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.
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