A camping we will go.

I got up and walked with Lara, and took Duke. He walked well, but there was a barking dog that we couldn’t see because it was dark, so that startled us a bit. Duke didn’t even respond with a bark. He’s such a good dog. 

The kids started back to school and seemed thrilled to go back and see their friends. Our presentation was awesome. We gave all the continuous assessments for grades 1-5, in Mathematics and Science, that the teachers would need for the entire term. This would also be their grades for the term. We had some very happy teachers. 

Rugby started for Jack’s team on Sunday, but not for Millie’s team. I worked out on the exercise bike. I think, after the holidays, I have discovered that 3 or 4 pounds of weight gain scares me!!   Back on the strict diet I’ve come to love for almost 2 years. Home and to bed we all went after training. 

I worked in my office all day on Monday. It was great to feel I was going to be organized for the start of this second term. Monday after school I picked the kids up, they did some homework, and we headed to the club because Stuart and I had a committee meeting. The meeting ran longer than normal, so the kids got to bed a bit later than I cared for. It might take a bit to get back into our routine for school. 

Tuesday I walked with Lara, and worked most of the day in my office. I shopped after school in preparation for our camping trip over the coming weekend. The last time we camped it was disastrous. The wind nearly blew us off the beach and into the Gulf of Oman. We hoped for the best for the weekend. 

We went to the club for dinner to meet up with the Richardsons. They were going to England the following day for Clare’s dad’s 70th birthday. This would be the trip where they would inform their kids that they will be moving back to the UK at the end of this school year. I can only imagine their children will have mixed emotions about it all. I can assure you that Jack will be upset. 

We were home and in bed by 8:45 pm. The following day would prove to be a total bore. After school on Wednesday, Cathy came over to plan for camping. Stuart had all of the equipment ready and the food purchased. Our friends, Clare and Nin, informed us that they would meet us at the camp site on the Friday. Clare’s kids were going back to New Zealand on Thursday night so Friday morning was as early as they could get there. Jack was thrilled because Tua, Claire’s son, would be there for him to play with. After Cathy left on Wednesday evening, Stuart took the Richardsons to the airport. 

Thursday my team presented our project to 8 other schools. Again, there was a huge relief and gratitude for all of the work we did to make teachers’ lives easier. It was nice (again) to be appreciated and to help teachers in a mighty way. 

We got home really early from school as the presentation was short. We picked the kids up at noon from school to head to Fujeirah, another Emirate in the UAE. We left the house, packed for more than a weekend, at around 1 pm.  We arrived around 4 pm and started setting up camp. It was extremely windy, but we decided to brave it. We set up so that we could see the ocean from our tent. The wind died down around 7:30 pm and all was well. We had a bonfire and spent the evening chatting, well, maybe I snoozed, under the stars, in my camping chair. 

This was after we pulled over the first time Duke barfed. 

And the tent is up!

Because you can’t trust the wind, we put sand bags on each corner. 

Ready for a sleep. 

And the best camper award goes to? Duke!

Marshmallows are a must at a campfire. 

Duke was enjoying the evening, as were we. 

Then, it turned too cold for my feet. 

We awoke with the sun on Friday morning. After a breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and beans, cooked by Stuart, Jack and Millie, the kids got their swimmers on and headed out to the sea. Prior to that, though, there were fishermen who were bringing in he nets from the night before. Cathy took the kids down to see what they caught. They released a squid and a large sea turtle. The kids thought it was great. 

Breakfast!





The kids tried to talk Duke into loving the sea. 

Claire, Nin and company, showed up just before noon. We sat around and chatted while

The kids played in the water and dig out sand for some sort of mote. Our neighbors, Adam and Grace (and their three little boys) joined us around 2 pm. They were not going to camp, rather were staying in the hotel next to the beach. In hind site, I think hey wished hey would have camped. They ended up bar b queuing with us and didn’t even check into their hotel until almost 9 pm. What a great evening we had. The kids ate banana splits prepared on the barbie, the adults listened to music and smoked sheesha, while having a chat, and life was good and easy. 

Nothing bothers this dog!

Snacks for everyone, even Duke. 

Cathy, the babysitter 

Never a day goes by that these boys don’t play rugby. 

Ah, banana splits!

We were up again at the crack of dawn. This time it was because Duke decided to bolt out of the tent at 5 am, barking at the golden retriever camping next to us. Duke didn’t actually go past our tent, but he sounded as if he was going to. Duke was the perfect dog for this camping trip. We tied him to a long lead off the front of the truck and the worse trouble he got into was wrapping himself around the camping chairs with his extremely long lead. 

Nothing says camping like a Nutella sandwich. 

Millie was playing with our little neighbor. 

The fishing nets. 

Everyone went to see the catch on Saturday morning. 

Saturday morning, after Duke’s ourburst, we were up and drinking tea to knock off the cobwebs. The kids were back in the water and we anticipated the dreadful clean-up and departure from, what Millie called, our ‘holiday’. It was simple, but lovely, and cheap. 

We packed up around noon and we’re on the road back to Al Ain by half past one. When we arrived home, Cathy dropped me off and picked up her tent. Stuart, the kids, and Duke had ridden in the truck, while I rode with Cathy. Fortunately, I was not privileged to Duke’s barfing two times there and one time on the return trip. Poor Dog apparently gets car sick. 

And this is what playing hard for two days on the beach looks like. 

Once we were home I got into gear. Stuart unpacked everything from the truck and I started putting everything away. We make a great team. He gets everything ready for camping and is the main chef while we camp. Then I’m he clean-up crew when we get home. Kids showered and fed, Duke bathed, fed, and asleep, I showered, and the laundry was a never ending cycle until load 8 was in the dryer at 1 am. Whew! There were two more blankets to wash, but they would just have to wait. Camping was an excellent way to end the week. 

Happy New Year!

Sunday I was up at 8 and took Jack to Adam’s at 10. He spent the day with Adam. They went to Bounce camp while Stuart, Millie and I went shopping at the mall and ate lunch at PF Chang’s. Millie was such a delight to be around. Each child is pleasant when they have your total attention, I find. 

We went to Clare and Scott’s for New Years but were home by 10:30 pm. It was a bit of a boring night. We let the kids try to stay awake, but only Jack was able to make it to midnight. 

Monday morning we were up and lazed around until about noon. We then went to the rugby club for a swim. Stuart and I didn’t swim because our tattoos can’t touch pool water for a few weeks. Millie used her new mermaid tale that Grammie and Pop bought her for Christmas. She was a little fish!

This was what New Years did to this boy. Stuart found him on he sofa like this on Monday morning. Ha!

We ate lunch at the club and then came home. The kids played upstairs while I worked on my Lego, and Sean and Stuart watched a movie. The kids were back to regular bed time on Monday evening as Stuart and I started work on Tuesday morning. 

I attempted to go to bed around 9 pm to try to get a good night’s sleep before starting back to work. Unfortunately, the kids outside playing basketball were so loud, it was impossible. I went to security, yet again, to express my irritation that quiet hours were not being followed. I ended up writing an email to the security company. We shall see if anything comes of it. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep on Monday night. 

Tuesday I was at school by 8 am, but nothing really got started until almost 9 am. I did a bit of work that would be presented to teachers on Sunday, and then we all did some work on our overall school plan for improvement. During professional development days we are to work 4.5 hours and have a 1 hour flexible lunch. Most schools work from 8 to 12:30 and then let teachers go instead of having a formal lunch. My new principal learned the hard way that if you give an hour for lunch in the middle of the day, you can be sure of two things. Either people return late from lunch or people don’t return at all. At any rate, after Tuesday she decided we would have our lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. Good decision. Tuesday after lunch we spent time reporting out from our school committees. One day of professional development down and only 7 to go. 

Tuesday evening I did my Lego while the kids played outside. It was very relaxing. The kids came in the house and bathed.  Stuart made a steak and Stilton pie, and we watched Batman. The kids had been at Brian’s all day and Stuart had decided to take a day off on Wednesday to take them to Adventure Head Quarters. Child care is a bit difficult when your kids don’t go back to school when you do, especially since all of our friends are teachers.

Wednesday the Heads of Faculty that would present continuous assessment work for the term, worked on the presentation. I got home around 1:30 and the Internet was not working. There’s a monopoly on the internet service here so if it doesn’t work properly no one really cares too much. We are kind of at the mercy of the provider. 

Stuart and the kids got home just before 3 pm and I headed to my doctor’s appointment. When I returned, I bathed the kids and fed them. Stuart and I had a date night at Trader Vic’s. For Christmas, Sean gave us money and a free evening of babysitting. So we decided to cash in on it before rugby got back into full swing. 

Thursday we had a meeting that started 45 minutes late. It was materials that some people worked on last year. Because of our school change over, it was really quite irrelevant. But we all did the best we could to make use of the materials. Millie spent the day at her friend Ava’s house, while Jack went back to Brian’s. Cathy, Mandy, Stuart and I went to Chili’s for lunch and then we headed home to pick up the kids. 

Thursday evening I finished my Lego and the Richardsons came over for dinner. They actually brought dinner. We had chili and other leftovers from our refrigerator. It was a fun evening for sure. 

Clearly this is not the finished project. Oops!

Friday I was supposed to go to my principal’s house for brunch, but I just couldn’t be asked. We just laid around the house all day. The kids played outside ALL day. Keith and Ian came and spent the night with us. All children were asleep in the loft by 11 pm, and I was asleep shortly after that. 

No sleepover is complete without tattoos!

Saturday I made pancakes for the kids in the morning. The rest of the day was pretty chilled and then an early night was in store for the kids as they were starting school on Sunday. Stuart made homemade meatballs which were delightful, and may have solved my issues with not having a Bucca di Beppo at my doorstep. A great week with a beautiful ending. 

Santa Claus came to town!

Sunday was Christmas Eve, but just another day for many people in the UAE. We made several trips to the supermarket because we kept forgetting things. Cathy and I headed to the mall and the bottle shop for some libations. I had to pick up the Nespresso pods for Stuart’s new Nespresso machine I bought him for Christmas. 

Once we returned, Cathy and the girls came over for the evening. We had lasagna and a great deal of laughs. We exchanged gifts with Sean as he had to work all Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so wouldn’t be home until the night of the 26th. 

I was able to Skype Grammie and Pop after Jack and Millie were asleep. Mitch FaceTimed me and they were all together in Branson. It did make me a bit sad. Stuart had said he would send me and the kids home for Christmas, but then we would be without him. That wasn’t ok. 

Once the kids were in bed, Santa came to visit and we were off to bed. We had told the kids they had to stay in bed until 6 am. To allow us to sleep longer, Stuart set our microwave clock an hour earlier. So when Jack was up and downstairs, he saw the clock and it said 5:07 am, then he came upstairs and into our room. He then saw Stuart’s alarm clock, which read 6:07 am. Jig was up! Sadly, we were then forced to get up. 

Within an hour, the carnage was over and the kids were playing with all the items they got. This year was very exceptional. After each gift, each kid came to hug us both and say ‘thank you’. It felt good to know they actually appreciated their gifts. 

Just after 9 am, and a bit of a clean up, Cathy and the girls came over for a breakfast of ham, eggs, toast and roasted tomatoes. The table was set again and we got ready for dinner. In total, there would be 15 at the dinner table. We opened gifts from Cathy and the girls and then just prepared for guests to arrive around 2 pm. 

I collected Clare and her kids so that they wouldn’t have two cars at our house. Scott had to work and would be finished around 2 pm. Everyone arrived and the festivities began. The food was plentiful and everyone enjoyed their table gifts. Once we started the clean up we discovered having two refrigerators wasn’t enough. There were so many leftovers, it assured there would be a great deal of bubble and squeak the following day. 

Tuesday morning we were up and about, kind of a lazy day. People were coming for Boxing Day bubble and squeak. It was Henry’s birthday, so the boys went shooting while the women stayed at the house. Once they were back from the shooting range, we had dinner. Sean came home from work and after dinner Cathy, Stuart and I played a good game of Trivial Pursuit. 

Wednesday morning we got up and Skyped Grammie and Pop. The kids told them what they got for Christmas and were nuts as usual. Millie was more animated than normal, which is always good. We had breakfast and a lazy day for sure. The kids didn’t even ask what we were doing because they were exhausted. I didn’t leave the house all day. Cathy and the girls came over later. Stuart made turkey pot pie and a turkey stew that we would have on Thursday for dinner. Sean stayed up later with us as his holidays started until after the new year. 

Sean had these shirts made for our tattoo day. 

Thursday was ink day again. Once my new tat was finished, I took the kids to winter Bounce camp. They bounced for 5 hours and were wiped out when they got home. Jack reported that he had clocked over 22,000 steps on his Fitbit. Yikes! Clare and Scott picked the kids up from Bounce and brought them back to our house for turkey stew. Henry spent the night with Jack. Clare and Scott left around 9 pm and then we were all off to bed. 

Sean’s birthday was Thursday as well. 

The boys were up early. Once we were all awake, Stuart made a full English breakfast. I then started sorting the bricks in my Lego. Millie wanted to help me, but being possessive of my own Lego, I couldn’t allow it. Cathy and the girls picked us up at 2:15 pm and we headed to Riverland, which is comparable to Downtown Disney. There are amusement parks all around it. It was all lit up for Christmas. It was pretty, but there wasn’t a great deal to entertain the kids. We decided against staying until the fireworks went off at 9 pm. It was just going to be too late for Jack and Millie, and me, to be honest. Once we were home, the kids went straight to bed and we were pretty close behind them. 

Always a goofball!

Saturday morning, Cathy, Kayleigh and Claire came over around 8:30 am for a cup of tea. Claire and Cathy were taking Kayleigh to the airport for her journey back to the UK. She was sad to be leaving, and we were sad as well. We had a wonderful 10 days with her. 

Clare and Scott picked up Jack and Millie and took them ice skating. Stuart and I went to do our grocery shopping. Our holidays were coming to an end, so back to normalcy and reality, which meant an actual grocery shopping trip that didn’t include mince pies or chocolates. 

Once we were home and I had done two loads of laundry, we headed to Scott and Clare’s. Stuart took his new remote control car, which he had bought at Riverland the previous evening. The kids, Scott and Stuart took the cars to the empty lot next to their house while Clare and I had a chat. Clare actually made dinner and I just sat there. We had lamb for dinner. It was delicious. We were home by 8 pm and the kids were in bed. Cathy came over for a bit and then it was off to bed. Christmas week was wonderful with a lot of fun friend time. 

The week before Christmas and all through the house.....

We woke up early to speak with Rony and Brittney and the kids. My parents were in Oregon visiting and we haven’t seen the kids since Nolan was born, and he’s almost two years old. Mya was chatty, as was Nolan. They were so funny. Jack and Millie enjoyed speaking to them as well. 

Claire came over to babysit, while Cathy, Stuart and I headed to do some Christmas shopping in Dubai. We finished up our gifts and then went to Waitrose, a supermarket in the mall. It’s one of the supermarkets that has the best produce and meat, so that’s where we did a great deal of our Christmas food shopping. Stuart determined he would need to return on Friday and get our turkey because we didn’t have enough room in our freezer to keep it frozen until Friday. 

While we were in Dubai, Millie went with her friend Abbey to Fun Block and Jack played outside most of the day, so Claire’s job was relatively easy. Once we were home and packages were away, we decided we would order Chinese food. Cathy stayed for dinner, but Claire headed home.

Monday Jack went to Bounce with his friend Adam, and Millie went to visit Santa. He was at a book store in the mall. She asked me who it was. I told her it could be the real Santa, but she said, ‘Naw’, but I think she did wonder. We shopped for and bought table gifts for Christmas Day, for the 15 people coming to our house. Once we were finished at the mall, we came home and chilled for a while before I had to go collect Jack at Bounce. In the meantime, Kayleigh arrived from the UK. Millie was so excited! Once I was back with Jack, we ordered curry. 

Tuesday we went shopping with Cathy and the girls. We had lunch at the food court and then came back to their house for a lamb dinner. Sean came over as well. It was a late night, full of laughs. 

Wednesday we headed to Abu Dhabi to a winter festival. We do whatever is offered to help us get in the Christmas spirit. The festival wasn’t open until 3 pm, so naturally a trip to Ikea and our favorite mall was necessary. We had lunch at the food court. I had tacos and Jack had his first chimichanga. He loved it. Once we were home the kids showered and had a chocolate roll up (Nutella in a tortilla), which is their ‘go to’ when they can’t think of what they want to eat and I’m too lazy to make them anything remotely healthy. It’s a bit shameful, truth be told. 

Thursday the kids and I went to Abu Dhabi, again, with Clare Richardson, Henry and May. We dropped them at Adventure HQ so they could go to the skate park, and we shopped around for about an hour. We picked them up and fed them at Buca Di Beppo, where the best meatballs in the world are served. I ordered salmon and risotto, but then ordered a take away of two meatballs, anticipating having them the following day. 

After lunch, the kids returned to the skate park, while Clare and I sat and had a cup of tea. At the end of their second hour, we all visited the toilet before getting in the car to head home. The kids were sweaty and exhausted. 

Thursday evening we headed to the rugby club for dinner and for our chairman’s surprise birthday party. Once he arrived and we all sang happy birthday, we decided to go home and call it a night for the kids. Cathy came back to our house and had a glass of wine. It was a nice evening but the kids were wiped out. 

Friday we got up and went to church. It was the last service of Advent. It was also the Cristingle service. A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent services of many Christian denominations. Christingle means 'Christ Light' and is used to celebrate Jesus Christ as the "Light of the World". Used primarily for Advent and Christmas, it is also used for Epiphany. It was a great service, and hopefully now Millie knows we celebrate Christmas because of Jesus’s birth, not Santa’s birth, which is what she told me the first week of December. 

We came home after church and just lazed around the house. Stuart got home from his food shopping trip just after 2 pm. He was very excited and felt very ready for his few days of cooking to come. Friday evening we went to the Richardsons for a lamb dinner. We ended up getting a cab home because we both chose to have some wine. Fortunately, Stuart had packed the truck with all the necessary things for the breakfast in the desert the following morning, except for the food of course. Millie came back with us, but Jack and Duke spent the night at the Richardson’s. 

Saturday morning I changed the sheets on our bed, and we headed to the desert for breakfast. We sat up our shade structure and let Duke run and run and run, as well as the kids. The Richardsons and Davisons came with us. We had bacon, sausages and eggs on rolls. We had a kettle for tea and coffee. The kids rolled in the sand and made their own fun. 

Once we were home, Stuart unpacked the truck while the kids, Duke and I had showers. Duke laid down the entire time I showered him. He was so exhausted from his morning in the desert. Stuart and I discussed that we had never had a dog that you could take somewhere, let it loose and know it wouldn’t run away. Duke is such a wonderful dog. He doesn’t bark, he doesn’t wet or poo inside, and he doesn’t jump on people. He does, however, shed like crazy and he eats camel poop. I guess no one is perfect. 

Once everyone was clean and Stuart returned from some last minute shopping, I headed off to get a much needed pedicure. It was a couple of hours to myself, which was really nice. When I got home our cleaner was at the house. We found this a great opportunity to head to Cathy’s for gingerbread house making. As you can see from the pictures, the houses may have had some structural issues, but everyone had fun. 

We ate dinner at Cathy’s and watched Santa Clause 3. We headed home just before 9 pm, when the cleaner was finished. The kids then went to bed. Stuart and I finished wrapping presents and headed to bed as well. We were ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Time for Christmas break!

Sunday at school I was testing kids on the online exam we had to give.  The exam was supposed to be given a few weeks ago, but with everything else that had been going on we never had time to give it. I tested over half of our grade three kids, which was as good as it was going to get. We had very few students at school on Monday. Our grade 4 and 5 were there but only because they had exams. 

Just as I was finishing the exams, I got a call from our cleaner about Molly. It seems that Molly was barking her head off and the neighbor called security again, telling them he was going to call the police. Sadly, we had tried everything we could to get her to stop barking but she just didn’t seem to learn. It was decided that we would have to take her to find a new home. We couldn’t risk getting kicked out of our complex. We told the kids after school and they both cried and cried. I cried as well. It was very sad, but necessary. The kids were devastated. 

We stayed around the house Sunday evening as rugby training was over for the holidays. Clare, Scott and the kids came over so Scott could help Stuart pick up the new/used stove. We had a few cups of tea and chatted for a bit. I fed all the kids and when Stuart got home with the new stove, the Richardsons left. Jack and Millie moped around about Molly. I felt so badly. 

Monday morning the kids said goodbye to Molly and cried. Stuart took Molly to Abu Dhabi to a shelter. When he got there they told him they had a family who had been waiting for a dog just like Molly. That made us all feel better for sure. 

School was full of meetings as the principal wanted to meet with the English teachers. She told us how much she appreciated us. She asked for things that had gone well this term and things we wanted to see done differently for the next term. Not many teachers spoke. I’m not sure how comfortable they feel expressing their real opinions. 

I left school at 1:30 and went to the mall to get the rest of the things I needed for our Christmas craft day on Tuesday. I brought home KFC for the kids. I had made beef stew for dinner in the crock pot and it was delightful, but he kids would rather have KFC. 

The kids loved up on Duke because he seemed a bit down without Molly. They walked him when they got home. Cathy came over around 7 pm just to catch up and discuss holiday plans. 

Tuesday I spent the day making science assessments with some other heads of faculty. It was very productive and will hopefully help us do a better job with the teachers next term. I got home just after 1 pm and got some Christmas presents ordered on line. Stuart went to pick the kids up while I finished getting ready for the Christmas craft party, which was a huge success. 

Painting is fun!

Handprint manger. 

Fingerprint snowmen were a success. This might have been my favorite crafting night yet. 

Everyone left around 7, and Cathy and Claire came for a cup of tea. 

Wednesday there were no kids at school. I met with the English teachers to discuss data analysis. Riveting! Then we went into the teacher room for some food and to dance with some of the Arabic women. It’s always fun!

I left school around noon and then went to the mall to get my secret Santa a gift. I met Stuart at home and we went to lunch at a new place that serves gluten free pizza. It was quite delicious. 

I went to pick up the kids while Stuart went to help the neighbor who bought our old stove. She needed him to hook it up for her. 

Once we were home, the kids did their chores and then went outside to play. Stuart and I watched an episode of the Crown and found the relaxing time to be quite nice and a prequel to our upcoming holiday. 

Thursday was the last day before our two and a half week break. We had a luncheon at school and then were allowed to leave school at 11. I got home just before Stuart and the kids. They got out of school at noon. Both kids came home with excellent reports and a couple of achievement awards. We are so proud of their accomplishments. 

Thursday evening we went to Clare and Scott’s for curry. It was just nice to know we didn’t have to be anywhere for the next few weeks. The kids showered at the Richardsons and were both asleep before we got home Thursday evening. 

Friday morning was a lazy one. 

A hot chocolate kind of morning. 

Several cups of coffee and Skyping with Grammie and Pop was the only thing on the agenda. At noon we met the O’Rielleys, the Richardsons, and the Davisons all went to Christmas brunch. We are really going to miss the O’Rielleys and the Richardsons when they go home next summer. It’s the down side of making friends here. They do eventually go back to their home country and it’s sad. We had a great lunch and ended up taking the party back to our house.

My mini me!

My other mini me!

My favorite people ever!

We watched some Christmas movies and the kids played outside for a while. They went to bed and Sean, Cathy, Stuart and myself played cards for a while before calling it a night. 

Saturday morning we got up and went to the cinema. Sean, Stuart and Jack went to see the new Star Wars movie while Millie and I went to see Paddington 2. When Millie and I finished we did a bit of shopping. We went to the toy store to have Millie sit on a 20 inch bike, which as I suspected is going to be too big for her. Too bad, that’s what Santa ordered her and has yet to put together. I suppose she will figure it out. 

Once the boys were out of their movie, we headed home. I spent most of the afternoon on the sofa.....because I could. We watched a few Christmas movies and just enjoyed being lazy. The kids played outside most of the day. The weather right now is perfect. 

I ended up wrapping presents after the kids went to bed Saturday evening. I had Christmas with the Kranks playing on the television. It was a great way to end a perfect weekend. 

Santa Claus is coming to town.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to the airport around 7 am. We arrived in plenty of time to have a coffee. The flight was delayed to Belgrade which made us miss our connecting flight to Abu Dhabi. 

We were rerouted thru Frankfurt and then got the call that our first flight would be delayed, meaning we would not make our connection. So try as we may, we could not get anyone to switch our flight to the one going to Rome. In the end, after much conversation and some yelling, we were put up for a night at the Crown Plaza, free dinner and breakfast, and got an upgrade to business class to Abu Dhabi, a 6 hour flight. I’ll take that. However, I did miss a school day, which wasn’t in the plan. I’m sure they were fine without me. But to be honest, I was ready to get home to Stuart and the kids. 

We checked into the Crown Plaza, took our bags to our rooms and came down for dinner. It was total crap, but it filled the hump. I then went to my room and took a shower. I got into bed and fell asleep around 10 pm. I woke up just before 4 am to try to explain to my principal why I wouldn’t be at work on Monday. She wasn’t terribly humored, but it was out of my control so I had to just let it go. 

I didn’t ever go back to sleep. I finally turned the television on at 6:30 am. I just laid around for an hour or so. I had some coffee and then headed to breakfast at 8 am to meet up with Gina and our new Irish friend, Clodagh, who was in the same boat as us. After breakfast we all went back to our rooms and packed up. We met downstairs at 9:30 to catch the bus to the airport.  

Once we were at the airport we checked in and went to the business class lounge. Did I mention because we had all kicked up such a fuss we were upgraded to business class? I thought I might have done so. We had a coffee and waited for our flight. 

Once we boarded the plane we were given a beverage and a hot towel. The plane took off and I put my seat back. It’s like sitting in a recliner. I now hate economy class. We had dinner and I watched two movies, very comfortably, might I add. We had a lovely, plush blanket and a pillow that didn’t feel as if it was stuffed with paper. The flight was epic. We landed a bit early and I got a taxi to Rania’s, where I had left my car. 

I drove home, unpacked my bag, started a load of laundry (of course), took a shower, set up Elfvis for the following morning, went to the kids’ rooms to hug them, and then went to bed. I thought I would be more exhausted, but I really wasn’t. 

I was up and ready for work on Tuesday morning. We had been told the previous day that once students were finished testing, we could dismiss at 11 am for the rest of the term. With so much testing, this only makes sense to me. So once the students were finished testing on Tuesday, they were off to their homes. The teachers scored their exams for the rest of the day. Teachers were not allowed to leave early, but at least students were not in school. After a morning of testing the kids seem to lose control, so it was a wise decision by the powers that be. 

After school I finished up my shopping for the Winter Festival to be held at the rugby club on Thursday evening. Jack and Millie had choir practice at school. Their little group will perform at the Winter Festival. I’m sure it will be cute. They are excited about it. Stuart picked them up from rehearsal and I was home shortly before we had to go to rugby training. I unpacked the things I bought and off to the club we went. The kids trained while we sat and talked with other parents. After training, Scott and Clare met us at the club for dinner. We didn’t get the kids home until after 8 pm, but they went to bed rather easily. I followed, you know, after I had a nap on the sofa. Ha!

Wednesday I monitored the grade 5 boys’ math exam. While the students were testing, one of the boys was being exceptionally mouthy. I got down to where we were looking in each other’s eyes. When I told him to stop, he tried to slap me across the face. I was stunned. I reacted by moving back so that he didn’t actually hit me. It was crazy. Needless to say, his English teacher came in after the exam and escorted him down to the social worker to make a call home. It frightened me just a touch. He is a big boy and could probably hurt me. 

I left school shortly after testing to go work with some other Heads of Faculty and continue creating assessments for our teachers for Term 2. We are hoping to avoid confusion in Term 2, if that’s possible. 

Wednesday evening my friend Lara came over and helped me wrap sweetie bags for the winter festival. She stayed much longer than intended, but we had a couple of laughs and got the Santa gifts all sorted. We made 100 bags and thought that would be plenty. How wrong we were. 

Thursday I monitored an English exam, which was much too difficult for second language learners, but we pressed on. I left school to get something to eat and also to buy Millie rugby boots as hers had come apart at practice on Tuesday, and the youth tournament was at the weekend. 

After school I  went to buy my new iPhone. I had way too much to do, and really should have waited, but I didn’t. I got home and went directly to the club to decorate for the Winter Festival. When we first got there not many people were there. By the time the choir started to sing there must have been 200 kids there, way more than the amount of sweetie bags we had. Oh, what to do. 

Millie is next to bow tie guy and behind curly hair guy. 

Sean dressed as Santa and came in on a Harley. We had told Jack and Millie that the real Santa had asked Sean to help out. I’m pretty sure this is Jack’s last year of believing. Once Santa arrived, the little helpers starts handing out the bags and then, fortunately, the club house manager had purchased more candy. So Santa’s helpers started just putting candy in plastic cups. We ended up having one plastic cup left over. There were Winter stalls where people sold handmade goods and we even had some crafts for the kids. The evening was phenomenal and was deemed the best Christmas party ever. I felt very proud. We went back to our house for tea before turning in for the night. 

Our Al Ain family, including Santa. 

The Al Ain rugby tournament started Friday, and because we are both committee members now, we had to be there both days. Friday we volunteered, helping set up and keeping the time for the matches. It was a really long day for us and the kids. Fortunately, Jack was taken away by Scott to hang out with Henry, and Millie went to her friend, Ciera’s house. They love the rugby club, but three days in a row is a bit much for them. It was definitely a busy weekend. 

Friday evening, Stuart had a match as well, so we were literally at the club ALL day on Friday. Unfortunately, Stuart’s team didn’t win, but he played his hardest game of rugby and was wiped out. We headed home and knew the following morning we would struggle because of being so tired. 

Saturday, 6 am was not my friend. The matches didn’t start until 9 am, but we were at the club to help at 7 am. Jack was on pitch 3 all day and Millie was on pitch 5. Some of their games were at the same time so I stayed with Millie and Stuart stayed with Jack. Millie’s team didn’t do so well, but Jack’s team got to the semi finals of the cup, the highest award. In the end, they lost by one try. Jack was heart broken. He HATES to lose. I totally get it! 

Here we are at Millie’s match. I think I was video taping. This picture was taken by the club photographer. 

Millie is the one in yellow and black. 

This is Augustina and Millie. They hate having their hair brushed, equally! 

I had a bit of a run in with one of the parents on Millie’s team. I was standing at the try line and he was sitting, talking to his wife he was facing me but her back was to me. I heard him say, ‘Rugby is not suited for Millie, I think’. And then he kind of put his head in the air while saying, ‘You know, she’s kind of like do to do’. So naturally I walked over to him and said, ‘Who did you say is not suited for rugby?’ And then he said, ‘Millie.’  I said, ‘That’s my daughter and what you just said was rude!’ I was so flabbergasted. I could not believe I stood there and actually heard someone talking about Millie, and his daughter was sitting right beside them. He came over to apologize. He said, ‘Hey, sorry about that, but I just said the same thing about my own daughter.’ I told him that he could say anything he liked about his own daughter but I didn’t appreciate him speaking about my daughter like that. I told him I would never speak ill of his child, especially in public where someone might hear, like the child’s mother. So that was that. 

On the way home Stuart dropped Jack and myself off at Abela so I could get Jack’s hair cut. We got home and both kids showered, then we headed to Scott and Clare’s for dinner. We took the dogs because they had been trapped in the house the last two days. 

Dinner was lamb stew. It was a bit chilly outside and definitely time for stew. The kids showered again at Scott and Clare’s, then it was home for all of us. And it was bed for all of us as well. What a week!

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