Three times lucky

For each day in the past three, I have been blessed with good news. However, I'd like to keep my first news private (only close ones know) - which came in the form of a phonecall on Wednesday afternoon. Number 2 and 3 are as below.

Number 2 (day 2)

Two years ago, I had fun preparing English tea to welcome a new friendship with mamasarah. Two days ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a coffee session with the ladies in our area. You see, out of the nine of us who made it on Thursday, 6 are students, 1 working and 2 housewives who have come to accompany their spouses. As most of us studying here are full-time students/wives (minus moi)/mothers, we hardly have enough time for ourselves. Hence we decided to organise some ladies' time-out by going out for coffee when the kids are in school. ;)

We had our first two sessions in cafes around Coventry and just spent some time releasing stress. This time around, our chief organisor suggested we have coffee at my place since some of them had not been to my place yet. I accepted the offer with open arms. I've not had time to organise a proper house-warming session even though many have unofficially warmed it over breakfast, tea and dinner. Having the ladies around was very apt and timely indeed.

Since it was mid-morning snack time, I decided to prepare what we'd get in the shops if we had gone out - scones with strawberries and clotted cream, chocolate brownies, cheese tartlets and chicken pies. I then thought hard. The timing would very well drag on to lunch so I might probably need to prepare something slightly more filling although I knew some of the ladies would be bringing some food. I opted for something a little spicy: mee kari.

So there we were, nibbling on the platters of food (we also had cheesecake, nasi lemak, spaghetti goreng, pau, date halwa and caramel pudding) while sharing some stories of the past and present. Some of us didn't know each other so well as we barely had the time to just do what we were doing without children interrupting!

To round it all up, by the end of the day I felt blessed to have friends who made good company.

Number 3 (day 3)

When I came home from university in the afternoon, I was surprised with a parcel - awaiting for me in front of the door. Ooooh... Malaysia mari! The handwriting was like my sister's but as I flipped it over, I saw that it was actually from my dear friend, Aida. I know she had texted me on my birthday, asking for my address. I had thought that she was going to send a birthday card through the post. Of course I had no idea at all that she would be sending me that special gift.

It was special indeed as it was an Ariani tudung (scarf) for me and a few other tudungs for little Princess! Okay, okay... so I admit I didn't know what an Ariani tudung was a month ago until Aida told us (the KK girls) about it. She had just been blessed and decided to don the tudung. It was really a pleasant surprise to us all. Aida has been showered with rahmah and hidayah from the Almighty, and I am confident that this is still just the beginning for her. If you're reading this, Aida, thank you very much dear! Nevertheless, somehow I don't really agree with the words in your card:

no matter too big, no matter how small, you deserve to have it all.

We can't have it all, but surely, the little things that we do for one another actually puts a smile on the face and warms the heart! :)

What else can I say? Allah loves us all and ensures that we are always surrounded by wonderful people to keep us company while the one person you need and miss most is missing. Praises to the Lord! In Him do we seek forgiveness and help, and in Him do we surrender...