We woke up to a surprise from Elfvis on Sunday morning, and now that Jack can read it was even more fun. Jack especially gets a thrill out of finding Elfis each morning. I will cry the day the magic goes away for him.
Sunday was the last rugby practice for the kids until after the new year. Yahoo! Because Jack didn't join rugby until late January last season, the actual time he played rugby didn't seem so long. However this year I am looking forward to the end of the season. We all love it, but it will be nice when we have a little more flexibility after the first of March.
Monday evening Stuart went and did a fitness test for his rugby team, while I went to the orthopedic doctor to have him evaluate my knee and see if there is a problem that needs further medical attention. He told me that usually arthritis doesn't set in before the age of 50, but that since I need to lose weight (exact words- wallah (I swear)) it may have set in earlier than usual.
I kind of skirted around the rugby thing when talking to him about how my knee was injured. He asked me what I was doing when I hurt my knee. I told him I had started running and exercising to lose weight. He asked if I played any sports. I told him I played basketball and tennis in high school. He asked, 'And now?' I fessed up and told him I was playing rugby and he chuckled as if to say, 'Thank you for finally telling me how you got here.'
As he twisted my knee around he discovered what he thinks the problem is, but won't know for sure until I get an MRI. He thinks there is some torn cartilage. Now if I were in the states I would just suck it up and not have an MRI no matter how much pain I was in because it would cost me too much in the end. But here it costs me a co-pay of about $14. I can afford that.
I will keep you informed of the damage done. In the meantime he told me to lay off of rugby until we know what the trouble is. I told him I would be out of the country for two weeks so staying away from rugby would be easy.
Tuesday, as I said earlier, there were no children in school and Jack woke up with a sore throat. I debated whether to take him to school with me and duck out early. But after a dose of Tylenol he miraculously recovered and went to school. The boy loves school, which makes me very happy.
School for me was so boring on Tuesday. I had literally nothing to do. I am sure I could have found something to do, but opted out. Consequently I nearly fell asleep at my computer once during the day. I could have hung out in the pods and chatted with teachers, but then I would be found out and everyone would know I had nothing to do. It's a balancing act for sure.
Tuesday evening we headed to the Turners house for a farewell to our friends Lexi and Bob. They are moving back to Scotland. We have gotten to know them fairly well in the last few months and will surely miss them. It just gives us one more place to visit. The comings and goings of people here is so common, yet still so unsettling. Investing your time in friendships becomes a bit painful at times.
At any rate we had a lovely dinner and great conversation. We will miss our Scotish friends (well, Bob is actually English) but we will see them again for sure.
Wednesday I had training on how to effectively teach writing. It was, by far, the best presentation I have experienced since moving here. The presenter was entertaining and his techniques were doable. It was very worth my time. Especially when I consider the rest of my school was allowed to go home at noon because they didn't go to the training. We were there until 2 pm. So I would deem it worthy.
Once I arrived at home, Millie and I had a date with the salon. We were going to get a pedicure. This was the first time Millie has had her toes painted. I am pretty sure this will now become a habit for her. We went to the salon opposite of where I usually go in the Co-op just in front of our complex. My usual place is not what I am used to. Instead of massage chairs they have you sit on a bench and they just have a basin for your feet to go in. The basin is not even big enough for my size 10s. There is no comfort and in fact, sometimes I feel I'm doing the work by holding up my feet. Needless to say, when I walked into the salon just across the hall, saw the massage chairs and the proper pedi stations, I vowed that this would be my new stop for all my pedi needs. However, the water pressure was very low after my pedicure and the ladies after me barely got enough water in their foot sink to get the jets going. Water in this country is a big issue. It's strange.
Once Millie was finished she sat and waited for me. About a half hour into the sandblasting they had to do on my feet Millie announced to me, 'I have to poop.' I told her that she'd have to wait. But then I knew it would be at least another half hour before I was finished. The bathroom wasn't in the salon, so I was the only choice. Much to his dismay, I called Stuart and he and Jack had to come and get her. No men are allowed in the salons so the Muslim women can be free to uncover while they are in there. Also, with a pedicure the women would show their legs and men are forbidden to see that as well. So when he got to the salon he called me and one of the sweet Philipino ladies took her out to him. Note to self, poop before the pedi starts. 
Oh yes, that is an ornament for full price from 2012. Ha!
This was the scene with Millie around 11 pm. We are really hoping jetlag is no big deal, but time will tell.
Obviously we could not choose this place in which to eat.
This is the view we have from the main level deck. It's a gorgeous setting. We love that all of our relatives have such fabulous homes.
Millie sat so nicely. However she only got her toes painted. She is too young to have the crusty mess on her feet that I have going on with mine.
Here is the end result. Jack just needed to feel a part. I have snowflakes on my toes. This is also the first salon I have been to that does nail art, which I like a lot.
After Millie and I returned home, the kids ate and went to bed. I, on the other hand, went to a wedding. The son of my Arabic Head of Faculty, Azza, got married. Although he didn't come to the party until the end, I was able to see some of the teachers without their abayas, which was amazing. It is hard to believe what some of the women look like under their black shaylas. They often look totally different. If they didn't call my name I definitely would not recognize them. I love weddings here.
Thursday morning our principal told us we didn't have to be at school until 8 am. Then once we got there all we had to do was fill out a survey and then we could leave. It was a great Christmas present.
Some of us went to breakfast after leaving school. The rest of the day was spent with the final details of getting ready to leave for Australia. Stuart and I went to the mall to get lunch. Don't judge me for eating two meals within a few hours of each other. It had to be done. We visited the grocery store in the mall just to waste time. The ornament we saw in the Christmas section cracked me up.
Jack was so excited about our trip to the land down under. His countdown had come to an end. Elfvis had left the building, providing a 'selfie' and a note stating he would see us in Sydney.
Jack and Millie got home from school, took a shower and finished up their chocolate advent calendar as well as their Lego advent calendar. We had decided not to take the calendars with us, so we had to do several a day for a few days before leaving. On Thursday we had to do three doors.
After all chocolate was gone and Legos were put together, we left for Abu Dhabi. We met Gina at the Abu Dhabi City Golf Club. The kids had a run around and played at the club. We ate and talked for a while. After a bit the kids got restless. We decided we would go on to the airport and get the kids settled. Our flight wasn't until a little after 2 am, and we were super early, but it is always better to be there and not have to rush around.
We finally got on our flight just after 1 am, and took off around 2 am, but not until we had to switch gates from Gate 51 to Gate 7. That was quite the walk. Fortunately Millie was fast asleep in the stroller. Jack was out of the stroller when he was her age, so we are very lucky she is still so small.
The funniest event of the night was when I went to the bathroom to put a pull-up on Millie. She hasn't worn one in several
months, but due to the travels I would rather not risk her wetting her flight seat and just having to live with it. So I rolled her into the bathroom and up close to the sink to get her out of the way. As I got her changed and picked her up to resituate her in her stiller, me head must have gotten too close to the hand dryer because it went off. The air hit both Millie and myself. She woke up for a bit but then dropped right back to sleep. Numbskull am I.
I am proud to report that she made it through the entire ordeal without waking up.
The flight was fine, but long. Jack and Millie sat in the middle, between Stuart and me so were at each other most of the flight. The second flight we sat in the places that just had two seats, on the side of the plane. It was better because each of us had a child and it wasn't as difficult to keep them away from each other.
Our first flight landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We were there for 5 hours so we decided to get something to eat. Sadly the only thing that appealed to us was Burger King. Although there was this restaurant.
When we boarded the plane in Malaysia I was really hoping the kids would sleep and we would have a peaceful flight. Not really the case. They did sleep, but it was the last three hours of the flight which was not enough. Neither Stuart nor myself were able to sleep much so we were a bit weiry once we arrived in Sydney.
Coming through customs was very uneventful. We arrived just before 7 am and were through customs by about 8 am. Louise, my sister in law, was caught behind a wreck so wasn't there to get us until a bit after 8.
Once we were picked up we went to a cafe for breakfast. It just happened to be at a marina. James (Stuart's brother) and Billy (our nephew) met us there. After breakfast all the boys went back to the house via the boat and the girls rode in the car.
This is their boat. By Saturday afternoon Jack had had so much fun on the boat that his trip was complete.
We really just relaxed, had a two hour nap on the sofa, and played in the water. Josh, Matt's son (Stuart's other brother), arrived and all boys had a blast playing together.
These next two weeks are sure to be full of fun for everyone.
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