I'll be home for Christmas

I love Coldplay's new song, it's exactly how I've felt the past while... haven't been feeling the Christmas spirit. BUT in 8 sleeps, I'm headed to the airport and flying home to spend Christmas with my family.  And I feel a little Christmas creeping in.  Last night I finished up my shopping for my secret santa here in the UAE.  A few of us girls are getting together this week and doing a gift exchange and dinner... obviously, I can't eat the sweets because I'm still detoxing, BUT the girls are going to enjoy dinner and desserts.

Because of some creative booking, I get to fly direct from Dubai to New York on Wednesday night.  This morning I spoke with my principal and it's not an issue that I'm missing Thursday at work (so long as all my end of term marks are submitted before I go).  phewf.  He did remind me that teachers are expected back January 2nd and of course I'll be back... eventually (even I can't predict volcanic ash or a New York Blizzard)... blizzard, I miss DQ Blizzards. . . stupid detox.

You know what I won't miss when I leave this place?  I won't miss the perma-wet bathroom floors, seriously, is it necessary to wet the ENTIRE bathroom floor while using the hand held bidet? SERIOUSLY?  I'm pretty sure the toilets at the world cup were cleaner than the one at my school. ICK.

Also, what's with the teacher who wears the same shirt 7 days in a row?  Does he have 7 different PINK shirts? Or is it the same shirt again and again?   This week he's moved on to a peach shirt.  Equally as attractive as the last one.

Somehow I ran out of internet time while drinking my green tea here at Starbucks... as I was rambling along here, forgetting my purpose, boring you in the process...

Moral of the Story:  Should have stuck with Coffee.

... this isn't columbine ...

Living and teaching overseas opens up a can of craziness.  I know facebook is trying to force our lives into the truman show, but sometimes I just wish that there was a camera following me around.  When I arrived at school yesterday I was NOT looking forward to the day... but after hearing the music teacher announce over the microphone to all of the students at assembly, "don't forget to wear your traditional clothes tomorrow and to bring your guns to school," I couldn't get rid of the smile on my face.

Tomorrow is UAE National Day - 39 years as a country - and in anticipation, today was a giant carnival.  Not eating sugar or starch made the buffet impossible and I resisted the smell of popcorn and cotton candy.  At one unfortunate time I found myself at the top of the giant blow up air slide monitoring the kids (haha, you know I loved every second of it).

Happy National Day UAE!!!  And don't forget to bring your guns to school!!

thankfulness

Yesterday was a blah crappy day.  I wasn't feeling thankful and I was struggling to find anything to be thankful for.  I have a new life plan and unfortunately, I can't move on to the new plan for at least 12 months so I was discouraged.
BUT... I have a lot to be thankful for!

I am thankful this thanksgiving weekend for...

classes that are canceled because the kids are going on a field trip
a roomate who helped our living room morph into a christmas getaway
good friends who celebrated american thanksgiving with E and I... (they were British, Welsh, and Emirati)
a 3 day teaching week, followed by 1 carnival day at work, then a 3 day weekend
friends from home visiting and bringing a care package from my mom
17 days, 15 hours until I board an airplane bound for the states and family

I have a lot to be grateful for. 

Thanks.

Moral of the story:  even on a latte detox you can find joy and happiness!

Delicious Desserts

I didn't want to make an entire Turkeyday feast this year because I'm still detoxing.  No Sugar.  No Starch. So I created a potluck style dinner.  I made the turkey (a roast rather than a large turkey, our oven is smaller this year than last) and gravy.  Elaina made the pumpkin pie and stuffing.  Everyone else was given a dish (along with specific instructions on how to make it) and we had a feast!!!

Because I wasn't stuck in the kitchen making the main course, I experimented yesterday with desserts (Elaina suggested I post this to help my wife resume).  I made chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter cookies with candy-cane hershey's kisses on top, chocolate covered oreo reindeer cookies, and a four layer 10 kilo cake, covered with M&M's and surrounded by kit-kats...

For dinner, I ate turkey, asparagus, and frozen strawberries. . . next year I'll stuff my face with the rest... a skinnier healthier me!!

 four layers of sugar

 the bottom two layers are separated by a chocolate sauce

 yummy yummy yummy

emma and sarah dig in... with a spatula!

Arranged Marriages

My brother Josh often mentions how he supports or at least is interested in the concept of arrange marriages.  Since moving to the Middle East, I've witnessed some arrangements thrive, and others horribly fail.  But I believe that there is hope for these marriages - IF the person arranging them truly knows and cares for both the bride and groom.

This is an open invitation to all you meddlers out there.  Though I have a back up plan (someone who has agreed to marry me if I'm 30 and single), I thought I'd give this whole arranging thing a shot.  If you want, I can even provide you with a short list!

Elaina is also onboard with the plan, but we can't rely on each other to find our perfect match considering our geographic limitations, so we're accepting interference!  Since Elaina's smoking hot and I'm funny, this should be a breeze!?

Requirements:

25-45 years old

Loves traveling and must collect airmiles

Must respect and be willing to support our coffee addictions

* Volunteers will also be considered.  We are equal opportunists and do not discriminate against race or color, however we do discriminate against gynecologist, pediatrists, urologists, snake charmers, or professional clowns.

** Parents need not participate.

thanks

I've been waiting for 2 weeks to get a puncture in my left rear tire fixed.   After taking my Honda racecar in for servicing last week, it took nearly 48 hours for me figure out the spare tire was on my car and my regular rims were in the trunk.  A quick call to the service centre informed me that there was a nail in the tire, they swapped it out for me and 'forgot' to tell me...

I procrastinated getting the tire fixed because I didn't want to go to Sanaiya, the male dominated "fix anything" area of town.  You can get a hair cut, buy a kitchen sink, smoke shisha, replace tires, and best of all, drive in circles trying not to hit the random Pakistani who thinks it's a logical idea to race across four lanes of traffic blindfolded.  So I was thrilled last night when someone told me that I could get the hole fixed at the Adnoc Petrol Station.  I was dubious, but headed off to Adnoc.  I was so cocky that I stupidly made a bet with my friend that there was no tire service at Adnoc - whoops, I could have avoided Sanaiya weeks ago and fixed the tire (don't worry, I was driving on a full sized tire, not a donut). 

After a quick inspection, the serviceman had some bad news for me - they wouldn't fix the hole because of the location on the tire.  Apparently holes on the side will just rip open again, if it's on the flat surface area, the reinforcements will help hold the seal.  So instead of a 15 minute, $15 fix - it was going to cost me $100 bucks and take much longer. 

Dad doesn't have a cell phone so I rang Jason again and again, hoping he'd answer from out on the golf course, but of course he didn't.  I literally sat in the open trunk, elbows resting on my knees, chin on my hands, waiting for divine inspiration.  I'm often taken advantage of in such situations, I know less than nothing about cars, tires, and batteries!  I glanced forward and realized that an acquaintance of mine was about 20 feet in front of me getting an oil change.  "Mohammad," I called out and waved hello.  He came over and wanted to know the situation...  he laughed at my distress and told me I just had to buy a new tire - easy!  He told the handyman (in Arabic) something that sounded like "just do it" and commanded me to "come" as he walked off towards the convenience store. 

Not knowing what else to do, I followed him, let him buy me some water, then whinged about how life isn't fair, my tires aren't more than 2 months old, and how I was sure I was being taken advantage of.  Mohammad just listened patiently to my whinging, sipping his guava juice and avoiding the layer of dust on my car.  He explained to me the benefits of nitrogen in tires and the differences between his nissan patrol and range rover.  30 minutes later it was time to pay up and head out.  I followed Mohammad into the little service office and realized he had already settled the bill.  Whoa!  My two week procrastination had paid off after a perfectly timed arrival at the Adnoc Service Centre!!!

Thanks!

Joy

This might be a shocker to you, but I don't particularly LOVE my job.  But we're taught to find joy in every situation, and so for today, these are the three things at my work that made me smile.

1)  Adam, the smartest grade 2 student (according to his mother), was wearing a sweatband in class today.  It was so colorful and pretty - reminded me of nature... I mean, the Jamaican flag and that weird marijuana leaf on the side were very natural.  I LOVED it and Laughed.  Out.  Loud.
2) The male PE teacher who insists on using the female toilets - can't seem to wear his track pants below his belly button.  I'm pretty sure it's NOT possible for him to wear them any higher!!!
3) 2 weeks until Eid holidays and 8 weeks until Christmas break!! I love that in November and December combined I have 3 weeks paid holidays... And a 3 day weekend thrown in for fun... and a random weekday off!

 Moral of the story:  If all else fails, just go home, make a latte, and crawl into bed!