Sunday I got up and walked on my own. I walked two miles with Duke and was beat when I got home. So was Duke. I didn’t shower before I took the kids to school so had to just drop them instead of getting out of the car. Because I had my work out gear on, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to be seen during Ramadan in those clothes.
I spent the day on the sofa, which I know is terribly shocking. I started watching a new series, The Real Housewives of New York City. I also watched the first episode of the new Bachelorette. What a train wreck that is going to be.
I ended up picking the kids up from school as Stuart had to go and trade his rental car for another one. His old rental car was due for a service so he just swapped cars.
Once we were all home, Jack went to Ian’s and Millie played with her baby dolls downstairs. The doorbell rang around 4:30 pm and it was our neighbors, Mohammed and Saif. These are the boys who tried to take Jack’s new nerf gun he got for Christmas, so as you can guess they are not my favorite children in the world. Mohammed had a puppy in his arms and asked if we wanted to have it. Well, of course we didn’t, but he said they were given it as a gift and his father was angry about it and they had to get rid of it. Believe me when I say, I’m pretty sure this particular family would have done ANYTHING to get rid of it. So I told the boys that if they couldn’t find someone to take the puppy that I would take it to my vets. So guess who shows up 20 minutes later, puppy and puppy gear in tow? Yep, we had a visitor for the night. We put his picture on Facebook and it didn’t take long for someone to say they would go to the clinic the following day to adopt him. The kids were disappointed, but that was what was best.
Cathy came for dinner and we all monitored the puppy so he wouldn’t pee everywhere. There was only one piddle, which wasn’t bad. Duke roughed him up and he slept most of the evening. When we did go to bed, the puppy slept in a cage right beside Duke. He whined at 1:00 am and I took both dogs out. Each had a wee and returned to bed. The puppy woke up and was barking at about 5:20 am. I assumed he was hungry. He had scarfed down a small can of wet food the night before and when I took him downstairs on Monday morning, he did the same. I returned both dogs upstairs before I went for my walk. When I returned, Stuart said the puppy had yipped until Stuart finally got up with him.
Once I was home from my walk and showered, I took the kids to school. When I returned I had some breakfast and then the puppy and I headed to the vet. Nadia, our friend who owns the vet clinic, said she would keep him for two weeks and then if no one claimed him they would have to send him to the Falcon Hospital. This is not a good thing, but it does happen. Everyone knows he Falcon Hospital is a place for sick falcons and a place they take animals no one wants to be out to sleep. It’s so sad, but there are so many lose animals here and there is little control over it. I assured Nadia that the lady who contacted me would be coming to collect the puppy.
Once I had taken the puppy to the clinic I stopped at the supermarket to get some snacks for our weekend away that was approaching. I got home, put away the groceries and watched some more trash television.
We picked the kids up from school and headed to Bounce. Agnus, who usually brings the kids on Monday, had a doctor’s appointment so I told her we would take them on Monday. We bring Jack, Millie, two of Jack’s friends, Adam and Daniel, and Daniel’s little brother David. Each day when they check in, the workers go over the rules and have the children repeat the rules. So when David ended up on the same trampoline as Millie, even though he wasn’t supposed to be, it wasn’t surprising that she did a cartwheel and knocked his two front teeth out with her feet!
Poor kid! Fortunately, they were both baby teeth and he had been waiting for them to come out for a while. I messaged his mother and she said ‘looks like he’ll be rich tonight’. She took it well.
Once we were finished at Bounce, we went home and the kids showered. When they finished the had dinner and Claire came over to babysit. Stuart and I both had a committee meeting and then I went on to an Iftar dinner at my friend Hassah’s house. I picked DeDe up at 6:40 pm and we headed over. We had a lovely time catching up and eating. I got home around 9 pm and was ready for bed.
Tuesday morning I walked on my own again. It was hot and it keeps getting hotter. I worked on some issues with our grade system at school. I made waffles to freeze for the kids to be able to fix their own breakfast in the mornings.
I watched a bit of television and then Stuart got home around noon. He picked the kids up from school. Once they were home I asked Millie to clean up her toys and she had a meltdown. Those are so enjoyable.
After about 15 minutes of me cleaning up and her screaming, it was over and she was hungry. She got something to eat and went upstairs to watch a movie with Jack. Once she was up there she saw Jack had a treat that she wanted. She came down bawling about not having the same snack Jack had. I had to point out that Jack didn’t create a fuss after school and actually put his clothes away and straightened up his room without being asked. She then broke down and cried, saying ‘I’m sorry, mama!’ I told her she wasn’t going to get that treat just because she said she was sorry. I told her I didn’t appreciate her saying she was sorry just to get the treat. Then she really got pitiful and I know she meant what she said. ‘Mama, I really am sorry. I mean it.’ So I sat down and put her on my lap and hugged her. I told her that I really needed her to try to do things when I ask the first time and without moaning about it. She said she would try.
The kids played games upstairs for a while and then we left for Millie’s last dance class, which was a demonstration for families. We were told to only bring one member, but we brought three. Oops!
When dance was over we headed back home. Stuart had made a stew and the Richardsons were coming for dinner so we could tentatively plan our weekend away. As things go when we get together, we didn’t plan anything. We were too busy chatting! Surprise! They left around 8:30 and then it was showers and bed for everyone.
I had gotten up to walk on Wednesday, but Lara forgot to set her alarm, so I walked again on my own. On the first mile of my walk I passed a fellow dog owner who told me not to continue down the road as those wild dogs, who have been there since before Christmas, ran after her and her little dogs. They were standing at the entrance to her complex, waiting for the little dogs to return. I told her I would walk down with her with Duke. It’s not that he would do anything. In fact, he once jumped out of his collar and ran home when they barked at him in December. So he’s a big chicken, but his size, I figured, would be intimidating. The dogs did run just as we got relatively close. It totally messed up my walk, though. I had to find a new route that was exactly 2 miles. I really am OCD!
I took the kids to school and then came back to lay around. I’m becoming, I fear, a bit lazy.
I had been told the previous day, by my principal, that I would be having a conference call for my evaluation on Wednesday morning. Around 8:30 am one of my teachers messaged me and told me my principal had said there would be no conferences on Wednesday because the Vice Principal was out. Not only did I never hear this from my principal, neither did my other teacher who is on her naughty list. Clearly her professional skills are lacking a bit.
Stuart got home just after noon and we picked the kids up at 1:30 to take them to Bounce. Millie had taken clothes so she could change at school instead of in the car. Unfortunately she selected a shirt she had never worn before and it turns out it was too big. So before Bounce opened at 2 pm, we had enough time to go to a shop on the 1st floor of the mall and buy her a T-shirt that fit better. It was an emoji T-shirt so she was thrilled.
After two hours of Cookie Jam on my phone and chatting with some of the other moms, we headed home. We had decided Wednesday evening for the rest of the school year would be date night. Jack had a date with Stuart to go play golf and then eat sushi, and Millie and I had a date to play babies, eat popcorn (possibly for dinner) and watch a new movie that we were going to buy on iTunes. We ended up buying Sherlock Gnomes. It was a very cute film. And my date with Millie was epic. She played the Mom that had to go to work and I was the nanny who took care of the kids. The view of an expat kid kills me sometimes.
Thursday morning I got up and waited for my evaluation conference. It seems that my principal used my name in reference to another teacher’s evaluation. So that teacher insisted they call me. Unfortunately, I could not confirm the statements my principal had stated I had made, so it was very awkward and uncomfortable. Then around noon, the principal and vice principal called me and started my conference, rating me very low in 3 of the 20 indicators. I informed them that I would definitely appeal their assessment of my performance. It was so upsetting, but we were leaving for the weekend so I had to shake it off.
We headed to pick up the kids from school and went straight to Dubai from there. On the way to Dubai, I received a call from a private school I had interviewed with previously. The head of the junior school told me that I had always stuck out in his mind and they had not fulfilled all of their positions for the the next school year. He asked what the process was in getting out of my current contract. When I let him know it was still possible he said he would have to leave me in limbo for a bit, but would be in touch. It kind of brightened my day. It made me still feel valued even if nothing comes of this position. Time will tell, I suppose.
We ended up going straight to Dubai Mall and Stuart gave me my birthday present early. My fit bit had broken earlier in the week and he knew I had wanted an Apple Watch, so this the reason for an early gift. It was a pleasant surprise. We had a coffee while the kids had donuts and ice cream at the food court. We then headed to the hotel apartment to meet up with the Richardsons.
When we arrived, we were greeted by the Richardsons who had already arrived. We hung around the apartment for a few hours and then headed to a mall within walking distance to have dinner at the food court. I had Pad Thai, which was delightful.
We walked back to the apartment and the kids got ready for bed. The adults sat and chilled, out favorite thing to do. We all headed to bed around 11 pm.
We got up Friday morning with full intentions of going to the Dubai Frame at 10 am. Stuart made sausage, bacon, eggs and beans for breakfast. When breakfast was complete we headed to the Frame, only to be disappointed by the fact that the Ramadan hours were from 2 pm to 11 pm each day. So we decided to go to a super market and get some items for dinner. It is always cheaper to eat in when you have an apartment at your disposal. Plus, the wine is cheaper! Ha!
Once we were back from the supermarket, we fed the kids some lunch and headed to the pool for the afternoon. We basically sat in the baby pool while the kids went down the slides. It was a great facility for our kids.
We headed up to the apartment around 4 pm. The kids showered and played for a bit before having dinner. The adults waited until later to have our dinner of different pork products and cheeses. It was another relaxing, lazy day. It ended perfectly with great company and excellent food. We called it a night earlier than normal, but the sun had wiped us all out.
Saturday we were up with sausage sandwiches and bacon and scrambled eggs as well. We then spent the morning at the pool, having asked for a later check out. Once the pool had exhausted itself, we headed upstairs to shower, pack, have lunch and relax. Once we had checked out, we headed to Dubai Frame. It opened at 2 pm, so we sat in our air conditioned cars for about 45 minutes.
The Frame was really cool, but a little like the Grand Canyon, once you’ve seen it, then there’s not much else to it. We only spent about 30 minutes at the top. When we came down, we got in our cars and headed back to Al Ain. Everyone else had to go back to work, but I had another week off for rest and recovery.
The floor is glass so you can see to the bottom! Yikes!
Massive!
This is at the top of the frame.
We got home and did the usual unpacking, putting away, laundry, showering, and sorting out the kids’ stuff for school on Sunday. We had dinner and the kids passed out early. This was the last weekend we would have away with the Richardsons. It was a little sad, to say the least.
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