Sunday we had the day off because it was the Prophet's birthday. Stuart had left the Land Rover at the club and taken a taxi home, so we went to collect it. Stuart headed to the store while the kids and I went back home to chill. I finished last week’s blog while the kids played upstairs. I also did a load of laundry and hung it up to dry. I can’t want to get my dryer fixed. I hate hanging clothes and waiting for them to dry, especially at this time of the year when it is cooler outside and it takes longer for them to dry.
Stuart came home and was getting things ready for dinner with Cathy and the girls, as well as Gemma and Fechin and their kids. We had a very lazy day and then around 3 pm our company showed up. Our three families came together to the UAE and we have keep a very strong bond ever since. Stuart made warm pork sandwiches as well as a roasted chicken, with cole slaw as a side. It was delicious. We had such a wonderful time just cutting up and having fun. Kayleigh and Claire did crafts with the kids, but didn't keep their attention very long, sadly.
The kids went to bed much later than we had hoped for, but we knew that would be the way for this entire week. It seems no matter where you live, you start to lose routine the week leading up to a school break. There is just so much to do, especially if you are traveling.
Monday morning the best we could hope for was that there would be no children at school. When I arrived, I went straight to the auditorium to see that about a fourth of our students on the boys’ side had come to school. I think there were a few more on the girls’ side, but classes were still able to combine and no one had to teach their normal load, which is good enough. Initially, my principal had said that we would need to stay for planning, which meant an hour and a half after the students were dismissed. Since most of my teachers were able to get their planning and grades finished that day because they didn’t have a full teaching load, we talked her into letting us go at 1:30, or normal time.
When I left school I headed to the mall to do some last minute errands before leaving for three weeks to Australia. I had to get some pictures printed, stocking stuffers purchased, and maybe one more gift from Santa. Our kids are beyond spoiled. Is that a bad thing? Maybe!
Stuart had gone to school to collect the kids and Meriana, one of Jack’s friends we had over for a play date. When I got home they were outside playing. Now normally this doesn’t bother me, but about 6 weeks ago the compound decided they needed to replace the water pipes that ran right in front of all the villas. So they dug up the bricks, and left a ditch about 6 inches in depth, in front of everyone’s villa. Why haven’t they come back to complete the brick work? I’m not sure. It’s crazy and now has become dangerous. The neighborhood kids climb on the dirt piles, they throw bricks, and cars have less space to maneuver around the complex, thus making it unsafe for the kids.
Once Jack’s friend left I fixed the kids food and had them shower. I then made toffee for the kids’ teachers. Why do I do these things? It was very frustrating because our gas stove here doesn’t seem to get as hot as ours in the states did. It wasn’t the best toffee I have ever made, but it would have to do.
Once the kids had eaten and were ready for bed, they watched Gnomeo and Juliet. Then they were in bed, and I was on the sofa for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday morning I got to school and there were about 20 boys and 20 girls at school. I was asked to make the boys' side schedule. What a pain that was. When people know they have to cover a group of students they may not normally have, they can’t be found. I went back and forth with my Egyptian sport teacher, until finally I just told her she had to cover one of the periods and if she had a problem with it she could see the principal.
I had bought some snacks for the teachers so naturally all the English teachers were in my office most of the day. We had a senior leadership team meeting at 9 am and sorted out the last few days of the term. It was decided we would leave school at 12:30 on Tuesday and noon on Wednesday, which was good because I had planned on going to Jack's school Wednesday afternoon for his end of term celebration.
When I left school on Tuesday I went to the tailor’s to pick up the dress I had altered for my niece Zoe’s christening in Australia. When I got there it wasn't ready, although he had told me it would be ready the 12th, and it was the 13th. I was not happy. He said, “I will finish tonight at 7 pm and you can come after that.” To which I said, “I will be back tomorrow and it had better be finished.”
I came home, had a bite to eat, and napped until the kids got home around 2:30 pm. I was busy sorting out clean beds and doing more laundry when I heard my phone ring. I knew instantly that I had forgotten to go and pick Claire up from school. Stuart answered the phone and I yelled at him to tell her I would be right there. Once I was home from getting Claire, the kids were playing on their own, and I attempted another batch of toffee. Unfortunately, I burned this particular batch and ended up having to throw it out. It appeared that the teachers would get the gift cards and only the teacher assistants would get the toffee. So sorry!
Stuart left for the club just after 4 pm because they were interviewing for the club house manager. It seems that the person who had performed this job just recently was seeking different opportunities, so they had to replace him. There were many applicants, but I think they only interviewed 5 people. He did the interviews while the kids waited for Santa to show up. They had the Christmas party planned for the kids, but unfortunately it coincided with the Gingerbread houses being made at one of the resorts, so it wasn’t very well attended.
Santa did show up and give each child a gift. It was a Christmas ornament that danced. We can never have enough of those for sure. We all ate at the club as well. Mandy, Cathy and Claire joined me since Stuart was busy interviewing. We stayed at the club and let the kids play until just after 8 pm. Then we were home, showered and in the bed. Stuart got home just as Jack was going to bed. He ordered food from a take away shop, ate, and then was off to bed as well. I slept on the couch for a bit, then resigned myself to the bed. I really should have been working on Christmas presents or packing or something like that, but couldn’t be bothered.
On Wednesday we were wrapping up last minute grades, data analysis, and completing classroom environment checklists. We had a leadership meeting at 8 am and I was presented with a basket of fruit, lined with flowers. They bought it for me for having surgery. It was a few weeks late, but better late than never.
School on Wednesday was weird. We were allowed to leave at noon and most of us did. However, one of our senior leaders walked into my office and somehow convinced two of the English teachers to stay for an extra hour to help her do an evaluative checklist for each of the classrooms. I have some informants who messaged me to let me know. I then called the principal and suggested we not allow teachers to evaluate each other's classrooms. Duh! This particular leader doesn't quite understand the duties of everyone at this stage. She thinks if the teachers agree to it then it's fine. Uh, no!
I was on the way to get my dress when this debacle was brought to my attention, so I tried to deal with it as best as I could, knowing I would have to sort it out the following morning.
When I got home after picking up my altered dress, the kids were out playing with the neighborhood kids. They came in just before 5 pm, when Claire, Kayleigh and Cathy came over and brought the kids presents for Christmas. They left just after 6, then the kids showered and ate beans on toast. We hadn't been food shopping for a bit because we would be out of town for three weeks. So we were scrapping the bottom of the pantry. Fortunately they didn't mind.
Millie was in bed by 7 and Jack was in bed by 7:30. A friend,Topeka, came over and we rode to the wedding together. Hassah, my Muslim friend whose bridal shower I attended last week, was getting married. Weddings here start around 8 pm. This was not a local wedding, therefore it had a different style to it. We danced, her father came in to present her. We danced some more. There were some traditional Jordanian dancers. We then ate around 10:30 pm. I should have been snoozing on the sofa about the time we left for the wedding. Instead, I didn't get home until almost midnight.
Stuart had a rugby match in Dubai, but arrived home before I did. We then started to get Santa's gifts sorted so we could put them out just before we left for the airport on Thursday. One of the gifts Santa got Millie was a scooter. When we got it out to put it together it looked terribly small. I nearly cried. There was no way I could fix that problem at that point. In the end, it was decided that Santa would leave a note stating he noticed that Millie had grown quite a bit since he last saw her and he was afraid the scooter would not be large enough. He also stated that he had put some money in Mama and Daddy's bank account so that if it was too small we could go get her another one. Sorted!
I didn't have to be at school until 8 am on Thursday, so I had another cup of coffee once the kids were off to school and then did my last minute Santa prep, which becomes increasingly more difficult when you leave town for Christmas. Once I was at school, I completed the checklists that my teachers were not to complete the previous day. It took me about an hour and the rest of the day was spent chatting with people. We were then able to leave at noon.
When I got home Stuart had been there most of the morning. He had all the items off of the counters and we were virtually cat proofed. Once the kids were home, we all got cleaned up. Then while Stuart loaded the kids and the bags into the car, (we had the same driver to the airport that had taken Mandy and I when we went to Jordan) I put out the Santa presents. We sure do go to a lot of trouble to keep up this lie we tell our children.
We had been on the road for about 10 minutes, when I realized I had forgotten my jewelry at home. Ugh! Much to Stuart's dismay I had the driver take us back home so I could get my jewelry. A girl is naked without her bling.
When we got to the airport, hardly anyone was there. We checked in, went to have a bite to eat, and went to our gate. It was a short flight to Doha, then we were to have a layover of two hours and then we were on the 14 hour flight to Sydney.
The lady behind me on the Sydney flight was a treat. About 5 minutes after takeoff I leaned my chair back, which got me a tap on the shoulder. She said, 'You won't be able to lean your chair back because it leaves me no room for my legs.' I responded by saying, 'Well, I paid for my flight just like you did and I'm going to put my seat back.' Needless to say it was a very pleasant flight with her knees in by back most of the time. Do you think she was trying to prove a point? Other than that, it was just a long time on the plane.
We arrived a half hour late and were picked up by a car. We were at the house by 9 pm. We virtually missed all of Friday. The kids were wired, the brothers were on the boat, and then we were all down by the beach until quite late. We didn't go to bed until at least 2 am. Then I got a FaceTime call from my brother Mitch. He was telling me all the things he was doing to prepare for the holidays. His baking was what made me miss having Christmas with him. He was making me laugh so hard I was actually crying. We talked for about an hour. I was finally in bed at 3 am.
I was up at 6 am and knew the sleepies would kick in at some point Saturday afternoon. We headed to the ball fields at 8:45 to watch my nephew Billie play t-ball. He played for about an hour. We returned to the house and the boys started playing cricket on the lawn and then moved their party, with their clothes on, to the water. I decided to take a nap on the lounger upstairs. I slept for about 30 minutes and because the kids were being so loud, I decided to go to our bedroom. I quickly decided that was a bad idea as the gardener was making a lot of noise just outside our bedroom door. So in the end I didn't sleep any more.
Karen and Louise had gone to get their hair done, and Karen had returned before Lou. So leaving Grandma in charge, the brothers, Barry and myself went out on the boat. We stopped at the marina cafe for a drink.
Once we were back at the house, it was more tea, coffee and beer. We left for the Thai restaurant just after 6. I drove James' car, which was a bit nerve racking because I had all the kids in the car, I was on the other side of the car as well as the other side of the road. As you would guess I was trying to make sure I didn't hit anything. Thankfully, we arrived safely.
The food was beautiful. Unfortunately, Jack slept through most of the dinner and wasn't interested in eating at all. I think the flight finally caught up to him. We had a lovely meal paid by the winnings of the guys from the pokeys, which is like slot machines. It was a great deal for sure.
We returned to the house and the kids were bathed and in bed by just after 9 pm. It was needed for sure. The rest of us were in bed by just after 10, which was also needed. It was a wonderful week for sure and we are more than thrilled to now be with family for three weeks.
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