Will I ever get rid of this headache? At least its not the same sinus headache but it really hurt! I think its my carb detox that is behind it, the first few days without carbs are soooo tough. Hopefully it will be better soon. Keep fingers crossed for me please!

Today we finally bought a bbq, we have been waiting for this! Unfortunately R has to work two nights in a row but on wed or thursday we will cook our first meal on it. After lots of thinking we decided not to spend our money on a gass one for, it feels like the money is going out faster than its coming in so for now we bought a smaller charcoal bbq. Next winder we look into changing it.

Im absolutetly knackered after a long day. Morning spent in a park and afternoon filled with complaints. We played some boardgames and A is such a bad looser! It also seems that once he has started getting so upset the smallest things makes him crazy again. 

Kids are finally in bed, reading a bit themselves after my bedtime story, R is sleeping too as he is working tonight and Im going to settle myself on the sofa with the last season of "Greek" and a grapefruit. 

In a last attempt at organising our home we now have 4 boxes left to unpack (only). Today I unpacked photos and came across A´s school photos. The first one from pre-nursery when he was 2½. Look what a sweetie! How small and babylike, a bit fluffy like a puppy. I just wanted to hug him and I wish I could have him back at that age, at least for just a day. I know, and see, that they both grow but its not until you see an "old" photo like that that you see how big the difference actually is. I wish they could stay my little darlings a bit longer, I know its a cliché but they ARE growing up too fast.....

Today J had her first ballet lesson for this term. She has been looking forward and was first in line to go into the studio today. When she came out she said he had "really fun". I guess we´ll have to see how long she will keep this up but I try not to influence her. As long as she enjoys it I will take her, if she gets fed up we´ll try something else. While we were at ballet R took A to the tennis court to practice a bit. A needed to refresh his memory a bit after the xmas break and on friday its time for his first lesson this year.

Today we went to Creek Park in the morning. Weather was lovely!























In the afternoon our friends came over, when they left I asked kids if they had fun. Both said "Yees!" and then J added: "And so did you and J" (J begin the mum)




The boys



The girls



Playing "Elefun"



This is how angry and sad A gets whenever games dont go his way....sometimes I wonder if he needs help to control himself!

 

Yesterday we unpacked the last toys from their boxes, the kids had a great time re-discovering their old toys. The dolls got to watch the movie with us :)

 

Sometimes you have to stop and think....yesterday or the day before was the anniversary of the day when my american hostsisters boyfriend committed suicide. I think a lot about her and how tough it must be for her, both in everyday life and then the fact that for the rest of her life christmas and new years will be tainted by this memory. They had a good and stable relationship and in last years christmas letter from the family they were hinting at weddingbells and then just like that he got depressed and shot himself. How do you move on? Her profile on fb is still showing pics of them together and it breaks my heart and makes me think about how lucky we are for every day we get together with our loved ones!

 

Today has really been a crappy day. Three days ago I woke up with a headache from hell and I self diagnosed myself with sinus problems, took some Panadol Sinus and was actually feeling better the following day. Kept taking pills though and yesterday I was fine so I thought it was over, but today headache is back with a vengeance! Have been feeling sooo bad and it feels really stupid since my throat  is not hurting, im not coughing or have a runny?blocked nose. Im not "sick"! Hope that after two doses of Panadols today I will feel better tomorrow and I will learn from my mistake and keep taking the pills for a few more days even if I feel better. 

As always R is a god's sent and take care of the kids when im not feeling well, first they played some Wii and then putting up our trampoline again. 

Check out A's red face! He really takes his playing seriously :) 









Bad pic, I know, but they never come sharp on the trampoline!

I spent the afternoon in bed and after a quick shower the kids came near me for some cuddles. A came first as he was ready first and cuddled and chatted a bit and suddelny he told me "mamma, jag ska tella dig hur mycket jag älskar dig, tusen hundra!" , this meaning mummy, I will tell you how much I love you, thousand hundred however tella is not a swedish word, he used the word tell and made it into a swedish verb. Then he tought about it some more and changed his mind to tusen hundra sextio nio (thousand hundred and sixtynine). By now J had joined us and she wants to express her love to but she doesnt know numbers other than up to 10, or maybe 20 so she says "i love you so so so so so very very very very very much". My little darlings!



Love!

 

Juventus and Milan have spent a couple of days in Dubai for some PR and training and R has been trying to track down the team in his heart, Juventus without any luck. 2 days ago he went round to 4 different stadiums to see them train but they were nowhere to be found, he found Milan though, but he didnt really care about that) Since we moved to Dubai I have spent some time on a forum for expat ladies in the Middle East (expatwoman) and they have a subforum for areas like Dubai, Saudi Arabia etc. There you get lots of help and advice so I turned to the women there for help. Only some 10 minutes later someone had told us in which hotel Juventus were probably staying! Yesterday R went there and he did see the players, but only a few of them came out as they didnt have to train but were heading out for some sightseeing and those that did come out did not stop for photos etc. He was a bit disappointed so today we went there together, they are leaving tonight so today was his last chance). After a long wait some players came out to be driven some 100 meters to the arena and R was very excited that today they stopped with the fans. After the first player came out R told me he was shivering with excitement! I took photos of him with all the players that came out but what made R's day, week or even year was this picture with Alessandro Del Piero, his favourite since he saw him play with the under 21 team some 17 years ago. Im sooo happy for him!

Dearest R with Del Piero, how much he deserved this! 

 

Yesterday I went to EK clinic to take the blood test to check for chickenpox immunity and when I got there I was told that the bloodtest they took when I went for my initial appointment was to check some immunity so they already knew I was immune to chicken pox. Great stuff! In the afternoon then we got N, our houseboy home. Today was his first day of work and since the kids are still on xmas holidays I cant take too much time showing him around so we decided to give him some simple and straight forward task for now. R and I have to push unpacking the last few boxes too now. N was asked to clear up, clean the floors and also clean the kitchen, cupboards, fridge, microwave etc inside and out. We thought it would take all day but he was ready before lunch (still doing a good job) On his own initiative he then cleaned the big windows at the back and when we came home from playground he was cleaning the tiles out back. How different from the Ethipian! N is happy and content, asnwering with a smile, patiently listening to the kids and showed A on his globe where Sri Lanka is etc. He doesnt do things without asking first which is great! I hope we continue on the same positive road. Tomorrow will be his day off this week, him and his wife wanted new years eve off today and that is fine with us, gives me and the kids some time to ourselves tomorrow with R away. Even though its nice to have someone to help out, its also slightly tiring until you get used to it, its a bit like having a guest in your house even though he is not a guest.

Now I will update you on the whole maid issue and Im not sure if I should laugh or cry with what Im going to tell you now. I dont know if I mentioned it before but we have decided to open a new world of maid by also looking for male maids. R was not convinced from the start cause he said men dont clean as well as women. I know its not right and after having had male cleaners coming over with the agency we have hired once a week R was proven wrong and he said he wouldnt mind a man, especially after the trouble we had with M. When we landed in Malta I got an sms from a friend here in Dubai where she told me that her maids husband is looking for a job as a houseboy and that he would love to work with us if we were interested. We felt that it would be a great arrangement as we would have a happy houseboy with his wife around the corner and that would help a lot. The plan was that we would meet him when we returned but in the meantime the chaos begun. Our friend´s daughter got chicken pox so their maid could not move in with them when she came her from Sri Lanka as she hadnt had chicken pox as a kid. Instead she moved in with a third friend for the time being and N, our houseboy had obviously been there to visit his wife. All was well and good until the third friend´s daughter also got chicken pox and we had to assume that both N and his wife had been exposed to it. After lots of hassles they both got vaccinated as it seemed if given within 5 days the chicken pox might not break out at all, or at least make you less sick. My mum is not sure if I had it as kid or not and I can not take the vaccine as it is a live one which is dangerous for me I couldnt meet him when we got back home. His visa was going to expire on the 29th so we couldnt delay anymore. We decided to take a chance on him as two sweds had said he is such a nice man and R met him to complete the paperwork needed and everything went well until they needed to stamp his "entry stamp" in his passport and we didnt have it! The man made en exception and R would be allowed back to stamp the passport the following day but here comes the worst part of the story, the previous employer is refusing to give us the passport unless N leaves the country! There were no legal reasons behind this, with the papers we had for them they would still get their 2000 dhs that every employer has to pay as a deposit for the employee until he leaves the country again. R tried everything, talked to the manager of the hotel who actually hung up on R with the words "this is our policy, please understand our position and pay for a ticked to Muscat or Doha"!  The ticket ended up a mess too when we were told that N coldnt travel today as his passport would not be ready from where it had to be picked up and the tickets for th 29th were more expensive than today. I called and called to talk to the right person as she kept "being out on lunch break" (for 1 hour 40 minutes!) before she confirmed that they could have the passport ready for N to travel in the evening today. I booked the ticket and when I paid I realized I had made a mistake and booked his ticket under his two first names, none of his sirnames! Called flydubai in panic and was told they cant add names to the ticket but he will be allowed to travel as long as both names are listed on this passport. It didnt sound right and I was beside me with worry that he wouldnt be allowed on the plane so half an hour later I called back and talked to someone else who gave me the same answer, it didnt matter what the names were, as long as there were two, and they were both on the passport. It didnt really calm me though, it sounded so wrong but there was nothing else I could do until he tried to check in so I had to wait and see. Have been worried all day but now N is on the flight to Muscat, returning back with the same flight and will be back home again in 2 hrs. Where is he staying now? Since his wife could move back to her employers the "third friend" has again had to take in someone elses maid short term. Thanks to ppl that help others!

 

Last days in Malta were as hectic as the first, had good intentions to update but just didnt have the engergy. In the evenings I was as tired as I was in the beginning in Dubai and I could go to bed as early as 8 pm. Now we are back home in Dubai, me with a mega cold so this will be all for now. Need to rest and hope for quick recovery ;)

 

Here are the pictures from J's ballet lesson, how much pink can you fit in a room?

Yesterday I got the email I was waiting for, J got a spot at DESS when school starts again after summer. No surprise really but it feels good to have it on paper, you never know....

When I went to see the doctor in oktober he ordered some blood test for the kids to check about gluten intollerance as it is genetic. Tonight he called me and told me that J´s results showed slightly too high levels of antibodies but it will be enough to keep an eye on it with blood tests every now and then. A on the other hand has way to high levels and needs to do a biopsy to determine if she is coeliac or not. Bloody cr@p. I feel really sad and low. Fine, its not the end of the world to be coeliac but its not easy either. Try to explain to a child how it works and why he cant eat some things he used to eat?  Darn darn darn...

One could think today is the third of Advent swedish style. Im having a relaxed and cosy morning with the kids on the sofa with swedish rice porridge simmering on the cooker. Hubby back from his flight, looking forward to a day together.

After a small blog break Im now back. Was pretty drained emotionally after the mess with the maid but to update a bit we did take her back to the agency on Monday morning and it was such a relief to get rid of all that negativity. This week has passed quite quickly, R has finally arranged a front for the dishwasher and we found some drawers for the bathroom unit so now I can oragnize a bit. Right now R is in Manchester for 24 hrs and I sent him a shoppinglist, we need some winterclothes for the kids for Malta. Then we are busy until its time to leave, tomorrow tennis and playdate in the playground. Saturday we have the Christmas fayre at DESS and on Sunday we have to start packing up as R is away Monday and Tuesday. Flight then leaves early Wed morning, Im quite excited now. Can´t wait to actually travel together with R for the first time in ages! Just hope I dont have to be nagging to get some family time together just the four of us....

...in bed. Hoping tomorrow will be a better day.