I was up early, as usual, and stuck with my normal morning routine. Because Millie had lost her tooth on Saturday evening she wanted to Skype Grammie and Pop and tell them about it. Once she was up and had sleepily shown me her tooth fairy money, we headed downstairs for breakfast, brushing of teeth and hair before Skyping G and P.
Millie Skyped them on her own and we all talked to them for about 20 minutes. I had told Brian, the kids' driver to come a little later on Sunday morning and then was going to have him take me to the hospital after we dropped the kids off. And that is exactly what happened.
I was a little early to the hospital, but I knew that wouldn't matter to anyone. When I was all checked in they put me in the little ward area and gave me a gown to put on. The gown was warm, thank goodness because I had forgotten a jacket and it was freezing in the hospital.
The doctor came in to see me and said she would start the process. I will spare you the details, but the first part would take 3 to 4 hours to be complete, and that was what happened before the operation. Fortunately she had told me this ahead of time so I brought some books and things to keep me occupied.
I read for the first hour and developed a headache, I think more from the lack of water and caffeine than anything. Then I got up and went to the bathroom, weighed myself, as you do when you are waiting for surgery, and headed back to my bed. The nurse came to put in my IV and apologized for the tape she had to use. Clearly it was from pediatrics. I wasn't bothered at all. In fact, it thought it was sweet.
After my IV went in I thought I would take a nap. However, there was a baby in the ward that was crying, continuously for at least 45 minutes. I was in the operating ward so I can only assume the baby was having some sort of procedure. Poor thing!
I did snooze a bit but then had to go to the bathroom, more out of nerves than anything else. At about a quarter past twelve I heard them taking the lady next to me into surgery. She was having a similar procedure, just with a different doctor, so I hoped it wouldn't be long. As I continue to lay on the bed, I realized that I hadn't packed Jack a sandwich or anything substantial in his lunch. I gave him two fruits, some carrots, a cheese stick, a yogurt and a granola bar. And although that sounds like plenty, I always give him a sandwich or something equivalent as well. Poor boy! Bad mama moment!
I was finally taken into surgery at 1:45 pm and then woke up in recovery at 2:45 pm. I was groggy but after about 15 minutes I was feeling relatively normal. My mother has always had such a time with anesthesia, clearly that gene wasn't passed to me thank goodness. They transferred me up to my room at about 3:15 pm and I called Stuart, texted Cathy and Mandy, and started watching a movie on tv. I was a bit crampy and gassy (which is totally consistent for me), but other than that I was just fine. So I put my feet up and prayed for the gas to escape my butt! I was pleased when I finally farted.
Cathy and her mum came to see me around 3:30 pm. She had a follow-up appointment and then was going to wait for Kayleigh, who had a doctor appointment at 5 pm, to pick her up. We had a lovely chat, and it was odd that the week prior to that I was actually sitting in the chair and she was on the bed.
Stuart was planning on coming to get me after rugby, but instead Leanne insisted she come and get me to take me home because she was out and about anyway. She said if she came to get me then Stuart could take the kids to the club for rugby and have them home and bathed by the time I got home. I told her I would message her as soon as I got the discharge papers.
By 5:40 pm I was over it all and ready to leave. The nurse came in and I asked her when I could leave. She handed me an envelope and said, ‘You can leave as soon as you get dressed.’ So, I hustled my happy butt into the bathroom, got my clothes on and hurried downstairs to get my prescription, which I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to need. It was just for pain and I didn’t have any at the time. I had messaged Leanne and knew she was on her way. I decided to grace Starbucks with my presence and got a latte. Just as I ordered, Leanne was standing behind me, all tentative to hug me. Oh for goodness sake, there was definitely no need to be ‘gentle’. It was a routine procedure and I was fine, but it was sweet that she wanted to take care of me.
I got home at 7:30 and the kids were still awake, but were on their way to bed. I decided to go up and put both kids to bed. I got a bite to eat, watched some television and fell asleep on the sofa. I went to bed just after 10 pm, and then woke up at 2:30 am thinking it was probably about 6 am. I was awake for about a half hour and then went back to sleep until about 6 am. Anesthetic kind of messes up your body. I suppose I was out for over an hour that afternoon, so maybe that was why I felt so rested.
I got up Monday morning to make the kids' lunches and get them ready for school. I was a bit groggy from the anesthetic and a bit crampy, but nothing out of the ordinary. I sorted out our wrapping paper drawer, wrapped our Christmas presents going to Australia, and then sat down for a bit of a Glee marathon. Stuart got home early and we went to 101 Cafeteria to get some lunch. When we returned home we delivered enchiladas that I had in the freezer for Cathy. We both forgot I had promised them to her. We didn't stay long because Millie was on her way home. Once we were home I put chicken legs in the oven for the kids for dinner. I also made some blueberry muffins. When I do have time to bake or cook I actually done mind doing it.
Stuart headed out to get Jack shortly after Millie was home. Millie did her homework and once Jack was home, he did his. I started feeling a bit tired so laid on the sofa and had a cup of tea. Stuart and I watched an episode of West Wing while the kids played upstairs.
The kids ate dinner and took showers. Clare came by for a chat around 6:15 pm, and shortly after that Scott dropped their kids off and they hopped in the shower and got clean. They left shortly after that because May was getting itchy. She is, unfortunately, allergic to cats. Jack and Millie went to bed shortly after the Richardsons left. I watched Friends. When Stuart got home, just before 10 pm, we looked at the family pictures we had taken in the desert.We decided our choice in clothing wasn't the greatest, butthere were some good pictures, so we will hopefully have those soon to post.
On Tuesday morning I was pretty much back to my old self. I messaged Cathy to see if she and her mum wanted to take a field trip to the mall. I had some things I needed to get, something to return, and then some groceries. I knew we would have to be strategic because Cathy would poop out quickly. She responded that she was up for it. So I went to pick them up around 9:30 am and off to the mall we went. We had a successful trip, and I am pleased to announce that I am officially finished with my Christmas shopping.
Once I was home I waited for the kids to return from school. When they did, I had them get their homework finished and then they were able to play upstairs for a bit, before getting a bite to eat and heading to rugby training with Stuart. While they were gone, Mandy came over so we could sort out our trip to Jordan. We marked out our trip and made decisions as to what we would see. It seems it is going to be rather cold when we are there so I might need some warmer clothes before we go.
After Mandy left, I sorted through the family photos we had taken and made final decisions about what we wanted printed. Stuart, Jack and Millie returned and Stuart continued cooking the pork belly he had put in the oven before he left. The kids showered, had something to eat and went promptly to bed, well, maybe not so promptly. Sean came over for dinner and he and Stuart ate while I spoke on the phone with my dear friend, Ken, from Arizona. I haven’t spoken to him since we left in July, so it was nice to get caught up.
After everyone was all snug in their bed and I had eaten a bite, I curled up and had a sleep on the sofa. It wasn’t a long sleep, but more like a nap. I went to bed around 10 pm only to be awoken on numerous occasions by Pumpkin, our female cat who we think is in heat. She was too little to be spay last time we took her to the vet so naturally she would go into heat before we could get that sorted. Oh help me! If you have never experienced this joy, don’t feel you need to. The whines are like a small baby crying and no matter what you do, it doesn’t help. She started crying like a baby at sundown and didn’t stop until sun up. She must have jumped up and opened our bedroom door about 6 times in the night.
Wednesday morning at about 4:30 am both cats broke into Millie's room and all I heard was Millie's scream and cry. She ended up coming into our bed for the last hour and a half of sleep. Jack woke up and ended up going downstairs at 5 am because Millie’s scream had disturbed his slumber. It was my goal on Wednesday to book an appointment to have that cat fixed as soon as possible.
I was home again on Wednesday simply watching television. I did make one trip out of the house to schedule Pumpkin's operation so we can all sleep again. Millie was home just after 2 pm and she and I sat and watched several episodes of Friends. I find it's not the best show for a 5 year old. Stuart went straight from school to pick up Jack from soccer.
When everyone was home and Jack was changed out of his uniform, he and Millie headed to Sammy and Michael's house to play. Not two minutes after they had left, all of the kids were back at our house. They played here until about 4:30 pm. Once they left, the kids showered, together, and were goofing off, which is why they don't get to shower together. It's more trouble than it's worth, but it is delightful to hear them giggle the entire time the water is just running, senselessly. They had a dinner of leftovers and other things that needed to get out of the fridge. Then they were off to the living room to watch Mary Poppins.
Once Stuart was home from rugby, we were off to bed. Pumpkin was killing us, being in heat. We decided if we left our door open she would come in on our bed and just sleep. Well, that was not at all what happened. In fact, Wednesday night was WAY worse than Tuesday night. I must have been up every hour to shut Millie’s door. Thank goodness we were going away for the weekend.
Stuart took Thursday off to sort out our Land Rover and get some things done before the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa. But for the first 2 hours of the morning we just drank coffee. Ah! We dropped the Land Rover off around 10 am and then went to the provisions store for some wine. Stuart dropped me off at home because he had to do some rugby club business. I had some lunch and watched television. And since the previous night was spent trying to get Pumpkin to stop whining, I might have taken a little nap.
The kids got home just after 2:30 and then we were off to Dubai for the weekend. On the way, Stuart's car turned over to 100,000 kilometers. It's exactly 3 years old. We have put some serious kilometers on that car for living in such a small country.
We arrived at the Dusit Thani Hotel Apartments just before 5 pm. We went to the room and enjoyed the view of the marina. We had a cup of tea, and then decided to go to a place called Wingsters. It was a mob-themed wing place. We had tried to go there one time before, while in Dubai, but the walk was too long. The walk there this time was a total pain, but we did it anyway. Thank goodness it was yummy! Once we had finished eating we stopped in at a little market to get some water. We decided to take a different way back to the hotel which proved to be less of a bother.
Back in the apartment, the kids showered and got ready for bed. They were going to wait up until Grandma and Grandpa arrived, but Millie didn't make it. While the kids were watching television in the common area, before Millie fell asleep, I FaceTimed my brother. We talked for about an hour and a half. It was so great! We haven’t done much of that over the last three years, so it was about time we reconnected. Just after I got off the phone with Mitch, I decided to take a shower. Stuart had gone downstairs to meet his mum and step-dad.
Once Karen and Barry were upstairs, Jack gave them both big hugs and quickly faded. I finally took him into his room around 11 pm and he was asleep in no time. We stayed up until half past twelve just talking and drinking coffee, well some of us at least.
We brought bread and other breakfast foods so we could at least cut the cost on the meals out. We got up Friday morning and had breakfast, then headed to Dubai Mall for the day. Grandma had seen the mall, but Grandpa had never been to Dubai so we watched the fountains, did some shopping, viewed the Burj Khalifa, had a meal, and a few coffees.
After lunch we decided to go to the aquarium in the mall. I had some entertainer vouchers so it turned out to be half priced. By the time we had another coffee, we were all pretty pooped.
We headed back to the marina and were going to eat at this restaurant downstairs from our hotel, because they had sheesha, but once we got there they told us the kids could not sit in the smoking section. It had nothing to do with the sheesha, itself, but rather the coals they use to heat the tobacco. So instead we went up to the hotel restaurant where I discovered I had some more vouchers for buy one get one free meals. What a bonus! Millie fell asleep before her food came, and Jack barely stayed awake long enough to eat his chicken sausages.
After the meal, Stuart took the kids upstairs to the room while I settled up the bill. Then Grandma went up to relieve Stuart and he came down and met Grandpa and I at the sheesha place. We had coffees and sheesha. I really don’t like it because it gives me a headache, but the taste is actually rather sweet and nothing like cigarettes. However, I am thinking I did my last sheesha on that night. We got back up to the room around 11:30 pm, having had a complete day. Needless to say, we were wiped out.
We were up with clothes in the dryer by 7 am. Since Grandma and Grandpa are on a 4-month journey, they wanted to wash clothes when they could. There was a washer and dryer in the apartment and since our dryer is on the fritz, we decided it would be a good idea to wash the two days of laundry we had with us as well. While the clothes dried, kids hopped in the shower because they had fallen asleep the previous evening without having had a shower. We all had a bite to eat and then got organized to leave. We were going to leave the bags at the hotel because Grandma and Grandpa weren't leaving for Australia until early Sunday morning. So we spent the day wandering around Dubai and showing them more of the sites.
We went to the Souq Madinat Jumeriah, very close to the Burj Al Arab, which can be seen in the background of one of the pictures.
We walked around the souq and bought a few little things. We stopped at Starbucks for a latte and then ate at McGettigans, the Irish pub we enjoy that is also in Abu Dhabi. After lunch I stumbled on a Tommy Bahamas store where I bought a pair of shorts and three tank tops. Once we were finished at the Souq we headed to the palm where we made a stop at the Beach Bar at Anantara.
The kids played on the beach while the adults sat and soaked up the sun. The weather was perfect. We watched the sunset and then decided it was time to head back to collect our bags from reception at Dusit Thani.
When we left the hotel that morning we were told we could use the facilities until the flight left that evening. So, being the ‘traveler’ I am, I had packed a little shower bag for Jack and Millie, took them up to the pool showers and got them ready for bed. Although we had an hour and a half drive back to Al Ain, we still hadn’t had supper and they were filthy. Well, we all know I seldom let them go to bed not having had a shower, and especially after playing in the sand on the beach all day. So they were nice and clean when we headed to eat, and on the way home they were able to fall asleep and be carried straight into their bed once we arrived in Al Ain. It was perfect.
It was not so difficult to bid ado to Grandma and Grandpa because we knew we would see them in less than three weeks. The 2 days were a whirlwind, but we packed in as much as we could and felt pretty successful in our efforts to see as much as possible. We arrived home just after 10 pm and got unpacked and in bed by 11 pm. What a great week it was, yet again!
School pictures
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