inconsequential nothings

I have been very lazy this Ramadhan, leaving the day to day work to Yaya and Ema while I brood in the solitude of my room doing my own thing.

Ida is spending her Ramadhan with her family up north, so I doubt that we would see her on the the first day of Raya, but Ema will only be flying back three days after the end of Ramadhan so she'll be around for Raya.

There are four of us girls - Ida is the eldest and the prettiest, next is Yaya who does everything hereself and takes care of everyone, while Ema is the socially adept one with a large circle of friends, and then there is me, the odd one.

I can't remember when was the last time we were all together at the same time during Raya as even back then when I was a lot younger, someone was always somewhere else during any family get-together, Raya included.

However, what I like most about celebrating Raya back in the kampung was the nervous anticipation of waiting for the announcement on the eve, the "Takbir Raya", and everyone being up all night cooking the "ketupat", "rendang" and "kuah kacang".

Dad would not be back from the nearby mosque until much later, and then he would take over presiding over the final stages of the cooking.

We had this outdoor cooking stove where we cooked the ketupat and rendang.

I wasn't much into the "bunga api" and "mercun" let alone the noisy "meriam buluh", so I spent most of the evening trying to help out in the kitchen.

Mom and my sisters would be up very early in the morning to cook the "sayur lodeh" and other quick cooking stuff for the morning breakfast.

I admit that I am not very handy around the house - whatever I can do, someone else can do it better and faster.

That's the problem when one is the youngest in a family of achievers, you find yourself to be in the way most times instead of being useful, and after a while you simply do not know how to be useful.

For example, Yaya not only does the cooking, sewing, cleaning and gardening, she also does things like  putting up wall fans, shelves, curtain railings, to tiling and painting the kitchen walls.

She makes her own organic fertiliser, plants vegetables to supplement our store bought foodstuff, and now hardly ever have to buy herbs because her herb garden is thriving.

Yesterday, we helped her cleaned and serviced all the air-conditioners in the house in addition to cleaning up all the ceiling fans.

She is also responsible for maintaining three other properties too.

She is also raising two boys who are doing reasonably well academically and fairly well-behaved.

I can only say that I may not be nearly half as accomplished as Yaya is, but putting up the curtains in the living room for Raya this year is fully my responsibility.