One step forward and then a few back.

Sunday at school I got overwhelmed and had a bit of a breakdown. I didn’t feel well, so that didn’t help. It seemed that everyone else had everything together and I could hardly get my head out. I still love the job, but feeling quite inadequate some days. 

I sorted out Jack’s swim squad issues and the coach said he didn’t have to come to the regular practice on Tuesdays as long as he came two other days in the week. This will afford him to join the basketball team on Tuesdays, which thrills him. So now he will go to swim practice on Monday and Tuesday mornings at 6:45 am. Yikes! 

I got home on Sunday just before rugby training. I didn’t go to netball again. I will at some stage, I hope. Instead, I stayed home and did some work for my lessons on Monday. I had some time with Millie as she stayed home as well. Jack and Stuart got home just before 7 pm. Jack was up to shower and then had something to eat. He was off to bed shortly after that. I didn’t stay up too long as I was exhausted. That seems to be my state these days. 

Jack went to swim squad Monday morning, and it seemed earlier than normal, even though we usually get to school at 6:45 am anyway. School was better on Monday. I felt more prepared for sure. I had to do a border run in order for my work visa to be processed. Since I didn’t know about until I got to school, I messaged  Stuart to ask him to come and get the kids right after school. I thought the border run would take forever, but it only took me about 40 minutes once I was at the crossing. 

Because the kids already planned to go have dinner at the club, I decided to sit at Tim Hortons, have a coffee and work for a bit. When I went to pick them up at the club, they were ready for showers and bed. Well, Millie is never ready for bed, but that’s an on-going battle that I hope ends very soon. Stuart returned from training and we had dinner. Then it was night night for all. 

We were up and out for early morning swim squad for Jack. He went straight to the pool once we were in school. School ran relatively smoothly on Tuesday. It took a bit of a turn during the last lesson of the day. We have Math and it is brutal to teach Math to 6 year olds at 1:40 pm. Yikes! But the support staff said we would meet on a regular basis and iron things out. 

Stuart picked up Jack from basketball practice and took him home to get ready for rugby.  Millie and I headed to her ballet class just after 4 pm. She is in with some of the little girls in my class. After that class, she had her gymnastics dance class. She had a great time, but of course she decided she needed ballet tights, mainly because her little friends had them. After dance, I swung by McDonalds and got dinner for the kids. 

While Jack ate, I went to get milk and Stuart put Millie to bed. He seems to have better luck with her bedtime than I do. She doesn’t fight him as much. When I got back, I simply went upstairs and told her goodnight. Jack went to bed around 8, and I continued to try to upload the book Where the Wild Things Are. I finally did it and actually created a flip chart of it. I was so proud of myself. This book links with our topic for this term. I stayed up and worked for a while. Stuart went to bed and I watched the last episode of Bachelor in Paradise. 

Wednesday we were out of the house on time. I was more ready for the day than I was the day before. Stuart came at the end of the day for the meet and greet for parents at Brighton College. Once that was over, he took the kids home and I stayed and worked until just before 5 pm. When I got home Millie was in full meltdown mode. She had decided she didn’t need to take a shower and was going to fight it the whole time. She lost about an hour and a half of her time because she was just so stubborn and wouldn’t comply with what was being asked of her. Stuart went off to training, while I fought with the little madam.  He got home just after 8:30 pm. Millie had been asleep for a while, as her meltdown cost her some free time. 

Thursday at school I met with my special needs assistant. We worked out the fact that I really need to use more hands-on activities. I’m still not convinced that Year 2 is for me, but time will tell, I suppose. I ended up not sending my emails properly to parents. My learning curve is supposed to get smaller, but it just seems to get larger. Ugh!  I ended up staying at school until 4:15 pm. The days get a bit long, but I know it will not be this way all year. 

We decided to have an impromptu BBQ at our house. Everyone brought their own meat to grill. We had a salad and some potato chips. Brian, Lara, their kids, Jane and her boys, Cathy and Claire, as well as Sean and Carly came over. We were in bed around 11 pm. It was a good night. 

Friday morning we went to the club around 9:30 am for Millie and Jack’s birthday parties. They each invited friends and had a blast just swimming and having pizza. For us, this is the cheapest birthday party ever. It is also no trouble for either of us, and the kids enjoyed every minute of it. 

After the party, we came home. Stuart went to Abu Dhabi to watch the first men’s rugby team play, while Cathy, the kids and I went to the mall. The kids bought some new toys with their birthday money and gift vouchers. 

When we got home, we had leftovers and the kids played with their new toys. Jack even gave up the PS4 to play with his new race track. Stuart got home just before 9 pm. The kids were in bed and Cathy and I were talking about our teaching experiences over the years. She left around 10 pm and Stuart went to bed. I decided to stay up and watch television. It is my alone time and my time to really unwind by myself. 

Saturday morning we got up and celebrated Jack’s actual birthday. We bought him a set of golf clubs and we bought a SIM card for his phone. When he came in the living room, I called his phone and it started ringing. Stuart videoed him finding the phone and then realizing we had put a SIM card in his phone. He was so excited. So many friends and family had already messaged him on WhatsApp before he even got the phone. He was thrilled. He also opened gifts from Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Cheryl and Granny. Grandma, Grandad, Grammie and Pop has given him gifts over the summer. So needless to say, he had a full birthday. 

This was a game he got called Snot It! Of course, he loved it. 

He spoke with Grammie and Pop for a while and then we got ready to go to the mall. Cathy went with us for his birthday lunch. We went to PF Chang’s, which is his favorite for sushi. And of course he got sushi. We stopped at LuLu supermarket on the way home and were quickly reminded as to why we NEVER go to the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon. There were hundreds of people there, and I do not exaggerate. It’s was wall to wall people. 

Once we were back in our neighborhood, we dropped Cathy off at her place, dropped our laundry off at the cleaners, and then headed home. The kids played upstairs and Stuart and I did some school work. We didn’t have a formal dinner, as we normally do on a Saturday evening. Instead, Stuart and I had leftovers, while Millie had noodles and Jack had a pbj, his favorite. He also had another piece of his birthday cake from the day before. I totally forgot about it, otherwise Millie could have had a piece. I’m sure she will end up eating the rest of her cake over the next few days. 

So another week has passed and all is well. Stuart is still not thrilled with his job, but seems to be just getting on with it. The kids love Brighton College, as do I. The Telfords are doing pretty good. 

What a week, and it wasn’t even a full one!

We had special classes on Sunday which gave me time to get some stuff done. It was great. I had a class with all of the non-native students. I am responsible for teaching Social Studies this term. Millie was in my class for 40 minutes. She was well behaved and participated in the discussion really well. 

Stuart picked the kids up after school. I got to work for about an hour without interruption. I actually didn’t bring my laptop home on Monday evening. Instead, I watched a movie with Millie while Stuart took Jack to watch rugby. Jack had been such a turd when we were grocery shopping on Sunday that we decided we would hold him out from practice in Sunday. Instead, he had to go and just watch his team. He was not impressed with our decision. Hopefully moments like this ring in his ear when we tell him to knock off his obnoxious behavior while we are in public. 

Once Stuart and Jack were home, we had dinner. Millie was already in bed when they got home. We had nachos and then we let Jack about 45 minutes of the new Jurassic World movie we had just purchased on iTunes. He was so thrilled. I was in bed shortly after 9 pm. 

Monday I had about 2 hours of planning time. It was so great! I got a ton of work done. We tested all of our students in reading and math. I have some bright spots in my class, but there are also some definite challenges. I have one student that draws out the last word of each of her sentences for about 10 seconds. It’s interesting to say the least. 

My friend and yours, Buddy, had an interesting day. He had to go to two different classes, swimming, and there was a fire alarm. I am proud to say he handled it all quite well. Change to his schedule is not easy, but he handled it like a pro. At one stage I went into one of the rooms and asked him if he was okay. He said, ‘I’m not quite sure.’  He’s an honest little chap, that’s for sure. 

At the end of the day, Jack had his swim squad trials. The coaches were thrilled to have him back on the swim squad. He is by far the fastest swimmer in the school. He’s really excited about swimming. Millie is not old enough for the swim squad, but she’s keen to participate next year for sure. 

When Jack was finished we headed home. Lara and I were going to walk, but in the end decided it was too hot. The kids showered as soon as they got home. Then about an hour later they ate dinner. 

Just after they at dinner I took the dogs for a walk. On my way back, the dad that we’ve had issues with before asked me if I spoke to his son Seth about taking the basketball goal back to their house each night. I told him I had. He had been drinking as I could spell it from the distance I was standing from him. He was playing basketball with Seth. Seth was behind him and giggling with embarrassment. He told me we had agreed to me not talking to his son. When I spoke to Seth on Saturday I just asked him if they took the goal in each night. I wasn’t attacking him at all, just inquiring. To say the least, he really irritated me. I just stated that I didn’t like to have to come out and ask kids to stop shooting baskets at 11 pm at night. He said, ‘Well, you should get after those kids, not Seth.’  I reintegrated I didn’t get after Seth, but that if the goal was brought in each night those kids wouldn’t have an opportunity to shoot baskets. I told him I shouldn’t be inconvenienced because he didn’t want to take the goal in. He said he was just sick of me getting after Seth. I told him that I felt like Seth and I had a pretty good rapport and that I hadn’t gotten after Seth for about 5 months. Then I asked Seth to confirm that. Seth said, ‘That’s probably true.’

It was just ridiculous. I came in and told Stuart. He had an awful day at work and wasn’t in the mood. He generally lets things go. But he went out and told the guy off. In the end, guess who took the goal back to their house? Let’s hope it stays that way. 

When Stuart came back inside, Jack asked what had happened because Stuart was hot. I just told Jack that it was an adult issue and he didn’t need to worry about it. Jack went to bed shortly after that. Stuart and I stayed up and watched some television, Les Miserable to be exact. 

Tuesday school was a little more normal. We finished up our testing and I felt each lesson went well. At the end of the day I discovered that a lot of Millie’s friends were going to be going to the dance classes in Al Ain. I asked her if she would rather do that than go to Dubai for gymnastics. She said she would. Yahoo!

When we got home, I decided I would take a break from work and go with Jack and the rest of the family to the rugby club. Jack had training and I sat in the restaurant and had a chat with James and Kirsti. James has moved to a private school this year as well. He gave me some sound advice. He said that the work will always be there so I should give myself a break and make sure I still take time for fun. 

Wednesday was our last day of the week. Thursday was declared a public holiday. It was the day we would celebrate the Islamic New Year. I sent out my parent email and sent home the kids’ reading books. It was a fast and furious day. 

After school the kids, Cathy and I went to Nin and Claire’s for a party. They had moved into a new apartment so they had a get together. Stuart went to training and we met him later at the club for Quiz night. Because we didn’t have school the following day, the place was packed. They reserve tables for the Quiz night, and they inform customers that sit at the reserved tables that they have to be gone at 8 pm. There was a couple sitting at one of the reserved tables and it was just a couple of minutes before 8. I asked the guy if they were staying for the quiz. He told me they were leaving. I then asked if we could have the table when they were finished.  He said, ‘Sure. Thanks for being polite. Maybe you could give this lady (pointing to someone at the next table) some lessons on being polite.’  Awkward! He went on to have a rant about being kicked off his table. It was terribly uncomfortable. He ended up staying at the table about 15 minutes after he paid, just to prove a point. I asked his poor girlfriend if she wanted to play with us. She turned her nose up to me. In the end, I asked him if he wanted to play even though I would have rather him not be a jerk. He had to then tell me how important he was and how he had done a quiz when he was coaching the California Angels. Blah, blah, blah! Did I mention he had an 80s porn stash? Ugh! We ended up winning a dinner for two at the club. We gave it to our friend Paula. 

Thursday there was no school. It was the observance of Islamic New Year. Sean and Cathy came for a breakfast of sausages, bacon and eggs. Just after breakfast, Jack went swimming with his friend Adam. We went to the mall to find Millie some ballet slippers, with no luck. She’s decided to take a ballet class and a gymnastics dance class instead of traveling to Dubai each week for gymnastics, which is fine with us. She found out that some of her friends will be in the dance classes so that made her happy. 

When we returned from the mall, we went to pick up Jack. Once we were home I started doing some school work. Jack and Stuart took a nap on the sofa. It was such a strange thing for Jack. Then I discovered he hadn’t used any sun cream and had a horrible sun burn. No wonder he needed a nap. 

The kids took showers, ate dinner, and then went upstairs to watch television. They both went to bed around 9 pm. We were getting up early Friday to make our way down to Dubai to see Uncle James. 

Once breakfast was over and everyone was dressed Friday morning, we headed to Dubai. We arrived around 9:30 am and were dressed for the buffet, Bubblicious,deemed the best buffet in Dubai. Then it set in that the buffet didn’t start until 1 pm. So off to the pool we went. We spent a few hours in the pool, walked along the beach, and just enjoyed being with Uncle James. I think that day was just what Stuart needed. 

The buffet was epic as usual. The food was plentiful, and as usual, Jack tried something new. He ate oysters! In fact, he had 7 oysters. That kid will try most anything. Millie dined on sweets, mostly, as we would expect. James was amazed by the display and took a lot of pictures. 

After the buffet, we waddled back down to the pool and spent about 3 hours there. We ended the evening up in the room and ordered room service for the kids. Uncle James went to his room around 9 pm and we bid him farewell. We so appreciate him making a stop over to see us. He doesn’t have to do that, we know, but we love seeing him and any family for any amount of time possible. In fact, sometimes the shorter the visit, the more impactful because you try to get as much quality out of the little time you have. 

Saturday we were up and out of the hotel, in search of ballet gear, birthday treat bag items, costumes for the kids’ school dress up days, and then any other incidental we felt we needed. We stopped at Mirdiff City Centre and found the ballet items. The party things were not as easy. In fact, we found a Viking helmet for Jack, as they are studying Vikings. But we found nothing else. 

Once we were home, we unpacked and started a load of laundry before heading to the rugby club so Stuart could watch the Argentina vs Australia match. Jack and Millie stayed with him while I headed to Gift City to get the much needed sweets for their birthday treat bags. 

Once I had bought all the sugar they had, I went back to the club. We fed the kids at the club so that once we got home, they took showers and were ready for bed. Millie then put her ballet slippers and leotard on and danced around the house. Jack went immediately to his PS4 and was not to be seen for the next two hours. I did a bit more work so I didn’t look like a total baboon the following day. Both kids had another snack before heading to bed. Millie continued to complain about a head ache and her nose being stuffy, even an hour after she was in bed. So when I put Jack to bed, I gave her some meds to help her feel a bit better and possibly go to sleep. 

Stuart took the dogs for a walk while I took a shower. We then sat down and watched Versailles, a series we are really loving. The night ended, as it often does, with me falling asleep on the sofa. Here’s to another good week in the UAE. 

The children are in school!

Sunday was the first day of school and It was incredible. At the end of the day I was exhausted. My class are precious little 6 year olds and they loved me. Wow! Who knew I would actually enjoy the first day. I have a few students who will definitely challenge my patience this year, but who will also keep me on my toes. I have one student who reminds me of the student I had so many years ago that I named my own son after. Already, I love him dearly. We will call him Buddy. 

When we got home from school, the kids quickly got changed and had a snack before heading to the rugby club for Rugby training. I sat and had a Diet Coke. I talked with Lara, Paula, and Rochelle for a bit.  I was a bit in a daze. Once we were home, the kids were showered, had something to eat and then went to bed. I worked for a couple of hours in our ‘office’, then nearly fell asleep on the sofa around 9:30 pm. 

Monday was a much better day. I felt more prepared and less like a chicken with my head cut off. There was little down time and Carmen and I started to get into a bit of a groove. My personal kids acted up after school, which wound me up. We got home just before 5 pm and they showered. I fed them and started doing my work for the evening. 

Millie ended up having to go to bed early because of her behavior. Jack went to bed a bit earlier as well because it was obvious that both kids were tired. Stuart had a meeting at the rugby club at 5:30. He decided not to stay for training so he was home just after 6:30.  Stuart seems to be having a difficult time at work this year, which reaffirms I left at the right time.  He’s exhausted from the needless stress alone. I finished working around 8:30 and watched one of the Back to the Future movies. I ended up going to bed just before 10 pm. 

School just got progressively better as the week went on. Hump Day was long, but the students really started to settle in. I really can’t wait until special classes start next week. I have a few days in my schedule that I have a solid two hours of planning. Hopefully this will alleviate me staying late at school and will keep me from working so much at home in the evenings. 

When we got home from school, I stayed home and didn’t go with the kids to rugby as I had so much work to do. After our staff meeting, I found out there was a great deal I needed to get done before the end of the week. So working instead of relaxing at the club seemed to be my way forward. 

Millie gave Stuart grief while they were at the club, so we decided she wouldn’t be able to go to the rugby club anymore during the week as it was too much for her. I’m not sure if we will be able to stick to this. 

Wednesday was a crazy day. We were nearly at school when Jack announced he had left his lunch at the house. I was so irritated. I happened to put an extra sandwich in my bag and I had also purchased snacks the previous evening to take to school so the kids could have a snack after school each day. So when we got to school I made him a terribly unhealthy lunch and went to tell his teacher he would just have to be hungry. She said ‘Tough love. I get it.’

I was out of sorts for the day.  Jack forgetting his lunch just spun my morning in the wrong direction. I ended up doing the wrong duty, didn’t show up for the correct duty, and ended my day with a call to the parent. Into the week 4 days and already making a call home. I would love to report it was a positive call, but alas, it wasn’t. 

We left school just after 4 pm. The kids showered when they got home and I started in on the work I needed to do. The kids ate dinner and then Stuart went to training. I finished working around 8 pm and then sat down to watch television. Stuart got home just before 9 and I fell asleep on the sofa. I finally went to bed around 9:30. 

Thursday the kids got up and got ready for school without a hitch. The last day of the first week was really good. The end of the day, after kids had been dismissed, the fire alarm went off, which threw us all off just a touch. It was hot and there were still kids who hadn’t been picked up. 

Once we were allowed back into the building, I had he opportunity to speak with Buddy’s mum. I told her that her son had already made me a better person. I told her that I wasn’t sure where she stood in regards to the spiritual world, but that I believed I was sent to Brighton especially for Buddy. He had, in 5 days, made me a better mom to my kids. He’s an amazing child. 

We left school just before 4 pm. My team leader has two children at the school as well. Her daughter Alice is in Millie’s class.  Alice came home with Millie and me, while Jack went with Tommy, her son, to her house and then to the golf course. The girls played school while at our house. It was hilarious. 

We met Joan at the golf course for dinner with the girls. The girls ate and played, and Joan and I got to know each other better. When it was time to go, it was discovered that Jack had left his back pack at their house. So we stopped by their house on the way home to get it. When we came out of their house, Jack decided he would try to scare me. He tried to hide under the stairs. But as he ran to hide, he failed to see the curb and tripped over it, landing on his hip on a concrete slab. He kept saying he was sorry. I asked him why he was saying he was sorry? He said because he thought I would be mad at him for falling. What have I done to my son. I hugged him and told him I wasn’t mad at him, but was so sorry he was hurt. Poor kid!

We to Sean’s for a while. He was having a tattoo party. Stuart and I were not participating this time. When I got there Lara, Brian, Cathy, Stuart and Sean were sitting around watching Claire, Ashleigh, and Kayla get tattoos. Claire took Jack to Brian and Lara’s while Millie hung out with Carly in her room. We ended up getting home just before 11 pm. I walked over to pick up Jack. The kids showered and then were off to bed. 

Friday I washed Millie’s bed. We went to the mall for some needed items. We then went to get groceries. I stopped at Starbucks on the way out of the mall and discovered they finally have sugar free syrups. Yahoo! 

We got home and put things away.  Then we headed to the club for Open Day. Open Day is one of the club’s biggest events of the year. It’s the day the men kick off their rugby season. Stuart is only playing for the community and vets teams this year, so he didn’t play. The event was huge. There were sponsors of the club at the event. There was also a live band after the match. I sold raffle tickets and handed out prizes. I also monitored the bounce castle for a bit. I then realized that the children on the bouncy castle weren’t even mine. 

Jack and his new friend Tommy. 

We left the club around 10:15 pm. The kids hadn’t eaten because they chose to play instead. We decided we would feed them when we got home. Usually we insist they eat at the club, but since this was the first event of the year, we went easy on them. I stayed up to watch television, but fell asleep on the sofa. 

Saturday morning I got up and ironed Jack’s school shirts, a shirt of mine, and Stuart’s trousers. I stripped Jack’s bed and had him sort out his shirts and gym shorts so we could give them to Tommy the following day at school. Around 10 am I got to work and started sorting myself out for school on Sunday. The week ahead would be about baseline assessments. I finished just before 1 pm. I sat and watched television before getting ready to go to my ‘Favorites’ party. 

This ‘favorites’ was the best ever. Only 7 of us showed up, so we got all the gifts that were brought. It was so quaint and such a small group. I enjoyed catching up with the ladies I don’t see very often. 

Once I was home, I answered a few inquiries about some things I was selling on swap and shop. We then had dinner and spoke to Grammie and Pop. It was so good to share with them what a great impact my new job had already had on me. 

Once the conversation was finished and the kids were in bed, I sat down to relax and then found myself sleeping very quickly. So I went to bed and was almost asleep before my head hit the pillow. I am exhausted, but it is well worth it. 

One week down, 36 to go!

I woke up quite anxious about the first day of school. I got to school for the introduction at 8:15 am, which turned out to be a bit of a waste of time as we all just sat there and stared at each other. The general meeting started at 9 am. The head master and other senior leaders introduced themselves and told all of us how wonderful we were and how great this school year was going to be. It was such a supportive, positive environment. 

Once the meeting was over we all had coffee and then my Year 2 team met. We discussed expectations for the week and then were set off to work in our rooms. Because the person who taught in my classroom was no longer at the school, all of her things were left in the room. So, unfortunately, my teacher assistant and I spent most of our time the first day purging the room of things we didn’t need. My TLA (teaching and learning assistant), Carmen, put backing paper on all of my bulletin boards and started doing things that I would normally do as a teacher. It is going to take some time to get used to having someone do the mundane parts of the job, but I think I’ll manage in the end. 

I hardly had time to breath after school before I went to the club for a meeting about the social events to take place for the next academic year.  The kids had picked Duke up from Jane’s house earlier in the day, so that was one job we didn’t have to do. 

Once I was home, Cathy, Claire, Sean, and his daughter Carly, came over and we ordered some food. Brian and Lara popped in as well. We killed many birds with one stone that evening. I was so exhausted. It was great seeing them and catching up, but I did need a good night’s sleep. The week was just going to get more hectic. 

School on Monday, if it’s possible, was better than Sunday. We had necessary meetings but then were allowed to get on with our room set up. After school I picked up Jack from his friend Adam’s house. We continued to get things back to normal after our 7 weeks away. Around 4:30 we took Duke and went to the vets to visit our potential new puppy. The dogs got along and the puppy was the girl version of Duke. We decided we would bring her home for Duke to have a Duchess. The kids were so excited. We arranged to have her spayed and then we would pick her up on Tuesday. 

We got home with Duke just in time to go to the club for a committee meeting. It lasted for nearly 2 hours. The kids swam most of the time and then went into the restaurant to have dinner. We joined them after the meeting. 

On Tuesday we had training on the computer system at school. It’s amazing how organized Brighton College is. I was granted permission to leave early to get my exit process finished with Abu Dhabi Education Council. The entire ordeal reminded me how blessed I was to have this new job. I was going to go back to school after I ran around Al Ain trying to get all of the official documentation in order to officially be finished with ADEC, but it took way too long. So instead I went home and Stuart, Millie and I went to pick up Duchess. Jack didn’t go because he was having a sleepover at Adam’s. 

Once we were home it was all too obvious that Duchess was going to be a welcomed member of the fur family. Oreo greeted her and Pumpkin wasn’t totally mean to her. Of course, Duke loves her. She adjusted well the first night. She did squat and almost pee on Cathy’s foot, but other than that she was fine. We had dinner with Cathy and Claire at our house. 

Wednesday was busy at school. It seemed we would never get the room cleaned. It was overwhelming and I started to feel the pressure. My team had a meeting and we discussed way more than I could grasp. How is it that I am starting my 27th year in education and it feels like my first? There are so many things to take in. 

I intended to be home by 3 pm, but wasn’t, so Stuart took the kids to get their school uniforms. They have a house system at the school and the three of us were supposed to be in Hampden house, but in one of the morning meetings it was mentioned that there wasn’t a House Mistress for Ryle house. So I told the Deputy Head of Pastoral Care that my kids and I would switch houses and then I would be happy to be the House Mistress of Ryle. It’s kind of like being head cheerleader. Ha! She said that was fine. The kids’ PE shirts will have green stripes now instead of red. Go Ryle!

I took Sean’s daughter, Carly, to the tailor to get her skirts hemmed. We then went to the club to eat dinner. Stuart had taken the kids with him and we met them there. Stuart had training so I ordered him food and left just before their training was over. Jack stayed with Stuart while Millie and I came home and had showers. I put Millie to bed just before Stuart and Jack got home. While I waited for them to return, I started watching the new season of Bachelor in Paradise. What a bunch of trash! Yahoo!

Thursday, total anxiety set in. I really didn’t think I would be prepared for Sunday. The Head of the Junior School, Mr McArthur, had really emphasized a balance of work and family life. He encouraged us to stay away from the college at the weekends, but I was sure I was going to have to go in at least one day. I did some mundane, brainless tasks in order to feel accomplished and avoid some of the real things I needed to do, like make a plan for what I was going to do on Sunday. 

Before I finished my work for the day, I was alerted to the fact that I should mention to someone that I had noticed that Millie was one of two native English speaking students in her class. I had noticed it on Tuesday, but didn’t say anything because I hadn’t the time to do so. Well, I’m glad I did. It turns out that she was moved when it was brought to the attention of the senior leadership. She will now be with the class she was in when she was in pre school at Brighton. The students typically move up together and are in the same class each year, unless there are issues with specific children. 

Believe it or not, I only stayed until 4:15 pm on Thursday and I had decided I could get away with not going to the college over the weekend, as long as I did some work at home. 

When I got home from work, I showered and we headed to the rugby club. The staff of Brighton College were meeting there for a social gathering. The college was paying for our dinners. I didn’t go to hang out with my colleagues, but once I was there I couldn’t help it. There were so many staff members there. It was a great night for the club. Cathy and Sean came back to our house for a bit after leaving the club. 

Friday morning I didn’t wake up until 9 am. We had a lot of errands to run before Sunday. For one, closed-toed shoes are not my friends. I had so many blisters from the first day of school that I had to wear sandals for most of the rest of the week. I was granted permission while we had no students, but closed-toed shoes would be in the dress code from Sunday. So off to find some sensible lesbian shoes I went. See, my problem was that I had tried to get stylish ones instead of comfortable one. So we headed to the outlet mall. I am happy to report I bought two pair of Skechers shoes that aren’t terribly flattering, but are comfortable. We were also able to get Jack and Millie some goggles and a few other items needed to start the year out right. We picked up some groceries and then headed home. 

At 2 pm I took Carly to get her hair done. I dropped her off and then Sean would pick her up later and head to our house for dinner. The rest of the day was spent moving things into the guest room. We decided we would make it an office. We put the futon in there so that if we have guests we can still have a bed for them. 

For dinner, Stuart burgers, brats, and chips (French fries). It was a quiet evening. I didn’t do any work all day, which had me a bit stressed. I work well under pressure, thank goodness. 

Saturday morning I got up and weighed. A group of my friends are starting Fat Fighters (our version of weight watchers). I have put on a few unwanted pounds and I need to get it together. So we took a picture of our weight and sent it to each other. That was fun! 

We headed out to another mall and I bought some things for my classroom. We had a store called Diaso. It’s kind of like a Dollar store. It has the most obscure things in it, that strangely enough I find myself in need of. I also got some socks that would go in my new shoes. I bought a stuffed dolphin, because that is the name of my class. We looked at patio furniture because we were making our carport into a patio. We had been given a fence for the front of the carport and Sturt had installed it earlier in the week. Since the dogs pee and poo out in the back of our house, which is small, there is no outdoor space for us to enjoy nice evenings outside. So we are going to make one. After shopping we ate lunch and took a tour around IKEA. I found a reading tent that looked like a circus tent. Our theme for this first term is The Big Top. Our entire year group will be converted into a circus. We plan on putting up a ‘big top’ tent in the corridor between our 4 classes. It should be exciting for the students, and way against any fire code out there. But no one really seems to care about that. 

We got home around 4 pm. I took Jack for a haircut and looked for something for dinner. Jack wasn’t terribly impressed with his hair so I promised that once we put some gel in it, if he still didn’t like it, we would go back on Sunday and get it sorted. 

Once I was back at the house I worked for a couple of hours on my lesson plans and really just figuring out what I would do on Sunday. One day at a time is all I can handle right now. Stuart made dinner and got the kids showered. He also kept the laundry going and ironed the kids’ uniforms. He really has done a ton for me this past week because I’m sure he can see how anxious I am. It’s been so sweet of him. 

Dinner was pork, potatoes, corn and a salad. We sat as a family and talked about the new school year. The kids were excited, but nervous, which also described my feelings. I cleaned up dinner and then went back to the computer to finish up my stuff. Millie went to bed without a fuss. Stuart went to fill his car with petrol, while Jack watched The Lion King. He went to bed at a reasonable time as well. 

I finished my work around 8:30 pm. I used all of the color ink in our printer, so that kind of stopped my work. It was fine by me. I sat in the living room for about two hours, watching The Mummy, but really just chilling out. What a week this was!!!!