I went to school knowing I would go see the girlie doctor regarding having a hysteroscopy. Just look it up. There is no need for me to go into details, although you know I could. At school I was busy, but ended up leaving after lunch to go see Cathy, and then on to the doctor’s appointment. After seeing the doctor, I went to pick up Claire. I was late, but she probably had time to chat with some of her friends so it was no big deal. Stuart was also late to pick up Jack. Sometimes our school schedules don’t work out with scheduling other things, but we try not to be too overbooked.
Once we were all home, I rushed to make the kids some food and then off to rugby we went. I ended up riding the exercise bike in the gym instead of running around the pitches. I sat outside afterwards and got a bit chilly. I think it was all of 78 degrees. You all know that desert rats need a light sweater when it jumps below 80.
Once we were home and the kids were in bed, I slept through some more of the series The Crown. I’m going to have to go back and catch up at some stage just so I can actually watch and understand the show as it progresses. I went to bed around midnight knowing I wouldn’t be walking the following morning because Lara’s toe was still not quite right after pulling her big toe nail off. Ick!
I woke up on Monday morning and had an appointment with the anesthesiologist at 11:30 am. Since I had the day off anyway, Stuart asked me if I could drop off the kids’ passports at the Zone as their visas were up for renewal and the needed paperwork would be ready. The renewal process for our visas was simply us dropping off our passports and then waiting for the call to pick them up with the visa inside already. Well, I suppose the process for non-employees is different than for the employees. I had to actually go to immigration to get this all processed. Why is this my job? Boo! It was relatively painless, but I did have to wait longer than I had wanted to.
Cathy got discharged from the hospital on Monday, and since I was off from school I went to pick her up. My appointment was later than her discharge, so I checked with the nurse to see if I could meet with the anesthesiologist early. They agreed and moved my appointment up all of 15 minutes. Cathy didn’t mind waiting with her mother in the Starbucks in the lobby, so it worked out nicely. The anesthesiologist was the same one Jack had when he had his tonsils taken out. She was the one who gave her phone to him to play while they wheeled him back to surgery. I was kind of excited. I hope she gives me her phone as well.
I was home just before Millie got home from school. When she went to change out of her uniform she decided to put onher gymnastic outfit. I think it might be two sizes too small now, and I’m not really sure how she got into it. It was so tight and very difficult to get off when she went to take a bath.
Stuart was off to pick up Jack and once he was home, both kids did their homework and ran off to Keith and Ian’s to play. Before they left, I pulled Jack to me and said, “Did you speak with Eleanor (refer to last week’s blog for the pre-story) today? And do you still want to go to her house for the play date on Saturday?” His answer to both questions was ‘yes’ and then of course I couldn’t let it lie. I had to start singing the song from Rapunzel, Mother Knows Best. Maybe a bit over the top. It kind of irritated him, so I stopped.
About 4:30 pm Rochelle came around with her three kids. It had been a while since we had had a good natter (gossip session). I messaged Lara and asked her to send my kids back because the Rouvis were at our house. The kids played and we had a good catch up. It was the first time any kids have left our house and the upstairs was actually tidied up. Maybe my kids are tired of me nagging them about cleaning up their messes.
The kids ate a dinner of hot dogs and green beans, showered and were off to bed. Stuart was off to rugby, and I was back to searching for a new television show to watch, and of course napping on the sofa. Once Stuart was home we watched (well, just he was actually watching) The Crown and then went to bed early.
Everyone was up and out the door on Tuesday morning. I actually walked with Lara as her toe had somewhat recovered. Once I was at work I told my senior leadership team about my surgery. When I was telling my local academic Vice Principal, I pointed to my stomach region. She said, “Oh, you will have a tummy tuck?” This is where I live, people!
I had a very busy day getting all my ducks in a row for the following week since I wouldn't be there. I left school and headed home for a cup of coffee before heading off to get Claire. Once I returned with her, I dropped by the house to take Jack to have a haircut for our family photo shoot on Wednesday. Of course Millie had to go with us as well. Since we were close to McDonalds, I fed the kids then did some grocery shopping so we wouldn't have to go over the weekend. We got home just in time for the kids to get their boots on and head to rugby.
We ended up staying at the rugby club until almost 8 pm, just chatting with people, forgetting Jack had homework. Ugh! When we got home, the kids got clean, had a bowl of cereal, Millie went to bed, Jack did his math homework and then went to bed. Stuart and I ate around 9 pm which is later than I like, and then I promptly fell asleep on the sofa. Does that phrase get old?
I got a message from Lara at 2 am saying she had been up for the last 45 minutes with a croopy kid, ironically at the same time I was up with a kid being disturbed by some cats. We close Millie's door every night, but the cats have learned to jump, pulling the door handle down enough to unlatch the door, and then go in to her room to play. They don't do this often, but when they do she has enough fiddliebits to keep them entertained and they often wake her up, which results in her waking me up. So we decided to forego walking for Wednesday morning.
Once everyone was up and ready for the day, the kids continued making these Christmas paper chains I had purchased from ACE hardware over the weekend. They are so cute and the kids loved them. When they finished their first chain, I hung them across the entertainment center. While I was hanging them up, the kids noticed that our manger scene had been disturbed, once again, by the cats. Millie announced 'They knocked over the princess”. It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. Although I insisted it was the Angel of the Lord, she was having none of it.
The kids got off to school and I was able to stay home for a bit longer as I had a training on the other end of town. It worked out nicely because Jack's Year 3 performance of Mary Poppins was Wednesday afternoon and I was going to have to take time off work to see it. But because this training was over at noon, and my principal doesn't make me come back to work, I was able to be on time to his performance. And boy what a performance it was! It reminded me of the performances we used to do when I used to teach at Sanborn Elementary in Chandler. I really want to work in his school next year, even if I go back to the classroom. It’s just a phenomenal school and we are glad we bit the bullet and decided to send them there.
After the performance, I waited around for Jack to finish soccer and then we rushed home so he could shower, and all of us could get dressed for our family pictures in the desert. We went out to the dunes and our ever faithful Land Rover, bought specifically to go dune bashing, got stuck in the sand. A couple of guys helped us push it out, which seems to always happen, thankfully. We spent almost an hour taking pictures. I'm very excited to get them returned to us. I hope everyone is looking forward to a Christmas picture.
Once we were home, we all went out to our back patio and stripped down so we would keep some of the sand out of the house. My laundry job has become a bit more daunting because as of Tuesday the drum on our tumble dryer stopped turning. Can I find the receipt? Nope! So we will most likely have to take it to some local fix-it shop and no one is ever really sure how that will turn out. So in the meantime we are hanging our laundry. This sand ridden load was going to be the second one to go on the airer. I'm already tired of this method. It's strange, because whenever we visit the U.K. or Australia I love to hang laundry out, but not here. Maybe it's because it has to be in the house. There's too much sand for it to hang outside.
Once the kids were bathed, the intent was to go to the rugby club to have dinner since Wednesday was the 'grand opening', which wasn't so grand because the new menu was not being used. However, on the way home from the dunes Jack copped an attitude and shoved the back of my seat with his feet, because he didn't like my answer to a question, so we stayed home and had bean and cheese burritos instead.
The kids were in bed at their normal times and I waited up for Stuart. I went to bed at a respectable time and was thrilled that the following day would be Thursday. We love the weekends so much, and having a busy week makes the weekends even more delightful.
Thursday morning the kids were up by 5:30 am, which always throws me off. If they are awake before 6 am it keeps me from my normal routine and sometimes I forget to do things I normally do, like put on deodorant. At any rate, they were dressed and totally ready in time to wrestle and create tears before school. Always a favorite.
I got to school and copied lesson plans, created an excel document with every child’s name on it for a new math program we are using, made data charts that I should have finished about a month ago, and tied up other loose ends so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything while I was gone.
After school, I went home for a bit and then went to pick up Claire from school. When I dropped Claire off, I decided to stay and have a chat with Cathy. I hadn't checked in on her for a couple of days so it was time. She was getting better and even moving around quite well.
Once I was home we all got ready and headed to the club for dinner, and wouldn't you know, it was karaoke night at the club. Oooooo, my favorite! I sang a few times as did Jack and Millie. The Telfords dominated the karaoke machine for sure. It wasn't very crowded, but with the restaurant now being open, maybe that will change soon.
We left the club around 9 pm, showered Jack, but Millie was asleep by the time we got home so she went straight to bed. I was changing sheets the following morning so it didn't bother me quite as much as it normally would.
Stuart was out of the house just after 7 am to help get ready for the rugby events at the club. It was Jack's first tackle match of the season. He was a beast. He scored 2 of the 5 tries for his team and tackled like a pro. It was such a joy to watch his team play well together. They were so excited to win.
Millie, Mandy and I headed to Abu Dhabi to pick up something I had ordered the previous weekend. We also made a trip to IKEA. I do love the IKEA Christmas decorations and I needed to get some salmon as well. Once we left IKEA we headed to the souq. We picked up the package then made a stop at the pork shop for some provisions, and then to Starbucks for a needed latte. Then we were off, back to Al Ain to watch the women play in a tournament. Millie napped on the way home, which was probably good since she would be at the club, playing for the evening.
Once we got back to our house, unloaded the purchases for the day, we headed to the club. Mandy left shortly after that to get Cathy, Claire and Cathy's mother, Pamela. Cathy had decided she needed an outing since she had been cooped up for two weeks. She seemed to do okay, but towards the end of the night I could tell she was fading.
We headed home just after Cathy and her family left. The kids got clean and I continued with laundry, which has become my nemesis. I'm not sure how long I can live without a tumble dryer, especially with the cats around. They are nuisances with the sheets drying over the rails.
Saturday morning we got up to make a breakfast of sausage, bacon and beans. We had decided to head out to the desert for breakfast with the Richardsons. It's one of our favorite things to do when the weather starts to cool off.
We arrived around 9 am and Stuart let out some of the air from the tires of the Land Rover. It's necessary in order to do proper sand bashing and not get stuck. We bashed out to a spot where there was a tree. We sat up our tiny table and kettle, while the kids played with the sand boards and on the dunes.
We had breakfast and just enjoyed the nice weather. We stayed out there for about 3 hours, with Stuart taking the kids out to sand bash a little more. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.
Once we were home and everyone had showered and removed the layers of sand from our bodies, we carried on with the day. Millie had two little friends over for the afternoon and dinner, while Jack went off to Bounce, a trampoline place, at one of the malls in town. He was picked up by Eleanor's family around 2 pm. It seems that the friendship continues, thank goodness.
Once I had fed Hatiie, Ava, and Millie, we walked Ava and Hattie back home. They just live in the B block of our compound, so it was a short walk. I decided since she had not been out of the house after we rinsed the sand off of her that morning, there was no need for another bath. So I told her to just come upstairs, get her jammies on, then she could go watch a movie for a bit. Jack was still not home, but would be soon. When she came upstairs she wanted me to feel her tooth. It seems that thing has been loose for 6 months. I put my finger in her mouth and it seemed as if it was still holding pretty strong. I pushed it towards her tongue and it didn't budge. So I pulled it toward me and bit and it popped out. It surprised both of us. She giggled so much and was so excited, she could hardly contain herself. And of course she had to stay up until Jack got home to show him. She was also excited to show her friends at school the next day. She talked about how everyone would want to play with her because she had lost her tooth. She was so thrilled.
Jack got home around 7 pm and she met him at the door to announce her exciting news. He was happy for her. She then went up to bed and wanted me to sing a song about a tooth. So I made one up that made her laugh. She's easily amused.
I then went downstairs, hoping and praying the tooth fairy wouldn't forget to leave her money. She had placed the tooth in a baggie and placed it under her pillow. When I had left her room she asked me if the tooth fairy was real. I said of course the tooth fairy was real. She asked how she got into the house. As a good parent would, I lied and said she must be magic. Do you think we, as parents, will be punished for these lies we tell our children? I certainly hope not.
Jack went to bed shortly after Millie. I sang him a Christmas song and headed downstairs to have a bite to eat. Stuart decided we would watch the new version of Top Gear, now owned by Amazon, called The Grand Tour. Stuart found out he had Amazon Prime and was very thrilled. So I indulged him and watched, which I enjoyed about as much as he did.
I was a bit anxious about my procedure the following day but had decided, because I would be sitting around a lot the following day, there was no need for Stuart to take the day off. If I can travel by myself to another country to have gastric sleeve surgery, then I can go by myself for this procedure. The decision was that once I woke up and was discharged he would come and get me. Done!
School pictures
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