On Sunday, school was busy as usual. I had many more walkthroughs, more teaching, and absolutely no time to pee., which reminded me of some of the struggles of teaching. I did survive, but not as pleasantly as I like.
I got home and was reminded that rugby was canceled because of the tournament the previous Friday. It was our reward. So the kids played outside until almost 6 pm, which never happens. I usually have them in by 5 pm and showered, but I felt they needed the time out. Stuart had some treasurer stuff to do at the club, so I watched some television and may have snoozed a bit. Once he was home we ate dinner and then the kids went to bed. It was good to have the family have nothing to do for the evening.
Monday I did about 7 walkthroughs and felt very accomplished. The grade 4 girls were good and worked really hard in class. After school I headed to Applebee's to meet up with some friends. I'm going to do my best to become a part of the Monday Meet -up crew each week. I was late getting home which made Stuart late to rugby which was not nice. I vowed to do better the following Monday. In the end he didn't have training as they weren't having a match on Friday. Some of the guys showed up but were just going to play touch rugby, which is not Stuart's bag at all. So he was home just before 8 pm. Him being home early kind of threw my night off. I usually have time to myself until around 9 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. But it was good to have him home.
Prior to Stuart leaving for the club, he had bathed the kids, so when I got home from my girls' get together. Millie headed to bed shortly after I got home. Jack went to bed as Stuart was getting home. Stuart ate dinner, but I had already eaten a snack and dinner didn't appeal to me. We watched some television and then it was bed time.
When I woke up Tuesday morning I thought I had swallowed a frog. I was raspy and had a dry cough. It was not nice at all, but since Lara and I hadn't walked at all the previous week, I got my sorry butt up and hit the road.
My day was full of school responsibilities and a trip to Festival City to go to Old Navy before my appointment at the US Consulate in Dubai to renew my passport. I had to make an appointment ahead of time and then when I showed up I sat down, they called my number, checked my information, took my money and told me I would get an email when the new passport was ready. I could then go and collect it. Easy!
On my way home from Dubai, I got a call from Stuart. He had stayed home from school because he didn't feel well. He went to get Jack from swim squad and when Jack got in the car he had a splitting headache and was stopped up. Stuart said Jack didn't want to go to rugby training. It was going to be me who took them to anyway. So I told Stuart to ask Millie if she wanted to still go, but she decided not to, which was all too fine with me. This was the second night in the week we were able to just chill.
When I got home Jack was on the sofa and not feeling well at all. He had taken a shower and was covered up with his blanket. Poor boy! It was an easy evening for me for sure. Both kids were in bed early and I assumed my regular position on the sofa. I woke up at 11 pm and Jack was laying on the other sofa, watching television with me. I promptly stood up and told him he needed to go to bed, as did I.
Wednesday I got up and walked and coughed like a frog the entire walk. It was miserable. I really should have taken the day off, but it's such a hassle to go to the doctor so I just couldn't be asked. It was easier to just go to school.
Jack wanted to stay home as well, but we just drugged him up and sent him to school, saying if he didn't feel better around 10 am he could tell his teacher and one of us would come and get him. I lost my voice about halfway through the three periods of grade 4 girls I teach. It was awful. Fortunately I had training on Thursday, so knew I wouldn't have to worry about losing my voice.
After school Stuart and I met up at Brighton College. Jack was feeling much better, which was a relief. Stuart and Jack went home while Millie and I headed to her follow up appointment about her nose. She was fine. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health. We then met Stuart and Jack at the mechanic's. Our car needed a service. We ended up leaving the car there, and since Stuart and I had training on Thursday we were fine without the car for a day.
Once we were home, Stuart made food, the kids showered and I made cakes for the cake sale at Brighton College's Spring Fayre on Saturday. I'm such a PTO mom. It was another evening of family time just relaxing.
I didn't walk Thursday morning because I didn't need to be up until 6 am, primarily due to our training not starting until 10 am. Getting up and hour and a half earlier than needed seemed unnecessary.
Thursday morning the kids helped me spread the sprinkles on the cakes. If I were selecting a piece of cake to buy, I would choose one of ours. The trick was getting them to school Thursday afternoon.
Our training was riveting as always. It was over Brain Pop Junior. If you know anything about this program, you know that training is not necessary for this program. It's self explanatory. But I will take a day out of school anytime, thank you very much.
Once the training was over, we headed home to pick up the cakes and take them to school. We also picked up the kids. On the way home we dropped Stuart at the club to do some business. Once the kids had changed, we went back to the club, dropped Millie off and Jack and I headed to a birthday party at the McDonalds play land. I left Jack at the party and went to the mall. I needed to get crafty stuff for our Valentine craft day in a week or so. Unfortunately, I couldn't find what I needed. I came back and collect Jack, then we went back to the club.
We ate dinner at the club and then came back to ours with Cathy. We watched some television and Cathy left just after 10 pm. I laid on the sofa and hacked my head off. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well. Millie was up a few times because the cats were destroying her room. Sleep deprivation seemed to be the theme for us. Millie finally got into bed with us and at 5 am, which is when I went downstairs because I was coughing so badly. It's criminal to be up that early on a weekend (Friday).
Around 6 am Jack came downstairs and was terribly confused because I was up before him on a Friday. At 7 am I decided to run/walk to the club to pick up our Land Rover. We still didn't have our Kia back from its service, which left us with only one car. We had left the Land Rover at the club the previous night and Cathy had given us a lift home. So we could either get a cab to the club or, since I shirked my walking the previous day, I could haul my lazy butt to the club and kill two birds with one stone. So that's what I did.
It had rained in the night and was actually threatening rain the entire run to the club, but it cleared up just as I was approaching our car. I drove home and found the entire family awake and getting ready for the day. Jack, Millie and I were off to Bounce, a trampoline place at one of the malls, and Stuart stayed home doing whatever it was he did. One of Millie's classmates was moving back to the United States the following Tuesday, so it was his little farewell. It was Jackson, her first kiss. She doesn't quite understand why people move, but it's the life of an expat kid, I suppose.
The kids had a blast, and then came the weekly shop, which they hated. It's a trade off that I try to explain to them, but they are not very understanding. I guess it's not the best part of their day, but I remind them that they like eating.
Once we were home, the kids played for the afternoon. Around 6 pm they took showers and we awaited the Richardsons who had ran the Wadi Bih that day and were coming for dinner. The weather was horrible for their run. Clare ran 30 kilometres and the kids were part of a 5 person team, running a 50 kilometre run between the 5 of them. It was quite an event.
Once they arrived, they all showered and then it was time for a catch up and tacos. It was a really lovely evening, but they were knackered. They left just before 8 pm, and the Telfords all went to bed as well. Again, I almost hacked up a lung in the night. Fortunately Stuart sleeps like a rock and didn't hear a thing. The sleep quality has been lacking lately. I'm hoping to shake this cold soon, but since the weather is chillier than normal, I'm not keeping my fingers crossed.
Saturday we went to collect the car. We decided to hit McDonalds for breakfast, but he one closest to the mechanic's didn't open until 10 am. Only in the UAE does his happen. There are no real 'early birds' on the weekends. So we headed to the one up by Spinneys, the supermarket, because we knew it opened at 8 am, just as the store did. We enjoyed our eggs and sausage (beef sausage) and then went on the the Fayre at Brighton, where the kids played games and won tatty prizes that were sure to just crowd up our house. Great! Jack actually had to work a game booth for his house. He worked for 30 minutes and then wanted to run around with his friends.
Millie tried the mock surf board at the Fayre. She was pretty good, although it was going rather slowly.
We left the school at noon and came home. I laid on the sofa trying to feel better, while the kids played outside and Stuart took the car back to the mechanic because it was leaking oil. He got a cab back to our house and when he got back we headed to the Richardsons for our weekly meal with them. It's like a family Sunday lunch, but on Saturday. It's really enjoyable.
We were home by about 8 pm, and the kids went straight to bed. Stuart did as well, and I stayed up to cough a little more. However, right before I resigned to the bed, I took some cold and flu meds that Scott had given me. They knocked me out and I only remember coughing a couple of times.
Another great, yet very chilled week in the UAE!
School pictures of the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment