Sep 25: On Missing A Toenail

September was a particularly interesting month.

First, I had a toenail removed. I hadn’t planned to, but the pain had gotten unbearable. I'll spare the pictures. It's actually kinda gross.

Literally two days later, my 9 toenails and I joined a Maulidur Rasul parade. I honestly have no idea why I agree to join these things. Perhaps it’s my way of punishing myself, trying to seem more relevant than I actually am. 

I hope they forget about me next year. I'm so terrible at saying no I'd probably volunteer to drive the bus for the contingent if they asked.

A week later, I ran my first marathon (with 9.1 toenails). Just like my very first half-marathon, I naturally chose Ipoh to do my first marathon.

I did alright up until KM30. Towards the end, though, while my mind and heart were very much willing to push on, my legs weren’t having it. I'm used to cramps but that's the first time my legs felt like they weren’t even mine.

It took me an hour to finish the last 5km.

​I was so exhausted I ended up napping in the sports complex just 15 minutes after this picture was taken.

A​dik turned 4. I still think of her as a toddler sometimes, but in truth, she’s already a ‘big kid’ with a personality that’s kinda like mine.

Like me, Adik prefers sitting in the room by herself when there’s a whole family gathering going on outside. And just like me, she also thinks mak tok is very noisy.

You can grow as big as you want, but you'll always be my little Lily.

In the meantime, Kakak, the more adventurous of the two, played her first rugby tournament. She told me she was afraid of running with the ball because she was afraid the team might lose because of her, but she did it anyway.

I’m super, super, super proud of her.

At work, I got my placement letter after a manpower streamlining exercise. Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel - some days it seems fine, other days it doesn’t. But at the end of the day, what I feel doesn’t really matter, so let’s just leave it at that.

We’re already into the last quarter of the year. It feels fast. But on the plus side, every day I move one step closer to my (current) dream of retiring on a quiet home in the hills somewhere.

See you next month, I guess (hopefully with 10 toenails).