant, my mom declared it was a girl! So there i was squeezed into the second last row in church sitting next to my distant cousins the Vareas. There i was smilinh at everyone, because they all had the same thing to say, "you still pregnant!" "when is that baby coming?" "weren't you due like last month?".

The answer i gave them..."yah, baby will come when she is ready!". Sitting there that sunday on the 8th of August, i felt different, more tired, yet more calm. My baby was due on the 17th of July, needless to say, that was a huge miscalculation! Nadim had taken time off work because for weeks now we were told, "any day now".

I remember that Sunday night, we were watching TV when the contractions started...about 15 mins apart, being first time parents, we rushed over to the hospital, the docs took one look at me and said, "nope you not ready yet, your water has to burst first, go home, try and get some sleep". So we went back home, around 11.30 the contractions were closer together, more painful, but still no "gushing of water". Nadim couldn't handle it, so we went back to the hospital, the docs said, "no you not ready, your water has not burst yet", i said, "well my contractions are becoming 5 mins apart, i dont care about any "gushing ofwater" I am not going anywhere, cos you are going to admit me now" Heehee that did the trick, he found a bed for me and I was officially admitted. "but you know, you are still a long long way from delivering could be tomorrow afternoon..." the doc warned.

I didnt care, coz i knew she would come sooner than that. At that time the maternity ward in the hospital was under renovation so we had to use the old theatre area...plus they wouldnt allow Nadim to stay with me! That was the hardest part i guess for me, was not to have him with me. Needless to say, the contractions got worse, my mom sneaked in to see me, and pushed me to get some sleep, "you will need all the strength you have baby!" she said. I finally fell off to sleep around 5 or 6 in the morning after some frevent praying. When the HOD did her rounds at 8 the next morning she declared, "you're ready!".

Boy I was overjoyed!! so there they wheeled me off to a another room full of women who were ready as well, so like 45 mins later, she said, "okay now you ready to push". I think at that point, I could not feel half face and my hands...coz i was numb with pain... and there was a problem with my bp as well at that point...I remember thinking to myself, "okayeeee, sure". Then i had to get up, hold my IV and walk to the theatre in the next room and climb up onto the delivery table (yah i know what you thinking) but, the little walk felt better! So after pushing for a while Noesheen came into the world at 9.45am 9th August! I wanted to find the doctor who told me I was going to be in the hospital all day and say, "haha, I told you so!!!! This baby was coming sooner than you think".

Noesheen was 4.1kg and 51 cm tall, with a head full of jet black curls. I think she suprised the midwives with her size, coz they exclaimed, "gosh what have you been eating!" She fell off to sleep the min they wrapped her, actually she didn't even squeal, it was almost like she just needed to sleep off the whole tramatizing experience. Nadim was beside himself with joy when they finally allowed him to come see us, he thought i would just about die! Infact, when everyone asked me, "so how was it" as if i was going on vacation, i would respond "well it was like i died and was re-born with Noesheen!" But i am glad for her spirit and the joy and mischief she gets into. So now at 4 I can see that she is officially "not a baby anymore", but a little girl.

With Nadim away (yes still!) I thought she needed to have the best birthday ever. When i first asked her what she wanted, she was adament, "spongebob". Then it changed to a pool party, and i was soo glad about that, i quickly did the invites and sent them off.

Then she wanted a guitar cake, i thought to my self no problem that's easy. But then a few days before the party, she decided she wanted "spongebob squarepants", and if any of you have lived on this island, you would know, theme birthday cakes like spongebob are hard to come by if you can find it. and if you can find it, you will literally pay the price for it. But i give credit to all the cake shops that do all the birthday cakes, cars, trains, batman, superman...i mean most kids just want that right? So I took on the mammoth of a task and decided to make it my self, with a few internet searches (thank you internet) I knew what i was going to do....

I baked the yellow cake the night before at my sister Sharon's place, got up like at 6 on Sat morning, and started decorating the cake after 7, it took me a while but I was done by like 9ish. Of course, then Noesheen got up before it was done, and wanted to help out, which meant eating like half the icing. Then all the birthday phone calls came in, and of course Noesheen wanted breakfast and had like 2 million urgent questions that needed to be answered immediately! But I am pleased with how the cake came out, whatchathink?

After doing the cake, we had to make a trip to the supermarket to pick up the bread for fairy bread and some lemonade for the punch, so Noesheen got ready to go to the store, and no I did not dress her like this, and no i did not direct the poses for this photograph.

The party was a small... well you can say, family affair, coz it was full of Noesheen's cousins and aunties her age (and some not). Noesheen was in her togs (swimsuit) and in the pool the min uncle Simon and uncle Sashi were done inflating it (thanks guys).

The rest of the picts are random picts from the small party. It was the best ever, coz she had sooo much fun and did not get out of the pool til she was shivering cold at about 4pm!

Birthday prezy from Aunty Sapna and Uncle Alan (Nadim's cousin and her husband)

Here is Nadim's cousin Noelene with daughter Jazel (seated) and niece Irris, just before we blew the candles out.

Here is me and my sister Sharon's son Zedekiah. Noesheen adores him and treats him like a brother.

Cake with Candles! Waiting to be blown out! Noesheen was super excited.

Here is my eager beaver, we were in the middle of singing happy birthday and she wanted to blow the candles out already! Thats my hand on the right trying to tell her to hold on!

you mean i can eat it now? I'm giving her a little help to dig into the cake!

I decided to keep the snacks basic, so we had homemade choc-chip cookies, choc-choc-chip cookies, cheese and crackers, dip and nachoes, fairy bread, mac and cheese and my special nibbles and of course birthday cake.

Jaz, Sheen and Irris hit the pool!

So while all the kiddies were swimming downstairs in the pool, Aunty sapna was tasting the food...you know just to be sure everything was okay for the kiddies to consume!

Zedekiah was the only one who could not join the girls in the pool, the water was a bit too cold for his liking.

Grub time, while Irris and Jaz had had enough, Noesheen when back into the water when her lil aunty Resha arrived, she had way too much fun with Resha and Jon in the pool. Sorry no picts there!

Sheen just did not get enough of her birthday cake, so she took to it again after all the guests had left!

At the end of it all she was thoroughly exhausted, I had to put this picture in... I am so thankful that Heavenly Father thought me worthy to me mom to this active little girl. I thank him every day for her and the joy she is to me and Nadim.

PASIFIKA TURNS 15!

2008-08-01T16:54:00.007+12:00

The company I work for turned 15 today, as a result we have had cakes, pictures and lunch together!

This the nicest butt picture ever! Josie, Isaac and Wati strolling to the main road to catch a cab to the restaurant for lunch

The hungry people all line up for the buffet table! As you may have already guessed by now, our company colors are Black, Gold with a touch of white. And on Fridays, its mostly black with our crew teeshirts!

While Irene is busy eating, Sue and I stop to allow for a photograph while Josie looks on.

Here's me trying to enjoy a watermelon while chatting to Josie...Sheena pretends to look busy and Natalya finds a solution to the nosy cameraman who loves to take picts at the most odd moments.

The view from the other side! Irene, sue, me, Josie, Sheena and Natalya. From the cameraman's plate in foreground, you can tell where his attention was during lunch....not on his food!

The real brains behind Pasifika! hee just kidding, this is my good buddy Sheena and I posing for test shots outside our office this morning. Sheena is our producer/director. She and I spend a lot of time infront of the computer brainstorming and writing fabulous scripts....or so we think!

I love my job and feel soooo lucky to work with such awesome people, I will post more photos on my facebook and new blog as they come to hand!

Rani Fua's Civil Ceremony

2008-07-22T09:14:00.003+12:00

Nadim's Aunt or Fua (Father's sister) as we say in Hindi, was legally married on Saturday...the Hindu traditional stuff is to take place in December. Noesheen and I went along as we missed out on another wedding last week and had to....save face! heehee.

Noesheen had so much fun, and i wasn't without an assignment. After helping Fua work out her program and handing out the little assignments for everyone else, I was asked to speak on behalf of the Autar family...(long story, easy to say, if Nadim's parents were not muslims, my married name would have been Autar!) and responsible for the cake. Infact, i was asked to be the MC but i declined because of my little princess, who would have wanted to take the stage as well...she is going to grow up loving the limelight this little one...anyways here are a few pictures from the wedding, i will post more as they come to hand.

Noesheen at home getting dressed for the wedding. She insisted on having her hair open...and I had to redo her hair like five time before I gave up!

This is Noesheen's idea of a pose for the camera, i think she picked it up from her father!

Noesheen with Doll (that's her nickname) and Shania. Doll is my cousin as is Shania, so infact here is Noesheen with her aunties!

There is Irris, Jazel and Noesheen breaking a move on the dance floor. Irris and Jazel are Noesheens cousins (their moms are Nadim's cousins).

The three girls again, I don't know what was so funny ...but i love the expression Sheen has...very true to her nature.

Mum's Birthday

2008-07-17T09:06:00.005+12:00

It was my Mum's birthday on the 14th, and we decided to throw her a small suprise dinner party. We did not tell her what we were doing, some of us did not call her on purpose....let her think the worst! My sister Sharon (since she stays at home) made dinner, while as usual I was incharge of the cake. My mom came home from work.... and since we were running an hour behind our scheduled time to arrive at mum's place she cooked herself a small dinner....then we all arrived at about 7pm she was thoroughly suprised....needless to say, we all took home portions of her dinner, coz she did not touch it! In all her 48 years mum had never blown out birthday candles....so we made sure we put one candle on the cake....we decided we would start small...next year we will put on the cake the full amount! It was a fun night and we all had fun catching up and laughing....then doing the dishes. The only ones who could not come was my brother Shaunn's wife and kids who are currently in the interior of the Island visiting relatives.

As usual when it comes to cake Noesheen likes to stand first in-line....i think that smile tells it all really! This time we had a hard time keeping both Noesheen and my little sister Sherneez away from the cake before cutting time!

Here is my mum with Noesheen and Zedekiah. Zedekiah is my sister Sharon's almost one year old baby. Noesheen and Zedekiah get on like a house on fire...and Zedekiah has inherited a long list of affectionate names from Noesheen...

Noesheen was so eager to help mum blow out that lone candle...ahem we had to light it several times!

Here is a pict of all of us with mum...left to right there is Sharon...Mum sitting...Shaunn...Me..Simon and the youngest Sherneez.

Memories

2008-06-28T16:51:00.001+12:00

Got this idea from my mission trainer MARIE's blog and well thought it was fun, so here goes....Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Romika's Wedding poster

2008-06-26T11:34:00.004+12:00

My good friend and workmate Romila's sister is getting married next month. Hindu weddings are huge!!!! With pre wedding, wedding and post-wedding rituals that can take several days and even weeks to complete. As an onlooker these events are so much fun as there are alot of laughing, joking and dancing.....dancing like Bollywood movies. But it can be very tiring especially for the bride-to-be from heavy outfits, to henna and tumeric.....by the time she finally gets married....the poor girl needs a holiday to relax!
As such the bride's home is decorated with an assortment of things. One of the things needed are a welcome sign that gets put up next to the front door of the the home. This sign (these days like a poster) shows the bride and grooms name.....just incase you forget who the bride is marrying....nah I dont know the full reason behind it....so I had to do one for Romika. Here are picts from start to well almost finished, I had Romila take it home and add more glitter to it before putting it up.

BUBBBLLLLEEEESSSS!!!

2008-06-26T10:08:00.003+12:00

Like all kids my daughter just loves bubbles...to the point where I have to buy a little bottle everyweek for her. Why I just dont buy a big bottle?.....no thanks, I kinda like the bubble free week days thank you very much. Plus, when she gets tired of blowing bubbles but still wants bubbles, guess whose turn it is to blow bubbles? Mama's!!!

If Noesheen had it her way, that little bottle of smelly bubbles (good kinda smelly like bubblegum and strawberries) would go everywhere with us!

Here are a few pictures of her having fun with her bubbles.....oh and she figured if she turned on the wall fan, and held the bubble maker right she could get nice big bubbles too....and she needn't bother me for it too! You can imagine I was so delighted at the discovery.

But bubbles are just a great entertainer for my little one..

Gratitude

2008-06-17T09:35:00.002+12:00

Noesheen spent most of last week sick, which meant throw-up was in and appetites were out. Nothing scares me more than when my child is ill, but I am so grateful for the power of prayer and the priesthood. I am also so grateful for a child who has so much faith that when her spirit picks up she exclaims, "Mom, Jesus made me better!"
I am so grateful to be mother of a child, who even when she is ill will pray for all her cousins and other members of the family who are also unwell....then she will pause after pleading on their behalf and say, "and bless Noesheen...she is very sick"
Some times I think I am learning more from her, then she is from me. So when she runs around church, won't sit through the entire primary class and would rather sit in the adult Sunday School class and sits facing the back of the chapel instead of the front during sacrament so she can prop her drawing book on back of the pew....I try not to get soo frustrated and remember what my Dad always said...."Each child is different...you need to teach then according to their style"...I just take a deep breathe and say..."thank you for such an energetic, full of faith child"

Sherneez's Birthday!

2008-06-10T13:38:00.006+12:00

It was my youngest sister, Sherneez's (or neez as we call her) 16th birthday this last Sunday. We had a little get together at my mom's place and pigged out! I was incharge of the birthday cake, and because I was so busy on Saturday I had one of friends make the main cake while I baked the cupcakes. So what Neez got in the end was a chocolicious experience, a main cake surrounded by 16 choc cupcakes with a candle each. Noesheen had fun as well and suggested that we add stars to the cupcakes and smarties to the cake, which turned out to be a wonderful idea!

There was method to my mad color combo for Neez's cake...I told her that she should never forget as she grows up about who she is, her roots and what she was raised to do, think and act. I also joked with her that she had to have go on 16 group dates with 16 different guys before she could date steadily! It has been amazing to watch this little girl grow up, she has a unique personality of her own. She is also such a fun aunt, Sheen loves to go to church with her and hang out with her.

Sheen had so much fun eating all the decorations and stuffing her face with cake, like all kids she was made for birthdays! Only one drawback though, my camera went flat...before my other sister arrived and so I missed all the other shots!

But here are some pictures of Sheen, Neez, my mom, myself and my brother's daughter Ciara.

My growing portfolio

2008-06-05T10:40:00.010+12:00

Although I studied Fine Arts at College, I feel that part of me has been asleep for the last couple of years...just recently I have felt....."a great awakening" so to speak. As a result my rusty fingers have slowly and honestly quite unsurely re-opened my tool box, dusted off the cobwebs and started to .....close my eyes and let my imagination go! and then i wonder...why didn't i do this before! So this new Simi....the neo-simi! as a part of her awakening ritual is parading...sort of like a peacock i guess...some of my pieces. Some them were completed while I was college and others recently. Let me know what you think. I will keep putting completed stuff on my blog...I think it will help me keep churning out stuff and refine some skills. umm having said that, please excuse the bad photography aye...lighting in my work space is not that fantastic neither is my camera. I am getting these mat framed, afterwhich I am hoping to have my photographers at work can take some clean shots.

This one is called the HEAD DRESS...completed while at College

color pencils on paper

"CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS"

there is a funny story behind the name...I had a friend enter this in an exhibition, up til that time I had not named the piece, so when she was faced with the dilemna of filling in the entry form, she came up with the name...and well I have used it ever since...lesson...enter your own pieces!

ink on paper

"WAIL"

mixed mediums, pastel and ink on paper

"HAAT" or THE HAND

ink on paper

Completed at college

"THE WELCOME"

When it comes to traditional Indian weddings there are over a hundred rituals, the new brides welcome into her in-laws home is one of them. After topping over a little brass pot of rice she steps into the home and into this tray of red dye and leaves red foot prints on the floor as she walks into the home. Interpretation???? you guess.....

pastel on paper

"WOMB"

mixed medium oil paint and inkk

FUN tiMeS with Sheen!

2008-06-05T10:23:00.005+12:00

Not too long ago, my great friend Arti came to visit from New Zealand, and sorry no pictures (I have a memory lapse and forgot to take some), but we had a grand ol time catching up and just laughing at what good times we had at BYU Hawaii.. Before she left she got Noesheen this 3D mould and paint set, thinking that Sheen would enjoy it because...well coz her mom is an artist. Noesheen did enjoy it sooo much...in fact the painting part was her most favorite thing to do. Uncle Simon (my brother) and I would make the little animals for her (she would of course help mix the plaster and pout it into the molds) and Noesheen went to town painting them. I didn't restrict her and let her have her fun, as a result the animals are a colorful splat of colors. This was soo much fun! But alas because all the animals would change their colors everyday, we are out of paint! Now she is eying my set of paints, and it is a little harder to explain to her that there are some paints for kids and some paints only for mommies! Thanks again Aunty Arti for a fun gift!

BYU vs SUVA

2008-05-13T09:08:00.003+12:00

Last night we went to watch the visiting BYU soccer team play against our Suva provincial side. It was a fun night out for us. The team had previously played against the champions Vodafone Ba team in the west and lost, then they played against the Vodafone Labasa team (league champions) and won 2-0.
Last night they were again faced with defeat 3-2, but it was a fantastic game, and hats off the the visiting team that managed to keep their cool despite the rough playing from the Suva side and the on-off rain.
Sorry no pictures of the players, just us at the games!. Mind you the stadium is right next to the ocean and it does get quite chilly, so we have to dress up......that means jackets and beanies.....but good ol flip flops on our feet.

fun in the yard

2008-05-13T08:52:00.004+12:00

Noesheen just loves running around in the yard. She will find any excuse to go outside and talk to the bushes! Here are a few pictures of her running around in the yard looking like a real 'bush bunny'.

Sunny Sunday

2008-05-07T13:14:00.003+12:00

After almost a whole week of weird weather we had a beautiful sunny sunday, which was nice and warm but not too hot. After church my Noesheen could not resist running in the yard. Then insisted of having her lamb and garlic bread lunch outside on the porch. Which of course meant that i could not resist pulling out the handy dandy little camera for some pictures. It was a busy Sunday as we went to visit my grandmother who lives several streets down from us and my mom's cousin who lives several streets up from us. Sheen really did enjoy being the center of attention at my grandmothers where the house is full of great-grand ma and pa, grand aunties and uncles and other relatives. It usually takes me a lot of time to get her to calm down again when we get home after one of those visits, but my grand parents love having her around so thats fun. Infact she is one of 12 great-grandchildren my grandparents have, but by far she is the most animated one.
Then at my uncles place she got to mingle with aunties who were just a few years older than she was...and that is always fun for her. All in all it was a great sunday for catching up will relatives I don't get to see a whole lot of because of work.

Pippi long legs

2008-04-30T10:39:00.000+12:00

Noesheen recieved a care package from Nadim not too long ago....and you could tell he shopped all by himself, (no skirts or dresses) the package had two pairs of pajammies, three pairs of jeans (thank goodness at least two were girlie colors of pink, violet ) two cute teeshirts, two pairs of track pants (in lavender and sky blue) and this funny yet very cute pair of leggings...tights...whatever you want to call them, i call it the Pippi-long- stockings pants

(if you recall the popular movie of that red haired girl with funky stockings and a talking horse how does the theme song go...."pippi long stockings is coming into your world that freckled faced red head girl you ought to know"....i forget the rest)

Point to note here is that i did not dress Noesheen to be a pippi-long-legs this day..... NOPE! cant take credit for that, after getting up one Sat morning, i sent her to change out of her jammies, she dissappeared into her bedroom to dress herself and emerged like this......i could not help laughing to myself for her choice of colors and her outfit.

She ignored me and started doing her chores (or so she says) of putting up the curtains and picking up her toys.

Custard Days and Laundry Dreams

2008-04-29T17:30:00.000+12:00

Noesheen absolutely loves custard, warm or cold....she loves it. Needless to say we have custard a few times a week as dessert. So after making it one night, giving hers in a bowl and finishing off the dishes, i come into the living room to find my daughter, very nicely...sitting in my laundry basket, eating her custard, watching Nick!! As if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. I couldn't resist.

Mind you this is not the first time my little angel has found other uses for the laundry basket, it becomes a car, a spaceship, a stage for a concert...you name it. I encourage her, its a door into her imagination and i feel like she really needs to develop that....that is the artsy-ness coming out of me!

These days.....

2008-04-02T14:08:00.000+12:00

Well since Nadim has been gone (to those of you that weren't tuned in to SIMI's BRAIN WAVES he is in New Zealand) i have been trying alittle (emphasis on a little) harder to take more pictures of Noesheen than usual. Suddenly i feel like one of the recording angels in heaven, and believe you me, its not an easy job, especially if you are a recording angel for a 3 and half year old little "big" girl. They get up to soooo much, every waking moment is an adventure...oh and some sleeping ones too!

First, there is her fetish for the puppies downstairs (aka my landlady's doggies dogs), every time Noesh is missing, i know she has made the great escape to play with the pups downstairs. And since i dont have have a camera permanently attached to my forearm, i dont have as many pictures of this as I would have liked to.

Then the there was the sunday after church, I came into her room to call her for lunch to discover Madam teaching her primary class, which existed of a handful of stuffed animals seated in row on her bed. I had to pull the camera out and observe all her facial expressions... these pictures make me truly wonder what career she will pursue when she gets older (that is not coming for another few eons, because with that i have to shudder to think of noesh all grown up...that makes me OLD and wrinkly!!! yup we will just defer that as much as we can)

Then there was the time I asked her (ever so nicely like i always do) to do a chore, i was met with silence and when i went to search for Noesh, she was absorbed in her cartoon...i am pretty sure it was "spongebox" (as she likes to call it). but the expression betrays..she looks like she is watching court dealings in progress.

So whether it is playing dress up, or thinking strategically or learning to say prayers all on her own (that has been quite the experience of broken english and hindi but i am sure Heavenly Father loved, appreciate and smiled even giggled on more than one occassion during her prayers), i feel so blessed to be able to watch this child grow...and grow along side her. What a joy motherhood is!

This Long Weekend.....

2008-03-19T10:54:00.000+12:00

There is a little known fact about Fiji and the people who live here..besides been warm and friendly and extremely well tanned! heehee there is something else about us...WE LOVE PUBLIC HOLIDAYS! yes so much so that we have 13 or 14 public holidays every year! Take for instance this month, after a long drought of public hols since Jan we have the month off! Well almost! This month we have a total of four hols. This Monday we got off for Prophet Mohammed's birthday (Muslim leader) and this Friday we get off for Good Friday!

Public Hols are not days to laze away under a shady mango tree....no way, these days bring us together, take us to the beach and unites us with our greatest passion.....FEASTING! Thats right, garanteed this weekend there will be smoke rising from many a backyard as ground ovens are prepared for the lovo feast. Hours later the mouth watering aroma of cooked taro, fish, chicken, lamb shanks and palusami (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk with the option of a corned beef/mutton center) intoxicates the air.

Alot of work goes into the preparing of the LOVO (also called imu, umu in other parts of the Pacific). We are actually lucky at home coz our lovo pit is usable all year round.

In the old days (like when I was like knee high) all the food was delicately wrapped in coconut or banana leaves, but these days we use alumi foil....thats another thing, I don't think there are any other group of people who use alumi foil as much as the pacific islanders do. We are ever so gratefully (fully) to the inventor of that handy piece of item.

After the food is marinated, and wrapped, it is placed in the hot ground oven and covered. Three hours later.....Voila! A handsome feast!

Well that's what we will be doing this weekend! And when we are not feasting? well we will be at Church observing Easter, thats another thing we are passionate about....Jesus Christ.

P.S We get Monday off too.

tits, bits, odds and ends of Noesh

2008-03-18T13:33:00.000+12:00

Okay!!! i was reminded by a little fairy that i needed to update my blog! so here are a few tits, bits, odds and ends of my life...which of course would automatically mean ....everything i am going to say/write about will be all about Noesh. Where to start...the night we went to watch a very entertaining Hindi movie called "chak de India" all about an Indian womens hockey team..this movie was a first for a lot of things, the first of its kind that was made in India, the first debue of the director, first i think Shah Rukh had so much facial hair...and the first, my daughter fell off to sleep the min we got home, literally,

check out the picts....

Then there was the time, after a long bath (because she is such a water baby) We got dressed up for some photo time...i have to tell you this kid must have had modelling classes in heaven before she made it to earth, because she does not need any direction what so ever..this makes it even more difficult when we have to go into a real studio for a real photoshoot, because Madam just wants to do her own little thing

As much as i know you're sitting on the edges of your seats waiting for the next slice of life, i have end this post here! As you may have already gathered, Noesheen is very much the most eventful, exciting part of my life. Just the other day she discovered that the word, "whatever" can draw all kinds of reactions...so she spent most of the day telling people..."whatever" this included the people at the supermarket, her aunty and her grandmother, finally after a lot of failed attempts i had to remind her that not everyone liked their requests returned with a "whatevvvverrrr"

Intro to buksh patch

2008-02-18T14:12:00.000+12:00

Welcome to the Buksh Patch blog spot! Nadim is the head cabbage in this patch, then there it me....the patch caretaker (isnt that what all moms are!), then my little sprout Noesheen, who my goodness is growing so fast.

Here is a picture of my little sprout after i tried to cut her bangs/fringe! One important lesson learnt there, a hairstyle can actually make your kids look more cheekier then they really are!

I will have to add more pictures and stories later about our family, but really i have a feeling this is going to look more and more like one all about Noesheen!