The kids didn't have school this week. Because they go to a British school, they follow the calendar typically used in the U.K. So they have a half term break. Fortunately, Clare offered to keep them all week. Although that only lasted until Tuesday, it was still very helpful.
I had training on Sunday, therefore I was able to take them to Clare's and not worry about being late. My training was to start at 8:15, but of course they didn’t get started until 9 am. The training was on how to make progress with students in reading, both in Arabic and English. What I saw didn’t even compare to the progress we are making using the Daily 5. So in the end, the information wasn’t all that useful for me.
I was finished by 11:30 am and then went to pick up the kids. When we got home, the kids played upstairs for a while as I decided to make enchiladas. I made a double batch so I could freeze half of it and pull it out for another time. Once Stuart was home and in charge of the kids, I went to meet a gal getting ready to have gastric sleeve surgery. She had questions and was quite nervous about the process. Unfortunately, as I have said before, the doctor we are all using is not that great with before and after care. He relies on the patient to do their own research. I have started to think I should charge him a finding fee for all of these people who have wanted to pick my brain regarding the surgery. I don’t have all the answers, but I have done a great deal of research and definitely give them more information than he does. I have now sent him 5 patients. That’s a good bit of money I have made for him.
Once I had imparted all of the knowledge I had on Reneta (surgery gal), I drove to the club where the kids were training for rugby. I decided I would swim some laps, as I hadn’t done that in a long while. I swam about 24 and then it got too crowded. Since the restaurant is still not open, many people park themselves at the pool bar, therefore their kids occupy the pool as well. I decided 24 laps was enough, got out of the pool, chatted with one of my teachers, and then headed to the pitches to collect my children. I took Millie and Jack home and Stuart followed after us. I started their cleaning routine and Stuart made them a bite to eat.
Once the kids were fed and in bed, Stuart headed to an emergency executive committee meeting, which is code for 'come over, I ordered pizza and beer'. Kidding! I know they had many important duties to deal with regarding the rugby club. When he got home it was just after 10 pm, and I was fast asleep on the sofa. I resigned to the bed, which is probably the earliest I had been to bed in weeks. I love sofa snoozing!
Monday I was up to walk, got the kids ready for their day with May and Henry, and drove them down to their house. Of course this made me even more late to work than normal, but it was unavoidable.
I had two observations I knew nothing about. It seems that our Arabic Head of Faculty was out sick again so I needed to cover for her observations. It’s strange and exhausting to sit in on the Arabic observations. For the most part, I can tell what they are doing, but not knowing exactly what they are saying makes me tired. Usually someone is in there observing with me to translate, but that makes it exhausting for that other person as well.
I kept pretty busy all day. It was a nice change because I avoided the late afternoon sleepies that I get most days. I just want to take a nap, not because I’m tired, but because I’m bored. Oh to have my work load.
After school I was home long enough to get the kids ready for bed. Stuart fed them and then once I had gone, he went upstairs to change for rugby, came back downstairs and they were both asleep on the sofa. It was only 5:50 pm. He put them both in bed and they slept through the night. They must have had quite the day at Clare’s. Kayleigh came over to babysit while I was at the mall meeting with Kendra (surgery girl number 4) and Reneta (again). Renetawanted to meet someone who was going to have the surgery the same weekend as she was. We sat and chatted for almost 2 hours about what they could expect after surgery as well as what they should eat/drink for the first few weeks. They then headed to the supermarket for some Pediasure, while I headed to shop for a bit. I didn’t really buy anything other than some underwear, but never mind about that.
As I was leaving the mall, I saw the director of The Land of Lost Stories and her family. I stood and talked with them for a bit and told them how much Jack loved being in the play. They laughed and were very complimentary of Jack and all the ‘little guys’ in the play. I really hope they do some more productions. Although it was a hectic schedule, I know Jack enjoyed the experience. I would love for Millie to be a part of something like that as well.
Stuart had already returned from rugby by the time I got home. He had eaten and was on his way to bed. I, on the other hand, would need some wind down time. I headed upstairs to take a shower and then came back down to have a bite to eat and watch some television. The cats curled up with me and the next thing I knew I was headed upstairs for the rest of the night.
Tuesday morning Stuart decided he would tell his principal that he would be late and he would take the kids to Clare’s. It was nice for me because then I was able to be early to school for the first time this year. He has decided that he is going to stay home with them, until Brian picks them up, at least two days a week so I am not always the one who is late to school.
When I got to school I headed in to our Vice Principal of Student Service’s office. There was a mom in there who was uncontrollably angry, and yelling at the Vice Principal. It reminded me of home. Typically, there is no arguing back from the senior leaders, but we have a fireball of a Vice Principal and she doesn’t take crap off of anyone. She is the Arabic version of me. I love her!
As the day went on, I had more to occupy my time. I had discovered that the English teachers on my boy’s side had been given more teacher assistant time, which meant they would have an Arabic speaking assistant in their room more periods of the day. It was wonderful. What happens in the classrooms with just boys is that the conversation taking place in the room doesn’t always match up with what they are supposed to be doing. Sometimes the kids will call each other’s mothers ‘goats’, which is haram to call any human an animal. Well, people who don’t speak Arabic don’t know those things have happened until it escalates into a fight. When we have a native Arabic speaker in the room as well, those problems diminish.
After school I headed to the girlie doctor. No need to speak more about that unless of course I need some kind of procedure, which she thinks I will. Let’s just say the plumbing doesn’t work like it’s supposed to so they may need to remove it. I will find out more on Sunday when I meet with the specialist.
After my traumatizing experience at the doctor, I met Cathy at the mall for a coffee. She had messaged me about my protein bars being on special at one of the kiosks in the mall. Naturally, I had to head over to take advantage of the sale. After our coffee and conversation, I headed to the rugby club to meet the family. I ran into Mandy who introduced me to her father and his girlfriend who are visiting from South Africa. We planned to meet up again on Friday for the rugby matches.
Once training was over for the kids, I took them home for showers. Stuart had to deliver some mattresses to some of the rugby club workers, so he met us at home once he had delivered the goods. In the meantime, I fixed the kids beans on toast. Millie had tried this combination over the summer at Grandma’s house. We were pleased that she loved it. It’s an easy meal for me to fix and we all know how I love the kitchen. While the kids were eating, Stuart Skyped his mum and was able to speak with Hope. The kids did as well but were crazy, as they usually are on Skype. Hope was on her half term break as well and spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa in Hastings.
Once the Skyping was over, the kids headed to bed. It was almost 8 pm and we had planned a day out in Abu Dhabi the following day. Since the kids were out on break, I felt the need to take an emergency day and spend it with them. Clare, Henry, May and the three of us went to Adventure HQ to ride bikes and scooters on the ramps, do the climbing structure, and bounce on the trampolines. Millie was only old enough to do the trampolines and the kiddie climbing wall, but she had fun in spite of that. They spent an hour in the morning at the facility and then we headed to eat lunch. After lunch, we left May, Henry and Jack at the facility, but Millie was too little so we took her with us to do some browsing. I bought 4 new swimsuits that were on sale as it is the end of the season. I also bought some new cotton trousers for school.
We took Millie back to bounce with the other three around 3 pm. The kids were super sweaty when it was all said and done, and they were hungry again. We decided that a donut from Dunkin Donuts would keep them filled until we got home. On the way home, the traffic was horrendous, the kids were wild and loud and I was a bit of a nervous wreck over it all. We came upon a wreck that had more than likely occurred because someone was following too closely.
We arrived home around 5:30 pm, but about 15 minutes outside of Al Ain a traffic camera flashed as I was passing it. Now, there were several other cars around so it could have flashed them as well. However, Clare thinks it flashed me because she thought I was following too closely behind the vehicle in front of me. The guy behind me was on my tail much closer than I was to the guy in front of me. I suppose I will find out soon as Stuart will get that report on his phone. He was not happy, mainly because we were in his car. Oh no, maybe he was upset because I was following too closely. Oh wait, there are ‘black’ points attached to this type of ticket, which will go on his license since it’s his car. Or maybe it was the fact that these tickets are not cheap. Uh, or it could be all of the above.
Needless to say I was not in a good mood when we got home. I yelled at the kids, Stuart was cross with me, and it put a damper on the day, unfortunately. The kids were wiped out. Jack tried to make up for things by helping me do the laundry and then helping get food for himself and Millie. He is still such a little, excited boy that sometimes his behavior is silly and unruly. Poor kid, I expect him to act older than he is, mainly because he looks older than he is. I really need to ease up on him. He’s a good boy. Millie was a sass pot the entire day. She does her best to keep up with the big kids and sometimes that means she is inappropriate in her behavior. Raising kids is the toughest job you’ll ever love. The Peace Corps has nothing on parents!
The kids were wiped out from their day, so much so that Millie was going to forfeit eating anything once we got home. Once they were clean I pieced together something for them to eat, then Millie was off to bed. While I sang Millie to sleep, Jack fell asleep on the sofa downstairs. He was mouth-opened sleeping by the time I got back downstairs. I carried him upstairs, which was not an easy task. The kid’s legs were nearly brushing the stairs as I trudged him to his bed. He is WAY too big for me to carry anymore. However, he was comatose and would not wake up for anything. Next time I will just have to leave him there until morning, I suspect.
Once he was in his bed, I took a shower and headed back downstairs for my nightly routine. Stuart had left for rugby and we had sent a few apology texts, so at least we weren’t still in ‘that place’ with each other. It was all a bit silly and didn’t matter in the end. He was concerned for our safety and I wanted the kids to know they can’t goof around in the car because it is dangerous. I think everyone got the point in the end.
As soon as I got downstairs, like all too often, I heard boys talking under our living room window. The houses we live in don’t have the best soundproofing so you can hear every conversation that takes place if it is right outside your window. I went out to talk to them, as we often do, and asked them why they didn’t play outside of their own house. Their response was ‘my neighbors don’t like me playing in front of their house.’ Duh! Neither do we. These boys are teenagers and very respectful, although I can’t say that about every teenager we have spoken to, but these boys were nice. In the end they moved across the street, which was good enough for me. I tried to appeal to their sense of decency and it seemed to work…..that night at least.
Thursday it was back at school and the kids went to Brian’s house for the day. Clare had some appointments and it was just going to be too much for the kids to tag along with her. They were thrilled to go to Brian’s, or at least Jack was, because the Playstation 4 would be on all day. School was uneventful, thank goodness. I had 6 boys in my office for a popcorn party in the morning and then didn’t really hear from any particular boy the rest of the day.
I left as soon as the kids were gone and headed home to my own two kids. I picked them up from Brian and Lara's and went home to get my bag ready to go meet Gina in Abu Dhabi for the evening. We were going to stay at the Westin, get pedicures on Friday morning, shop for a bit, and then head back to Al Ain for an evening of rugby.
I headed to Abu Dhabi, with my first stop being at RahaBeach Mall to buy cat litter. I know it sounds strange, but it's good and cheap, so worth shooting by there if one of us is in Abu Dhabi anyway. I then headed to Yas Mall for a bit before meeting Gina at the Westin Hotel and Spa. Naturally I had a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. I think I will cry when the season where these lattes can be purchased is over. I buy one every time I get the chance, sometimes twice a day. This might be my new addiction.
I finally arrived at the hotel and Gina and I headed to the spa for a much needed massage. At one point I thought the therapist was going to break my ankles. It hurt so good. We finished our treatments and sat in the relaxation lounge for a while, in fact until they kicked us out. We had a shower and then headed back to the room for some room service. The thought of getting dressed to go out and eat was too daunting. Plus, it was after 10 pm and the restaurants were closing.
We stayed up and talked until well after midnight. I love my time with Gina as I know we have been through a lot of life lessons together and we appreciate each other. She is a good friend. I have always said she is the most loyal friend I have. She would do anything she could to help her true friends out. Her Abu Dhabi breaks are fun for me!
We were up by 7 am. Try as I may, I usually can’t sleep past that time. I suppose the internal clock is always set. We headed to breakfast just after 8 am, and then on to Al Wadha Mall for pedicures. The pedicure took much longer than anticipated, for me. I have two big toes that think it’s okay to fall off whenever they want. So I had to get false/gel nails attached. That seemed to be the hold up. So, although I would have liked to get some more shopping in, it wasn’t meant to be.
We did shop a bit after the manis and pedis, and then we decided to grab a bite to eat at Russo’s, an Italian bistro. We had been there before, but this time the service was beyond crap. We sat down at a table and the usual garlic flat bread that comes out as an appetizer didn’t show up. Gina didn’t get her water, and once the food did come, 20 minutes after we ordered, we had nothing to eat it with. We actually decided to get up and leave just as the food arrived. And that food looked amazing. However, if you know Gina and me very well, you know that we dig our heels in and will not budge for anything once we are irritated. Believe me, it has caused some friction between us from time to time. But this time we were on the same team and both irritated….and still hungry once we left.
We popped down to the frozen yogurt shop where Gina got a cup of pomegranate yogurt and I had a protein bar that I ate on the way back to Al Ain. We didn’t starve, I’m happy to report. We got into Al Ain just as Stuart’s match started. I didn’t see the near fight he got into as the match began. Apparently a guy on the other team tackled Stuart before he even caught the ball. Stuart had some choice words for him and restrained himself from punching the guy in the face. It’s hard to believe that Stuart can get that agitated, but he keeps that side of himself for the rugby pitch, thank goodness.
We stayed at the club until about 8 pm, and then it was home for showers and bed. The kids went straight to bed, but Gina and I attempted to watch one episode of House of Cards. Gina and I had started watching season 4 in August and needed to finish it. We only got through one episode because we were so tired.
I got up Saturday morning just before 7 am to Skype Liz so she could fill in my ballot. Once we actually connected, Icouldn't hear her but she could hear me. It was quite comical. She showed me the ballot and I told her how to draw the lines. Voting this year was not very fun. I know that everything will work out as it is supposed to, but it’s a difficult year in American politics no matter which side you are on.
Once we were up and everyone had eaten breakfast, we headed to Barari Mall to Fun Block. Gina and I were going to shop while the kids played. However, Millie wasn't allowed to stay on her own even though she had done so the last two times we were there. Naturally my stubbornness came out and I told the people that we would not be there again. I stated they would no longer get any of my money. It may be true that they will no longer get any of my money, but we will be there again as Millie has a birthday party there next Thursday. I didn’t really think of that until after I spouted off my big mouth. It’s the story of my life! I’m not proud of that part of me, but I don’t ever seem to learn.
We ended up taking the kids with us to shop and they were actually pretty good in spite of the disappointment of not getting to stay and play. Gina bought some much needed shows, and I bought some shoes I didn’t need, but I liked. I bought Jack some new tennis shoes for school. I bought him a brand new pair less than 2 months ago and he has already grown out of them. I suspect he is going through a big growth spurt again. I anticipate having to do this kind of buying for the next 10 years, sadly. He is going to be a giant!
When we were finished shoe shopping we went to get some groceries for Halloween night. We have invited people over for chili and to sit outside and pass out candy. It should be a good night. Once we were home we watched the last two episodes of House of Cards and had a bite to eat. The kids went to at Keith and Ian's. Although I told Jack to be home at 3:30 pm, I ended up going to get him around 4 pm. Once they were home they played upstairs, while the three adults watched our own television shows. Jack was not terribly impressed by the fact that we were hogging the downstairs television, but he resigned himself to the upstairs anyway.
The kids showered around 5:30 pm, got their nails cut, and ate beef sausages and spaghetti for dinner. We let them eat upstairs in from of their movie, which never happens, so they thought they were really getting away with something. Millie, although she was in bed at 6:30, did not go to sleep until almost 8 pm. She didn’t like that Jack was still up when she went to bed. Normally it is not that big of a deal because Jack is downstairs when she is in her bed. But on Saturday night he was just down the hall from her room, watching tv. She just wanted to be out there with him. Meanwhile, Jack, who went to his room at 7:15 to read a book, was sounds asleep, with his light on, when I went up to tell him goodnight. Millie dropped off shortly after that.
Gina, Stuart and I had enchilada casserole for dinner, along with boerewors (pronounced bore-a-vors), a South African prepared beef sausage, and roasted potatoes. It was a hodgepodge of a dinner, but it was delicious for sure. We watched Sherlock, one of our favorite series to watch again and again, until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open. Thank goodness Gina doesn’t look to be entertained when she comes to see us. Our lives can be a bit mundane from time to time. I think she just enjoys being with people who remind her of home. I enjoy that as well.
Another week of goodness in the UAE!
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