Ten months

It's been a very long time since my last post. We've been in Abu Dhabi for ten months now. And in a less than a week, we'll be back on a plane London-bound for our first holiday back. The last ten months have had its ups and downs and much as I do enjoy living here, I miss home.

I have been wondering whether to keep this blog going or not. I'm more a reader than a writer. It has been on my mind and I've been mentally posting posts on this blog. We'll see how it goes...

Each and every night for the last two weeks of Ramadan I intended to post pics for the Ramadan Journal and I failed miserably at it. Instead, I've been packing then re-packing, then unpacking and packing again. I honestly don't think it will stop till the shippers come and we finally get on the plane.

We've had three different shipping companies in and had three very different estimates on how much stuff we have. It's been quite an experience. I now have to send the quotes I have to the HR department and they get back to me with the company I should go with.

Besides all the packing, we celebrated Eid at my Aunt's house as we do every year for both Eids. I have always wanted to make a big celebration out of it so it's something my children will look forward to but it just wasn't possible this Eid. Maybe once we're in Abu Dhabi it'll be easier. Eid,for me as a child, was always so very boring.

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary marking six years of being married to a wonderful though often infuriating man! It's like having three kids instead of two sometimes. I also celebrate my birthday and move to Abu Dhabi. It's a big month ahead...

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Location:Total flop with the Ramadan Journal

The calm before the storm

It's that rare (I cannot stress how rare) moment before the kiddies wake up and I have a tiny bit of time to myself - the calm before the storm. It's also the first days of the holidays and he, I'm up at 6:37am. Well, earlier, but that's the time now. So many many things need to get done in the days ahead. I need to find a few more shipping companies; pack what we want to ship and what we're going to take with us on the plane; arrange an MOT; sort out other household affairs and make a baby blanket.

For now though, I'm going to enjoy this moment of calm before the baby - who is stirring- fully awakes.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ramadan Journal Days 11 Iftar/Evening; Day 12 Prayer/ Mercy; Day 13 In my Kitchen; Day 14 Now Playing and Day 15 Me

I've missed out a lot of days! My hubby came back from Pakistan on Monday after being away for 22 days and it was the last week of term and my last week at school. It's been a crazy, emotional week and it's not even Friday.

I haven't taken a "In my kitchen" picture yet. It's full of boxes and things we want to take to Au Dhabi with us.

Ramadan Journal: This happened today and Grateful for

I usually end up falling asleep when putting the kids to bed and that's why I end up posting two Ramadan journals together. The kids actually fell asleep before i did tonight.

As it happened, something did happen yesterday. Actually two things. First tickets to Abu Dhabi were emailed to me and the second was a phone call from my mum asking me to rescue her from my daughter who was crying her eyes out whilst my mum took her around M&S. My daughter has developed a clingy-ness to everyone. It doesn't matter if there is already someone with her but if someone makes a move to leave the room she will start crying her little eyes out. And I mean at-the-top-of-her-lungs-till-she's-red-in-the-face crying. This makes doing anything difficult. I didn't even need to call my mum to find out where in M&S she was. I could actually hear her crying from the second floor when she was on the ground floor. No joke!

As for what I'm grateful for: my son - who is such a good older brother. He's so loving towards his little sister and when she was crying her eyes out in the car today and I was at the end of my tether, he started playing peekaboo with her. He's a darling.

Ramadan Journal Day 8: Handwriting

I'm also a bit of a doodler. The above was an inset session on learning to learn.

Ramadan Journal Day 6 and 7: Workspace and White

I forgot to take a picture of my workspace and was supposed to do it today and I forgot again! I have the memory of a goldfish. So instead I'm posting a picture of my son's workspace.



As for the white, lilies are my favourite flower. Especially white ones.

Amber teething necklace update

Birdie has been wearing her amber teething necklace since Friday afternoon and believe it or not, it seems to be helping her! She back to sleeping properly and is MUCH less fussy. Result!

Ramadan Journal Day 4 and 5: What I'm reading and what I'm crafting

Since my daughter's teething was getting so that she couldn't sleep properly, I haven't had the evenings to myself much. Hence I haven't had much to read or craft. When I do read, I usually have two or three books going at once unless I am particularly engrossed in one and I concentrate on the one. I was averse to eReaders until about two years ago following a conversation with a friend's friend regarding Kindles. Now I have far too many books on it to count which is just as well as I had also once earned the name "girl with books to the ceiling" at one point. Anyhoo, here are the books I'm currently reading both in paperback and electronic versions.

As for my crafting, I'm trying to make a baby blanket for a friends impending arrival. One panel of it is complete. I have 10 more to go! The crochet bow is a brooch I have made for my son's teacher. I hope she likes it!

Ramadan Journal Day 3: On my table

My table is a mess. It has all sorts of stuff my son keeps putting on it. Every now and then it all bugs me and I go through a phase where I have to tidy everything and so I cheated and put some of my things on my husband's bed side table because he's away and his is much neater. Then I thought I might as well take a picture of the mess anyway. So here's both.

Ramadan Journal Day 2: Prayer

I came across the idea of the Ramadan Journal through The Harlequin Tea Set blog and thought I'd jump onto the band wagon too as I've been wanting to do something similar for ages. It started last year by the blogger Nielouphar Abdurahiman of Creating Memories but I have only come across it this year.

I missed Day 1 and am trying to document Day 2 on my phone without waking up Birdie (I'm also not quite sure how to insert a photo from my phone). I only really came into praying after a particularly bad time in my life. It wasn't something we were brought up with though my mum made sure we went to Quran classes to learn how to read it. I didn't actually learn how to pray till I was about 12. From then until the age of about 30 I prayed sporadically and more because I had to rather than because I wanted to. Now it's more of a case of wanting to. I don't always get to say all five in a day what with work but I try. This month I aim to try harder and get more out it

Teething Round 2

I've already been down the teething route so I thought I had it all down to pat. I was wrong. Chunky monkey, also known as Birdie because she likes to open her mouth like a little bird whenever we eat something, is so very different from my little man. She's had high temperatures, sleepless nights, grumpiness - the lot. And still no teeth.

As I was complaining about it in the staff room a colleague suggested I try amber teething necklaces. I had heard of them before but thought them too much of a safety hazard. However, I'm at that stage where I'll try anything as she's really suffering and I need my sleep now I'm back at work and hubby is away. Plus, if they do work as all the sites I've researched say they do, they're safe as long as they are used as they're supposed to. Amber is a resin, not a stone. Something I learnt yesterday and works as a natural analgesic when warmed by the skin. I'm still not entirely convinced but I've ordered one from eBay so let's see.

Too much on my plate

Image above from http://barbaracolebythesea.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/plate.jpg

Wow! It's been a busy few weeks. I'm back at school full time and in between supporting a Year 4 class, covering for PPA in other classes and then running around to find somewhere to pump breast milk during the break, I've also been sending documents to my new school and trying to pack!

There are certain things I still need to find out such as what happens to my Teachers Pension if I work abroad, do I still continue to be part of a union here etc etc and once I find out I'll post it in case anyone else is interested to know.

Of my various projects I wanted to start, I began on my daughter's scrapbook, finished one panel of 11 for my friend's baby blanket and printed out the quotes for my other friend's secret project. I haven't even looked at my web designing course or the TEFL. I'm only blogging because the little guy is playing his much loved Lego Batman game and the little one is having an unexpected nap!

It's raining as I type and though I know everyone else is wondering where the supposed heat wave has gone, I'm enjoying it. I sat down and had a green tea with a cranberry and orange cookie (that apple cider vinegar drink has begun to curb my appetite and I feel much fuller for longer - I've also lost a bit of weight!) so I thought I'd treat myself to a cookie and not feel guilty about it.


Image from here:http://notquitecookiecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/A.png

Paperwork Update...

Even though the GTC certificates are not listed on the FCO website, they do legalise them. I sent mine on the off chance they'd do it and I got them back all legalised.

Wibble Wobble

Jelly on a plate

Jelly on a plate

Wibble Wobble 

Wibble Wobble

Jelly on a plate

Jelly on my spoon

Jelly on my spoon

Wibble Wobble

Wibble Wobble

Jelly on my spoon

Jelly in my tummy

Jelly in my tummy

Wibble Wobble

Wibble Wobble

Jelly in my tummy

This is a rhyme I learnt at Tiny Talk when I used to take my little chunky monkey for baby signing. It's what my belly is like at the moment and should go My belly is like jelly, My belly is like jelly, Wibble Wobble Wibble Wobble, My belly is like jelly.

Of course, I have no time (or inclination if I'm being brutally honest) to exercise and I love my food too much. So, I've decided to just pay attention like mentioned in French Kids Don't Throw Food. I've also been drinking raw apple cider vinegar and lemon juice mixed in water before every meal. Let's see if that works.

And so the paperwork begins...

Apart from the shopping and the packing and then being back at school after maternity leave ended last week, I have been busy getting papers attested and filling in forms. The UAE like to have degree certificates attested so first I had to get them notarised by a notary public, they've been sent off to the FCO in Milton Keynes for legalisation and then they need to be attested by the UAE embassy here. To add to all of that, since I got married in Pakistan, my marriage certificate needs to be attested by the Foreign Ministry there and the UAE embassy in Pakistan! Oh, and I just realised my son's passport expires February of next year so need to renew that too.

On a more cheerier note: 35 working days left till the summer holidays!

Off to bed I go. I have school tomorrow!

Another scrapbook

Ok, so I still haven't actually started the baby scrapbook but my mind is always full of ideas on what to make next, sometimes before I have even begun one of my projects in waiting. I haven't started on the baby book and my mind is already on making a scrapbook for a dear friend of mine before I leave. She loves sending me images of those someecards via Whatsapp. We both love sarcasm and the ecards make us laugh. It particularly makes her happy as she's been going through a pretty rough patch both in her personal and professional life. My idea was to put them all together in a book and then give it to her before I leave. The idea has been on the back burner for a while because now I've decided to add our love of lists to the book. I bought her a copy of Listography for her birthday (or maybe it was an Eid gift). On her trips to Cyprus, we would agree to work on a list and message each other what we had written. Recently I came across a blog by Moorea Seal who is undertaking a 52 lists project whereby she writes a list once a week on a different topic she comes up with. I want to do something similar for my friend's scrapbook. There are some other ideas I have for the book but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag completely.

Now of course, all I have to do is stop writing about it and actually start making it!

Image below from here.

Baby book scrapbooks

Back when my little man was a newborn I made good use of the time he slept and made him a baby book. I've been wanting to do the same for my chunky monkey but just haven't gotten around to it. There are so many projects I want to do I don't know where to start. And my maternity leave is coming to end very soon.

I decided to spend more time on it tonight for a few reasons:

1. Maternity leave ends on 2nd June
2. The printer is in my brother's room and he's out so I can print without disturbing him
3. I didn't feel like crocheting tonight

Anyway...in my search for all things cute, I came across some gorgeous free fonts. I have no idea how to make those free font picture thingummy things that all these other craft blogs put up so I just pinned them to my TypoLetteringraphy board on Pinterest. On my travels through cyberspace, I also came across two absolutely gorgeous blogs: mysunnysideuplife and Smart School House. They are definitely worth checking out.

Now, instead of writing a post, trawling the net more more cute, free fonts and just generally doing everything but, I need to get started on that scrapbook. I have everything I need put together. I suppose it's the getting started.

Washi Tape Notebook

I went into Paperchase a while ago ( I can never go in without coming out with something) and then went a little crazy with the washi tape.

Success!

I have a job in Abu Dhabi!! With a private school. And everything seems to be happening all at once. We need to be packed up and ready for the move by the end of August. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of time between now and then, especially since I have to go back to work after the half term holiday. So much to do and so very little time. It's exciting though! 

I've started looking at properties to rent, shipping companies to transport our things and make sure all my paperwork is in order. For a while I was really beginning to lose hope that anything would happen this year and really thought I would have to try again next year. I had started looking at jobs in November and things only really took off this last month. The benefits I have been offered are really good: shipping expenses, flights out to AD and annual flights home for the entire family, education for my children, an accommodation allowance, furniture allowance, sponsorship and medical insurance for the family. Everything seems to be falling into place. 

It's still a little hard to believe it really is happening...