the past 3 days have all been about adjustments.. adjusting to not seeing my parents or hearing their voices for one whole month when before this, they’ve never been away from us for more than 2 days or further than Malaysia.. the only updates i’m getting from or of them so far is from my sister who has received but one sms from my mom when she arrived at Jeddah.. i don’t know why they can’t call, but i’m guessing they are really busy there right now..

we’re adjusting to having my nenek live with us, which is not a bad adjustment at all, because for one thing, i’m having awesome food everyday (especially breakfast, cos my mom doesn’t cook breakfast unless its the weekends) and supplies of soft drinks/kuihs/desserts that my mom would never buy or have the time to make.. and because of my nenek’s presence, the house is a LOT cleaner than usual.. not because she’s doing all the housework, but really because i’m doing all the housework just so that i can deliver on my promise to my mom that i won’t treat my nenek like a slave.. which also means that i’m adjusting to doing a lot more housework than i would normally do, because admittedly i take my mom for granted.. i miss my mom a lot more when i’m doing the laundry, or cleaning the kitchen, or folding clothes.. i also never used to like her home-made juices, but now i’m missing them and the glass of water she would prepare for me and my siblings every morning without fail..

i’m also adjusting to not seeing my dad sitting on the sofa watching Sensasi as the first thing i would normally see when i come home from school..

worst of all, i’m adjusting to having to listen to my sister, because quite frankly, i never really liked taking orders from her.. but i have to adhere to the fact that she’s taking my parents’ one-month absence a lot harder than me and my brother because not only is she the closest to my mom, but she also has to take charge of the family which involves being responsible over my brother who is, if you don’t already know by now, the laziest 18-year old in the world.. i’m still being quite adamant about taking orders from her though, because while we both have different ways of doing things, i DO know that i’m definitely not irresponsible like my brother, hence i know that i do take the initiative to do say, take out my own laundry, for example, or to iron my dad’s clothes for him instead of putting it one side and waiting for my mom to come back to iron it herself.. essentially, i’m adjusting to being treated like the 14-year old that my sister looks at when she talks to me about how i should do my chores, when the ironic side is, i’m doing more chores than her.. rant rant rant. its the one single adjustment that i’m struggling with, however..

but so far i guess, its been quite alright.. i know that i have to be more understanding and accommodating towards my sister’s leadership skills (which i’m having serious clout against), but other than that, i realise i am pretty well adjusted, or relatively more so than she is.. the situation so far has been a combination of good and bad; suffocating yet freeing, tiring yet educational (bcos i’m now learning to be more domesticated), frustrating yet funny..

oh, one last thing that i’m having to adjust to: my nenek’s radio which cannot be turned off and adjusts volume by itself in the middle of the night to scare the living night-lights out of me..