R has a flight to Malta tomorrow, this will be my first "test" as its a layover and he will be gone from 6 am tomorrow morning until 1 am thursday morning so two WHOLE days. Its good that he can come "home" to see some family and friends every now and then, even if only for a day.

The finishing of yesterday left quite a lot to be desired. We had not been sure about the date for my visit to the doctor as we were sure it was sunday but R had put it down in the calendar for monday so I called to confirm and i was told that yes, its today. After a long ride, some missed turns and problems finding parkings we finally arrived to find out that my appointment was not until monday, I was there a day early anyway! :O They did manage to squeeze me in though but we had to wait for almost an hour! The doctor was ok, slightly slow but not at all with the attitude of my maltese doctor. He didnt seem to doubt the diagnosis (which in itself was good to hear, I really didnt want to start from scratch) but he will look over the test results for next visit. When we left the clinic it was already passed 18 and we were all hungry so we decided to stop at Mall of the Emirates and eat something there. R thinks the gps stinks and insists on using the map and the signs and of course we missed where we had to turn off and we were lost. Obviously we ended up arguing, anyone who knows me knows what happens to my temper when hungry and we ended up heading towards home. At 19 we got to our compound and bought some ready food from the supermarket here. I can assure you I was not a happy bunny at that point in time....Driving to all these new places is taking so much energy and Im so tense trying to listen to directions, be it from R or the gps, looking at signs and keeping track of the rest of the traffic so I was absolutely knackered.

Today Im going to see my new (hopefully) liver doctor. Its slightly scary since I had such an ass in Malta but also cause the doctor we had contact with here i Dubai before seemed to think I was misdiagnosed. It was nothing he said straight out but we got that impression. Please keep your fingers crossed for me in about an hour and a half.....

...that one can be so happy for a simple trash can! Couldnt imagine that it would be so hard to find a good trashcan/rubbish bin. We wanted one that looked good enough to keep out of the cupboard (I hate coming with dirty hands having to open a cupboard door) and for the same reason we wanted it with pedal opening. I wanted it to be matt stainless steel and preferably rectangular. When we had dinner with our friends they had what we thought was the ultimate one and made sure to find out where they had bought it (Crate & Barrel). I had been there quickly before lookig for it but didnt find and didnt ask but last night I saw that C&B had a sale on so today we made it a point to ask for the bins. They had two rectangular ones and we picked the one slightly smaller than the one our friends have got. We felt we would never fill it up before it started smelling and we got it at half price! Even though it was expensive I would have bought it at full price had I found it before so it was a good thing I hadnt, now we saved a good amount on money!

Nothing much has happend in the last week, still trying to get to grips with life and find some routines. With J´s parents away on holiday I have been driving the boys both to and from school for a week and to be honest its been quite tiring. Yesterday we picked up J from nursery and then A and J from school and headed to a beach. It was so lovely! Not too hot and water was so warm and today when I picked up the boys J looked at me and said "let´s go to the beach" :D Didnt happen today though, we had to get home and wait for the satellite guy to come and fix the dish on our roof so we can start watching tv.

Tomorrow J´s parents are back so Im "releaved" from school run twice a day.

In the morning in the car on our way to school we listen to Dubai 92 and they have a part of the morning show called "the school run". Here they read greetings to kids and parents on their way to school. The boys always listen to it after they once picked up a greeting to a girl in their grade. I have been meaning to send a greeting to them but always came to think about it while driving and never heard the number. This morning I prepared the sms from before and I took a chance on a number I picked up from a competition and guess what? As the third greeting or something like that the boys heard their names, class and school. They giggled hysterically for a while and couldnt believe it. It was well worth my while :)

R didnt pass his driving test. Even though he only drove for two minutes the test person marked that he failed/made mistakes on about 10 things of which one was not to stop on stop although R is absolutely sure he did. We did know it works that way here, they tend to fail you first time so they bring in some more money on another test. However one of the guys in our street passed his first time around so we were kind of hoping. After waiting for ages and being sent around to different ppl he got a new test date for the 12th of november! :O Nothing seemed to work when he tried to get an earlier appointment. Cr@p cr@p cr@p. The icing on the cake is that this means we have to wait almost another month to get OUR car as he is not allowed to buy a car unless he has got a driving licence. So Im stuck driving the small rented car in which I get soaked with sweat trying to clip in both boys in their carseats. This day could have started A LOT better.

R is off for his driving test right now, fingers crossed he will pass so he doesnt have to re-do it. Im going to be off to Mirdif City Centre to do some shopping at Carrefour and maybe have a stroll around. My first time venturing out with the car on my own, good thing Mirdif is close and at least I´ve been there before :)

....with some kids? Or maybe rather their parents....A has a boy in his class (O) and just after a few days of attending school A told me that O is not my friend. At that time I didnt understand what was going on but now I understand much better!

One day A came home saying the F word. This is not something we say at home, not me nor R.  Dont get me wrong, we do swear but not in english and we try to make the swearwords "nicer" by changing a few letters or so so we were really chocked when we heard what A was saying. When we asked him where he heard that he explained that O says that to me!

One morning A had removed his sunglasses to look through the door to his classroom before his teacher opened up for the day when O, totally unprovoked went up to him and started pulling on his sunglasses. 

Sunday morning when I drove both boys myself they found a big ant that they were watching and following around for about 10 minutes. This was until J happily showed O the ant and he stepped on it to kill it. Both A and J told him it was not a nice thing to do and when they had found another and J made the mistake of telling O again. Even this time he stepped on it, without thinking twice!

Yesterday a girl had brought a doll that O, again unprovoked, tried to pull away from her.

I mean seriously, is this how it should be? Sure, I understand that all children fight, when their play gets out of hand or something like that but to unprovoked step up to other children just to mess with them or their toys/stuff or kill an insect that someone is looking at, is that normal? This boy comes from a big family and the mother is pregnant again but I wonder, wouldnt it be better if they taught the kids they have how to behave before they have more?

Today I sewed the first balletshoes in my life, apparently you have to adjust an elastic band over the foot. Shoes not for me of course but for J. Tomorrow will be her first day at ballet in full uniform. Last week she didnt dance with the others her teacher told me but then she had a lousy day all day so now I hope she will dance and have fun with the others tomorrow instead.

...he passed his skill test, "good, good, good, actually I have nothing to say" the training captain said. No grade is given, only pass or fail. Well done to him!

...right now R is starting his "skill test" in the simulator. This is the test that will give him the licence to fly an Airbus A330. Let´s hope he will continue doing well!

...and wife. My family is great and today my boys made me extra proud! A came home from school with a "golden award" for settling in so well and having a fantastic week while R got a 5 on his simulator today. A told me in the car on the way home from school that he had a surprise for me for later and when we were at home and R was around he took out his paper with gold text and stars. The joy was showing in his eyes and I thought I would explode with pride. R´s grade came as a bit of a surpise as he got really worried last night when one of his friends had done the same test with the same captain and he was told the captain was a reall @ss. Apart from that fives are not really given as a grade as its considered "too good" and when a captain rates someone with a five he also has to write a report on what made this person deserve top grade. Bestest of boys I love you so! <3

After writing a post about the nursery I feel I owe it to DESS (Dubai English Speaking School) to dedicate a post to them too. After all its a different story with their reception teachers. A´s teachers Mrs. M and Mrs. F seem to be very nice and lovely people. It is obviously a bit different as now the kids are older and they need less cuddles for encouragement but I always felt like A likes his teachers and that they give him what he needs. I have only talked to Mrs. M as she is head teacher but she is very sweet and understanding whenever there is something bothering A. Like when he was worried during the first few days and today when I talked to her about lunch break. A was a bit upset last night as he had only eaten half of his lunchbox and when I asked him why he cried and told me that he never has time to eat it all up before his teachers say its time to pack up lunchboxes. Now I know he is a slow eater and that he gets distracted easily and forgets to eat but I promised him to talk to Mrs. M about it. When I did she explained that they have ½ hr to eat lunch and I said that he should have plenty of time then she said she will keep an eye for the next few days and see what´s going on and why he doesnt have time to eat. That is what Im looking for in a teacher!

J´s nursery should be fantastic, newly built and fresh but both me and R have felt that something is "missing" from the head teacher. J has been upset when we have dropped her off (even though we know she is having fun and she is always happy in the morning when we tell her she has school today) and I would have liked to see the teacher showing some initiative to come up to J when we walk in to help her settle in for the day so that maybe she wouldnt have to be so sad but instead they only help her out when I have left the room. This means that I have to "push" her away to leave the classroom and it doesnt feel good. When we pick her up she is always happy and all smiles, waving and sending kisses to the teachers but they only tell her good bye. No hugs or kisses back. Compared to what we are used to from San Andrea where they teachers adore and love the kids this is really stange for us. Yesterday morning though we had a coffee morning with some mum´s from A´s class and another mum said she had felt the same and that other mums have said the same too (all from different nurseries). It seems that here in Dubai the teachers only do their job and nothing more, as if they dont have time or energy to give their hearts to the kids. This is just for a year for J and now that I know all (or at least many) nurseries work this way Im going to let go of this part and focus on the fact that I know she has fun and is happy and just compensate with more cuddles at home instead :)

....to feel like crap :( Today I drove both boys to school, on my own. All went well and when we dropped off the boys J asked me, where is J? "I looove him" she sobbed. OMG, she is only 3, is it going to start already? :D Dropping off J went surprisingly well, she was not too happy but at least she didnt cry, I hope we have turned a page and its getting better. I have felt a bit so and so about the nursery to be honest (but that is for a totally different post) but as I said, I hope it will be better now. Felt really good about the things I managed to do on my own this morning until I got home and found A´s PE bag on the floor inside the door. My heart sank, his change of clothes is still at home :( Im sure the school will understand but A will be really dissapointed, he wants everything as they should be.

Today I drove in Dubai....and we survived. I wasnt even that nervous with R in the car. We went to Festival City where we bought a tv and a bit of this and that (electronics wise) and then to DESS to pick up A and our friend´s son J. In the afternoon I drove (with the help from the GPS) to Dragonmart and that was insane! It was like a market, but unlimited, sizewise and I cant say it was my kind of place....

Things are finally falling into place, today was a very busy day but we got lots done. R passed his signal test for the driving licence, he went to pay a deposit on a brand new Pajero while I did my eye test and also managed to do my UAE driving licence so R is booking a rented car right now. It feels both good and a bit worrying. It will be good to be a bit more mobile without having to pay for taxis everywhere but scary to actually be driving in this traffic. Im sure it will be fine though and Im sure I can keep on riding with J for a few more daysl :)

...what to do today. I was meant to go to Mirdif City Centre with J but her eldest daughter was not feeling well so that is off. I should try to go anyway as I need to get my eye test done for the driving licence. I really need to drive now! Going around by taxi all the time is getting expensive. R just msged me, he passed the signal test for his driving licence and he is now waiting for an appointment for driving test. I better get ready, maybe we can sort out my licence today already!

not too much worth writing about going on right now....mostly we are trying to get sorted out in the house and settled in our new lives. We have spent lots of time lately thinking about cars, we change our minds constantly but I think we have narrowed it down to brand and make and this morning we should be heading out to the Mitsubishi dealer to check out the Pajero. Hope it feels right!

This will be a loooong day! R is working, we have been up since 5.45 and its not even nine and im already fed up of unpacking! At least the furniture in the bedroom have all been set up so now its all about unpacking so we can slowly empty the boxes in the livingroom and set up the other 2 sofas. And clean the floors! With a the stuff running around there is no point cleaning the floor right now and I hate it when you feel like the floor is dusty. Guess my break is over for now....