We watched church and did what we normally do on a Sunday morning. Then around noon we headed to Wal Mart to pick up an order. Sadly, 5 of a dozen eggs were broken, but when Stuart reported it they gave him a full refund for the dozen eggs. That wasn’t a bad thing at all. We got home and unloaded the groceries. We had chicken spaghetti for lunch. We battled again with Millie over what she was going to eat. That was fun and always is. I then put on some color street pedicure nails. I desperately need a pedicure, but I’m pretty sure that is way low on the priority list. So I did my own. It wasn’t a quality job, but it game them some color.
I then had a cuddle with my girl. I took a ton of pictures and after every one she would say, ‘Mom, it looks like I’m laying on your boob!’ Finally, we decided that, in fact, she was laying on my boob, so it didn’t really matter.
After lunch everyone carried on with their own things. We then went out to play Spikeball, which is our new favorite past time.
We decided to take a break and then went out later to play before dinner. It was a nice day, so being outside was okay. After dinner we played Scattegories which was a hoot. Millie doesn’t work very fast and generally has the words ‘poop’ or ‘butt’ in her answers, no matter the letter you are supposed to start your answer with.
Once the game was over, Millie went to bed and then Jack followed. I wasn’t going to stay up until 3 am but ended up doing so because I couldn’t stop watching a Netflix show. I did get the majority of my approving completed in that time, which was nice Monday morning.
I woke up Monday morning and approved fewer assignments than previous mornings. I moved into helping the kids with their first hour of school. We had picked up their books from Riggs Elementary last Thursday, so decided to look through those. It ended up that Millie and Jack did some work with money. It didn’t dawn on me that they didn’t know much about American currency, so it turned out to be a very productive hour.
They then went off to their self-led activities which became a bit of a kurfuffle, as they interrupted mine and Stuart’s work most of the hour. We had a bit of a talk and then they sorted themselves out for another couple of hours.
We had a later lunch of pork steaks, fried potatoes and green beans, which Millie and Jack helped with. Millie loved this meal, which made us all very happy.
After lunch it was some television time and then back to school work. The afternoon went better and we felt there were going to be things offered by Riggs Elementary that our kids hadn’t experienced. After school time, we went to the park and played for a bit before returning and having a game of Spikeball. The kids then showered.
We had a dinner of choice and then the kids hung out in Jack’s room. We decided not to play games as we had made a trip to the park and played Spikeball later in the afternoon. They went to bed and Stuart and I started our nightly ritual.
Tuesday I got up and walked with Sue. Again, we solved life’s problems and set everything straight again in our hour walk. Society, you are so welcome. After the walk, I decided to go to Target for gifts for Stuart’s birthday. I knew if I didn’t go then, when I was already out and about, I might not actually go. When I got home the kids were nearly finished with their first hour of schooling.
We then decided to go to Taco Bell for lunch for free tacos. Jack had seen an advertisement about Taco Bell giving out free tacos on Tuesdays. He had told me about this ad at least three times. So I decided we needed to take him there and get a free taco. I think that might have been his first Taco Bell experience.
Jack worked on measurement in the afternoon, while MILLIE worked on time. Millie knee how to tell time, so that was no issue. However, Jack had never worked with standard measurement as we use the metric system in the UAE. Needless to say he’s not a fan of standard measurement. He kept wondering why everything wasn’t base 10. After having lived in a country for seven years where that system is followed, I kind of get it.
The kids did their own thing for about and hour and then it was time to go outside and have a mad game of Spikeball, yet again. Dinner, showers and Scattegories consumed the evening. Then it was bedtime for the kids and school time for Stuart and myself.
I had a team meeting on Tuesday evening, where we discussed our regular topics; planning for lessons, which lessons we should consolidate, Ramadan timings, parent concerns, and just the general feel of how we are all doing. I will say that we are all starting to look more tired and more worn out. Everyone seemed excited that Ramadan timings would have us working from 9:30 am to 2 pm, UAE time. Of course for Stuart and I myself that would mean 10:30 pm to 3 am. We did not benefit at all from that news.
Wednesday morning we were up and going through the routines of our day. Stuart and I went to the bank to exchange some dirhams we had into US dollars. I wasn’t aware we could have just gone through the drive thru to get it changed, so I had booked this appointment nearly two weeks earlier. We also opened the conversation as to where we were financially and what we needed to do to possibly look into buying a third house in 8 months to a year from now.
We had lunch of shrimp and rice, which Millie wasn’t keen on, but she did have a bite in the end. The fight for her to try new things continues. It’s a matter of wills and wearing on all of us for sure. Is it worth the battle?
Around 2:30 pm I went into my room and slept for three hours. I assume the kids did their schooling and all was well with the world. When I awoke it was time to get the kids into the shower and fix supper. It was a down day. We didn’t play games nor did we go to the park.
However, while I was asleep Stuart went out to buy a shirt for his theme day at school that would start on Sunday. He also bought some clippers to shave Jack’s head. Jack was a bit sad, but none of us would be able to style his hair, so it all needed to come off.
That boy has a lot of hair.
The final product.
The rest of the evening was pretty chilled. Stuart had bought us camping chairs so we sat on the drive way and tried them out until it got dark. Then Millie went to bed and Jack followed shortly after. The last night of school for our week commenced. My teaching assistant had done a read aloud for my children and had said she would love to help me out with a fraction lesson for Sunday. So that was exciting.
Thursday morning it was a relief to be finished with school for another week. I got an email that said I had an interview for a Dean’s position for the following Tuesday. It was a bit disappointing that Stuart didn’t get the same email, but he will now go forward for teaching jobs. I will do the same if the Dean’s job doesn’t work out. It’s strange for everything to be so up in the air. We knew it would be this way to a certain extent, but this virus has really been a game changer.
Thursday was a tough day all the way around. It seems we feel like things are going well and then an emotion hits us that we aren’t really ready for. It seems the kids have their bad days also. But Thursday evening, after having a tough day with one another, Stuart and I had an emotional end of the evening. We didn’t ever say a proper goodbye to any of our friends in the UAE and it seems now we actually may not get back to the UAE. That makes us uneasy as it requires us to have our friends do some major things for us, like pack up and ship all the things we need back to Arizona. It’s weird. It is definitely not the way we wanted to end our excellent adventure. We went to bed having had a bit of a cry and then trying to pick ourselves up and
Friday morning I was up just before 5 am and messaged my brother, Mitch. We ended up talking later in the morning. We had a great conversation, which is always nice.
We always entertain each other. This is his new idea for a protective mask. He has tied a pot lid in his hoodie. He said the only trouble is it fogs up pretty easily. He is quite funny and keeps me laughing a lot.
I also did a trial Microsoft Team meeting with my former principal Diane. I just didn’t want to be caught out on the morning of my interview. I think if you screw up an interview the second time, they may question your computer abilities and wonder whether you are equipped to do a decent job as an administrator.
Lunch was shepherd’s pie and veggies. Millie lost it again in regards to food. Then my dad said if he were us he wouldn’t fight that battle anymore. I think he may be right. I ended up speaking to my sister in law later in the day and she said there are bigger battles in life to fight. So, as long as she continues to eat grilled chicken, veggie and fruit, u guess we should not be that fussed about it.
Friday afternoon, Stuart and I went to Fry’s to get some groceries and buy Maytee a bottle of Cabo Wabo, her favorite tequila, so we could deliver it later in the day when we did a drive-by for her birthday. We made signs and everything.
Around 5:30 pm we decided we needed to take the kids out of the house for a drive. We pulled through Chick-fil-A, another place where the kids haven’t eaten in at least 7 years, and took the food to the Mesa Gateway Airport. We parked and sat in the car to eat. No planes were flying, but at least it was different scenery.
We then drove the kids by our house in Gilbert, which they didn’t even know we had. They were a bit interested, but were more excited about our birthday surprise for Maytee. There were about 7 cars that ended up driving by Maytee’s house. She was out front but didn’t realize it was for her until she saw one of the signs with her name on it. We drove past once and then again to give her gifts. We got out of the car and stood on the lawn, a safe distance from everyone. The kids were bored as Gigi and Lexi were there but they could really play with them or go in the house. We didn’t stay long, but she was very touched by the gesture of all her friends.
When we got back to the house the kids showered and Millie went to bed. Jack had a snack, as he always does, and we watched a bit of Family Feud. I ended up staying up and watching Shameless on Netflix. I am nearly done with the series and have decided to go back to the beginning to watch it with Mitch, who has just discovered said trash.
Saturday morning we got up and started to work after our several cups of coffee. I actually spoke with Mitch and then helped with the project of the day, getting a tail hitch on the Flex. That was fun, and oh so claustrophobic, being under that car. I have pictorial evidence that I actually contributed to this project.
It was definitely a three person job. That piece of metal that had to go under the exhaust pipes was super heavy.
We also helped to tidy up the yard and of course played our new favorite game, corn hole!
Look at that form!
We then prepared lunch for the kids and ourselves. Both Stuart and I showered and started in on our week’s work. I had videos to upload and a plan to make to meet with my students in a Google Meets meeting. I’m hoping it all works out, but can’t promise anything.
In the afternoon, Grammie and Pop took their car for a wash and took the kids along. They had forgotten hand sanitizer and the intention was to go to Sonic after the car wash. Instead, they came back to the house to wash their hands before the Sonic run. For dinner, the kids had ice cream. That’s ok, right?
Stuart called his brother James and I fought with the kids to get showers. Millie is much more difficult at her age than Jack is. In the end they both showered and then got into playing Fortnite. Millie had created an account earlier in the day so she could play with her friend Alice. We are truly parents of the year. She was excited as she won her first two battles. Jack was her trainer and was trying to show her the tricks of Fortnite. We’ve lost control.
Stuart and I sat in our white trash location, out on the driveway, for yet another evening. We don’t stay long, but it’s some time to ourselves, which is nice. We admired the trailer hitch we had put on earlier in the day, mainly because we were sitting right behind the car and couldn’t help but stare at it. Ha!
We came back in the house and heard Jack and Millie playing a game together on Fortnite. Although the phrase I heard was ‘Let Millie get the last kill, guys’, it proved that Jack was trying to help his sister learn the game and he wanted her to be successful. That’s a good thing, right?
We started schooling once the kids were in bed. I tried to Google Meet with my English class, but it was a bit of a bust. The rest of the evening was spent waiting for children to engage in the learning, and putting Stuart’s birthday present together for the following morning.
Here’s to another week!
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