This is the term that will never end!

Our air conditioner was not working on Saturday night so we were forced to sleep with the window open, praying the wind would not bring in the desert. Stuart seems to think because he got on to the repair guy in our complex, the guy turned off the switch on top of the house that controlled our air conditioning unit.  We had a clogged drain outside of our house that the repairman tried to fix by pouring bleach from our kitchen window rather than doing it properly by climbing on top of the house and then going down the ladder to fix it. Stuart was beside himself and kind of let the guy have it. To be fair, the guy could have messed with the air conditioning switch.  It is kind of how the passive aggressiveness works around here. Now if it would have been too hot to sleep with the windows open I wouldn't have been amused at all. I slept comfortably and we would get it sorted in the next few days. 

 

School on Sunday provided a breakfast from our psychologist. It was her birthday so she brought food for everyone. It was presented in the foyer of the school for all to see, just as it should be. Teachers were not on time to the assembly, as a result.  My day ran as usual, with another observation and teaching three periods.  I seem to be falling behind the other grade 4 classrooms, but at least those girls have a relatively stable teacher each day.

 

Jack had a track meet after school. I didn't even know he was involved in track. He got second in the 75 meter dash. Had he not turned around to watch his competition he might have actually won. After the track meet, I headed to Abu Dhabi to find the kids costumes for their World Book Day.  I knew I wouldn’t have any other time before the actual day.  Stuart ended up getting Jack from school, then it was off to the rugby club for training for the kids.  Stuart fed them at the club and then they were home in bed well before I got home.  I managed to get Jack a Harry Potter cape and Millie a Little Red Riding Hood costume.  There was still a wand, tie and glasses to buy for Jack, and a basket for Millie, but I was sure I could find those before March 2.  

 

Monday I had a follow up with the doctor regarding my surgery back in November, so I left school early. I was able to see the doctor, make a plan to come back in 6 months to see if the treatment is working, and get a coffee at Starbucks in the hospital lobby.  I love that hospital.

 

Jack and Millie were home at their normal time.  They went out to play for a while after their homework was finished. The evening was pretty chilled and relaxed. The maintenance guy came and ‘fixed’ the AC and replaced lights that had been burned out since we moved in two years ago. Stuart was off to rugby and after the kids ate, showered and were in bed, I sat down for the evening.

 

Tuesday I worked on getting my classroom decorated with student work as parents were supposed to come in Wednesday. However, since I had two observations and taught three periods, I didn't have a ton of time to work on my classroom. This school year can't be over too soon. 

 

I picked Jack up from school. Tuesday was school picture day.  To get him to wear his formal uniform instead of his PE kit was torture, so when I arrived at the school and he said he didn’t get his picture taken, I was not happy at all.  I went to the photo room and asked why he hadn’t had his picture taken.  I had sent the permission form in for him, but they said if it came in the morning of the pictures, which his had, they may not have written it on the class list, therefore no picture was taken.  I was not happy.  Although they would be there on Wednesday as well, she couldn’t promise me he would have it taken.  After leaving in a huff, half upset with Jack as well, I drove off.  I called Stuart and was instructed to go back and insist he be able to have his picture taken the following day.  By this time I was not in a good mood at all.  I did put his name on her list and asked his teacher to please be sure he got his picture taken the following day.  I told Jack that he really needed to speak up when it came to things like this.  The harsh reality, I discovered, was that he didn’t even notice when the kids went out of the room to have their pictures taken.  Ugh!  Then Stuart reminded me that Jack is more like him and less like me.  Millie brought her permission form in the same day as well.  Do you think they didn’t take her picture?  Of course not.  She made sure her picture was taken.  That’s my girl!

 

I had started a challenge with some girls from work with our fitbits and because I'm so competitive, I had decided to walk while the kids had rugby training. I walked three miles then chatted with some people. We left as soon as training was over.  When we got home, the kids ate, as did Stuart and myself, and off to bed we went. 

 

I was up to walk just before 5 am, as usual. I am now obsessed with my number of steps, mainly because one of my teacher’s mother is a part of our group.  Because she is in the United States, most of her steps happen while we are asleep.  My main goal is to beat her.  I am convinced she has her fitbit on a dog that is just left to run in the yard all day.

 

Once I was at school, it was business as usual.  I did have a bit of a disagreement with my Academic Vice Principal.  She had changed my observation schedule and had sent out an email about it, but never directly pointed out that she had done so.  She indicated she had changed some of the observations, but since it wasn’t her observation I had no reason to believe she would change my schedule.  We sorted it out, but not without me getting a little huffy with her.  When the day was over, the parents came in to see how their children were doing.  I actually had 5 parents come to meet with me.  Naturally it was the parents whose children are doing rather well. 

 

I went straight from school to pick up Jack from school. When I arrived, he announced to me that he had his picture taken.  Thank goodness, because I might not have handled things very well had I heard otherwise.

 

Once Jack was home, he and Millie played outside for quite a while.  On Wednesdays they don't have homework, so they have a little more time and a little more freedom to do as they wish.  When they did come in, Stuart made them chicken legs and vegetables for dinner.  While they were eating they watched their new obsession, Full House, the original one. Jack begged to stay up for one more episode that evening. He's so proud that he made it to season 3. I don't have the heart to tell him of the let down he will have when he's watched every season and it's over. 

 

Once the kids were in bed, I started pacing in order to get my steps in. I was also having a snack and drinking a glass a wine while I was walking. I may need to reevaluate this whole thing as it seems I may be missing the point somewhat.  However, I am proud to report for the second day in the week I achieved 20,000 steps.  I still was behind in the game.

 

Thursday was a bit of a blur.  My students had a shared reading time with a grade 1 class.  I’m pretty sure some of the grade 1 girls could read better than my grade 4 girls.  Total emersion is the best way to learn a second language.  Unfortunately, this will never be the method in the UAE.  By the end of the day I was totally finished with this week.  I couldn’t get out of school fast enough.  I headed to the super market for ingredients to make nachos for Cathy, Mandy, Sean and the Telfords.  Everyone commenced on our house around 6 pm.  Millie had been playing with Ian outside and wrote him a note that apparently invited his family for a dinner party at our house.  Lara messaged me telling me this information, so although they had already had dinner, I told her to come on over when they finished eating and sit out in our back garden.  They all stayed until after midnight, which meant there was very little sleep in our house that evening, but we all had fun so sleep could wait I suppose.

 

Friday I got up to walk, Jack insisted on going with me and hardly stopped talking the entire 4 miles.  He did decide at the end of the walk that he wouldn’t do that again.  I had tried to tell him before we left, but he wouldn’t listen.  After my walk I showered and headed to the mall.  We had two birthday parties this weekend and one the following, so I decided we would get gift vouchers for the older two birthday kids and Millie could pick out her friend Ava’s gift.  Stuart left for Sharjah for his rugby match, just after we left for the mall.  Once we returned from the mall it was time to go to Ava’s party.  My initial plan was to drop Millie off and then take Jack to Bounce or Fun Block to play while Clare and I shopped.  However, Clare still had a sleepover kid at her house and that plan fell through.  It was probably best because Jack decided to stay at Ava’s party.  There were some older kids there that he knew, so he enjoyed himself.  

 

Once we were home from the birthday party, Clare stopped by with her two kids for a while.  We chatted about nothing in particular.  Initially the kids and I were going to ride back to her house with herand then when Stuart got home he would drop Scott off at their house and pick us up.  But in the end I just decided we were all too tired and I knew the kids needed a relatively early night.  

 

Saturday was Clare’s birthday, so I was back to the mall for a gift.  I also found Harry Potter’s glasses, thank goodness.  I finished buying my ‘Favorites’ for the party at DeDe’s that afternoon.  I returned just before 1 pm and in time to change some laundry.  I was finally getting around to changing all the beds.  I had intended to do it on Friday, but couldn’t be asked.  

 

The favorites party was wonderful as usual.  As I was getting some neat little gifts, Stuart took Jack to the Mercure Hotel to a birthday party.  They have a few water slides there so it’s a perfect place for a kid’s party.  When he first got to the party he told Stuart he didn’t want to stay.  Stuart went through the same speech with him that I had earlier in the day….. ‘We responded that you would be there.  When we asked you if you wanted to go, that was when you could have said ‘no’, but you didn’t.  So, they are expecting you and you are going.’  This is a difficult thing to understand, but we are working on it.  We want him to know that when he commits to something he needs to stick to it.

 

Sally, the mum of the birthday boy (Sam, Eleanor’s brother), said that she didn’t mind bringing Jack home.  They live right by Scott and Clare’s house and since we were having dinner there for Clare’s birthday, Sally dropped Jack off at the Richardsons house.  We had a lovely roast dinner and spent time conversing about our plans for the future and what happens when we finally decide to leave the UAE.  I think they will leave before we do, which will be very sad for us, especially Jack.  That is the downside of expat life.  The people you get attached to eventually leave, or you do.  The richness of this experience we are having in this country can sometimes be tarnished by the sadness of friends who move away.  We do the best we can to cherish each moment and each experience, with every passing day, week, month and year.

Pictures from school. 

Children on half-term break? What?

In the middle of the night Sunday, Millie came into our room and said the cats were being ‘crazy’ in her room. Those cats will be the death of me.  I now love them so they have to stay, but boy they cause problems for us.  I walked her back to her bedroom and laid with her for a bit.  However, it must not have been long enough because about 15 minutes after I had returned to my bed, here she comes again.  I walked her back to her bed, and with a pouty face she begged me to come and sleep in our bed.  In order to get some sort of sleep I figured it was better than walking her back to her bed another 20 times before the morning.  When we were heading back to my room I noticed she had her little stuffed turtle in one hand and something else in the other.  I said, “What is that in your hand?” She showed me a book, and then laughed.  I giggled as well and said, “No book is coming into my bed. What were you going to do with it?” She promptly said, “I was going to read it!”  All I could think was, “Sure, reading a book in the dark at 2 am makes total sense to her.”

 

Once she was in our bed, she spent the next 20 minutes twirling her turtle in the air and making a ‘zoom’ sound. I finally rolled over, looked her dead in the face, and said, “Enough!”  I’m not sure when she went back to sleep, but she didn’t make any other noises.

 

I was up at my normal time, but the kids were on half-term break until Wednesdayso they got to lay their lazy tails in bed.  Kayleigh came over on Sunday to stay with them and said she finally woke Millie up at 8:15 am. They made forts and did homework, then watched television and played outside most of the day. 

 

Once we were home we went to rugby. I worked out on the exercise bike in the gym, and then we finally had the roast dinner. It was actually really good and worth the money. We stayed a bit longer at the club than usual because the kids didn’t have school.  We were home and the kids were showered and in bed at about 8:30 pm. The following morning they were going to Abu Dhabi.

 

I was late to school on Monday because I took the kids to Clare and Scott's. Clare took them to Abu Dhabi to play at Adventure HQ, a mountain bike/climbing/trampoline fun park. During half-term in November I had taken an emergency day to go with her, but we have had our emergency days taken away so I couldn’t do so this break. 

 

I went on to school.  We had a senior leadership meeting in the morning, where it was decided I would teach grade 4 the rest of the year. It was only fair to the students, but certainly not to me or my other English teachers.  We must do what we must do.  Also, on Monday, we celebrated the 100th day of school.  It has absolutely no significance on the UAE, but we had a great time with the activities all the same.

 

On my way home from school I called Clare and they were still in Abu Dhabi. The drive home was awful. There was a dust storm coming in, which made visibility very poor.  Its been threatening to rain for the past few days, yet still there has been no significant rainfall. I stopped for gas and then went home and waited for the kids. They arrived around 5 pm. We had decided since Jack didn't have school the following day, he could go to rugby training with Stuart, but the dust was unreal and just hovering in the air, so we backed out on that decision.

 

Cathy came over for a chat. She finally got her signed paper to move to her new school as a Head of Faculty, on Tuesday. She has been waiting for this appointment for a year and a half, and it finally came.  I was so thrilled for her.  Stuart got home and I was asleep on the sofa, as I always am.  He had brought pizza from the club.  Most Mondays and Wednesdays we are on our own for food because of his training.  It makes it super easy on me.

 

Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, I had a training in the morning. Because it didn’t last all day, I was able to drive to Dubai to pick up my new passport in the afternoon.  The process to renew your passport here seems a lot quicker than the process in the US.  I was home just in time for rugby practice. Stuart had a committee meeting after practice, so we drove separately.  I decided to feed the kids at the club because I couldn’t be asked to go home and make something.  We can feed them there for about $2.50, so that seems reasonable to me. 

 

On Wednesday morning I got up to walk for the first time all week.  Oops!  Some days I just can’t be bothered to get out of bed at 4:30 am.  But I must stay strong for Lara (right!).  I always feel better once I have walked.  School was okay, but busy. It's difficult to get caught up when there are so many people pulling me in so many directions. It seems that I can never get everything done in the school day, and I refuse to bring work home.  I figure I am working one and a half jobs now, so something will have to be sacrificed.  It seems it usually the minutes I’m supposed to type up from our senior leadership meetings. 

 

I drove straight from work to pick Jack up from basketball practice. He presented me with a slip of paper stating he would have a track meet on Sunday, the 19^th, after his swim squad, but before rugby. I didn't even know he ran track. I really need to pay attention. 

 

Because the kids didn’t have homework on Wednesday they were allowed to stay outside and play a bit longer than usual.  The weather was a little better, but was still dusty.  The house had just been cleaned so I didn’t want them to play in the house at all.  Once they were in the house, it was showers, dinner and bed.  Stuart went to rugby training and I assumed the couch position.

 

Thursday was just another day at school.  But at the end of the day I was allowed to go to the school where I have requested to be transferred. The head of faculty there is going to go back to Australia.  She asked me if I would be interested in coming to meet her principal.  She stated that if her principal liked me it would be a done deal.  Her principal has ‘wasta’ (a lot of pull in the system).  So, I met her and the other senior leadership team.  I was very impressed with the school and look forward to working there next year.  It is an all girls’ school.  Alhamdulillah! (Thanks to God)  I am ready for a change.  I will miss the teachers at my school, but look forward to working with new people.

 

Thursday evening we went to a birthday party in the village.  Brian and Lara hosted a 60s themed party. Only one couple dressed up, and they maintained their costumes all evening.  They were adorable.  The party went on later than we could manage.  We left just before 10 pm to get the kids in bed. They live 5 doors down from us, so it wasn’t much of a struggle to get home.

 

Friday morning we were up and off to church.  They were serving breakfast at 9 am.  I should know better than to show up right at 9 am.  I’m not sure everything got in full swing until around 9:30 am. Rochelle and her kids were also there.  This particular Friday was the week of crafts after church. The kids always like that.  After church we headed to the mall to get a birthday voucher for a little boy’s birthday party Jack was to go to that evening.  In the end, the BBQ was canceled because the weather was horrible, blowing dust everywhere. But, once we were home from the mall, we headed to the club for the rugby match.  Stuart played well, but the wind and dust was so awful that it made it not that enjoyable.

 

Around 7:00 pm, we decided to move the party back to our house because of the weather.  The kids went straight to bed, after showering of course.  Sean, Cathy, Mandy, Stuart and myself sat in our back garden for a few hours, just talking and laughing.  Times like those are priceless for sure. 

 

Saturday morning Millie and I were up and ready for Cheeky Monkey, a new play area in the Al Ain Mall.  Prior to going, we Skyped Grammie and Pop and made further arrangements for our house to be spruced up before we rent it out.  It sounds as if my parents are pretty much going to have the house in shape before I get home in March.  I am beyond grateful for that.  

 

While Millie and I were enjoying time at Cheeky Monkey with some of her friends from school, Jack had his friend, Harry, over for a playdate.  I love this playdate thing.  I’m so glad my kids are old enough to play with friends.  They love it and it keeps them from fighting each other.

 

When Millie and I returned, we brought McDonald’s with us, which was pleasing to all three boys, Stuart included. Harry and Jack were playing nicely and they actually let Millie play with them for a bit.

 

Jack and I took Harry home around 5 pm.  As we were pulling up to his house, he told Jack that he would be amazed at how massive his house was.  It was so cute.  The expats who come to this country from Britain often find the houses to be beyond massive, which comparatively speaking to a typical UK home, it’s true. They are massive! And Harry did not lie, his house was massive.  I stayed and talked with his parents for a bit and then Jack and I were on the road home. Jack took a bath because he wasn't feeling so hot. Both kids ate and went to bed shortly after that. The week was complete and the weekend full of fun, as usual. 

Still sick and a couple of days off school with bronchitis.

Sunday I wasn't feeling better but I went to school anyway. I taught the first three periods of the day and then did some walk throughs. The last two periods of the day I sat at my desk and caught up on paper work. 

Once I was home, Millie arrived shortly after. We then started back out to pick Jack up from swim squad. Stuart got home at that moment, so Millie stayed home with him and did her homework. 

When I collected Jack he proceeded to tell me how popular he was. It went something like this:

Jack: Mom, did you know I'm really popular?

Me: Is that so?

Jack: Yep. Everyone wants to be my friend. 

Me: Well, if you say things to your friends like you just said to me, they might not want to be your friend. Try being a little more humble, son. 

Jack: What does that mean?

Me: It means that you need to be thrilled that kids want to be your friend, but not brag about it by announcing how popular you are. 

Jack: Well, I am. 

So I put my arm around him. He asked me why and I said, 'Because I want to hang out with the popular kid.' He laughed. 

Just before rugby we went to pick up the Kia. Sadly, we were then informed that our transmission was going out. That would be approximately $2700. Super! Everyone we have spoken with says we need to get rid of it now. Thoughts? We really didn't want to have to buy another car while we were here, but we may have to do so. Boo!

I worked out at the gym while the kids practiced. Then I remembered that I had misquoted the time we would eat the roast dinner at the club. This was the introductory evening, so we were excited and had arranged for the  O'Reilley's to meet us for dinner.  Once I was finished working out I went into the restaurant and sat with them while they ate. I apologized for my goof up, which they were fine with. 

By the time the kids were finished with practice the club had run out of roast dinner. Well, as you would guess this made Stuart mad, and he told off the chef, stating that the committee members had warned the club there would be a huge crowd for the first roast dinner. We ended up going home and ordering curry. The kids showered and went straight to bed. 

I got up to walk after only a few hours of sleep. My hacking was out of control so I chose to stay home from work and go to the doctor. I was diagnosed with bronchitis and given two days off work. The doctor said I needed rest and antibiotics. Hopefully that will take care of it. 

I laid around the house all day and dozed in and out of sleep, which was lovely. When Stuart got home, I headed out for an hour or so to the Monday Meet Up crew. I can't miss this get together no matter how sick I am. By that time I had one dose of the three doses of antibiotics in me, and I had perked up a bit. 

Millie had arrived safely at Jacob's for her play date after school on Monday, and Jack was on his way home from school. 

I went to the 101 Cafeteria and met up with the ladies, which was lovely as usual. Once I returned, Millie arrived about 5 minutes after me. Jacob stayed for a bit while his mum ran to the supermarket. He's adorable!

Jacob was collected and we planned another play date. Jack and Millie bathed and ate. I took a shower as well. Mandy dropped by and had some tea, potato chips and a glass of wine. We had a good ole chat. She left just after 8 and I st down to watch my new obsession, Jane the Virgin. I was pretty sure I would finish it by Tuesday afternoon, which made me a bit sad. Sure enough, I finished the first two seasons on Wednesday and I felt a bit upset because now I had nothing to watch. 

Tuesday I got up and helped the kids get ready for school, made them cinnamon rolls, and drank a cup of coffee. I also did some ironing and got dressed. At 8 am, I decided to go to the supermarket to buy a roast because I had planned to make pot roast in the slow cooker. 

I got everything ready and put it in the slow cooker around noon, keeping my fingers crossed that it would be done when he kids got back from rugby practice. I didn't go to rugby practice because I hadn't been in school and I really did need more rest. 

Once Stuart and the kids were back, we sat down to a family meal. It was a yummy pot roast. The kids had already showered before they ate, so once they were finished I put them to bed, but not until I called one of the moms to talk to her about an incident that happened at rugby practice on Sunday evening, involving Jack. She had spoken to one of the other coaches on Tuesday and Stuart came home to me, telling me the story and saying he hadn't spoken to Jack yet. 

I found out the story, as best as I could. The short of it was Jack was very unkind to one of his team mates, possibly calling her chubby and slow, but definitely laughing when another boy had done so. I was so disappointed. I told Jack that whether he said it or not, he didn't defend the little girl when the other boy said it. I told him he was guilty by association. After I spoke to the little girl's mum, I told Jack he would be apologizing to her at the next practice. My final words to Jack were, 'Son, you need to defend those who can't defend themselves. Be kind. It's really one of he best human traits.'  To which he responded, 'I like that, Mom. Defend those who can't defend themselves.'  It was a moment for sure. He really took it to heart. He's a thinker like his dad, but he does it out loud instead of keeping it inside. Wonder where he learned that?

One of the little girls on Millie's team, Ciara, the same night, got her finger mangled. It seems that the kids were at the playground before training started and a little boy threw a huge piece of concrete at her hand. It must have hit it just right because it split her finger open to the bone and she had to have surgery. Poor dear! Millie hadn't said anything on Tuesday evening, but said something Wednesday morning when she was getting ready for school. I had a hard time believing her, but Brian confirmed it when he picked the kids up for school. 

School was maybe more hectic than usual. It had to be because I had missed the two previous days. I met myself coming and going. But at the end of the day I felt I at least had a focus for Thursday and would most likely get caught up on my work. 

I left school early to go to parent/teacher conferences. Both kids were reported to be doing well and behaving appropriately. Whew! With Jack we worry a bit about his squirrelly behavior and with Millie we worry about her verbal behavior. But the teachers assured us they were both doing well. We told them not to protect the kids in any way. We reminded them we were teachers and remember those difficult conferences where you really wanted to say more than you did. Still yet, nothing negative to report. Thank the Lord!

Since their report was so wonderful, and we had promised Jack we would go to sushi night at the golf club, and Stuart wasn't going to training, we told the kids they were being rewarded with sushi night.   It wasn't exactly the truth, but it worked out nicely. 

We did a supermarket run, came home and had the kids shower because sushi night didn't start until 7 pm and we wanted them ready to go to bed once we were home from dinner. They got all dressed up for the evening. Jack has always been that kid that if we tell him we were going out to dinner for a special treat, he wants to get dressed up. 

Sushi was wonderful. There is a new sushi chef at the golf club. It was as close to the sushi we would get in Arizona than I have had here. Once we were stuffed with sushi, we headed home. Millie fell asleep on the way home so we put her straight to bed. 

Thursday was another day of school fun for all of us. Nothing monumental happened, which made it a great Thursday. The Food Trucks hit Al Ain for the weekend. It started on Thursday evening. So we decided to go. We had never attended before, but this year since it was housed at the rugby club, we gave it a shot. Jack decided upon the Donut Diuble Cheeseburger. Stuart had a fried chicken sandwich, I had an avocado, spicy tuna boat, and Millie had French fries. Of course she did! We left the club sometime after 8 pm, and Millie fell asleep on the way home. I allowed myself to let her sleep in her clothes to bed. Plus, she wore them on Friday as well. I felt so accomplished because usually I am the OCD freak about baths and clean clothes and no dirty kid. However, don't get used to this behavior. It most likely will be another 5 years before this happens again, and that will only be because she fakes me out by running the water in the shower and wetting the soap so I don't know she actually never got in the shower. I did that a few times as a child. Ha!

Jack got to hold a falcon. 

Friday I took Jack and his friend Louie to see Batman Lego movie, while Millie went to Evie's house. Swapping kids is the way to go. Millie got to hang out with her friend and didn't have to go see the 'boy' movie. 

While we were in the cinema there were some kids in there with us who were out of control. We go to the cinema on Friday mornings because usually it is very quiet and rambunctious kids are no where to be seen, but not this Friday.  I said something to the mom. She acted as if she was going to do something about it, but it actually went on for about another 20 minutes. The kids were running up and down the aisle, throwing shoes and popcorn. What mom doesn't stop that? The one who was with these three little boys and one girl. She commanded the daughter to collect the kids and they headed out of the theater. The problem was they had to come back because one of the boys was missing a shoe. Shock! Finally the theater manager came in with a flash light and found the shoe. We enjoyed the last 45 minutes of the film, uninterrupted. When they left, I leaned over to Jack and said, 'If you ever behave like that in a public place, you won't leave the house for a very long time.' He replied, 'Mom, why would I ever act like that?'  Excellent!

After the movie, I went to get some final items for the craft day. Sadly, one of the stores wasn't open until 4 pm, so I would have to go back then. We got home around 3 pm, after a cup Parmesan at Rochelle's to collect Millie. Once we were home, the kids played outside while Stuart cooked. The kids didn't go to bed until almost 8 pm. Jack wanted to look at his world map instead of having me sing a song. He kept asking where we were going to go next. He also told me about how in school they were studying Africa. I pointed to Morocco and said, 'I've been there!'  He about jumped out of bed, 'You've been to Morocco? That's not fair! When can we go there together?'  I really can't express the delight it brings to my soul to see how our life choices have enriched our children's lives. It's indescribable. 

Once Jack was down for the night, I spent the rest of the evening prepping the crafts for the following morning. It's possible I bit off a bit too much with this particular craft day. Time would tell. 

I was up Saturday morning and lounged around prior to the party. I finally put food out just before 10 and then the guests arrived. I totally forgot to take pictures of the kids while they were doing their crafts, but the final product is below. They had fun, but my partner in crime was sick. DeDe said she was sending her husband, which was helpful. 

Eleanor came for crafting, and stayed for the afternoon. Jack, Millie and Eleanor played inside and out, all afternoon. Then they had a pizza for dinner. Stuart had gone to the club to do some work as the treasurer so he brought dinner home. We took Eleanor home after the kids ate, while Claire babysat, made sure the kids showered, and got to bed. 

Stuart and I decided to have a date night looking at cars because of what you read previously. Window shopping is nice. Spending that kind of money makes me want to vomit. So we are holding off for now. We have decided to rent out our Queen Creek home so we would like to at least get a renter in there before having to spend a wad of dough on a car. We shall see. 

We then decided to have our dinner out at .....the club. It's the cheapest food in town. We watched the 6 Nations rugby for a bit, then headed home to relieve Claire and get ready for a new week. 

Life is good!

And....we're snotty and sick!

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.