I ended up texting my principal to tell her what was happening so it wouldn't be a shock to her when it came to me leaving a great deal this week. She was fine with it and really is quite accommodating with those of us who have kids and often need to take care of things during the day.
We went to the assessment, in which the tester was late. That wasn't terribly impressive, and he spoke with two students at once, having them take the test at the same time. They don't have a spot for Millie at the moment anyway, so clearly we are not leaning towards Al Ain International School.
When we completed at the school we headed to the grocery store. Since we had spent the weekend in Dubai, our weekly shopping was delayed. I didn't make Jack go back to school so he just headed home with me and watched movies the rest of the afternoon.
Millie went to gymnastics Sunday evening and while she was in class I decided to go for a walk. It wasn't terribly warm and I was amazed at how my knee withstood the walk. Since my knee surgery last summer I was told all I could do was swim or ride the exercise bike. Clearly I can still walk as long as I am careful. This made me happy.
Rugby for the kids is over and Stuart didn't have practice this week, so we had a lot of time on our hands. And as the week progressed, we had even more time as you will read.
Monday we woke up to rain. Usually this means that there will be fewer students at school. However, on this day that was not the case.
After school Millie went for a play date with a little girl in her class, Sophie. Jodi, Sophie's mom, picked them up from school. She stayed until I came to get her at half three. But then I stayed and chatted until 5 pm. Once we were back in the car and on our way home, I got a call from Stuart. He had taken Jack with him to the rugby club. I had totally forgotten that he had a committee meeting. So I ended up going to the club to pick up Jack. Jack had already had a shower, so once we were home the kids ate, or at least Jack did. Millie was so tired that all she could do was throw a bit of a fit. So needless to say she went to bed earlier than Jack.
Stuart got home after Jack had gone to bed. He fixed himself something to eat and we watched a James Bond film. As is quite common, I fell asleep about halfway through. I have had tons of sleep over the past 6 weeks. I go to bed every evening when Stuart does, which is not what I used to do. Sleep is way more important to me than it used to be. Go figure!
Tuesday it was still a little stormy but no rain. By the afternoon it came a crazy storm. Since we rarely get rain people act like maniacs. And to be fair, this storm was a doozie. Winds were insane and since they don't get much rain, storm drains are really not made for run off water. Therefore water stands in the roads and driving is a nightmare.
I ended up leaving school about 45 minutes later than I normally do. It took me over 30 minutes to get home when usually I can make it in 17 minutes. When I pulled out of our school car park I immediately got nervous. The water was up to my door. I called Stuart and told him I wouldn't be shocked if I stalled at some stage. I got home, but not in any record breaking time. The kids were late getting home as well. By about 3:15 pm the rain had stopped but water still stood on the roads. We were going to skip gymnastics, but since the rain had gone I decided to take Millie. It took us 15 minutes to drive what normally takes us 3 minutes. Clearly the route to the gym was not clear and had a great deal of water around it. Once we were at the gym it appeared to be closed. So then McDonalds it is.
Rainy day was called at 1:03 am via email on my school account. This meant there would be no school for Wednesday. The forecast called for the same weather until Thursday evening.
We were still up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday and decided to have Clare and the kids over for lunch. The weather had subsided a bit but still looked very dark outside. It was crazy, but very nice for a change.
Jack was to have his Brighton assessment on Wednesday morning but since all schools were ordered to be closed, it was postponed.
Around 8 am the kids went upstairs to play. They had been in time out previously and were warned that it would be a long day for each of them if they didn't sort out how to get along and be nice to each other.
11 am the Richardsons arrived for lunch. The weather seemed fine and the kids played outside for a while. At 1 pm the heavens opened up, just as Clare and Henry needed to leave for a doctor appointment.
It was just after the storm that we were informed there would be no school on Thursday either. It seems that many of the schools had water pouring into them. As the storm drains are not equipped for the rain, neither are the roofs. I will take a 4 day weekend any way I can get it.
Around 3 pm Clare and Henry returned and picked up May. Stuart then headed to the bottle shop for beer which we haven't done since November. Shocking!
I was a bit stir crazy so decided to go to Abelas, our corner supermarket, to look around. On my way I ran into Cathy. She was going for a walk to see some of the flooding by one of the wadis (same as Arizona washes). I decided to stop my car and walk with her, although I was in flip flops.
When I returned from my one hour journey and visit to the super market, Scott was at our place. He was off work but wanted to wait until traffic and water cleared a bit before heading home. He also needed to pick up the beer and wine Stuart had bought for him.
In the rain here, it really is like going out in snow in other parts of the world. All drivers are not sure what to do. It's crazy.
The evening was spent feeding kids, no baths because no one did anything all day, and bedtime.
Thursday, once we were up and around, we decided to do our grocery shop for the cookout planned for Friday. After we were home we watched movies and lounged around. Millie's gymnastics was canceled again but she was fine with that because it meant we would ride with Stuart and Jack to the Richardsons for dinner at their house.
We took the kids' bikes so they could ride in the small 'lake' that had developed in their parking area by their villa. They played for over an hour in the water and then were inside for baths and food.
We got home just after 8 pm and Millie was sound asleep. Jack went straight to bed, and Stuart and I followed once laundry was started and bikes were unloaded from the car.
Friday morning Stuart took the kids to the pool while I went to the mall in search of a new condenser dryer. Ours died earlier in the week and unfortunately I am not the person who can just hang clothes to dry. It's just more than my OCD can handle, having clothes everywhere all the time.
Cathy went with me and we ended up visiting two malls and buying several things, none of which were a clothes dryer. However, I did price one up and would go back on Saturday morning to get it.
The Richardsons, O'Reillys and Cathy's crew were due to come over around 3 pm for a bbq. We had more meat than you could shake a stick at. There was salad and potatoes, which we all hardly made a dent in. There was so much meat left that it warranted Stuart's culinary skills to turn it all into something fantastic.
We ate, sat on our back patio, talked and laughed until around 8 pm. The kids went to bed and Stuart, Cathy and I continued to chat until just before 10 pm. She walked home and we went to bed. A bbq is always a fun evening with our group of friends.
Saturday we went to the mall to buy our dryer. I washed beds in the morning and knew they wouldn't be dry by nightfall. This was the final straw. We also bought a Bluetooth wireless speaker so we could play music in the house. We had placed Stuart's phone in a Pyrex bowl at our bbq and were made fun of, so we decided maybe we needed something a little more modern. It will also be good to take with us when we go on holiday.
The kids decided they wanted to go to Fun Farm, a play structure where we can drop them off for an hour. In that time we finished up our shopping and took everything back to the car. The dryer will be delivered on Wednesday. Whew!
We ate lunch at PF Changs and then headed home for a while. Millie had a birthday party to go to at a park by her school. The little boy in her class is from Finland. One of the great advantages of what we are doing is that my kids know people from all over the world. They have learned about different cultures, not only the Arabic culture. It blows my mind to think of the experiences they have and will have during our time here.
Once the party was over we headed to the Richardsons for curry night. We always have such a relaxing time at their house. I always intrude by bringing my kids' pjs and towels and having them shower at their house. That way, once we get in the car to head home, which is usually after or close to their bedtime, they either go to sleep or are ready to go to sleep once we arrive. It's great. One less battle for me, for sure.
We watched the Ireland vs Italy rugby match, part of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament. We just can't get enough of it. We left at the end of the match and were home with kids in bed by 7:30 pm.
Just two weeks of school before we head to Sri Lanka. We are getting very excited.
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