What's different this Ramadhan?

1. This Ramadhan, for the 2nd year in a row, I am not able to go to the mosque for terawih prayer... I kinda miss that. The limit for jemaah in our local mosque is 400 for muslimat and only 50 for muslimah - based on first-come-first-serve basis via online booking. Alhamdulillah, Mr Hubby managed to book a place to go to the mosque for terawih but hey, that's okay.... I can perform my terawih by myself at home. This year, I challenged myself to recite different surahs during terawih prayers. Instead of reading the usual short surahs from my muqaddam years, I am now upgrading myself to read the first 10 ayats of Surah Al Kahfi, first  5 ayats of Surah Toha, Surah Al Waqiah (first ayat until the last ayat I can memorised - yes, I am in the process of memorizing Surah Al Waqiah. As at today, I had memorised till the19th ayat - pretty slow progress but yeah, I am getting there, insyaAllah), and lastly Al Mulk (alhamdulillah, I managed to memorized the whole Surah Al Mulk last year, so happy with this milestone - please pray that I will istiqomah and try to memorize more surahs in the future).  

2. Due to the pandemic, for 2nd year in the row, I cooked almost everyday for iftar :) Another milestone... haha! Only those days that I need to be in the office or taking care of my mom I don't cook. And since Izzaty is home this Ramadhan (she attended online classes from home), she helped me cook everyday :) I kinda enjoy this mom-daughter bonding session <3 It's a blessing to be able to break fast with the whole family. Last year Izzat was home the whole Ramadhan, but this year, he need to attend physical classes at his college and only be home on selected weekends.

3. Did I update you guys that my mom had stroke last year and now not able to walk and talk? Ever since my mom had stroke, my sisters and I decided to take turn taking care of her on daily basis to share the responsibility and 'pahala' of taking care of our mom 💓 So this Ramadhan, on the days of my turn taking care of my mom, I will perform terawih at my sister's living room with my mom following me performing the solat on her wheelchair... masyaAllah, Mak is so strong 💓 So guys, despite the difficulties and sadness we faced during the pandemic, try to create special moments to upgrade ourselves... especially this holy month of Ramadhan... kita cuba lah mendekatkan lagi diri pada Allah, perbaiki diri mana yang boleh and make our life more special. Well, this is a self reminder actually... moga saya istiqomah memperbaiki diri... doakan saya ya! 

💖Loves always.