Monday, February 9, 2015

Toddler lunch: Smoked Turkey Slice & Spam Spring Rolls

Whoa, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Doesn't mean that I don't cook, though. I've been cooking a lot but in repeat, as in I haven't tried any new recipes lately. Too lazy. Ha.

Patrick has been wanting to bring his own lunch box to school for several weeks now. I never take it seriously because the reason he wants it is because his BFF brings one every day. Since the school provides free breakfast and lunch every day, I further see no point in giving him a lunch box.

I gave in last week. I figured if he's not gonna eat his food given by the school then I'd wanna know what has he been eating. With the lunchbox I hope at least I could "spy" and control what he's eating. Problem is, I have absolutely no idea what to include in the lunch box. It has to be good to eat at room temperature. It has to be fuss free. It has to be nutritious enough and yet fulfilling. Argh! My head almost exploded. I finally settled with the thought that even crackers and cheese and some kind of meat would be good enough for lunch for my kids.

I tried this one because I have leftover springroll skins, and don't want to waste them. Patrick seems to like them, so I guess I can add it to my list of food I can include in the lunchbox. As the title suggested, the ingredients are pretty simple.

Smoked Turkey Slice & Spam Spring Rolls

Sliced smoked turkey (I use 2 slices per spring roll)
Spam (cut in sticks)
Grated mozarella cheese
Spring roll skins

How:
Layer spring roll skin, smoked turkey, spam and grated cheese. Roll, and sealed off the edges using water. It would also be a good idea to brush skin with egg wash before layering with smoked turkey, just to keep it stay put when eating.

Fry until golden brown.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

moving day

i've changed my address again. no.. not my actual address. but my blog address. it's been several months that i'm feeling that blogger's a bit annoying. so i'm moving to wordpress. i've managed to export all my previous posts to the new place too, so that's quite convenient, although i would've liked to move it to a different page rather than mix everything together. oh well. one step at a time. i barely even have time to clean up the house and unpack, although it's been 3 months already that i live here.

anyway, check out the new blog if you're interested. i'll be abandoning this one soon.

ciao.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

heart broken

lately patrick wouldn't let me carry him out of the bath tub after bathtime. he wants his dad to do that. so i asked him why.

patrick: "i want dadda.."
me: "why? dadda is busy right now. how bout mommy?"
patrick: "NO!"

this could go on for several minutes until he feels cold. And then he would relent and let me wrap him in towel.

me: "why don't you let mommy carry you? don't you like mommy?"
patrick: "no."

*audible gasp from me*

me: "why??"
patrick: "nyanya too busy.."

my heart broke.

me: "you mean i'm always busy to play with you?"
patrick: "yessssss.."

my heart just shattered into pieces. he did, however, ended the conversation with a happy note, giving me kisses and a big hug (he likes that barney song 'i love you you love me we are happy family'). but i'm still speechless. i vowed there and then to give him more time and be more patient with him. it's hard, but i'm going to do it. for my boy's sake.




Friday, June 22, 2012

summer slumber

what, it's june already? sick! time flies when you're having fun (or not?). a lot has happened since last time i wrote, of course, but lately it's been difficult trying to use the computer lest i wake up really early. son keeps hijacking whichever gadget i'm using at the moment, laptop, ipad, phone, wii.. and i've also been jugling between him and babygirl. when he's taking a nap, babygirl would suddenly wake up and fuss. and when she's finally quiet down son would wake up from his nap. hence no nap time for me.

life's been good though. true, it's hot as hell outside. but we're moving out soon enough. hubby accepted the offer from Georgia so we're moving there in september. i can't wait to go house hunting. initially the town is not my preffered choice (I preffered dothan, alabama just because the town is bigger and has more stores, including target!) but Douglas, GA offer is the highest, so we can't really say no to that. not when you have to fill out 2 college funds and 2 retirement funds.

other things? well.. let's see. patrick has started (and finished) his swimming lesson. he forgot the whole kicking and blowing bubbles things so we had to start all over again but after a week he got used to the water and started to enjoy himself. i actually like taking him to the pool.. it's our special time. and on tuesday i start taking him to the library again. he's doing better surrounded with lots of kids, i must say, although it still need some improvements. he's still shy and not as brave as i want him to be. really need to work on that as he's starting school in a year. maybe i can enroll him in a day care once we're in the new place.

he fell off the stairs the other day. i was in the kitchen when it happened, and heard only loud thumps. i'm telling you.. it stopped my heart!! nothing will ever prepare you for that. luckily no serious injuries. only a small bump on his right eyelid, and a few minutes of shocked cries. after that when he had to go upstairs to change his diaper, he spent 5 minutes telling his dad where he bumped his head and where he landed. 

olivia is doing really good. 12lbs 12oz by the time she was 2months old. i don't know how much she weight right now (3 mo) but she's outgrowing her #2 diapers. i don't know how that happened. she's also wearing patrick's 3-6mo clothes, and it fits her like when he was 6mo old. i'm raising a huge baby. she looks cute though. :D and she's generally good except when she's pooping.. oh gosh.

i love it when hubby's burping olivia. he would sit olivia on his lap, and he would talk to her. olivia can coo now, so it looks like she's having a conversation with her dad. cute. patrick has been good to olivia too, giving her binkies and blankets eventhough she doesn't need it. haha. i have good kids.

let's hope this shall

Sunday, April 8, 2012

happy easter!

this easter marks olivia's second week old. so far i've been struggling really hard, with myself, baby duties, other family duties (son, husband, pets), and house chores. but there are things to be thankful for:

- great husband who doesn't clean up, but doesn't protest a messy/dirty house either. and he helps with patrick, which is a LOT. i don't know how i'll manage when he goes back to work.

- my son patrick who doesn't seem to mind that his momma suddenly has way less time for him than before. one time in the morning when hubby and olivia was still asleep, i took him when he woke up, fed him breakfast, and then took him back to my bedroom. i accidentally fell back asleep. when i woke up an hour later hubby and olivia were still asleep but patrick was no where to be found in the bedroom. i found him in the living room.. quietly watching pocoyo on his ipad. i felt so guilty, and yet he didn't seem to mind. maybe he understood mommy's still not feeling very well.

- olivia is pretty much a good baby. on good days (which is most days) she'd eat, sleep, wake up 3 hours later, be alert/poop/whatever, eat, then sleep again for 3 hours. it's nice knowing you can depend on her to be sleeping so good. although when she's gassy/constipated she could cry for hours and couldn't sleep very well unless i hold her on my chest. during that time i have to keep reminding myself that it's a small price to pay considering how good she is most of the time.
AND i gotta say she's looking very cute. especially when she stretches and pouts. ^_^

- after the disastrous indomie incident (the dogs ate a whole box of indomie.. yes, a whole box.. the entire 20-30 of them) the boys have been pretty good. i also feel guilty for not having a lot of time for them. no rubs, no hair brushing, no walks/runs.. and they spent all day outside the house (eventhough this is by choice.. they seem to like the weather).

- after almost 10 days being on pain medication, i finally feel good enough to skip my medication altogether. not pain free yet, i'm still waiting for those days to come, but in the meantime i can be patient. at least if i lie down instead of sitting up, and only sit on a cushiony pillow, then i'll be alright. but i do hope my warm/cool relief pack arrive soon. nursing is no easy matter.

alright, i'm rambling. let's see if i can come up with shorter dot points.

- frozen food
- nice weather outside
- ipad, iphone, draw something (to keep me up while nursing at night) and youtube
- mortrin (or ibuprofen)
- spray bottle
- nursing pillow

oh well.. i can go on and on but i do miss several things or wish they were more readily available...

- food delivery (i live outside town limit, and they don't deliver here.. tsk!)
- all those warungs and tukang kaki lima that sells endless variety of food at the convenience of opening your front door
- all indo 'heavy' snacks: bakcang, syomay, mpek2, sate, and many more
- massageur
- and a maid. :)

and i do wish for my good night sleep but i suppose i better enjoy life as it is.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

baby Olivia

rejoice, for a new baby was born to this household. :)

meet Olivia Marie.



born march 24th, 2012. weight ( i don't know why people always ask) 7 lbs 3 oz. already bigger than her brother was. :)

the delivery wasn't as smooth as with patrick. my water broke friday 6.30-ish pm just as hubby was going to work. so we rushed to the hospital thinking within 24 hours we'll surely have a baby. nope. 25 hours later i was still stuck with a 4cm dilation. so i was induced.

then there was the epidural drama. when the epidural was administered somehow it only flowed to my right side. anestheciologist said my backbone might be curved, which caused the epidural to only cover the right side of my body. hmph! so there i was in severe pain only on my left side, while completely numb on my right side. took her about 20 minutes to fix the issue (rolled me to lie on my left side), but by that time i was exhausted. after the effort worked i slept (passed out?) for 1.5 hour.

i woke up when the nurse came in and said she wanted to check my cervix. lo and behold she couldn't find it. so immediately she prepped me for delivery position. feet up. practice your breathing, and finally practice pushing. so i pushed. once. then the nurse looked at me and said "OK, i need you to NOT push again..". i was like .. what, did i do it wrong? well apparently not. i was so spot on on the pushing that the baby's head was already crowning. as in she's coming out! eek! so she made one call: "she's ready!!" other nurse came in and hurriedly prep the room. but we still had to wait for the doctor.

while waiting hubby asked if he could deliver the baby. surrreee, said the nurse. so they prep him. gave him gloves, refresh his memory on delivering babies (hubby is doctor himself), and letting him know the hospital's standard procedure. doctor came in, everybody took their position, i pushed and pop! out come the baby.

baby olivia marie, weighed 7lbs 3 oz

then there was drama #2, unknown to me at the time for i was still busy with my baby. apparently when i pushed her out, i tear an artery and it sprouted blood all over the place. ok that might've been an exaggeration, but it really was one of those bleeding that just wouldn't stop. suddenly everybody was tense and move faster than normal speed. i only realised that something was wrong when i thought it odd that it took quite a while for the doctor to stitch me up. and then one of the nurse grabbed a small hose and started sucking my blood out. and another nurse urgently tried to drew blood from my vein, but failed twice because the blood kept clogging (oh the irony) so she called another nurse from surgery department, and she managed to do it. and they put a clogging agent in that portion of blood, and injected it into my ruptured artery. what seemed like an eternity and a dozen blood-soaked towels later doctor pronounced all was well, shook my hand and congratulated me on the baby, and walked out whistling some happy tune.

i still wouldn't know the seriousness of my condition that night if it weren't for the morning nurses who checked on me. they all said i gave them a pretty serious scare last night. and judging by the soreness i was in in the morning.. yeah i pretty much think they had to stitched me up pretty good. as i'm writing this almost 5 days after, i'm still sore. maybe the doctor didn't just stitched me up, he knitted me up.

but now that we know all is well, it's time to rejoice. for i have a beautiful baby girl in addition to my already perfect little family.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

freedom of speech

so sorry if i've been neglecting this blog for too long. i've been away, back, away, back, away and back again for many times this past 2 months. hubby got several interviews on the east coast and we try to go before i'm banned from flying. so we've been living out of suitcases (literally!) for quite a while, and only came home for a few days in between (sometimes a week) so hubby could work, i could clean up the house, and we got to see the poor boys who had to live in a kennel all the time we're gone.

glad to say that's all over now. i'm 37 weeks and therefore can't fly until i give birth, which is pretty soon said my obgyn. indeed, i've been feeling very bloated and had a lot of braxton hicks already, not to mention the back pain .. aahhrrgh.. i wonder how i could forget that.

anyway, today is one of those unusual day when i unexpectedly got a few hours of me-time. the house is pretty clean (at least i vacuumed the carpet), the laundry's been folded (still need to be put away though but that can wait, right?), and both daddy and son is napping quietly. bliss. so what to do beside browsing for some gossip?

i came across this article. who doesn't know kirk cameron? if you're up-to-date with your gossip columns you'd also know that he's now a pastor. so i wasn't surprise about his anti-gay opinion. what strikes me odd is the comments from readers.

i'd actually expected the comments to be harsh and condemning, following the footsteps of GLAAD. especially when nowadays there are more and more openly gays out there, and more states are permitting gay marriage. but i was wrong on this one. they (the comments, and people) are surprisingly understandable and i kind of agree with the commenters. it was Kirk's personal opinion and he was asked. who are we to condemned anyone for their opinion anyway? as long as he doesn't cause others harm, then so be it. i'm sure GLAAD thought protesting was the best action at that time, to defend themselves. but then again, (as mentioned several times in the comments) why ask us to understand you when you don't try to see and understand our point of view?

that's what i like about living in the US, i suppose. i can say what i feel without having to worry about being prosecuted by others who don't see eye to eye with me. and believe me, strangers can be mean. once i tweeted about charice, who got a botox in preparation for appearing on Glee. i commented how she's stupid to have done it, seeing as she didn't need any except that it was offered for free as part of a promotion of a beauty clinic. i got tons of tweets back saying nasty things about me. it's like hell had decided to raise an army to defend charice's decision. believe me when i say the tweets they sent gave me the chills. and to think i'm not even sure charice herself gave a damn. lol.

i wish i can have the ignorance to not think about what others say, though. words can be pretty hurtful, especially when paired with hateful acts. on this case, i agree with every beauty contestants. i just want world peace.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

mudik

like every pilgrimage who has to go home and visit his/her home village every year, i did too, go home and visit my home in jakarta. for almost a whole month! :D

the trip home (just me and son) was very tiring. i got a good seat with a baby bassinet in front of me, but decided not to use it because i thought my son's too big for it. silly me! i ended up having to hold him on my lap the whole 14 + 4 hours flight. GRRR. by the time i got to indo i was so tired i couldn't even stand up straight. thank God for porters.

needless to say the trip was great. i ate a lot (any new news here?), patrick had great fun watching all the traffic (busses, bajajs, motorcycles and all those trucks.. oh heaven), and at the end of the trip when hubby was there we went to bali where we had some more great food (dear me!) and great fun (camel rides, anyone?).






Saturday, October 8, 2011

i love

i love how he looks when he wakes up in the morning.

i love how he lets me kiss his cheeks thousands of times even when he's busy watching movies / playing games

i love how he'd crawl up on my lap and push my hands away from the computer when i'm typing something

i love when he wants me to hold him up so he can see what i'm cooking

i love how he makes silly face when he smelled his own stinky poop

i love it when he runs, although not when he falls and cry

i love reading books together with him on my lap

i love his toes

i love giving him tickles and hear him laugh

i love watching him asleep

i love it when he plays with his dad, or walking somewhere holding hands

and i love it when he eats chocolate and make a messy face like this:



Sunday, August 7, 2011

the best things in life are NOT free!

this second time around i found myself craving for noodles again. it was bad the first round with my baby so i hope it won't be as bad. but lately i've been thinking about these noodles i used to eat in jakarta.

1. bakmi pinangsari - pinangsia


guaranteed, this is the BEST bakmi ayam ever. the noodles are perfectly seasoned and the chilli/sambal... i could eat just the noodle with the sambal. Usually I'd order the usual chicken noodles with some pangsit goreng and bakso, plus sweet ice tea.


2. lomie kangkung pinangsia



my family was a regular to this used-to-be-really-dungy street noodle stall. but then they moved location and probably split the ownership so we didn't know which one is the authentic anymore. But lately we found out they opened near our house. so YAY...!!

the main reason we like this dish so much is the rich thickness of the gravy, the crunchy bbq pork (or chicken if you prefer), and the kangkung (watercress?) which is not a usual combination for noodle dish.


3. hokkien noodle 61



the reason we call it bakmi 61 is because it's located at jl. hayam wuruk 61. i don't actually know what it's called apart from hokkien mie. it originated (i suppose) from Medan. my dad loves this dish so much because it reminds him of home when he was little. i love it because of the variety of the condiments that they put in the bowl. the soup is not as flavorful but with all of the action going on in the bowl, the soup is kinda perfect to balance things out.

4. bakmi emi pluit



another sweet noddle dish. the gravy is so thick you could consider it gooey. there's nothing in the dish except noodles, some beansprouts, a quart of boiled egg, lots of fried onions, and lots of shrimp crackers and emping. you can see pieces of shrimp in the gravy (yes the gravy is shrimp-based) but that's about the biggest meat you can find.

oh man oh man i'm sooooo wanting to eat these noodles right now.


note: images are taken from:
1. http://luvmumu.multiply.com/photos/photo/21/23
2. http://avocadolite.com/expiration/archives/001823.php
3. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=143220922415461&id=58257844669#!/media/set/?set=a.152322524785795.31109.132589133425801&type=1
4. http://yummyfordummy.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

Thursday, August 4, 2011

sweet carolina

last week hubby had a few days off so we thought about flying somewhere. choices included washington DC (to visit my close friend), chicago (my sister), SF (another friend), NC (hubby's brother) or tallahassee, FL (hubby's oldest brother). Sadly the ticket prices to DC and Chicago weren't too friendly, so we ended up going to NC. Not a bad trip. We ended up visiting 4 states in 4 days: NC, TN, GA, and SC. that's some intense travelling.



a lake in NC's Chattanooga's national forest (at least i think that's where it is). I want to have a house there.... *yeah.. keep on dreaming!*


Tybee beach at tybee island, GA. way too crowded for my liking.

obligatory picture taken while baby's asleep in the car... lol..

anybody wants to go for a hike up to Maine (from NC)? seriously, this trail goes all the way to Maine. there's another entrance, which makes the trail goes longer than 1972 miles. it's amazing what the indians (or other people) did before cars or planes were invented.

While we're in Savannah, GA we took this video of our boy trying to get down from the bed. We've been teaching him how to get down from higher places but by far this was his highest. I'm not surprised he got stuck, but what made it so funny was how he'd smile to the camera while hanging on to the sheets like that. It's so funny it cracks me up all the time.


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

vogue

someone really likes to pose. one example:


another example:


i can't believe it's been 16 months since he joined our family. can't imagine life before him. well actually i do. lots of going to the mall, lots of (dvd-ing, going to the movie-ing, eating out-ing), size 6 jeans, and sleeping in.

and now?


*long awkward pause as i look at myself in the mirror*


let's keep the focus on the little guy. he's more fun to watch. :D

Monday, May 2, 2011

all in one weekend

- the girl married her prince charming.
- the bad guy is dead.

it's a disney happy ending.
meanwhile in the house i'm still stuck with a fussy baby. same ol' same ol'. :D

Sunday, April 17, 2011

wok with mie

am starting a food recipes blog. nope, not because i think i'm the greatest cook in the world and therefore everybody should know my recipes, but more because i never follow any recipe closely (except in baking) and therefore could not create a successful dish twice.

most of the recipes are taken from either cookbook or other food blog and then adjusted to my taste. i say "adjusted" quite freely here, because on some occassion the 'adjusted-recipe' turned the dish into another - quite different than what was intended - dish. lucky my husband's not picky. :))

too bad i'm either too lazy or too distracted to take pictures of the food i made.

oh by the way, you can see the recipes over here.

Monday, March 28, 2011

you can look but you can't touch

after having a kid i rarely go to the movies anymore. not that i don't want to, but it's a matter of principal. the tickets for the movies cost $8 per person, total of $16 for me and husband. the babysitter, however, would cost around $20 for almost 3hour. thank God for netflix i don't mind sitting pretty at home waiting for the new releases and watch them at home. hence is why i've just watched the joneses last night.

strangely it hits home with my recent condition. i've never been the type of person who needs to buy or match what others have, especially when it comes to brands. but this changed when i and hubby went house hunting a few days ago. we didn't really need to move yet, but the need for a bigger space is growing, so we like to keep a look out. the first day we saw 3 houses and kind of like one of them. it's basically the same size with my current house but the lot is a lot bigger. and the house is surely prettier.

the next day hubby said his friend's house is being set up for auction, and asked if we wanted a tour of the house. sure thang. turned out his house was this huge house on an acre lot in a nice neighborhood right downtown at a neighbor town. . to cut things short i simply love this house. it's big, but it means more space for my son to play, place for hubby to put his fitness equipments and do some carpenting when he feels macho, even have some space for me to go crazy on my baking and cooking. HA!

anyway.. ever since i saw that house i haven't been able to get it out of my mind. crazy right? i didn't realize it at first but after watching the joneses it hit me what it can do to me. no wonder it's included as one of the seven deadly sin. tsk. i don't want to be larry, that's for sure. so help me God. right now my attitude toward the house is: if it's mine, then i don't have to worry about it. *sigh* it's hard being good all the time.


Friday, March 18, 2011

this is why i like dogs...



self explanatory, don't you think? :D

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

i tried to be like grace kelly.....

totally random, but here i am sitting in a half dark room watching tv and browsing the internet when a blog post somehow reminded me of something i read in a book a few years ago (actually i've read this book quite a few times before but then i always gave this book to friends - yes, it's a very good book - so the last time i read it was a few years back).

the book was called "what's so amazing about grace" by phillip yancey, and in it he tells stories he read or heard that was so incredible he just had to put it in the book. tonight i'm reminded of one in particular.

during the world war 2 this american soldier was called to a hospital. the nurse explained.. this german soldier was dying and he wants to confess his sin, talk to someone jewish. she couldn't find anyone jewish at that time, so she called him, an american, a christian. he didn't know this german soldier, but he went in anyway. but what the german soldier told him was so startling. he told him about all the unforgiveable things he did in the name of war. at one time he helped rounded up the people of a village, locked them up in a barn, and they burned the barn down, shooting everyone who tried to escape. the german was crying when he recalled this incident.

the american soldier felt so sick in the stomach that he didn't realize the german had finished and was asking him something. "sorry?" he said. the german had asked him if he could (in the name of the jewish) forgive him for the things he did. he knew he was dying, and he needed forgiveness so he could die in peace.

the american - the christian - didn't know what to do. how could he forgive him knowing all the terrible things this man did. so he left without saying anything, leaving the german to die alone. afterward he felt unease.. as a christian he should've forgive.. that's what God would've wanted him to do. but yet how could he forgive such a condemned act?

this was just one of the many stories i read in the book. have you read about babel's feast? or les miserables? they all speak about grace. how wonderful, how grandeur, how humbling, and yet how hard it is.

Monday, January 3, 2011

raise your glasses, people

aah. it's a new year again.

so what have i been up to last year? hmm. a lot. marriage, move to another country, baby, quit job, vacation to another country and spending almost all of my savings on that trip.. not necessarily in that order of course.

so far marriage life has been great. oh we've had our arguments and times when we (i, mostly) feel like biting each other heads' off but most of the time we're having a blast of a time. and baby's now turning 10 months. can't believe it's been 10 months since i huffed and puffed and pushed in the-rather-nice hospital room (my first hospital stay since birth). i can still remember that day like it was yesterday, thank God i can only vividly remember those first month of no sleep and feeling like a gorilla.

after moving here i developed a new hobby: trying out new cupcakes recipes. i've always been a bit obsessed with cupcakes but buying them seem so extravagant (they're so expensive) so now i have fun making them. hmm.. there's a thought. maybe i should share my cupcake project here.

safe to say in 2010 my life changed drastically, but i wouldn't say for the worse. quite the opposite, it's getting better. i'm enjoying every moment of it. let's hope 2011 is better than 2010. cheers.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuhanku gondrong.....

found an old writing of mine. jadi kangen nulis lagi. kapan ya?

-----
Tuhanku Gondrong sih...

Sebagai dobel minoritas yang hidup di Negara berkembang, saya paling sebel kalau ada yang nyombong-nyombongin agamanya di depan saya. Ganggu! Padahal saya bukanlah orang yang terlalu religius. Kalau ada yang bertanya kenapa saya beragama Kristen, saya pasti menjawab dengan bercanda “abis Tuhannya gondrong sih.. funky.” Atau “soalnya bisa makan babi.” Tentu saja ada alasan lain, tapi biarlah itu jadi urusan saya. Kalau ada yang protes dengan jawaban saya diatas, biarlah itu menjadi urusan mereka.

Jadi lain urusannya kalau ada orang yang berusaha meyakinkan saya kalau agama mereka lah yang paling benar, paling yahud, paling canggih, paling toleran, paling begini paling begitu. Segala ‘paling’nya dilihat dari mana dulu nih? Tentu saja banyak syarat yang mengikuti kata ‘paling’ tadi. Paling benar menurut si A. Paling yahud karena tidak perlu repot menjalani berbagai macam aturan. Paling canggih karena doanya tidak perlu diucapkan. Cukup dengan mengisi formulir saja. Paling toleran karena boleh makan segala jenis makanan yang ada, tanpa pantangan apapun. Wih, enak sekali kalau ada agama yang seperti itu.

Dulu waktu SD saya bermusuhan berat dengan seorang anak pendeta. Saya masih ingat, namanya Denny. Kalau ada pepatah mengatakan bagai anjing dan kucing, maka bagi kami pepatah itu tidak berlaku. Kalau anjing mengejar kucing, maka saya dan Denny tidak saling mengejar, tapi langsung berhadapan dan saling perang, entah itu pakai sapu, kemoceng, atau malah langsung tampar-tamparan dan gebuk-gebukan. Permainan keji ini baru berakhir kalau guru melerai, atau bel masuk kelas berbunyi. Setelah itu masing-masing akan menyimpan dendam dan strateginya untuk waktu istirahat berikutnya. Sebetulnya tidak jelas apakah yang menjadi pangkal permusuhan. Saya bahkan tidak ingat kenapa harus dia. Saya cuma ingat, setiap orang dewasa yang melerai pasti bilang “masa kamu berantem sama anak pendeta?” Loh .. memangnya kenapa? Apakah berantem sama anak pendeta bikin kualat? Apakah anak pendeta punya status yang lebih tinggi dibanding anak insinyur, atau dokter?

Sewaktu lulus SD dan masuk SMP, ternyata saya satu SMP dengan Denny. Karena gak kenal siapa-siapa, kami pun secara otomatis berbaikan dan mencari kelas baru berdua. Tidak, kami tidak sekelas, tapi sejak hari pertama di SMP itu kami berteman baik. Saking baiknya sampai semua teman sekolah mengata-ngatai “iih.. hebat loh pacarannya sama anak pendeta.” Loh? Sorry ya, pertama saya gak pacaran sama dia. Kedua, memang kenapa kalau pacaran sama anak pendeta? Apakah itu berarti saya jadi lebih suci? Ah kayaknya gak juga deh.

Sewaktu SMA saya berteman erat dengan 4 orang yang bervariatif baik dalam kemampuan otak maupun kepribadian. Ada yang Buddha, ada yang Kristen, ada yang Islam, ada yang Katolik. Kami tidak pernah mempermasalahkan agama, karena pada saat itu saya bersekolah di SMA favorit yang sebetulnya dikhususkan untuk anak-anak berotak encer. Saya, yang sebetulnya berotak encer namun tidak punya kemauan keras untuk jadi pandai, tentu saja jadi ngos-ngosan berusaha menyamai posisi teman-teman dalam perolehan ranking. Kalau tiba waktunya bulan Ramadhan, teman saya yang Islam santai saja berpuasa, sementara kami santai saja makan di depan dia. Pada saat itu, agama bukanlah satu hal yang penting buat kami. Lebih penting memikirkan siapa yang kali ini dijadikan tumbal untuk dikirim ke olimpiade fisika berikutnya.

Dan kami baik-baik saja. Pertemanan masih tetap terjaga sampai saat ini, dan bahkan setelah teman saya si Islam itu menanggalkan keIslamannya (karena alasan pribadi, saya tahu sebabnya tapi kalau anda ingin tahu, silahkan Tanya sendiri sama dia), kami tidak lantas menuding “Nanti gak masuk surga lu…” Biasa saja. Dia tetap teman kami, terserah mau beragama ataupun atheis. Kami malah lebih kawatir akan ke-antipati-annya terhadap lelaki dan pernikahan.

Karena itu saya gak pernah habis pikir, kenapa ada saja orang-orang yang ngotot membela agamanya, sampai pada titik dimana ia maksa orang lain harus menganut agamanya juga.

Dalam benak saya, ini tak ubahnya seperti orang jualan.

“Eh kamu tau gak, TV Sony yang terbaru, Bravia.. keren banget loh. Aku baru beli kemarin. Wiiih gambarnya canggih bener. Kamu mesti punya juga. Gak nyesel deh.”
“Ah masa sih? TV ku Sharp, masih model lama sih. Tapi ok-ok aja kok buat nonton.”
“Sharp? AAhhh.. ketinggalan jaman tuh. Beli Sony dehh. Asli, Sharp mah gak ada apa-apanya.”
“Tapi aku puas-puas aja kok.”
“Percaya deh. Gak bakalan puas kalau udah liat Sony.”
“Tapi kan mahal..”
“Ya ampun, ada uang ya ada rupa lah. Kualitas meen… lu pentingin kualitas apa kesehatan mata?”
“Apa hubungannya?”
“Ah katro. Kalau kualitas gambar Sharp kan gak sebagus Sony. Nanti mata lu cepet rusak. Daripada nanti mesti operasi mata, mendingan skarang boros dikit, beli Sony.”

Atau ada yang pernah terjebak ditawari bisnis MLM? Saya pernah.

“Cita-cita lu apa?”
Tentunya ini pertanyaan jebakan. Namun karena saya cukup lugu dan tolol, maka saya jawab saja sekenanya.
“Jadi kaya raya.”
Tentu, siapa yang tidak mau? Dan memang benar, tanpa malu saya akan mengakui kalau cita-cita saya memang jadi nyonya besar yang kaya raya. Amin.
“Nah. Lu pilih mana, jadi kaya pada saat elu umur 80 tahun, atau jadi kaya sekarang?’
Lagi-lagi jebakan batman, dan lagi-lagi saya cukup lugu dan tolol untuk menjawab dengan lantang:
“Ya sekarang lah!”

Dan setelah itu saya harus menghabiskan 2 jam waktu saya menghadiri seminar MLM dimana semua orang terlihat antusias dan hiperaktif, gigi-gigi putih berderet rapi tersembul dari mulut yang tersenyum lebar, dan ruangan penuh dengan suara tepuk tangan yang membahana setiap ada yang berdiri baik untuk memberikan presentasi, menerima penghargaan, atau sekedar mau ke WC. Belum cukup itu, saya juga harus menghabiskan waktu 6 bulan kedepan untuk main petak umpet dengan teman saya yang menawari itu. Semua karena saya tidak tega untuk bilang apa pendapat saya mengenai bisnis MLMnya itu.

Lucu? Memang. Tapi tidak lucu kalau yang ditawarkan adalah agama. Coba bayangkan percakapan ini.

“Agama gua lebih enak Ren. Gak sekolot dan sekaku yang orang kira kok. Buktinya banyak kok yang pindah ke agama gua, dan betah. Malah kadang mereka yang pindah sekarang malah jadi lebih taat daripada gua yang asli dari lahir.”

Jawaban apa yang akan anda beri sekiranya ada yang ngomong gitu ke anda? Kalau saya sih akan menjawab dengan santai. “Aduuh.. gimana ya? Di agama lu Tuhannya gak gondrong sihhh.” Karena kalau saya menjawab dengan serius kenapa saya menganut agama yang saya anut sekarang… wih bisa panjang akibatnya. Bisa-bisa waktu 6 bulan saja tidak cukup, dan bukan tidak mungkin malah akan terjadi perang nuklir karena saling ngotot agamanya yang paling benar. Cape kan? Lagipula daripada nanti saya dibilang kualat lagi, mendingan diam saja lah. Apalagi saya juga bukan orang yang sabar dan telaten dalam menjabarkan sesuatu. Lebih gampang untuk menjawab yang singkat dan undebateable aja.

Jangan salah, saya tidak melarang orang pindah agama. By all means, silahkan. Asalkan memang yakin dengan pilihannya. Dan kalau sudah yakin, ya mbok dipegang keyakinannya, supaya nantinya kalau datang yang lebih bagus dan kinclong, hati tidak mudah goyah dan tergoda. Saya juga tidak melarang kalau ada yang berusaha menggaet saya masuk keyakinannya. Sah saja. Asal jangan marah, ya, kalau saya bilang Tuhannya situ gak gondrong.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

cap jempol

on status: yep. it's finally official. i'm a permanent resident of the united states. yayyy!! 5 months from applying to getting approved. now all i have to do is wait for the card to arrive in the mail (the officer said it'll be between 2-3 weeks, but might come sooner), and then i can apply for a social security number. woohoo. i feel so americanized now. :P

on patrick: he's learning to stand up already!! woohoo. mommy so proud. he's been learning to stand up for quite a while now, once he mastered the sitting position from crawling. now he can crawl and follow me to the kitchen, or just approach the dog food whenever it's feeding time. and he likes to hold on to the coffee table and peek what's on top of the table (and pull them to the floor). so annoying yet i don't mind. :))



and he's starting to eat finger food now. the other day hubby and i ate grilled ribs for dinner, and hubby gave him a piece of bone. oh boy oh boy, he gnawed it like there's no tomorrow. and he doesn't have any teeth yet!! and yesterday we went to tucson and ate at a korean restaurant. patrick was fussy and wanted to grab whatever we're eating, so hubby gave him a piece of parsley. lol. boy that was a funny sight.

can't wait to see him walking around real soon.
 

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