What next...

Elviza sent me this message yesterday: "106 comments on your maiden postings. Am impressed!" mat salo earlier commented: "(over a 100! You're swamped!) this is gonna be the 'fastest grossing blog' -- ever! Please don't reply--it's gonna take ages just to read..." Lol! And finally, QueenB wrote, "baru blog dah 'fofular' gitu."

Going through the long list of postings, I realise that most of them are from bloggers that I know, the MRT (Mee Rebus Tuesday) regulars and friends I made at Nuraina's TWB (Tuesday With Bapa). So they are no strangers. Common courtesy, we call it. Mesti support Tok Mommy and give her a warm welcome, kan? Nanti dia merajuk & boikot tak mahu buat mi rebus lagi, padan muka! Lol!!

Indeed, the response to my blog has been overwhelming, to say the least. Rocky, being a former journalist, succeeded in diverting his fans to Tok Mommy's for the attention-grabber heading and Zorro (terima kasih and thank you, am honoured and humbled, sir), the write-up on me.

So I am a celebrity now! Fofular, maa. Ha ha ha, my reputation seems to precede me.

wanshana, a Law lecturer, who writes about her family and three adorable children in her blog, wherever you are , is "...SSOOOOO looking forward to my postings" and Sesat hopes that I write regularly and is "reserving a front-row seat.”

They are, well, curious to know what is it am going to write. How to live up to such expectation? Aduh! Pressure lagi!

But weren’t you a journalist? Constantly working under pressure to meet deadlines - easy wot! Yes, yes, yes... but that was ages ago.

Truth is I haven’t given much thought about it: what to write and how my blog is going to be.

"Be careful what you write," my significant other half advises me. "I know you. Don’t get carried away thinking that you have the freedom to write about anything and everything. Dont want you to get into trouble. Just be focussed." Wah, so many "dont's."

But, that's good advice coming from a a cautious retired lawyer who was once on the Bench.

Yes, I have a lot to say and write about, (ya, there will be a lot of rantings to borrow from marina). But, I think I will write whatever pleases me - that affects me as a mother and grandmother, an ordinary Malaysian and a rakyat biasa - at my own pace and time.

Now my kitchen beckons me...am gonna prepare something that I am, at least, known for-- kak ton's mee rebus. :)

And if you want to know. Today is MRT (mee rebus tuesday) day.

Othman Saat dies at 80

Former Johor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Othman Saat passed away at 7.00 am today (Saturday, Oct 27) at the Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor Bahru. He was 80.

Tan Sri Othman Saat had been hospitalised since last month for a lung infection and a gangrenous leg.

The veteran politican, who stepped down in 1982 after helming the state government for 18 years, underwent an operation to amputate the leg a few days before Hari Raya.

Othman was one of Johor’s most influential and colourful politicians.

His career in politics included a brief stint in the now-defunct Parti Semangat 46.

He will be buried this afternoon at the Mahmoodiah Muslim Cemetery. Bernama has the story.

Inna Lillaahi Waa inna illaihi rajioon.

Al fatiha.

Am Finally Doing it...

After a lot of coaxing, prodding and, not to mention, nagging from my sister Ena (Nuraina) and friends (Rocky and Zorro, among others), I’m finally taking the plunge.

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog but never got round to actually doing it. All I did was open a blogger account with Google early this year but I didn’t set up/create a blog simply because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to sustain it. Besides, I was unprepared to open up myself to strangers.

However, I haven’t totally abandoned the idea. I was waiting for the right time. I blog-hop a lot and this has set me thinking that if I could spend so much time surfing the net, why not have a blog of my own. That was when I told Ena and Elviza of my intention.

Not to worry, they assured me. They would help when they (and other bloggers) see me on Tuesday for mee rebus - MRT (Mee Rebus Tuesday).

“Very easy lah, Kak Ton” Ena said. She doesn’t quite understand why I couldn’t figure out how to put those bloody links (which is another reason why I didn’t proceed further).

So during the MRT session at my house yesterday, blogger Elviza literally got me started again - not without any hitches, though.

She sat next to me with her laptop, opened it and said “Ok, Kak Ton, go sign in.”

“Now you need to name your blog,” she said.

I blurted out a few names and finally came up with “Gutsy Grandmother”.

Why Gutsy Grandmother? She asked.

“I AM a grandmother. About being gutsy, well...that's a long story lah,” I told her, “which I’ll keep for later.”

And, Gutsy Grandmother it was. But, of course, I have now changed it to “Tok Mommy”.

Yup, simply “Tok Mommy”, nothing fancy. And, Tok Mommy is a grandmother to Adam (8), Ayra Qistina (2) and Ayna Larissa (1).

To cut a long story short, here it is at last.

Thank you, Elviza. I finally managed to get the links right. I have blogrolled most of the bloggers whom I know and the MRT regulars and linked blogs that I frequent. I might have left out some, but will add them later.

Now if only I can keep up.