Catching up is hard to do....

I'm behind.... sorta. I've let life get the better of me as we've returned to Abu Dhabi and I've fallen woefully behind in posting...

Many of you have messaged me asking if we are all "okay"... and we are. So here's an attempt to bring you up to speed since my last post... oh so long ago....

School is well and truly underway. First projects are in the books, first tests have been recorded, and after school activities are in full swing.

Within the first 2 weeks of school, Devin's biology class was making edible models of the cell.

I baked the cake, but he did everything else. I promise. He picked the flavor, the icing, and all the candies to represent the various organelles. It was one project his sisters were keen to help him put together... with the hope of getting to eat the leftover bits & pieces.

The "new & improved" uniform is proving to be a disappointment.
One week in and this is the tie.

I had to hand stitch the thing back together and tell the kids to be extra careful. We shall see how this goes... I'm glad I only bought one new full uniform per kid this year and I'm extremely glad we are allowed to use last year's as long as they fit properly.  Never have I been so happy that my kids don't quite grow as the expression says....

We bought another car.

We now have his and hers older model Porsches.  I'm driving a Porsche Cayenne Turbo... that has seen much better days. You can tell this car was used for a fair amount of dune bashing before it was "retired to expat", so to speak. We've ordered a new driver's seat for as all the gears controlling the height adjustments are completely stripped. I pretty much have to sit on a pillow to see over the dash at the moment, but the new seat should be in any day now. That said, it drives great & is a lot of fun. I just wish the AC was a lot colder. Even after the freon (or whatever is being used these days) was recharged, it still can't quite get cold enough for my tastes. To be fair, however, it's still pretty hot and the car is an oven when left in the sun any length of time....

The big Abu Dhabi Falcon & Heritage EXPO was in late September. This time, Lindsey got to come with us. The kids were kind of "ho-hum" about everything (since it was pretty similar to last year) with two exceptions: the Japanese lollipop artist & the food stalls.  We missed the Texas State Fair and they were really jones-ing for anything on a stick.

We did get the requisite falcon and Saluki dog pictures.

Devin is liking his tennis lessons with Coach Kenny. They meet at the school for an hour around 5:30 PM on Wednesdays. It's finally cooling off a bit, so it's almost a pleasant evening. Lindsey has been managing to take off work at a somewhat reasonable time and can usually meet him there by 6-ish. It's nice because I'll put Devin in a taxi from our house (boy, I never thought I'd utter THOSE words!) to the school around 5, and Lindsey can bring him home.

Madeline & Olivia decided it's just too hot for golf these days, so they took up ballet again instead. It's been a bit of a challenge finding a studio in our area. In addition, the girls studied a Russian curriculum in the States and everything here is RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) out of London.  We finally decided on Turning Pointe. Olivia is in Level 3 and Madeline is in Level 4. (I have no idea what that means other than they meet on separate days....)

Olivia's class meets at the Al Ghazal Golf Clubhouse (upper room) which is... get this... a sand golf course. I had no idea such a thing even existed. There is NO grass; no "greens"; no water.  It's one giant sand trap as far as I can tell...

Crazy!

Madeline's class meets in the dance room at Al Yasmina School. It's a class of 16 girls. Madeline is the only one from the States (most of the girls are British or Australian) and she tells me they all "adore" her accent. LOL! She thinks it's hilarious.

Of course, "down days" are still our favorite activities and the kids have been doing everything from RC cars/planes (which need a lot of repairs)...

... to practicing their magic tricks on each other, me, Lindsey, the neighbors, building security, the cleaners... you get the idea.

I'm still filling my time with book clubs (I'm in 3), coffee mornings, ladies groups, and subbing at the school... when they let me. So far I've been allowed to cover Kinder, some of the elementary grades, Biology, Chemistry, & Environmental Issues. I did 3 days in biology & chemistry; I was extraordinarily happy. We covered on microscope & sketching skills in biology....

Kids these days are clever, too. Here's a couple of girls using their smart phones to take a picture through the ocular. THEN, they sketch the image from their phones onto the paper. It negates all that squinting & back and forth from the eyepiece to the paper.  Plus, no worries that someone will "bump" your image out of focus/placement.
Yup, working smarter, not harder!!!

I've also been an Algebra teacher and a History teacher, briefly. Next week I get to do an extended (over a week) stay in Algebra teaching inequalities.... I shouldn't be so excited, but I am. LOL!

I still find shopping an adventure every single day. At least I can honestly say that grocery shopping is never boring. In fact, it's almost like a game of Where's Waldo... only with things like relish & applesauce.

"Well lookie there! The sweet relish is with the picante sauce ... and the applesauce is with the mustard! Very cheeky, stock boys... very cheeky, indeed!"

It's been a busy few weeks...

There's more, of course. But I'll post about my Bon Jovi concert and Olivia's HAWS day later. Right now, I've got to switch the laundry...

Some things NEVER change....