We had rugby, as usual. Once the kids were home, showered, fed and in bed, I headed to see the doctor about my knee. I found out that I do, in fact, have something wrong with my knee. I have torn my lateral meniscus, have osteoarthritis, and a Bakers cyst (which apparently is a result of the arthritis).
Treatment? He started injections in my knee and I will get one each week for the next two weeks, so a total of three. I will start physiotherapy next week, twice a week for three weeks. If that doesn't make a difference the doctor said I would need to have arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage. Super!
Monday when Stuart and I returned from work we put together the kids' toy boxes we had bought from IKEA. Jack was grounded from going outside because when we left the rugby club on Sunday evening he had a total meltdown. Those are rough, but now our consequences actually have an effect.
Before we got Millie's second box together, Stuart had to leave for a spelling bee meeting. I was left to finishing that one on my own. You know, when I was single I could do most anything. I could hang ceiling fans, change a tire on a car, and put together most anything, with or without instructions. But once I got married, that part of my brain just shut down. Because Stuart is so inclined to be able to do all of those things, there was no reason for me to do it, or even remember how to do it. But when he left for his meeting he assured me I could put together the last item.
Although I might have had to unscrew the wheel track once or twice in order for the drawer to be where it belonged, I could actually do it, and I accomplished what Stuart said I could, which made me proud.
When Stuart got home the kids had bathed and eaten. Every chance we get, we try to put them to bed early. We know their little bodies need at least 11 hours of sleep each night. Now that rugby is almost over, and maybe forever for me, it will be much easier. They were in bed and asleep by 6:15 pm. Lucky little boogers.
Stuart and I headed off to the rugby club, but neither of us trained. I did my manageress duties, which involved a whole lot of nothing, and Stuart stood around and watched his team play touch rugby. After, we were invited to a going away party on Tuesday evening after the kids played rugby. One of the girls on my rugby team is going back to New Zealand for university. Her mom, Rayna, is the teacher's assistant in Jack's class. These people are some of the folks we went camping with. Although Al Ain is about twice the size of Chandler, it is quite small when it comes to the expat community. We all hang out at just a few places, so are forced into friendships, a bit. It reminds me of middle school sometimes, in more ways that one. But we love it!
Tuesday Stuart and I had training so we were finished just after noon. We decided to have a lunch date. We went to Chilis, which is a bit pricey over here, but nice to be able to sit and catch up properly.
Tuesday evening we headed to the Tiatia's house for a potluck to say farewell to Laken. The New Zealanders are my kind of eaters. There is a lot of meat and if someone brings a salad they are frowned upon. Gotta love the islanders.
We got home just before nine and threw the kids in bed. Millie had a difficult time waking up Wednesday morning but Jack was out of bed before I was completely ready, which seldom happens. Because of the later night on Tuesday, Stuart stayed home from rugby Wednesday evening. And the kids were in bed before 6:30. Again, very needed.
I, on the other hand, decided to head to the club and try out my knee on the exercise bike. I figured it would be the best since I didn't need to pound it, but rather needed to at least see what the mobility was since the shot. It had been feeling a bit better, but I was afraid that was because I had done no kind of exercise for the past three weeks. Although I have maintained my weight, ideally I want to lose about 30 pounds before I get home this summer, and veggies alone will not do it.
I am pleased to report, oh no...wait, not pleased to report, but just reporting that while my knee didn't really hurt too badly as I was riding the bike (ached a bit), once I was off and walking around, it wasn't the same story. Boo!
Prior to the workout a strange thing happened after school on Wednesday. I know this is totally random, but the doors to our playground, at school, from our girls' 1st grade pod were open and a bird flew in. Thinking someone needed to get the bird out, I went into the hallway to see where it had gone and to find one of our cleaners to do the dirty work. When I got around the corner one of the cleaners had the bird in one hand, holding it at the base of its wings, by what would be its shoulder blades. It was so weird! I think she is from Bangladesh. Would that be a common skill you would have in Bangledesh? I'm really not sure, but I found it a little creepy.
Thursday after school I came home, folded some laundry, did some dishes, and finished packing for my trip to Kuwait. I was so excited! I knew I wasn't going to play, although the thought did cross my mind as we were waiting at the club and one of our players had her visa to Kuwait denied. I was going as the manageress. I had no idea what that really meant, but soon found out when Coach Manu, who is an absolutely wonderfully passionate coach, handed me the folder with money for visas, the flight details and the hotel accommodations. I messaged Stuart to tell him my duties reminded me of what I did when we traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors several years ago. I knew how to do airports with many people, as well as check folks into a hotel.
Cooper (middle), Manu (right), and myself made up the coaching and managerial staff. What a team!
The bus trip as well as the flight was relatively easy. However, once we were in Kuwait International Airport we needed to get our visas. 10 of us had them ready at the hotel where we were staying, while 3 needed to get them. We were told how to get the visas, but since we hadn't done it before it took a bit longer than expected. But if you ever want to go to Kuwait, I can now lead you through the process.
We spent about 2 hours at the airport but finally made our way to the hotel. The check in process was simple. All passports had to be copied so in the end I just kept everyone's passport until we boarded the flight the following evening.
I was responsible for assigning rooms. I ended up rooming with Claire and Martha, both New Zealanders and both an absolute hoot! We stayed up and talked for a bit and then the following morning we all laid on the king size bed and laughed about stupid things as if we were teenagers. We laughed until we cried, which I haven't done in forever.
We all met for breakfast and then took a walk out by the pool and the beach before checking out of the hotel and heading to the rugby pitch. Because the tournament was due to last all day, we would not be able to go back to the hotel before check-out time, thus the reason we checked out before the tournament.
The beach was a little dirty, but it was still the beach.
We got to the grounds just after 10 am. The girls would be playing on an artificial surface, which is not what they normally do. Of all the rugby clubs, Al Ain's has the best facility by far. But the girls made the best of it and played really well.
The ladies played 4 games and were two games away from their 5th game when a Haboob came rolling in. I was so thrilled that I actually knew what it was called. Did you know the word 'haboob' is actually an Arabic word? Neither did I.
As it started to roll in I told everyone to zip up their bags and get ready to move into the fitness facility, which was about a block away. When the host team came around to pick up trash they said the same thing.
The tournament ended before all of the games were played. It was probably a blessing in disguise because a lot of our players were getting minor injuries, which happens the longer in the day you play.
Warm-ups before each match was in this sand parking lot. During this particular warm-up the call to prayer was blasting from the mosque that you saw the McDonald sign with.
Once we were in the fitness center we started playing basketball and volleyball. It felt like we were at a sports camp of sorts.
We showered and then had a delicious catered meal. They did the announcements of the Man of the Match and the other team awards, and then we headed to the airport. We were a bit early, but that gave me time to change money back from Diran to Dirhams, go to duty free and get the kids a small gift, and sit and relax for a bit. I know I didn't play in the tournament, but I was still exhausted.
While relaxing, Claire came over to me to ask if I have seen the picture I posted on Facebook with the team in their birthday masks and party hats. I hadn't really looked at it, but when they pointed out that at least 6 of us looked mentally challenged we laughed until I could hardly breath. It wasn't really okay to carry on that way, but I couldn't help it.
The six that looked the most 'special' are the three on the bottom left and the three on the second row to the far left. I am on the bottom row that the left, if you couldn't spot me. The more we looked at the photo, the more we howled with laughter.
We finally got on the plane, only to continue the laughter. The three on the bottom left are me, Clare, and Martha, and we just happened to be sitting close to each other on the plane. After a while I think delirium took over.
I slept for a bit on the plane and then talked to our fitness trainer, Cooper. We had a great conversation about kids and how they change your life. He and his wife are going to be parents in a couple of months.
The plane landed just before 1 am. We had a chartered bus that picked us up and brought us back to Al Ain. We arrived around 3:30 am and I had just enough energy to put my clothes in the wash and then hit the sack.
I only slept until about 8 am, and boy was everyone glad to see me. Jack and Millie came into the bed and both kissed me, then went downstairs. Stuart showed me how much sand had blown in through windows and doors. It was a mess. We worked to clean it up a little and then put paper towels in the window wells so the mess would not be as bad if the winds didn't die for a while.
We sat around and relaxed until around 10 when we decided we had better get our weekly shopping out of the way. The wind and sand that was blowing around was enough to make you want to stay indoors all day, but we really needed to get lunch stuff for the week.
After groceries we had KFC for lunch. We came home and since the kids really couldn't go outside they just played in their rooms and watched some television. Jack actually decided to build one of his Christmas Legos all by himself. And he actually completed it, not getting frustrated even once. He was so pleased with himself, as were we.
Everyone was tired and bed came early. It was a great week!
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