Do you celebrate your wedding anniversaries?

It's my 6th wedding anniversary today. Really, i cant remember how i celebrate it for the past years. Yes, we acknowledged each others but we don't really celebrate. I asked few closed friends on how they spent theirs. I am not surprised when an old friend said her day passed without even being commented on. It's not our culture and it's not even a requirement.

My other friend said, they do (kind of) celebrate it by eating out or have a special meal at home.

My DH and I did went out last night, have a little chat, no cards or gift. Well, it was good to have a nice and quiet dinner together. All this while we were busy with works, kids and relatives (cats too!). It came to my mind, we actually buying times to be alone together *LOL*

In my opinion to celebrate a wedding anniversary, doesn't have to cost money. We can just go for a walk at the park or by the beach, have a simple meal at home and watch movies with our loved one.

Besides reminding us about our sweet memory, it also reminds us to appreciate more and love, to understand, to look back on our marriage and marvel at how far we've progressed as a couple, and the obstacles that we've overcome.

Senaman Yoga diharamkan: Johor & Sarawak telah berkuatkuasa

Antara baris-baris berita yang kita perlu ambil perhatian serius :

"Muzakarah Fatwa Kebangsaan pada 24 Oktober 2008 menjelaskan yoga atau dalam bahasa sanskritnya, Nastanja Suria Nama Sakar bermaksud sujud kepada matahari dengan menggunakan lapan anggota badan iaitu dua tangan, dua lutut, 2 kaki, dada dan hidung adalah bukti perbuatan syirik kepada Allah selain ditambah dengan kata-kata memuji matahari"

"Yoga yang bermaksud usaha membebaskan diri daripada tekanan dan kerumitan hidup serta mencari ketenangan dengan berusaha menghubung dan menyatukan diri dengan Tuhan atau dikenali dengan tasawuf sebagai Wahdatul Wujud juga sudah difatwakan sebagai agama sesat oleh bekas Mufti Johor, Allahyarham Datuk Syed Alwi Al-Haddad"

Panadol in a sauce..

I thought it would be a bad idea when my dear husband invited his friend, Nafa – a Libyan student to our house in kampong during Eid-Ul-Adha recently. (At least my parents can just smile and greet him). I was feeling a little apprehensive about how things were going to be, and yes, awkward too.

Since it is a school holiday, I took a week’s leave and went home earlier together with my youngest son, Iwan. My husband called and politely asked my dad to seek a good and fine sheep for Nafa to slaughter on the auspicious day.

They reached home about 6 pm. Nafa, (we called him adik) seems a nice person, an easy going and down-to-earth kind of guy *wink*. He then went for bird hunting at the back of my house - together with Li, and hubby . Meanwhile my mom and I were busy preparing our festive dishes in the kitchen. I guessed as much that their hunting trip will be a short one as about half hour later it started to rain. *LOL*

They then smoked and chatted at the front porch until midnight. I served them hot plain tea before went to bed. I felt some sort of peace as i heard repeatedly the chanting of takbir and slowly i fall off to sleep.

After the Eid Prayer, they had our traditional dishes - nasi himpit (compressed rice cakes), sambal kacang (bean spicy dish) and sayur lodeh (mix veggie soup cooked with coconut milk) as shown below. Yummy yumm!!

Syukran.. the slaughtering activities went well. We had a tasty barbecue (with the meat of slaughtered sheep) in the evening. Few of my husbands' friends came along, they gathered and spent some time together. I myself had a good chat with Nafa and Li. We talked about life, his culture and weddings ceremony in Dubai, how he missed BBQ gathering with his family and finally about how to perform the final religious obligation of burial [body wash and burial shroud (mandi mayat and kafan)] for the deceased Muslim. (Correction adik! it is fardh kifayah not sunnat muakkad)

We even shared some tips on making a better barbecue sauce. Our family used to add curry paste (among other ingredients) to marinate the meat and this is new to Nafa. By adding fresh lemon juice, the meat would be juicier and lemony. And this is new to me.

Our conversations stopped when suddenly Nafa asked for a Panadol for his headache. I gave him some. When he started to peel off for a second tablet, it jumped into the barbecue sauce! I tried few times to look for it but i guessed it must have been melt. I stirred the sauce with one look at Nafa, “There you go adik! Our new barbecue secret recipe!” We giggled and he grinned while scratching his head.

At last Li was the one who found it, half melted and he threw it away. I guessed by that time Nafa's headache had gone. :)

Well, it was a good day after all. I could not have imagined that wonderful evening was one of those sweet memories to cherish in my life. We bid our farewell with full of hope that we'll meet again soon. To adik, thanks a million for the Raya gift. I pray and hope things work well throughout your life and that you will have a wonderful time always, full of fun and joy! May the love of Allah surround you always..

Oh one more thing. Pls avoid panadols!. Try alternative solution to cope with your headaches. I read in 1 article, they suggested that you buy 1 or 2 cans of isotonic drink (eg.100PLUS), and mix it with drinking water according to a ratio of 1:1 or 1:2 (simply, it means one cup 100plus, one cup water or 2 cups water). Good luck!