Wanted: cone bra

Peter and I have been hemming and haaa-ing about whether we should dish out the dough (about 600 aed) to attend the upcoming Madonna concert.

Originally, when the concert was announced, the first show sold out within minutes, leaving many very disappointed Madonna fans (not me).  Then, she announced a second show, and the UAE was a happy place once again.

Lately, people have started to notice tickets for the first show showing up for sale, at discounted prices.  This is really starting to tick people off, because they are realizing that the whole 'sold out' first show seems to be a bit of a misnomer.

Well--Peter and I loaded up all the kids in the green hornet today, and drove off to Marina Mall to pick up our COMPLEMENTARY general admission tickets this evening.  Apparently, all Etihad Gold clients are receiving this offer.

So, we WILL be seeing Madonna, live in concert.  We WILL have to stand the entire time (which is not super great), but this is balanced out by the fact that we did not actually pay for tickets to go.

Only in the UAE...

Dusty Friday in the sandbox

Sandstorms are back--apparently another storm in Iraq/Saudi has come into our atmosphere, and is wreaking havoc with the lungs in this region.  This has been a very strange year, wrt to sandstorms--the worst that I (or my Emirati friends) have ever seen.

We had a great Friday morning at the Shang--my most relaxing ever, as we were joined by Malou.  She helped  with the kids, meaning that I had two hands free to eat with...I wasn't actually sure what to do with myself.  This week, we have switched her day off, in order to attend a birthday "EVENT" hosted by our friend Drica.  It is the annual joint birthday celebration for the men in her life:  her husband Antonio, and her son Ben, who (thanks to modern medicine and the planned c-section) share a birthday.  Drica's parties are unlike any I have attended before, and this one (a "construction theme") promises to have live entertainment and rides on diggers and bulldozers for the kiddies.  Hopefully, there will be no casualties...

Later tonight, we are expecting a visit from our friend Ajay.  Apparently, it was the above picture of Phinn that convinced him to make the trek out to KCA.  He IS pretty cute (even with the mystery alopecia, and the hopefully-finished tick infestation).

Here are my girls...having a fun time.  Not sure where little A learned the 'cup-game'--but I am guessing her dad has played it with her once or twice. 

The Mad Hatter

If there is ONE thing that N really likes to do, it is to make 'tea'.  He can sit for hours, in our play area, stirring pots and pans, and pouring out cups of tea.  Whenever he hears the kettle whistle, he looks at me and says 'TEA!'.  He makes my heart proud!

Today, he had a special guest at his tea party--big brother (from a different mother) Phinn.  Phinn, as you can see, is a very good sport about sitting in a chair, and also will pretend to drink cups of tea.  We just have to be careful when we give him smaller objects, like spoons, as he will often grab a hold of them with his teeth and is very reluctant to let go.

Today was Aquafit day (with little A accompanying me), followed by her swim lesson.  In between, we had a VERY messy finger-painting experience (Peter had to scrub the food colouring off N's teeth before bed-time). Apparently, the younger two are still more interested in EATING the pudding paint, than creating lovely art projects.

How do I love thee...

Let me count the ways....

I love and adore my children (in case it isn't obvious).  

Here are some pictures from today:

Smothered in love

Today, N had the pleasure of his first ever PLAY-DATE (alone, accompanied only by his mother).  I met up with my friend Lise, a fellow Canadian whom I have known ever since arriving in AD, but just have never managed to have the time to befriend.  She has always seemed to be a very nice person, but circumstances (mostly me being pregnant or having just had another baby) have always prevented us from getting to know each other better.  She has recently (well--I guess almost a year now) moved to KCB, and we drove over to her place this morning.

N had a good time, but he seemed out of sorts and pretty quiet.  He spent a lot of time just snacking (!).  He went to sleep as soon as we came home, and woke up at 2 pm, feeling a bit warm.  I'm not sure if he is coming down with something, but he is just not himself (thus explaining the kitten heels below) today.  Hopefully, he will get back to good tomorrow.

I'm a sole-man!

I have a wee bit of a headache, and spent a day recovering from the surprise of discovering that my friend Fadey is off in Alberta, looking for a job.  His wife Lisa, and their kids, are still here.  They have only JUST moved back here (last summer) after LEAVING here the year before that (a lot of moving).  Fadey just isn't having luck finding employment here, and it seems he just can't take it anymore.  I am not sure that a return to Canada is the right move for them at this time...but, I wish them happiness (and prosperity) anywhere they go in the world.

My husband has informed me that I am more than a little dense (me putting it politely) when it comes to matters of finance.

Little does he know, that's one of my 'secrets to happiness'...;-)

Napkin Philosophy

In case you can't read the above, it says:

"Life's too short for:

 grudges, fake anything, putting profits before people, 

overroasted coffee, waiting for change to happen,

 wifi you have to pay for, crabby people".

I liked it (the coffee bit not so relevant in my world).  

We had a pretty good day today.  Peter headed out golfing, but thanks to Malou I managed to sleep until 7:30 (to help make up for all the sleep I did not get on Thursday night).  I feel so much better today.

The cardio-pump class on Thursday was a killer though.  Yesterday, sitting down on the toilet seat to pee was very painful, as was going up and down the stairs.  Today, the pain still lingers, but is not as pronounced (so, going from a 9 to maybe a 5).  

We all attended the table-top sale at Yasmina school today, and found many treasures that have kept all the little ones happy and occupied for the remainder of the day.  My prize purchase was the Quizard--I got two Quizards and about 5 books for 40 aed!!  All three of my children loved playing with this when we came home.

After putting the littlest two for a nap, Peter, little A and I went out to Masdar City, to take advantage of the 20% off sale today (third Saturday of every month).  After shopping, we stopped in at Caribou Coffee for some wisdom (see above), a skinny latte and a baby-ccino (aka the foam leftover from my latte in a cup).  This is one thing that is really great about coffee shops around here--they give this out free to the little ones (although usually is comes in a small espresso cup).  

baby-ccino lover

What a wonderful world...

This is our latest 'family portrait slideshow'.  This time I got to choose the music.  I have always loved this song, especially this version by the late Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole.  It reminds me of days gone by, southern California, sunshine, and people that I love.  A little sweet, a little sad...and yet a little hopeful too.

Watching this, one might never know that N and S cried for almost 80% of the hour long session...unless you look closely in one of the pics, where you can see a tear-drop glistening in N's eye.  Also, there is a family photo, where we literally helped N 'turn that frown upside down', by having Peter hold him upside down.  THIS is the difference a professional photographer makes for family photos!!

This morning N and I were out of the house by 7:10, to make it into the city for his appointment at 8.  We arrived on time, but due to the 'registration process' (by the receptionist, who arrived after me), we didn't get to see our doctor until 8:15.  Dr. Zeinab (who I really like) was supposed to run a skills assessment test on N, so we could have an idea of where he was wrt to milestones and development.  Unfortunately, as she needed 45 minutes, she had to reschedule the meeting for me.

Then we had speech therapy at 9:30, which was with Sarah (so a quick 15 minute power-walk through SKMC, from one end to the other) .  These sessions always feel like a waste of time, but as we have had so much disruption with his speech therapy, I have opted to keep them to once a week, to maintain some consistency for N.  They have a long waiting list for clients, and it usually takes 4-6 weeks to get back into the rotation, once you drop out.

We were home around 10:45, and then I had to head out again.  We needed groceries (S is in love with Hipp Organic's vegetable lasagna, and I love anything that she will eat with minimal effort), and we also had a play date scheduled with my friend Shariza's girls.  Sadly, it seems Hipp has discontinued the Veggie-Lentil bake (so if you have a tasty recipe I can puree, please send it to me).

I had a lovely visit with Shariza, but it was NOT a good day for the WW.  Shariza had gone to the trouble of buying Grandma's Cheesecakes (a new little boutique that has opened up in Garden's Plaza), and then got her maid to make chokodokh (the Malaysian equivalent of deep-fried banana) for me as well.

Tonight, I will treat myself to a green salad.  

Vaselino...

Last week, N went in for another kick at the can to clarify what kind of hearing issue might exist. Unfortunately, he is an OX, and the oral sedative he took didn't work.  He was extremely disoriented and groggy, but he would not sleep.  Probably from the stress...as you can see from the picture above, he was pretty scared to be back in the hospital again.

We took this picture on our drive to Dubai last weekend.  This is a moment of sheer bliss in my world--all three amigos asleep at once (and awwww...their heads are all flopping in the same direction as well). 

Little A shared her crown with her little sister.  Surprisingly, Smile-ah decided that she liked the look and feel of the crown, and kept in on for a very long time.  It certainly suits her, and is likely a symbol of things to come.  

A little 'tea party' at our house, with milk and chocolate graham bunnies.  It is really hard to get pictures of all three of them together (especially where all three look relatively normal).

We decided to retire the Lulu special "Hapy Birthday" banner.  I picked it up for our first Abu Dhabi birthday celebration (which would be Peter's).  Just to point out, it was missing a "P" when I pulled it out of the package...so every birthday celebration was marked "Abu Dhabi style" minus a "P".  

Free bananas:  I took these two monkeys with me for a quick errand this morning:  develop some pictures at the pink shops and then mail some letters.  Of course, the 'quick errand' took about 2 hours bc:
1.  I didn't put the pics on the USB key as I thought (I knew I should have doubled-checked it)
2.  The photoshop (Famous Castle Studios) had to print my pictures TWICE as a mysterious line cropped up in the middle of half of the photos.
3.  I ran into a fellow Canadian friend at the post-office and ended up chatting with her for a few minutes.

Thank-you to my friends at Abu Ali, who supplied my children with these free bananas to keep their tummies from rumbling.

I have just come home from my first Zumba class.  I am going to withhold making judgements...but a few of my thoughts are:

1.  vaselino---what the hell is vaselino and how can someone make a whole song about it?

2. Someone should run a strip-dance class here, bc there is some money to be made from the local population.  The enthusiasm I saw--I had to duck and swerve a few times to ensure that I didn't get knocked out. 

3.  Breast implants--wow!  I didn't realize that they were so common among the local ladies.  I thought the koran prohibited altering yourself, because it was a sin to change what God had created?  I could be wrong though...I am no scholar of Islam, and my eyes glaze over whenever I here someone start a conversation with "Just how much do you actually know about Islam...?" (the ellipsis implies that this is the opening line of what is going to be a VERY long conversation).

4.  The music was loud...really LOUD.  I couldn't even hear the instructor's commands.

5.  Good workout though.  Good cardio...let's see how I feel tomorrow, and if any digits move on the scale.  

Am I getting old?  That can't be true...there has got to be some other explanation.  

Blobmosis is crap.  I quit after seven days when the foot reflexologist that my friend Yang took me to told me there was something seriously wrong with my stomache.  Could it be all the protein and no grains???  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....................

So, back to my trusted friend:  Weight Watchers (and thank-you, once again, Payroll Patti).  

Evolution

I want to remember today as the day that Smile-ah graduated from crawling to officially becoming a biped.  To date, she has taken many independent steps.  However, today is the day that she seemed to decide that there was something to this 'walking on two feet' thing, that she hadn't quite gotten before.

She has been toddling all over the house all day long.  Each time, little A gets so excited and says "she's walking! look, she's walking!".

Smile-ah now has two teeth as well.  Top and bottom left.

She's changing so much, so fast.

"Walker, Texas Ranger"

 (just a little nickname.  I've never watched the show...promise).