Rainy days and Sundays...

My trainer Pernille played this song on a very gray and warm morning last week--March 9.  I hadn't heard the song for so very long, and she said the weather just put her in the mood for a little MJ.  He gifted us with so much powerful music in his lifetime--and once again, I was struck by how the Europeans continued to enjoy Michael's music, guilt-free, despite all of the controversy surrounding him in the later years of his life.  Unlike in North America, where it felt taboo to admit to supporting MJ during his troubles--nevermind playing his music (at least until after he departed this plane), here I have always heard his songs on the radio (quite frequently) and I feel comfortable to tell people that I (like Pernille) am a fan.

Suffice it to say, it was a great class (as usual--and Pernille's voice is constantly in my head yelling "MORE BACK!" to me when I am doing squats).   My day continued with a baby shower, Abu Dhabi style--at the golf club, for my friend Raquel.  Like my wedding, it was a catered affair complete with white seat covers and table cloths, guests dressed in their fancy whites and the mom-to-be looking gorgeous and FIT (as Brazilian fitness trainers are wont to look at 7 months in).

As one shower wound down, another bigger one picked up and I found myself stuck at the golf club, as one of the most violent storms in Abu Dhabi's history began (they wouldn't let us leave).  I found myself getting more stressed and needing to leave, once I had been told by the staff that I could not...fallen trees, flooded roads and electrical wires all over...that's what they claimed (I only encountered the first two on my risky drive home).

We did have warning about the coming storm, and school was cancelled for two days--as we had a sampler of the rain to come the day before, when I picked up three soaking children from school.  Since we were already dripping, and have boots needing to see some action, we went out for some much-loved puddle-jumping.  As you can see from the photos, Little A is not as enthusiastic as she once was wrt to splashing around.  She was much more subdued and just seemed to enjoy gently wading through the water.  Unlike Magoo and Pix, who had to have their boots emptied before we went home.

Living in the desert, we don't have a lot of rainfall, and so we are not really equipped for this type of weather (we refer to our umbrellas as "sun-brellas" and use them to block the sun).  Windows and doors all tend to leak, drains on the side of the road get overwhelmed and back-up...and because it passes so quickly and comes so infrequently, we usually just suck things up and forget all about it until the next year.  I have plans to pay to have a cover placed over my front door, to stop next year's rain from leaking in...but let's see...

Here is some footage from Peter's office window:

It was a crazy storm!  The big nor'easter of '16 will go down in history, and I am sure we will talk of it for years to come.

In other news:

Pickles had to find a new hairdresser.  Ramila moved on from the Kid's Saloon, but fortunately, we managed to meet Julia.  Now Pix will only trust his poof-ball locks to this lovely lady (who did not nick his ears or back of his neck with the razor).

Before the storm, the mozzies were back!  My girls are quite sweet (literally) and were bitten all over.  Poor Magoo, got about three bites on her face--but she was a real trooper about the eye bite--didn't complain much at all.

The entire time, I was reminded of my aunt, who experienced the same eye mosquito bite when she came to visit us when I was a little girl, and lived in Forestburg.  She was my favourite aunt, and I loved her greatly (considering how little I saw her, as she lived in England).  I remember feeling so uncomfortable and scared looking at her swollen eye, and bringing her ice and sitting beside her bed, wishing for her quick recovery.  I wanted to help her, but felt helpless to do anything to speed things along.

In about three days, Magoo's eye returned to normal.  I stayed calm and kept it together, offering her ice and counsel, so that she would not stress about the experience.  I am proud of both of us for making it through.

Though he is a bit of a nipper. everyone loves Chewbacca.  Lately he has become Pickle's at home speech therapist and helps him with his bite block practise.  I guess he also helps him with his O/T as Pix has to move his legs quite fast to ensure that Chewy's little teeth don't give him a little pinch.  In the last three weeks Pickles has made great progress with his speech exercises.  

We took Chantal to the Ritz to celebrate her birthday (belated from January 3).  There was cake, coffee and presents.  It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and I loved being able to do something nice for this wonderful lady who takes such care and gives so much to my precious son-shine.

Today we are back to Sunday again.  Back to Pernille and LBT, and then I had a delicious breakfast at Jones with my friend Gopa (is it good or bad that the waitress asked me if I was ordering my "usual"?).  We were joined by Sharee, my newest Canadian friend.  Started my blog update this morning, and will conclude it this afternoon, while Little A works on her '15 minutes of daily homework' (which actually is about 2 hours...), and Magoo rolls around and distracts everyone.

Speaking of Magoo, while we were waiting for Pickles at speech, I asked her to check out this spread of fine looking young men and pick the 'most handsome'.  I was truly curious to see her perspective on male beauty, and did not steer her in any direction.  Keep in mind that she has no idea who any of these people are (and to be honest, some of them I don't know either).

She picked out her favourites in the order indicated.  I don't even recognize the name of her first pick (possibly he is a European footballer?).  Then she changed her mind and picked Zac Efron (who is still on my radar as a 40 year old woman).  Finally she settled on 3--who she said looks like Bon Jovi (so obviously she knows how I define handsome), although I am not sure Jon would approve the likeness.  I told her that it was Justin Bieber, and she said "Oh!  So that's Justin Beaver!"

And, because I likely won't be updating before St. Patrick's Day, here is one handsome man that they somehow missed in the above spread (a pic that will most definitely feature in my family calendar for 2016).  

Erin Go Bragh!

Maggi

It is no secret that my daughters are big fans of Maggi--a salty, brown seasoning sauce, with no nutritional value.  I had always assumed it was Chinese in origin (which Peter will tell you is because I am a racist--but is actually due to the fact that Peter introduced the concept of Maggi to me like it was his own family's secret blend of 11 herbs and spices (especially when you dip white bread in it)).  I think Peter was just as surprised as I to discover that Maggi seasoning has its roots in Switzerland.

Little A's love for Maggi (which we call "Maggi-dip" around here, as our girls love to dip everything in it) is so strong that it was her number one choice to name both of her siblings.  Maggi has travelled with us on so many vacations--and Steiner--once again, I am sorry for the very pungent maggi momento we left in your van two years ago and I hope the smell has faded!

A toast...

Yesterday as we were walking back from the Ozzie vet's to Kids First (where kids have to walk in the doors first, hence the name), Magoo told me that she knows how to say 'noodles' in "Indian" (Hindi to be more specific).  I asked her to share with me, and as I racked my brains to think how to translate noodles myself, she informs me that it is "Maggi".

Ho-ho-ho!

I told her that she was mistaken, and that was not the correct translation, to which she replied that I didn't know because I was not, in fact, Indian--YOU ARE A CANADIAN! Her friend (the same one who eats wojjy-tables) IS Indian, and so she most certainly knows better than I do.

Though it took the hamster in my head a little while to start spinning and figure out why 'maggi' would translate to 'noodles', I finally managed to impress Magoo (which is kind of like Maggi...so maybe little A indirectly got her wish) with my wisdom.  I explained that instant noodles come in many different BRANDS (Lucky Me--like Malou liked, Indo-me--which we bought when we couldn't find Lucky Me, and Ichiban--which is popular where we come from).  Maggi also makes a brand of instant noodles, which must be the one her friend's mom serves up in their household.

She eventually believed me, especially when I told her I would confirm with "Aunty Gopa" who is a REAL Indian (unlike me).

When I asked Gopa this morning (after she stopped having a laugh about "maggi' translating to "noodles"), she looked at me with her beautiful, big, maggi-coloured eyes and said "I don't know how we say noodles in India...I think we just call it 'noodles' (with an Indian accent of course)."

P.S.  I am SO not a racist.

Wojjy-tables and Ada-lay

Spin this little tune while we have a catch up:

As it seems that life just chugs along and nothing ever changes--I will go backwards and see if I can meet myself back at turning 40 (which I believe was sadly, my last update).

Dr. Shalji's Apprentice

 On Saturday, all three kids had their dental cleaning appointments at Smilerite.  Pickle has had two extra teeth in his mouth (until quite recently).  Seems like his two bottoms fully erupted, before the baby teeth had a chance to get out of the way.  We made a visit to Dr. Smitha about a month back (when we first noticed this issue--that is the royal 'we' btw...it's actually just me).  Dr. Smitha told me to wiggle the teeth as much as I could and extract them myself (as they were already wobbly at that point--unlike little A' s teeth which seem to be cemented in).  We also made a back-up appointment (which is for this Saturday--mental note--call to cancel) with Dr. Shalji to have an extraction performed.  On February 5, Pickle's first tooth popped out during some very rigorous brushing with mom (I was very nervous when I saw that big smudge of red appear in his mouth--my first thoughts were that I had been a very bad mummy).  He was so excited, and hopped around the house.

He managed to pop out the second tooth himself, while sitting in the dentist's chair after Dr. Smitha told him "just pull it out yourself!".  She was a little shocked when he followed through, thus pushing back his cleaning, giving his little mouth time to recover.  Now, he is no longer like a shark, with multiple rows of teeth, and we will look forward to these teeth moving forward into their rightful place (hopefully).

We enjoyed celebrating Valentine's day.  The children handed out cards to their classmates (they were the only ones), and then we had a mid-term break (two extra days off of school).  The weekends fly by so quickly, and the two extra days we had were consumed by an Arabic project and a play-date.  We had a small Valentine's Day party at home on Sunday (just family and Tina--our new helper).  The children also got to decorate valentine's cookies and contribute to a hand-mural heart at Yas Mall.  During our lunch, Magoo asked me "Mom--one of my friends at schools says she likes to eat wojjy-tables, but none of us know what wojjy-tables are...Do you know what is wojjy-tables?".  It took me a minute to process--wojjy-tables??  And then, my ESL roots kicked in, and I realized Magoo's little friend was a vegetable lover!  Cristina and I laughed (on the inside) as I enlightened little Magoo, and discussed how different people from different countries have different accents, which effects how they pronounce different words--and it was a difference we need to enjoy.  We talked about how everyone mispronounces words here and there, and we chuckled at her EFL sister who enjoys listening to hits by a blockbuster songstress from the UK--Ada-lay (who the rest of the world refers to as Adele).  

We welcomed in the year of the monkey, with our usual Chinese New Year traditions.  We dressed up in our traditional clothes and headed over to the Shangrila hotel, to participate in their Dragon Dance.  Each year they improve on their presentation, and this year they added a man who distributed fortune cookies to all of the children.  Afterwards, we headed over to Peter's office for some hot chocolate (which Pickles spilled all over his pants).  Fortunately, it dried quick enough, and we drove to Yas Mall for lunch (NB:  healthy lunch options at Yas Mall are severely limited) and additional Chinese New Year activities--the children made paper lanterns.

 One of our favorite CNY traditions is making dumplings with my friend Yang.  She makes magical dumplings, and makes it appear so effortless.  She is a dear friend to me, and I miss her greatly everyday, since she and Juergen moved to Bangkok.  We put forward our best effort and made our own dumplings in her honor this year.  Cristina was in charge of the fillings--and we all helped with pinching and pressing (my tray of dumplings are on the right...see how neat my little coin-purses turned out Yang!).

Chewbacca is adorable and overweight.  On our recent visit to the vet (where we officially transferred all his veterinary records over to me), we discovered he needs to lose about 1 kg of weight and needs his teeth cleaned.  While I was speaking with Dr. Rachel (our vet and also my friend from the gym) I mentioned his smelly breath and she noted that it was indeed very bad and she could smell it from where she was standing.  I remarked "his breath does smell bad, but that isn't his breath we are smelling...".  We all turned our heads to discover an obese hushpuppy behind me.  Rachel asked the man holding the leash whether his dog was having bad gas issues, when we noticed the immense pile of poo, sitting by the man's feet.  He gave an embarassed and apologetic shrug, as he had literally stepped in it.  The children thought it was hilariously 'bisgusting'.  

All the way from sunny Alberta, Fiona and Sandy made good on their promise and joined us in the sand-box.  We had a whirlwind holiday together, and crammed as much as we could into their visit.  It struck me as both strange and wonderful to be walking in a mall in Abu Dhabi with my dear friends from Edmonton.  They have promised to return--I only hope they will stay longer, as I seriously cannot keep up with these guys!!

Peter turned 40 this year, and we enjoyed an amazing celebration in Phuket, with some of our family and friends.  I think the combination of the location and the company made this one of my favourite holidays we have ever spent.  Peter's sister Chris really helped me out by buying me a new Oiler's jersey for Peter (without him even suspecting) and the staff at our villa arranged for a delicious birthday cake (think Sara Lee's vanilla).  Peter's celebration ended with us releasing the biggest birthday candles we could find (the Thai sky lanterns) up into the sky.  What a memory to treasure!

I love Peter.  I still remember him being that guy in high school who used to stop unexpectedly to give me a ride home after my shift at Suzy Shier.  He was also that guy who used to throw staples in my hair and yank my chair back when I was working.  If someone had ever told me that he would grow to be the man I would love and share my life and children with, I would have shook my head at how crazy that was (HE'S CHINESE!!).  That's life, I guess--unpredictable at best.  Peter is my best friend, and I cannot imagine sharing my life with anyone else....

Unless it was THIS guy....

Clearly--one of the highlights of my year of turning 40 was sharing my love of Jon Bon Jovi with my children.  Magoo asked him why he looked so old (what a charmer she is) and he said "because i AM old sweety'.  Jon (are we on a first name basis yet?) was REALLY exhausted, but took a minute to sign our guitars and take a few pictures (man--that guy can turn it on for the camera!), and helped me make a memory to put a smile on my face for YEARS to come!

Magoo has started EY1 this year.  Essentially, this is a nursery year, but it is necessary to securing her a place for EY2 (where the REAL WORK begins).  I felt quite torn about sending her (she is only four, so this is early by our Alberta standards).  However Magoo was really ready for the experience, and though there were many tears (from both of us) on her first day, she settled in quickly.  She adores her teacher, Ms. Claudia, and has made a BFF (Sho-sho, who luckily enough lives just a few villas away from us...they are off on a park-playdate as I type).  I am proud of how well she has settled into school-life, and it calms any uneasiness I had about her being too young for the experience.

Pickles is in EY2 this year, and despite many disruptions (new shadow teacher, changing teacher's assistants), he loves being at school.  His new shadow teacher, Chantal is a gift from heaven!  She was little A's TA last year, and is a loving, caring lady from South Africa.  I love listening to her accent when she talks, and she and Pix have wonderful days together.   We have been very lucky to have such amazing people come into Pickle's life, to help him along on his journey.  Though I try to keep a 'professional distance' with Chantal (as her employer)--it is absolutely impossible.  She gives so much of her heart to my son, and it is impossible not to feel an enormous amount of affection and gratitude for this woman who looks out for the best interests of my darling boy, when I cannot.  All of the kids adore Chantal (not just my own) and feel so safe and comfortable with her.   

Little A is 8 years old now, and part of her birthday present was having her ears pierced in Austria this summer (and the Magoo got to share it!).  Her heart is full of love and kindness, and I am told she is quite a popular girl at school.  She has had some hard days, as there is a bully in her cohort this year.  It is quite challenging for me, as little A is so soft-hearted that she is unwilling to protect herself, because in doing so, she will need to go on the offensive and hurt someone else...the bully.  I am trying to support her by building her own confidence to deal with this MON(ica)STER, and hopefully one day this will be a memory she laughs about (her own personal Billy Roth--a behaviourally challenged boy I used to have to deal with on the playground when I was little--but I am told I was much more aggressive than my little girl is).

Austria and Germany is where we spent our summer holiday.  It was so beautiful, green and HOT there--some days it was tooooooo hot--why does it seem there is always a heat wave in Europe whenever we go there?

First world problems...ugh!

We were joined by my parents, who got to spend a lot of time with their grandchildren (and Pickles still raves about Naniji's dahl and rice).  This freed us up to go out on our own for lunches and dinners...something we generally haven't been able to do on our holidays before.  We also got to meet up with my cousin Vinod and his wife Anne in Salzburg--whom we have gotten quite close with, since we have come out to the Middle East.  Vinod and Peter share a love of golf, beer and Bosna sausage (not in that order), and Anne is like sunshine--the Mary Poppins of the Sharma family--impossible not to love that lady!

In Munich we got to reunite with our Fidelia--whom we love and adore.  Her apartment was so close to ours, and we spent as much time as we could find together.   She was in a transitional period in her life (the kind that comes when you are in between graduation and your 'adult' job) and we did our best to love and support her, and let her benefit from the wisdom of our years.  She is such an intelligent, articulate and well-educated young lady, and we are so pleased that she is now happily settled in Hamburg, and employed doing something that excites her.

And...I think that takes us back to around the time that I turned 40...and we last caught up.  I am sure I have hit the highlights (please see I MET JON BON JOVI above, in case you missed it).  Phinny and Jonesy are just fine--but I can update you on them in the next blog entry! x

P.S.  I won phase one of the fitness challenge I entered back in May.  Yay ME!

This is 40

post-party

I can see that my last post was back in January...and a lot has happened since then (obviously).  I will do my best to update (and entertain) you--but be sure and press play to the music, to stimulate your other senses (while you read).  PRESS PLAY!!  This is my theme song for turning 40...

Right after Christmas, after opening ALL the presents, little A went for a play-date at a friend's place and decided she needed to have one of these:

She even came home with a wealth of information (and a web-site) where we could buy it.  So, off we went to finfunmermaid.com, and nearly choked when we saw the cost!  However, after discussing it with her at length, we decided she could EARN the money, by selling our old toys on Facebook (with help from daddy--the Poster).  She managed to quickly raise all the funds she needed.  With a little help from our friends (Linda and Brian, who helped her save overseas shipping charges, and had the joy of trying to pack this tail into their luggage--thanks guys!)...she is the happiest little mermaid in the Middle East.  Now, Magoo wants one...thankfully, the minimum age for wear is 5.  

Next, I believe I should send out our best wishes for the "year of the sheep."  We celebrated in our usual manner:  putting on our Chinese finest, making dumplings with Aunty Yang (bless her!) and heading over to the Shangrila, to watch the Dragon Dance.  The kids loved it, and this year we were lucky enough to be joined by the lovely (and Chinese) Mr. Peter.  Which really gives us all some credibility when we show up at the Shangrila, dressed so very Asian (so Asian in fact, that Chinese guests to the Shang are moved to take pictures of the children), to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Lieu Tan Clan

To update you on Jonesy, she is now enjoying living as a full-time outdoor cat (except for when I have company and she mixes it up too much with everyone and has to have a time-out).  We have had her spayed (she started up with some strange yowling one week...and I thought "Oh-oh!").  And, as you can see, Magoo already has her sites set on a ANOTHER cat (whom she met in the waiting room at the vet).  I don't blame her...just look how adorable that kitten is!!!

We really enjoyed the Terry Fox run this year (though it seems that we are always catching up a year).  We were joined by our friends Brian and Linda (who actually completed the entire walk and then caught back up with us, in time for Uncle Brian to lend his strong shoulders).  Afterwards, we had a great lunch at Nations Towers.  The kids couldn't figure out who their favorite was:  Uncle Brian or Aunty Linda--they laughed so much!  We all did!

 Raha School (home now to BOTH Pickle and Little A) had their annual International Day celebration.  Despite offers from the Indian booth, I decided to stay true to my heart, and coordinated my fellow Canucks.  Despite the small number of our team, we put out quite a popular offering!  I was disappointed (as I always am) by a certain 'Canadian' tangent at these events--it's always those PASSPORT HOLDERS who get me down--no loyalty--just a passport please!  Harper--can we PLEASE do something about this??  (sorry--bit of griping there)

I was impressed with Lulu (a major grocery chain here), who generously contributed any item they found in their stores labelled "made in Canada".  They even added Kraft Dinner (good ol' KD) because it is such a favourite!  Then we made them into gifts packs and gave them out as prizes.  The maple syrup shots were also a big hit (brain-child of yours truly)--I saw the South Africans had done something like that with sweetened condensed milk last year...and thought--why can't we do that with maple syrup??!!  The kids loved it, and we sold out the 100 we had in the first hour.

Then there was St. Patrick's Day in March.  Magoo totally rocks a red beard!

Our next big event was a GARAGE SALE, at my place.  My dear friend Shariza and her family were leaving for Malaysia.  We decided it might be a great time to clear out things, and donate money to charity (we raised funds for the Al Bahia Animal Sanctuary--which I still need to head out and deliver).  Shariza and I were on the same page--we weren't trying to make a profit--most everything was priced at either 2-5 dirhams, and we wanted everything to MOVE.

We did so well the first week, that I found some people who donated MORE items, and we set it up for a second week.  It was great to see so many people come together in our garage--it became a social space, rather than just a place where our cars chill.

It was very successful--we raised over 4000 dirhams, and I have had my fill of garage sales (well--the selling part anyways!).

the set-up

mummy's best helper

Peter bought us VIP tickets to go and see Michael Buble in Dubai.  Unfortunately, after he bought and paid for the tickets, he discovered that he had a business trip that same week, and would not be able to attend.  Fortunately, we managed to find someone to use Peter's ticket, and I still got to go.  Michael Buble makes great music and has a wonderful voice--and it was a great night.  

The event organizers could have done a better job, at differentiating 'doors open at' and 'concert starts at' on their ticket, as my friend and I got there much too early.  Nonetheless, Peter had arranged for a driver for us, so at least we didn't have to drive ourselves home afterwards!  Thanks Peter--it would have been a million times better if you could have been there too!

More amazing than the Buble concert, was Magoo's FOURTH birthday.  My baby is now FOUR, and we tried to make her celebration very special.  We took all the kids to see Cinderella in the theatre (mostly for the Frozen short at the beginning--which actually was a more realistic timing of their attention spans in the cinema).  Then we went to ROGOS, the roller coaster cafe, so she could continue her birthday celebration.  

Birthday present

Strike a pose

For her birthday, Magoo wanted a "Frozen princess tea party" (is that too specific?).  So--I did my best to oblige.  It was a lot of work, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  I dressed up as Queen Galadriel (thank-you Tolkien), Magoo was Princess Elsa, and Little A was Princess Rhianna (not to be confused with RiHanna).  

The Royal Court

All the little princesses

Prince Pickle

Sadly, after getting rid of all her things, it was time for Shariza to go.  I hosted a farewell coffee for her, and got a chance to meet some of her other friends, from different parts of her life.  I will miss her a lot, but she has promised me VIP status as a guest in her home in Kuala Lumpur anytime (and I look forward to many visits to KL).  Shariza is one of the dearest friends I have made while living abroad--truthfully, I never expected her to leave here before me (or ever...)--but it just goes to show that every ex-pat has an expiry date.  I hope to see her often enough not to miss her.  

Then there was Easter. For us, it's all about bunnies, eggs and chocolate.

Followed by my 'official' 40th birthday celebration.  Peter planned a wonderful evening, with Indian food at Ushna, followed by my favourite, KARAOKE!!  I was thrilled to be able to share the evening with so many of the friends we have made here, and everyone who stayed on til the end (after Karaoke) really seemed to enjoy themselves.  I like to think it was all me...but I am guessing the free- flowing beverages maybe had something to do with it.  We stayed up well past 2 AM, and the picture at the start of my post was taken before we literally collapsed in bed.  

The next morning, we welcomed this young man, Chewbacca (the pomeranian formerly known as Albert) into our family. His owner has developed a severe allergy to him, and is re-homing him after five years.  He is a dear, and has managed to bring some energy back into Phinn (Chewy's real purpose).  Now Phinn no longer spends entire days sleeping under the sofa.  Chewy is a lot of fun, follows me where ever I go (currently he is sleeping at my feet), and loves to play.  The kids all adore him!

Peter has had some wonderful recognition for his amazing brain--he is one of forty people considered the "Top 40 Under 40" to watch in his field.  I know that he is wonderfully intelligent man, and I am so proud that other people in his industry see him that way as well.

Finally, Fidelia!  I cannot write an update without including details on how wonderful it has been to have Fidelia here in Abu Dhabi.  She has come to stay with her parents, as she has just finished Uni. We have been blessed to share so much of her time, and to make many memories with her.  She can rock the mic like a pro (as witnessed at my birthday), the children all love spending time with her, and she has relieved me of much guilt by spending time with Magoo while I am at the gym.  A truly wonderful young lady--I am going to miss her a lot when she heads back to Germany!

Time to wrap it up (I'm sure that it's more than enough--is the song still playing?).  There are little bits and bobs left (like Little A has her RAD exam for grade 1 ballet this week, and I have entered a 30 day fitness challenge and am half way through...) but they will have to wait.

I've still got a lotta life left in me....;-)