On Monday we were dismissed from school at 11:30 am. Technically it was Martyr's Commemoration Day. Because one of our teachers had a daughter get married and another one was back to school having been out for surgery, they provided a buffet for our staff. There is no expense spared and the presentation is beyond fancy.
Small salads and other traditional dishes were served.
This is not how our lunch room normally looks. Those are all service trays full of different Arabic dishes.
We had a few other things we had to do to commemorate the day, but then were allowed to go home. I met Stuart at a cafe in the same complex as the grocery store where we usually shop. So naturally we shopped after we had a coffee at the cafe.
I went to Kia service department to pick up the plastic strip that someone in our complex popped off my car door, whether on accident or purpose I am not sure. It was the equivalent of $12 and Stuart popped it back on all by himself. My car is out of the trashy department, well except for the fact that it is filthy. That needs to be sorted out for sure.
Jack had piano lessons and then it was home time for us. Jack ended up going with Stuart to rugby on Monday night. We never let him go because he has school the following day. But since Tuesday was a holiday (Martyr's Day) we decided he could go and play with his friends. Millie and I had 'Mama/Millie night', which translated into Millie watching Pheneas and Ferb. Fun! The boys got home just before 10 pm. Jack took a shower and ate some fruit. Then he was off to bed. We shortly followed.
I was awakened early Tuesday morning because Jack was anxious to find out if Elfvis had made his way to our house this year. December 1st is always his arrival date, so both kids were anxious. Sure enough, he was perched in the Christmas tree as usual on his first day back. He had left the kids Lego advent calendars again this year. Millie was a bit sore that there was no chocolate in hers. I told Stuart that Santa could have saved a lot of money had he known Millie would have settled for a chocolate advent calendar this year.
I left the house around 7:30 am to have coffee with DeDe. We sat and talked for almost three hours. Once I returned home we got ready to go out to the dunes. Stuart made sandwiches and I put together some other bits of food to have out in the desert. Stuart was so excited because this would be the first time he had taken his Land Rover out into the desert since we purchased it. It was too hot to take it in the sand, last spring, by the time his hernia operation had healed. Of course on the first real run of the vehicle he got it stuck! He had to let air out of the tires and then it was as good as gold and he was dune bashing all around those of us sitting on the carpets and in the camping chairs. Sadly, Millie threw up just after she had some chips and juice, but before the dune bashing. After she threw up she took a 30 minute nap. Once she was awake again, she was totally fine. It was really weird. I love how kids bounce back from things. It makes me very jealous.
Aesthetically, this car is a piece of crap, but it looks so cool on the red sand, and Stuart LOVES it!
Once it was almost dark, we headed back towards civilization, which was all of about a quarter of a mile. That't the great thing about living here, dunes are all around you and waiting for you to explore them. When we got home I sent the kids upstairs for showers. The water that washed off of them was full of sand. We had a little pile of sand in front of the laundry basket where they had taken off their clothes. Lovely! Showers and bed for everyone. It was a great day.
We got up Wednesday morning and headed to a mall where there is a new play area. Jack had been wanting to do something with a boy named Ben, so he and his mother followed us there. His mother is a Vice Principal from Scotland. She is hard to understand, but I really like her. The kids had a great time together. They played at the Fun Block for almost 3 hours. We then got lunch at a different mall. Jack ended up going home with Ben, while Millie and I rushed home so I could go get a pedicure. I also wanted to have my eyebrows and lip waxed. However they didn't do waxing, but they did threading, which I had never heard of before coming to this country. It has the same effect as waxing, but involves a thread and it way more painful. I nearly cried when they lady started plucking my hairs. Holy crapoly! The lady doing the threading held the thread in her mouth and maneuvered it with her hands. It's crazy and hurts like the dickens. I do not recommend it. Ouch!
When I got home, Stuart went to rugby, once Jack was home from his extended play date, I fed the kids, bathed them and got them into bed. We would be up early for the Dubai 7s so they needed their rest.
Thursday morning we got up and headed to Dubai to the Dubai 7s. Until that day I didn't know this was the only rugby 7s tournament where social tournaments also took place, along with the professional teams. The security, which was ran by an American company, was much tighter than last year's security.
It was a toasty day and a little disappointing for the vets, Stuart's team. Their second match was forfeited because the other team didn't show up. They won their first match, as well as their second one, but only had an opponent for the first one.
After their supposed second match we had some food and then headed back to Al Ain. Gina took a taxi from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain. She had decided to fly in for the weekend. Her life in Rhiyad is really much slower than in Abu Dhabi because she doesn't go out as much, primarily because it's more of an effort. So she told me from the beginning of the year that she would be seeing us a lot through the year, which is all too fine with me.
She arrived around 8 pm and had a ham sandwich and a beer. When you don't get it and it's forbidden, the taste is that much nicer when you do get to have it. We stayed up and talked for a while and then headed to bed.
Friday morning we got up and as Stuart headed back to the 7s, Gina, DeDe and I headed to Dubai to shop. My cleaner, Asela, brought over his friend, Rasika, to babysit the kids. She is a nanny for a South African guy who plays for Stuart's rugby team. She was so sweet with the kids and by the time we left, the kids were practically shoving us out the door.
We initially went to Dubai to do some Christmas shopping, but found that the pickings were slim in the Christmas front. We went to the Park and Shop, where we often find our favorite American brands of food. I also bought Christmas stockings for the kids, which Elfvis will give to them at some stage.
After the Park and Shop we went to Oasis Centre. We were under the impression there was a huge craft show there, but it wasn't anything spectacular. Before looking around, I had to use the bathroom. I went in to the stall, turned around, placed my handbag on the ledge behind the toilet and that's when it happened. My handbag tipped, the iPhone fell out and dunked into the toilet. Dang! As you would guess, I quickly grabbed the phone out of the PUBLIC toilet and tried to forget what had happened before I entered that bathroom. Actually, the toilets in this country are the cleanest I have ever seen. Each time you use the toilet, there is a cleaner in the bathroom, cleaning it. So I'm pretty sure I can rest assure that my hand won't fall off anytime soon.
After I dried the phone and wrapped it in paper towels, I stuck it in my purse and we looked around the booths at the crafts. I was a bit irritated at myself because I never place my handbag on the ledge. But for some reason I did this time and it tipped over.
In the end we stopped at a grocery store on the way back to Al Ain and bought a bag of rice to place the phone in. We read that this 'drying' out of the phone often resolves the issue of the almost drown iPhone. I was to leave the phone in the bag for 48 hours, but after about 24 hours I took it out and it actually turned on and worked.
The kids had a great time with the babysitter, thank goodness. Shortly after we got home the kids ate and went to bed. Gina and I had cheese, pate and crackers for dinner and rented a movie. We watched Spy with Melissa Macarthy. We laughed until we cried.
Stuart finally got home from the 7s just before midnight. His team had lost but he had a great day with the boys, but had decided he wouldn't go back on Saturday. Stuart decided to take my phone out of the bag and try it out. It worked! Yahoo!
We bummed around on Saturday morning, doing a whole lot of nothing. Gina had helped with where to place Elfvis the night before, which was cute. She helped us place Elfvis in her sink, fishing. The kids were so excited when they discovered him.
Around 11 am Gina and I headed to Abu Dhabi to do some shopping and have some lunch. I bought some Christmas items and we had a lovely curry lunch. Gina had a mani/pedi scheduled at 4 pm. At that time I headed back to Al Ain. Once home it was time to get back to my version of reality. Two more weeks and we are on December break. One more week and Grammie and Pop will be here. Everyone is so excited. The year is flying by!
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