First day of the third year

Sunday morning we were to report to school at 8 am. I got a text before getting to school telling me that my principal would be late because she had a meeting at the ADEC office. Since I am now the only western administrator at the school, besides the principal, I supposed it was up to me to get my English teachers together and tell them something, but what? Does it sound as if there is no direction at my school. The beginning of the year seems to be a little disheveled so far. 

Everyone started gathering in the reception area just around 8 am. I noticed there was a new western person and I introduced myself. She introduced herself as well, and told me she would be the new Academic Vice Principal. We went to my office and started talking about the school. She had been at a private school in another emirate last year. The questions she was asking would indicate to me that she was brand new to the country. All I could think was, 'she's going to be a lot of work and I would rather have no body than that body'. Well, my wish was granted. Within an hour of our time together she received an email that stated she was being reassigned. She was very nice, just very unaware of the system, which is my argument for promoting from within. 

We went grocery shopping after school to equip our house with the basics. Stuart had a rugby coaches meeting at the club so I took the kids swimming. I brought the kids home and bathed them, fed them, and off to bed they went. 

Once Stuart was home we ate dinner and I fell asleep on the sofa. I woke up at 1:45 am, which is not that uncommon. It dawned on me that I should put the laundry from the pool in the dryer. However, when I opened the door to the dryer I discovered it was already in there. So what was in the washer then? I am really the main laundress so I couldn't imagine what Stuart would have put in there. When I pulled out the contents I discovered it was Millie's bedding. Apparently she had peed her bed. Good thing she woke up as Stuart was going to bed. Otherwise he wouldn't have had the pleasure of changing her sheets and getting her changed. 

Scholl on Monday was great. My principal was at a meeting in Abu Dhabi so she asked me to get the English teachers together to go over expectations for the year. I showed a video of Rita Pierson from Ted Television. Everyone seemed positive and ready to start another year. We have an intervention room this year for misbehavior. I am hopeful this will assist in some of our behavioral issues.

I spent a couple of hours before the meeting with my men teachers. They helped me sort the books. We only got half of the books sorted. We have consumable books and each child has 8 books. So we ended up delivering over 8000 books. It took the entire week. My back was a mess by Thursday morning. 

This was about a quarter way through the books. Ugh!

Monday after school I went with my friend DeDe to a place called Heritage Village. It's an oasis in the desert. It looks like a convention center, but they serve food and it is popular for the sheesha smokers, of which I am not. I had been there once before with DeDe. It was just nice to get out with some girls and relax. 

When I got home from Heritage Village we went to the rugby club. The kids played on the rugby pitch side and I went to swim laps. Many locals were there and it was difficult to swim in the lanes. The rugby club has always been seen as an expat safe haven, but recently more and more local residents are joining. 

Tuesday morning we woke up to go to a useless training n Abu Dhabi. We were basically shown a PowerPoint of the curriculum that hasn't changed. We were to then go back to our schools to do a multiple hour training for the staff. Um, at that point there were only two days before students were coming. I'm not really sure why this wasn't something we were asked to do earlier in the week. Oh well! During the meeting many phones made noise at the same time. Then it dawned on me that it was the 25th of the month, pay day. We all get a text when the money is deposited into our accounts. I giggled to myself and remembered not to sweat the small stuff. Stuart and I, along with 2 other Heads of Faculty, left the meeting early. We were going to stay for the free lunch, but then decided we would just hit the road back to Al Ain. 

Once home I went to the secret Spinneys (liquor store) while Stuart made dinner for our friend who just started chemo. She was diagnosed over the summer and is now in treatment. She has two small kids and her husband travels a lot. Fortunately her mom is here from Oklahoma to help out as well. 

Scott and Clare came over for curry that evening. After dinner, Jack left with the Richardson's to have a sleep over with Henry. Millie wanted to go too. She virtually had a melt down as she was showering and getting her pajamas on, although the previous night she had fallen asleep on her own with the lights on in her room. Tuesday night I had to rock her to sleep again. I suppose she won't always want me to rock her and sing to her, so for now I will just play along. 

When I got to school on Wednesday I discovered that although my male teachers had separated the remaining books by grade level, they had not separated them according to boys and girls. This only meant I had much more work to do than I had anticipated. Before I started in on the books, I met with teachers about the new books we were getting and review the PowerPoint which took 30 minutes, not several hours. 

I spent the rest of the day sorting books and getting our cleaners to deliver them. Magdalene is one of my cleaners who speaks fluent English. She was very helpful in the process. 

After school we went to Bawadi Mall to finish up the kids' school supply list and buy a new water cooler. Ours pooped out over the summer, sadly. We then decided to visit the new IKEA showroom they have in Al Ain. Millie needs a small wardrobe for all the thousands of dresses Grammie bought her over the summer. They built the showroom so that those who live in Al Ain can come and order. However, there is no carry out. You can't buy anything and take it home the same day. Boo!  We are hopeful that will change in the future. 

I decided not to swim laps Wednesday evening. I felt I got a good enough workout by lifting boxes most of the day. 

Thursday I left work early to go to Jack and Millie's 'Meet the Teacher' at their school. We met both teachers, Millie's who had just been hired that morning. Jack's teacher was at the school last year. She has an excellent reputation, so we are very excited for Jack. His class has been stacked with the advanced students, which thrills us as well. 

Jack is in the Spider Monkey's class. Grade 2 (equivalent to 1st grade in the states). 

Millie is in the Red Bird class  

After 'Meet the teacher', we took a trip to Oasis Hospital. Jack had been complaining of stomach cramps the last couple of days. So when Claire called that morning and said he was almost in tears after he went to the bathroom, I told her to let him know that after 'Meet the Teacher' I would take him to urgent care. The doctor ordered an ultrasound to rule out an appendicitis. 

Once that was ruled out, the doctor needed a stool sample. She ordered an enema. I showed Jack the box with the solution in it. The box had a child in the position that needed to be assumed. After Jack looked at it he got up on the table, dropped his drawers and stuck his but up in the air. The nurse administered the enema, which didn't phase him. He was supposed to hold the water in his butt for 30 minutes. However, 5 minutes in he was crying. So I had the pleasure of holding the cup for the stool sample, which is about the size of a pill container. Needless to say, the poor boy shat all over my hands and arms. Explosive diarrhea came out of that tiny hole and I was the victim. 

Once we left the hospital I continued to torture the kids with dull activities and took them to sign up for extra curricular activities. Jack is going to take piano lessons and Millie is going to start dance again. 

Back home Jack just laid on the sofa. He didn't have a fever and actual said he felt fine. That evening we went to the rugby captain's house for a party. 

Sean, the captain, has a HUGE collection of Legos, which kept the boys entertained all evening. 

We left just before 10, but not before Jack had a glass of milk, which he gave back to us on his bedroom floor once we were home and he was in bed. 

After he was cleaned up I went downstairs to watch some television. I fell asleep on the sofa, again, and woke up at 4 am to go upstairs to bed, if only for a few hours. 

Friday morning I went for a swim. I swam half a mile in 35 minutes. I know it's not far or fast, but I will get there. I have to be able to swim that mile before December. 

I returned home, had a shower, and the kids and I went to Rochelle's to have a chat with her and DeDe. We sat there for 3 hours. 

Friday evening there were rugby trials at the club. The men's teams were determining their rosters based on the play from that evening. Prior to the trials I took the kids swimming, then we ate dinner at the club as the men were warming up. 

Stuart was excited! He didn't play much and never touched the ball, but it was all the teams mixed together. He is playing for the second team again this year and thrilled. 

Ready for the event!

During the match, just toward the end, Scott (Henry's dad) broke his fibula. That was found out after the X-ray at the hospital, of course. Jack was excited, not because Scott broke his leg, but because Henry got to come to spend the night with us. I was totally bummed because Scott is the runner on my three man (woman) triathlon team. Hopefully he will recover by then. It was a clean break and the bone was still positioned correctly and hadn't moved at all. Painful all the same. 

We got home from the club and the kids all showered, then went straight to bed. 

Saturday morning I got up and went for a swim. I have determined that Friday and Saturday mornings are the best time to do laps. No one was there either day. 

I returned, showered and had my cups of coffee. We took Henry home and Clare fixed bacon sandwiches. We decided to leave Jack there while we ran errands and got groceries. I told Millie she had to come with us so we could get the last minute things we needed for her birthday party. She just wants to do everything Jack does. But she came with us with little fuss. 

We went to Al Ain Mall first. The kids each needed a family photo to take to school in Sunday, so we got those printed. We then went to the sunglasses shop to see if they could fix my Ray Bans that fell off my head and broke off the ear piece. The next stop was the phone shop to see if they could fix the screen on Jack's iPhone. Don't get excited, it is just Stuart's old phone that is used to play games when we travel. He dropped it (I think I mentioned this in an earlier post) when we were in Lyon, France onthe open top bus tour. Finally we stopped in at our favorite electronic store to see if we could but Stuart a new iPod. It's crazy how many of our things died this summer. No luck! So McDonalds was our last detour before leaving the mall. We stopped to get groceries when we left the mall and then headed to Scott and Clare's to pick up our Land Rover and drop off some printer ink. 

Jack had gone to the pool with the Turners, so Millie and I went for a dip. Once we were finished swimming the kids came home to shower and wait for dinner. Stuart fixed roasted chicken, 4 different vegetables, roasted potatoes and gravy. Yummy and healthy. We sat at the table together, which doesn't happen a great deal, but we make an effort when we can. Both kids were a bit off all day; whiney and complaining at most anything. In the end Stuart determined both were probably nervous about their first day of school. Made sense to me. When I asked Jack if he was a little nervous. He admitted he was, as I told him good night. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it. He said, 'Maybe tomorrow.' That was fine by me. I wish I could be in his little head sometimes. It would make parenting less of a mystery. 

Stuart not only cooked on Saturday evening, but he cleaned up as well. Afterward we sat down to watch a couple of episodes of season 8, Dr. Who. Then it was off to bed. I'm nervous for the new school year too, if I were to be honest. Maybe that's why I've been cranky as well today. 

Still livin' the life in the Middle East.