Last week of Ramadan hours....we think.

I got up Sunday morning, and although I was tired from the weekend, I had to walk. Lara had hurt her foot at the water park so she was out, which meant I could go a lot faster and it would benefit me more. So off I went. I was stopped about halfway on my journey and asked for my phone number by a local guy. I find this to be so funny, as it’s Ramadan and that’s a no-no on a normal day, let alone during Ramadan. He asked my why I wouldn’t give him my number. I told him I was married and had children. He then said, ‘Okay, well you are very pretty!’ I said thank you and went on my merry way. The nerve of some people continues to astound me. 

Sunday school was school.  Jack didn’t want to go to the pool, after school, with his friend Adam so I took him home and Millie and I went to swim. I swam laps and Millie played with a friend. Hannah met us at the pool and stayed with Millie while I worked out in the gym, under her orders. We came home after my workout. Jack and Millie showered and then Cathy and company came over. What a pleasant surprise to see Kayleigh, who had flown in for the week to be with Cathy. They stayed for a bit and then were off. 

Monday I walked alone again. School was nothing special. Although I love the fewer hours at school, I am ready to get back to our regular schedule in two weeks. I took the kids swimming after school. Jack went home with Stuart. I followed shortly after with Millie. We received the email to say we had the entire week of Eid Al Fitr off. 

We received news on Monday that Stuart’s grandmother had passed away. She was 93 years old. 

We all showered and got ready for the Brighton College Iftar at the Danat. Jack and Millie ate absolutely nothing. I warned them both that when we got home the kitchen would be closed so if they wanted anything to eat they would need to get it while we were at the hotel. They both refused. Once we were home, they went straight to bed. Neither of them said one word about food. I think they have finally learned that when it comes to food offering, we are serious.

Lara and I walked on Tuesday morning. She was especially slow, but also said her foot was killing her. Once I was at school, I kind of lost the will to teach about half way through the day on. We are reviewing skills from the entire year. You would think I hadn’t taught a thing all year. Ugh!  

After school, Millie’s friends, Sofia and Orla, came home with us. I took them to dance and hung out at the studio until Millie was finished with her second class. I kind of enjoy that alone time.....with 10 other mothers. 

Once we were home, the kids ate dinner. Cathy and her family came over for a meal and a chat. Sean showed up as well. The kids went to bed very easily, thank goodness. Stuart and I retired around 9 pm. 

Wednesday I walked on my own, which turned out to be tragic. Duke got spooked in the last mile. We were close to a garbage bin and something made a noise inside, most likely a cat. At any rate, he jumped sideways, bumping me and causing me to fall, hitting my face on the sidewalk. Because I had both dogs, I broke the fall with my face. I banged up my knee as well. I got up and kept telling myself just to get home. I was about a quarter mile from my house. I had scratched my eye, so I was bleeding. I was a bit of a mess. I showered and got ready for school. 

Face that battled with the pavement. 

Knee that battled with the pavement. 

Once I was at school, the personal assistant to the Head of the Junior School forced me to go to the nurse and rest for the first lesson. It was my free time anyway, so I complied. Everyone kept telling me to go home. I wasn’t wanting to do so as it would mean another teacher would have to cover my class. However, when I figured out that my teaching assistant and another teaching assistant in Year 2 could take my period 5 class, I decided to leave. I didn’t have to teach period 6, so it was no big deal to leave after lunch. 

Before I left for the day, Millie was collected by Stuart for a dentist appointment. She has another hole in a tooth. Why can’t this child learn that if she would brush properly she wouldn’t have to go through this pain? I truly believe she will be the girl who insists on learning the hard way. We are learning the expensive way, on her behalf. Stuart also had a tooth filled and a consultation to decide what to do about his broken tooth. 

All better. 

After the dentist and school, Jack and Millie headed to Bounce with Alice and Tommy, and their suitcases. They were invited for a sleepover. Since we had the lot the week before, and it was still Ramadan, Joan paid us back and took all four of them Wednesday night. What a treat! 

Maccas at the Weir house. 

I wasn’t feeling that great and around 3:30 pm decided to go to the doctor as I still had a headache and was nauseous. I was concerned about having a concussion, as was Stuart. So it seemed it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, the right side of my face was numb in certain spots. 

Once I was finished at the doctor, I headed back home for a bit of a rest before going to sushi night with Cathy, her mum, Kayleigh and Claire. As always, the sushi was delightful. I was a bit out of it, but still enjoyed not getting after kids and being able to enjoy a meal. 

Thursday morning was weird waking up with no kids to get ready for school. They pretty much get themselves ready, but it was strange not hearing them arguing or the ‘humpf’ from Jack when I asked him to brush his teeth or hair. He has developed quite the teenage attitude recently. Joy!

I had arranged to have cover at school for about an hour so I could go for an orthopedic doctor appointment. Well, wouldn’t you know, I got there and the doctor was in surgery. Did they think about calling me? Nope! Did they apologize and try to reschedule me an appointment? Nope! I was irritated, to say the least. Then I decided it was probably for the best. My knee was feeling better and I know he would have said I needed a knee replacement because I have no cartilage on the outside of my knee. Or he would have suggested we scrape the knee again, to which I would have denied either procedure. So why go?

I returned to school and survived the rest of the day, which seemed to drag on as it was the last day before a week holiday. Once the day was over, we headed home to get to the rugby club for the annual Rummage/Boot Sale, which seemed to be a huge success. We were there until about 9 pm. Cathy, her mum, and Kayleigh cane over for a bit just so we could see her again before she returned to the U.K. Friday evening. We were heading to Atlantis on Friday so wouldn’t see her again before she left. 

The rugby club boot sale. 

Friday morning we were away from the house by a quarter past eight. Although we wouldn’t get our room until after our day at the water park, we didn’t care. Unfortunately, our trip was delayed a bit due to a flat tire on our car. We pulled over and a couple of guys stopped and changed the tire for us. 

I’m sure these men were on the way to the mosque for Friday prayers, but they stopped to help us. Stuart could have changed the tire, but the Muslims, for the most part, really do live out the pillars of Islam. Stuart tipped the guy, which is pretty common as well. 

We headed back to our house to get our other car. The kids were upset because they hate riding in Stuart’s car. We were on our way after quickly moving the luggage from my car to the Jag. The journey went quickly except that we had to stop for fuel....for the second time. We got a snack and then carried on. Once we were at Atlantis, we got checked in to the Imperial Lounge and headed to the water park. We spent a little over an hour there and then came out to have afternoon tea in the lounge. It’s really the best way to experience Atlantis. It may initially seem more costly, but by the time you pay for meals, drinks and snacks, you are spending more money than you would to upgrade and have the lounge and all its aminities at your finger tips. 

We met up with the Weirs in the lounge and then went to the resort pool for a poolside icey beverage. The kids swam and we relaxed, well at least Joan, Stuart and I did. We had gotten into our rooms but Gene and Joan’s luggage wasn’t in their room when we were ready to go to the pool, so Gene waited for it.....for over an hour. In the end he went to collect it himself. It wasn’t the greatest of customer service. I got a phone call as we were leaving the pool area to go to happy hour in the lounge. It seems they knew we were upset, and since the rooms were booked in my name, they called me to try to make things right. In the end, we received dinner for 8 at Saffron, one of the resort buffets, and when we got to the restaurant, Gene got us $150 worth of drinks for the evening. Score! So in total, Gene’s hour of inconvenience got us about $700 in food and beverages. We probably wouldn’t have gone to have a proper meal anyway, but since it was given to us, we took advantage of it. 

The kids love this place. 

Such a difficult life these kids lead. 

Dinner was delightful!

Saturday morning we were awake just after 7 am. We went to the breakfast place at 8:30. The Weirs are our friends who are late to everything, so we knew they wouldn’t be to breakfast for another half hour, at least. We also know that if you show up for breakfast at these restaurants at 9 am, you will queue for quite a long time. So we went and got the table for all of us and waited for them. They showed up at 9, ate breakfast, and then we went to our rooms to get ready for the waterpark and to check out. 

We headed to the waterpark for a day of fun. We rode the family rides, which were so fun. Of course, Joan had to be talked into it, but that made it even more fun. We stayed until about 3 pm. We decided to feed the kids snacks on the way home and then invited the Weirs over for take away curry. 

Best buddies. 

We drove home from Dubai and Millie fell asleep. The kids were exhausted. 

Once we were home we sorted out luggage and started laundry. The kids showered and I went over to Brian and Lara’s for a chat. Lara had messaged me around midday to ask if I would be home late on Saturday. She needed a friend. One of their dearest friends from home suddenly died. Lara was just feeling down, being so far away at a time like this. It is the downside of being an expat. Life seems to move on with everyone from home and often we miss life changing events. 

I got home, took a shower, and got a message from Joan saying they were running a bit late. When they arrived, we fed the kids and ordered our food. They left around 9:30. Tommy stayed for a sleepover. Millie was going to go to Alice’s but unfortunately she was absolutely disrespectful to me on our way home and quickly lost that privilege. Unfortunately, when the boys went to bed, Tommy came back downstairs to ask me if he could go home. I told him he could. It seems the football match he wanted to watch actually took more of a priority than he thought. It was all fine. I took him home and then wrote a note for Javk explaining why Tommy wasn’t still at our house. I was hoping go when Jack woke up he would see it on his door. 

When I returned from delivering Tommy home, I sat down and watched some television. It was a busy, but very fun weekend.